She’s finally here! Our new little addition finally made her appearance one week ago on September 24th, 1:53am (at 41 weeks and 6 days)! She was 7 pounds 7 ounces at birth, 20 inches long and is perfectly wonderful.
Her name is Kaya . . .
three days old
We had a planned home birth and it was actually quite a looooong long labor. I had been going through waves of regular and irregular contractions for days – some mild, some really intense and by day 6 or so I was exhausted and discouraged and really considering heading to the hospital to be induced. Hideko and my awesome midwife kept me hopeful though, and I’m so glad they did because we were able to have the home birth that I had imagined and in the end all that hard work was totally worth it, of course.
six days old
I can’t get enough of all her little baby parts, her soft skin and yummy smell. I’m trying to spend as much time snuggling up with her as I recover and we get to know each other and bond and redefine our family to include one more.
But to be honest, this whole 2 kid thing is kinda kicking my butt. On one hand, I want to just get lost in goo-goo-ga-ga land with Kaya all day long, but I also want to be there for Yuki especially during this huge transition. Physically I just can’t keep up with a 3 year old right now, and she is also so emotionally needy. Poor Hideko is running around trying to take care of everybody – it’s going to take awhile for us to find our new family groove I guess.
But Yuki is super sweet to her baby sister. The first time she met Kaya, she was scared – she told us so. She likes to gently touch her face and give her little kisses. But when Kaya starts crying, Yuki says, “can you put her back to sleep?” Haha!!
Kaya is very lucky to have such a fun, spunky and loving big sister. I can’t wait to see how they grow up together.
I’ll be blogging here and there, though not quite as often, I’m sure. I’ve got so many projects I want to sew and share, but we’ll have to see how that all fits in with family and life. Until next time . . . take care and happy sewing! And be well!
you and mie 
Congratulations, she’s beautiful! I’m only 6 weeks into having two kids and my goodness is it hard work! My sewing machine is gathering dust that’s for sure! Absolutely worth it though; like you, I can’t wait to see how my two girls grow up together
🙂
Congratulations, she looks so cute!
she’s here and she’s gorgeous!
proficiat! our son was also 3 when we had our daughter and also a bit startled whe she cried. we told him that that was the way his little sister ‘talked’ because she couldn’t speak yet. He was always eager to help ‘translate’ 🙂
Congratulations! You have two beautiful girls! My oldest daughter was a teeny bit older (3 and a half) when her little sister was born. I found it helpful to talk to her whenever I could. I would tell her I understood she was disappointed that I couldn’t do much with her because of the baby. And I involved her in baby care as much as I could. We’d all nap together in the afternoon. Two years later, she doesn’t seem to have any permanent scars 🙂 Congratulations again! Take good care of yourself.
It’s hard work but worth every moment. Enjoy as they grow so fast!
Congratulations!! She’s absolutely adorable. I’m a little over 2 months being a mom of 2 and I’m still working it out. All the best.
Congratulations! Kaya is so beautiful! Thank you for posting the lovely pictures. She is perfect! Snuggle, rest and be pampered as much as you can. Your machine and followers will patiently and lovingly wait.
She is wonderful! Congratulations! The two kid thing definitely gets loads easier, but is rough at the transition. One thing that was so important for us was to remember to put aside “date time” for me and my (then) 3 year-old – just the two of us, I think that helped both him and me with that kinda tricky, kinda heartbreaking transition.
Congrats to the whole family, she is lovely!
Man, she’s cute. I’ve got a four-year-old and a 6-month-old, and having the second one really is hard. I remember feeling so emotional about it at first–like I’d never be able to fully belong to either of them. But we have settled into it now. The challenges keep coming, but I enjoy the lovely times and survive the rest! Hang in there.
Congratulations! She is beautiful! I love those pictures with big sis!
Congrats! She looks lovely! I love that she was born at home!
congratulations.. she is beautiful.. 😀
Congratulations! Life with two children will settle down into something comfortable soon. I think my favorite sounds of my entire life are my sons talking with each other. Like people! I love it.
Congratulations! She is just beautiful.
I thought 2 kids was much, much more challenging than 1. It totally kicked my butt. I just had #3 four weeks ago and this transition has been sooooo much easier. My daughter was 18 months old before we finally felt that we had the 2-kid thing under control enough to think about a third. When my daughter was born, our son, who was 2 at the time, was so mad at us. He wouldn’t even be in the same room as the baby for the first couple of days. He threw a huge fit whenever we brought her near him. But he got over it and now they’re best friends.
So know that it will eventually get easier an that you’re not alone! But also don’t get discouraged if it seems overwhelming for a long time — you’re also not alone in that :). Good luck and enjoy your precious little one!
Congratulations! How gorgeous they both are!
Congratulations! She is adorable! I am very happy for you and your family!
Congratulations!!! She is so adorable, and I know what you mean I so love the smell of new babies!
Congratulations she’s gorgeous! goodluck with finding your groove
Congrats! She’s really sweet 🙂
Yay! She is precious and wonderful and yo, I feel you on the transition! It was so much harder than I anticipated. I was torn between caring for our 2 girls (oldest wasn’t quite 3 when the baby was born) and on top of exhaustion and hormones, it was…awful. I never felt like I was getting anything accomplished and that I was shortchanging both of them. In retrospect, it was perfectly “normal” but I guess I thought I should be able to keep our oldest on her usual schedule with excessive amounts of attention. I mean, why didn’t I just turn on the tv more? Who knows.
But! It gets better and at 4 and 17 months old, they have such a great time together. You will have a find a rhythm in time so be good to yourself! Best to you!
Too many wonderful memories in store for your family!
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!!! She is a beauty! So glad you are all doing well. As a mama of two I know how you feel. It takes a little while but you will find your groove soon enough 🙂 Enjoy those snuggly newborn smelling little moments….they really are the best aren’t they?! Take care and Welcome to the World Kaya!!
Congratulations on your beautiful new baby girl!
Congratulations on your beautiful, loving, happy family!
Congratulations! she’s so beautiful! So happy for you all!
That is awesome!! You make me smiling so widely!!! They are both very cute. I an older sister, she is older me just one year more than the difference between your daughters/ I can say we were quarreling first, but now we are best friends and our relationship are really cute, as we are phycological dual to each other.
I love so much when older sisters and brothers kiss their new relatives 🙂 Just enoying the photos!!!!
She is perfect! And you are such a rockstar for working thru that long labor. You guys will get into the groove soon. And then you won’t even be able to imagine what life was like with just one!
Congratulations! What a lovely girl – and what a wonderful big sister she has! My heart is bursting for all of you x
Cogratulations!
I’m so happy for you that you could experience giving birth at home just as you wished.
And just like my brother told me after my daughter was born: “Many of us experience that when it comes to (little) children, 1+1 doesn’t always equal 2!” But you will find a rhythm that suits your family best.
Enjoy your beautiful family!
Sending warm congratulations to your lovely family. A beautiful baby to look up to her gorgeous big sister.
Congrats! You have a beautiful family!
shes Beautiful! Congratulations! it takes time to adjust to having an extra person in the family. But oh so worth it!
Congrats again!
Jessica
かわいい, she is sooo cute . Congratulations ❤
I know what you mean about the transition with adding another baby being hard. It’s very tough at first. Especially with you just being run down, sore, hormonal, and things just being “weird” in an off balance way. It will start to get more normal though. Both times we’ve had a new baby I’ve been concerned with the older kid not feeling left out or alienated. Especially with Violet because she is very attached to me, super snuggly and needy, and was still using nursing to go to sleep at night! But it’s all worked out fine. Some big bumps and a lot of tears at first for sure, but we’re now comfortably a family of 5 and everyone seems to feel included and happy. I hope you can enjoy your sweet new baby and settle into regular life with two girls soon.
And great job sticking it through with your birth plan. That must have been so hard and exhausting. You’ll be able to look back and feel grateful that you have no regrets about how it went though. You’re blessed to have such supportive people there for you : )
Kaya is gorgeous! She is perfect! Congratulations on your beautiful family.
Oh, congratulations to all four of you! You’ve all been in my thoughts. She is absolutely gorgeous,and Kaya is going to be a wonderful big sister. I think three years is a perfect age difference–hang in there and I’m certain it will become more manageable.
congratulations!!!
Congratulations! Great things are worth waiting for (they say) … and she is certainly more than great 🙂
Congratulations! She is so precious!
My two girls are also 3 years apart and I think the age difference has worked pretty well. The little one worships her sister and gets lots of good attention and the older one learns to be more independent and confident in herself. And they play so well together which is so rewarding to see. I hope your family settles well and you have the greatest enjoyment in your two 🙂
Congratulations. There are times when two is so much more work than one, but then as they get older there are times when two is like none at all in that they play together and leave you alone for a while (bliss). Wishing you a manageable and enjoyable time for the baby year.
Congrats! She’s beautiful!
She is beautiful! Congratulations!
So happy for you! You’ll find your groove, and Yuki is likely young enough that she’ll never remember life as an only child. Congrats on having the home birth that you wanted.
Beautiful! Congratulations to you all.
Congratulations on Kaya’s safe arrival! She’s simply beautiful.
Oh my gosh, I can’t get enough of these sweet baby photos. Yuki is so cute with Kaya too. So happy for you that you were able to have a home birth. Rest well. xo
Congratulations! And Welcome, Kaya!
Official bloggy congratulations! Going from one to two is hard at first, and mostly I felt like Em would go stir crazy while I tried to recover and bond with the new little one, so hopefully H can take Yuki to do fun things while you sleep and nurse and relax and have special time with Kaya. And like other gals have said, once they get to the ages where they play together, you can just sort of referee and listen to their adorable sibling conversations and it’s really fun! Seeing your kids bond with each other is pretty much the most heartmelting thing ever. It’s good stuff. 🙂
She is beautiful ! Congratulations !
Congratulations!!!!!!
congratulations! what a beautiful family. we had a baby boy last january and it also was a huge change for us and our 3 year old daughter, but within no time it’ll be as if she has been there all the time! enjoy the first weeks and months. they move by so fast…
congratulations.she is beautiful.
She’s perfect! Congrats!!
Beautiful! congratulations! What a lovely name too!
Omedetou! Such wonderful moments captured here too.
Hooray, hooray! So happy for you all and how wonderful that you got to have the home birth experience you wanted! Kaya is so beautiful and both girls are going to have so.much.fun (with you and Hideko too, of course :-))!!!
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Beautiful! Congratulations!
I had my two older girls at home in san francisco with awakenings birth services. Such a great place to have a home birth! Congrats on your new addition!
Congratulations! She is beautiful.
I am so happy to hear that the birth went well.
It totally gets better. We have two girls (6 years apart). Our oldest at the time of her sister’s birth turned to us and quite clearly said “Wow. I didn’t expect to be jealous. But I am”.
We just took it from there.
The most important thing is to finish healing from the birth. Everything else will fall into place!
~Michelle
What beautiful beautiful photographs. Congratulations to you, she is gorgeous!
Congratulations and god bless.. 🙂
What a precious little family you have there! I am so in love with being a mom since I had my first in June. I can’t imagine life without her now. Congrats to you and Yuki looks like she will be a great big sister!
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