A Tuesday in July

I gave myself a whole month of just soaking in major baby-ness but it’s time for a formal introduction.

Early on a Tuesday, exactly one month ago, we set off to the hospital with the surreal notion that we were on the way to life’s biggest moment. I don’t know when I’ll be ready to sit down and plug out the whole birth story, but our trip to the Birthing Center that day resulted in this . . .

 

And this . . .

 

And then this . . .

  

And be still my heart, there was this . . .

Do you see the amazement in her eyes? So. Dang. Precious. 

 

Miss Annie Layne was born at 745, weighing in at 8 pounds and 6 ounces and measuring 19 inches. Although, to be fair, she was unnamed at birth and for a few hours after. While her birth was nowhere near as exciting as her sister’s, it was far more pleasant. However, the day was not without incident or complications either. Again, details later. It still, for the most part, was a big improvement with our previous birthing experience. And the talk of the entire day was her size. From the first comment the doctor made before pulling her out to the conversation that went into choosing her name. Annie’s size shattered the assumption that I make tiny babies. Where her sister was the tiniest peanut in the birthing wing at 6 pounds, Annie was a total bruiser with 2 pounds and 4 ounces on her big sister. Opposites. Already. Oh except that they look identical once you get passed the extra chub on the new one.

The first month has flown by at record pace. I swear the first month with Amelia felt like an eternity and this time, it’s felt like a blink of an eye. I’ve learned that there’s a lot of value in the ease of already being a mother with the second child. That transition into Motherhood adds a level of complexity and fear that weighs the first experience down to a grind. That said, I’ve also learned that I completely blacked out on Amelia’s first month. I SOOOO forgot how hard it all is in the beginning. Figuring I was an old pro at breast feeding, I didn’t give it the attention necessary. I’d forgotten how much effort it takes in the beginning, physical and mental. Add my confidence with a baby that came out with a much stronger suck than her tiny sister and you’ve got bleeding, cracked nipples in less than 24 hours. Holy hell, I can’t even describe what it takes to continue letting your baby attack you when you are in such pain. Wincing doesn’t even begin to cover what your body does as that baby gets near you. And someone please tell me again how women got the rap as the ‘weaker sex?’ Anyway, that was something I totally got to avoid the first time and struggled with the second go-round.

Other than that, things have gone pretty smoothly. . . so far. Annie, having so much more meat on her little bones, has been a longer sleeper than Amelia was. When we brought Amelia home from the hospital, she was so tiny that we had to wake her every couple hours to eat for two weeks. It was dreadful. Annie has slept in 4-5 hour increments since we brought her home, and only getting up once on a typical night. Amazing! While that is really impressive for such a new baby, I’m pretty tired from not sleeping for longer than a few hours at a time for a month now. It really does start to pick on you as time accumulates.

Which makes me wonder why I’m writing this blog when I should be sleeping!

There’s still so much to catch up on, but for now, I’ll wrap things up so I can hit the sack.

 

Annie Layne 1 week

 

2 weeks

 

3 weeks

 

One Month!

 

At one month, Annie is over 10 pounds (guessing) and already passed 21 inches! She was born big and has only continued gaining chubs rolls and length. She literally looks like a spitting image of Amelia at about 2.5 months or so. It’s so crazy! She’s been able to pick up her head and turn it to the other side since the day she was born and can now hold it up for intervals. She holds it up more than not. She has begun to smile in the last week or so, reserved with a half grin most of the time but the full gummy smile every once in a while. She has baby little baby acne breakouts and has started to enjoy bath time. She sleeps in the car (halle-frickin-lujah!), and loves to eat. Annie absolutely adores hanging around outside and prefers moving about over sitting and rocking (to the disappointment of my back). She loves her sister’s voice and can luckily sleep through the incessant background of tiny voiced-chatter and regular meltdowns. The baby has grown into 0-3 month clothes and may be pushing out of them in the next couple weeks. Annie, has, to my potential heart break, showed some symptoms of reflux or digestive issues. Nothing super decisive or convincing, but there are signs here and there. The poor baby also has paranoid parents who have no ‘normal’ as a comparison. We are however, eternally hopeful.

 

Annie, at one month old, is pretty cool.