Amelia Catherine Steed

With our baby girl being two weeks old yesterday, I figured it was high time I did a blog post about her. I won't bore/gross you out with all the details; if you want them, call me. I'd love some adult interaction, even if it is just over the phone. :)

I was induced on Sunday night around 11:00 pm, my water broke around 7:30 am, and after an hour of pushing, she was born! We welcomed Amelia Catherine Steed on January 24th and 10:37 am. She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long!

 

It was definitely the most physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting thing I have ever done. I had never been so tired in my life. I'm not going to lie, I'm still pretty tired, but nothing compares with that first 24 hours after giving birth. See? Tired but happy:

 

Having never been hospitalized before, I could never understand why people hated them so much; I understand completely now. I was more than ready to go home after two days. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, and I was tired of nurses coming in at all hours of the night and day to take my vitals and whisk Amelia away to weigh her and do tests. Had there been a lock on the door, I would have used it. Here we are, all ready to go home:

 

Before Amelia was born, I made several casual commitments, such as having an unmedicated birth - and that was not easy. Another was to breastfeed as long as possible, and I didn't realize what a job that would be, either. This past week I took Amelia with me to my parents' house during the day, and my mom and I wanted to go to Walmart; we were about to turn into the parking lot when David called and said, "I think she's hungry." So we turned around and went back home. I turned to my mom and said, "Silly me, I thought the tether between the baby and me broke when David cut the cord." It's kind of rough being THE food source. Nothing reinforces the fact that your life now revolves around this tiny creature quite like breastfeeding. Overall, it's been going well. Amelia does get a little confused sometimes, however:

In all the chaos that comes with being new parents, we did manage to get some announcements out and take pictures to document her age. This picture was taken when she was 3 days old:

This one is at 10 days:

And this one is at 14 days (we all survived the first two weeks!):

 

It's been an exhausting experience for all involved. This is how David and I spent our first "date night" home with Amelia:

 

We love our little girl, though! She loves to smile, especially in her sleep. She has a cute belly button, and a myriad of facial expressions, some of which seem far too serious for a newborn. My favorite is her "I don't think so" look; it's the exact look David gets on his face when someone says something he doesn't believe is quite accurate. I'm enjoying getting to stay home with her for a few weeks before I go back to work; we'll see how David and my dad handle full-time childcare then