Little miss River Genevieve was born ready. She was the bigger twin and had the bigger amniotic sac while in the womb. She was head down, ready to go when my contractions started at 28 weeks (sadly had to have a c-section because of Lydia’s size and position). Even at a mere 2lbs 12oz, she impressed her doctors and nurses while in the NICU. She had 3 poopy diapers a few hours after being born. She learned to breathe on her own after only 2 weeks (at 30 weeks gestation), and successfully met every milestone while there, coming home at 35 weeks gestation, after a 49-day stay at the hospital.
She was always a lot more active than Lydia, staying awake, moving her little head around, and has always been great on her tummy. She always smiled more, started babbling first, and is currently rolling from one side of the house to the other in a mere minute. Yep. This girl doesn’t stop. She loves standing up, so she hogs the Baby Einstein bouncer and goes nuts. She knows how to bounce herself in her little chair when it’s not going as fast as she wants it to go. River stares at my breakfast sandwich in the morning, opening and closing her mouth. She’s our little energizer bunny.
She is also the most demanding out of the twins. While Lydia can basically soothe herself by sucking on her thumb, River’s cries will escalate to a full-blown, inconsolable tantrum if she’s not tended to within a minute of being cranky. That not only means she gets fed first, it also makes my heart a little sad that I have to end up cutting short any cuddle time I have with Lydia. Most of the time, putting River on her exersaucer solves her inability to stop moving. The times when that doesn’t work, though, we have to get creative with “flying baby” or “dancing baby” or just bounce her in our arms. Needy baby.
But just because she’s an overachiever, it doesn’t mean she’s all caught up. She still cannot sit supporting herself with her arms, she has yet to coherently babble (Lydia actually babbles more and better than her now), and she still learning to eat from a spoon. Neither of them hold their bottles yet, though River has tried a few times. Even though she didn’t qualify for Early Intervention services, she’ll still be monitored and then reevaluated in a few months to make sure she’s not falling behind. We’ll see as time goes on.
I’m so proud of this little munchkin. She, like her sister, has surpassed our expectations for health and development, and we love our little Rolling Baby so much!
Rolling, rolling, rolling……
