Here's his one week picture :)
My mom stayed with us for most of the first week and it was a huge help. She would take him after his super early morning feeding and cuddle him so Derrick and I could get another 2-3 hours of sleep before starting our day. She also helped out around the houses so we weren't worrying about laundry, dishes, or meals. Today is our first official day on our own. Derrick took him out of the room this morning so I could catch an extra half hour before his morning feeding and we're planning on an adventure to Target and Panera today.
Derrick has been amazing. Seriously...Dad of the year. He has changed almost all of the diapers because I'm taking on all of the feeding. He gets up with us in the middle of the night to change him and scratch my nose when I can't move, he plays with Crosby so she doesn't feel forgotten, he cuddles Drake, and this morning he shooed me out of the nursery to do something for myself while he watched Drake. He wouldn't let me do laundry so blog posting it is :) We are so fortunate that he gets 12 weeks off with us. I don't know what I'd do without him!
Breastfeeding is HARD! Wow...it's hard. We're hitting our stride though. My milk came in quickly and majorly so we had a few rough days of difficult and painful latching. It was taking anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to latch before a feeding could even start. Feedings were usually only 10-15 minutes too. I was frustrated and Drake was frustrated. Just over one week in and we are latching within 5 minutes and feeding for 30+ minutes at a time. It's still very painful to start because I'm so raw and cracked but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where it will actually be enjoyable. I still dread it just a tiny bit every time but once he's on I enjoy the time to just be with him.
We visited the pediatrician twice this week and they were very happy with his weight gain. He was already up from his hospital weight loss at our first appointment and 2 days later he was up another 4 ounces. Derrick has been doing unofficial weights with him at home and we think he's up to birth weight. The doctor did a heel stick to test his bilirubin levels and it was heart breaking. They were slightly elevated so we had to come back two days later to do it again. They were down to normal levels and the second time around was much quicker. Derrick held him, thank goodness. I got to be the comfort when it was all over. We got cleared to skip our 12 day appointment and come back for his one month check up so that was encouraging that we were doing well so far!
Derrick calculated his percentiles. He was 8 pounds even at birth which put him in the 56th percentile. For length I think he was in the 70 something percentile; however, his weight to length ratio puts him in the 8th percentile. We have a string bean on our hands!
We have some amazing friends and family! We have been so well taken care of with meals and visits. It's been so fun to show him off! Derrick's mom and grandma came yesterday and my family is coming next weekend. The whole family is just smitten with him. We may be biased but it's hard not to fall in love with that face!
So far, if he's not eating or getting changed, he is sleeping. We get about 20-30 minutes of awake time a day where he is just gazing around and we get to see those eyes. Now that we've figured out latching he's doesn't cry very much either. We've heard two weeks can be a turning point so we shall see if he is a fussy baby or chill. For now, he's pretty chill. He isn't a fan of being woken up or being cold but the doctor told us to wake him for another day or two to eat. Then we can let him sleep as long as he will through the night. We have had a few pee and poop incidents :) Lots of pee on the nursery wall, several outfits ruined, all three changing pad covers in the wash at the same time, and new shorts for Derrick. Also, one blow out all over his NCSU blanket.
We're into week two...we shall see how it goes! Stay tuned :)
Derrick is definitely the DOTY! But are we really that surprised?
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