A Week of Gwen

I’m taking a break from the birth story (I’m sorry – I promise it will get done in the next couple of days) to write a bit of an update on how life with two under two is going so far. Because, if you can believe it, our sweet little Gwen is already seven days old.

And in seven short days, she has completely and utterly stolen my heart – changing me forever.

How can I not feel blessed?

The Babe

I could write “Dream Baby” here and nothing else and it would basically sum up our experience with Gwen so far. Seriously. She has been nothing but blissful. Knock on wood. She has made this transition so much easier for me (well, that and the excessive amount of help I’ve had – more on that later). She is eating and sleeping like a champ. From the very first feed, she latched well and started gulping and hasn’t stopped since. My milk came in in less than 48 hours which made her quite happy. Of course, there is the expected tenderness until my n*ps get used to all the action again, but overall, it is going so well. Within one day I felt as though Gwen and I were where it took Eva and I weeks to get to. I can already nurse side lying, in the dark and – get this – with a shirt on! Huge people. This is huge.

As far as sleep goes, her very first night was horrific. She slept no longer than 10 minutes at any given time. But apparently she was just sorting out some kinks because since then, she has slept a minimum of 5.5 hours every night and the past two nights, she even did NINE (YES NINE) hours. I know this is too good to be true and won’t last. I am not naive. But I’m afraid she will keep it up long enough to make me think it just might be the norm and then she’ll start laughing in my face. So, for now, I am just convincing myself it’s not the norm and enjoying the rest while I can get it.

My midwife came here for our one week postpartum check and she is doing great. She has zoomed past her birth weight and is now weighing 8lbs 7oz. She nurses often, very often, during the day. Usually every 1-2 hours, but she sometimes gives me one 3 hour break in the afternoon.

She’s been a busy bee in her first week. She’s been shopping twice already and has been to church. She’s met lots of friends and family and has been loved on by so many people. We are so blessed to have so many people who are just as head over heels in love with her as we are.

The Big Sis

I cannot even believe how well Evalyn has been adjusting so far. A friend and I were talking the other day and discussing how sometimes when we are concerned about how life changes will impact our children, it’s often us who have a more difficult time than they do. And that has certainly been the case so far.

The experience of watching my Baby Girl become the Big Sister when welcoming Gwen has been amazing. It deserves a post of it’s own, which I’m sure it will get very soon.

From the first minute she saw Gwennie at 7 hours old, she has been in love with her baby sister. She wants to “hold him”, “kiss him yittle bit” and so on (yes – Gwennie is a him apparently). At first she struggled with her name a little bit. She would flip between calling her Gwennie, Connor (her cousin) and Silas (who our baby would have been had he been a boy). It took a few days but she’s figured it out and now it’s all about “Baby Gwennie”.

She is very interested and protective. She hasn’t yet shown any jealousy when I have the baby or am nursing – she just always wants to be around and see what’s going on. She has had a few instances where she’s gotten upset over someone else other than Mommy holding Baby Gwennie – but we’re working on that.

She tells her a “secret: I yuh you” and calls her “honey girl”, “darling”, “pumpkin pie” and all of the other terms of endearment that she hears us call her. First thing every morning she wants to go see Baby Gwennie. She is just absolutely in love.

The Mama

I am doing great. Recovery has been a breeze this time. I hardly had any damage during birth, so that has obviously made things much easier. Add to that the fact that we have been getting amazing sleep, I have had non stop help and she is nursing so beautifully and I definitely do not feel like I gave birth one week ago.

The Dada

As was expected, Evan has fallen into his role of Daddy of two seamlessly. He wasn’t able to take much time off, but he has been home as often as possible and has been a huge help with Evalyn in the mornings and with Gwen in the evenings. He is absolutely smitten by his girls and I will always stand by my belief that my greatest gift in motherhood is watching the relationship develop between him and his daughters.

Everything Else

We have been very (VERY) lucky to have my mom here until today. She’s currently snuggling with Gwen for a few more minutes before she packs up to head home. I’m still in denial. Thankfully, Evan’s mom is on her way so we are getting ready to do the big old switch. I’m feeling very anxious about how I will deal with both of the girls on my own once she leaves, but I guess a few other women in the world have survived this, so will I.

The extra help has been monumental in my adjustment. I have basically had to do nothing for myself until now and I truly believe that it has helped ease Evalyn into her role as Big Sister so much. I’m just so glad she’s still been able to have fun and enjoy her usual activities despite the fact that Mama is tied up with a baby on her boob all day.

In some ways, Gwen has always been here. In other ways, it seems like just yesterday she joined our family. We are smitten with our little chunky monkey and she has already changed our lives.