and reese makes three

It’s hard to believe, but after the months of waiting, we’ve already been a family of three for one month now.

As most of you already know, our sweet and feisty Reese Caroline entered the world with a *very loud* cry on Sabbath afternoon, September 5th. After two failed induction attempts, she arrived via c-section just missing sharing her great-grandma’s birthday on September 3 and grandpa’s birthday on September 6.

After 6 long days (and nights) in the hospital, we passed the somewhat rigorous baby care and feeding exercises and were thrilled to be home and settle into our own routine. (A 7-day stay is the standard here in Switzerland for c-sections, with 5 days otherwise the norm.)

Reese has dedicated the last month to teaching us about her likes and dislikes and life as parents. She loves cuddling, being swaddled, milk, bouncing on an exercise ball, strolling off-road or on cobblestones, riding in the car, bath time, floor time to move and groove, music boxes, trying to find her thumb, staring at reflective objects–like the Kitchenaid mixer or the mirror above her changing table, and a high contrast rolling zebra we call “Zeb.”

She is not a big fan of afternoon naps, early bedtimes, waiting too long for milk, pacifiers, and stroller rides (at least the first 60 seconds before we hit the cobbles), and sleeping with her arms constrained for too long.

Often, what she thinks comes along with a loud cry, furrowed brow, or serious skepticism:

And sometimes even with a smile:

We were incredibly blessed to have my parents stay with us for almost the whole month of September and provide indispensable advice, loving arms for cuddling and rocking, soothing songs and lullabies, long, bumpy walks for nap time, “pacifier training” (a work in progress), delicious meals and kitchen clean-up, handyman and nursery setup, and much, much more.

Since they left, we’ve managed to move towards our own routine while counting the days until their next visit. I’ve already learned that quite a few tasks can fit into Reese’s 2-3 hour nap times (besides naps), and that we have a lot to be thankful for since she is already sleeping 5-6 hours stretches at night making things a bit more manageable for us.

We’re also both learning more about breastfeeding, which has definitely been more complicated and even painful than I imagined, but things are getting better every day as we find our groove.

All in all, considering how month one flew by, we’re just trying to savor all the moments of each day, and squeeze in lots of baby cuddles.