Hi friends! Our world has changed big time since I last updated the blog. On September 14, we welcomed Georgia Catherine into our family! She is SO precious, and my heart could just burst with happiness at how much I love her.
I've been trying to figure out how to do a big update, since there is so much to tell, but kept coming up blank. Then I came across a great postpartum questionnaire on another blog, so I'll just use that. And I'll sprinkle in some pictures from the last two weeks. :-)
How far along were you when you had your baby? 40 weeks and 3 days. I CANNOT believe that I went past my due date again. I was convinced that I would have her early!
How long was labor? Almost exactly 12 hours. I started having contractions at about 7:30 pm and delivered Georgia at 7:41 in the morning. I'll do a seperate post with her birth story.
Total weight gain and total weight loss so far? Um, I don't know. I think I gained somewhere around 45 lbs (yikes) and I haven't gotten the courage to weigh myself since the delivery.
Back into your own clothes yet? Yeah right! I have a range of sizes, and nothing but the big stuff fits me at the moment. I bought a few cheap things at Old Navy to wear postpartum (stretchy skirts, drawstring pants, etc.) and some of them are already too big. But the majority of my "normal" clothes are far from fitting at the moment (or for the forseeable future.)
Did you get stretch marks? Yes, BOO!! I didn't get any with Cooper so I thought I was one of those genetically lucky people who didn't get them. Turns out that a big baby=bigger belly=stretch marks.
How is physical recovery going? Good! The first week was rough, especially the time in the hospital, but I definitely feel like I have bounced back faster than I did with Cooper. I'm not 100%, but I'm feeling better every day.
What do you miss about being pregnant? Not a thing! I was so over being pregnant this time around! It feels so nice to say adios to the horrible heartburn, the nausea, the swelling, etc.
How did you come up with baby's name? Georgia was one of Stewart's favorites from the beginning. (He also liked Virginia....I guess he likes state names!) It wasn't in my original top three, so it kind of fell off our radar for a while. But then it came back up again and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Catherine has long been my favorite name, and I liked the way it sounded with Georgia. We didn't decide on the name until the last minute...Stewart claims that it was before she was born, but I think it was not until right after. (Although I admitedly was a bit distracted so I might have the timeline wrong.) We're not sure if we are going to call her Georgia Catherine, Georgia Cate, or just Georgia. Right now we call her all three variations.
How big is Georgia? She was 8lbs 13oz and 20 inches long at birth. We are not sure exactly what her weight got down to because there were some discrepancies between the hospital scale and the pediatrician's scale. But today at 2 1/2 weeks she weighed 9lbs 12 oz and measured 21 3/4 inches long. She's not going to be a little squirt like her brother, that's for sure!
How is her temperment? It has been pretty hard to tell, since up until the last day or two she has been VERY sleepy. She might have a bit of that redhead temperment, since her cry sounds like a pissed-off yell.
How is nursing going? Good! She latched on right away and has been doing well ever since! It has been such a huge difference from my experience with Cooper. Now in retrospect I realize how difficult that time was when he wasn't latching....the first weeks of his life were literally a haze of unsuccessful nursing attempts, screaming, pain, pumping, and frustration. This time around has been so normal....some significant soreness but that is to be expected. I'm so thankful for how smoothly nursing has been going.
How many times have you been peed on/pooped on/barfed on? No pee or poop, but she is a spitter. She soaked my hair two days in a row...once was RIGHT after I had showered and blow dried my hair.
What is the longest you have been away from Georgia? I have made a Target and a Wal-Mart run, both while she was napping in her crib. Both of those were for about an hour and a half.
Have you taken her out yet? Obviously she has been out for her pediatrician appointments, as well as dropping off Cooper in his classroom at school. Georgia and I took Granda (Stewart's grandmother) for an eye appointment, and she was SO proud to have us with her. She would tell anyone within earshot that she had brought her granddaughter and great-granddaughter with her. (Side note: How sweet is it that she calls me just her granddaughter, instead of grandaughter-in-law? Love her!) Oh and yesterday I was going stir crazy so we went to check out the new Homegoods that just opened. I'm still not ready to have her in a big gathering of people, so we haven't been to church or MOPS. I'm waiting until she hits the 4 week mark for those types of outings.
How/where does she sleep? At night she sleeps in our room in the cradle that my grandparents had made for me when I was a baby. During the day she usually sleeps in her room in the crib or the swing. She has napped a few times in the wrap carrier, but she gets really sweaty in there! Up until the last day or so she has been an extremely sleepy baby. I mean sleeping around 23 hours a day! That "don't wake a sleeping baby" advice woulnd't work for her, because the child would never eat if I didn't wake her up to feed her during the day. At night she does wake up to eat, usually every 3 to 4 hours (although sometimes it's shorter.) The last few nights she has been a bit harder to get to go to sleep....she's gotten a bit of that evening fussiness going on. Time will tell what kind of sleeper she will be....hopefully she is a better napper than Cooper!
What are you looking forward to? Seeing her personality emerge! I realized with Cooper that while I enjoy the cuddly newborn stage, I much prefer when they start interacting and responding to others. So I'm looking forward to when she starts smiling, grabbing things, laughing, etc.
How is Cooper doing? With Georgia, he is doing great. He has been nothing but sweet and gentle to her, gives her the cutest little kisses, etc. We do have to watch him because he doesn't have a great awareness of how rough he can be, so he doesn't realize when he's not being careful enough with her. But as long as he is paying attention, he is a super sweet big brother. Now, we have been having quite a time with him in other areas relating to discipline....namely listening, arguing, and throwing fits when he doesn't get his way. All this started the week before Georgia was born, and it has definitely been the toughest part of the past few weeks.
Are you cloth diapering? (I added this question...) Yes, we started cloth diapering pretty much as soon as we got home from the hospital. With Cooper I didn't start until he was 6 months old, so this is pretty different. My friend Sarah loaned me a bunch of prefolds and covers, and I bought some covers and a few all-in-ones. We also got a diaper sprayer this time around, which we never had with Cooper. Basically it is a sprayer that attaches to your toilet, and you use it to spray in and flush all the gross stuff. It has been going well, and we have had much fewer poop blowouts than we did with disposables. The thing that I didn't account for was just how many diapers you go through with newborns. I wish I had a few more covers and all-in-ones. On the other hand, she is close to outgrowing the newborn sized diapers anyway, so I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money to buy a big newborn stash.
So there you have it...a little intro into the first weeks of Miss Georgia Cate. :-) We have been so blessed by all the help and love we've received since she was born. My mom stayed to help for 10 days, Stewart's parents have helped out a ton with Cooper, and we have had countless meals from friends. Thank you to everyone who has sent cards, gifts, and well wishes. We are so blessed!
She is so adorable!! Glad she is so easy-going and the Cooper is such a good big brother. He'll sort out the behavior stuff, hopefully before he drives you nuts. :-)
Did you make that Boppy cover, by chance? I used that same fabric to back a quilt for Anna, so I'm a fan.
Posted by: Angie | October 04, 2012 at 07:19 PM
Angie, I ordered the boppy cover from etsy. I was going to make one myself, but I ran out of time so just ordered one. :-)
Posted by: Court | October 07, 2012 at 09:28 PM