Eleanor, Week 1

This tiny girl is just the most precious thing. She is sweet-natured. She cries only when hungry, and sometimes during diaper changes. Otherwise, she sleeps, she eats, she snuggles. She loves to be held. She smiles all the time. Some say they're just gas smiles, but I beg to differ. I don't know about you, but gas tends to make me do anything but smile - wouldn't it be the same for a baby? Her smiles usually come after a feeding; she's drowsy, her eyes are closed, and this little grin blips across her face ever so briefly. It's like she's dreaming of good, sweet things. 

A recap of our past week:

friday

It was a wild ride! Thrown out into the bright lights of a delivery room, into the arms of the person she listened to and moved within for nine months. She cried for a good 10 minutes. She nursed within 30 minutes of her birth. And then she slept and slept and slept. It was so hard to get her to wake up for feedings. Nonnie and D-dad, Aunt Shell and Uncle Nick, and of course Avery came to welcome baby Eleanor. Uncle Dane and Aunt Brittany arrived later in the evening as well as Luke's mom. Avery's first impression was priceless: Avery climbed up on the bed, looked at Eleanor, and whispered, "Oh wow!" She then saw my tube of chapstick on the table and exclaimed, "Oh look! Orange one! Ooh chapstick!" So much for her new baby sister. Diaper changes were an ordeal - Luke did the first one, and she managed to poop 3 more times during the change. He was scrambling for wipes for a good 10 minutes. Longest diaper change ever, while I laughed and laughed watching them. I was on an adrenaline rush; Luke slept most of the day.

saturday

More sleeping, more eating, a pooping machine. The nurses make you feel like a bad mother if you aren't feeding every 2-3 hours, but she was still so sleepy and hard to wake up. I did my best, but feeds would be 5 minutes long before she'd conk out again. Nonnie and D-dad returned with Aunt Shell and Uncle Nick. Luke's mom returned with Avery, and we got some more time with Aunt Brittany and Uncle Dane. Aunt Haley, Uncle David and Aunt Julie, and our friends Judy, Shana, and Crystal all came to visit. We also had a hearing test done, and while they usually take 30 minutes to an hour to perform, Eleanor passed it in ten minutes, and passed both ears simultaneously, which indicated that her brain was multi-tasking (a big feat for a newborn). The gal conducting the test said that she's tested over 300 babies, and only 8 had ever done that before Eleanor. Way to go, Smart Girl!!

sunday

Quiet, peaceful day. Sara came to officially greet Eleanor in a more civilized setting than the L&D room. After that, it was just the 3 of us at the hospital the rest of the day, waiting to be discharged. Discharge took an EXTREMELY long time because our pediatrician was held up, our nurse went on a lunch break, they only had one nurse who was taking patients down after being discharged, and then ultimately it was our own nurse who did it because the other one was too busy. Home at last, welcomed by a roast in the crock pot and Nonnie and Aunt Shell and Avery. 

monday

We survived our first night at home! Nonnie here all week during the day. I slept and rested and fed Eleanor. Avery was intrigued by her baby sister, but usually only when Eleanor was crying. Then it was immediate concern and statements like, "Want to go see her! Baby Eleanor is crying! Baby, what happened?!" Not too much jealousy on Avery's part. 

tuesday

Same as Monday, but with a very rough night preceding. Eleanor is a fan of the cluster feed and partying at night. 

wednesday

Our first outing! Nonnie, Avery, and I took Eleanor to her first doctor's appointment. She weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz, which is four ounces above her birth weight. Astonishing! The doctor laughed and said they like to see babies back to their birth weight by two weeks post-delivery. Eleanor apparently never lost (the doc said she had gained 0.1% in the hospital), and that I must have some Blue Bell, top quality, should donate it to third world countries kind of milk. This coupled with her amazing results on the hearing test are giving us big egos, making us think our daughter is a genius or something since she is so "advanced". Hehe.

thursday

Newborn photos done by my talented friend Erin. When we did these with Avery, she managed to poop or pee on every.single.item we placed her on. Eleanor was much much kinder to Erin's photography props. Avery got to run around Erin's fabulous backyard wonderland of toys during the photoshoot. Much appreciated! Lots of naps for me and Eleanor, and then we had our best night yet. 

friday

Eleanor and I got to sleep in until 9:45 (after being up a couple times in the night, of course). A good, lazy day, where both kids were happy. Eleanor had two periods of alertness for about an hour each today - her longest yet. We made it through the first week!