Karis' First Week

It's hard to believe that it has already been 1 week since our sweet baby girl Karis was born. It's amazing how you live without someone for your whole life and then the minute you meet them you can't imagine your life without them. That is how it has been with Karis. Our whole family is completely in love with this little girl. And it is so evident that she was meant to be in our family.

Karis had a great first week. We spent the first couple of days in the hospital. Grandma and Pop Pop brought Raegan to the hospital to meet her little sister on saturday morning. Raegan brought her the kitty that she had picked out for her and she really enjoyed meeting her. We visited for a little while and took our first family picture and when it was time for them to leave Raegan cried because she wanted her baby sister to come home. Pop Pop got to meet his birthday present ( his birthday is August 13th as well) and I think he was pretty pleased. I am just not sure how to top that birthday present next year though!

I had to stay in the hospital until monday but monday afternoon we were able to bring Karis home. Raegan was really excited for us to be home and especially for her new sister to be home. She didn't act jealous at all which was kind of surprising. I think the hardest part for Raegan has been having me in the hospital and now that I am home it has been hard because I am still recovering from surgery so I am not able to do all of my usual "mommy duties" for her. But she really loves Karis. She calls her "my baby Karis" and she is always coming over and saying how cute she is and wanting to watch me take care of her. It is very sweet to watch her with her sister.

On tuesday morning we took Karis to her follow up doctor's appointment. Her weight had gone down in the hospital to 8lbs 3 oz but it was back up to 8lbs 7oz at the doctors so I guess I am feeding her well! On tuesday night we gave Karis her first bath which she seemed pretty content with. She has actually been content most of the time. When we washed her hair it was very curly which was funny since Raegan's hair is so curly. It will be interesting to see what her hair ends up looking like. We think she is going to be a red head!

On thursday my friend Desi came over to take some newborn pictures of Karis. She recently started a photography business and she was gracious enough to give us the gift of a photo shoot. She usually likes the babies to be very sleepy when she takes their pictures so she can put them in different positions for the pictures. Karis sleeps well but she has pretty much been an alert baby since she was born. The first 24 hours she was very sleepy but after that she was very alert for a newborn. She also is very strong, holding her head up since she was 2 days old and trying to push up and look around when you hold her on your shoulder. So I was not sure how well the photo shoot would go. And sure enough every time Desi tried to put Karis in a position on her belly she would try to push her head up and move around. Desi got some beautiful shots of Karis but Karis wasn't really very cooperative for her newborn photo shoot. Josh and I joke that we think Karis actually stayed in the womb an extra month because she looks and acts much more like a one month old baby than a newborn.

Karis has been a very easy baby so far. She usually gets one fussy period a day but overall she is doing really well. She has been sleeping well and she loves to be swaddled tightly just like her big sister did. She seems to have a very calm personality. She didn't even cry when they pricked her foot for the PKU test in the hospital. She is really cute when she is falling asleep because she always gets these huge smiles on her face as she is drifting off to sleep. It is so sweet just to have moments of being able to hold her and see her little baby smiles and hear her sweet baby sounds. It has been a great week of enjoying her and reflecting on how special her life is. She is our second miracle baby and we continue to be in awe of God's grace and blessing in giving us Karis and Raegan. God has again given us more than we could ever have asked for or imagined.