The First Two Weeks

Our baby Grace is two weeks old today!

Shout out to her for hanging in there with parents who have no idea what they're doing. Shout out to us for not killing her!

The past two weeks have been overwhelming, exhausting, and full of joy. I didn't know that you could experience those three emotions so strongly all at the same time.

Here are a few highlights and lowlights and inbetweenlights from the past two weeks.

• Rocket Girl. She came out with a bang and has been super chill ever since. Our rocket girl now sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. She slept so much the first few days that she lost almost 11% of her body weight, so we were put on a very involved feeding plan. But, she's doing great now and together, mommy and baby are getting better at this super difficult thing called nursing.
• Music. Gracie loves it when we sing to her. It calms her down when she cries and it wakes her up when she's supposed to be eating. What songs have we been singing the most? Well, the Fung Brothers, Amazing Grace, Daddy's Baby Girl, and a song about the Triceratops that I learned in 2nd grade.
• Cuddling. I absolutely love plopping Grace on my chest and snuggling her tiny body and smelling her. I cherish those moments. Who knew that someone that poops and spits up so much could smell so good?
• Awake time. Since she's asleep so often, Michael and I soak up the times where she opens her gorgeous eyes and takes in her surroundings.
• Family and friends. I have never felt so well cared for. We have a platoon of people caring for us. Michael's parents have come up a few times and my mom flew in for two days. All three slaved away for us. We've also had friends bring meals, run errands, and support us with encouraging words and prayer. I feel like we would have literally died without the help. We have more help coming our way over the next month. Thank God.
• Milk & OJ. In the past ten days, we drank over four gallons of 2% milk and four cartons of orange juice.
• ER trip. When she was just shy of four days old, I reacted badly to medication I was on for post-labor pain and so Michael, Grace, my mom, and I spent about four hours in the middle of the night in the emergency room. In the end, everything was fine. A few thoughts: it was my first trip to the ER ever, I hated having my fragile four day old around such sick people, and it was amusing being with my mom (a nurse practitioner) in the waiting room as she diagnosed people's illnesses ("That kid has croup.") and what should be done to treat them ("He'll be fine, but he needs a nebulizer quick.") and sure enough minutes later, the treatment happening.
• Poop. Grace once shot poop 3+ feet in the middle of a diaper change when Michael's guard was down. It's anyone's guess how far it would have gone if the mirror hadn't stopped it. That same night, she also rocketed poop into Michael's face. We were only a few days in and so deliriously exhausted that we had no choice but to bust up laughing!
• Daddy's girl. Who does Grace look like? There have been many moments where I feel she looks like Michael and exactly zero moments where I think she looks like me. She has my feet and ears. So far, she seems to have Michael's eye shape, skin color, and hair color. She is the prettiest thing I've ever seen!