Tannah, Grandma got to be in the room for your birth, and she said that she is the very first person in the world that you saw. I'm pretty sure that left its mark because you have an extra special fondness for Grandma. We weren't sure how it was possible that we got the most beautiful, perfect babies in the world, but we certainly did.
That first weekend was spent giving lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggles. Grandpa was very proud of the two of you for getting kicked out of the nursery for creating a ruckus and disturbing the other babies. Even then, you knew what you wanted, and it was to be held as much as possible.
When we took you home, Grandma and Grandpa had to go back to Michigan, and you would only sleep when someone was holding you. I will never forget those first nights. Daddy napped in the rocking chair with the two of you nestled in beside him. I slept on the couch and set an alarm for every three hours just in case you didn't wake up to eat in that time. We listened to lullabies with the lights turned down low and wondered if we would ever get sleep again.
We gave you your first bath on our living room floor, and neither of you liked that very much. Luckily bath time has become much more fun as you got older.
The first few weeks were a blur of nursing, giving supplemental feedings, changing diapers, and trying to make you has happy and comfortable as possible. You both had very strong necks, and you would lift your little heads up to look around and take everything in. You also started sleeping in your cribs for at least short stretches. Harper liked to lift her little legs up in the air, so we bought her a Rock and Play so she would feel more supported (and sleep for slightly longer stretches). Tannah had no problem sleeping in her crib right from the beginning.
Grandma came back to help out when you were one week old, and we decided that three people to two babies was a great ratio. We could have one person per baby and still have someone to cook/clean/nap.
You seemed to like baths in your baby tub better than the sponge baths we had to give you before your umbilical cords fell off.
Grandma went back to Michigan and Daddy had to go back to work when you were two weeks old, so the three of us were on our own. I have to admit, I was nervous. I wasn't able to nurse you at the same time, so one of you always had to wait for your sister to finish. You often weren't happy about this, so I would put the baby that wasn't nursing in the bouncy seat and use my foot to bounce, bounce, bounce you. This generally kept you pretty content until it was your turn. You liked your bouncy seats, and you took most of your naps in those or the swing. You also spent a good amount of time sleeping in my arms. I was lucky that you liked when I wore you because I would put on my Moby wrap with one of you in it so I could hold the other baby in my arms and keep both of you happy.
You lost too much weight at first, so we had to take you to the pediatrician for numerous weight checks. Once we got nursing down and started supplementing, you started growing like little weeds. It wasn't long before your little cheeks filled out, and you just kept getting cuter and cuter.
We also started the first of many photo shoots. Daddy and I spent lots of time trying to document our lives because we were worried we would forget since we weren't getting very much sleep.
Those first weeks were very hard. We weren't getting very much sleep, and when you're a new parent it's easy to second guess every decision you make. Luckily, we had lots of family and friends to support us, and we had so much love for our sweet little girls.
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