Our sweet Piper Willow is two months old! How in the world? We are so incredibly thankful for this little baby, and I’m trying to soak up every little moment — every little squeak, every little suckle, every little cry, every little smile — of sweet Pickle Pie since I know this will be the last time I get to enjoy these tiny newborn moments.
I had a very hard pregnancy with Piper, but she has made up for it tenfold by being the sweetest, easiest and most laid back little baby. Between already being considered high-risk this time around since June Bug was spontaneously pre-term, a velamentous cord insertion, 9 months of extreme HG, Zofran and other anti-nausea meds around the clock until the day Pickles arrived, days spent bent over a toilet (or not when I couldn’t make it there in time), running to the bathroom in the middle of teaching to throw up (beyond thankful to have had a bathroom in my classroom this year), IV fluids multiple times, over 20 weeks of daily progesterone, countless ultrasounds, anatomy scans, growth checks, and cervix length checks, getting COVID (after being fully vaccinated and boostered) and coming down with the stomach flu TWICE within two months — phew — Piper sure did give me a hard time. Not to mention, that the last two weeks of my pregnancy were spent in early labor having steady contractions every 5-20 minutes depending on the day and the need for more stress tests on baby because of how many contractions I was having. YET, I’d do it all over again in the blink of an eye because she is here, safe and healthy and has completed our family! We cannot thank all of my amazing OB’s, urgent care docs, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialists, delivery doctors and amazing nurses enough! They were truly amazing through this doozy of a pregnancy.
(Photos - 15 Hours Old)
So far everything about Piper has been total opposite of everything we experienced with Juno. Juno came fast and furiously into the world with a strong set of lungs at 36 weeks gestation while I ended up getting induced with Piper at 39 weeks. She was very cozy in my womb (the daily progesterone did it’s job of keeping my cervix closed). Piper came into the world mid-laughter after 4 minutes of pushing and didn’t even cry upon her first breath. My epidural worked well this time around and the anesthesiologist was able to adjust it throughout my labor when the pain would get too intense. My epidural with Juno didn’t end up working after having two anesthesiologists attempt to put it in and continually trying to fix it. Juno is still our extremely loud child. Piper is chill as a cucumber and rarely cries (unless she is starving or when getting her vaccines). Juno had a very hard time feeding as a premie and I was having to triple feed around the clock and syringe colostrum/milk that I had pumped into her mouth before giving her a bottle of donor milk. Piper latched right on 12 minutes after birth and nursed for the next 45 minutes during our golden hour. Juno has never slept well, Piper loves her zzz’s so far (praying this continues). With Juno I was tied to a schedule and attached to a feeding log praying she was gaining weight at every doctor appointment. Piper gained all of her weight back plus an additional pound within the first two weeks. I have absolutely no schedule with Piper, haven’t kept track of any feedings, and am not worried about creating “bad habits” with her. I’m letting her sleep when she wants, eat when she’s hungry, suckle to sleep, and cherishing all the snuggles. Sometimes I hold her all day long. This time around has been SO freeing. I’m not sure if it’s just the fact that I have more experience now, Piper is easier, or if Zoloft is a miracle drug 🤣 but I’ve had virtually no postpartum anxiety this time around. Overall, adjusting to life with two has been pretty easy and wonderful. It’s like Piper was always meant to be apart of our family. She has definitely completed us in the best way possible.
(2 Days Old)
Juno has become the absolute best big sister and she takes her role of big sister very seriously to the umpteenth degree. She is so in love with Piper and is overly possessive of her. She won’t let anyone near her … no one is allowed to hold this baby except for Juno, me, daddy and sometimes Yaya or Auntie KK if I’m not around. While it’s hard at times, I keep trying to tell myself that this is way better than the alternative of her not wanting to have anything to do with little sister. She has been the BEST helper — helping with feedings, diaper changes, constantly holding her, singing to her and reading her books … it is SO sweet. Juno’s transition has been the hardest part of having a second baby but it’s getting easier each day. Everyday when Juno wakes up she immediately asks to “snuggle my Piper” so I have to wake her up and put her straight into big sissy’s arms every morning.
Piper was 6 lbs 14 oz when she was born, left the hospital at 6 lbs 10 oz, was 7 lbs 7 oz at two weeks old and now is 9 lbs 15 oz. We had her two month doctor appointment yesterday and she’s dropped quite a bit in her weight percentile so they’ll keep an eye on her growth curve and check her weight in another month. Our pediatrician isn’t very concerned since we just seem to have little babes, but we don’t want her to fall off her curve any more than she has. Juno was over a pound smaller at 2 months so I’m not worried at all, but Piper went from the 24th percentile at 2 weeks old to the 13th percentile now. We’ll check in a month to see if she’s at at least the 13th percentile or above, and if not, then no more long stretches of sleep without a feeding!
Piper has officially outgrown her newborn clothes and is wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. She was exactly 20 inches long at birth and now is 22 inches … getting so tall!
(1 Week Old)
Piper loves to be held and loves nursing. She prefers to not be put down at all during the day and spends a lot of time in the wrap on my chest. She’s been sleeping great at night. Our sweet neighbors gifted us a Snoo and I’m not sure if it’s magic or if Piper is just a good sleeper so far, but she’s been doing longer stretches at night anywhere from about five hours to seven hours depending on the night … she even did a 9 hour stretch once! Juno comes into our room at some point every night so when we wake up in the morning all four of us are in the same room. My favorite part of my day is putting Piper in bed with us after her early morning feeding and snuggling both my girls for a little while before getting up for the day. There is nothing that brings me more peace than holding both of them as they sleep as the sun starts to peek in through the window. Piper loves when we talk or sing to her and she has started coo-ing and talking back to us. She is the most smiley little thing and her big smile literally rips my heart out. Piper loves her big sister and instantly calms down when Juno holds her. She even loves warm baths and doesn’t care at all when Juno pours water on her face. There really doesn’t seem to be anything that phases her and there isn’t much she doesn’t like.
When Piper was 6 weeks old I went to back to work for the last two weeks of the school year. It felt good to wrap up the school year and be back at work, but now I’m so grateful for summer break. My mom watched both girlies everyday for the ten days I was at work and we cannot thank her enough … I couldn’t have done it without her and the many photos and videos she would send me to help get through the days. It was hard to leave Piper when she was so young but having her with my mom made it so much easier. So for now, I’m trying to get time to slow down so I can cherish every day of summer break. To have this time to spend with my two girls and to soak up allll the newborn snuggles I can get before my sweet Piper isn’t a newborn anymore.
(2 Weeks Old)
(1 Month Old)
(2 Months)
We love you so incredibly much, Piper Willow. Thank you for completing us. We feel like you were meant to be apart of our family forever. Juno is so blessed to have you as her sister. And you are so lucky to have her. There really is no love like sister love. We love your easy going personality, your darling blue eyes and your big smile. You have one little dimple on your right cheek that comes out when you giggle and we could gobble it up along with your little fingers and toes. We can’t wait to watch you grow, sweet pickle pie 🥧
(A million more snapshots taken on our phones from Piper’s first two months of life)
