As I recall, I wrote a "Bleary-Eyed Blog" with Brett, so it's only fitting that I write one with Kaia.
The past 4 weeks have gone by, almost, in the blink of an eye. Days and nights have blended together and I've spent almost the entire time indoors. I get out a couple of days a week, but I've been pretty much here at home the whole time. In fact, I haven't been separated from Kaia girl at all. Since she's such an excellent nurser (as opposed to Brett, who we had problems with starting), I have tried to follow the lactation consultant's recommendations of solely breastfeeding for at least 3 weeks to establish a good record before we introduce the bottle. Since she eats CONSTANTLY, I need to be with her. We tried to give her a bottle a couple of nights ago, as Steve and I had a beer (my first adult drink in almost 10 months!), and she hated the bottle. I don't blame her, but we are going to have to get her used to it as I go back to work in a couple of short weeks.
Recovery has been much better than the first time around. After about a week, I would say I was about 75% (well, except sleep deprived), and almost 100% by almost 2 weeks after giving birth. Steve and I hit the zoo with the kiddos when she was 2 1/2 weeks, and I've been getting on the treadmill almost every day since then. I've also managed to get into my "fat" jeans a couple of days ago, and I have a goal of getting into the next smaller size by the time I see my doc at my 6 week appointment, which is about 2 1/2 weeks from now.
And, about the sleep deprivation....yeah. So, Kaia had a few amazing nights during her first 2 weeks, where she'd sleep 6 or 7 hour stretches at night. Not so much anymore. She goes to sleep around 10:30 and wakes around 2 or 2:30 (which is normal for a baby her age) to eat. The challenging part then is getting her back down to sleep after that. Some nights are easier than others. She'll drop right off and we can move her back pretty easily. And some nights, she ends up falling asleep in bed with us as we fall back asleep and we never get her back into the pack n play. She then eats again around 6:00 or so (regardless of where she is sleeping). We are working on trying to get her back into her own bed every night. I am super conscious when she's in bed with us to not have any covers near her, but it still worries me. Normally I'd be okay with this schedule, as I was with Brett, because I could sleep in with her. However, with a big brother who normally wakes between 7 and 7:30 I don't get that luxury. So coffee has become my friend.
Other than that, she's been a normal newborn...lots of sleeping and dirty diapers and eating (and when she is awake, 90% of the time she just wants to eat). Oh, and we finally found out that her hearing is normal. She had to have a second test, which we got at Riley last week, to confirm hearing in her left ear. The drama of even achieving that appointment could be a post in and of itself. But, her hearing is fine, so we have no reason to believe she isn't 100% healthy :).
Next blog I'll try to upload some cute Kaia pics. I need to get motivated to take some more...now off to take a nap :).
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