2 week appt

so alex had her 2 week appt today & she's above her birth weight- hooray! she's 8lbs 6oz & that was aaafter a lovely poop & pee! woot!
she's also rockin' a lovely 22inches long- yay!

she's also still perfect :) next appt = 2 month checkup & dun dun dun...SHOTS! i think brandon is going to come so he can hold her while she screams- eeek.



she freaking loves her playmat- and i love that one piece! heh!

consignment store finds

thanks to the local (adorable) consignment store, i got a ton of loot for only $60!!! and considering that's how much the Belly Bandit cost (that i returned to said consignment store because i am FAR to short waisted) i feel like it's an even trade :)

the silver shoes are from the consignment store- the mocs are thanks to Target!

i loooove the little jeans- and the striped pants feel uber comfy.

she's wearing the 1 piece tomorrow (for her appt) easy on/easy off!

the most adorable bib- it's like a bandana...but not? :)

i'm not usually down with pink- but that jacket is freaking softer than anything!

um yeah- cutest. hat. EVER!!! freaking what?! and i LOVE the Zutano baby shirt- and that sweatshirt... ::squee::

hooray! let this be a lesson- there is no need to spend $20+ on one article of children's clothing- go to your local consignment store and have fun!!!!

2 weeks!

2 weeks postpartum: (yes, my hair is all "diana ross" up in here)

not too shabby! it'd probably be better if i had some self control- but come on, who else was going to eat the rest of the pumpkin bread? who i ask? seriously.

anyway.

alex managed to keep her adorable weiner shoes on the other day:

...for approx 3 hours or so while i was out & about-but the she decided to poop eeeeverywhere, so off they came- also, that cute little onsie is no more. seriously. half of it is stained yellow from her poo. nasty.

i can't believe she's 2 weeks already! she has her 2 week appt tomorrow so we'll see what she weighs & all that jaz- she must have gained something because her NB clothes are getting a littttle snug.

she's still doing fairly well sleeping wise- she does take about 1-2 hours to ACTUALLY go down at night- which has me dozing/crying in the glider till about 11:30-12am but once she does go down she's good for at least 3-4 hours. whew. she's been awake more during the day which i cool- i also try to keep her awake for brandon (poor guy, he misses her so much during the day) so yeah.

so all in all- things are well! it's nice & "fall-y" here so i'm going to dress alex all warm & snuggly this weekend & try & get some pictures- yay! hopefully we can get a few family pics (thank you camera timer)

:)

belly button!

so as i was hauling alex up & onto my shoulder, i hear a little "plink" and look down at the floor- dun dun dun:
someone lost her umbi cooooord! woot!


i grabbed it right before cessna did ::gag:: and promptly took a picture. i'll let the husband see it when he gets home & then into the trash it'll go!

how does something so nasty fall off of something so cute? case in point:

hmmmm....anyway.

alex decided to spend most of today AWAKE (shocking) so we had a good time "playing"- that equals her on her play mat & me staring at her- poor thing.

she did go to sleep about 2 hours ago so i made the husband's favorite dinner of all time:

kielbasa & potatoes. he's gonna be thrilled. i was going to make apple dumplings, but i'm missing about...all of the ingredients. so tomorrow.

and that's that! the husband will be home any minute now (yay) and that = operation day 1 home alone: completed!

House tonight & hopefully a baby that will wake up to eat, see her father & go back to sleep for the night!!!

updates/pictures- etc etc

soooo we left alex "alone" for the first time this weekend. we went to the fair on Sat for 2 hours & left her with my mother. it's so weird how sad i was to leave her! i knew we'd be back in no time but still- it helped that she was with my mom though. thankfully she'll be watching her when i go back to work so that helps alot.

anyway- we braved the fair, despite the rain, and ate more than can possibly be legal- the highlight? fried twinkies. OMG. want more. good times!

then we ran to pick up my nipple cream- and wow. that stuff is awesome. my nips feel so much better already- i haven't given alex the left nip since friday so i think i'll give it another day or 2 and then go for it. i'm a little gun-shy but meh!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

so- today is my first day home alone with alex- dun dun dun! brandon had to go back to the daily grind so we'll see how mommy does on her own.

it's 8:42am and i've managed to get dressed, eat, brush my teeth, feed alex, give her a bath, bath her, put her on her play mat & watch her pass out, throw in a load of laundry, do dishes, let the dogs out and STOP! and of course, update this thing :) not bad! i do miss having brandon here- it's fun to have him around & watch him hold/play with alex. but tis' life! he has next monday off (Colombus day) so that'll be fun!

anyway- so after going out to beakfast yesterday (with my in-laws & brandon's aunt/uncle) we went & bought a chest freezer so that we have somewhere to store all my milk:

ahhh! that's all from this past week! less than a week! i also bought another box of containers & a box of bags- the containers are getting to be too much so we'll give the bags a shot too.

then i made some pumpkin bread for brandon to take to work:

thank God the shortage has passed- that was rough!

then we watched the new family guy (not as funny- tsk tsk) and put alex down around 10:30ish (after she projectile vommed all over me & the couch- awesome) and i went to bed.

she's been doing fairly well at night. i got up @ 2am to pump & feed/change her. then she was back to sleep by 3:15ish. then brandon got up @ 5 & left for work @ 5:30 & she got up around 6:45. not bad. we'll still need to get a system in place, but it's only been a week. so we've got time :)

aaaand here are some pictures:

i'm going to assume that one day she'll stay awake long enough to appreciate this overpriced playmat...

eyes open for once! gaaah she's so cute! i love her!

<3

lactation consult

so breastfeeding has been going very well- the first day or so, getting her to latch on was almost impossible- i didn't know what i was doing & neither did she- but eventually we got it. we also used the bottle a few times.

after that, my milk has been INSANE! it came in on Monday morning & since then i am able to feed her MORE than enough and also bank close to a gallon of milk in the freezer....yes, almost a GALLON now! it boggles my mind that all that milk comes out of ME! nuts.

anyway- all was well except for my nipples. mainly my left one- the poor thing was so sore & tender & mangled. i mean, she would latch on & i would hold my breath & curl my toes for a good minute waiting for the pain to pass. it was aaaaweful. pumping wasn't bad, but she's a vicious latcher & it killed me every time.

so i talked to a nurse at the hospital who suggested that i ask my OB for a Triple Nipple Compound prescription. i guess this stuff is like gold for the nips. i also scheduled an appt with a Lactation Consultant.

i saw her on Fri and it was aaawesome! she watched Alex feed and said that her latch is "adequate"- this is because alex REFUSES to open too wide to latch on- but it's not bad enough that she'll destroy the nips- whew. she is, however, an AWESOME feeder with a very strong suck. the LC weighed her before & after a 10 min feeding and she gained 3 oz! she was very impressed & pleased. she said my milk supply is great & alex feeds awesome. however when she caught site of my poor left nip she looked pained- she suggested the Triple Nipple Compound as well & was quite happy to hear that i had already put in a request. YAY! she said that within 24 hours of using it, my poor nips will feel MUCH better. in the meantime she suggested that i give the left boob a break & simply pump from that side. since my right boob is pretty much fine, i've just been feeding alex on that side & pumping from both. whew!

she also said that there is NOTHING wrong with bottle & breastfeeding. it's ok to give the girls a break & feed her via bottle 1-2 times a day. fortunately, alex take the bottle & the boob just fine so that pleases me.

she also watch me pump for a minute & we determined that the 24mm soft breast flange was a TAD to small so i went & picked up some 27mm and i must say, even thought they're not soft cupped- they feel MUCH better.

so all in all, all is well! i can pump, feed & etc etc etc. i picked up the TNC (prescription) today and applied it after i fed/pumped. i'm going to give the left nip another day or so before i let Alex back at it- it should be pretty healed up by then.


so yeah! i HIGHLY suggest seeing an LC if you're having ANY problems/concerns with/about breastfeeding. they are so helpful & awesome!

one week old!

miss alex is 1 week old today! whew! time flies!


she's so freaking cute- gaaaah!!!


me on the other hand....yikes. i look rough.

AW'ing my breastmilk stash :)

and i know i like to see these:

1 week post partum. i think i'm going to get a Belly Bandit today to help tightn things up (hopefully)

i have more info, updates, etc- but i have to go. i'll finish later!