I cannot believe that Linnea is nearly 7 weeks old already! What a crazy, exhausting, heart-wrenching and heart-warming adventure it has been so far! I say heart-wrenching because it breaks our hearts to see her cry, but every happy little smile and coo just warms our hearts right back up! This picture just melts my heart... grandpa does such good work. We had a blast taking her 1-month photos, and I am looking forward to our photo shoots every month!
Now that we are on this side of the first 6 weeks I feel great. My body is mostly healed, I only have 5 more pounds to lose and most of my clothes fit, and breastfeeding is finally easy as pie. Well, except for the part where I tend to overproduce and Linnea has to try to drink from a fire hose. #goodproblemtohave
This is seriously what happens... source
Linnea is a pretty happy baby, doesn't cry too much and she is easy to soothe when she does. Most of the time. She's even cute when she cries! She wails the hardest when she is overtired, which is great actually because the harder she cries before we get her to sleep the harder she sleeps. She's gaining weight nicely, doesn't spit up too often, and I am constantly amazed at how her breastmilk poos don't stink! She's even started smiling for us, and she rolled over from her tummy to her back twice so far. The little things in life!
In the first couple weeks I remember thinking that I was never going to be able to get dressed again, let alone go out and about. A few days postpartum I remember my father-in-law commenting "wow you got dressed!" (For the record, I had been mostly just wearing a robe, not nothing at all.) I still can't believe we came home from the birth center a mere 4 hours after she was born! I definitely felt weak but it sure did feel good to be in our own bed, the three of us all snuggled up together. A hospital surely wouldn't have allowed for such snuggling on that single bed.
How things have changed! We are definitely figuring out our rhythm as a family, though Ross says that Linnea really is the one that runs this family. We function on her time, sleep on her time, etc. But she's so worth it! I'm feeling so much more confident as a mother, and Linnea and I can even nurse and walk at the same time!
Proud Papa
We have also been extremely blessed in these first few weeks, not only by our beautiful, babbling baby girl, but by the love and support from our family. And we loved all our visitors.
Ross' mom spent the first two days home with us and she took care of everything. She was our postpartum nurse essentially (since we didn't have those two days in the hospital) - and I don't know what we would have done without her. She made sure we ate, slept, bathed, and of course that Linnea got lots of cuddle time. She also went grocery shopping for us since we had been planning on going that Friday, but someone made her debut on Wednesday.
Linnea and Grandma
My Grandma Caryl was in town for a wedding and stopped by to meet Linnea when she was 12 hours old!
Great Grandma
Then my Dad and Grandma flew out for a couple days and made sure we were showered with love (and fed as well.) Seriously, making sure we ate meals was the toughest things in those first couple weeks (and still is sometimes!) My Dad was even kind enough to sweep our floors!
Proud new first time Grandpa!
Four Generations! Great grandma Barb, Grandpa Don, Jenn & Ross and Linnea
Ross' Cousins Blake and Jenna came over one night and make us pizza from scratch! Blake's bread making skills definitely rival mine. ;)
Blake
Jenna
My Grandparents, sister and Niece came out for 4 days to visit as well! We had lots of fun realizing how not toddler-proof our home is (it's ok, we have time) and we took Linnea on her first outing to the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America. My grandparents also made me my favorite meal of theirs - spaghetti with Italian sausage. Once again, love the meals!
Marissa, Grandma, Me, Renee, Papa and Linnea
Then my dear friend Krystal came out from Omaha, though she just returned from a year long masters program in Hungary. We hadn't seen each other since my wedding! It was wonderful to have her around, AND she helped us out so much. We hadn't cleaned our house since before Linnea was born (over a month at this point) and Krystal did it all, made us food, and just helped us catch up on all those silly little chores that pile up. I feel so much more relaxed and on top of things now that I don't feel so far behind! We also had a lot of fun, going on walks to Minehaha Falls, napping, and visiting the Como Zoo!
Someone got hungry at the zoo!
We are blessed beyond measure, and looking forward to sharing our lives with our beautiful little girl.
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