Hellobee

This Saturday will mark Baby Star Light’s two-month birthday. This also means that Baby Star Bright is quickly approaching her one-month birthday. I just cannot believe how quickly the time has gone! So how are things going for us? Let me quickly recap what’s been happening with the Starfish family…

For starters, both babies are healthy and happy! Baby Star Bright had a bad case of jaundice while we were in Utah, but that mostly cleared up before we boarded the plane to come home to Chicago. Still, her eyes only dropped their yellowish hue within the past couple of days.

Baby Star Bright on her billiblanket to treat her jaundice.

The latest health issue was minor and it was thrush. Baby Star Bright’s mouth was covered with white patches that never seemed to go away. We whisked her into the pediatrician recently and discovered that Baby Star Light also was starting to develop thrush. To treat this, the girls were prescribed a bottle of medication that we have to swab in their mouths four times a day. While they really hated this the first day, they now are getting used to it and cooperating much better!

As for mommy and daddy, Mr. Starfish went back to work after baby number two about a week ago. He ventured off on his first business trip just a few days ago, and got so homesick for his girls that he texted within minutes of leaving our house and managed to catch an early flight home to be close to them again. He continues to amaze me every single day with his patience and love toward the girls. It strikes me constantly how very lucky they are to have such an interactive, loving and proud papa. And I am one lucky wife to have such an active partner with which to share the baby load.

Daddy and his girls!

As for me, I’m so relieved to report that I am feeling better. My doctor finally figured out that I was feeling so poorly because I was anemic from all of the blood that I lost during delivery. Right before we left for Utah, I went in for an IV drip of iron and within two days I was feeling like myself again. And let me tell you, this motherhood thing is a whole lot easier and more fun when you don’t feel like you’re close to collapse for most of the day! There is still a bit of placenta left in my uterus, and I will have to have surgery in about a month to have it removed, but I am having no pain or complications from the small remainder that is there.

As for my emotions, I am in absolute love with my girls. I often look at them and don’t even believe that they are really here with me. My favorite time of the day is storytime, and the girls and I are voracious readers! Our current favorites are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bear Snores On, and The Pout Pout Fish. I also love the first moments of the day, when I get to sneak into their nursery and pick up these miracles while they are still half-asleep and lazily stretching out of their swaddles.

Even diaper changes are a treat for mommy right now!

On the flip side, the hardest times for me are when both girls are fussy at the exact same time, made worse when my alarm reminder to pump goes off in the middle of a double-crying disaster. Most days, there are at least two hours when I wish that there were four of me – one for each baby, one to pump breastmilk, and one to handle housework and other non-baby tasks. Today, even with my mom in town to help me out, I didn’t manage to find the time to shower and brush my teeth until about 2:30 in the afternoon!

A throwback pic from 8 weeks ago when Baby Star Light was a tiny little peanut.

Mr. Starfish and I went on our first date since the babies arrived about a week ago, to a local restaurant that was a favorite of mine when I was pregnant. We shared some wine, did a quick check-up on our relationship, shared our highs and lows, and marveled at the relative quiet of the restaurant. While Mr. Starfish was happy with wine and full from a delicious dessert, I also managed to talk him into hiring a part-time night nanny for a few weeks. While neither of us is thrilled by the added expense, we view it as a necessary and temporary extravagance to get us through the next month. I joke to my friends right now that I am more in love with our night nanny than I am with Mr. Starfish! I kid, I kid…!

As for our surrogate, she reports that she is recovering well. She recently sent us a package that included a photo album that included pictures from Baby Star Bright’s delivery. It sits on our dining room table next to the girls’ baby books and brings copious tears to my eyes every time I open it. I still count myself as so lucky to have met our amazing surrogate and to have shared in this unique experience with her and her sweet family. It is heartening to know that such kind and selfless people exist in this world. We share pictures of our babies with our surrogate through a photo sharing app called Tinybeans, and I love seeing her comments on the pictures. She will always be a part of our family story, and we are all the more fortunate for that fact.

Our surrogate and Baby Star Bright a few days post delivery.

About a week ago as I was undressing Baby Star Light for a bath, I struggled mightily to get her out of her onesie. She had been in newborn clothes since her birth and while they were so baggy on her in the beginning, a little pang hit my heart when I realized that she had outgrown them. It was bittersweet as I accepted the fact that my little baby girls had hit a new milestone. They are no longer newborn babies. They are growing and maturing faster than I ever thought possible. Time is flying here in the Starfish household, and we are embracing every single moment…

A happy family of four!