Bits About Brynley: ONE WEEK!

 I decided to go with "Bits About Brynley" for weekly updates on my baby girl. It may change, but I thought it was cute and catchy. I also thought of "Brynley's Blonde Bits" considering she was a blonde, and my blog is titled "Lauras's Blonde Moments after all, but I thought what if her hair turned red or darker, it wouldn't be her blonde bits anymore ha! I know that reading other people's weekly baby updates may seem boring to some people, but if I don't document it on here, I am liable to forget everything before I ever get a chance to record it in her baby book. I can't believe that in 26 minutes, I will officially have given birth ONE WEEK ago today. In some ways the time has gone by so much faster this time around, but in other ways it hasn't. Here's what Miss B has been up to this past week.

•  "BIRTH DAY"
• As you all probably read from our Birth Story, it went just the way it was meant to be and I delivered my beautiful baby girl who has a head full of blonde hair and has the sweetest personality! I feel overly and abundantly blessed and give God all the Glory!
• The first night in the hospital was rough, hard to get Brynley to eat much and we had an Angel of a nurse that was working the night shift that night and she helped us tremendously to get the hang of feeding and latching on. I will always remember her!

•  "DAY ONE"
• We were dismissed from the hospital after a 24 hour stay, at our request, and we were so ready to sleep in our own beds and not be interrupted by nurses.
• Here Brynley is in her coming home outfit, the same one I wore as a baby
• Once we got home, my parents met us and dropped Ryder off with us. He was very excited to see us and to check in on his baby sister again. He immediately ran inside and wanted to hug and kiss on her
• He was VERY wound up and I was anxious about getting him settled that night, but he finally went down around 10pm, but it made for a very LONG night!
• To add to the mix, we had a sleepy newborn on our hands and it caused for a night of "cluster feeding" to try to get my milk supply to come in I guess, but it was all worth it because it gave us the bonding time that we needed, and my milk came in sure enough!
• Highlight of the Day: being home in our own bed and adjusting to our new life and having my sweet Ryder back home to love on, and seeing him react with his new baby sister

• "DAY TWO"
•  We discover that Brynley likes her swing and so we let her take her naps here between feedings
• We also discovered the Boppy works wonders to help prop her up and gives her a different view to look at from sleeping in the swing and pack n play all day
• I'm sore from probably doing too much, or just realizing I need to continue taking Motrin every few hours, but it helps with the slight back pain and cramping

•  I managed to somehow get both Ryder and Brynley down for a nap by the same time, so that I too could catch a few hours of sleep!
• My milk supply is definitely in and I am engorged- trying to still get Breastfeeding down pat but the engorgement is tough, learning to pump a little off first and seems to help
• Ryder continues to adjust with a new baby in the house, and he loves petting her baby head and makes cute noises when he touches her hair. He loves her so much already, it melts my heart

•  Brynley has the cutest high pitched schreech she makes when hungry or has gas so I call it her "Teradactyl Schreech"
• Highlight of the Day: My milk is HERE and we are getting the hang of breastfeeding!

•  "DAY THREE"
• Here we are about to leave for our first Pediatrician appointment
• Stats at her first visit: She has lost from her birth weight of 7lbs 10oz down to 7lbs 2oz, and also she has higher levels of Bilurubin than she did when she was born, so we are monitoring her for signs of weight loss getting worse and advised to keep her in the sun a few minutes each day

•  The worst part of the Dr visit was having to have her sweet toes pricked again for blood, but I know it is just part of the appointment, needed to check her Bilurubin levels

•  Afterwards we headed to Target for a few things (pads for me, more Newborn diapers, considering we blow through so many between each feeding, and a few other odds and ends) We get stopped a lot asking to see Brynley, but no one tried to touch her which was good!
• It was the first time wearing my Baby K'Tan carrier and I loved it! I was still nervous about dropping her just in case, so I would have my hand ready just in case

•  Nana and Pawpaw come over to bring food and check on us, and my mom helps me to give Brynley her first sponge bath at home.
• As you can see, she didn't like the cold sponge, even though I warmed the water
• Ryder has started toting the ottomon stool from the livingroom everywhere he can to get better views of his baby sister when I am changing her diaper, or getting her dressed. It's so cute!
• Multitask moment: When Ryder had to poopie, and needed help, I was in the middle of a good nursing session so I did what any new mom of two would do, I continued to nurse standing up and helped him haha
• Highlight of the Day: Brynley took two 3 hour naps between feedings!

•  "DAY FOUR"
• Feeling like a Zombie today from all the added days and hours of no sleep
• After another night cluster feeding, Brynley went down for 3 hours and we got to "sleep in"
• Highlight of the Day: Ryder went to stay the night with his Nana and Pawpaw, getting some extra TLC and attention right now
• This also gave Mommy and Daddy more time to rest and catch up from the hospital

•  "DAY FIVE"
• This cute blanket arrived in the mail for Brynley from Scot's Aunt and Uncle. She had bought the fabric on a trip to Hawaii and made it herself. It will make a GREAT tummy time blankie!
• I packed up some of my Maternity clothes today. It was sad but liberating :)
• We still aren't on any type of schedule, as I am letting Brynley feed on demand. She is a very sleepy baby so she tends to go 3 hours between feedings right now and is awake at night more

•  I told Scot I wanted to get the Fall decorations out at some point, and he literally thought I meant right then ha! Well, I was happy to see the house finally decorated so I got a sweet picture with my girl
• I'm finally feeling better and not so engorged anymore. HUGE difference in breastfeeding
• Ryder was super wound up again after my parents dropped him off. This is tending to be the trend for him lately, after being away
• Ryder also fell 3 times just today! He gets so wound up and doesn't pay attention to anything or what he is doing. I heard this happens, I just didn't realize how often it would

•  I am just falling more and more in love with this sweet baby girl! She just loves her sleep, but tends to be quite the night owl

•  Daddy is pretty smitten with her too
• I love when he gets to nuzzle her because it seems like I'm the one doing all the holding and feedings right now, as we learn each other and get breastfeeding down
• He got to bottle feed breastmilk to Ryder by this point, so I think he misses the time getting to hold
• It was an emotional night after a GREAT day, because Scot had watched football and drank beer and I felt like he was getting his normal back, as mine was disolving quicker than I could catch up.
• On top of that, Brynley wanted to nurse cluster feed again which wore me slap out!
• Highlight of the Day: I took a belly picture after my shower and was surprised to see my stomach shrinking some. YAY for breast feeding every few hours! Also getting to spend a little more one on one time with Ryder. I am slowly trying to incorporate more time with him, and I can tell he soaks it up like a sponge, poor little guy!

• "DAY SIX"
• I'm exhausted yet again after such a long night feeding
• Do I sound like a broken record?
• I decided this morning that maybe we need to get Brynley on a 3 hour feeding schedule rather than let her demand the feedings because these 5 hour cluster feeds at night into the wee hours of the morning are turning me into a Zombie
• I can't get enough of seeing Ryder interact with his baby sister. He even calls her "his baby"
• We had another folloup pediatrician appt today to see if her levels went down
• Weight is now 7 lbs 3 oz, and not at all where she should be at this point, which caused for my emotions to get out of hand and worry. Worry that I won't be able to breastfeed, worry that my baby isn't gaining, worry that she will like the bottle more than the breast
• Highlight of the Day: On the bright side, Brynley does love to breast feed, she just can't stay awake long enough to eat her whole feeding and I have to continually try to wake her which is exhausting in itself! The sun hasn't been out for days, which adds to the stress of getting her bilurubin out

•  "ONE WEEK"
• I can't believe it's been a week already! A very emotionally draining week, exhausting and overcome with love and joy more times in the day than I can count, but I am loving each and every minute of it
• I continue to pray that Brynley's birth weight will go up by her next appointment tomorrow. I hate that we haven't seen any signs of the sun so I can't really get the bilurubin out that way, and she is so sleepy between feedings and even during, that I don't feel like she is getting fully satisfied
• Highlight of the Day: We made it through one week and I am eternally blessed

Best Highlight of the Week: THIS SWEET LITTLE SMILE