Photo Shoot Attempt

They say the optimal window for newborn photography is 10-14 days. Well that time came and went about a week ago! Its so hard to sit down and take proper photos when you're the actual sleep-deprived, sweaty, leaking, hormonal mama. So I didn't get to it until 22 days after her birth and even then I didn't have nearly as much patience and gave up after about 20 minutes (Mama needs her rest!!).

This week has been pretty good. Indie is taking 2-3 hour naps during the day/night, which means I'm not getting much sleep but I'm hanging in there. I'm thinking of doing a post on her schedule soon for fellow babywise mamas. I've googled "Babywise 3 Weeks Schedule" several times this week and there definitely aren't enough posts out there detailing typical schedules. Maybe I can help change that!

Heidi's Teepee

When I was pregnant we decided that with a new baby on the way, it was time to get Heidi a big girl bed and get her crib ready for the new baby. Unfortunately, no matter how many cool beds we looked at, Heidi was not buying it. She really didn't want to move out of her crib. She would act really sad whenever we talked about it and would plead with us to maybe let her and the new baby share a crib. This broke our heart. So we decided we needed to get creative. One day I was looking at a restoration hardware catalog and noticed they had the cutest teepees. I showed them to Heidi and she instantly fell in love and started begging for a teepee. So I talked to Austin about it and we both decided that this might be the way to get Heidi out of her crib. So we ordered one. We ended up getting one custom made from a company called Banana J Creations in Australia. We would have gone with the restoration hardware one, but it wasn't big enough for her crib mattress. The one fits her crib mattress easily inside and is even big enough to go over a twin bed later on if we want. It was a little pricey after shipping all the way from Australia, but Heidi adores her teepee and has long since forgotten about her crib. Her room is still a work in progress but we really love this addition and so does she! I especially love the twinkle lights. Makes her room so romantic!

Two Weeks Of Indie Scarlett

Indiana is 2 weeks old. I forgot how quickly time goes when you are severely sleep deprived and drugged up all the time (c-section narcotics!). 

Here is a little Indiana update:

Girl loves to cuddle. She is not a huge fan of being put down. I am starting to put her in her crib for naps and while she is slowly learning to accept the fact that this is where I expect her to sleep, she much prefers my arms and chest. I can't blame her, I am equally a fan of our cuddle sessions, however, I know this is not something I can keep up long term (carrying her 24/7). So I am following the old adage: "Start as you mean to go on" and trying to get her comfortable in her crib, before I start a habit that will be emotionally traumatizing to break later on. We are on a 3 hour cycle so far. This consists of feeding her, trying to play with her, watching and waiting for drowsy signs, and then taking her up to her crib, cuddling with her just a little bit until I see her starting to doze and then putting her in her crib (drowsy, but not all the way asleep). About half the time she will go straight to sleep, but the other half she will start to fuss. I give her about 5-10 minutes of fussing to see if she will settle by herself before I go in and comfort her and most of the time she will, but occasionally she will get hysterical and start screaming. I always laugh to myself when she is hysterical but as soon as I pick her up she takes one deep breath and calms down. All she wants is mama. Its a little sad, but I have to keep reminding myself she will be a much happier baby overall if I give her the gift of learning good sleeping habits. 

She is still very sleepy and I'm pretty sure she has her days and nights mixed up. During the day between naps it is difficult to get her wide awake. Even when she is hungry she rarely has enough energy to throw a proper fit, its always just mild fussing. As soon as I put the nipple in her mouth she is soothed and it isn't long before her eyes are closed and she is breathing deeply. During the night. however, she is much more alert between feedings. I remember in the womb she was most active at night, around 11-2 and this is still true today. Its a little rough in the middle of the night when she is so alert and I'm waiting for her to get drowsy, but I'm hanging in there. When I'm desperate I just bring her back into bed with me or prop her in her stroller bassinet in my room. I'm hoping that this process will reverse as she gets older, the only advice I've been able to find so far is to make sure she stays on her 3 hour schedule during the day, that way her longest stretches can be at night. Its surprisingly hard to mind the clock and not to push a feeding out 15 - 30 minutes when she is happy asleep and I'm busy doing something, but it will be worth it if it fixes this day/night confusion. 

Indiana has had a couple baths now and I'm happy to say she doesn't appear to mind them as much as most newborns do. She is relatively calm throughout which is great because I've been doing them in the sink which is always a little tricky. Can't be bothered to get that giant baby bath tub out of storage in the garage. 

I'm pretty sure Indie has her daddy's mouth/lips. I love it because they look super pouty when she is sleeping and makes for the cutest photos. Austin has a great smile so I'm hoping she gets that too. When I compare photos of Heidi and Indie as newborns I don't see alot of similarities, but one thing I do see in common are their super expressive facial expressions. Many a picture has been ruined by grumpy looking facial expressions, most commonly by a furrowed brow. I've been told that I wear my heart on my sleeve too, so I guess they are getting that from me. 

Well thats it for now. Check back in soon! 

The Birth of my Second Child

I am happy to announce that our second daughter has arrived! I am currently almost two weeks postpartum and finally able to sit down and write about her. 

Indiana Scarlett arrived by scheduled C-section on September 23rd at 2:30 p.m. weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and measuring 19 1/2 inches long. I know every mother thinks their child is adorable, but Indie is seriously the cutest newborn I have ever seen! We are head over heels for her. 

I didn't get to take any quality photos of Indie in the hospital because I was in too much pain to even think about picking up my camera, but I do have a couple of cell phone shots from those first few days. 

Gorgeous, right?

The Drs said my surgery went well, but this c-section was so much harder for me than my first. Their idea of pain management was quite different from my last c-section and didn't give me nearly enough drugs to keep me comfortable. So that was kind of a bummer, but the pain has gotten better now so I'm happy about that. They said I hardly lost any blood which is great because I was really worried about that with my anemia. 

The next day we had Austin's mom bring Heidi to the hospital to meet her baby sister. Heidi didn't know why she was going to the hospital, only that we had a surprise for her. When she got to our room the first thing she noticed was that her grandma Gigi was there. She excitedly assumed this was her surprise and ran across the room to give her a hug. When she turned around she noticed I was holding something. "Is that baby Indie?" she asked excitedly. When I told her yes, the first words out of her mouth were "She is sooo pretty! She is sooo cute!" and then she asked if she could sing Indie a lullaby. After that she lost interest and started asking to play with the Iphones of every single person in the hospital room. 

Even though I was in alot of pain we were in a hurry to get out of the hospital, so we asked if we could leave after the mandatory 2 day stay and our wish was granted and home we went! 

I'm not gonna lie, the weeks following my c-section births have been some of the hardest of my life, but it is so worth it. I don't know why they say that we are the weaker sex because it definitely does not seem that way after all that we endure during childbirth and the weeks thereafter. This phase of parenthood is brutal! But it is also so sweet. Indiana is such a cuddler. She does not like to be far from me! Somehow she can tell even if I am more than a few feet away from her. I try putting her in a bassinet next to my bed and she wont have it! She wants to be either right next to me or on top of me. Now that I know how fast this phase goes I'm finding it much harder to put her down and let her have some space. This girl is practically glued to me! I kind of love it, but also a little worried about creating habits that will be hard to reverse later on. I never thought I could ever co-sleep but I have to admit she has been sleeping in our bed. What am I doing?! Losing my mind over here! Now if you'll excuse me I have a newborn to cuddle with :-)