Despite battling colds, fevers, and ear infections, we had a great Halloween this year. Our festivities started on October 25 when we had a "Trunk or Treat" with Moms Club. Everybody parked in the parking lot at a park and passed out candy to trick-or-treaters from trunks decked out in all of the traditional Halloween decorations.
Addelyn was Tinkerbell this year...Addelyn LOVES Tinkerbell :-)
Nova was the same bunny that Addelyn was 2 years ago, complete with the same ears, costume, and carrot
On Halloween day, Addelyn dressed up as Tinkerbell again for the costume parade at her pre-school. I just love the little rope that the 2-year-olds hold onto while they practice their line-walking skills!
This is Addelyn with the rest of her pre-school class. It looks like Addelyn is a bit separated from the rest of the class...it might have something to do with her progress report saying that she was "working on" the skill of interacting well with other children (rather than being "good" at it). Poor girl...she definitely is my daughter. I'm still working on the skill of interacting well with my peers, too, kid.
It's not that she's mean to them, she just doesn't really want anything to do with them most of the time. I think she'd just rather play by herself than with a peer at this point. Maybe she'll get there eventually. She's only 2 after all. But I digress...
Right after Addelyn had her costume party at pre-school we met daddy for lunch then went to Nova's Mommy and Me group where we had another costume party, this time with 8-to-12-month-olds:
I just LOVE the way Addelyn always has a protective hand on Nova when they're in a group setting together. She's such a wonderful older sister!
Nice smile, kid. Nova was not happy, if you can't tell, she had been crying.
Us with the mommy-and-me group. There were a LOT of babies!
After we got home from Mommy and Me, Nova went down for a nap and Addelyn and I carved pumpkins. Here's Addelyn with her pumpkin before we started carving:
The process of carving was quite cute. I took a video of it for entertainment :-) It was quite long, so I sped it up and tried to slow it down for most of the cute things she said.
...And here's Addelyn with the finished product (along with the pumpkin that I carved).
All dressed up for trick-or-treating!
Nova did eventually dress up for halloween night as well, but I don't think I got any of her with her full costume on. While we were handing out candy, she wore her bunny ears and some white clothes. The full bunny costume gets hot and we were just inside!
Still super cute!
mmmmm...found the candy bowl!
Got one!
All in all, a wonderful Halloween. I can't wait to take both girls trick-or-treating next year!
Addelyn started preschool this month! She goes twice per week for 3 hours.
Addelyn has had a great first couple of weeks at preschool. She hasn't cried from missing me at all - not when I'm leaving her at the beginning or at any point during the morning when I'm gone. I'm so excited about that, because I don't think I could leave her if she was crying!
She did have one incident on the playground where a little boy hit her. From what I can gather from Addelyn, she was playing in the little play house and the little boy wanted to play in it. He hit her, she cried and Miss Julie, her teacher, comforted her. This was on the second day of preschool, and we've had many conversations about the incident since then. At first she replayed it over and over, then we talked about what she could do next time (say "I don't like that!" and go tell Miss Julie), and now she wants to role-play it a lot - where I play the agressor and she is herself. I never actually hit her, of course, but we act out the situation, then she yells "I don't like that" as she runs away and pretends one of her dolls is the teacher.
As much as I hate that it happened - I never want her heart to break, and imagine it did - this is what we're sending her to preschool for - to socialize her and for her to learn how to interact with other kids her age.
Aside from the one incident, Addelyn has been enjoying herself. The preschool has a lot of toys that we don't have at home, as well as play-dough, a water/sensory bucket, plenty of art/drawing opportunities, and (Addelyn's favorite) they go outside and play on the playground every day for 45 minutes. Addelyn loves to play outside and we just don't get out much, especially not this summer, because Nova is still so little and it's been so, so hot. I've asked Addelyn what her favorite part of preschool is several times and the answer is always the same: "playing outside"
There is a bit of structure to her day along with the free play. They have "circle time" where Miss Julie reads the class a book and they dance to music. They also have a snack, provided by one of the children who also gets to help pass out the plates/silverware. Addelyn's turn for snack helper is coming up this Thursday and I can't wait to hear her story from that day!
7 months, 1.5 weeks
While Addelyn is at preschool Nova and I get some quality time together. Nova is so happy during this time! I can just tell she's excited to have my undivided attention. Nova uses the time to do things like practice walking...
...play with all of Addelyn's toys that she doesn't usually get to play with, nap on mommy, and, surprisingly, play independently. Nova is surprisingly independent during this time - I think it's because it's quiet, so there's nothing to startle her, and she doesn't feel threatened by Addelyn's presence taking up my attention, so if Nova were to want my attention, she'd have it immediately.
I use the time to play with Nova, primarily, but I also like to do some photo shoots and we've gone to a garage sale or two on the way to/from preschool :-)
All in all, preschool has been an awesome thing for everyone involved, and I'm looking forward to what the rest of the year brings!
Addelyn insisted that the doll be in the picture as well.
Sisterly love :-)
Sweet, sweet girl!
Stats:
Addelyn Stats:
Age: 29.5 months
Weight: 30 lbs
Length: 35ish inches
Drinks: about 2 6-ounce sippys of milk per day (all of which is regular whole-milk) with meals and a couple of drinks of milk before bed every night
Eats: whatever I can get her to eat for breakfast - lately it's been cereal and a fruit; leftovers for lunch (spagetti, sandwiches etc...); and noodles or other leftovers or, if she finds it acceptable, whatever we're having for dinner. I try really hard to get a fruit, a veggie, a grain, and a protein in her every day.
Sleeps: 8:30pm-7 or 8 am. Most nights she sleeps all night
Naps: 2-3 hours per day her nap is 4 or 5 hours after she wakes up for the day, though some days she doesn't take one at all.
Awake for:4-7 hours at a time during the day.
Clothes size: 2T pants and 3T shirts
Motor skills: jumping, running, putting on shoes and sometimes dresses and skirts. Getting close to a summersault.
other skills:pretend plays very well - loves to 'cook' in her kitchen and take care of her dollies, as well as pretend to be other people and play with imaginary toys. Recognizes letters, numbers, shapes and colors very well and is starting to read small words words: Hundreds...if not thousands. She speaks in full sentences now and can say anything she needs to.
signs: over 100 - now that she's started talking we've learned less new signs, but since Nova came we are signing a lot more now.
Nova Stats:
Age: 8 months
Weight: 18 something...
Length: haven't measured recently. Probably around 28 inches, though.
Drinks: no idea...she nurses about 8 or 9 times per day
Eats: 3 times per day. I've given up on purees and she only eats finger foods that she can feed herself. She likes pretty much anything that fits in those parameters.
Sleeps: 8:30pm-7am. Most nights I feed her and put her down at 8:30, then feed her again when I go to bed, then she wakes up twice or three times before I'm ready to get up for the day.
Naps: 10-minute morning nap 2 hours after she wakes up, 1-hour (if I'm lucky) afternoon nap 2 hours after she wakes up from morning nap, and 10-minute evening nap around 5.
Awake for: 2-4 hours at a time
Clothes size: some 3-6 monts (onsies etc...) but mostly 6 and 6-9 months (sleepers...). Though I really need to get out the 12-months stuff.
Motor skills: crawling, pulling to standing, standing without support well, walking 10-15 steps at a time.
other skills:stranger anxiety is getting a little better, she can do the clover thing with her tongue :-) words: Dada, Mama, Ada, Buh (up)
signs: hi/bye, yay (clapping), and maybe ball. We're working on 'up', 'Mama', 'Dada', 'Nova', 'Dance', 'ball', 'Milk', 'all done', and 'more'
Nova has been busy this last month! She's gone from largely immobile and stuck where I put her to fully mobile and ready to explore!
...And she's pretty excited about it!
Here's an update on all of Nova's new skillz :-) I'll do one on Addelyn next week (maybe), after she starts pre-school!
Eating
Nova has started eating daily meals, sometimes twice per day. I've determined she can't have the normal baby cereals, so I made her some beef and carrot puree to get her some iron in her diet - something that is important after the 6th month, since their iron stores from birth are now about depleted.
Daddy's pretty excited she likes meat! 2 for 2!
One of our new favorite things for meal time is a mesh feeder with a soft fruit in it (peaches, bananas etc...) Also known as a let-mommy-eat-breakfast-in-piece device. We both think it is wonderful!
Sitting
Nova does a pretty good job sitting now. She still falls a couple of times per day and as a result has a healthy respect for the floor and falling. She's still working on getting to a sitting position from laying. She can do it pretty well, but occasionally gets frustrated. I don't think she has it quite mastered yet.
Sitting is cool!
Sitting is awesome!
Sitting is boring! I want to be standing!
Crawling
Nova crawls almost full-time now! She's about 70% crawling, 10% scooching, and 20% walking (with my assistance...most of the time). She started scooching really well on August 14. That next week she slowly started crawling more and more. It started off she'd try to crawl then go to her belly after moving a hand and a leg forward. Then she progressively got farther and farther until on the 21st she was crawling the whole way. She still goes down to her belly if she has to go really far, though.
Standing/Walking
Nova can stand for a good 15-20 seconds without support (i.e. not even holding onto anything) now :-). She can also pull herself to standing on pretty much anything, from pretty much any position. This has proven to be a dangerous combination. She regularly pulls herself to standing then just lets go and starts walking. I've caught her every time she's done it, but her confidence is going to cause more than one bump/bruise, I think!
Look, Mom! No hands!
Nova is getting better and better at walking! When she's not too excited, she can get a good 5 or 6 controlled steps followed by a controlled stop. Well on her way to meeting or exceeding Addelyn's record of not-quite 8.5 months :-)
Talking
We're still waiting for the coveted "Mama", though she's said "Ma" a couple of times when she is really upset. She's started really trying to say "up" as well. It's not too clear, but the intention is definitely there :-)
What a Comedian!
Nova is fine-tuning her sense of humor. She frequently finds things HILARIOUS. Some recent ones have been: Addelyn, cucking corn, Addelyn, funny noises, Addelyn, loud noises, Addelyn, and Addelyn.
What We Do With our Days:
Eat, play, go for walks with sissy:
...And put things in my mouth:
Nom nom nom!
Seriously, though...this kid puts everything in her mouth! It's pretty crazy.
Well, that's what Nova's been up to lately. Next post will probably be celebrating her walking :-)
Nova Stats:
Age: 7 months
Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz
Length: 28ish inches
Drinks: no idea...she nurses about 8 or 9 times per day
Eats: once or twice per day...she is getting better at eating, but still isn't really into it.
Sleeps: 8:30pm-8am. Most nights I feed her and put her down at 8:30, then feed her again when I go to bed, then she wakes up twice or three times before I'm ready to get up for the day.
Naps: usually 3 a day. A short morning nap that she sometimes doesn't take, then a long 2-hour afternoon nap and a short evening nap.
Awake for: 2-4 hours at a time
Clothes size: some 3-6 monts (onsies etc...) but mostly 6 and 6-9 months (sleepers...)
Motor skills: scooching, crawling, standing alone for 20 seconds, 5 or 6 controlled steps, pulling to standing sitting unassisted, walking in her walker very well, walking while holding onto hands, standing while holding onto something.
other skills:she babbles a lot :-) definitely has stranger anxiety, and is very independent - can entertain herself for a while words: Dada :-) up, "ma"
signs: none yet for sure...I thought I saw her repeat 'ball' to me yesterday, but I'm not positive. We're working on 'up', 'Mama', 'Dada', 'hi', 'Nova', 'Dance', 'ball', 'yay', 'Milk'
The Conways have a brand new house! We found our forever-home in May 2013, and put an offer on it the next day. Interestingly, it is the house Jake and I fell in love with back in 2010 when we were looking. We were about to put an offer on it then, but the owners had already accepted a different offer. So when we drove by our dream house three years later on our way to a different open house in the neighborhood, we saw that this one was for sale again! We went to its open house the next day and put an offer on it. Just a few weeks later, we had our old house sold and we were moving into the house that our children will grow up in :-) That's the short story, anyway.
Here's what the girls are up to:
NOVA
Nova seems to have really come out of her shell in the last month or so. She's very talkative now, her favorite consonants being g, b, and occasionally m, but mostly she just says "AAAAAAA" in the cutest of cute high-pitched baby voices :-) On July 20 Nova said her first word! dada!
Nova is soooo close to scooting! She tries so hard, but usually just ends up going backward (this started July 9). She is able to move forward very slowly if she "inch-worms", but she either doesn't realize that she can do this, or she doesn't like it, because when I put a desirable toy in front of her, she can't always get it. She can roll over both ways, but, like Addelyn, hasn't figured out that she can use this ability as a form of locomotion. She's also just started sitting up by herself (July 9). She's not awesome at it, but she can stay up for quite a while without falling over. It seems like it started overnight! On July 8th she couldn't sit for long at all without leaning forward onto her hands, then on July 9th she was officially a sitter.
Here's some of Nova's favorite things:
Nova Looooooves walking around in her walker. She doesn't even need to have any toys on the tray, she just walks in circles around the toy room and looks at the toys, then comes back in the kitchen and looks at me. She gets so excited sometimes, she gets to an open streatch and sprints.
Nova likes sleeping with mommy. Well, she really just likes sleeping in general - she actually fights waking up in the morning...she opens her eyes, then turns her head the other way over and over again trying to get comfortable. But whenever we sleep together on my bed she sleeps so well! Usually she starts out the night in the co-sleeper, but at some point in the night she usually ends up in bed with me. It's just so much easier to get her to sleep if she's next to me.
Nova also likes playing in her bouncey...and giggling :-)
Nova likes...Addelyn! Whenever Addelyn talks to her she gets this adoring smile on her face. Addelyn loves to make her laugh by running around and jumping up and down.
Nova also likes baths (she splashes a lot...I've just moved her to the big bath), nursing, sucking on mommy's finger (the middle one, nail side down), and her favorite toy is either the leapfrog piano or a burp cloth or anything she can get inside her mouth. Oh, yeah, she LOVES putting stuff in her mouth. That is what all things do if she manages to get her hands on them. She will occasionally shake a rattle (cause and effect), but its primary purpose is still to go in the mouth :-)
Nova likes a lot of things...she's a pretty easy-going baby, but there are some things she doesn't like at all. She doesn't like her car seat - she arches her back and cries every time I put her in it, but usually calms down for the car ride. She doesn't like being put down or left alone by anybody but me. I still can't figure that one out...I'd think it would be the opposite. Up until July 9 she didn't like sitting - she'd just get really mad when she inevitably ended up hunching forward. And she doesn't like broccoli. Perhaps not the best food to start with...
ADDELYN
Addelyn is growing up so much! She is so well-behaved, sweet, and she has such a good imagination! I'm constantly amazed at how well she plays both by herself (LOTS of imaginative games), and with Nova (wasn't she so sweet to Nova in the walker video above??)
Here's a good example of Addelyn's imagination - she was playing with her babies from her doll house - they were going to bed and she was reading them a bedtime story:
Here's some things Addelyn likes to do these days: play with dolls, or anything she can take care of, really (she's a very good mommy), sucking on her binkie (still trying to get rid of that...), going to bed (she asks to go to bed most days, and it's no problem at all getting her to take naps or go to bed...just put her in her bed with binkie and puppy and she'll just go to sleep by herself), reading books!! This girl loves to read books! I swear, she'd let me read to her all day if I could. A lot of nights, Addelyn will read books as she's falling asleep. I always have to go in and check to make sure her bed isn't covered with them once she's fallen asleep. Addelyn's favorite food is...fruit snacks. Though, she does eat quite a variety of things for a 2-year-old. I think we might even be getting over the won't-try-new-things stage. That'll be nice.
"Take a picture of me with the tiger, mommy" She was 'mothering' the tiger that day.
We're potty-training! Addelyn has been pooping in the potty since about 18 months, but pee has taken a bit more effort. At this point, she'll tell me 4 or 5 times per day that she has to go potty, then she gets a "special potty treat" usually some chocolate chips or a piece of candy. I'm not the kind of mother that takes her potty ever 30 minutes, though. I wait until she tells me she has to go. I just really don't want to have to take her potty 20 times per day, I'm too lazy...so if it takes a bit longer to potty train herself that's fine with me.
Addelyn has known all of her shapes, colors, numbers, letters (by sight and sound), body parts etc... for a while now. I couldn't think of any other normal 'toddler' things to teach her, so she's started learning to read. We started with "_oo" words, so she can read all of those (roo, boo, poo, coo, moo, goo, too, zoo), and we've just started on adding a letter at the end (i.e. pool, cool), and "_ee" words. She just soaks everything up, she loves to learn! She just got some phonics flash cards and she'll go through the whole deck with me and still be asking to do more.
That's about it for the girls. Here are some pictures from our photo shoot today!
Addelyn Stats:
Age: 27 months
Weight: 30 lbs
Length: 35ish inches
Drinks: about 2 6-ounce sippys of milk per day (all of which is regular whole-milk) with meals and a couple of drinks of milk before bed every night
Eats: whatever I can get her to eat for breakfast - lately it's been the oatmeal packets; leftovers for lunch (spagetti, sandwiches etc...); and noodles or other leftovers or, if she finds it acceptable, whatever we're having for dinner. I try really hard to get a fruit, a veggie, a grain, and a protein in her every day.
Sleeps: 8:30pm-7am. Most nights she sleeps all night
Naps: 2-3 hours per day her nap is 4 or 5 hours after she wakes up for the day
Awake for:4-7 hours at a time during the day.
Clothes size: 2T pants and 3T shirts
Motor skills: jumping, running, putting on shoes and sometimes dresses and skirts
other skills:pretend plays very well - loves to 'cook' in her kitchen and take care of her dollies, as well as pretend to be other people and play with imaginary toys. Recognizes letters, numbers, shapes and colors very well and is starting to read small words words: Hundreds...if not thousands. She speaks in full sentences now and can say anything she needs to.
signs: over 100 - now that she's started talking we've learned less new signs, but since Nova came we are signing a lot more now.
Nova Stats:
Age: 5 3/4 months
Weight: 17 lbs, 2.5 oz
Length: 25ish inches
Drinks: no idea...she nurses about 8 or 9 times per day
Eats: a few times a week...we started out with oatmeal, but she vomited it up 2 hours after eating it about the 5th time she had it...then a few days later she vomited up rice cereal and sweet potato mixed. Now, I steam an apple and feed her that, but she HATES eating. Anything. Ever since that first time she vomited, she won't eat for me - ever meal is a struggle!
Sleeps: 8:30pm-8am. Most nights I feed her and put her down at 8:30, then feed her again when I go to bed, then she wakes up twice or three times before I'm ready to get up for the day.
Naps: 30-minute morning nap 2 hours after she wakes up, 1-hour (if I'm lucky) afternoon nap 2 hours after she wakes up from morning nap, and 30-minute evening nap around 5.
Awake for: 2-4 hours at a time
Clothes size: some 3-6 monts (onsies etc...) but mostly 6 and 6-9 months (sleepers...)
Motor skills: scooching backwards, getting up on hands and knees and rocking and lunging, sitting unassisted, walking in her walker very well, walking while holding onto hands, standing while holding onto something.
other skills:she babbles a lot :-) definitely has stranger anxiety, and is very independent - can entertain herself for a while words: Dada :-)
signs: none yet for sure...I thought I saw her repeat 'ball' to me yesterday, but I'm not positive. We're working on 'up', 'Mama', 'Dada', 'hi', 'Nova', 'Dance', 'ball', 'yay', 'Milk'
Nova was born at 7:54 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013. She weighed 7 lbs, 14.4 oz and was 19.5 inches long. I got to hold her right away and she didn't even have to leave my room until over 24 hours later (and even that was just for routine newborn testing :-)
Birth Story:
I was induced on January 26th due to history of pregnancy-induced-hypertension. At 32 weeks gestation, my blood pressure went from normal to in the 160/90 region, so the doctor ran some blood work and we started weekly non-stress tests. Nova and I passed all of our tests...some by better margins than others.... I had a high level of protein in my urine, which is consistent with pre-eclampsia, but the level wasn't quite high enough to earn me that label, so the doctors just continued to watch me closely for the high blood pressure and signs of developing pre-eclampsia. At 35 weeks, my blood pressure dropped back down to the "acceptable" range, and at some appointments was even normal. This gave the doctor the confidence to wait until at least 39 weeks to induce me.
So, at 39 weeks, 2 days gestation (according to the doctor...I still think it was 38 weeks, 2 days) Jake and I went to the hospital for a scheduled induction. I was already having contractions about 3 minutes apart and had been for the last 4 days, so as soon as they broke my water (8:30am), I was in active labor. The first couple of hours I just paced around my hospital room, so when they checked me for dilation I hadn't made enough progress (only 0.5cm in 3ish hours, I think). The doctor wanted to start me on pitocen, but the nurse, having heard me talk about my fears of pitocen, talked the doctor into giving me just a couple more hours to progress faster. The doctor reluctantly agreed and I started walking the halls. Two hours of that and I progressed 1 more cm! No pitocen needed :-) I made it to about 6cm before I decided that an epidural would be a good idea. I was by no means in unbearable pain, but the pain was bad enough that I decided I didn't want to go into "transition" (7-10cm) without the medication. Once they started the epidural I, of course, had to stay in bed, and my contractions slowed down to one every 5 minutes. At that point, they started me on pitocen. I didn't mind as much at that point, since my two primary concerns were the pain it causes and the fact that I would have had to stay in bed if they gave me it. I was already numb and bed-ridden, though, so it didn't really matter.
One odd thing I remember about the epidural...I got SO cold! My blood pressure also dropped lower than I had ever seen it before and I got really tired at one point. Once my blood pressure stabilized though, I just remember being cold - like, shivering uncontrollably. I think it was a combination of the epidural, the IV fluids, and the Popsicle I had just eaten, but I didn't stop shivering for at least 20 minutes - and I only did then because they brought me a heated blanket.
At around 7pm the epidural started wearing off and I was having to breath through the contractions again. At 7:15 they checked me for dilation - at which point I was 8.5cm and 100% effaced. Shortly after that I started feeling the urge to push, but the nurse told me I wasn't ready yet. A new nurse came in at that point (shift change), and she told me that she wanted to wait until 8pm to check me again. Well...Nova had other plans. The contractions got stronger and stronger and more and more painful, and the urge to push was getting harder and harder to ignore. At around 7:45 the nurse noticed how much pain I was in and agreed to check me. Of course, I was 10 cm and ready to push! They told me as soon as I got into position that they could already see Nova's head :-) They called up to the doctor who started on her way down and told the nurses to have me do a "practice" push. One-half of a practice push later, the nurses started looking VERY nervous! They told me to stop pushing and one looked like she was getting into position to catch! One nurse called the doctor again and told her to hurry up while the other looked very much like she was holding the baby in. Despite me not pushing, Nova was making her way a little farther out with every contraction. Finally the doctor got there. While she was putting on her gown and gloves she told me to push whenever I needed. I thought: "really? I don't think so!" By that point they had dropped the end of the bed, so if Nova came out without anybody there to catch her, she would fall on the floor. I waited through another half of a contraction and when the doctor was by me ready to catch, I gave one maybe 10-second push and Nova was out! I still remember the doctor's reaction: as soon as Nova's head came out she said "oh, it looks like we have a nuchal" (which, I think means the cord being wrapped around the baby...because the cord was wrapped around Nova 3 times) then, I think she expected me to stop pushing so she could unwrap her neck, but again...Nova had other plans. She just came all the way out and the doctor said "oh! well, it looks like you're just going to be born, then!"
Nova was beautiful. She was covered in vernix and pale from head to toe, but she was mine and I loved her instantly. Earlier in the day I requested that the doctor delay clamping the umbilical cord for a minute or two. After Nova came out and was unwrapped from the cord, the doctor wasn't putting her on my chest. It was only maybe 5 seconds before she saw the look on my face...that momma-bear look. That you-have-my-baby-and-why-aren't-you-giving-her-to-me look. She explained that she had to hold her below the table if she was going to delay clamping the cord. Ah! that made sense. But despite the health benefits I've read about...despite the fact that it would be good for her in the long run, I just couldn't take it. There she was, crying and cold and purple and just having gone through the most intense experience of her existence. And the doctor was holding her so impersonally - with just one hand behind her neck and one hand supporting her weight on her butt. She was all alone and I simply couldn't take it. I had to have her. Health benefits aside - she needed me and I needed her. Without pausing to even think about it, I told the doctor through my tears of joy "never mind...I need her"
They put her on my chest and wiped her down. At first, she was too high up on my chest to see her face, so after a couple of minutes of cuddling, I shifted her down so we could see each-others' faces. She looked just like Addelyn! I talked to her - I told her I loved her and when I told her she was beautiful, she gave me her first smile. Not a social smile, of course, but a smile of contentment. She heard mommy's voice and she felt safe and happy.
About 15 or 20 minutes after she was born, she started rooting around, so I nursed her for the first time. She didn't latch on right away - it took us a good 5 or 10 minutes to get a good latch, but once she did, she nursed for an hour on and off. After the first 15 or 20 minutes of nursing, I was finally willing to let someone else hold her :-) the nurses took her and weighed, measured, and diapered her, then returned her to me for more nursing. Then after another 15 or 20 minutes, Daddy finally got to hold her. With the experience of one child already under his belt, he was a natural.
The rest of our hospital stay was pretty uneventful. Nova went a while between feedings that first night which is normal, then we got onto a pretty good 3-hour schedule by the time we got home. Since then, Nova has moved to more of a 2-hour schedule with the occasional 3-hour stretch. Now, 3.5 weeks later, she is gaining weight well, is no longer jaundiced, and I'm hoping that someday she'll let me sleep!
Nova's personality at 3.5 weeks is pretty similar to Addelyn's. She likes to be held, and cries if she's awake and alone for too long (i.e. for more than a few seconds). When she is awake, she tends to be very alert - looking around, making eye-contact, and making all kinds of cute baby faces. When Nova is falling asleep, she often smiles. My favorite is when both of her eyes go in opposite directions (sort-of like un-crossing them) and they roll back in her head a little and she gives a cute little half-smile. I also love it when she giggles in her sleep :-) She goes to sleep much better than Addelyn did. I can put Nova down awake and if she's tired, she'll just fall asleep by herself. She is currently eating 2-3 ounces every 2-3 hours. Much to my dismay, though, the 3-hour stretches seem to be during the day more often than the night. We're working on nursing, still. We get better every time, but aren't quite to nursing full-time yet as I have an over-supply issue. Until we get that all worked out, Nova is taking pumped milk from a bottle most of the time, and nursing 2-3 times per day.
