Our first day home was…busy, but wonderful!

Sweet Pea had her first appointment with the pediatrician this morning.

At 10 days old, Sweet Pea weighed in at 6lbs. 3oz. and was 19.25 inches long!

We have to take Sweet Pea for blood work (to check her levels from the rH factor at birth) on Monday and then a follow up appointment, along with her 2 week check up next Friday.

Today I had two goals:

1. Get Little Bug back on her routine at home.

2. Get Sweet Pea on Similac Allimentum formula.

I know getting Little Bug back into her routine (that will now naturally be somewhat different now that she has a baby sister) would not happen in one day, but we are off to a good start.

I was able to get Sweet Pea on the new formula. This is the formula my pediatrician recommends because it is most like breast milk. My plan was to mix the Enfamil Newborn with the Allimentum until she was on 100% Allimentum, but then after going to two stores that did not have a small can of the Enfamil, I gave up and just decided to see how she would do if I just gave her 100% Allimentum in her bottle.

She took right to it!

Since my mom’s house is a 10 minute drive from the pediatrician’s office, we stopped there on our way back home for the 2pm feed. My Grandmother drove over to meet Sweet Pea, her second great-grandchild, for the first time!

Little Bug ADORES her baby sister. She stayed with her Daddy while my mom and I took Sweet Pea to the doctor. When we returned, she bypassed us both in the hallway and with a VERY concerned little voice, she said, “Where is Sweet Pea? Where is Sweet Pea??” She seriously was concerned that we had taken her somewhere and not brought her back!

When I told her Sweet Pea was in her car seat sitting in the hallway, Little Bug immediately wanted to see her, hold her, give her a paci and put a blanket on her.

I hope this continues!

First Tigger Picture at 10 days old!

The NICU had Sweet Pea on a 3-4 hour feeding schedule. The nurses told me if she was sleeping past the 3 hour mark she could sleep all the way to 4 hours before her next feed, if she wanted. Sweet Pea pretty much was going the four hours between feeds in the NICU.

Today, however, I have put her on a 3 hour schedule because four hours just seems like a long time for a newborn to go without a feed and I would rather feed her more often during the day in hopes that she will do the 4 hour and eventually 5 to 6 hour stretches during the night.

So feeding schedule at 10 days old is 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, 11pm and then I let her determine what time the feeds are through the night. (Last night it was another feed at 4am and then at 7:45am.) Obviously, if she is hungry before those times, I feed her, but so far she goes the 3 hours no problem.

I would like her morning wake time to be 8am because that will give me 30 minutes to feed Sweet Pea before Little Bug wakes up, but we will just have to see what Sweet Pea thinks is a good wake up time and go from there.

Speaking of wake up times. Little Bug awoke at 6:45am this morning, hollering, “Sweeeeeet Peeeeeea!!!” She could not wait to see her baby sister.

I hope this does NOT continue!

How am I?

Relaxed.

And that, in and of itself, is another miracle!

I was soooooo uptight with Little Bug, but I guess that is pretty normal considering she was my first.

When I say that God changed my life by teaching me through my journey to #2 that HE is in control of EVERYTHING, not me, I really mean that God changed every aspect of my life.

My mom is staying with us helping out and I know that things will probably be a little (or a lot) crazy when it is just me taking care of both girls, but I really have a different perspective this time around.

Part of that is the simple fact that Sweet Pea is my second child and I just have a confidence that wasn’t there with Little Bug at birth (poor little guinea pig!), but the main difference is God has really done a work in my life through Sweet Pea’s adoption process that has helped me relinquish my need to control all things and realize Who really is in control.

I am one incredibly blessed woman. I thank God for these two precious miracles He has entrusted us with.

- Elaine