Hellobee

The internet has been down at our apartment since yesterday morning, and it’s still down.  I asked Mr. Bee if he would rather have his life shortened by 10 years and live with internet, or live 10 years longer without internet. He said if he didn’t have internet, there would be no point to living at all!  It’s sad how dependent we are on technology, but we really can’t live without internet in the Bee household.

I’m a couple of days late posting this, but Olive turned 1 month old this past Saturday!  I think it’s probably because she’s a preemie, but she still pretty much sleeps around the clock.  She wakes up every 3-4 hours to feed, and usually has 2 short alert periods each day.  I was worried about how much she was sleeping, but her due date was November 6th, so she’s only 2 days old today according to her adjusted age.  Maybe it’s because she’s still a newborn, but Olive is a pretty mellow baby.  She rarely cries (though she grunts a lot), doesn’t ask to be held (though of course she loves it), and sleeps well in her crib.  I really hope she continues to be this sweet and mellow!

This weekend I had a mini freak out because Olive’s face and eyes were looking very yellow.  Even though she was treated for physiological jaundice after she was born, there is a less common type of jaundice called breast milk jaundice that can appear in the first month of life.  In some babies, breast milk can block certain proteins in the liver that break down bilirubin. Our pediatrician’s office wanted us to bring her in, and they said her face and eyes were definitely jaundiced, but it didn’t appear severe. Olive had her bilirubin levels tested, and they were at a 14, which is fine for her age.  Our pediatrician said if we didn’t like the yellow color, we could give her formula for 24 hours which would cause her bilirubin levels to drop quickly, but it really wasn’t necessary.  I was so relieved but of course I was freaking myself out by googling nonstop until we got her test results. Even as a second time parent, you always find things to obsess about.

Weight

Olive weighed 7 lbs and 4 oz on her one month birthday — up 2 lbs and 5 oz since she was born at 4 lbs 15 oz.  That’s the same amount Charlie gained in his first month of life.  I guess that’s about how big she would have been had she been born on her due date. Then yesterday at the pediatrician’s office, she weighed a whopping 7 lbs 12 oz! She’s gained more than 50% of her birth weight, and she’s not so little anymore!

Umbilical Hernia

Olive has the hugest outie belly button ever, and I wondered whether it had anything to do with the way the doctor cut the umbilical cord.  But we just found out yesterday that she actually has an umbilical hernia.  Apparently it frequently occurs in preemies, where part of the intestine protrudes through the belly button and makes it look like a big outie belly button. It’s usually a harmless condition that goes away on its own by the time the baby is 1. The doctor had me press her outie, and I could feel air bubbles gurgling underneath!

Family Resemblances

When Olive was born, my family all agreed that she didn’t look like me or Mr. Bee.  Charlie looked like me when he was born, but now everyone says he looks like Mr. Bee. Yesterday I was looking at Olive and I can see a lot of Charlie in her face now. I wouldn’t mind a little (more mellow) female version of Charlie!

Body Update

At 1 month postpartum, I have 10 pounds left to lose.  The last time I weighed myself before Olive was born, I’d gained 22 pounds.  I think the final number was a little bit higher than that, but one of the benefits of her being born so early is that I have less weight to lose!  The recovery with a VBAC was definitely intense the first 10 days, but once the soreness went away just after the 2 week mark, I pretty much felt back to my normal self.  It’s hard to believe that I gave birth just a month ago!  I’m still hot, hot, hot and sweating in my sleep as my body rids itself of excess fluids retained during pregnancy. But other than that, I don’t have any big side effects left from giving birth.

Olive is just the sweetest little baby and I love everything about her — from her cute smile to her little button nose and her big luscious lips.  These first few months are definitely tough as we’re still trying to figure it out as a family of 4.  But I’m going to try to enjoy every moment I can because before I know it she’ll be walking and talking and I’ll be missing my little baby!  That’s when I’ll start thinking about baby #3.  Just kidding!  Charlie and Olive are all we need and we’re definitely done.