Finding a new normal

Our suspicions about the rough week last week seem to be confirmed - the Little Lady is quickly out growing our nickname for her.  At her 1 month pediatrician appointment this week she weighed in at 10 lbs 12oz and 21.5" long (she's put on 1lb 5oz and .8" in 2 weeks)!  She's definitely had a growth spurt recently.  She also has been more intensely studying us when she looks at us and her smiles are getting more frequent, both of which are developmental milestones.  And just tonight we got our first sounds... a little like Fonzie's "Ehhhhh...." which was pretty funny.

Her first official tummy time and she promptly fell asleep!

We also have another clue as to why she gets fussy when she eats - I seem to have an oversupply issue, meaning she is essentially trying to drink from a fire hose when she nurses (I'll give you a second for that mental image to register).  So it causes gassiness, she coughs and sputters, and she gets frustrated when it's hard to drink (when my milk lets down and she pops off in frustration, I have actually sprayed her in the face a few times!), and it makes for sloppy nursing since she lets the extra milk run down her face on to both of us (earning her new nickname - Milkbeard or Captain Milkbeard if she were a pirate).  Given her frustration and the fact we both end up soaked after every nursing, feeding her in public has been a daunting prospect.  We have finally figured out that if we wait to feed her until she's really tired or hungry or worked up that she gets SUPER frustrated and won't nurse, so we have to catch her early (which we failed at last night).  We also have to burp her often since she takes in a lot of air which makes her painfully gassy.  We've had some success with some of the ways to deal with the problem, but not a lot.  She's going to have to get used to it until things are naturally supposed to even out around the 3 month mark.  It also means we have to delay pumping and bottle feeding for a bit longer since it would likely makes things worse.  Fortunately, we aren't in a rush to send her to daycare anymore so we aren't quite as worried about creating a milk stash just yet.  (We're still working on how to balance being home with her while working and calling in a sitter when we are too busy to keep and eye on her, like during conference calls.)

We're tying to figure out how to get into a groove for getting out of the house with her (now the tactic is to feed her right before we walk out the door and hope that holds her).  We managed a quick trip to Target (with Wade wearing her in her birdie carrier) last night which felt like progress and I'm hoping we can check out a movie at a local drive-in movie theater soon.  This weekend we have two events we want to go to for National Herb Day and we need to get some things at the farmer's market, so we're hoping we can make it out with her for those too.  We did practice a bit last night with our various carriers to see which I can feed her in (not much success yet) and which she's happy to hang in for an extended period (the backpack-like carrier with birdies on it is her favorite for chores around the house, but it can get hot quickly when outside since it's thick cotton - particularly now that summer is creeping up on us).  I'm hoping with repeated practice this week we can figure something out before this weekend.  Cracking the carrier dilemma will be helpful at home too since she's such a snuggly baby - which she gets from Wade.  Last Easter Wade's mom was telling us how Wade was such a snuggly baby she had to do all the house chores with him in a baby backpack to keep him happy - we all laughed then... now I have a new appreciation for it since I can't put her down!  It makes house chores, going to the bathroom, napping, or simply eating a lot more complicated.

Ooooh, when do we get to see a movie??

I've also been thinking about other things we love to do and how to incorporate Clementine into those so we can continue to enjoy them.  We've been looking at bike trailers, but it won't be until the end of this year before she's old enough for those.  We've also been thinking about planing a camping trip this summer with her while she's still easy and not mobile.  I'm pretty excited about it, but one thing is for sure, we'll need a bigger family size tent that will last us a long time, handle weather (rain, wind, and heat), and makes room for a kid space in the tent where her travel crib can go.  I found one that we think will work, but we'll have to wait until I have some money coming in from work again before we can afford it.  Right now we have 2 small backpacking tents, one of which we can probably make work for this summer (if she sleeps in our double sleeping bag with us), but after that we will have outgrown it for sure.

We've also been preparing for weekends at the beach with her and at this point all we lack is a good wagon.  We're looking forward to her first trip to the beach for Mother's Day and her first beach weekend for Memorial Day!  I even got a new bikini that's easy for me to nurse her in.

And one last tidbit - to deal with my constant need for snacking due to nursing (even at 4am!) my mom made these awesome "power balls" that taste like cookie dough but are really good for you (you could add raisins or chocolate chips for whichever is your preferred cookie type!).  You can find the easy recipe here.  I thought I would share for anyone else who needs a healthy but tasty quick snack for whatever reason.  I also use them as a protein-filled dessert substitute too. :)

Week 4

This week included Easter, which I already posted about, but the day before Easter included lots of fun.  On Saturday afternoon, my aunt came over for lunch and to meet Clementine.  We had a lovely afternoon and were able to get some nice photos.

Before Aunt Titi's visit the cats decided they wanted to snuggle while I nursed - just before this they were both getting simultaneous belly rubs!

C meeting her great aunt Titi.

That night we had what I consider a special event - Clementine got to hear her first Jimmy Buffet concert.  :)  He was performing in Tampa that night and I was sad to have to miss it (I had wanted to take C to a Buffet concert while pregnant), but we found a work around.  Radio Margaritaville broadcasts concerts live so we tuned in on my iPhone to play it through our stereo in the living room.  Wade made it a special occasion by making a tropical theme dinner including rum punch (minus the rum for me) that we enjoyed before the concert while C napped.  It was a lot of fun and felt a bit like a date night.  During the concert I nursed C and she was mostly awake so I sang her my favorite songs when they came on and she listened intently.  It was actually a great way to enjoy a concert since the sound quality was better (although we lamented we need better speakers since some aren't working), we didn't have to fight traffic, we had comfortable seats, it was baby friendly, and we could easily get up for a bathroom break.  I look forward to doing it again next year but maybe we can make a night of it and have friends over (one of the best things about a Buffet concert is the tailgating beforehand, which I did miss).

My first time back in the kitchen cutting pineapple for our Buffet concert night while C napped in the carrier.

Monday was my first time out of the house alone with C and we went to Thank You Mama to pick up some things and talk about the kinds of herbal remedies and services they offer for kids (until now I've only used their herbal, massage, and acupuncture services for fertility and pregnancy issues).  It's nice to have such a great resource nearby for natural and organic options for kids and parents.  She slept through the entire visit, and the only snag was I had a little trouble getting the baby bucket out of the car, so I'm looking forward to switching out to her big girl car seat very soon.  We also learned about a couple of events coming up for national Herbal Day next weekend so we're looking forward to those and getting out with C.

Even though I'm not on Facebook, I had to go to TYM's FB page to learn more about the events and while I was there read a lot of helpful and interesting things.  One of the things that struck me was a story about being present when you're with your kids and how hard that can be in this day and age since there is always a cell phone or tablet within easy reach to distract you.  The store owner told a story about watching a little girl sweetly asking her mom to push her on the swings while the mom studiously ignored her while she was surfing the web on her smart phone.  As the little girl got louder trying to get her mom's attention the mother yelled at her for being so rude.  This story hit home with me for two reasons - one, I've been using lots of electronics and books while nursing to keep myself entertained since C spends a lot of time snoozing on me or zoning out while nursing; two, we've been at the park on multiple occasions and seen sweet little kids trying to get their parents attention while the parent is wholly ignoring them to check their fantasy football stats or messages on Facebook then proceed to get mad at their kid for interrupting them. It's really sad when we've seen it because the kid is basically being told that just about anything is more important to their parent than spending time with them.  It occurred to me how easy it would be for us to become those parents and I realized we needed to start making some changes now to prevent those bad habits from setting in.  I had read it's important for babies to make eye contact when they are nursing because they are seeking reassurance, but that hadn't really been something C did a lot of before this week.  This week I noticed she was finally staring at me while nursing which was a big change - she also started watching Big Kitty who usually sits over my shoulder on the back of the couch, so clearly her eye sight and attention are getting better.  So I've resolved to not read or do anything else while she's awake when nursing so I can pay more attention (and hopefully better keep her awake while feeding).  And when she's having awake time I need to do better about interacting with her - she's largely been content to stare off into space by herself (or focusing on her art cards) so I end up reading or napping, but she's starting to respond more to us interacting with her so I need to work on that (admittedly, I am terrible at playing with kids, so this is an area I doubly have to work on).

My mom came up for the day on C's 4 week birthday while Wade was at work since C's been a bit off schedule and a handful (read: I am not getting much sleep at night or during the day, apparently she might be going through a growth spurt) and it was so nice to have the company, lunch delivery service, and laundry folding too!  And it's always fun to watch C get quality time with her Granzie.  Here's C's 4 week shot, but from here on out we'll be doing monthly shots.

Does that face remind anyone else of Uncle Fester from the Aadams Family??  lol   Either that or it's her evil henchman face.

We also got some more shots of her for her birth announcements, so that was a relief to get those taken care of.  Here's a preview:

For a collection of photos from her first month on the planet, check out our Picasa site. Here's another gratuitous shot of her wondering why we're always aiming that black box at her:

Easter

Clementine's first Easter was spent at home with Mom and Larry this year.  Unfortunately, Wade's folks weren't able to join us for Easter like they usually do, so we had a small Easter at home which was just the right speed for us.  C slept most of the day, so we made a nice brunch and dyed our own eggs (thankfully one of our newer chickens lays white eggs so it was a thrill to dye our own eggs this year!).  We found a non-toxic food-based egg dying kit to use this year and it gave us some ideas for making our own dyes next year.

 

After that we had fun opening Clementine's first Easter baskets for her and laughing about how different it will be next Easter when she can open her own basket!

The Little Lady in her special Easter outfit.

Easter baskets from us and Granzie and Poppi.

Once we were done having fun with her Easter baskets, we took a stroll along the water (my first real walk!) and tried getting some family photos, which C slept through.  Haha.  It was a lovely and relaxing day with family.

Week 3 - p.s.

I forgot to include the 3 week shot of Clementine as well as a picture of how we celebrated making it to three weeks and me finally feeling like I have more energy.  

Wade took me on a little date for french fries (which I hadn't had in months) so we walked a few blocks to Evos for some healthy french fries and a tea (they also have this amazing mesquite flavored ketchup) - our first outing as a family.  We broke in our new stroller for the walk and C slept through the entire experience, including sitting on the patio while enjoying the fries.  It was nice to feel like we have a life again and can still have quality time together, even with a 3rd wheel. :)

We also finally put together her travel crib last night so we can get the hang of it and put sheets on her real crib so we can try napping her in there too.  It's nice to have the crib finally put together and looking good.  We also discovered tonight that her crib is a good play place for now.  Tonight was the first time she's shown any interest in toys (after much fussing we realized perhaps she was bored) so we captured the moment - which included Big Kitty trying to teach her how to play with some of her toys.  It seems like a big change to see her actually focus on and try to reach for her toys.... oh my before we know it she'll be running around the house unstoppable and eating Amelie's dog food!  lol

Week 3... in search of sanity

So as far as babies go, I think we've been pretty lucky.  Today is 3 weeks for Clementine and she's healthy, eating well, and doesn't cry much.  We get some windows of sleep at night so we don't feel super exhausted - we're tired, but it's manageable.  I'm still adjusting to feeling like a milk machine and having a snuggle buddy around 24/7 which makes me feel pretty couch bound and a bit stir crazy.  At least I can see out the windows!  We've set up my "Command Center" in the loveseat in our little library in the living room which has all my nursing stuff (pillows, burp cloths, water bottle, nursing pads and cream) and things to keep me occupied while I'm there (phone, iPad, laptop, books).  It has a lovely view and everything I need, although it's not the most comfortable couch in the universe and my lower back has been pretty angry with me.

Wade's back in the office today while I'm holding down the fort for the first time alone while the cleaners are here today (one thing we have been a bit behind on - cleaning the house, so having cleaners is a welcome luxury to keep the pet hair at bay).  It's been the first time I can really see what it's like to do this solo and the only thing I've gotten done today is this blog post.  Wade and I are working on a system to get me up and showered and fed in the morning before he leaves for work so I can at least claim that victory each day which is something our midwife says can go a long way to staying sane (who knew, a daily shower can be your best defense against depression!).

I'm getting more energy, but it's still limited to about a 1 hour window while showering/doing chores or 30 minutes if I'm wearing C while doing chores.  I'm working on learning a few different ways to carry her in a wrap so I can take her out with me and nurse her while she's in it.  Since she eats anywhere from every 1.5 - 3 hours (and takes 20min at a time + burping + diaper change + more burping, then start all over again), so I spend a lot of time planning around those small windows - which really isn't a big deal at home (almost all of my meals have been on a tray table while C is also getting fed, which makes going out for lunch (or anything) tricky until I master nursing her in a wrap).  In the mean time, friends have been offering to bring over lunch on the days Wade is in the office which has been a huge help.  

It also means I'm finally getting some much needed social interaction since my extent of seeing other people has been limited to our visits at the pediatrician's office.  Whoop-di-doo!  This week we had out first overly-concerned-new-parents visit to the ped's office and she was really nice and helpful despite the false alarm.  After this weekend I'm finally feeling ready for visitors so I'm starting to reach out to folks who are eager to meet the Little Lady.  We're also feeling like she's healthy enough to finally be meeting other people too so we're breaking the seal on the baby bubble.

I am starting to crave taking walks around the neighborhood again which I hope means I am on the upswing of getting back to normal.  We're hoping to break in the stroller or maybe Wade will take C in the carrier.  One thing is for sure, I'll have to use the stroller for a while if I want to walk more than a circle around the yard! 

Small notes of progress from this week: I finally trimmed her baby talons, but I swear they grew back over night!  Baby Kitten snuggled me in bed last night while I was nursing/snuggling C - there is hope for him getting back to normal and adjusting and I am relieved.  C's eyelashes seem to be getting longer and darker, which I hope is a sign she's going to get Wade's luxuriously long lashes. :)  I have been able to get her to burp a few times, which has largely been Wade's expertise.  But she's been spitting up more so we're going through burp cloths like crazy - I may have underestimated their importance.  Same goes for nursing pads - I have to sleep on a beach towel since I frequently wake up with damp sheets or a soaked shirt, and not from the night sweats anymore.  Oh the joys of leaky boobs.  I miss the days of not wearing a slightly damp shirt all the time, no matter how many pads I wear (C has also turned into a bit of a sloppy nurser so she dribbles on me a lot).

We've been incredibly grateful that we're Amazon Prime members - it made our baby registry easy, and when we've discovered we're short on something (I'm looking at you diapers, diaper covers, nursing pads, waterproof pads, nursing bras) we can get it here in two days - a welcome relief for someone who can't really leave the house!

Oh, and that whole night the little lady spent in the co-sleeper?  A fluke apparently, since it hasn't happened again.  Le sigh.  At least she naps in there during the day...

And what you're really reading until the end for - pictures!!  I've been trying to get more photos of her with her eyes open since she looks like an entirely different baby to me when her eyes are open.

Now why would I want to sleep anywhere but on you?

C and I eating breakfast in bed together with Baby Kitten hanging out.

Favorite way to sleep - arms in the air, screw swaddling.

It's the small things...

...that make life worth living.  This week has been filled with a lot of those small things.

Our blog - I started this blog back in 2008 just as we were preparing to leave Miami for my new job in Sarasota.  The move was a big leap since we were headed to a new city and leaving all our friends behind.  The blog was a way for me to keep up my writing (at the time, I was writing quite a bit for my Park Service job and really enjoying it) and stay connected to friends we wouldn't get to see as often as we'd like.  The blog has continued to be that creative outlet for me (someday I'd like to get a paid to do more writing as part of my income) and lately has helped me feel connected to friends and family despite being in the baby bubble recently.  It's been a welcome mental break amidst the constant nursing and poopy diapers and has been good practice for figuring out how I can get work done with a nursing or snoozing baby attached to me.

I've been getting enough energy now to do some light chores around the house for short periods - tidying up here and there, dealing with laundry, and starting to switch my maternity clothes for my regular clothes.  This week I felt strong enough to put C in her carrier so I could get some laundry done.  It only lasted about a half hour before I was spent, but it was progress!

Clementine's umbilical stump fell off on her 2 week birthday so it's easier to diaper, dress, and bathe her now.  However, we couldn't find it after it fell off until 2 days later when I found it after pulling a load of diapers out of the wash.  I nearly gagged since it looked like a bit of sea creature was left behind!

Last night the Little Lady actually spent the whole night in the cosleeper! Although I love her snuggles, we end up a sweaty little hot pocket which feels gross when I wake up.  I've also been waking up stiff from sleeping in exactly one place since I'm conscious of where she is in the bed with me.  So it was a relief that we were able to get her to stay asleep in the cosleeper after each feeding last night (rather than her usual of only sleeping for one shift between feedings or not at all).  It also means Wade and I can snuggle in bed again which now feels like a luxury.  The cats are also slowly working up the courage to snuggle in bed again which I have also missed. :)

She seems to be developing a pattern of sorts about when she eats, sleeps, and has awake time.  She also started having more awake time during the day now (and less at night) so we get to interact with her more.  She's set up a bit of a morning and afternoon nap routine allowing us time to shower in the morning after breakfast and nap or get chores done in the afternoon.  We'll see how long it lasts!  ;)

Friends and family have been bringing us food which has been a welcome surprise.  It's nice to have healthy food to reheat or serve rather cook from scratch all the time so we're staying well fed and have more time to spend with each other.  Although we have been eating lots of eggs, kale, carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes from the yard!  It's also hard for me to eat take out at this point given all the stuff I have to avoid right now (we're adding spicy food to the list since the last two nights C has shown some potential reflux symptoms and I suspect my food choice was to blame).

My mom and step dad have come up a few times to help out in the garden, do laundry, and make food.  I never thought I'd be so grateful for folded laundry!  They also have been a helpful extra pair of hands for the post feeding burp time since we need to keep her upright for 20min after each feeding.  Yesterday we looked at some of my baby pictures and I'm starting to think C has my eyes and cheeks (the cheeks are from my mom's side, with the dimples).

Nothing like a good post-feeding burping nap

Last night after a particularly messy diaper we finally gave C her first real bath - a sponge bath wasn't going to cut it for the aftermath of this particular diaper.  She handled it pretty well, although she did look a bit in shock.  :)

Week 2

So I did forget a few nicknames - Sweet Pea and General Fussertons (because she keeps me on a militaristic feeding schedule and is pretty fussy if we don't keep to it).

Today marks two weeks for the Little Lady.  We had our 2 week pediatrician visit and were thrilled to find out she's back to her birth weight and has grown a half an inch already, which explains the relentless cluster feeding this past week since she was going through a growth spurt.  One thing we are watching though is that she might have a dairy allergy so we're having to watch the results in her diaper and disposition for the next few weeks to see if it gets better or worse (I'm currently eating soy-free, dairy-free, and of course gluten-free - the most common allergies for babies).  At this point I'll actually be relieved if it's dairy as opposed to something like lentils since we eat so much of that and I don't normally eat a whole lot of dairy anyway.  I also need to make sure she's feeding long enough to get to the good fatty milk at the end of a feed, rather than snacking then snoozing like she usually does - this was something else the pediatrician noticed in her poop today.  Funny how a pediatrician can read newborn poop like tea leaves!

After two weeks Wade feels like he's finding a new normal and is adapting well since he started working from home this week.  I, however, am still tied down to another hungry human and can just get enough energy to get through a shower.  I need to work on developing a morning routine so I can get myself fed and showered before Wade leaves for work (he went in for a meeting this morning and I couldn't do much aside from turn over laundry, change a diaper, and feed General Fussertons so I was starving and stinky by the time he got home at noon).  I'm also trying to figure out what in my closet I can wear again as well as what I can nurse in.  It was nice to wear a normal t-shirt and skirt again today and I'm getting the hang of wearing and using a nursing bra (could they look any less appealing?!).

Wade enjoying working from home

Otherwise, we're getting a kick out of getting peeks at what her smile will look like (even if it is likely gas-induced) and watching her range of facial expressions grow:

Skeptical: "Seriously, do we need another photo shoot?"

Bored: "Yawn - I am so over this"

Curious: "Did you say free lunch after this?  You have my attention."

Impatient: "I am gearing up for a real wail if I don't get my free lunch RIGHT. NOW."

What's in a name?

We've gotten questions about where Clementine's name came from and I realized I never included that in her original introduction post.  So here goes - we wanted a name that was unique, but not strange, something a little old fashioned and a bit southern, something that had nickname potential but would also be appropriate when she was an adult too, and a name that actually had meaning.  We also didn't want a name that we already had some other weird connotation that came to mind when we said it.

Clementine has french origins and it means "merciful or peaceful".  It has a bright happy connotation that makes us smile when we say it too.  Funny enough we had no idea about some of the movie or TV characters of the same name (we don't have cable and don't watch much TV).  As for her middle name, we wanted something short to balance her long first name and something a little old fashioned and southern seemed fitting given the old southern house she was born in.  I let Wade pick the middle name and Mae was our favorite.

As for nicknames, well, there are plenty to choose from that we've read - Clemmie, Clea, Emmie... and some we thought of on our own like CC (her initials) and Clemmie Maehem (for when she's being ornery), but frankly, saying her full name has been our favorite so far.  And then there are the unofficial nicknames which we've been using (as you may have noticed the furry kids each have over a dozen nicknames and we rarely use their given names): Punkin', Munchkin', Little Stinker, Boob Snuggler, Clementini (that's Wade's), Little Boob Monster (she makes a hilarious determined "nom-nom-nom" face when she latches on to nurse), Sweet Baby Girl, Little Lady.... I am sure the list will only grow as she does. :)

Things they don't tell you....

We have enough friends with kids and did enough reading to expect some things about life with a newborn and those early post-partum days, but some things we couldn't anticipate....

1. Poop is now hilarious.  When she's "working on a diaper" it sounds absolutely hilarious to us in a can't-stop-belly-laughing kind of way (and I am not usually a person who appreciates fart humor).
2. Amelie thinks Clementine is her baby and when she cries Amelie comes running and wheeting at us as if to say "My baby is crying, why are you doing nothing about it?!".
3. Big Kitty's need to snuggle is greater than his fear of her and he seems to be taking her in stride.  Little Kitty seems genuinely petrified of the sound of her crying and runs in terror when she wails.  He seems to be getting a little better though since we've been bribing him with treats.

   

   Big Kitty getting in some snuggles with me and Clementine

4. Keeping a little human alive takes a lot of bandwidth so we haven't been keen on visitors yet.  Getting the hang of breastfeeding and when she'll actually nap has kept us busy enough that when we have anything else to do it's been a bit draining.  It also happens that whenever we have had someone over we're missing our naptime and later find ourselves tired if we have a long night.
   
   
5. Part of why things are extra draining is probably because my recovery is slow but steady (showering without passing out is still an achievement for me).  I've been bed/couch bound for the last 10 days and by next week should be up to walking around the yard.  In the mean time, Wade is on duty keeping me fed while I keep C fed, and he has diaper and burping duty since I can't stand for long.
6. I don't have the energy to be modest about breastfeeding in front of people since we're still having to keep an eye on C to ensure she doesn't fall asleep on the job and gets a long enough feed in.  Adding a cover to the process only further complicates things, so I'm going to have to figure out a system before we can trying extended trips in public (so far we've only been out to the pediatrician's office).
7. We were surprised how different C looks from the day she was born (apparently newborns are bloated after birth so her face looked really round from all the fluids I received) - she now has shape to her face but we still can't figure out who she looks like!
   
8. Night sweats.  Yeah, as if feeling like an invalid isn't enough, I've been sweating in my sleep like I'm burning a fever.  As my hormones level out and I burn off the extra fluids it should stop, but for now I wake up absolutely soaked every night, regardless of the temperature.  Ick.
9. The thought of sending her to daycare is completely appalling to both of us at this point.  We were originally thinking she'd go in at 8 weeks so I could get back to work, but she's so little and snuggly and helpless that we're trying to get creative about ways we can make our work schedules flexible enough so we don't have to take her before the 6 month mark when she'll feel a bit more self-sufficient and have a better immune system built up.  Ideally, I'd like to schedule my work so I only have to work part-time and can be with her the balance of the week.  Once she's older and would actually appreciate the socialization, daycare doesn't seem so daunting.
10. When my midwife weighed me this week I actually weigh less than before I was pregnant! I literally laughed out loud.  And this is despite my currently bottomless appetite (Wade is finding entertainment in bringing me giant plates of food and seeing if I'll finish them - a contrast from my small appetite while pregnant).  Thank you breastfeeding!  I haven't tried on my regular clothes yet, but I'm suspecting things will fit a lot quicker than I expected (although I think my ribcage is still a lot bigger and am not sure about my hips).  Now I just have to find shirts I can actually nurse in.
11. Wade has still had time to get some work done in the yard which has been a nice break for him but also cute bonding time since he's usually wearing C in the carrier when he does it.

Week 1

I'm trying a new app on my iPad that will let me post to the blog without having to use my laptop - which would make it easier to do while nursing. This is my first test post with it, so if it comes out weird, let me know.
So far we've learned the following things:

1. Clementine has my dimples
2. She has Wade's long dark hair and head shape
3. She was born with amazingly long and strong fingernails that I have taken to affectionately calling "Baby Talons" (if she grabs you you'll understand)
4. She has my short toes (her 2nd toe is not longer than her big toe)
5. She is a thumb sucker which she proved almost the minute she was born, but she doesn't do it very often
6. She is a pretty calm baby (everytime hospital staff told us she would be miserable about something she surprised them and took it in stride),
7. The exception to that - she HATES being swaddled (which I was not surprised by, but mystified hospital staff)
8. Her eyes are a dark hazel blue for now, so who knows what they'll turn into (Wade and I both have brown hazeled with green)
9. She is pretty strong-willed with strong arms and a head to go along with it - you cannot force her to do anything she doesn't want to do (that could be genetic - haha)
10. Wade is an amazing dad and a natural at it - cloth diapers, bath time, burping, soothing, and girly outfits do not intimidate him! In fact, he's genuinely having fun!
11. Cloth diapers and wipes are not as hard as you would think, in fact it's been pretty easy. And it's nice to know we'll never have to leave a "diaper stink bomb" behind anywhere we go (including at home!). ;) Less stink and less trash, we're all in favor of that.
12. Baby carriers are awesome - Wade is already using ours to "teach" Clementine how to do dishes, water the plants in the yard, and plant seedlings.
13. Those black and white baby art cards are fantastic - she is utterly mesmerized by a set friends gave us, buying us some extra sleep or peace on the changing table.
14. She is a snuggler, particularly when getting burped and just after nursing and it's pretty hard to resist (see below).
15. The cosleeper has been great, but we're still working on getting her to sleep there at night. She's been mostly snuggling me at night while nursing since she seems to be more awake at night right now.
16. We're lucky to have so many supportive friends and family in our lives and are grateful Clementine will be surrounded by so much love.

Introducing....

Clementine Mae!

The Little Lady made her debut a bit earlier than her guess date - she came into the world on March 27th at 7:42am, weighing 9lbs 1oz and was 20.2" long.  After 30 hours of labor, our little lady was born at home in the water in our living room with all of our furry kids looking on. :)  

I could not have made it through that long of a labor without Wade who was my rock and we worked as a team to bring the little lady safely into the world.  For her part, she took the whole labor in stride and her vitals were strong the entire time.  For my part, I had the WORST heartburn I've ever had which made me throw up pretty much anything I tried eating or drinking so it was hard for me to keep my energy up at the end.  After some IV fluids with glucose and a power nap I powered through for a second round of pushing to get the Little Lady out into the world.  I caught her (Wade was busy catching me) and Wade cut the cord once it was done pulsing.  We enjoyed a quiet period in the tub with Clementine when she was born which was priceless and the entire reason we chose homebirth.  She was alert and wide-eyed and calm when she was born and the peace of the moment was incredible.  We also chose homebirth because I m certain I would have ended up a C-section had I tried birthing her at the hospital, something that for me would have been MUCH worse than the circus that followed.

What followed was not exactly what we expected, but in the course of pushing out our (big) Little Lady I tore and had quite a bit of bleeding (which I knew as it was happening).  Once we got out of the tub we were working to get my blood pressure back up when the midwife made a call to send me to the hospital to err on the side of safety (and to have a surgeon attend to the serious stitching I needed) which made sense to me, but from Wade's perspective it turned a bit traumatic here.  I briefly passed out, which the midwife was handling, but it, combined with the bleeding, was enough to scare Wade.  The EMTs showed up in under 2 minutes (all 5 of them!) and by then I was feeling a bit better but we decided to go to the hospital anyway to get stitched up.  Then we realized the dilemma - do Wade and Clementine go in the ambulance with me or separately?  The EMTs were nice enough to advise us that going separately is better due to hospital admitting procedures so I went off ahead.  Wade and the midwife cleaned up Clementine and dressed her, put her in her carseat, and grabbed the emergency bag to follow me to the hospital a short ride away.

What followed was probably the longest 3 days of our life.  First they stitched me up (with only local topical anesthetic - my choice since I needed to start breast feeding), then they forced us to admit Clementine or else said she couldn't stay in the room with me which was our first mistake.  Once I got to my room, they tried to get me up to pee and I passed out in the bathroom with the nurse and hit my head so they said they had to do a CT scan on me (which I also should have declined - I seriously thought they were lying when they said I hit my head).  After that they said they wouldn't discharge me until I got my blood work back to see if I needed a transfusion so with all this chaos almost 7 hours went by before I could actually try feeding Clementine again (we tried briefly right after she was born with limited success).  By then they had started doing a work up on her because they forced us to admit her and they took blood and then put an IV port on her "just in case" - they also changed out her umbilical clamp from the one she came with to this giant clamp with (I am not making this up) a baby security tracker on it making it heavy and painful for her (something we later found out we could have declined).  By the time we tried feeding, she was in pain, I had an IV in both arms making it difficult to hold her and feeding was not off to a great start... which lead to her developing jaundice late on day 2 (the best way to prevent jaundice is to breastfeed to clear out her system).  The morning of day three they came early to do more blood work, which they screwed up leading her to throw up a few feedings making things worse.  It took them another 7 hours to come back to repeat the bloodwork leading to a delay in treating the jaundice.  So then, by the time I could go, they wouldn't release her and we had to do light therapy while they were telling us they would have to send me home but keep her for treatment at which point I was starting to lose it and call the hospital (Bayfront Babyplace) Bayfront Babyjail.  We started feeding her like crazy to clear out her system on top of the light therapy and literally at the last minute we found out Clementine had passed her test and we could all go home together.

So, that whole scenario is known as the "Cascade of interventions" - it starts with one unnecessary medical intervention and cascades into bigger problems.  This was the entire reason I didn't want a hospital birth.  I believe hospitals are a great place to go to not die.  Seriously, you go there because they can save your life, but they cannot heal you.  We were awoken literally almost every hour around the clock during our stay for vitals checks, asinine questions about what kind of birth control I'd like to start (at 5am), 2 am bloodwork, random tests, and midnight housekeeping.  And my food options on the menu included cheese pizza and milkshakes but heaven forbid I wanted to order all he vegetables on their menu.  How in the hell is someone supposed to heal if they can't freakin sleep or eat nutritious food?!  At any rate, despite everything it reinforced my thankfulness that we were able to do a homebirth so that at least Clementine's first moments on this Earth were quiet and peaceful and full of love.

We learned a lot about how to take charge of our own medical care if we ever end up in the hospital again so we won't make the same mistakes.  It's a shame more people can't be educated about their rights when they're in such a vulnerable state.  That sentiment is partially why the popularity of home birth is growing - it's about taking responsibility for your own health and being an informed patient rather than a number in a system.  I also have talked to others who had similar scenarios in the hospital and were successful in declining things so they could go home to heal with more success.

Ok, now I'll get off my soapboax. What you all really want to see is baby pictures!  During everything friends and family were providing moral support via text which was a nice diversion from the hospital chaos.  Thank heavens for technology - we can pass along news and take pictures with just a phone now!