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Happy Valentine's Day

Rowan just wanted all the lovely ladies out there to know that he was thinking about them today. He doesn't know how to put this but he's kind of a big deal. People know him. Um...he's very important. Rowan has many leather-bound Elmo books and his crib smells of rich mahogany...Rowan is...friends with DJ Lance, too, he comes over...on occasion. You stay classy, Dayton.

Who's Holding Lydia Today?

This is the first in a series of posts that I've decided to call "Who's Holding Lydia Today?". We have a lot of photos (and will probably have more as the days go by) of friends and family holding Lydia and I think it would be nice to post them on our blog. So if you don't want your picture on the blog, make sure you let me know.

Above is Lola's mom, Emilee. She came to visit us in the hospital. And below is Sam's mom, Melissa, who stopped by last week with her family to meet the new addition.



And to continue with the "pretty lady" theme, here is our friend Joy, who we had lunch with this week. She was able to match Jeff Diet Coke for Diet Coke, which is a pretty impressive feat.

Starting the Hat Collection

Lydia was barely a week old when she received this adorable hat in the mail from Jeff's Aunt Gail. It has a pink flower on the top - the perfect adornment for our little Rose. Our friend Aaron came over to visit (along with the Becks. Oh and his wife, Emilee and daughter Lola). He is pictured above admiring Lydia in all her pink and flowered glory. Lola is in the background, keeping a watchful eye on her Daddy.

Bulking Up

Lydia was pretty sleepy today, but whenever she was awake, she wanted to be eating constantly. I think this might be a sign that she's in the middle of a growth spurt. I weighed her this evening and she is up to 8 lbs. 12 oz. (with her diaper and nightgown). This is an improvement over her 7 lbs. 4 oz. weigh-in last week at the doctor's. It won't be long now and she'll be good and "solid", just like Rowan was.

In other baby tummy news, her umbilical stump fell off yesterday, and it looks like she might have an "outie"! Aaack! Dr. Doucette, what were you thinking?

Bathtime Lydia

One piece of advice we were provided was giving Lydia nighttime baths to keep her awake and extend her nighttime sleeping intervals. Other things that will prevent her naps are diaper changing, impending bowel movements, and feedings. We've found so far that this regimen is working as our earlier Twitter showed that Lydia slept for 7 hours straight last night! While this is probably an aberration, she has been sleeping quite well for us so far (knock knock). As many readers know, one of the primary stressors of a newborn is the potential ungodly sleeping schedule. I'm also guessing that we're supposed to get her up from her sleep to giver her another feeding, but she should be getting plenty during the day. Anybody who recommends otherwise is a heartless bastard. Hopefully she keeps this pattern up and Mommy and Daddy will be quite cheery with her the remainder of the day.

The Big Brother

Because I've been feeling a little guilty about it being All Lydia, All the Time lately on the blog, I wanted to post a few cute photos of her big brother. Above, Rowan helps unwrap some presents on Lydia's first day at home.


Rowan and Lola planned to wear their Yo Gabba Gabba sweatshirts on the same day to school last week.


Rowan either celebrates the Steelers' big win or gets his excitement about Jeff's 2007 Fantasy Football win out of his system before we mail the trophy off to our friend Scott for his 2008 victory.

I guess I shouldn't feel TOO guilty about taking a break from posting photos of Rowan. It's not like he had almost two years' worth of blog posts all to himself. I'm sure he won't mind sharing the limelight now.

First Outing

The temperature finally got warm enough for us to take our new little baby outside today. After having lunch at Qdoba, our first stop was, naturally, Best Buy. Daddy had to buy a dongle ("That's what she said!").

Then we went to Mommy's favorite store, Target. It's amazing the amount of baby paraphernalia you still need to buy even if this is your second baby. Albeit, much of what I bought was duplicates of things we already have, only now it was in pink instead of blue - bibs, socks, flannel receiving blankets, things like that. Don't roll your eyes, we're doing our part to revive the economy.

Lydia reminded us that it is in some ways much easier to shop with a newborn than a toddler: you don't have to take her out of her car seat, you don't have to work around a nap schedule, because she can sleep the entire time in her bucket, she doesn't throw a fit when you pass the toy aisles, you don't have to figure out what to buy her to eat at the restaurant, etc. The main problem though is that you do have to fit your trip in between feedings, which right now are two hours apart.

Speaking of toddlers, we'll have an update tomorrow on what Rowan's been up to...

How Is Mommy Doing?

People have been wanting to know how I've been getting along since the birth. Well, so far so good. Physically, I'd say I was feeling very good. The pain after leaving the hospital was comparable or slightly worse than it was with Rowan, but I feel like I've been able to deal with it better this time around. That may be because Lydia has been sleeping okay at night (knock on wood). She had one night there where she slept five hours straight, but typically, she sleeps three hours at a time. After I feed her, she goes back to sleep fairly easily.

When I get up in the morning, I don't feel the need for naps during the day, so I guess I'm getting enough sleep at night. Of course, this could all change, and Lydia could suddenly be a terrible sleeper like Rowan was at first. Even if this happens, I'm thinking I might be better equipped to deal with it this time around, since I know what to expect. Also, I'm not panicked anymore if I don't get a bunch of sleep at night. I know that eventually during the day, I WILL get that sleep, so it makes me more relaxed.

I think that's the theme with Lydia so far: Mommy's much more relaxed than with Rowan. I've already dealt with this before, so I know what to expect AND I know that I can get through it. I know that if it's rough at first, it will get better. And I know that this stage will be gone soon, and I'd better enjoy it now, with all its ups and downs, because I probably won't have another chance.

I put away the scales so I wouldn't be obsessively weighing myself while the baby weight is coming off (I read this tip in a magazine recently). Instead, I should be concentrating on Lydia, recuperating and eating healthy. In actuality, I've been catching up on all the desserts that I wasn't able to eat those last few weeks of the pregnancy because the nighttime heartburn was so horrible. And rediscovering the joys of having a beer, a glass of wine or even one (very small!) martini in the evening. Incidentally, I haven't felt any twinges of postpartum depression coming on yet. Coincidence? I think not.

It's a funny thing about body image right now. Even though I am still much bigger than my pre-baby size, every time I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I think "Dang, I look awesome!" This is because after having looked at my massive girth the past few months, I now appear comparatively "tiny". It's still hard to believe that all that baby somehow fit inside my belly just a short time ago.

Quinto día de Lydia

Day five finds the Brown family adjusting nicely to its new rut. Rowan was particularly happy this morning when we arrived at school, for there were two red fire engines out front. It seems one of the children had an allergic reaction to something they ate which clearly requires a minimum of two emergency vehicles. Rowan's initial excitement was dampened when he found that Lola was not in class today, as she was home with a stomach ailment. Poor Lola, we hope you're better soon.

Our home care nurse visit was this afternoon and we found that Lydia gained 4 oz. since yesterday! Her weight was a little low compared to her birth weight, but now it all checks out fine. The nurse was also mighty impressed with her hat, which awkwardly is not shown in the above photo. The photo's hat is similarly cute so it has been substituted.

Marmie, Papa, Major Skffington, Fitzy, and George all returned to Indy today after a helpful visit begining the day before Lydia's arrival. As Angela said in a prior post, all played a big part in Lydia's arrival and I'd like to add my own thanks to them. I would most like to thank Marmie for her support of us in the delivery room and Joe for making a kick-ass chicken pot pie for the Superbowl.

Day Four with Lydia

Lydia has spent 4 days with us and so far she fits well into our daily routine. She demonstrates a keen ability to eat, sleep, and be cuddled. For the past 21 months our favorite pastime has been watching baby-TV, and she has given us a whole new channel of entertainment.

Lydia had her new baby checkup at our pediatrician this morning and was given high scores for her lack of jaundice and acceptable measure of weight loss. We thought she may have had a heat rash, but it turns out the small red bumps she has are related to the hormones swimming around in her bloodstream. This common occurrence should pass soon. She measured 20 inches in length compared to 21 at birth, so either baby measurement is an inexact science or she shrinking. Even so, at 20 inches she's in the 75th percentile. We'll have another checkup at two weeks so we'll be able to make another observation of this fascinating phenomenon.

Rowan and Lydia

One of the big questions prior to Lydia's arrival was how Rowan would feel about his new sibling. Both Angela and I were thinking he would be none too fond of this new sink for his parent's time and attention. Is it possible that he might start punching Lydia as most older siblings are inclined to do? Yes, we're talking about your Scott and Adam.

Rowan was indeed unsure about Lydia and did have a mighty cry when he saw Mommy feeding her, but since then he's started to warm up to his little sister. We were able to get them together for this photo shoot where Rowan hugged and kissed her. He has also attempted to give her a pacifier, offered her cheese, and said "Bye Bye Lydia" on the way to bed. With this successful start we will start working on Rowan's abilities to change her diaper, give baths, and do laundry. We're looking forward to how these two grow up together and hope that the fact is being documented on the blog won't give them a complex.

Daddy's Little Girl

Jeff was also somewhat helpful during the birthin' on Friday. After they broke my water around 1, the contractions started getting really painful. I asked them to please send the drug lady in ASAP, but in the meantime, we had to think back to our Birthin' School training about how to manage the pain. As I was taking deep breaths, I was trying not to completely crush Jeff's hand. The Pain Management lady finally came, and was just about to start putting the line in my back when she was called away next door for some emergency intervention. I had to sit upright, very still, looking out the window, and once again, Jeff was able to step in and volunteer his hand for crushing duty.

After what seemed like forever, Pain Lady finished up my epidural and I was able to get some relief, but not as much or as quickly as we were expecting. Turns out, thanks to all the delays, I was already pretty well along by the time the drip started, and therefore the medicine wasn't going to fully "catch up" with the pain. It turned out to be fine – most of the pain was taken care of, and I was still able to feel and move my legs and was aware of other sensations during the birth that I hadn't experienced during Rowan's.

After we got settled in our recovery room, Jeff had to drive home to check in on Rowan, who was feeling mighty poorly. He came back to spend the night in the uncomfortable chair next to me and help with Lydia. Then on Saturday, Rowan's fever increased and he threw up, so Jeff had to take him to the doctor and ended up staying with our poor little guy (who has an ear infection) most of the day. Lydia and I had a very relaxing day of eating, sleeping and watching mass quantities of HGTV.



After spending another uncomfortable night in the chair, Jeff is more than ready to take me and our new little girl home where the beds are comfy and we can hang out with Rowan, who must be starting to forget he ever had a mommy.