Ivie Family: First Week Home

Already a week at home has flown by! And I was reminded today that my baby is already 11 days old! I can't believe it. Time goes by way too fast! We are managing pretty well. I had a couple rough days from overdoing it, but I felt good today. Never a dull moment over here! This definitely seems like a two person job! Chris takes one kid while I take the other. I am often feeding or pumping so Chris is usually managing Ryan. I try to get down on the floor and play with Ryan in between feedings and I got to take Ryan to library story time today, which she loved! Our bedtime routine with Ryan is very important (to all of us) so we try our best to keep that the same. Ryan gave Emma three kisses today and seems be showing a tiny bit more interest in her. Ryan is not a fan of when I nurse Emma. She usually stands next to me and repeats "off, off, off" over and over. She is telling me to get that baby off me! We are trying really hard to get her involved with taking care of her sister. She does like to sit next to Emma in the backseat of the car. Chris and I still can't believe we have two car seats in our cars!

Emma is a super easy baby! She sleeps and sleeps and sleeps! I wake her every three hours to eat and then she usually goes right back to sleep. She usually has an hour in the morning and evening when she is awake and alert. She almost never cries, unless she is ready to eat and I am trying to change her diaper before I feed her. She is sleeping in her co-sleeper next to our bed at night and taking naps in her room and in the pack-n-play in the living room.

We had lots of visitors this past week and lots of yummy food brought to us. Kristi set up a care calendar and it has been wonderful to not have to cook dinner most nights! We took the girls to the pediatrician today for Emma's newborn visit and Ryan's 18 month visit. We were told that we have two perfect little girls! Exactly what we wanted to hear! Dr. Nussbaum agreed with the neonatologist from Parkland. She feels that Emma just went through a transient period after birth and that we should not worry any longer about her not breathing. She listened to her lungs and said they sounded clear and she did not hear any heart murmur either. We were also so happy to hear that Emma now weighs 8.5 lbs!!!! She weighed 7.9 lbs at birth, dropped down to 7.1 lbs while in the hospital and left the hospital one week ago at 7.3 lbs. I knew she was a good eater but it is good to have the proof! She gained over a pound in one week. She is in the 95th percentile for her height at birth (another tall girl!) and 75th percentile for her weight.

Ryan's 18 month stats: weight: 23.1 lbs (50th percentile) length: 33 inches (90th percentile)

Here are a few pictures from our first week at home with our girls!