I’m still catching up.  Annabelle is officially 3 weeks old but that’s life as a parent, always late (and I’ve never been really good at being on time).  Here is our picture of sweet Annabelle at two weeks.  Dusty picked her outfit again this week.  She’s wearing a Flywheel onsie (a tribute to Dusty’s company).

This second week was much better than the first.  There’s no way to express how much better week two was for us, or just how hard week one really was. I’m not sure if I could have survived another week with such little sleep or so much breastfeeding.

What made a big difference from week one to week two was that we broke some of the rules (really we stopped listening to everything we read or heard) and just went with what worked best.  Our philosophy has always been to do what works best for us, but as new parents, it’s sometimes hard to know what to do and what not to do when you get so many conflicting pieces of advice  (as I mentioned from week one).  Now when I read something or hear something that doesn’t work for us I just save that piece of information in the back of my brain because it might be useful later on.

The first major change since last week is that we started getting more sleep.  Now, it’s not amazing sleep that lasts a full 8 hours but I’m pretty sure there weren’t any nights where you found Dusty or I sleeping in the rocking chair or on the floor in the nursery.  I don’t think I mentioned it but we’re keeping her in a bassinet (or trying at least) in our room unless she gets really fussy and then one of us takes her to her room so the other can get some sleep.

Dusty went back to work this week as well.  Our original plan was for him to go into work in the mornings and work from home in the afternoons but we realized that we were both getting enough sleep that him coming home in the afternoon didn’t make sense.  It was a little scary that first day he was back to work and I was all-alone but we all survived.

For the most part, this week all I did was feed Annabelle, change her dirty diapers, try to take a quick nap when she was snoozing, and try to keep up with some of the small things around the house (if there was time).  This last thing didn’t happen very often and sometimes if it did, it was an unsuccessful attempt.  During week two I was even able to shower a couple of times before Dusty got home (a big accomplishment for me) and even took Annabelle to meet all of my Book Club friends one night.  Going to Book Club was our first outing without Dusty!

Breastfeeding has gotten much easier this week.  Some of my friends have asked me what I feared most about having Annabelle and my answer was always breastfeeding.  I’ve had some friends who have had a really difficult time with nursing and I always felt this was the one thing I really wanted to be able to do but knew I might not have any control over.  The first week it took a little extra time for my milk to come in so Annabelle was always hungry and just not getting as much to eat as she probably wanted (and I was anxious and always thinking about it) but this second week she’s been putting on the ounces and at her two week check up weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces (up from her 7 lbs 9 oz at birth).  Things are getting much better but it’s still an adjustment, getting used to being the only person that can feed her (at the moment).

I’m also going to pump but someone in the hospital (I can’t remember if it was our pediatrician or a nurse) recommended that we wait at least three weeks before pumping and introducing a bottle to Annabelle.  Of course, everyone, including the internet had different advice for us but Annabelle and I are still getting into a rhythm, so this seems to be the right decision for us (although I did try pumping once this week so that we could go out for my birthday and it’s made me glad we’re not rushing it).

We had a lot of friends and family visit again this week and so Annabelle is still having a hard time getting into a routine (if this can happen at two weeks old).  And another big thanks to those friends of our who brought us food, it was greatly appreciated.

This week we also ventured out of the apartment and as a family of three took a few strolls around the Old Market.  This was another one of those moments that we all of a sudden realized that we are now parents and things are going to be different (very similar to our experience at the pediatrician).  Dusty and I got outside with the stroller and Annabelle, looked at each other and smiled.  We had one of those, “who’s going to push the stroller, oh my goodness we have a stroller… and a baby” moments!  Annabelle loves living in the Old Market and even spent her first evening at one of our and her soon-to-be favorite spots, La Buvette.

Our biggest milestone this week was leaving Annabelle with Grandma Jane for almost three hours while we went to dinner to celebrate my birthday.  I tried for the first time and successfully pumped a few ounces of milk, and we were able to leave her for a few precious hours for our first meal alone.  It was a special birthday dinner!