That’s right.  Our little squishy is 4 weeks old already.  Where does the time fly?  Things here have been going remarkably well.  She’s been eating, peeing, pooping and sleeping well.  Well, she’s been mostly sleeping well.  We had some trouble with a shallow latch at first that was resulting in very very VERY painfully sore nipples but I went to see a lactation consultant and she helped me learn how to help Super S get a deeper latch and that cut down the pain considerably.

I’ve been lucky with my milk supply – if anything, it’s a little heavy rather than light.  So no need for supplementing with formula so far.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t change.  Super S was born 7 lbs 3 oz and her discharge weight was 6 lbs 11 oz so she lost about 7% of her birthweight, which is within normal range.  When we went in for her 4 day checkup, I think she lost one more ounce and was 6 lbs 10 oz.  By the time we returned for her two week checkup, she was 7 lbs 11 oz and now she’s around 8 lbs 11 oz.  And her cheeks, tummy and thighs are filling out.  For the first two weeks, I was feeding her every 2 hours during the day and waking her up every 2.5 hours at night to eat as well.  This was mostly to help work through some jaundice; luckily it was light enough to not need any kind of treatment – she ate enough to poop it all out.  After she had passed the 2 week mark, I stopped waking her up at night and waited for her to wake me.  She’s like an alarm clock, though…pretty consistently up every 3 hours.  At night she sleeps in a bassinet next to our bed.  During the day she’s hit and miss when it comes to sleep.  Sometimes she’ll stay up for a couple hours a couple times a day.  Other days, she’s just sleepy.  Like today.  During the day, she sleeps everywhere.  Sometimes in her crib, sometimes on the couch, sometimes in her carrier.

She’s also smiling at us.  It’s ridiculously lovely.  I think she’s getting cuter and cuter everyday.  Since we came home, we’ve been using gDiapers’ newborn diapers, and washcloths and water for wipes.  I started using small gPants the last few days so that we could take start using cloth whereas we were more successfully leak-free with the disposable/flushable/biodegradable inserts inside the newborn size.  She’s really funny and seems to prefer pooping in a fresh diaper.  Sometimes I don’t even make it out of the room and she poops.  Times like these I really like using cloth diapers.

Right now, she has some baby acne and she’s still peeling.  Her stump fell off a little before two weeks so we started immersing her in water for her baths twice a week.  The last time I bathed her, I also used Babyganics soap and Little Sprouts shampoo, followed by Aveeno lotion.  I’m wondering if maybe the lotion didn’t sit well with her skin and that’s why she broke out.  Dunno.

Miss K. has been great with her for the most part.  She always smiles at her and says “Sia’s eating!” when she’s eating and wants to touch and hug and kiss her.  She looks to see if she’s awake or asleep and doesn’t seem to mind that her little sister has come to our house.  She does seem to notice more when her dad is holding Super S and sometimes asks to be held too.  We are very thankful that she hasn’t reacted violently nor has she demanded that we put down her sister to attend to her.  No significant regressions with potty training have popped up yet either.  Ya, she’s had a few accidents and needs us to remind her to go, but all in all she’s doing well.  When I was pregnant, Miss K. went through a phase of not wanting me around.  We seem to have a minor, occasional reprise of that, unfortunately.

I’m really happy with the way the first four weeks have gone.  I feel like my recovery was pretty quick – I only took advil once after coming home, I’ve had energy and am not so stressed.  I’ve pretty much lost my baby weight and feel good.  And it wouldn’t have been possible if my husband hadn’t been so wonderful with our older daughter.  I think him being home has left Miss K. feeling secure.  Granted, she’s going to be heart broken when he goes back to work but we’ll work though it.  Here’s my little dumplin’.

We did it!  She’s here!  Our second daughter, Sia Omkar Nalamwar, was born on February 12, 2013 at 5:04 pm in Newport Beach, CA.  She was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches tall.  Here’s what she looked like two weeks ago:

I never documented Miss K’s birth story so I thought I should do that with Super S before it’s too late and nature’s magical way of ensuring that we continue to procreate kicks in and I can’t remember the tough stuff.  So here goes:

Super S’s due date was February 16, 2013.  Her sister was 6 days early and I was hoping that she would be too because this would give her the same birthday as her dad and I thought it would be nice if they could share that date.  But it didn’t happen and instead she shares a birthday with my mom.  I did, however, start feeling contractions the morning after my husband’s birthday and they woke me up out of my sleep.  I was up at around 3:00 am but they were inconsistent so I kind of ignored them.  The next day I found that I was unable to take a deep breath and mentioned it to my husband.  I was still having contractions but spaced far apart and still erratic.  To be on the safe side, he decided to stay home from work.  He suggested I call my OB about the breathing thing and I spoke to her around lunchtime.  She told me to go in to the hospital for fetal monitoring because when we spoke, I also realized that it seemed like the baby wasn’t moving as much as she had been.  The doc was concerned I wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

So hubs stayed home with our older daughter and I headed into the hospital.  We called my parents to let them know that we might need them to come get our older daughter but to hold tight for now.  At the hospital, they checked me into triage and I asked the nurse if we could check for a heartbeat and that I was a little anxious because the baby hadn’t been moving much.  She was so nice and didn’t even wait til I had undressed.  She just pulled up my shirt and attached the monitor.  We heard a strong heartbeat and then I peed in a cup, changed into a robe, and got hooked up to monitors that measured contractions and baby’s heartbeat.  contractions started spacing out even further while I laid there…I was only 2.5 cm dilated…had an ultrasound and my amniotic fluid was just fine…my oxygen levels were fine…yep, after 2.5 hours, I headed back home.

By around 7:00 that evening, the contractions started getting closer together and more intense.  We called my brother-in-law and my dad to see if they could come over and spend the night with our daughter since it felt like we would need to go into the hospital.  My BIL was kind enough to come by because we weren’t sure when my dad would be able to make it.  The contractions kept getting closer but were still between 7-10 minutes apart.  Once they were consistently around 7 minutes, we decided to go to the hospital.  It was around 3:00 am and I wanted gum.  So my husband stopped at a gas station and got me some.  I had maybe one contraction between the time we left our house and arrived to the hospital.  So I told him I thought it was a false alarm and we waited in the car to see what the contractions would do.  I didn’t want to go in just to be sent back home and honestly, I could do without the cervix checks.  They’re not all that fun.  We didn’t know what to name the baby so we talked about that for a while.  As we approached 5:00 am, the contractions started spreading apart and we decided to go home because our daughter would be up soon.

We went home and sent my dad home.  I had an OB appointment at 9:45 so we went and found that I was 4-5 cm dilated.  The doc didn’t give me specific instructions to go to the hospital but instead told me to not wait.  If the contractions got close enough together to just head in.  So we were out for a while but I started getting anxious again and was feeling more intense contractions.  By 11:30 am, I knew we needed to go in.  Called dad again and he came and picked up our older daughter and took her to his home.  Hubs drove me to the hospital and they admitted me into triage again.  This time they gave me the thumbs up to get a room.

The contractions kept getting crazier and crazier and they were downright painful.  I just tried to breathe through them but they were longer and more painful.  The nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural.  I told her I wasn’t sure if it was too early and she said “My concern is that you’re going to jump from being 6 cm dilated to it being too late.”  Sold.  Bring it.  The anesthesiologist was awesome.  He was probably a little younger then us and just a regular old guy but his epidural was flippin’ awesome.  Within a short while, I didn’t even realize I was having contractions.  A little while later the hospital OB comes in to break my water so we could get this show on the road.  I don’t think he actually said anything to me.  Just a series of nods.  Kind of strange.  But painless.  So then we just wait.  Me, husband, and the nurse were just chattin’ it up.  I was making dumb jokes like I always do…at around 4:00 the nurse decides to check my cervix.  I hear her laugh and say “Oh wow.  Her head is like…right here.  I’m calling Dr. Strachan.”  So she calls and I start feeling nervous.  I had been in labor for hours (and hours and hours) and yet I was scared.

Luckily my OB was still on duty and she arrived and started getting set up.  There’s a table of all kinds of stuff on it.  I tried not to look or pay attention.  The nurse magically pulled up stirrups out of nowhere.  And at around 4:45 we start pushing.   And by “we” I mean I.  I start pushing.  Her dad doesn’t flinch despite the crazy, gross stuff happening down there.  It amazed me with our first baby and I’m so thankful he was just as tough this time because if he started losing it, I know I would too.  They tell me to take a deep breath and to hold it while pushing.  So I do.   I do maybe two big pushes and a few small ones.  My husband says he can see her pretty quickly.  He tells me she’s so strong that she’s hollering before she has even left my body.  Next thing I know, she’s laying on my chest, all covered in…stuff.  And I’m crying.  And telling her how I’ve been waiting my whole life for her.  Because I have been.  I just didn’t know it.

They measured her and tested her and she was great – healthy and we were happy.  My gestational diabetes didn’t seem to impact her ability to regulate her own blood sugar.  She climbed up my chest and ate voraciously.  She has ten fingers and ten toes.  Oh and lots and lots of hair.  Our perfect little dumpling.  She doesn’t look like her sister did when she was born.  She’s different.  My MIL thought she looked like my grandma.  My SIL and mom thought she looked like me.  My husband and I just think she looks like her.  Ironically we still didn’t know what to name her.  In fact she didn’t have a name until the next morning when we finally agreed on Sia.

So she’s here with us now, just where she belongs.  Like her sister, it feels like she’s always been a part of us, our family.

p.s.  I’m really proud of us.

Miss K. has been going through a lot lately – we’ve traveled, she’s getting more teeth, potty training, sleeping in her own bed, developing verbal skills, starting to kind of understand that there’s a baby coming…it’s a lot for a little tyke to handle.  Consequently, her dad and I have been going through a lot too.  Here are a few of the antics that she blessed us with today…I’m writing them now so I can laugh at them later.  They weren’t quite so funny today but I know it’ll crack me up soon enough because she won’t be 22 months old forever.  For anyone who reads this and doesn’t have kids, here’s what you have to look forward to:

Miss K. has a bit of a cold.  Luckily it’s mostly sneezes, a runny nose, and an occasional cough.  It’s worst in the morning hours.  She sneezed and so much snot came out that I had to change her shirt.  This wasn’t that much fun because she fought me when I was putting on the shirt and then followed up by fighting me when I took it off.

She then proceeded to insist on eating her breakfast naked.  Luckily for us all, we were eating oatmeal, so it was extra messy and naturally the thought of me feeding her was offensive so ya.  It was lovely.  She tracked some into the hallway and pointed it out to me as if to say “You missed a spot, bitch.”

Then as her father attempted to dress for work, she sneezed into his pants and kept trying to hug his legs with her sad snotty face.  I felt bad for her – she just wanted a little love.  Either that or she was attempting to earn him the name of Snot Crotch at work.  One way to earn a title, I guess.

When I picked her up from school, she demanded that I provide crackers in the back seat.  I had no crackers and gave her string cheese instead.  This cheese ended up on the floor of the car followed by an “Uh-oh” from Miss K.  When I asked her who threw the cheese, we had the following conversation:

“Daddy” (it was just she and I in the car)
“No, I don’t think it was Daddy”
“Momma!”
“No, it wasn’t me.”
“Karsin” (her 1 year old cousin)
“No, Karsin’s not here so it couldn’t have been him”
“Owl”  See below

Poor, googly eyed, f’ed up owl (which I ADORE, by the way. No joke.  I really really love it.  Especially because Miss K. hails from a bloodline of awesome craft owl makers).  She made this owl at school and was trying to frame him.  I am kinda proud of her because she put together the fact that if she was going to pin the crime on someone, they would need to be in the car.  And since I already ruled myself out, that only left her and the owl wasn’t talking.  Way to go, evil genius.

At home after fighting me to eat lunch, I wanted to take her for a walk in the hopes that she might fall asleep and begin her nap.  While climbing over me (I was innocently putting on my shoes), she began incessantly chanting “stroller, stroller, stroller,” which I would be putting her in momentarily were it not for the fact that she was climbing all over me, sticking her fingers in my nose, mouth, and down my shirt.  She proceeded to pull out the $16 POS stroller in addition to the sidewalk chalk.  I was not interested in either and just wanted to untie my shoes so I could put them on.  Despite the stroller chant, the expensive jogging stroller was unacceptable to her because she fought me while buckling her in.  She kept pointing to the POS stroller and saying “Different.  Different.”  Tough luck.  We’re taking the jogging stroller.

Then she slept like a champ.  She was adorable sleeping in her bed in just a t-shirt and a diaper.  I really love her.  I actually had to wake her up because if she slept too much or too late, she’d have a hard time falling asleep at night.  I said “Wake up,” to which she flatly replied “No.”  No anger, no defiance, just no.  As if her mother’s requests had no bearing or weight.  So I proceeded to turn into MY mother and turned on the light and started cleaning her room.  That seemed to wake her up but instead of being annoyed like I would have been, she actually was happy to see me and smiled at me.  We had some fun and some giggles and she said “Poo poo?” so we went to the potty and lo and behold – she took care of her business in the potty.  Yay!

After having a snack, we needed to run a quick errand that required us to drive there.  Unfortunately we had another round of “Stroller.  Stroller.  Stroller.”  Sigh.

Her dad cut the plastic bag around a rug that we had bought and put down the scissors for a brief moment.  She snatched them up.  Uh no.  You can’t do that.  Then later she asked for the scissors again:

“Scissors?  Scissors?”

“Why do you need scissors?”

“Cut it!  Cut it!”

“Cut what?”

Shows fingers.

“Finger??? You need to cut your finger????”

“Yes”

Very matter of fact.

She fought me when I tried to take off her clothes for the bath (as you recall, she also fought me when I put the clothes on this morning).  She didn’t want to get in the tub until I came up with some silly song.  During her bath, she decided to throw water out of the tub and onto me very suddenly.  That’s always fun when you’re tired.  Then she didn’t want to get out of the tub.

After a few books, I turned out the lights and she was trying to climb out of the bed.  I enticed her with a long song.  That seemed to work for a while and then she said “Poo poo?  Potty?”  Sometimes she gets the words mixed up.  Alright.  Let’s go.  She peed in the potty.  Yay.  Proud of you, dumpling!  We return to the room and she says “poo poo?”  Really?  Really?  After you’re nice and clean from your bath?  And we’ve gotten you dressed again?  So we went back to the bathroom and she’s happy to hang out there.  She insists that we take off her pajamas completely.  So now it’s way past her bedtime and she’s sitting on the potty naked, making faces at me.  Not pooping, either.  But she’s just so damn cute.  I can’t be too mad.  So we put her diaper back on.  And her pajamas.  And she fusses because she doesn’t want to go to sleep.  But after a while, she does.  And I’m thankful.

To her credit, she also did some pretty amazing things today…she put together all kinds of phrases – I’m bouncing!  I cut it! Neeni’s potty! And she was so happy to see her dad when he came home from work.  And she mostly cooperated when it was time to eat dinner.  And she hugged me extra and said “Wuv oo” to me.  And she said “wuv oo” to her baby sister.  And she didn’t wet her pants at all today – no accidents.  She does some crazy things but she is over the top amazing.  So much so that I didn’t lose it today.  Instead I’m just tired (but happy).  Here’s that owl again.  I really really love it.

Potty training at our house continues.  Miss K. is doing pretty good with it.  In week two, she went three days without a single accident!  Of course then she went three in a row where she had one accident each day…but I do think she’s getting it.  I still have to prompt her to see if she wants to go but it’s hard not to ask her too much.  Especially when I really feel like she needs to go!  The toughest part is getting her to go when we’re out and about. She’s gone in her potty in the car a few times without too much strife but she doesn’t seem comfortable in public restrooms yet.  She’s only done that once.

After going commando for about two weeks, we put her in underwear yesterday and luckily no issues yet.  She doesn’t seem to think it’s a diaper, so that’s good news.  She actually didn’t want to wear the panties at first but then I showed her that I wear them and let her pick out the color she wanted to wear.  Then we put them on and I had her check herself out in the mirror.  Then we went excitedly to go show daddy.  Sheesh…the games we play!  I need to start working on nighttime training and possibly putting her on the regular toilet (with the potty seat on top).  Cleaning a dirty potty is really no fun.  I’m really proud of her catching on at school – yesterday she told her teacher she needed to go and then they caught her a second time before she went.

What sucks is that I find myself really disappointed when she has an accident.  I feel like I failed.  So I have to remind myself that she’s still just getting started and this stuff takes a while.  A friend of ours was telling us that it took them a full two months for their little one to get trained and accidents are still bound to happen.  I’m just glad that it’s the exception rather than the rule.  Go Miss K, go!