One week

Our beautiful, perfect daughter is one week old today. Time really has gone by fast. I honestly feel like yesterday I was at the hospital giving birth to her. She is so darn special! A quick summary of the birthing story:

Layla was a very active baby in the womb. She probably kicked or punched me 15-20 times an hour. Most babies do about half of that. On Sunday the 18th I didn't feel her move at all for almost 4 hours. That really worried me, so I called my doctor. She said to come in to get put on the monitor to make sure everything was okay. So I went to the hospital at 1145am. Around 1pm two nurses and the doctor came running into my room which freaked me out. Layla's heart rate had significantly dropped, so they moved me and put oxygen on me. Ten minutes later my doc comes back into my room and asks "how do you feel about having a baby today?" I said good. Because her heart rate dropped so low and something else to do with my placenta, they wanted to get her out (I know, I hate that word too). Since I had eaten breakfast at 9 (yes, it was my second breakfast; my first breakfast was at 630) they couldn't induce me until 4pm. So I called Chris, told him to get Josiah to our friend's house and come on up to the hospital to labor with me.
4pm comes, I get induced... blah blah blah, I give birth to Layla at 920am on the 19th. Everything went really well. Chris was an awesome support and coach. I was very aware of everything that was going on, unlike with Josiah when I was basically in a tired stupor. We were released from Baptist on Wednesday morning. My recovery has been great. No problems this time around. I am feeling great and am looking forward to next Monday when I can finally pick Josiah up. Layla was a little jaundice so we've had to go to our doctor's office 3 times since Wednesday. We had to put her in a bili blanket for 24 hours to help reduce it and feed her more than normal to flush out all the bad stuff. She is getting better and not looking as yellow, so we don't have to go back until next Monday for her 2 week check up.
Layla is such a good baby. She cries when she's hungry or naked. Other than that she's happy. She has lots of awake time. Last night she slept great. She ate at 930 and went right to sleep. She woke up at 145am, ate and then fell right back to sleep, then woke up at 6am ate and stayed awake for about an hour. It was awesome. I'm not tired at all, which is weird because I've been tired for about 3 months.  She has been great at breast feeding too! Josiah never took to it which made me feel like a failure as a mother because EVERYONE asks you if you are breast feeding and if you say no they either ask why not or give you this look as though you are letting your child down. I hated that. Anyways, here are a few pics from the week...

Going home!

 Big brother waiting for his sister

 Getting her nap on

This is the best shot we could get with Josiah

Josiah, meet Layla!

Yes, I'm mixed

I got a pedicure today. The first one in over 2 months. I need my feet to look pretty so that all the doctors and nurses will think I put some effort into taking care of myself while pregnant. The lady that gave me my pedicure was very nice. Seeing as how I'm due in 11 days I had a hard time getting in the chair, so she gladly helped me. I was probably 6 inches taller than her and outweighed her by 70 or 80 lbs. Poor lady. Anyways, in the middle of my pedicure she looks at me and asks, "are you mixed?" I have never been asked that question before. At least not since I got married. With Reyes as a maiden name people assumed that I was mixed. Not here and not since then. I told her I was and that no one has asked me that before. She said that since she was mixed Korean and Chinese she could tell I was mixed. She said that she could just feel it. How adorable! That made my day.

2 things

1. I really hope that Layla is born with hair. Hairless babies freak me out just a little.
2. I wish I had written down some things to remember from when Josiah was a newborn. I really don't remember what babies do all day besides sleep, eat and poop. This time around I am keeping a journal for me for our next baby. But seeing as how I will have a toddler keeping me busy, I might just use a Talk Boy instead and transpose at a later date.

Guilty Pleasure

Before anyone can judge me, I would like to say first and foremost, I don't watch reality t.v. Except Biggest Loser, but I don't really count that since I mainly watch it to get workout  and diet tips... and I like watching overweight people lose weight. That being said, my one and only t.v. guilty pleasure for the past 3 years has been 90210. Not the reruns, the new ones. I know the acting is horrible and the story lines are bad, and teenagers don't really act that way, but I have enjoyed it. Until Tuesday. The season premier was SO horrible that I have thrown in the towel on that show. I actually caught myself saying that I couldn't believe I was watching this and what a waste of 45 minutes. Now I have to find another guilty pleasure show that I can record so that I have something to watch when I'm up at 1 and 4a.m. feeding Layla.

D.O.M.

This morning on my way to work I drove thru McDonalds to get a healthy snack... wait, no, it was hashbrowns. Anyways, I had my window rolled down on the way out and this dirty old man (D.O.M), probably in his late late forties or early fifties, had his window rolled down and looked me in the eyes and said, "well good morning beautiful". Normally I would have made some off the cuff remark to him and rolled my eyes, but seeing as how I'm due in less than 2 weeks and feel so unattractive and fat I was flattered and smiled at him. And then for a good 10 minutes felt really good about myself. Chris tells me all the time how beautiful I am, but hearing it from a D.O.M was nice. That's how I know I am READY to have this little girl.

My athlete

I think Josiah is just the greatest thing on earth. Obviously. If I didn't, I wouldn't be a good mother. He's good at everything he tries. He's been throwing things since he was about 10 months old. And I say things because from what I've experienced thus far, he believes everything is throwable. Several times recently he has thrown a perfect spiral to Chris. And, for the most part, the balls go wherever he is aiming. Pretty impressive for an 18 month old. If it were up to me I would want Josiah to play baseball. He can play other sports too, but I have been hoping he likes baseball. I love going to games and eating hot dogs and nachos. I can't remember a summer growing up that wasn't spent at the field. I bought Josiah a baseball toy a few months back but he hasn't been too interested in it until the other day. Here's him playing baseball with himself. Pretty good, right? My dad, Papu, will be very proud.

 

Sushi

I have been dreaming about sushi for 8 months. I could literally eat sushi 3 nights a week if given the choice and chance. Back in Dallas Chris and I would eat at Sushi Loco 2 nights a week and more if we could come up with a good excuse. In 2 weeks from tomorrow I will be able to eat sushi again. I am beyond thrilled about this. I am going to have my parents bring it to me in my hospital room. I mean, it's going to be a staple in my diet, so Layla might as well get her first taste of sushi her first days of life, right? Oh 2 weeks, come quickly.

Cloth Diapering

After much research and advice from friends who use cloth diapers, we have decided we're going to cloth diaper Layla.. and use cloth wipes as well. I'm actually very excited about this decision! We've spent roughly $1,000 on diapers and another $200 on wipes for Josiah. And we still have about $200 more to spend before he's fully potty trained. It is literally money down the drain. Money I would much rather spend on clothes or toys for him... or put toward his college fund.
Cloth diapering is not what it was when I was a baby, which is what most people my age think it is because of what their mothers told them. It has been completely revolutionized. We're going with the Bum Genius Elemental One Size Cloth Diapers. NO pre-folds necessary! For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that we won't have to put an insert in the diaper. When she needs a new one we will just put the old one in the laundry and put a new diaper on... exactly what I would do with a disposable diaper. And they have snaps instead of velcro, so they will last WAY longer. And, I've been told, that I will more than likely not have to purchase new ones for any future children we have because these will last that long. Crazy! So for $264.95 I will have all my diaper needs for our children. The cloth wipes are about $1 each, but you only need about 24 because they clean a larger surface area and can hold more than disposable wipes.
Layla will be in daycare part-time, but these cloth diapers are so easy that Gloria (our daycare lady) will happily make the switch for her. All I have to do is purchase a reusable wet bag for $16.50 so she can store the dirty diapers and give the bag to me at the end of the day to wash along with the wipes. And if you have a trash can like I have for Josiah, the trash bags cost $16 for a pack of 2 which last about one month... so again, WAY cheaper.
There you have it... Again, we are excited to cloth diaper Layla and know that it is going to be easy for everyone who has to diaper her.

Lazy Americans

I don't know who decided that the word at was too much to write. I don't understand why writing @ is easier than at. Doesn't it make MUCH MORE SENSE for @ to stand for around. I mean, there is a circle around the letter A. Lazy Americans.