Evie also managed to get conjunctivitis in her left eye, which Dr. Aunt Aimee says is pretty common in newborns since they do not have the ability to make tears which clean their eyes. So, we've added a bi-daily schmear of eye goop to our routine. Or at least, our attempt at a routine.
So far, our routine consists of Evie getting fussy somewhere between 5:30 and 7:00am and me taking her out of our bedroom and into the living room where she'll have some breakfast and then we snuggle on the couch for a nap so I can finish whatever sleep cycle I was in when she woke up. Then, I'll put her in her bear chair (a swing we have for her that has a headrest with bear ears on it) while she naps so I can have breakfast and/or take a shower and/or clean my incision, etc. She pretty much spends the whole day in the living room, napping, getting a clean diaper, eating, having tummy time, etc. And then around 9:30pm, we get dressed for bed, have a feeding, and then retire to our room where Evie kind of sleeps in her bassinet. She seems to still sleep much better during the day in the living room, even though we have the dogs coming in and out, the TV on, the dishwasher running, etc.
My biggest challenge still is the nursing. And it's my challenge, not Evie's. I mean, she's not a rapid eater - she gets distracted and sleepy and it takes her quite a while to finish eating sometimes, but she's still successful. My challenge is that I still think of her needing to eat in the same way that I did when we came home from the hospital and she'd lost so much weight. I keep thinking that I have to wake her up every 2-3 hours and make sure she's eating, even though that period is over since she has gained weight and is no longer jaundiced. For some reason, I can't get that panicky feeling to go away, that feeling that if I don't get her to wake up and eat right now, bad things will happen. I'm working on it, but I guess it's a first-time-mom anxiety issue. I know she's fine. I know if she goes 4, even 5, hours without eating she's fine. But I guess the first week was so scary for me in terms of worry over her eating that I just keep thinking in those terms. So, my goal for this week, while we have no company, is to keep trusting that Evie will eat when she's hungry and that if she doesn't eat every time I think she should be ready to, it's not a sign that she's going to wither away. She's fine.
Some pictures from this week:
Abba and Grandma Pat on 6/25/12
They look so similar!
Aunt Kathy on 6/25/12
Grandma Jeanne on 6/25/12
Dr. Aunt Aimee soothing Evie on 6/26/12
Play time on 6/26/12
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