1 Week Old

Ada's already one week old.

She's already celebrated her first holiday.


She's already stolen her daddy's heart.


And I've already enjoyed my first beer in nine long months!


Now that I have something to photograph besides food, the cats, and myself . . . I can't get enough. Stephen's getting in on the action, too. His photo skills have definitely improved. I suppose this is our last progress photo for my pregnancy.

Mommy and Ada on Ada's due date:


How I'm Feeling (Physically): Birth and the aftermath have surprised me in many ways. I knew it would be rough. But wow. I have many stitches, but I didn't ask how many because I didn't want to feel discouraged. I'm finally starting to feel at least somewhat back to normal again despite expected aches and pains. I took a mile walk yesterday that I originally thought would be two or three. Humbling, but it was great to get out of the house for 20 minutes. Slowly but surely, I'll get back at it. On the good side: I'm already back up to doing 35 pushups! It paid to keep up with upper-body workouts.

My body's shape/size has also surprised me in the week since Ada was born. I am only 8 pounds away from my start weight, and I already fit back into many of my old clothes -- even pants. Definitely not all, though. But it wasn't like I was expecting to. The clothes that do fit definitely don't look the same. Still, I didn't realize how quickly my body would at least somewhat resemble its old self. However, I've been way more focused on my body's new role as a feeding center to focus much on my looks.


How I'm Feeling (Mentally): Baby blues are no joke. Soon after I got out of the hospital, the mood swings began. I would say I have at least one minor meltdown once a day. Sometimes a major one. Reasons why span from feeling super happy about having a baby to worrying if she's eating enough. Obsessing about never feeling normal again to any other random concern that happens to cross my mind. The crying comes out of nowhere. I'm usually very level-headed, so it's different. Stephen's been great, though. We're both making sure to give each other time to get some mental space and clarity.

I've also had a lot of trouble focusing on anything besides being home, Ada, and Stephen. I think we're all just adjusting. But even simple tasks -- like responding to text messages or emails -- are seemingly impossible. I'm hoping to get better at functioning in all ways soon. For now, I feel like this is what I need.


How Ada's Feeling: We ended up going to her doctor appointment earlier than expected this week because she yanked off her umbilical cord at six days old. It looked pretty nasty, but wasn't infected . . . so we got on with the rest of her evaluation. When she was born, she weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces, but she lost nearly 10% of her body weight and left at 6 pounds, 3 ounces. One of the nurses scared me by mentioning we might need to supplement her with formula, but our pediatrician disagrees.

She gained 5 ounces in 4 days -- all from mom-made food. She even nursed during the wait for her appointment!


Though she seems to be eating like a champ, we're having trouble because she won't alert us when she's hungry (or wet/etc., for that matter). We've had to set alarms to check her every 2-3 hours to feed. Usually if we rouse her, she's OK. I guess we're still getting into the groove. She was also jaundiced when we left the hospital, but that seems to have resolved nicely. We're looking forward to being able to cut her fingernails because she's scratching her face to shreds, poor thing.

Nicknames: Buddha, Duck Face
Favorite time of day: Bath time.
Favorite type of outfit: Sleepers and sacks. Nothing that has to slip over the head.
Bad habits: Spitting up after every meal or refusing to burp.
Hours mom/dad are sleeping at night: Around 5-6. Broken up into 2-1/2 to 3 hour segments.
New activity for the week: Tummy time. Last photo, I promise!


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