Samantha - One Week Old!

Samantha Ruth is finally here!! We are so, so in love with her and happy to be home and together as a family of four! There have been a couple small bumps in the road, but aside from that, this first week has gone AMAZINGLY well. I seriously couldn't wish for a sweeter, more cooperative toddler and easy baby!! (Knocking on wood BIG time haha!!) As with Vincent, I will do my best to do monthly updates for Samantha from here on out, although they might be a little bit late! It's definitely harder to find spare time with two kiddos.

Height/Weight: We saw the pediatrician on Wednesday (5 days old) to check on her weight, since she had a significant loss at the hospital. She was 6lbs 8oz at birth, dropped down to a smidge under 6 and is now back up to 6lbs 5oz! :D She goes back on the 28th for her 2 week well exam.

Daily: She is actually awake a good chunk of the day! Which probably explains why she sleeps as well as she does at night. Her routine is pretty simple. Eat, diaper change, awake time, eat, sleep and repeat. During awake time, we do tummy time on the mat in the living room and she enjoys watching her big brother play. I've been doing everything I can to include Vincent in her activities, so that he feels he is being helpful; he will bring me her diapers and wipes, her burp cloth and even puts her binky in her mouth! And that's a BIG deal for Vincent, since we are currently partway into the process of weaning him from his own binky. The older Samantha gets, the more she will be able to interact with Vincent and the more they can play and learn together.

Sleep: Holy moly. This girl knows how to sleep. I realize she is still a newborn and it could all change very quickly, but I have to set alarms throughout the night to wake her for feedings! She is awake a pretty decent amount of time during the day - she sort of just naps wherever and whenever right now. I keep her out in the living area as much as possible, so she gets used to her brother being a noisy Ned and learns to sleep through noise. She goes down in her bassinet at night around 10 or 11 and sleeps there until we are up for the day. 

Eating: Breastfeeding is going a lot better! During the first 24 hours, Samantha had a latch issue, which caused me to crack and bleed. Her latch was just not deep enough, because she'd gag if anything got too close to the back of her throat. When we tried to give her a bottle or a pacifier, she'd gag. Since we kept encouraging her to use the pacifier, per recommendation of one of her nurses at the hospital, her latch has actually improved!! Unless she is clusterfeeding, which she so far has only done during the day, she eats every 2-3 hours during the daytime and eats about every 4 hours at night. I feed her on demand, unless she hits the 3 hour mark during the day or the 4 hour mark during the night, in which case I wake her to eat. She burps REALLY well - I sit her up and she burps on her own almost every time. But she drinks fast, so I have to sit her up to burp often, otherwise she projectile vomits. 

Sizes: She is soooo teeny!! <3 She is swimming in newborn clothes. I am certain she'd fit in preemie perfectly, but we didn't want to bother buying that size, since she would grow out of it very quickly. It's hard to keep socks on her, because the smallest ones we have fall right off, except for the super long ones! We have a huge stash of newborn diapers, but may end up having to buy more in the end. I never would have thought she'd be this small, since I carried her much bigger than Vincent! I expected her to be at least half a pound heavier - not a whole pound less! I love how itty bitty she is. I kind of wish she would stay this size forever!

Milestones:

• First car ride on the way home from the hospital
• First kiss from big brother!

• First ride in the baby carrier and first time out on a walk!

• First smile (look at this photo - there's no way that's a gas smile!! :D)

• Umbilical cord came off on March 15th. It amazed me how early it came off, especially since Vincent's came off so late!

• Lifted up head on her own. Yes, you read that correctly. This girl is STRONG. Vincent didn't start lifting his head on his own until somewhere between 1 and 2 months. Samantha started lifting hers in the hospital!! It blows my mind.

That's it for this week! I so much look forward to continuing with monthly updates! :)