2 Weeks Old Today

Okay, finally I feel like I can do a proper post. Its been a whirlwind 2 weeks since Natalia was born and there is so much to tell. But honestly, I have porridge brain more than ever now because I am lucky to get any sleep. You know that doff feeling - well I have it all day and night now. Sleeping more than 2 hours at a time is a lot, so I might get 6 hours sleep in, but its broken by an hour to an hour and a half in between. And then breastfeeding is not that easy either. My milk just never came in and everyone close to me knows that I really wanted to breastfeed. We even got a lactation specialist in to help me, but still, 2 weeks later and I have hardly any milk. We are bottle feeding along with breastfeeding and then I also express after feeds to stimulate more milk production, but Natalia would never be satisfied with the breast alone. This is a real sore subject........it's just not meant to be :(

Since Sunday night, Natalia has been waking up at 10pm with incredible tummy cramps. I can hear the gas going through her and her little legs lift up with the pain. Shame, I don't always know what to do and how to get rid these damned cramps and Mr Kim is sleeping, and all I think is, why cant this happen in the daytime. Then it takes an hour and a half for me to console her, change her nappy etc. before she goes to lala land. Only to be woken up at 1am for her next feed. Shame, I hate to see my little angel in sooo much pain........ And another thing, Natalia's umbilical cord still hasn't fallen off. I read that it takes 7-10days to fall off. I wish it would just go now so I can put her nappies on easier. Also, 'they' never told me that you need a degree to put on babygrows and vests. For some reason, I struggle to get the press-studs to do their job; I'm all thumbs..... Kim is on bath duty. He loves his time with her in the evening at bathtime; I've actually not bathed her once. Daddy does a really good job and this is his bonding time with Natalia. Kim's banished me from interfering and prefers me out of the room! I don't know what I'm going to do when he's away.

Otherwise, I am doing okay and really in love. It's a different kind of love, an unconditional love. No matter what, even at 1am when she is covered in poo and so am I, I just want to eat her up. Of course she is the most beautiful girl in the world, every mother and father thinks that of their own masterpiece, and she IS our little masterpiece!

We went to weigh her today at the clinic and she's now 3.86kg. We also collected her Birth Certificate today from the hospital, so now she has her very own ID number and her name is official.

On another front - I really suffered from major Oedema with this pregnancy, even more so after her birth. My blood pressure also shot through the roof and I had a couple of people worried when it was 210/106 at one stage - stroke alert!!! My face, arms, hands, legs and feet were swollen beyond expansion and my skin was extremely tight. Only since yesterday I'm I feeling normal again. I can walk properly, bend my knees and my shoes fit me again. Now all I have to do is lose this weight. I have about 18kg to go and cant wait to get to the gym in a couple of weeks. I have to wait for this cut to heal before doing anything strenuous........

Lastly, Loren is coming tomorrow to do a photo shoot with us - a Newborn Shoot - so I'll post professional pics of her soon......

Love us