Tuesday, January 21, 2014

1 Month Postpartum

Happy 1 month old, Elise!  I can't believe it has already been this long yet at the same time when I think about the past 4 weeks, a lot has happened...

Elise has had 2 doctor appointments since her original newborn checkup.  At birth she was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20.5" long.  At her 2 week appointment she was 9 lbs 1 oz and 21" long (I think).  Today she is 10 lbs 13 oz and 22.5" long.  I guess this leads me to the topic of breastfeeding... baby girl loves to eat! ;)  When we were in the hospital and for the first few days after we came home, we supplemented a little bit with some formula.  Once my milk came in (holy milk, batman!) Elise was all about breastfeeding.  She's a bit of a breastmilk snob now.  Jason has tried giving her the formula bottles when I'm out running errands but she doesn't want anything to do with them.  I think they have even turned her off of bottle feeding in general because he has tried giving her milk that I've pumped and she doesn't like drinking it from a bottle.  It might just be the bottle itself, though, so we might have to try different brands to see what she likes.  Anyway, I breastfed Logan and we overcame many obstacles (2 open heart surgeries & stays in the hospital, teething, growth spurts, working full-time, etc.) so feeding Elise has been a breeze in comparison.  My supply is pretty solid right now so I've been trying to pump at least once a day to build up a little supply in the freezer.

I guess I should backtrack a bit to our time in the hospital and updates from labor and whatnot.  Since I got an episiotomy, I had to be stitched up.  I don't know how many stitches I got but I think they have healed/dissolved because I haven't felt them or been in any pain for a couple of weeks.  I had contractions for about a week after delivery, especially when nursing but nothing since.  The postpartum bleeding lasted about 3.5 weeks but has pretty much stopped.  All the swelling and water retention from pregnancy went away within the first 2 weeks.  I almost have all the feeling back in my right index and middle fingers from the carpal tunnel I developed in the third trimester.  I thought it would go away immediately (along with the swelling) but it didn't. 

I gained a total of 36 lbs during the pregnancy.  When I weighed myself at 3 weeks postpartum I had lost 37 lbs.  Thank God for breastfeeding ;).  I'm wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans again but my belly is still larger than it was before.  My weight seems to have been redistributed to different parts of my body :P.

My hormones have normalized a bit... I did have some postpartum blues during the first week but they went away quickly.  During that time, I really wanted to go back and stay in the hospital. I think it was a combination of feeling so grateful for their support of my vbac and them waiting on me hand and foot ;).  Things were just easier there.  Once we came home, reality set in so I had some mixed emotions.  Emotionally I'm pretty cool now :).  My hair is starting to dry out, though, so I'm getting it chopped this weekend.  My skin has been fairly dry too, which is a welcome change from the usual oil slick.

All-in-all things have been going well.  Elise is a great burper so she hasn't had the bellyaches that Logan had.  As a result, she sleeps much better than he did.  She's still a baby, though, so we have a lot of room for improvement in the sleep area :).  We all love her like crazy, especially Logan.  He just adores his sister, "baby Halise" :).