Brooke at Six Weeks!

Somehow my baby girl has turned six weeks! Time is flying by! She has started to smile occasionally, though very inconsistently, but it is still cool! She talks to the ceiling fan and her playmat and is becoming much more alert. Yesterday she literally only took a few cat naps but was otherwise up pretty much all day. Still not a fan of tummy time, but when placed on my chest she is determined to lift her head and turn it. Brooke HATES her car seat and car rides are usually accompanied by nonstop screaming. Jordan loved her car seat, but each baby is different I guess! Brooke still prefers to be held and we have absolutely no bed time routine at this point. We can get her to sleep in her swing for a little while, but the only way she will really sleep is if held or in a moby wrap. Last night she was only up once, but is usually up two or three times...I am tired! Especially with having to entertain Jordan. I had my six week check up and am cleared for normal activity. I am suppossed to get my two hour glucose tolerance test, which is standard after diabetes, but seriosuly...do I have two hours to waste to get blood drawn?

Brooke went in for her one month check up...at six weeks. She goes back for shots in a few weeks. Overall, she is perfectly proportioned but just really tiny. Her height is 21.25 (35%), weight is 8 lb. 13 oz (22%), AND HEAD IS 14. 49 (25%). A PERFECT PEANUT!!

Jordan is much better and has started to listen better and interact more with Brooke. Hope we are getting some kind of routine down as I go back to work in only 4 short weeks!

Life With Brooke

Brooke is already 4 weeks old and is so great!! She loves to look around, stare at ceiling fans, and play on her playmat. She doesn't like tummy time. She wants to be held all day and cries when laid down, even if swaddled. She is a much mellower baby than Jordan, but does have her fussy time at night. She is so alert and snuggly. She eats about 4 ounces every 3 hours, naps quite a bit during the day, and is usually only up twice at night. I actually had to come back and repost some things because it got so chaotic here!!

I think the hardest part of having Brooke home, is not having a newborn again. That transition has been fairly smooth. Luckily she is a sweetheart and is overall pretty easygoing. The hardest part has been balancing the needs of both girls. Jordan has been jealous and I am trying so hard to give her extra attention. She starts daycare again two days a week next week so that will help as I think she gets bored with me. She also has a weekly ballet class and I have been trying to do special activities with her every day. I miss sleeping when the baby sleeps and will be completely honest...I am exhausted! I try not to think about how tired I am or I would never be able to move...It is really hard to have two kids, honestly harder than I thought it would be because they both have such different needs right now and I always feel like someone is getting the short end of the stick.

Unfortunately the pictures I have are really random but they are fun nonetheless! Note that Brooke is already so much bigger..I forget how fast they grow that first couple months!

Brooke Rose Dial

She's here and she's perfect! I am not going to add photos yet because I don't have the camera cord handy, but I wanted to finally get down the details before I forget. I was scheduled for a repeat c section on 1/19 and went in for one of my biweekly biophysical profiles and nonstress tests on 1/16. Earlier that day I had met with the anesthesiologist to go over the procedure. At the dr, they measured my fluid and it was really low...only about 3.5. The dr. decided to deliver me that day as I was 38w4d. I also had made it the whole pregnancy with NO BED REST!! The dr. sent me over to Delnor. I called Rob and told him to leave work as I thought the baby would be delivered immediately. It turned out they monitored me for a few hours and were going to perform the c section around 6:00. We had two cars at the hospital and no camera but luckily I had already packed my car. Jordan was being taken care of, and when I talked to her she told me she loved me, at which point I burst in to tears. They took me into the OR around 6:00 and at 6:24, Brooke Rose Dial was welcomed into the world via c section. The second time c section was not as scary as I felt prepared. I did have some shortness of breath and felt some tugging, but nothing major. She was a peanut and weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 inches long...a far cry from the 8 pounds they thought she would be. She was perfect!! I breasfted her the first few days to give her the colustrom, but decided the breastfeeding wasn't really for me. I was feeling great and was able to leave the hospital after only two nights. Unfortunately, I think I may have left a little too early, as the next day Brooke was very lethargic and not wanting to eat. We took her to the pediatrician who sent us to the ER. After some awful tests and watching them cath her and draw blood from her tiny veins, they admitted her overnight as her jaundice had increased. They put her on the phototherapy lights overnight and she was able to come home with us the next day (during the AWFUL snow storm when we had both girls in the car!). It was really stressful and really scary. She is home and absolutely perfect now. In fact, she is eating nonstop and sleeping for up to 4 hours a night. She is much more alert and so gorgeous. She has big blue eyes and a full head of dark hair unlike her sister. Jordan is sort of adjusting...she wants to play and watch Snow White with her sister, but she is having a hard time waiting when I am feeding Brooke. I am struggling to find a balance between the two girls needs. Jordan usually doesn't watch much TV, but I have relied on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to get me through these past few weeks. She is gentle to her sister and when Brooke cries she is always worried, but she is definitely needy and clingy at the moment. I took her to Target alone today and signed her up for ballet so she has something fun to do. I worry about meeting her needs as much as meeting Brooke's. I will say though that I am so excited to see their relationship develop..good and bad throughout the years. I can not believe that I have two beautiful and healthy little girls..how blessed am I?!?