Lily

We have a new little baby!  Actually she is 2 1/2 weeks old.  I wrote a post about her, but I couldn’t get the blog and the internet to cooperate so I’m trying a different program to write this.  I’ll copy most of what I wrote before.  Hopefully I will write about her birth here sometime.  If anyone reads this and wants to read that story, let me know.  It has a surprise ending!  But mostly I write here to help me remember.  And I don’t think I will forget that surprise!

In honor of her birth date, here are 5 things about newborn Lily.

1. For the first day she was very quiet and content.  She hardly cried at all (except right after she was born) and she didn't have drugs in her system that might have made her that way.  At about 23 hours, she found her voice again.  But she continues to be patient and mostly content and quiet.  She will give me lots of cues and fussing before all out crying starts.  She didn't even cry during the pku test. 

2. Lily loves to nurse.  As soon as she had stopped crying after she was born she could hardly wait to nurse.  She latched on right away and wouldn't stop.  She continues to want to nurse very frequently--every 1-2 hours around the clock (yes, I'm tired)-- but she usually falls asleep after eating for only a few minutes so I know she probably needs to eat that often to get enough.  Hopefully soon she will be able to stay awake more and go for longer stretches!  Still, I would rather have this than a baby who cries at night and we can’t figure out why (we've experienced that, too).

3. Lily is strong, especially her neck.  I wonder if it is because she was breech until 37 weeks, meaning her head was up instead of down like most babies.  Even on her first day, she would lift her head up off of my shoulder and look all around without needing to rest. 

4. Lily has the most hair of all of our babies.  Her hair is dark, almost black, but in the right light it has an auburn, golden hint to it.  And she has pretty eyelashes.  I had a lot of heartburn during the pregnancy and told Annie about the old wives tale about heartburn being related to baby having more hair.  So while I was pregnant Annie joked about our baby having tons of hair.

5. Lily is very loved!  I love holding her and seeing her.  I love not having to guess if what I feel is her foot or her elbow or her head.  I love her tiny hands and feet and ears and everything in between.   I love her tiny little head bobbing up and down on my shoulder, open mouthed, searching for something to suck on.  I love feeling her tiny body, small enough I can put one hand around her back, rising and falling as she breathes and snuggles into me.  I love how she stares off at something we don't even notice, totally mesmerized with her mouth in a tiny "o" shape. (Annie said, “If she could talk, she would say Wow!”)  I love the sweet faces and sounds she makes right after she has drifted off to sleep-- smiling, laughing, frowning, whimpering, opening and closing her mouth, then smiling again.  If only they could tell us about their dreams!

It was so sweet to see Adam getting to see her and hold her for the first time.  I think it was love at first sight!  He said she looked like a perfect little doll.  He loves looking at her.

We had a lot of adoring visitors.  Both sets of grandparents, Grandma Haws, Carina, David, Aria, Marie, Rob, Brian and Anne all came to see her during our first day in the hospital.  That morning Annie was so excited to wear her new "big sister" shirt that Grandma Bosen gave her. 

And she was very excited to have a baby sister.  She loves to watch and hold Lily and is excited about everything Lily does.  "She's awake!"  "She opened her eyes!"  "She's eating!" "She is done eating!" and my favorite "She moved!"

 

Hyrum is less dramatic about his affection, but he does love her.  Unfortunately, both of the kids got sick about 5 days after she was born, so I didn't let them hold her and tried to keep them from touching or getting too close for a few days.  Since then he has asked to hold her several times.  He is gone to school a lot of the time or otherwise busy, so he doesn't get a lot of chances.