Happy Two Weeks / Due Date Day

Sunday marked Caroline's actual due date and two weeks of life so I wanted to give an update of what we have been up to since we came home from the hospital.  We actually only spent one day at home before being sent back to the hospital because Caroline was developing jaundice and needed some phototherapy.  They had to do this in the nursery back on the labor ward where we were before.  Since Caroline was now the patient, they had to find me a bed on the ward where I could lodge for the night so that I could still continue to feed her.  Every three hours they would bring her by for a 30 minute feeding and then back she would go.  It was hard for us to have to do but fortunately just one night did the trick and we were back home the next day.

First time in the crib

So tiny in that huge crib.

Tagged for her second stint in the hospital.

 We needed to make sure Caroline was getting her sunshine to keep the jaundice at bay so we went for our weekly walk to the Botanical Gardens and breakfast with our friends.

One of the couples from Australia was retiring and moving back so we didn't want to miss their going away party.  Caroline got dressed up for the occasion and was the life of the party.

6 days old and ready to party

While I would like to say we just rested at home for the next week that would be far from the truth.  Our week was packed with doctors appointments and paperwork.  Caroline of course had to return to the doctor for a jaundice checkup and it was time to get my mom's ankle looked at.  She had a slip getting on the plane to come here and managed to get a small fracture in her tibia.  After a couple doctors visits we figured this out and she is now on the mend!

On Wednesday we had our appointment at the embassy to make Caroline a citizen of the USA, get her passport and apply for a social security card.  Up until then, she was nationless because Singapore does not give her citizenship either.  We had to produce lots of documentation and fill out some really lengthy forms to get her all squared away.  After a short interview with the embassy, they gave her a small American flag to congratulate her on her new citizenship.  I can't wait to pick her passport up next week!

How is this for a passport photo?  I ended up doing it myself.  Getting a 9 day old baby to open their eyes and look straight at the camera is no easy task?

I finished about half of the newborn photo session with Caroline and hope to finish the other half this week.  More to come but I'll include one of my favorites so far.

Overall, Caroline is an excellent baby.  She doesn't cry very often but when she does, she has one hefty set of lungs.  She loves to be held which is good since she is constantly being passed around for snuggles but she can be very content just laying in her crib and looking around.  She hates not being able to have access to her hands (she is a finger sucker) so we have abandoned the swaddles and just let her sleep free.  We still haven't figured out who she looks like the most yet but we do know that she has my hair.

Despite everything we had going on, it has definitely been two of the best weeks of our lives.  Every moment with her is special and we cannot imagine life without her now.