happy due date

The fact that I could still be pregnant is absolutely ridiculous to me.  Of course we had already planned an induction for August 6th had Thea not needed to be born sooner, but still.  What if I had gone to 41 weeks???  What if I still had a week of pregnancy left?  Hell no.  As crazy as the last two and a half weeks have been, I'd very much prefer those over being pregnant, thank you very much.

I have so much I feel like I need to get written down.  Elsie turned 2.5, Ryann started kindergarten, we're a family of five... So much I want to say.  But after teasing us for about 10 days, being a super sleepy newborn and what not, Thea is starting to prove she is definitely part of the family.  Why oh why do my kids hate going to sleep so much?  For two glorious days I laid Thea in the rock 'n play while drowsy but awake, and she put herself to sleep.  Since then?  Yeah no.  She fights the swaddle but can't sleep unswaddled.  She won't sleep flat, but wiggles the swaddles around in the rock 'n play.

Now I can't say sleep has been horrible.  If you get her swaddled super tight, like SUPER tight, she'll go for a four hour stretch or so at night.  We've been getting her asleep by 11, then she is up around 3 ish, and up again for the day between 6&7.  So it is kind of like I'm only having to get up once.  And she isn't terribly slow at nursing, so we are usually only up for an hour tops.  Usually.  Because obviously there is a usually when you've only been doing it for less than three weeks.  Haha.

ANYWAY.  Hopefully I'll find some more time to blog now that Ryann is in school (EVERY DAY! ALL DAY!), and even more so when Elsie starts Mother's Morning Out.  But I'm not going to hold my breath.  So for now, here is more or less a photo dump of Thea's life thus far.  As far as my phone is concerned anyway.  I'll edit from my big camera another day.

From the hospital stay...

Mommy and Thea.  Sweet sleeping girl.  Daddy and Thea.  Passing her hearing screen.  Meeting Nora and family!  Hello bright eyes.  Cutest little toes.  Send off selfie.  Headed home.

Our hospital stay was rather uneventful.  We were in the hospital two nights after Thea was born.  We maybe could have gotten out a day earlier, but my blood pressure readings were still rather questionable.  Actually I'm impressed they sent me home, I got readings near 160/100 (or 110? I can't remember.) which were the upper end of my parameters, but I never was actually above what my doctor wanted me under.  So there's that.  We had a few visitors, but for the most part Chris and I hung out with Thea, I nursed her a lot, and ate a few chocolate ice cream cups from the 'nourishment room'.

I did have a bit of a break down the last night we were there.  I hadn't really slept well since I'd been in the hospital, as in, maybe a few hours each night, and I think lack of sleep combined with changing hormones really got to me.  We have always had our girls sleep in the nursery for a couple stretches at night, simply to try and get some sleep before heading home on our own.  The nurse picked Thea up after a feeding and I tried to get to sleep, and I just could not make my eyes close for anything.  Then I started thinking about what if she is our last baby and I'm never pregnant again and holy cow, I could not stop crying.  It was ridiculous.  And then I missed her but I wanted to sleep and I was just a hot freaking mess.  I ended up getting Chris to come cuddle with me (they should make hospital beds wider!) and eventually fell asleep.  Needless to say I was very happy to get home, it really helped my anxiety levels.

Now for some other random pictures from the last two-ish weeks...

my view.  baby legs.  snug as a bug.  national sister day.  snuggle buddy.  first time leaving with all three girls by myself.  first bath at home.  daddy's birthday.  one week old.  #elsiewashere.  t is for thea.  more sleeping.  wide awake!  mama and thea all dressed up.  rocking tummy time.  baby shower.  doll baby.  first boat ride.  by the lake.  boating style.  thea meets kit.  sisters in swim suits.  kissable cheeks.  two weeks old.  happy snuggles.  first time in public with all the girls.  waiting for the school bus.

We've thrown quite a bit in to these first two weeks!  As much as I'd want to hibernate in my bed with all the baby snuggles I could handle, that just isn't me, or my family.  I've taken it pretty easy, but we've still had our fun.  Nursing is going great, aside from the initial latch I haven't had any pain, and the amount of diapers we go through tells me that Thea is most certainly getting plenty.  Her knee wrinkles are already almost gone!  No doubt that girl is growing.  She pretty much hates being in the carseat.  Hopefully we can get over that soon, because I'm ready to feel more confident leaving the house.  With Ryann in school it will mostly only be with two, so it shouldn't be that hard.

We are so impressed with how strong Thea is.  During tummy time she is great at getting her head lifted way up, and she pulls her legs way up underneath her.  Actually, I put her on her tummy when she was six days old, and no joke, she rolled over.  My mom saw it.  Obviously it wasn't intentional, but she had the strength to get herself up high enough to flip.  My initial reaction?  HELL NO.  I want to be able to leave her places without worrying about her rolling over for at least a bit!  Of course I wouldn't leave her anywhere dangerous, but you know what I mean.  Newborns and young infants are supposed to be lumps that can't go anywhere.

Guys?  I have three kids.  THREE.  Three little girls.  Thea has slid right in pretty well, thanks to help from our parents.  Adding the third child has been far less traumatizing than I expected it to be.  Still tough no doubt.  Bed time can turn in to quite the circus, because Elsie refuses to let anyone besides me put her to bed.  And no one else can nurse Thea so... But still.  It isn't as insane as I thought it would be.  And yet, three.  It is hard to believe.