Little Mae Caroline is now 11 days old! It really goes by fast the second time around. I felt like the infant stage with Evans lasted a long time. I can't believe it's been over a week since we were at the hospital!
Evans has been such a cute big sister. She loves talking to "her baby" and "helping" me soothe her and change diapers, etc. Here she is covering baby up because she might get cold...
"Cover ups baby, Mommy"
"Oh look at that, she's sleeping, Mommy!"
Evans loves to say "don't cry, baby", "gonna be ok, baby", "oh hi baby sister", "mommy, is she hungry?", "hey darlin'". It is the cutest thing to me watching Evans talk to MC. I look forward to when MC is responding back to her big sis!
The other night, Mae Caroline was crying and fussing. Evans came over to her and said "Oh don't cry. What is it, you want dinner?" HA. It made me laugh, Evans thinks the reason anyone cries is due to food. Food is the way to that toddler's heart.
Mae Caroline is very alert when she's actually awake. She's got big blue eyes just like Evans.
But, most of the day we are doing this. She's been (knock on wood and say a prayer) a great sleeper so far. Even at night she does pretty good stretches for me. My mom caught us snoozing the other day on the couch. MC loves her boppy lounger! I kind of wish they made those in my size.
These three have my heart. Hubs has really stepped up since Mae Caroline was born. He was already handling most of the toddler duties since I couldn't do much towards the end of pregnancy due to back pain and just being HUGE, but he's been an even bigger support since coming home from the hospital. I couldn't do it without him, that's for sure!
We aren't really on a per se "schedule" yet since Mae Caroline is still so little. But, we do have sort of a routine going now, give or take here and there.
Typical Day:
6:00 or 7:00 She's usually ready to eat at this time and will go right back to sleep.
9:00 Awake and ready to eat again! She is alert for 10-30 minutes, and back to snoozeville.
Around 12:00 Ready to eat again! and right back to sleep...
Around 2:00 or 3:00 Hungry! and might be cranky a bit too, but not bad. She's usually alert for 30 minutes to 1 hour after.
Around 5:00 or 6:00 Ready for dinner! After dinner, I may snooze for 45 minutes or so, or I may be wide awake and start to get a bit fussy.
Between 7:00 and 10:00 pm are her worst hours, but definitely manageable. She may want to eat every hour on the hour, or walked around the house, spend time in the bouncy seat, rocked in your arms, etc, but this is definitely when she is most irritable. On a scale of 1-10 with Evans as a newborn being a 12 (we love you anyways, sweet Bootsie Girl!), I'd say Mae Caroline's fussiest moments have been about a 4 at this point. She really is a laid back little human. I hope it continues on this way!
Between 9:00 and 10:00 pm, I take her back to our room and turn off the lights, turn on the white noise, get her in her pajamas, and feed her for bedtime.
She's usually lights out by 10:30 and so am I.
Her night waking is not too predictable. She may wake up anywhere between 2 and 4 AM to eat, and then again between 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning, just depending on when she last ate. She's been settling right back in to sleep after eating.
I can totally handle that! The worst night she's had she was up twice. That's a miracle to me. I didn't know I could have a baby that actually would do that! A few nights in a row she has even gone 10:30-6:00 AM. It's unreal. I, of course, don't sleep quite as well because I keep checking on her to make sure she is ok!
So that's a typical day right now. I know it will change, but I hope she continues to sleep well.
We got out of the house yesterday and ran some errands at Target. She didn't think much of it, slept the whole time. Oh, Mae Caroline, you will come to love Target as much as your mommy. Much to Daddy's disapproval, I'm sure :)
She isn't a big fan of having her arms swaddled, just like her big sister was. She has slept much better if she isn't too confined. I usually swaddle her body with her arms out.
Evans likes to come in and check on her in the mornings. She will stand over the rock and play and point and say "baby sleeping!", of course she doesn't really get the concept of whisper yet...
Evans also likes to give a "smooch and hug" and often asks me "I kiss baby, Mommy?"
It's cute to hear Evans say "Mae Care-wine", or as of late it's been "Miss Care-wine". Ha.
So that's how the first 11 days have gone. We have her two week check up this Friday to see how much weight she's put back on. She eats like a champ so I'm assuming she's at least back to her birth weight. We'll see!
