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    Week one

    G is one week old today.

    We got home Tuesday. A big part of me didn’t want to. Most people around us couldn’t wait to get home, and there I was wishing it was day 1 all over again.

    It was nice being in an enclosed space for awhile. The rest of the world was shut out and the presence of knowledgeable nurses was my security blanket. I had to hold back the tears that choked me in my throat walking from our room to the elevator after we were discharged.

    Being home, honestly, has been much harder than I thought it would be. Here we have to worry about laundry, food, groceries, trash in the little time we have in between feedings. My family arrived the day we got home from the hospital – something I didn’t want before G was born (S & I wanted to get G’s routine down beforehand so that we’d know where help was needed), but now I’m glad it worked out that way. My mom has been in charge of cooking, my sister in charge of shopping, and my dad’s strength’s came in when my computer melted the moment we got home.
    G is a completely different baby here from the one in the hospital room. The “routine” (HA!) that I thought we had worked out in our little secluded haven just isn’t working here. G went from a baby content and sleeping to his bassinette to one that prefers being helps and starts fussing when put down. A big part of this, I think was my fault. I was feeding him on a strict two hour schedule (like I had in the hospital), hoping for a few 4-hr stretches at night so S and I could get some rest in shifts. G repaid me that first night by having a melt-down. Since then S and I have frantically been reading and trying out more flexible approaches to the feeding schedule. That and we’ve been using the Moby wrap at night. Honestly, that 20ft long piece of fabric has been our life-saver. We load G in there at night and can sleep in our glider without worrying about dropping him. It’s not a long term strategy, but it’s gotten us through the last two nights pretty successfully. Right now the Moby wrap is worth its length in gold for me. I’m even thinking about ordering a second, for fear that if G pees on it one night (yes, we’re discovering diaper malfunctions) we’d be hosed.

    Nursing has been going really well for us. I never thought I’d say that. The boob fairy has now also gotten a little vengeful – I think she’s pissed that I complained about her work a few months ago and has paid me several visits. The bra’s I bought now longer fit. I’m now up two sizes from my pre-pregnancy size and I think I might be another cup size on the way up too. Whereas I’m enjoying my new curves, my wallet is not appreciating having to purchase nursing bras I can’t return (I now have 3 unworn, size-too-small bras hanging out in my closet).
    Anyway, back to the nursing thing – G is gaining his weight back already, and I’m pretty pleased about that. Our doctor’s appointment yesterday told us he’s doing well and is a healthy little guy.

    The docs visit was interesting. It was our first trip outside of the house, which alone was OK, except that G really didn’t like being stripped down to a diaper only. It was cold and he was getting hungry. He peed on S in revenge. We went through the extra outfit we had in our diaper bag. Following the doc’s office fiasco we did yet another trip to Babies R Us. Now that we’re home, we’re seeing items that we could use more of, so we had a little shopping spree. G was so worn out at that point he slept like a champ for the rest of the day.

    In other news, my belly has really shrunk down. I now look 20 weeks pregnant (vs. 30-some when we left the hospital). This makes me ridiculously sad: I really enjoyed the last 40 weeks and loosing the belly is another reminder that I’m not pregnant anymore. I’m working through it, but it’s rough.

    Speaking of which – post partum hormones? Holy cow (and I don’t mean G in his cow outfit)!!! I thought I did very well with pregnancy hormones, but I’ve cried more in the last week than I probably did over the last year (infertility treatment included). That’s some strong stuff right there. If you could bottle up these dudes, you’d never have to worry about interrogation techniques ever again. 1 dose of this stuff and even your burliest dude would be crying for his mommy.

    Next up? Figuring out the winner of our Baby Pool.

    5 responses to “Week one”

    1. Angie says:

      Just wanted to say Congratulations to you and your family!! Your labor/delivery photos are beautiful!!

      Congrats again on your new little family! 🙂

    2. Rebecca says:

      Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a week already!

      The sleep situation sounds rough, I’m not ready to start that all over again, James just really started sleeping through the night in his own room… Have you tried just letting him sleep between you two in your bed? I really don’t know if we ever would’ve gotten any sleep if he hadn’t slept with us (he didn’t like to be put down either).. actually he slept between me and the bed railing thingy, It made me nervous to have him between us when he was super tiny.

      I’m glad nursing is going well for you. Hold on to those smaller nursing bras, after nursing for a while, they start to get smaller again (sorry), but the good news is that they stop leaking all the time 😉

    3. Kelle says:

      welcome to the club! we have definately been where you are and i can say for sure…it gets better! i am sure you are doing just fine (even though the hormones tell you otherwise) and you and S make a great team. G is very lucky to have you both. he is soooo beautiful. hang in there! love to all.

    4. KellyMarie says:

      Congrats again A! The sleep situation, we’ve ALL be there. Don’t worry, it gets better 😉 One of my favourite pieces of advice is to think of the first 3 months as the 4th trimester. Baby needs/wants to be as near as you as possible, especially for sleeping. Enjoy the closeness, before you know it you’ll have a 2 year old who makes faces when you try to kiss him 🙂

      Hope to see you at a mommy GTG in the near future!

    5. Erin says:

      what a beautiful picture of you two!!!! Congrats on baby G, and glad to hear it’s going well!

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