Monday 4 May 2015

Elarna - Birth & Beyond Update

It only seems like yesterday that I was writing my last bump update (you can read that here), I can't quite believe that Elarna is nearly 3 weeks old, she will reach that grand old age on Wednesday and it's just flown by, I've been so scared that I'll blink and miss something. I've decided that these update posts will be called birth and beyond and I hope to look back at this one day and be reminded of lovely memories. For the purpose of these posts too I'm going to use unedited and natural photos to capture everything as real as I can.

It's been a whirlwind 3 weeks, as to be expected and packed full of new and exciting memories and experiences. It's also been a little sad (well sad perhaps isn't the best word but you know what I mean) for me as I've been contemplating that this was likely to have been my last pregnancy, birth and newborn. I would never say never of course but my husband is fairly adamant that we won't have any more children. For that reason I've been trying to enjoy every single squishy newborn cuddle  and moment possible.

My last bump photo taken at 40+2, I was huge!! 

1 Week!

Fast forward to the 22nd April and Elarna was suddenly a whole week old, I was definitely in some sort of newborn bubble, each day and night seemed to just roll into one! During the first week she was so good and appeared to be really quite content, she was a little jaundice which meant she was quite sleepy and was only really waking once a night, brilliant I thought this is a breeze compared to Alfie (he generally had us up every hour to hour and half during the first few weeks!). During the day she was seemingly very placid too. 

When she was weighed by the Midwife at day 3 she had only dropped a small amount of weight to 6lbs 13oz which I was really pleased with! She was still only fitting in first size baby gro's however and I had to buy some more as alot of the ones I did have were swamping her!

I had hoped to breastfeed but unfortunately I didn't last past the second day, I was struggling to latch her on and I was in pain and I really didn't want the stress of what happened last time so in the end I decided to formula feed. This has been the best decision I've made as a personal choice, I am so much less stressed and this I believe reflects in not only my relationship with her but her well being too as I've bonded with her strongly. I am however a little bit disappointed and feel a slight failure that it didn't work out once again.


Sleepy cuddles!

We have had lots of visitors in the first couple of weeks but unlike with Alfie where we were non stop, this time we were careful to not overload ourselves and allow us time to be together as a family of four. This time was very important to us to allow Alfie to get used to being a big brother. He continues to be a little star but he's becoming a bit more adventurous and wanting to try and pick her up so we have to watch him like a hawk! He also likes to wind her and then for me to wind him too! It's very sweet watching him though, I think he's going to look after her when she's older.



My little family.

There is something really lovely about introducing a newborn to the Grandparents, seeing another generation in their family really makes them happy, my Mum and Dad are already besotted as are Adi's, I think she'll definitely be the apple of Grandad's eyes!


Proud Grandma.
Proud Grandad.
My babies xx
These tiny little fingers :-)
2 Weeks!

On the 29th April we reached 2 weeks old! She's already changed so much, especially in her face I think. The Health Visitor came and weighed her and she'd put on a whole 8oz, little piggy! She's starting to fill out her baby gro's much more now and although she's still in first size I think soon we'll be saying goodbye to those and moving into 0-3. 

She's starting to have more awake time during the day and she's definitely been having a growth spurt as she's guzzling alot more milk than she was, roughly around 4oz every 2-3 hours. I'm finding that she's quite clingy and wants to be cuddled quite alot so I have just purchased a sling and a swing to see if that helps getting her to have some time away from me! As much as I love having cuddles it does make things tricky looking after hurricane Alfie and doing odd jobs!

I'm not starting to properly think about routine's but I'm kind of trying to develop a little routine to slot in with Alfie, this is more so at bedtime which is the time that I haven't quite got to grips with! I was trying to feed Elarna then get Alfie to bed but this wasn't really working as Elarna takes a while to feed and settle where as Alfie not so, it would seem this is work in progress and we're still figuring this one out so we'll just roll with it at the moment and see what happens. 

Elarna will settle in her moses basket at around 8ish and we have a little bit of an evening together which is nice, she then has her deep sleep and my husband then feeds her around 11pm- midnight allowing me a couple of hours sleep before bringing her into our room. She is now waking at roughly 2-3am for a change and a feed and then going through till 6am (ish) so at the moment I'm really pleased with this, I'm hoping she'll continue being a good girl!

Apart from the clinginess (which is to be expected) I do find that she is alot more contented than Alfie was, I don't if this is because she's my second or I'm just a little more clued up and relaxed this time but I hope that she does continue to be content and settled.

As for myself I'm making a pretty good recovery, I need to remember to take it a bit easier as I've become quite run down in the last week and developed a hacking cough which is not what I was anticipating! I'm healing well (I think!) and having a few hours sleep at night is a god send! I still feel extremely lucky to be in the position that I am with 2 beautiful children and a pretty decent husband! I'm hoping that in a few weeks I'll be feeling up to some nice long walks to keep off the weight that I seem to have lost.


I haven't decided how often I will run birth and beyond, I will see what happens in the coming weeks, but as always I will link up with the linkies that I enjoy joining.

Thanks as always for reading.

MaternityMondays


Mummascribbles

24 comments:

  1. Aww what a lovely post, she's absolutely beautiful! They always grow SO fast so love and cherish every moment - my baby brother was born two years ago now and it still only feels like yesterday! Good luck with your gorgeous baby girl :) x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Amy, it really does fly by so fast it's scary X

      Delete
  2. Such a beautiful post!! Congratulations on your little princess :) enjoy every second xxxx
    Ami (mymummyspam)
    #mummymonday

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww the pics are so cute and it all sounds like it's working out so well! I hope your cough goes soon and you can continue getting lots of sleep. I bet you are much more relaxed second time. Xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks my love! I'm hoping this bloody cough goes soon too, I wish someone would just give me a break! x

      Delete
  4. She's so lovely and the pictures are just gorgeous. Huge congratulations.

    #UKBloggers

    ReplyDelete
  5. Awwwww super cute!!! Congratulations she is adorable. I love the little weekly signs too :-) its fantastic we have so many ways of recording how our little ones grow. There are no pics of me as a baby!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment, I love the little cards too it's a lovely way of watching them grow X

      Delete
  6. What a little treasure, I so wish I had been blogging when I had mine, you think you will remember everything but i don't this is a wonderful record of those early days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I had been blogging with my first, it's going to be lovely to look back at the memories! x

      Delete
  7. IMy ipad ate my comment ! Here I am again to say I think your family pics are adorable! Yes, you will definitely be way more relaxed with your second! My first only ever had cooled boiled water and organic rice cakes to snack on in toddlerhood. Number two got wotsits and squash! They both survived!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha yes I think you are right, I'm already noticing a difference in my parenting style! x

      Delete
  8. What a lovely post and congratulations, she is a wee beauty! x

    ReplyDelete
  9. She is so adorable! And it seems like you're settling in well with having two :) Most people I speak to who have two say the second is much easier! I'm hoping that's true when I have another baby in the future! #mummymonday

    Carolyn
    http://stylishmemories.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think they're right even though we're still early days she's very different to Alfie! x

      Delete
  10. Wow your bump was lovely :)
    I love the pictures with the signs of the weeks on, such a great idea.
    I like that you want to capture all the good moments to look back on sometimes you forget them in the haze of the sleep deprivation and nappies. #TwinklyTuesday x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh thanks, I thought I was huge, I felt massive, like a whale! I was much bigger this time.x

      Delete
  11. Gorgeous photos. Congratulations. She is adorable.

    :) I miss newborns and bumps hehe

    Nipping over from #BlogsRus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Sonia, it goes all too quickly the pregnancy and then the newborn stage X

      Delete
  12. So sweet! Pregnancy and birth are quite the journey. Love your pictures :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a beauty! I'm so glad that the sibling relationship is going so well. It's funny that you said you were huge in the first picture. My first thought was, "That's full term? She's little!" I suppose having twins gives me a completely different frame of reference. Feeding is always so difficult. If we can't make breastfeeding work, there's the guilt, but trying to get breastfeeding established is so emotionally draining! I'm glad you found the right solution for you! Thanks for linking up at #TwinklyTuesday.

    ReplyDelete

I absolutely love it when someone leaves me a comment, I will always reply back when possible! You can also follow me on twitter for more beautiful chatter: @Helsy_1983