6 days old

I had hoped to have a blog post written to honor Hannah's 6th day of life, in that from here on out her age will be quantified in weeks, then months, then years. Unfortunately, I only got so far as the title before my short deadline. I don't want any more time to go by undocumented, so I'm committed to writing about it by typing one-handed, while my precious angel baby sleeps on my chest.

We have fallen hard for our sweet Hannah. Hook, line and sinker. It would be hard not to when staring at her delicate little face. She is an incredible sleeper, with the exception of one 930pm-500am bender on night #4. I had flashbacks from Emmy's first weeks, and got scared for a moment that Hannah was Emmy's infant twin. The last few nights have given me great relief that Hannah has picked up our night time routine a little more quickly than big sis. She's adopted an every four hour feeding schedule over night, thank the Lord! Hannah has a high-pitched girly cry that she only really lets out if she's in need of a new diaper or a meal (with the exception of night #4 when there was no workable solution to her issue.) While some academics might attribute "happy-looking" facial contortions to gas, I prefer to think of them as smiles, of which she's shared a few. :) She's still a bit jaundiced, but after the second check-up with her pediatrician, we know that all that bilirubin is on it's way out. We also know that she lost just 4 ounces from her birth weight before she started regaining. As of Tuesday, she was back up to 7 pounds. :) Small victories such as that are so appreciated by a nursing mama.

Emmy can't get enough of her baby sister and is always ready with a kiss. In between kisses, she has spent lots of quality time with Daddy, Poppy and Grammy. They braved the cold at the park, toured the Nashville Zoo, and explored the "Kids & Play" gym. She even got to go on a shopping spree at Toys R Us! Lucky Girl came home and practiced riding her new tricycle in the living room (out of respect for our furniture and walls, it now lives in the garage :-P)! She is soaking up all of the attention and keeps chanting our made up song "I love you, yes I do, I love you, I DO I DO!"

With Emmy being so well cared for, I have had some quiet time to cherish Hannah's first few days of life; and to work at getting us in sync with feedings. I was successful in evading the worst pain of childbirth with my trusty epidural, but it's come in a different form through nursing. I had hoped that being an "experienced mom" might spare me from the pain I had with Emmy, but no such luck. Like her sister, Hannah has chewed me up and spit me out. I will prevail, though, and have formulated a new game plan that seems to be working so far: pain medication. I have no idea why I didn't medicate myself with Emmy, but taking Tylenol around the clock has taken the edge off, and for that I am so grateful. It's also helping with some of the discomfort from my insides returning to their rightful size and location. It's all a very small price to pay, though, for having the honor of assisting God in the miracle known as Hannah Horn.

I should mention that we had some last minute name negotiations behind closed hospital doors. Nick preferred Hannah's middle name to be pronounced "Mad-e-LYNN" over "Mad-e-LINE." I was open-minded, and frankly, grateful that he wasn't pushing for one of the characters' names from the movie Underworld. I did want to stick with the traditional french spelling of the name, though, which is where Nick compromised (since he's not a fan of the French or anything that has to do with them.) So, her birth certificate reads:

HANNAH MADELEINE HORN

Hannah, 4 days old.

Emmy, 6 days old. 

Their little facial similarities outweigh their differences at this point. Love them! :)

Photos Nick stole from Grammy's fancy new camera!