One week Old

The week has been one big blur. I can't believe my little angel was born one week ago today. At this time, one week ago, I was laboring to have her. Wow. Incredible.
Happy one week, our beautiful angel girl. We had a home health care nurse visit us this AM, as we left the hospital before the full 72 hours. It was nice - she checked out mommy and we found out my blood pressure is a bit on the high side still, so she encouraged me to rest MORE. And Keifer - well, she is just perfect, which is a huge relief. She went home at 8 lbs, 6 oz, and this AM is measuring 8 lbs, 13 1/2 oz! So our little hungry hippo is making gains. She likes to eat. A LOT! *big smiles* She is sucking down her bottles and is eating anywhere from every 2 hours to 4 hours, depending on her sleep cycles - which are obviously not very regular yet!

I have so many random thoughts, it's better just to list them as they come. This won't make much sense, as I'm in a daze still - like I've been out partying all night long. Well, I have been - partying with a little 1 week old! Some of these might be a bit too much information, but hey, its my blog!

What people didn't tell me:

1) that having to poop after giving birth would be like going through the labor process again. However, for me, I ended up having a C-section so never made it to the pushing stage. Well, I did on Saturday. My bowels had been inactive, due to the drugs, etc., all week, and Saturday AM I was on the pot over the expected amount of time. Like, ALL DAY LONG (I told you too much info!). I was miserable - crying, shaking, feverish all day and into Sunday. I called the on call nurse and on call OB, and we tried every trick in the book. Sunday AM things started getting better, but NOW I hear about all the "after birth" stories of the bathroom episodes and I feel more normal. I honestly wanted to die on Saturday from the pressure. Whew, birth knocks you out.
2) that people would continue to be so generous. We are so blessed, and have been through our entire journey to have so many friends and family spoil Miss K. We continue to get gifts everyday and it honestly moves me to tears.
3) Tears. Ah, yes, the tears. The docs told me about post- partum baby blues, etc.. I know about being on the look -out for the post partum depression and that my hormones will be out of whack for weeks to come. However, I cry at the drop of a pin. I cry over the damn lullaby on the Pack & Play or swing, I cry over the fur kids and their obvious confusion (although they are adjusting well), I cry more at night, when the sun goes down - probably because I still feel in a bubble and my routine and structure are all "off". I cry over the pain of my incision and I cry over my still- present Sciatic pain in my back. I cry over the loss of being able to make the labor process completely full- and being able to not push Keifer out after 9 hours of labor - and having to resort to a C-section. I do not in any way feel dismay about her, I love her with all my heart and soul, so that is a relief. I've heard of mommies who reject their babies due to depression and I'm thankful that isn't me. CJ and I can't get enough of staring for HOURS at our beautiful girl. She seems to change every day in our eyes (which makes mommy cry MORE), and I just love holding her for hours on end, smelling her and watching her smile and GIGGLE (yes, GIGGLE!) in her sleep. I love hearing CJ tell her "Hi, pretty". I know the tears will get better, but I honestly never expected all of them!

4) the furkids are great. We knew Sassy Sage would have questions and want to be right there with Keifer every second of the day. That is true. She wants to smell her all the time, and see what all the little squeaks and peeps are about. If we are looking at Keifer in the Pack & Play or changing her, Sassy scratches at us to be picked up to watch. She is very "on the look out" for anything baby. We went for our first walk yesterday- CJ handled the fur kids and I slowly pushed the stroller, and Sassy kept coming back to peek in the stroller at her. It was very sweet. Treble seems to care less - however, when the home health care nurse was here this AM, he seemed to be tackling Sage to tell her to stay away from the baby. We've also noticed that he prefers to "stand guard" instead of going out on the deck as often as he used to in this nice Spring weather. He always goes to check on her whether she is in the Pack & Play or not - he'll get up, peek , and then get down. Its really very sweet. This AM, Keifer was in her crib and we could hear her starting to wake up on the monitor and suddenly, I heard this shaking sound - it was the Treble wake up shake. I came out and he was in the hallway right outside her door. So I think he is starting to get used to this "thing" in the house.

First time in the swing - before being buckled. She is VERY alert, almost more alert that I imagined she would be - she loves her swing and loves her mobile in the pack and play - we have one very smart baby in the making, right? She also is very strong - she's been trying to hold her head up since day 2~!

With Papa/Bumpa Dale before he had to go back home on Sunday.