Adjusting as a Family of Five

I wanted to thank everyone that has been checking on us.  We are doing great!  Kaelyn is such a great, sweet natured, content baby.  I told Andy that we needed to have at least a half dozen more :)  We are all enjoying our time together.  Andrew goes back to work tomorrow, after being home with us for eleven days.  It is bittersweet.  Financially, we need him to go back to work since his time off has been unpaid, but we will miss him.  We've really had a wonderful time together. I feel like so much has happened over the last week and a half.  Here's a glance of how life has been around here.

~ We brought Kaelyn home last Sunday, a few hours after birth.  Both girls were thrilled to see their new sister.



Arin's first look at her new sister

 ~ The next day, Arin came down with the stomach bug.  Eeek!  Not what you want with a brand new baby.  I sent my sister home, so neither her nor her seven month old son would catch the sickness.  Smart move because that evening, Ella came down with the stomach bug.  Then, Arin relapsed on Tuesday.  Thursday it was both mine and Andrew's turn to get it.  Not a fun first week home.

~ Tuesday, I took Kaelyn back to the birthing center for her PKU test.  I found out that they had weighed Kaelyn with receiving blankets at birth and hadn't subtracted anything for their weight.  Weird, huh?  So we weighed two receiving blankets and changed Kaelyn's weight on her birth certificate to 8lbs 13oz.  I didn't know at the time to change her height too.  That wasn't done right either (should have been 21"). 

~ Tuesday we also took Kaelyn to her first pediatrician appointment.  Her weight was down to 8 lbs 5 oz and her skin was showing signs of jaundice.  They wanted to do a blood test for jaundice but agreed to let me "work on it".  We went back Friday for another weight and jaundice check.  Her weight was up to 8lbs and 11oz and her skin coloring looked good, but just to be sure we set another appointment for today (Tuesday).  Today, she was up to 9lbs and 1oz and her skin color was great.  So we never had to do a blood test. So happy that I have found a pediatrician that listens to me and doesn't try to pressure me into anything.

~  On Saturday, the rest of Kaelyn's cord fell off.  Arin is super excited about this because now she is allowed to change the wet diapers.  I love that that is exciting to her and I hope it doesn't wear off too soon :)

~  The older girls have had a lot of good bonding time with their daddy.  They have gone to lunch with him and run errands with him.  He has taken them fishing, to the park, swimming, and has had them help with projects around the house.  They love this time with him.

~  I have had to end my 30+ year love affair with chocolate.  I have eaten it twice since giving birth and within a few hours, my normally sweet, content baby turns very cranky, has a hard time settling down, and acts as if she's in pain.  So I've broken up with chocolate...for now.

~  In the weeks prior to birthing Kaelyn, and especially while birthing her, my back was killing me.  The pain improved drastically after giving birth.  That was until this week.  Now it is back to hurting A LOT.  So I started going to the chiropractor.  I have had two appointments so far and am planning on ten more over the next few weeks.  We took an x-ray and my hips are very uneven and my neck curves to the right.

~  Kaelyn is our least photographed child.  I have to remind myself to take the camera out and take pictures of her.  Why?  Because I am so busy holding her and staring at her, I forget to take pictures of her.  She is so sweet and I just love to look at her and hold her.  I know that I had those feelings with all of our kids, but I can't remember loving to hold them like I love to hold Kaelyn.  I think this is because life has been so relaxed (thanks to Andy taking over almost all of my duties) and I have had the time to just sit and enjoy the kids.

~  Andrew's work sent us a congratulations gift of a rose, balloons, and a stuffed animal.  The girls thought they were sent to them.  Arin claimed the rose and Ella claimed the other things.  It's good for them to feel special too :)

~  Some of the people from our playgroup have started bringing us meals.  I think this is the best gift ever for a new mom! 

I am sure there are things I am leaving out, but I have been writing this post on and off for the past four hours!  Yes, tasks take a lot longer with a new baby to adore :)