Elle at two weeks old: She’s truly a mix of Emma and Zi. When she’s fed, dry, and had enough sleep, she has long moments of just looking at her surroundings, esp. the people who talk to her. Her eyes follow the louder voices and she stares at us curiously. We’re all very excited to know more and more of who she is and who she’ll become, even though we each have our guesses. One’s thing for sure, she’s ultimately kissable.
I just put her first batch of clothes in the wash. It’s almost been a week since her birth. I’m feeling it creeping in like a familiar song I’m trying to supress- that sad nostalgia that whispers how time is going way too fast and I can’t capture her face enough, her smell…I haven’t even taken a picture of her hands and feet because the weather has been so gloomy causing absence of natural light in the rooms. As I was doing the wash, I could smell her scent from the blanket we used for her while we were still in the hospital. I almost didn’t wash it, stains and all, wondering if it would preserve her smell. But I know through the years, that blanket would only soak in odors of merciless time. Every daughter I have, I go through this wreckage. After ever first week of their lives. After every first wash of their clothes and blankets. After every packing away of their newborn clothes. I can’t get away from it…
Yesterday, after we took Elle to her follow up exam after taking her home, the doctor informed us that she was jaundiced and that she had to get blood work done that day. We weren’t really surprised since our previous daughters also had the same thing, so we took her home and fed her more formula than offering her to work on breastfeeding. Perze took full control of her feeding and made sure she tried to drink every 2-3 hours, finishing 2 oz. of milk, although Elle was more sleepy than hungry, due to the doctor’s visit, billirubin, and all the formula. (Elle, your dad is so devoted and in love with you.) I also made sure I started pumping milk while Elle was drinking from the bottle, as not to lose demand. Today, we took her again to get another billirubin count which confirmed that her numbers went down! Praise God for that. In addition, praise God that my milk finally came in which means Elle will get more breastmilk. I know it may be TMI for a blog, but I know how difficult this issue can be for women who just gave birth and waiting, asking, hoping, struggling. […]
We kept expecting her to come on August 2012 but she chose a month all to herself and made her appearance the very first day of September. Here’s our family’s calendar breakdown: April: Perze’s bday May: Zi’s bday June: Our Anniversary July: Emma’s bday August: Marchesa’s bday September: ELLE’S BDAY!!! So, yes, we’re taking all of spring and summer. And although we’ve been waiting what it seemed like forever, now we’re really liking this new date arrangement. In the few weeks ahead, hopefully, we’ll be able to blog about her birth story, as our tradition with our other kids…knowing they’ll appreciate reading it one day. We try to take time to archive such special moments in our lives, mainly so they, as well as we, can see where we’ve been. And happenstance, hopefully some reader will be blessed with some party of our story. Well, here’s to another chapter called Elleonai. Please keep updated…