FIRST WEEK HOME

We survived the first week home.  Frankly, I'm trying to figure out how this week flew by so fast.  Honestly. 

 

 

Ande couldn't resist scoping out the newest family member

 

Our transition home has been so surprisingly good.  Conner has seemed to fully accept his little brother.  For the most part he has been attached to Joe's hip since he's been home with us.  The moments that Conner does notice the new little life, he's really interested in giving him kisses on the head and sharing his blanket with Linden.  This is a huge deal.  Conner does not allow any other kid touch his blanket so sharing it with his brother just puts a huge smile on my face.

 

It's fun and at some points frustrating learning this little boy.  We've been learning what he loves and what he doesn't.  It will be an ongoing process, but we're getting it - day by day we're learning each other.  We've learned that he loves his paci, burying his head as deep as possible into my neck, and his swing.

 

 

We've been staying really busy around here.  (If you ask Joe, he feels the opposite, but that's because the man gets antsy being at home this long.)  Since we were home for Thanksgiving, we got to spend it with Joe's family.  Conner ate a roll and brownie for his turkey dinner.  That's it.  And Linden was a dream baby.  He slept in his carseat the whole time.  I am not used to having a baby that doesn't scream and cry every minute he's in his carseat, but I love it.

 

Thanksgiving with the boys

 

That following morning we took Linden to his first doctor appointment.  Once again, the child was a dream there too.  Everything was looking great with this little boy. The doctor told us we can schedule his next appointment for when he's a month old.  This was a whole new concept for us.  We were so used to taking Conner into the doctor every week the first month! 

 

 

Birth Weight: 8 lbs

Current Weight: 7 lbs 14 oz

 

Birth Length: 20.5"

Current Length: 21"

 

Saturday and Sunday were laid back days.  We napped. We ate.  (This hunger is real! - I eat all day and night and so does Linden)  Sunday was the first taste of sleep deprivation.  Linden kept waking up every hour, but after every feeding he seemed more and more upset, and that made me more and more tired.

 

Late night with those precious cheeks

The boys keeping it chill

"Six quiet dogs" We love Sandra Boynton books!

 

Monday morning we had a nice visit with the home nurse/lactation consultant.  Even two years after Conner was born, she remembered us and immediately asked if this time around with breastfeeding was going better. How does she remember?? Her and I talked for quite a while and I asked her every question I could possibly think of at the time.  The big question was about Sunday night's cluster feedings. 

 

Turns out, this little boy was eating more than he could handle and it was making him uncomfortable.  We quickly checked his weight on her scale and when we saw his weight has already jumped to 8lb 6 oz, she was comfortable with us trying to feed him less often since he was obviously efficient at nursing.  She suggested that instead of waking him every 2-3 hours, let him be the guide and feed him when he's ready.  So, Monday night went a lot better.  He only woke up around 10pm, 2am and 6am.  Awesome for this mama!!  Linden slept more comfortably and I actually got some sleep.

 

We also went out and picked out our Christmas tree on Monday!  I love being out here in the country where we only have to drive 2 miles down to our neighbor's farm to pick out our tree.  I ultimately picked out the tree and it turns out that I picked out a very untrimmed tree.  Oops. Oh well. I'll make Joe pick out the next one.

 

 

Tuesday was the first taste of dramatically changing hormones for me, and I couldn't handle the events that came with that day.  Conner was super energized all.day.long.  Joe must've taken that kid to play outside four times and that still didn't burn off all of his energy.  Even decorating the Christmas tree didn't wear off any energy.  The cherry on top was that he refused to nap which compounded the problem that evening.  It's not that he was being bad or disobedient, but I couldn't handle the energy and neither could Linden because he seemed over stimulated by it all making him pretty upset.

 

Decorating a tree with a 2 year old is counter-productive

 

 

Joe left the house to pick up some pizza and within the first 60 seconds of him being gone, Conner fell off the countertop and Linden was screaming with all his might.  Fail.  Conner gets over injuries incredibly fast, but I must have checked that little boy's pupils a hundred times making sure he wasn't showing any signs of a head injury.  We're good though.  It was rough evening.  I cried.  Checked Conner's head.  Cried some more.  Fed Linden.  Cried. Joe came home.  I cried more.  Went to bed.

 

Again, we let Linden be the guide for when he wanted to eat throughout the night.  This was the result:  8pm feeding.  1:30am - I wake up in a panic thinking he died because we went that long without him making a sound.  I try waking him up to nurse. Nope. That little boy refused to wake up so I gave up. 2:30am - I'm getting antsy because this kid won't wake up to eat so we try it again.  He ate for 10 minutes.  6am - I am lying in bed wondering what is wrong with this little kid and why he's not hungry.  I wake him up and make him eat.

 

I love the little reflexes that look like smiles

 

So, I'm not good at letting this boy be the guide for when he's ready to wake up to eat.  I get too anxious and worry that something's wrong when I should have just enjoyed the sleep while I could.  I'm going to keep trying at letting him be the guide as to when he eats and get his weight checked next week to make sure this setup is working and he's still healthy.

 

Since the weather for early December has been absurdly warm, we took the boys outside to play this morning for about an hour.  I got to use my new Ergo carrier.  Hello! Where has this gem been my whole life?  I love this carrier and so does Linden!  Conner had a chance to chase his chickens around while Joe and I had a chance to go over future projects that we want to do around our property.  (Our list is huge!) 

 

Getting the chores done

Fresh northern air.  It gets the best of us.