ellie's first week.

this is what happens when i turn my back for a second.  avery dumped her animals all over ellie and was happily playing with them on top of her.

i can't believe she's already a week and a half old already.  most of the time it seems like she's been with us loads longer than that.  i knew that this time would fly by, especially because this is such a busy season in general, but i also think that having a toddler to chase around has made the time go that much faster.  

my first day 'alone' with them.  charlie was back to work.  i'm still nervous for his first overnight trip.

avery loves to read to her and ellie's usually pretty into it if she's awake.

in general this first week having ellie has been so much easier than our first week with avery.  i think most of this is because we've done this before but also she's been a really easy baby so far.  (i'm praying that this continues).  she doesn't cry during diaper changes or baths or really at all unless she's hungry and i've made her wait too long.  but even when she does start crying she's pretty easily appeased by being held.  avery on the other hand screamed through diaper and outfit changes and baths.  they both did sleep a lot at this point.  i remember when avery was around a week old being worried that she was actually sleeping too much and ellie's been the same way.  

first time breastfeeding her.  did i mention how much better her delivery was than avery's?

sleepy baby + christmas tree = good night.

she's been eating really well and does well with eating every 3 hours.  the first night she was super sleepy and i literally could not wake her up to eat despite trying everything.  left to her own devices she seems to wake up every 3 to 3.5 hours at night and i think would go longer throughout the day if i let her but i'm trying to establish day as the time we eat and play and nights as the time for sleeping so i'll wake her every 3 hours, change her diaper and feed her every three hours throughout the day.  she's a lot like avery in that she doesn't eat for nearly the recommended feeding times.  she'll usually eat for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes a feeding and only on one side.  avery was the same way and she seemed to do just fine.  weight gain is always one of my worries because i've never wanted to deal with being pressured to supplement with formula.  i can tell that she's growing and i honestly have way more milk than she's eating so i know she's just full and done with eating.  i've been trying to avoid pumping because i don't want my body to get used to producing that extra milk.  i figure i'll deal with pumping later if i feel like it.  i never started with avery until she was 6 weeks old and this time since i'm not planning on returning to the office i feel no pressure to build up a freezer stash or introduce a bottle.

my three favorite people.

i was really lucky the first week because my mom was here with avery and charlie was also off of work.  basically there were lots of extra hands around which was really nice so i could just physically recover and also not worry too much about avery being entertained.  charlie and i both pushed to be released from the hospital after 24 hours.  my midwife was more than fine with it but the on call pediatrician only released us on the condition that we would follow up with our doctor the next day.  luckily i was able to get an appointment because we both wanted to go home pretty badly.  i think hospital beds are really uncomfortable and it's impossible to get any sleep anyway when you're trying to feed a newborn and you have people coming in to check your vitals and the baby's vitals every few hours.  the nurses were actually really great and tried to time their visits with her feedings but it's still so much better to be at home.  the first night at home i slept with her next to me which meant that i got so much more rest.  i also slept a good portion of the morning, too.  charlie does most of the diaper changes at night, too which is really helpful.  

trying to burp her. 

she's really into holding ellie. 

avery's been both really, really good with ellie and not so good at times.  overall she's really into her sister and i was impressed at how as soon as she was born she realized that ellie was her sister and now a part of our family.  we didn't really prepare for any of this ahead of time and i wasn't sure if she would actually grasp that concept.  she asks to hold her all the time, kisses her unprompted, tells her how cute she is:  "ellie so cute", and comforts her when she cries.  so she definitely cares about her and can be really sweet.  however, she definitely doesn't like when ellie actually needs something and therefore avery doesn't get the attention.  she'll hit her when i'm feeding her and sometimes for absolutely no reason at all.  i really think she just wants the reaction from charlie or i.  but it's been hard because i can't put ellie down anywhere within avery's reach unless i'm right there to make sure she'll be nice or move her if she isn't.  ellie's also not really into the moby or the ring sling, which would be good solutions.  i'm hoping that as she gets older she'll like being worn more and also that avery will grow out of the hitting phase.  

first sponge bath.

one of the worries that i had when i was pregnant was that i wouldn't love ellie as much as avery or that i would almost feel resentful of her for taking my time away from avery.  honestly, it was never an issue.  as soon as she was born i pretty much fell madly in love with her and if anything i've felt guilty that because i've been trying to play with avery when ellie doesn't need me i haven't spent nearly as much time holding and snuggling with her that i was able to do with avery.  i mean i know this is irrational and that she has all of her needs met and if anything she actually sleeps better on her own, but i still want to soak up these sweet newborn moments as much as possible because i know it's going to get so much harder.  

it was really such a nice week.  starting with a fast and easy labor and delivery that couldn't have gone any better to being able to come home and spend a few days with my mom before she left