Family of Five

On Tuesday Juliette will be four weeks old! The days (and nights) have passed in a mostly-lovely blur--having three kiddos is definitely different than having two!--and we all love having our squishy baby around.

We were incredibly blessed that Steve was able not only to take his scheduled week off (we had set it up to start on our due date) but also got the day of and following Juliette's induction off, too. His scheduler (who I seriously want to bake a cake for or something) moved a few shifts around so he could be at the hospital or at home with us for almost two weeks. I was so thankful to have him there!

The first couple of weeks at home were spent in the newborn haze--we were exhausted but also in love, so night feedings and fussy evenings were outweighed by the hours when our girl would fall asleep on our chests. Is there any better feeling than having a baby fall asleep in your arms? We have been drinking it up.

I was surprised to have a severe case of the baby blues for about the first ten or twelve days. I felt anxious and sad and hopeless, and then angry and frustrated because I didn't want to feel anxious and sad and hopeless when I was home with my brand new little one. I cried--hard--every day, at least once. I was so thankful to have Steve home--he was incredibly sweet and supportive (and reminded me that this was a totally normal hormonal twist) and was always on board to help take care of the big kids.

And we also got a lot of nice family time--lots of snuggling, resting, and the occasional walk up the street. Steve and I watched a lot of George Gently on Netflix during feedings. :) And when we felt brave we ventured out with baby girl--she went to the pumpkin patch with us to choose carving pumpkins, and sat in her stroller dressed as one of those charming squashes while we took the big sibs trick-or-treating for Halloween.

Though they were confused as to why I spent several days in bed once I was home from the hospital, Grace and Charlie both seemed happy to have us home. Gracie has enjoyed snuggling on her sister and feeding her bottles (just like she did with Charlie! How can that have been so long ago!?), and Charlie likes to lay down next to her or put his face up by hers and talk to her about dump trucks. And then he turns to me and says, "Juliette can't answer. Babies are still learning."

Lucky for me my tender heart was mostly healed up by the time Steve went back to work, and I am actually pretty surprised how natural having three feels. I mean, I am still way behind on folding laundry (and okay, pretty much everything else in my life, too) and I have yet to leave the house alone with more than one kid, but we're getting into a good groove at home, and I know that once the kids are feeling secure again and I'm getting more sleep things will even out a little more. We're still working out the kinks, but I'm confident that things will settle into place. *phew!*

My first day home solo with all three!

Juliette herself has been so sweet and so fun. We love that her hungry giggle-cry sounds just like Gracie's did when she was a baby. We love her wide blue eyes and her soft, soft skin and stroking her baby hair. She likes to be held and gets very calm when you cradle her head against your chest, and she can't bring herself to cry when someone is walking her down the stairs--the bouncing is just too soothing. She likes to be held over our shoulders and have her back patted and she still gets hiccups at least once a day, just like she did when she was in my stomach!

She is mostly pretty content, too, so far. She cries ferociously when it is time to be fed, but once her tummy is full she is mostly happy to look around on a blanket, snuggle in our arms, rock in her swing, or fall back to sleep.

I've gotten her onto a pretty consistent schedule--she eats every 2.5 to 3 hours, starting around 7am--with her final evening feeding around 9:30. We feed her a pumped bottle before bed so we can make sure she gets all her tummy desires before we put her down. Some nights she wakes every three hours to be fed in the dark, too, but other nights she won't wake up until sometime between 2 and 4am. Which means I get 4 or 5 consecutive hours of sleep! Hooray! She also eats much faster than her siblings, which is a huge blessing (especially in the middle of the night!). Grace and Charlie both took 40 minutes to an hour to feed for at least the first month, but Juliette rarely takes more than 30 minutes--and that includes a diaper change in the middle and a burping session. Clearly I am a fan of this!

There is something very special and lovable about her. Part of it, I think, is that she feels so much like ours--our whole little family's--and it is nice to have all four of us love her so much. It draws us together even more.

And part of it is her sweet self. When she was in my stomach she was always moving during the day, almost like she was always letting me know she was okay. During Gracie's and Charlie's pregnancies we had at least one incident each when I couldn't feel them moving for a long time--long enough that we prayed and I drank caffeinated stuff to get them bustling around again--but Juliette never let me worry. The moment I even had the slightest bit of apprehension about her being okay she would wiggle or flutter--every single time. So even though she hasn't smiled yet (Steve and I are both so soooo excited for her to smile!) I feel like I know a little piece of her soul already.

I love seeing her in her room! Every single time! 

We are so happy to have this pretty little girl (who has, by the way, been nicknamed Squish because she is just so squishy and yummy--Charlie will say, "Oh, don't cry Squish!" and Gracie heard her squeaking on my lap today from the other room and called, "Oh! Is Squish down here?!"). The wait to get her felt long, but the days since she has come have felt so quick! And she was most definitely worth the wait.