The past two weeks have gone by so quickly, yet the days have gone by slowly. These first fourteen days with Esme have been so different from Catherine’s first two weeks (click Here for those of you just tuning in). Here’s a little rundown of life with Esme.
Esme’s birth went about as smoothly as I could have hoped for. I know birth details aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so I won’t go into specifics- but feel free to ask me if you’re interested. I’ll be open and honest! Suffice it to say we had a completely unmedicated birth assisted by a nurse and a Certified Nurse Midwife. Everything went pretty quickly. We checked into the hospital around 10pm and were settled into our post partum room and napping by 4am.
With the benefit of experience (and lack of breathing apparatus) Esme and I had an easy start to breastfeeding. She latched on perfectly on her first try and has continued to go strong ever since.
We’ve been enjoying having Peter home from work and have been taking advantage of his vacation by ‘lying-in’. Esme and I have been getting to know each other well, mostly while hanging out in bed. We’ve been reentering the world at our own pace and I think it has really helped our bonding and our ‘after birth’ recovery. It has been a relaxing Babymoon!
Catherine has taken to the role of big sister like a fish to water. It must be a hard transition to make, but she seems to be coping very well. It is impossible to capture her cute tone of voice here, but you can imagine how cute it is when she says things like, “Baby Esme, you crying? You need your Mama’s milks!” or “Hey Esme, you want a carrot?” And, out of desperation to get a cuddle with Mama, “Papa, YOU want to hold Esme?”
Big sister is already teaching Esme things. While I was nursing the other day I said to Esme, “Oh Esme. That is a bad latch!” Catherine quickly came over and instructed her little sister, “You need a big latch, Esme, like this…” and she gave a shining example of a big mouthed latch. Ahh, my little lactation consultant!
It has been nice to have a teeny babe at home; hearing her little sounds and counting her little toes. I’m pretty sure it will only get better from here on out!
