When last I left you, we were deciding on a name for the little bundle. We sat on it a full day (maybe 2) and settled on Poppy Mae after I told Kristyn that the other two kids had been bragging to their friends about their sister Poppy at school. For reference, here is a list of our baby name picks that made it to the final running:

• Penny (girl)
• Mae (girl)
• Poppy (girl)
• Lu (girl)
• Joss (boy)
• MacKaye (boy)

Scares

We had a couple of mildly scary issues crop up in the first week, but thankfully, most have been resolved or are on the track to righting themselves.

Poppy lost more than 10% of her body weight the first few days. I guess a 10% weight loss sends out a red flag to all the nurses on the 3rd floor of the UC Davis Med Center (or so it seemed). Our babies are born big. At 8 lbs. 7 oz. and three weeks early, Poppy was over one pound smaller than our other two. Big babies have more weight to loose, and when your milk hasn't fully come in, it’s hard feeding a behemoth like that. Still, 10% is 10% and we struggled pretty hard to get that baby enough to eat.

Poppy was also a little Jaundice and had to have a few blood tests to make sure her bilirubin level wasn’t too high. That caused a few days of scariness, but her levels ended up being fine, and she seems to be getting pinker every day.

Breast feeding and making sure your baby is getting enough to eat in the first few days of life has always been a stressful experience for us. Staff nurses can be particularly abrasive and unreasonable when it comes to feeding your baby. They don’t seem to understand the vastly superior nutritional benefits of one ounce of breast milk over a case of formula.

To all new moms and dads: go see a lactation specialist prior to having your baby so you know what to expect. Then make an appointment after the baby is born. They will not only show you the best way for you to feed your baby (every mom and baby is different), but they all seem to have a way to reassure you out of the most stressful part of having a newborn.

Relief

We’re quickly settling into a regiment. Poppy is sleeping great. We actually have to set our alarm and wake her to eat every two hours. If we left her alone, she would probably sleep through the night. So far baby number three has been a cinch. Kristyn is healing fast, and the kids are giddy over their new sister. It’s pretty adorable.

If you are considering a third, I highly recommend it. It gets much easier the further you go. At least at first. I’ll let you know how Jr. High goes.