Weeks 1 and 2: Life with Clara

8/19/2016

*Click any pic to make larger or scroll through*

Details

Some of the macro, close-up photos I got of Clara over the first couple weeks. I LOVE close ups. Babies are just so precious, and these details of Clara make my heart melt. Her first midwife home visit, and grandma and grandpa visiting the evening we came home.

Our Little GloWorm

Clara fought off jaundice for the first couple weeks. Her levels got up to a 17.8, which we discovered during a trip to the ER because she hadn't had ANY soiled diapers in a days, yes days. We first took her to the pediatrician to check her weight, and discuss her not eliminating and being so lethargic, but also crying and fussiness. After looking her over the doctor suggested we go to the ER. She finally had a bm while there, but also were told she was close to needing to be admitted to NICU for jaundice.I had a meltdown at the hospital. I forgot my pain meds, not knowing we would end up in ER, and ended up in tears from immense pain and swelling, and then the tears kept coming from worry and no sleep. We were sent home with a biliblanket. It was not easy having to go up and down the stairs in my house and drive so soon after having a cesarean. We kept that blanket on her 24 hours a day. I sat there all day and all night, and Jack would step in and give me breaks when I needed them. He stayed up with me at night, and we rocked her and held that blanket on her for a week straight. Her levels started coming down. She ended up with multiple heel prick blood tests, which is photographed below to show some of them, but this was an exhausting time, and although jaundice is common in new babies, it is still concerning, and we won't soon forget the time spent running her back and forth for blood tests and staying up with her, holding the biliblanket on her. I remember one night I looked at the clock, it was nearly 10pm, and I thought how nice it'd be to sleep. ..and in my bed. I know it would be another long night, nursing every hour, holding the bili blanket on Clara's back, watching over her to keep an eye on her choking, to clean her goopy clogged tear duct, to console her when she's crying and distressed, all while sitting up in a recliner, maybe dozing off a few minutes here or there. But you know what makes all the exhaustion barely a thought? The love. I'm just so in love with her, so in awe of her, and whether there wasn't anything to worry about I would still be awake, because I didn't want to miss a moment. These precious, fleeting moments, while she is so small. My eyes can't stop from looking at her, my arms miss her when she is out of them, I want to coo over her and kiss her chubby cheeks a thousand times. Everything else is background, it's all the love that keeps me up at night, and pulls me through the day.

Family Photos

We attempted a home family shoot on our own July 14th, when Clara was 12 days old. Of course this was far from easy. I was swollen very badly and could barely walk, Jack, Clara, and I hadn't been sleeping, but we set the camera on a tripod with a timer and took a few shots. Most of the ones we did on our own didn't come out so well,but the ones that did, and even a couple of the ones that didn't turn out"perfect" we still love. My friend Sunny came over a few days later on the 19th and helped get a couple more family shots for us too. I think I appreciated her visit and conversation even more than her time taking some pictures. But I love the shots she got too. ;) I typically would spend time editing each photo, but a good handful of these are not even edited. I just kept them as is. Some are even out of focus, but we love them anyways.

First Bath

We held off on Clara's first bath until July 14th. Se was twelve days old. I declined a bath at the hospital for two reasons. I wanted to keep the vernix on her skin, and I wanted to give her her first bath when I felt well enough to at home. So we waited. I was not feeling my best yet. I was very swollen, and had a hard time being on my feet, but it was so much fun and so very precious to giver her the first bath. It was a whole family affair. We all took turns washing her and cooing over her.