Snowbound Herpetologist

Just a few photos and one video!  Annika is having a terrible day today (SO FUSSY) and I'm not able to nap,work, or clean anything - she's also been up every hour the past two nights.  Sigh, I am tired. I'm officially predicting that she got blue eyes.

We went in for a quick weight check today - Annika is at 9lbs 13oz! She was born at 7lbs 2oz, dropped to 6lbs 6oz at her lightest, so this is a lot of weight to put on! Happy one month birthday, Annika! :)

Well, we successfully survived another Wednesday night when husband teaches and doesn't get home until 10pm.  I won't say the house is clean or the dishes were done upon his arrival home, but both girls were clean, fed, and asleep by 10.  I call that a win! The beginning of tummy time! She's more tolerant of it than Maya was. Awww, sisters :) Another baby with *such* long eyelashes! It's finally been a little warmer so that we can go out!  Then again, yesterday was much colder again and I went to go pick Maya up from school in the car, and it wouldn't start.  So we walked again, but I was too stressed out to get a selfie.... Again, a three week old who needs a haircut :)  I love that there are some things that are so similar about the two girls! I'm pretty sure that this is a hemangioma, early stage.  Will photo-document and keep you posted.  Here it is in context - below her belly button (which is rarer), but on her trunk.

Well, it doesn't appear to be "traditional" mastitis since I don't yet feel like dying. I have a mild fever (99.6), but I also have a head cold so I'm not sure that means much. I certainly don't feel like I have the flu, I'm just regular "new baby tired" and want a nap. Thus, I'm proceeding as if it's simply a plugged duct (albeit a deep one). Annika screamed at me from her bouncy chair while I took my second scorching shower of the day and now we're nursing in every positioni can manage with a newborn (that part is way easier with a toddler, sigh). Verdict? Definitely still red and sore. Tonight husband teaches until 10pm and I have both girls to myself for the first extended period. Wish me luck! Things will go better if this one takes a nice nap now.... Someone outgrew her first clothing item!

I'm just going to feel sorry for myself for a second. I have been really happy since Annika was born because breastfeeding was going much better than it had with Maya. Not great, mind you, and still a lot of pain, but definitely less than the first time. I still have one bad nipple crack that I'm working to heal, but I've been making progress. Well, now I have an infection - a big red sore patch on the top/side of the left breast that doesn't feel like a plugged duct (no lump). I've been nursing pretty much every single hour (sometimes Annika sleeps and I make it two hours, fancy that!) both day and night since she was born. Last night alone I nursed at 8, 10, 12, 1, 2, 3, and 4:30, at which point I passed her off to husband in desperation until 7 when she really started crying. I am definitely nursing frequently enough that I absolutely should NOT be getting mastitis!! I can't say that's what it is yet, and hopefully I can nip it in the bud and keep it und

Annika clocked in at 8lbs 3oz and 21.5in this morning, meaning that at 17 days old, she is a pound over her birth weight - way to go, plumpernickel!  We are so proud of you :) Here are a few quick photos: For one glorious moment this weekend, I had them both napping simultaneously!

Annika is highly skeptical :)

I’ll take away some suspense preemptively and let you know three things from the outset: 1) it was a successful VBAC at 39w5d, yay! 2), I managed to again avoid any kind of chemical induction or augmentation (although I did get another epidural - well, sort of), and 3) it was still a very long labor with a complicated presentation.  No fast and easy labors for me, apparently! (For anyone looking for a reminder of my first birth story in December 2013, my version is here and husband’s version is here .) Annika’s birth story probably begins during lunch on Thursday, February 23rd (although I hadn’t gone into labor yet), when I was at 39w4d by early ultrasound (as with my first pregnancy, I got pregnant my first cycle off of oral contraceptives, so “LMP” never really meant much).  I’d been having my weekly midwife appointments at the 12:50pm time slot, so in previous weeks, my mom and I had been going out to lunch afterwards (making for some very late lunches through contraction

My new iPhone arrived, but now with the upgrade, my blogger app crashes every time I try to post from my phone.  I'll try reinstalling the app today, but that has seriously monkey wrenched my ability to quickly post photos! In any case, every photo I've taken has been like one of these gems, so you're not missing much :)  She really is a *beautiful* baby (really, I swear!)! Off to make some progress on the birth story....

What do you think? Could these girls be sisters? :) Top is Maya at about 1 week old, bottom is Annika at same age.

We have not returned to any even semblance of our (new) normal yet - so don't let this idyllic scene fool you - but this is our first family portrait as a party of four :) I know that I've fallen behind in posting, not because I feel obligation to you readers, but because I've often wondered over the last few years why there aren't more posts from Maya's first few weeks. Well, it's been a sea of visiting grandparents and not enough sleep, which means I'm always tired with little time for quiet reflection. I still haven't written the birth story yet! Anyway, I will try to sneak in a few more posts (or at least more photos) over this final week that my parents are in town. They have been SUCH A HUGE HELP, I don't know how to properly thank them :) Also, tomorrow my new iPhone arrives, so that will help with photos and videos as well. This old iPhone 5 is seriously on its last legs....