{I started this post over a week ago. Such is the life of a new mom...} Since our little girl has arrived, this will officially be my last pregnancy post (at least for this child!). There are just a few last things I want to get jotted down so I can remember the first days after delivery.

Let's start with her official stats: Katie Wynn was born at 8:51pm on Sunday, September 23, 2012. She weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Right now her eyes are blue; we'll see if they stay that way. I was thrilled to see the thin covering of dark hair on her head! Passed her hearing test and the pediatrician gave her a clean bill of health.
I am still completely and utterly amazed that this little person came from my body. I mean, in less than a year, my body went from this... ...to this... ...and now we have this! (For this picture to be more accurate, I should have held her upside down!)
I tried hard to take a picture every week, starting at 12 weeks, but I did miss quite a few. The biggest gap occured when we were packing up and moving. I just couldn't find time to take my picture! At any rate, here are all the pics I ended up getting. (If I was any good at Photoshop, I'd figure out a way to make these look better. Also? They were a pain in the rear to take each week. That's why I've decided to do monthly photos of Katie Wynn for the first year instead of weekly ones.)
As for how I've felt since coming home, the episiotomy has been a bear to deal with. I think I was actually more handicapped after delivery than I was when I was a miserable nine-months pregnant. I knew I would be sore at the hospital, but I had no idea all the pain would come home with me and would last for so long!! Transitioning from sitting to standing and vice versa was pretty much enough to make me cry. And once I was seated, there was definitely no "scooching" over to make room for someone else beside me. Bending down was hard too, so if I dropped something I just considered it gone until someone could help me. Thank goodness for sitz baths!!
As if the episiotomy wasn't enough, week two brought on a yeast infection. Lovely. Kick me while I'm down, whydontcha. Thankfully, at two and half weeks post partum, both are almost completely healed/gone and I'm starting to feel like my old self again!
I wonder why they don't show you the mesh underwear and life-raft-sized pads you get to wear in any birth/childcare classes. I was seriously unprepared for the lengthy routine that was required every time I needed to use the restroom. I'm so thankful my husband was willing to be helpful instead of running in the opposite direction.
Breastfeeding was awful the first few days. She either had zero interest in it or couldn't get latched on correctly (and even when I thought she was latched on, it probably wasn't right). She lost 14 ounces before her first doctor's visit. I was in tears and near wit's end when my friend Emily introduced me to the Nipple Shield. This was such a game changer for us!! I don't know why I had never heard about this magical device before...seriously, why didn't it ever come up in class or with my lactation consultant? KW took to the Nipple Shield immediately and we haven't had a bad feeding since I started using it. First trip to Target I made sure to stock up on more!
My friend Emily also let me borrow her Medela pump (I bought new tubing and pumps). I started using it last Friday and I'm pretty much in love with it! Well, not in love. It's hard to be in love with a process that requires you to constantly think about your boobs and strip down every three hours, but compared to straight-up nursing, I think this is much better! I know that's just my opinion and some women really prefer to nurse, but for me, there was nothing "natural" feeling about nursing. The only thing I felt was my soaking wet shirt. And my soaking wet baby that constantly smelled like breastmilk. So currently I'm pumping all day and feeding her from bottles and only nursing her during our two nighttime feedings. It's amazing how much cleaner and free-er I feel!
Yesterday was our two-week checkup and I was thrilled to see that we are back up above birth weight...aww, yeah!!! She weighed 7 lb, 5 oz when she was born and dropped to 6 lb, 7 oz at her first appointment. We had a weigh-in four days later to make sure she had stabilized and she had put on 8 of the 14 lost ounces (thank you, Nipple Shield). Yesterday she was up to 7 lb, 10 oz. So proud of her! (And me!)
The umbilical cord is still hanging on. Ugh. Yesterday the nurse swabbed silver nitrate all over it, so it's started loosening up quite a bit. Hopefully we are within days of saying bye-bye to that nasty thing.
The Miracle Blanket really is miraculous. We've already purchased a second one so that we're never without it. She sleeps so peacefully in it!
Speaking of sleep, we have been blessed with a baby who has been doing really well. We've been going 4 hours between feedings at night and I have to wake her up when it's time to feed. Since we're above birth weight now, the doctor gave us the go-ahead to let her sleep longer at night. We're looking forward to some nice 5-6 hour stretches! Let's hope Katie feels the same way...
Speaking of sleep again, she spends her nights in the Nap Nanny. This is something we received as a gift from our shower hostesses; I hadn't registered for it since we had the antique bassinet. Oh my goodness, it has been such a life saver! We tried putting KW down in the bassinet (in our room) our first night home and she wanted nothing to do with it. I don't think she liked being completely horizontal. In the middle of the night, we finally drug the Nap Nanny into our room and she went right to sleep in it. We haven't even tried to put her back in the bassinet since....if it's not broke, don't fix it, right?
Did you know that little girls can send their tee-tee flying just like little boys can? I learned that the hard way. Twice.
Doc says we are going to be "diaper snobs" and only use Pampers. I kinda agree, they're pretty good diapers! And it's awfully handy to have that yellow line that turns blue when the diaper's wet.
My girl can burp like a champ. I'm not sure if I should feel proud or not.
Johnson's baby lotion is my weakness. When she's lathered up in it after her bath, she can do no wrong. She could probably pee all over me and I wouldn't care...it makes her smell so delicious!

I'm sure there's more to say and remember, but since this has been hanging out in my draft folder for a while already, I'm going to go ahead and hit publish. Hopefully I'll have another post - with pictures - for you soon!