It's Been One Week

So, we now have a full week under our belts of being parents of two. How are things going, you ask?

The good stuff:

• We have awesome family and friends that have helped us out so much. My mom and sister & fiancee who watched Laura while we were in the hospital for most of a week, my in-laws for coming to maintain/ clean our house for us before we got home, my sister-in-law for coming to stay with us for a few days to cook & freeze meals for us and to generally be another set of hands, our neighbours for maintaining our cat and having Laura over for more than their share of playdates... all have been so much appreciated. I don't know what we are going to do when we're on our own again!
  
•  Rachel is a good sleeper so far. Last night we finally got to bed around 11pm and she didn't wake up until almost 3am, and then again at 7:30am. It was glorious - I can only hope she keeps it up! She is starting to have more wakeful periods during the day, too, which is fun to be able to interact with her more.
  
• Josh has been home all week, and will be home all next week, and it has been so nice to be able to spend this time together as a family (even if we are a little high strung at times). Yesterday we took the girls to the pool as a special outing for Laura and we had such a blast.
  
• Laura loves giving the baby kisses. So cute.
  
• Although we had a hell of a time picking out a name, I am really thrilled that we landed on Rachel. I think it suits her perfectly and it goes really well with Laura.
  
• I have two beautiful daughters now, and although a boy would have been nice, too, I am so happy for Laura to have a sister. Sisters are special.

The bad stuff:

•  Recovering from a C-section sucks. Recovering from a C-section when you have a toddler who doesn't always remember you have are recovering from a C-section sucks even more. Not being able to sit up without assistance has been a real drag. But at least now, after a week, I can do most things myself again without too much pain. I'm also dealing with some Baby Blues, too. No fun.
  
• Speaking of pain... breastfeeding really sucks at this stage, too. I mean, I am very glad that Rachel is a great nurser - one less thing to worry about - but, it has been so much more painful for me this time around. My nipples are sore and bleeding, my boobs generally feel like one giant bruise, and my back! My back is so sore from carrying around all the extra weight up top. Oi. At least I know it is all worth it to power through and it will get better and much easier as time goes on. 
  
• Rachel is jaundiced. It is common in preemies and low birth weight babies. She spent a day on the biliblanket and was doing better, so we didn't have to continue the UV treatment. But several days later she still looks yellow to me, especially in the morning, so we took her to the hospital yesterday to get re-tested, and her bilirubin levels were still going up. However, they said as long as she is still continuing to eat and poop regularly she is getting better. 
  
• I feel like we have no time to get anything done, which is stressful since we still have quite a number of things on our Before Baby To Do List due to her surprising us with her presence a month early.
  
• Laura is getting better now, but the first few days that we were home she started showing signs of jealousy towards Rachel and generally just acting out. It broke my heart. I have felt so guilty about the whole pregnancy "ruining" her life, and now that the new baby is finally here, I feel even worse that she needs to express herself by hitting Rachel. I know it will get better, and I'm thrilled that they will be so close in age and (hopefully) be best friends when they grow up, but right now it is so hard to see my baby feeling this way.
  We were out for a walk the other day and Laura kept stopping to pick up pinecones and various other items. Josh wanted to go home and was trying to hurry her along and so said, "Okay, bye Laura". The following look on her face made me want to cry. She looked so stunned and upset that we were going to leave her there, I had to run over and give her a kiss, trying to explain that Daddy was kidding and we weren't leaving her again.