Molly at 4 Weeks

Weight: We're finally back to birthweight at 3 weeks! She's now probably about 9 lbs 8 oz. She had lost over 10% of her birthweight so we had repeated weight checks. Apparently jaundice makes you too sleepy to take in the required calories, but I also think her birthweight was a little inflated thanks to the IV fluids.

Health: We had about 10 lab draws for biliribuin checks since her discharge as well as the weight checks. While she still has it at 4 weeks, it's not something the dr is concerned about. Lingering just like Lucy's did. I notice she looks a lot less yellow by nighttime and when I have her outside for periods of time. She is pretty exclusively breastfed, and we finally found a bottle she takes well -- the Comotomo. Expensive, but worth it for times I need to leave the house!

Sleep: I feel like she's doing rather well with sleep. The first week she would do a few 3-4 hour stretches starting around 11 pm. By week 4, we're now upstairs and her first stretch is between 5-6 hours. She has a pretty big awake time after that which I'm hoping we can work on. Her naps are getting shorter throughout the day unless we are out and about in the stroller, car seat, or wrap. Her naps are supervised in the rock and play downstairs for the most part. Bedtime is spent in the bassinet swaddled with white noise and her bink for extra support after feedings.

Clothes: Mostly newborn and mostly sleepers during the day and sleep gowns at night. She's not quite filling out 0-3 yet, but probably will in the next 2 weeks if she's like big sister at that age.

Social: I attempt to either have a visitor or get out of the house each day to soak in the nice weather and help ward off any PPD. She's been out in public since discharge and travels well. Sleeps better with a lot of ambient noise and motion, so when she needs some distraction I pop her in the stroller and walk around the neighborhood -- something I couldn't do with Lucy due to the time of year. I notice my mental health is better on days when we have things going on, though I do get worried I am throwing her off a "schedule" -- but let's be real, she doesn't have one of those!


Baby Gear Love:Carter's clothes - Still love everything Carters for comfort and durability especially at this age.

Pampers Swaddlers - Tried and true best diaper for newborns. Also loving Dove baby wipes - soft and not too wet.

Swaddle Me By Your Bed Sleeper - Barely an incline and makes me feel much better about SIDS than the RnP Lucy slept in.

Wubbanub - Thankfully she takes the bink which helps soothe when I'm not available.

Crying: Mainly cries when hungry or when getting her arms in clothes. Also when clusterfeeding and getting frustrated nursing.

Milestones: All of them! First bath after losing her belly button stump at 9 days old, lots of travels, lots of doctor visits, first Knoebel's trip at 3 weeks old. We may attempt tummy time and activity mat this week -- she's got decent head control already! 

Introducing Molly Katherine Brink: Birth Story

She's here!!

Her birth day started very early as we checked in L&D at 5:30 am to prep for surgery. The pre-op process was pretty seamless - IV and cath -- and some actual legitimate contractions that started about 40 minutes before I walked into the OR! I take it she was coming that day regardless.

This C-section was similar, yet very different from Lucy's. I felt a lot less pressure and pain physically, but that feeling of when I heard those first cries = the same euphoric feeling. As the doctor pulled her out, Wes was able to snap photos on my phone, and I heard the doctor say "Wow, look at those thighs!" They made a comment about the cord being twisted, but said it wasn't anything to worry about. They brought her over to the warmer but I couldn't really see her. Luckily Wes was there cutting the cord and taking photos of her getting evaluated and checked. The scale read 9 lbs 4 oz which honestly floored me a little. While we knew she'd be bigger, I was thinking somewhere in the 8's! They brought her over to me to do skin to skin as I got to lay eyes on her for the first time. There are really no words for the first time you get to meet your baby. She was all chub, roly poly thighs and arms.

Wes and Molly were able to go to the recovery room while I was getting stitched up. After I was wheeled into recovery, Molly and I were able to breastfeed for the first time. I was so thankful for this and the OR skin to skin time as Lucy and I were separated for what seemed like aeons until I was in postpartum.

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday afternoon, receiving many visitors and learning about each other. Big sister got to see her about 4 hours after. To help myself recover I sent Molly to the nursery overnight for small clips so I could rest. It was insane how much I missed her when she would get wheeled back to me -- this little meatball who I knew for all of a minute. I loved moving my hand over her soft head, arm rolls, chubby thighs and the familiar feet that I often pushed down with my hand while they were in active in utero. She took to nursing rather well and loved resting on top of my bare chest.

Toward the end of our stay, two health issues popped up for her -- billirubin levels and losing more weight than typically recommended. I spent day 3 and 4 with her on this plastic mat biliblanket which made nursing incredibly harder. Also on day 3 of our stay I had more pain and sore breasts. By discharge I was anxious to go home and worked up in tears over her weight loss and jaundice issues. But we got to all leave together Thursday afternoon -- a milestone we missed out on with Lucy's birth. Bringing her home was so surreal -- there was an entirely NEW person living in our house making us a family of four finally.