Postpartum Update

It’s almost been 3 weeks since I gave birth to our baby girl, and I’d thought I’d write a postpartum update to go along with the pregnancy updates I had been sharing before the baby’s birth. Here goes:

:: The baby is doing very well. She’s nursing well, and only lost a small amount of weight after birth – not enough to have to supplement with formula like I did with my other babies. She is sleeping well, too – definitely not sleeping through the night, but she normally wakes up and eats then goes back to sleep. What more could I ask for from a newborn? 🙂 At least she isn’t sleeping all day and then up all night.

:: I’m feeling better every day since my c-section. It’s good to get my body back to myself. It’s also good to be able to bend, walk, and sleep without pain.

:: When I left the hospital, I actually weighed 4 lbs. MORE than when I went in the day of my c-section. This is AFTER I had given birth to a 7 lb. baby and lost a lot of fluid. My guess is that my weight went up after having the baby instead of going down because of all the swelling in my legs and abdomen after the c-section. By the time I left the hospital, I had MAJOR swelling in my feet and legs. I expected the swelling in the tummy area, but never the swelling like I had in my feet and legs. I’d never had that kind of swelling with any of the other kids. Anyway, the swelling is gone now and since coming home I’ve lost 26.5 lbs. I’m now 8.5 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight and happy!

:: The kids adore their new sister. They’re all in love with her, but still need daily reminders of how gentle they need to be with her. All in all, everyone has adjusted very well to our new addition.

:: Breastfeeding is going exceptionally well this time around. I have had some discomfort after starting back up with Elisabeth (baby girl’s name), but not the excruciating pain that I’ve experienced in the past.

:: I’ve started walking on the treadmill again.

:: I love our new changing table, and I have no idea how I have made it through the last 4 kids without one.

:: Elisabeth is sleeping in her crib! First baby to start off sleeping in her crib from birth. You may remember that I mentioned we’ve co-slept with the other kids, but because two of the kids were regularly ending up in our bed by morning, we thought it was a good idea to put Elisabeth in a crib and purchased one just before she was born. The crib is pushed up right next to our bed so that Elisabeth is always within arms reach, and it makes it easy to nurse her this way, too.

:: I’m in love. Elisabeth completes our family. We are very blessed to be her family.

She’s just perfect.

Thank you, Lord.