Getting to know our Maylee Kate

beautiful picture courtesy of the amazing Amy Clark!

I love the first few weeks of your newborns life when you really get to discover one another, and fall in love with each other! That is what Maylee and I have been doing for these first 3 weeks of her life. I have also learned to give my babies and myself those first few weeks to get in a groove, catch up on life, etc... Now the time begins for me to become a strict babywise mom and hopefully get this little one to sleep through the night as soon as I possibly can! I also spent the last few weeks trying to get Maylee's older sister, Brooklynn, back on her schedule. Now that that has been accomplished I can focus on Maylee's schedule. Which reminds me, everyone keeps asking me what its like to have two kids now and how the adjustment has been. My answer is the newborn is easy (other than waking up in the middle of the night to nurse), it's having a toddler that makes it a little more challenging. Luckily, I had my mom here for the first little while to help out mostly with Brooklynn, and we are also fortunate enough to have Paul around really WHENEVER we need. His schedule is so flexible so that makes my job MUCH easier. We rarely venture out of our little house (Maylee has only been out 3 times...once to Olive Garden for dinner with Brooke and Ryan before they left, to the Dr.'s office for her 2 week check up, and just the other day to Amy Clark's home where we attempted to take more photos of her).

Maylee's stats at birth were 7 lbs. 5 oz. 19 in long. When we left the hospital she had dropped down to 6 lbs. 12 oz. At her two week check up (really 18 days old) she weighed in at 7 lbs 13.5 oz and 20.5 in long. It is always a relief to see their weight gain...means my milk production is doing something! The Dr. said he also likes to see newborns 4 oz. heavier than their birth weight by 14 days of life so he was also very happy with her progress. In other news of her two week check up, we decided against vaccinating her (vaccinations is a whole other topic...the debate is so strong on both sides), mostly because side affects from those shots are the same as warning signs for her exposure to my Group B Strep. Because I have been told by the Dr.'s that in the first 2 months of her life if she ever has a fever of 100.4 or higher to immediately take her to the Emergency Room, I want to avoid any other explanation for such a fever, thus opting out of vaccinations, which most often are accompanied with a fever. I figured I would spare myself some worry. Plus Hep B is the main vaccine they give at 2 weeks (if not given at birth in the hospital, which we didn't do) and since Maylee is obviously not sexually active or injecting herself with needles she is at very low risk. Plus my breast milk is full of antibodies which should really help keep her healthy!

In the last 3 weeks we have discovered much about our little Maylee Kate..including:
- She has a dimple in her left cheek which is to die for! She also has a little bit of a butt chin.
- She loves to be held (not really a surprise there...what newborn doesn't?).
- Her eyes are still blue and although daddy has no hope that they will stay, mommy does!
- She hasn't formed a strong bond with her binki just yet, but she will take one.
- She has had my milk from a bottle on 4 occasions.
- Her eyes do extremely funny things when falling asleep or waking up.
- Her newborn clothes still DROWN her, which leaves her wardrobe very slim for the moment.
- She has extremely large white pores on her nose.
- Her skin is peeling still, mostly on her forehead and around her eyes..but her skin is still so soft and smells oh so yummy! Gotta love that baby lotion.
- She has begun to spit up MUCH more, but I am hoping it doesn't get as bad as Brooklynn, which constantly required bibs.
- She loves to sit in her chair but the swing is too deep for her little body to sit in just yet.
- She recently discovered the swaddle blanket my neighbor, Beth, made for me and sleeps much better wrapped in it.
- She doesn't like to be "free" or in the nude...just ask Amy, who has now attempted to take Maylee's pictures twice! Pretty sure Maylee has been her worst and most difficult client! So sorry.
- Of course she doesn't like to be cold, so if we can attempt to keep her covered or warm during bath time there is little screaming.
- This girl has got lungs! When she cries, she SCREAMS and its loud! But she is not fussy...there is always a reason for her crying.
- She hates getting the hiccups...and poor thing gets them at least twice a day!
- She is quite the grunter.
- The mute button also works for Maylee, as it did with Brooklynn.
- She loves to stare up at our ceiling fan...going around and around.
- She likes to have her cradle rocked when struggling to fall asleep.
- She averages nursing every 3-4 hours for 7-10 minutes on each side. And for the most part latches on well.
- She makes me smile!
- She gets more kisses than you can imagine...especially from big sister!

Speaking of Miss Maylee Kate...I need to go wake her because she has been napping in her bed for the last 2.5 hours and it is time to nurse!