Two weeks old

Time surely does fly. It's been two weeks since our little Brenna entered this world. That's half-way to a month?! I mean, seriously...is there any way to slow this growing up process down? I know she's still only two weeks, but it seems when you have a first child as evidence of how quickly the time goes (Brooke's already 3!), you seem to appreciate the second ones' days even more.

So, for a little update on our lives...

Brenna is doing well. We actually had to make an unexpected trip to the doctor's office yesterday, though. It appears she has come down with a cold. :( Already? Her first illness...at two weeks. We took her in only because the congestion/wheezing sounded really bad and we wanted to make sure her lungs were ok. So, the doctor checked her over and said she appeared to be doing ok and in fact, just has a little cold. He recommended to have her sleep elevated (a pillow underneath her bassinet mattress) and maybe a humidifier to help with the congestion. She had a slight fever, though they don't even really call it a fever at 99.1 at her age. And otherwise, it's just a wait it out kinda thing. I just hate to see her coughing and appearing like she's having difficulty breathing. (notice I said appearing....she really can breath ok). However, we ended up taking her back in today b/c it had sounded like the congestion had gotten worse and she seemed even more lethargic. But he assured us those horible growling-like sounds we were hearing was ok and she may have a cold or may even have a tad bit of reflux. So again, we'll wait and see how she does. And it looks like tonight she'll be sleeping in her carseat or her swing (to keep her in a raised position insead of flat on her back).

Otherwise, so far it hasn't interfered with her willingness and ability to eat. She is nursing well. She is a tiny bit lethargic but we think that's due to the cold. So sometimes we have to rouse her to eat, but once she's awake, she latches on and does well on both sides.

She seems to be a content baby for the most part. She already sleeps well at night. If I feed her at say 11, she'll sleep till 2 or 3, eat, then go back to sleep till 6 (ish). So we really aren't too sleep deprived. Of course, again, this could be due to the cold/reflux and we may be in for a harsh awakening when she gets over it. :) But even when she does wake up and want to eat, she does not do the screaming baby "FEED ME NOW!" kinda thing. She just starts to rustle around, skirming, etc. And I feed her...she's fine...and all is well. We really have yet to make her too mad. Only during the beginning of a bath (at the shock of it) and during some diaper changes.

Speaking of diapers, she is wearing cloth diapers - for now! I'm really not fond of them for ME, but they have helped to heal a severe diaper rash for the last week or so, so we are grateful to the friend who let us borrow them for now. We hope to put her back in disposables after she's completely in the clear and no longer red. And we're almost there. Good news is she doesn't appear to be bothered too much by her sore little bottom. Not near as much as we are! It just looks sooo bad for such a tiny little bottom.

Her weight at the doctor yesterday was 7lbs, 12 0z. Now...this could be a little concerning in that at 2 wks she should be back to birth weight (8/4). But there are a lot of factors involved that are keeping me from freaking out. Her early discharge from the hospital failed to get us a good discharge weight. Plus at every visit, she has been weighed on a different scale. And if the difference is an ounce or two here or there, that can start to add up and make a difference. Today at the doctor (on the same scale as yesterdy) she was 7lbs, 13 oz, which is very appropriate - to gain an ounce a day. Hopefully she'll continue to gain well from here on out.

Her personality? Well, she is only two weeks old, but already we are figuring things out about her. She likes to be swaddled....arms out. She is not taking a pacifier and I fear she'll be a thumb sucker since she's already 'found' her hand and is sucking on it profusely. She's gotten her thumb close a couple times so I just *know* it's coming. I prefer a pacifier, but what can you do?

She also likes to be held in the upright position. But really just likes to be held in general. She's loving the Moby Wrap and I am too. She's very secure in there yet I have free hands to get things done! Again, she doesn't really cry much and sleeps A LOT. Is she a content baby or is it cuz she's a little sick? Either way we're not complaining. We like happy babies! She likes her new swing that we just got the other day as a present. She really didn't like anything else we had put her in to this point. But this new swing does look pretty comfy. :)

She makes a TON of noises. Grunting, whimpering, whining. It's so cute. Brooke never made this much noise. And it makes us laugh often.

As for Brooke, she still loves her little sister. She 'helps' change diapers. She 'helps' carry her in the carseat. She 'helps' give her a bath. And she wants to hold her an awful lot. Yesterday, she held her through an entire movie. (we had rented Alvin and the Chipmunks) When the movie was over, she finally said, "Mommy, I would like you to hold her now." After I picked Brenna up off of her lap, Brooke said, "My legs are soo tired now!" LOL
All in all she is still being a great big sister and we have no complaints. She is so proud and wants to show her off to everyone. We couldn't ask for more.

And for some new pictures....

PS - And as for me...well, my blood pressure is still hanging out pretty high, but otherwise I'm doing great! I'm not real sore at all any more and can do most things by myself. I'm still a little leary of carrying something too heavy (like Brenna in the carseat) and my incision is starting to get real itchy (a sign of healing right?). But otherwise, I'm doing wonderfully! I wish my blood pressure would come down soon...I keep monitoring it daily, but apparently this can be a common problem postpartum and hopefully it will come down soon.