Paysli is now three weeks old and oh how much we have learned! We have had several days and long nights of learning how to care for a baby. I must admit, we were pretty terrified of learning how to care for a newborn, but we love it. Yes, even when we are sleep deprived or clueless about what to do, we still love it. The first few days we were blessed with amazing nurses. It is funny to think back to the first feeding, diaper change, etc. We were so nervous and probably looked pretty ridiculous caring for our daughter. I had to learn to not freak out every time she cried. Yes, babies cry... and it's okay! For Tim, he would constantly tell himself out loud "okay, just go for it" when diving into a diaper change, feeding, or burping. By our second day in the hospital, Tim was ready to go home and take on the challenge on our own. I on the other hand, was still in shock that we would be taking this precious little human-being home and be completely responsible for her. Tim and I had several entertaining conversations in the hospital where we would remind each other that yes this is our child, no we are not babysitting for someone, and she would be our daughter FOREVER. By the end of the first week there was a HUGE transformation in our care taking skills and we knew we would be great parents.
The second week I took on the role of being at home with Paysli completely by myself. After the first day, I realized how great of a baby I had (of course I'm alittle biased). My family and friends had joked while I was pregnant, that our soon to be daughter would probably be quite a handful. Between Tim being ADHD and me never being much of a sleeper, we had envisioned Paysli being up all hours of the day and night and having a strong personality from day one. My first day alone with her she proved to be much much different than we ever expected. Paysli definitely loves her sleep. So much so, I constantly poke at her throughout the day to make sure she is okay. She displays a pretty laid back personality. She loves being held, being put down, on her back, on her tummy, in a swing, in her crib, and anywhere else her mommy tries to experiment with. She did seem to have her nights and days slightly mixed up, but we seemed to have fixed this issue within a week or so. The second week Paysli was sleeping all day, and from about 9 PM to 1 or 2 AM she would have her "party" as mommy and daddy called it. This was when she woke up to see the world... finally! As exhausted as we were during this time, we were excited to see her eyes and her personality so we joined her party. At Paysli's 2 week appointment she was 9 1/2 lbs and 22.5 inches. Our little girl is growing up!
This past week, Paysli has woken up quite a bit. Before, she would wake up to eat and be changed and was back to sleep by the time I finished feeding and burping her. Now she is up for 30 minutes to an hour after most feedings, except for the ones at night. I feel like she is changing daily! I can't believe she is almost a month old.
We cannot thank our friends and family enough over the past year and a half. We can't wait to tell Paysli about how many people were praying for her before she was even on this earth. Through all the hurt, sadness, doctor appointments, surgeries, medications, etc. we would not change a thing. We have learned so much about ourselves, our marriage, and our faith. We get goosebumps when we hear or read the prayer that our pastor prayed over us at our wedding. "Father, grant them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them humble, and enough failure to keep their hands tightly clinched in Yours. Yet please oh God enough success to reassure them that You are their God and You walk faithfully with them." He is our God and He walks FAITHfully with us!
