anna is starting to uncurl herself and take stock of her new surroundings. like carter, she was unwilling to disengage from her cherished fetal position, preferring to huddle her scrawny limbs -- just like his were -- to her warm body. ava as absolutely not like that. she came out of me and immediately stretched herself to her full length, looking around her with eyes that pretty much said "oh, thank god i can finally move...now, what is this place all about??" carter and anna spent a week avoiding their new reality, enjoying the comfort of sleep. but now, anna has decided that she sort of finds being awake interesting, and most enjoys looking at the radiator next to her changing spot. it of course is a pattern of vertical stripes, and she just adors it. she will stare and stare at it, occasionally making a gurglng sound of pleasure, sometimes pursing her lips in a teeny tiny little "o," while her eyes open as far as they can, and then every once in a while a squeal will come out. it's really cute. when i get down next to her, face to face, she does the same thing, and she is clearly starting to recognize everyone else.
she is being doted on 24/7 by everyone. she is everyone's little girl and it is very cute. ava and carter cannot stop nuzzling and kissing and petting her.
her stork bites are sort of starting to fade--hopefully the one on her eyelid mellows out. right now it does give her eye a bit of a swollen look, but her weight gain is starting to show--her face is rounding out a bit, and she is losing the wrinkled newborn look. she was weighed today and came in at 8 lbs, 7 oz, so she has gained a pound in a week, which is superb. i am not sure what her eyes are going to do. they look pretty blue still, but every once in a while the light catches them and i wonder if i see a change towards a different color. still too soon to tell. but my favorite thing is that she squeaks in her sleep. it is this inhale of breath that she does that makes a high pitched squeak, and it looks like she does it when dreaming.
her fingers and toes are ridiculously long. again, like carter. ava had puppy hands. the younger 2 have very delicate hands. anna's toes are by far the longest i have ever seen. of her entire foot length, i swear they are at least 1/3. i have long toes, but these are crazy.
as for myself, i feel superb. i had no idea how awful i had been feeling until she was no longer inside. my appetite is back, and all i want are high-nutrient veggie-type foods vs the steady diet of dry cheerios that i had in the last few weeks of my pregnancy. i am so pleased to finally be hungry again, to not be nauseous, to not be dry heaving throughout every day, to be able to feel like exercising, to not have a stuffed up nose, to wake up and be motivated to get up and do things, vs beg to stay in bed, to just feel healthy. we all walked around the lake 2 days in a row, celebrating the great weather, and i could not believe how great it felt. i pushed 100 lbs of kids/stroller weight and kept thinking how just a few weeks ago that would have been virtually impossible. and my ankles are no longer swollen. admittedly, that was a postpartum issue, not a pregnancy thing, but wow. when your ankles and feet swell to the point of not being able to distinguish or feel a bone anywhere, it is really upsetting. granted, the loss of that extra fluid occurs mostly at night, and i tend to wake up in an absolute puddle of sweat, but i figure people pay good money for the chance to sweat out toxins in a little hot room, why should i complain if my body chooses to do it for free in my comfy bed? the only down side is if i don't have time to shower before taking ava to school. then it is not such an advantage.
