The Second Week

Rachel's second week of life consisted of going back to the doctor for another checkup. She was back up to her birthweight exactly. The doctor said everything looked great. Rachel is a great eater as long as she can keep her hands out of the way. She takes to a bottle very well, which makes me happy because she has already been left with Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Lauren, and Deb. Matt and I still like to do things so it was very important that she could eat from a bottle. I also began letting her sleep as long as possible during the night. She will usually go 4.5 - 5.5 hours between her feeding. I am very happy with that because I get a decent amount of sleep. However, I resume our three hour schedule at 7 am. We went to church for the first time and she was excellent, pretty much just slept. Matt likes to take her outside sometimes, especially when she is crying. He says the change of scenery really distracts her and she usually calms right down. I try to take her on walks, mostly for me to get out and get some exercise. She is pretty much a really good, easy going baby who is fairly predictable. I feel like I have somewhat gotten this "caring for a newborn thing" down, at least more so than the "I have to keep her alive somehow thing" when we first came home. Her umbilical cord stump finally fell off, so she got her first real bath too. That was much more fun than the sponge bath.

Mika, the protector.

Hanging on by her swaddler's velcro. She is a squirmer.

She is so cute when she stretches.

Dad is brave to hold me without a diaper.

I didn't cry hardly at all.