And all is quiet...

I suppose one of the benefits to being up at night is quiet time to post these updates.

So many 'firsts' as darling Evie grows each day. She gets stronger with each passing moment. She's arching her back, and trying to support her head. Also, she's got a very firm grip these days.

She had her first bath at home the other day. It was only a sponge bath, since we're still working on getting that umbilical cord to fall off. It's starting to come off now, and I predict that she's going to have a very cute belly button.

Another first was her first trip to the pediatrician's office. He gave her a once over, checking her heartbeat, looking in her ears, and checking inside her mouth. Her official weight is now 7lbs 8oz, so she's regaining her weight nicely. A little weight loss right after birth is normal and expected, so it's good to see that she's now putting on some weight.

We've been having lots of fun. She's very interested in high contrast patterns, so we've got a couple of black and white patterns and contrasty toys that she's very interested in. We have so much fun in those 20 minute sessions between feeding and nap where she's alert. Her expressions are fantastic. Because she's still so young her eyes don't always track together correctly, so sometimes she ends up with a silly cross-eyed expression.

We also started using her cloth diapers. Up till now, we'd been using the newborn disposables that the hospital gave us. There's a bit of a learning curve, but there are several upsides to the cloth diapers. For instance we know when she's ready to be changed. Evie lets us know pretty quickly when she needs a fresh nappy. With the disposables, we were always guessing. Also, it's much easier to tell what exactly has occurred in the diaper. Normally, I wouldn't care, but her health care folks are obsessed with the frequency and type. We have a little log book, just to record this sort of detail. I can't wait to show it to her first boyfriend. "Oh, yes, and here... this BM resembled a stone-ground Dijon mustard."

Things are starting to settle down into a routine, and that's good for all of us. Once the doctor says that we don't have to feed her every two hours, I have no doubts that she'll sleep most of the night. (huzzah!) And Dad will be happy not to have to rouse her out of a dead sleep. Since we're all starting to get into the flow of things, we're also getting the housework and other things done now too. For instance, yesterday I was able to take down the Christmas tree and other decorations.

She's still on a two hour feeding schedule. Also, she's had to visit the lab a few times over the past few days for blood tests. She's got a bit of jaundice, and our doctor is keeping a close eye on her. Evie's billirubin levels are still high from birth, but we've been working on getting them lower. In addition to the frequent feedings, which should help flush her system, we play in indirect sunlight for a while every day. Jaundice is pretty common, especially with breastfed babies. While we're concerned, we're trying hard not to worry about it. At least that's the mantra that I keep repeating. Luckily, we've got a lot of sunlight in Texas, and Evie's low-tech light therapy seems to be producing results.

I haven't been able to manage a full photo session with her (yet), but here are a couple of snaps that I've taken over the past few days.

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