Introducing: Emilia Carolyn Kimber

David, Dominic and I welcomed Emilia Carolyn Kimber into our lives on May 9 at 1:52am.

She was definitely a bit smaller than Dom was!
Weight: 7lb 6oz. (Dom was 8lb 8oz)

Head Circumfrence: 35cm (Dom was 35.5cm)

Length: 48.5cm (Dom was 51cm)

The full birth story is to come, but everything went absolutely perfectly. Better and smoother than I ever anticipated. We were home from the hospital 15 hours after she was born. 

We are so so grateful for all the love, support and help we've already received these first few days. 

We are so so in love with our new addition. 

Dominic is already displaying his kind heart and deep understanding of the situation. Hes rather mad at me, but he is totally in tune with the baby most of the time. The first time he saw her in the car seat he gently rocked it and put her blanket on her. 
This morning I was feeding her and Dom & Dave came to bring me a bottle. Dom saw a soother on my night stand, which she had been refusing thus far. Dom grabbed the soother and ever so gently tried to put it in her mouth. She kept spitting it out and Dom started getting sad that she wasnt accepting his act of kindness. He loves her so much, but definitely is a little jealous and confused as well. Shouldn't take him long to adjust.

First time seeing the baby when we brought her home. 

Meeting Emilia the next morning. I asked Dom if he thought she wanted some milk, and he's signing "Please". <3

We have noticed a familiar change in Sherlock as well. I remember bringing Dom home and Sherlock became calm, and almost newborn-like himself. He sleeps more, cuddles more, and has started suckling in his sleep again. We can only recall him doing this when he was very young and when we brought Dom home. 

Everything is coming back to me, and I am so much more relaxed about everything this time around. I am constantly reminding myself to trust my body, and trust her, and trust the process. Doms first couple weeks were super stressful for me, and I couldn't enjoy it, and now hes a thriving toddler; she will be too some day!
Because we left the hospital so soon, a midwife came by yesterday to do the 24 hour check. She passed the heart test, they got the blood spots to send in for testing, and weighed her. She was down 6%, which is in normal range, but said if I want to supplement and pump a little bit in order to get more rest I could certainly do that. I did that last night and we all slept so much better! With Dom I didn't sleep in my own bed for 3 weeks. Last night she was in the bassinet and I was in my cozy bed. I had to wake her for all her feeds, but soon enough she'll be demanding them.

Waiting for Dad to grab the car seat so we can go home!!

I have been able to mostly maintain this positive attitude quite well thus far, but I have not forgotten that rush of crazy hormones that is coming any time now to ruin the good vibes when my milk comes in. The first few days with Dom felt light and airy too, and then they weren't! As today progresses I can feel my hormones starting to go. I am having Mommy guilt for Dom because he's so sad/mad/sensitive right now, and just feeling overwhelmed by everything. Here we go!

Emilia looks like a smaller, more feminine version of her big brother. She has lots of hair (compared to Dom) for now, but I see super fine blonde hairs underneath, so I wouldn't be surprised if she loses a lot of it. 

Dominic, roughly 8 hours old

Emilia, roughly 8 hours old

When we were in the hospital waiting for the midwife to do a final little check-up, Dave took out his camera to take advantage of the amazing lighting in our room. Here are a few shots from that little photo shoot!

I can't believe we are a family of 4 all of a sudden!