Aleaha's little sister, Mirielle Corrine, arrived on July 8. She weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz. at birth, and was 7 lbs even when we took her home. Soon thereafter, we thought she was gaining her weight back, but it turned out not to be the case (bad data and some misinterpretation of signals). So, we've had a bit of a struggle to get her weight back up. As of today (July 20), she's on the mend and gaining well. I had really hoped to avoid the stress like we had with Aleaha in the beginning, but that was just not to be. I hope that soon we have this period behind us. I know they are newborns for such a short time, but this is a fairly anxious time, and we just want to know she's growing well.
Miri is a marvelous addition to our family, and we feel very lucky (and complete!). Her features and expressions are duplicates of Aleaha at that age, although Miri has gobs of dark hair. We'll see if she keeps that or if it turns light, which is what happened to Aleaha (Miri's eyebrows and eyelashes are lighter).
Chris says, "Don't you have any pictures of her awake?" Well, she hasn't spent much time awake, and when she is, I'm feeding her! ;) Gramma Bon took lots of pictures during their visit, so I hope to scan some (ya, that's right, I will have to scan them, as she is still using film, if you can believe that?!).
Check this out... below is a picture of Chris holding Mirielle for her first photo with Daddy. And below that is the identical shot from 3 years ago when Aleaha was born. If they hadn't put a different color hat on each of them, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart! :) (Of course, I guess there isn't much of the child to be seen, when they are wrapped up like a burrito!)
My mom and dad came down the week Miri was born to take care of Aleaha for us. My dad was put to work as a ranch hand, and man, did he deliver! He fed all the animals (I think he spoiled the horses!), and he built 2 sheds for us. Here is the big one, which will house the tractor and be a woodshed for us:
He also framed up a "chicken outhouse", which is the shape of an outhouse and will be used to keep the feed out of the weather.
Finally, a shot that expresses a lot (can you see the exhaustion?). Again, I'm sure I have a duplicate of this from when Aleaha was born. ;)
2 comments:
Ohhhhhh! I've been so excited to see her wittle face. She is so adorable!! I wish I could be there to make you some meals and clean your floor and play with Aleaha. I hope you guys can get a little rest.
Any birth story coming up in the next "episode"? I LOVE hearing birth stories. :-)
Lots of love and hugs.
Hi Wil. Ah, the birth story. Well, honestly, I think I've already forgotten most of it! I do remember that it was easier, overall, with the second one. People kept telling me that it would be, and I didn't believe them. I was more anxious about the recovery than the actual labor and delivery, but the recovery has been a breeze. I did split my stomach muscles during pregnancy (don't know exactly when or how that happened), so my tummy was super tender for a couple of weeks. Now it's just jiggly. ;) The parts I remember most are that I spent way too long in an ugly labor room (no windows) with nothing to eat (I scarfed some m&ms from my purse -- they probably should have confiscated those when I arrived). I got my blessed epidural as requested, and it worked this time (although it did start to wear off at the end, but that was OK, cuz I could got the job finished quicker). With Aleaha it was 3 hrs of pushing and I was in bad shape after that. With Miri it was 20 minutes, and I was just fine. :) I finally got to eat later than night, and man was I ready!
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