7 Weeks - All Smiles

Another 2 weeks have flow by. Reese is smiling a bunch and has been starting to make new cooing sounds along with her smiles. She's happy most of the time, but when she's hungry she cries so hard she gets hoarse. Her neck is getting really strong, and so is her grasp. Raegan really likes it when Reese "holds" her finger. Whenever I'm driving she's trying to get Reese to hold her hand, very cute. Reese still nurses nonstop in the evening (she's getting very chubby), but only gets up once a night YAY. I am definitely not complaining, very lucky and happy to be getting sleep. Bedtime can be challenging when Justin is at work and both kids are up. Once Reese is a little older and her schedule is more predictable i.e. asleep before Raegan's bedtime it "should" get easier. 

We are headed down to the Cardiff beach house in a week for 10 days of vacation, very excited to get out of Riverside for a little bit. Not sure if it'll be relaxing, but it'll be fun!

Hello

Just hanging out wondering why mom's always holding that rectangular thing in front of my face.

Striking a pose

Gah again? How embarassing

Chubby smiles

Post bath, feeling good

Working on our coordination, leg kicks and arm swings. She occasionally hits herself in the face

Lounging at playgroup

Ortho Resident playgroup new additions

Hanging with Dad

5 Weeks

Reese is still sleeping great & continuing to plump up. I feel a bit guilty that my 5 week old will sleep up to 6/7 hours at night, but I will take it while I can, this will not last forever.

She's starting to lose her hair and has some baby acne and a few rashes from milk getting stuck in her neck rolls...still very cute and fun to snuggle. She squeaks/grunts a lot while sleeping and smiles, which I love.

I had forgotten about newborn poop blow-out up the back and out the legs, Reese has reminded me. She still has a fussy period in the evening where she nurses about every hour. I think she is tanking up for the night and her long stretch of sleep.

This is what she looks like at 3 am when I'm changing her diaper. Sometimes it takes a while to wake her up...

Sibling snuggles. Raegan is starting to warm up to her & watches over her in the car if she is crying.

Another action packed 3am diaper change

Raegan "me hold baby Reese"

Checking out her toes...

Big Yawn

Sleep Smiles

3 Weeks - Chubbin Up

The last 2 weeks I have been mostly on my own with the girls. Things seem to be going pretty well. Everyone did have a mild cough/cold for a few days, which actually made the girls sleep a bit more. Raegan keeps requesting that I put Reese back in the bouncer & cries when I pick her up, so we are working on it slowly. She seems to just want more snuggle time with me, which is what I thought would happen. I feel a bit bad about how much TV/cartoons gets watched right now, but Reese eats frequently and its one of the few ways I can get Raegan to stay put so I can keep track of her. Hopefully we will be more mobile very soon.

So far bedtime is a little tough if Reese is not asleep, largely due to Raegan. She's been screaming for me after I leave to room lately, heartbreaking, but I'm hoping she'll adjust in the next week or so. And I avoid most errands right now unless they are completely necessary. It's such a production to get both girls ready to go: fed, dressed, rested and in the car...not to mention in the shopping cart/carrier and then unloading everything/everyone when we get home. I'm sure it'll become second nature soon, but I'm tired right now...sigh.

Reese is doing incredibly well. She has a fussy period in the evenings, but not bad at all. Basically she just wants to eat for 3 hours. Only problem is when that collides with dinnertime/bedtime...we are working on it. She seems to be going through her 3 week growth spurt (wants to eat very often), but she actually sleeps really well at night, anywhere from 2 to 6 hours chunks, and goes right back to sleep after she eats. THANK YOU REESE :)

Reese's 3 week Baby Well Check Stats:
    * 10lbs 6oz (96%); 22.25 inches tall (97%),  14.5 inches head circ (68%)

She weighs almost 2 more pounds than Raegan did at this age, which is a little scary considering what a chubby baby Raegan was.

Happy Camper

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My attempt to get a quick sister photo...they weren't really cooperating.
Reese fell over a few times & Raegan never looked at the camera, just Reese.

Getting her beauty sleep

On our way to her first playdate

Plumping up

Josh & Deb brought Easter fun up to us this year. Reese slept the whole time, Raegan was more than happy to open Reese's easter basket, find all the eggs & take all the candy.
 Such a helpful big sister!

Her first week...

Very relaxed

Tan Reese...not sure how we had such a dark baby.

SO far a very good sleeper, no need to swaddle or rock, just change & feed!

Sisters

Checking each other out

She just started sleep smiling, LOVE! & I spy a dimple :)

Reese Mikaela Roth was born on March 9th at 9:12 am 8lbs 9oz 21.25 inches at 38 weeks 5 days gestation. Very thankful she was a little early ;) She was very alert right after birth & then slept then entire rest of the day/night while constantly humming. So far she is a great sleeper as long as she has eaten & loves to munch on her hand. Her hair is almost black, can’t tell what color her eyes are yet... she rarely opens them. & She has fuzzy arms/legs/ears :) Raegan has been great with her sister, and is transitioning well with less mommy time. She looks at Reese frequently and says in a sweet little voice “oooooh baby Reese”. Very glad she loves her sister, I was worried she’d be a little jealous initially.

Labor & Delivery

I started having contractions at 3am, Justin came home from his night shift took a quick nap. We headed to the hospital around 7:30. I would have gone in earlier but I was worried about not being admitted since I had not been in labor for very long. They say you should be at minute long contractions 5 minutes apart, I was at 30/45 sec contractions 3 min apart. Very glad we didn’t wait any longer because when they checked me in I was already 8cm, if we waited any longer Justin might have had to deliver Reese on the side of the road. I was too far along for an epidural, so I had her "eau natural". Very proud of myself for getting through it, not an easy feat, especially when you haven’t prepared for it.  A very long painful hour later Reese was born. I’m pretty sure the delivery team's ears were shot for the day after my delivery....I may have screamed very loudly quite frequently...