6 Weeks

Life with three kids is great (though BUSY!) and I feel like there are a hundred details about the last six weeks that I want to share. Only, I keep forgetting things as quickly as they happen and when I open our blog my mind goes blank. Sleep deprivation perhaps? 

Helen continues to be sweet and mellow and content to sleep most of the day, and for a couple long stretches at night. She rolled from her tummy to her back several times last week, but hasn't done it since. We are eagerly awaiting her first smile. She seems to recognize her name, and her eyes will flutter open when Scott says it. Her thighs seem to grow before our eyes, and her chubby cheeks now rest on her shoulders. She sleeps with an incline wedge, which seems to prevent reflux problems. (Thanks goodness it isn't any worse!) She likes to be swaddled when she needs to relax and go to sleep. 

When she's been awake for a while and I think she's starting to get sleepy, I swaddle her and lay her down in her crib and turn on the ceiling fan and white noise machine. She'll lay there contently until she falls asleep. Last night I peeked in on her 20 minutes later, and she was still awake! She was just laying there like a little caterpillar, all tightly swaddled with her round little head sticking out, and calm eyes watching the fan. A few minutes later she was asleep. The way she soothes herself to sleep without making a sound is incredible. She's an angel, isn't she?

I'll be back later with details (and video) of Ian and Joseph's recent swim test. They passed with flying colors and were as proud of their accomplishment as Scott and I were. I am sure Helen will be relieved to say goodbye to sweaty mornings poolside when swim lessons end later this week. I will be too!

I am impressed by how she can make even a damp onesie look cute!

1 Month

Our sweet Helen is now one month old!

Here are her 1 Month Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 6 oz., 90th percentile
Height: 21", 50 percentile

She's still an eager eater, and she's packing on some of the most adorable rolls. When she is really hungry she makes a clicking sound with her tongue on the roof of her mouth. It's really funny to hear that over the baby monitor! She rarely cries -- the usual culprit for her tears is a dirty diaper. She is also very gassy, but some time on her tummy always produces results and makes her much happier.

Her brothers love to give her a binkie and they enjoy stopping in for visits when she is sleeping in her room. They like to do "tummy time" with her, and Joseph loves to poke her skin and watch it go white and then fill with color again. He also loves rubbing her head and patting her back. When Helen fusses Ian will say in the sweetest, most soothing of voices, "Shhhhhh, Helen. Be quiet. Shhhhhhh." (I guess he thinks that is the only thing the "shhhhing" sound is for.)

The boys don't seem to feel much jealousy so far. Although while I was nursing Helen a few days ago Joseph came in and grabbed her binkie and left. He returned to the room a few minutes later without it and when asked, he calmly told me he had thrown it down the stairs. I asked him if he was feeling upset with Helen, and he said "Yeah, you are feeding Helen, but I want you to be feeding me breakfast instead." It was strangely sweet, especially since that was the very worst he's acted out in regards to his new little sister.

Right now a person could set their clock by Helen's eating schedule: she wants to eat every three hours exactly, always at 5 am, 8 am, 11 am and so on. It's nice that I know what to expect, but I wouldn't mind being surprised by a 4+ hour stretch between night feedings. (Although last night I woke her for an extra feeding before I went to bed, and she did actually go another 4+ hours! Here's hoping for a repeat of that tonight...) She currently sleeps most soundly during the day, when her brothers are making the most ruckus outside her bedroom. She is usually fussy and awake each night between 5 pm and about 9 pm, with little catnaps sprinkled in. For the most part, when she is tired, both day and night, we swaddle her, convince her to take a binkie, lay her in her crib awake, and shut the door. Most of the time she puts herself right to sleep. The rest of the time, she loves to be rocked to sleep.

We love having her in our family!

Here are the Big Brothers with their "instruments", playing along to some Disney songs on Pandora.

We ought to let Medela know about a second usage for those plastic parts. 

We had so much fun with Grandma and she took great care of us. She flew home on Thursday and we really miss her! The boys haven't stopped talking about her and all the fun things they did together. Thanks for everything, Mom!

And I am sure Helen really misses this.

Sponge Bath

Helen loved both her first and second sponge baths. When I scrubbed her hair she relaxed and made happy sounds and I have never seen her so content as when I swaddled her afterward. It's so fun to watch her experience 'firsts'!

Baby Helen

We're excited to announce that Helen Larson joined our family on Wednesday, June 8 at 7:25 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz and was 20" long. She surprised us by arriving a little more than 2 weeks early.

The boys are smitten.

 

Scott brought the boys to the hospital the morning after she was born and the recovery room was a big hit. Especially the bed that goes up "all the way to the ceiling!"

And the empty cupboards that double as dump trucks. 

Baby Sister got lots of love from her brothers. They also brought a doll they picked out for her, as well as two pictures they drew for her that we taped to her hospital bassinet.  The boys are constantly asking to hold her since we got home on Friday morning. Joseph especially -- he acts like he's under a love spell.

My recovery has been incredible and we feel really blessed with the way labor and delivery went. 

Here is a picture of Joseph kissing Baby Sister before the boys went to play with the neighbors and Scott and I left for the hospital. Ian asked to see my belly and acted like he was measuring her top to bottom and side to side. His analysis was that she  wasn't quite big enough to be born yet. 

In fact, she was born about 2.5  hours later. We were shocked. As Scott took this picture he said "Lesley, you're not acting like you're in labor..." And I really didn't feel like I was either.

Details of her birth are on their way. The synopsis is that I felt "off" all afternoon on Wednesday, but didn't feel like I was having contractions. Scott came home around 5:00 pm, and we took the boys to the neighbors shortly thereafter. We arrived in triage around 6:00 when I was having mild contractions every 4 minutes. After some discussion I was admitted to labor and delivery around 6:45 pm, they broke my water at 6:55 pm, and Helen was born at 7:25 pm. It was all very uncomplicated and quick, and her VBAC delivery went exactly as I had hoped. 

And now we are all really enjoying having Helen home with us!