Week One...

This one will be a list, since I am running on very little sleep today.

1. Veronica looks like an angry bird when she is displeased -- maybe it's the tufts of hair that stick up? It's super cute, and i have started calling her 'Birdy". Yep, Birdy and Button.
2. The first week postpartum is a crazy roller coaster ride. It wasn't as fraught as with Teddy (tongue tie, dehydration, jaundice) but we did run in to some problems (which - thank goodness - appear to have been resolved.
3. What problems? Well:

• V. had meconium-stained amniotic fluid, and had ingested some. She also had shoulder distocia (more on this when I do a post about the birth). So - it took a bit of time to get her out, and she was BLUE (Apgar of 3). She got rushed to the cart where they intubated 3 times and did a few chest compressions. As a result -- her ability to suck was a bit compromised for the first few days.
• When Jackie the midwife checked on her on Day 3 (my least fave postpartum day EVER) she, like Teddy, had dropped 11% (from 8lb15oz to 7lb14oz). UNLIKE Teddy, she'd been getting something, and was not dehydrated nor lethargic. But oh - did I ever cry.
• Jackie suggested that we finger feed so that we could correct her suck reflex. I had one lonely bag of breast milk left in the freezer, so we thawed it. She would nurse, then would take as much of the supplement as she wanted. She corrected her suck quickly, and reduced the amount of supplement she was taking.
• By the next day, she'd gained 3 ounces! So we stopped giving her a supplement and focused on breastfeeding only.
• This unfortunately coincided with 'my milk coming in' - wicked engorgement which was partially milk and partially tissue edema. I have had engorgement due to severe mastitis and this was WAAAY worse. Also - I had not idea what was milk supply and what was retained water, so had no idea if she was getting a sufficient amount. Also - I had a feeling that her latch was ok, but since Teddy never latched well (never effective, constant pain) I had nothing to compare it to.
• Armed with a bra full of cabbage, we plodded on, nursing whenever there was interest.
• Yesterday, Claudia the midwife came by...and discovered that with only breastfeeding, she'd gained 7 oz in two days!!
• Last night, she fed (good, consistent gulps) for an hour every 2 or 2.5 hours. I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but she is getting wrist rolls of fat and is a happy girl.

4. I am doing ok. Some physical stuff going on (my blood pressure is way high, so I am on beta blockers. Yep - my blood pressure went wonky AFTER giving birth.), but in general I am doing well. As is Dave.

5. Teddy is still a laugh riot. He gets a kick out of the baby so far. To be fair, she hasn't disrupted his life too much yet - he is still in day care this week (we weren't sure when I'd deliver, so arranged to have him go full time until Labour Day). We are taking advantage of that to get stuff squared away with Veronica (Dave is off on his firm's amazing parental leave). But he is very sweet with her, tyring to pet her and give her kisses. He calls her "Baby!!" and is very excited to see her.

6. Teddy is OBSESSED with the Journey medley in the final episode of Glee. It is literally the only TV he's ever seen (select musical numbers from Glee) and he LOVES it. Numerous times a day, he requests the "Na na na na" song and wants to hear it 'Again!" as soon as its over. He dances along and grins. He's hilarious - he true loves are the music of Glee (especially anything sung by Rachel) and anything with wheels. And compared to Veronica, he looks like he's 12 years old!

Ok...I should nap while she's napping. I will try to get more pictures up soon, as well as the birth story.