Savannah Jane by the Week: Week 1

Happy ONE week old birthday to our second little princess! Time is already flying by sooo fast!! I can't believe it. I'm scared I am going to blink and our sweeties are going to be 16!

(I know this post is late by quite a bit-- I am quite frustrated with blogger as I had the entire post written and was just waiting to post until I had time to add pictures-- when I went back 1/2 of the post was missing so I have been spending some time filling in the gaps. Please forgive me!)

May 26-June 2

Here is what we have been up to the past week:

Spending countless hours GAZING into this beautiful little girls eyes.
Examining every inch of her tiny little being- every peach fuzz on her shoulders and arms, every tiny wrinkle on her forehead and knee, her tiny little (big) hands and feet and the sweet wrinkles in them from being in fluid for so long, her tiny little fingernails that curl over the tips of her fingers and her itty bitty toenails, her bright white eye lashes, her gummy grins in her sleep, watching her nurse, watching her cry, and watching her sleep.  Oh and changing quite a few diapers! (I think she had about 15 dirty diapers in our short 2 1/2 day stay at the hospital!)

Stats:
We came home from the hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday she went to the doctor-- she wasn't even a week old but she had gained one ounce since leaving the hospital.  She was 6lbs 12oz (34th%), 21 inches long (98th%), and her head circumference was 34.5cm (59th%)- she checked out perfectly!! We went mainly as a precautionary visit since Raleigh Grace had such bad jaundice the doctor in the hospital suggested we go in early.  Savannah Jane checked out perfect- no jaundice! (He levels in the hospital were a three the first day and a 5 the second day.) The doctor was not worried at all at her appointment. (She did have a small skin tag on the left side of her chest but he said he would just keep an eye on it - it came off the next day.

Milestones:
It seems like everyday she is a little more alert than the day before!

Feeding:
She has been a great nurser since day one.  She is totally a natural.  The second day of her life I got a little nervous because she would not nurse to save her life... the lactation consultant came in right after I had been trying for 30 minutes or so and she told me it was okay, and not to stress... she just was too sleepy to nurse.  Sure enough an hour or so later she ate like a champ!  My milk came in a couple of days after we got home- I was shocked that happened since I was still nursing Raleigh Grace (through my entire pregnancy and birth).  God has totally fascinated me with how the body works and I am so happy I didn't give up nursing just because I was pregnant.  Right after delivery, all of my milk turned in to colostrum (I could tell because its really yellow in color and thicker in consistency)-- RG didn't seem to mind the change one bit and obviously SJ knew nothing different.  When my milk came in it was very similar to how it came in with RG-- I was very full and a little sore.  I was nervous I was going to have over supply issues due to two nursing and because I was sooo full and soo sore for a day or two.  I didn't pump (even though I probably should have- K even tried to get me to several days) any and by a day or two I was back to "normal" with no pain.  I had quit feeling a "let down" several months or a even a year ago with RG but that is back.  My body tells me when its time to nurse again.   I guess I could do a separate post on tandem nursing and why I chose to do what I do...I'll stop here for now (if you have questions feel free to shoot them my way.) :-P
Basically, Savannah Jane is a champ at nursing. She nurses about every 2-3 hours during the day and about 3-4 hours at night.  I nurse her only on one side and for about 10 minutes and she is done.

Sleep:
Sleep. I love sleep. Savannah Jane loves sleep. We are both happy campers right now... I know it probably won't last forever but I seriously have NO complaints here.  The first three nights in the hospital we sent Savannah Jane to the nursery and they would bring her back about every 3 hours to nurse.  The first night we got home I set an alarm to wake me up in case she didn't wake up on her own.  In the hospital they stress so hard that its mandatory that you nurse them every two to at least 3 hours.  My alarm went off three hours after I had fed her last and baby girl was so fast asleep!  I felt bad waking her but I knew she needed to eat.  I tried for a good 30 minutes to wake her up in anyway I knew possible minus unswaddling her.  I was not about to do that and get her so riled up she wouldn't go back to sleep.  After 30 minutes of being unsuccessful at waking her I decided to lay her back down.  An hour later she woke up, nursed well and went right back to sleep.  On average I would say she wakes up about every three hours and goes right back to sleep with no problem! I love that about her, it makes for a happy semi-rested mamma and happy baby! During the day she sleeps great too. She almost always falls asleep with her mouth wide open and sometimes it closes after she has been asleep for a little bit she closes it but its just too cute.  I asked K's mom (who is a neonatal nurse practitioner) if her nose might be stopped up and she said that newborns only know how to breathe through their noses- even if their mouth is open... she proceeded to push SJ's little jaw shut and sure enough she was still breathing ha!  Apparently, if a newborn's nose is closed even when their mouth is open they think they are suffocating and try for air through their nose (I found that very interesting :) ).    I had forgotten how MUCH babies sleep the first few weeks. I LOVE the sleepy stage soooo much. I love watching her sleep! She is seriously so precious! God is so amazing!

Clothes:
We have several adorable newborn outfits that we have tried to put on her and some 0-3 month gowns... we put them on her the few nights we were home and they literally swallowed her! Mom went out and bought a couple of preemie gowns that fit her perfectly! Obviously, she is in newborn diapers as well ;)

Behavior:
Sleepy, oh so sleepy! But don't let that fool you.  When sweet girl is awake she is SO awake. She is alert and so happy! Her eyes are SO big and so dark right now. Almost black even.  I love her little "squeaks" as daddy says... he calls her "squeaky!"

Traits:
Dark dark eyes- almost black
Dark brown hair in the back of her head and blonde blonde on top. :) White eyebrows and lashes :)

Favorite Moments:
All of them! I had tons typed up before blogger decided to fail me and delete 1/2 my post...

Most Challenging:
Just adjusting to having two under 19 months. Mornings are the hardest- trying to get both girls up, nursing both of them, and just being utterly tired until after noon. ha! Getting RG down for a nap is sometimes challenging since I have another baby that needs attention but luckily my mom and sister have been here and have been an AMAZING help!

Looking Forward to: everything

First's: everything