Starting a New Year off Right

We are half way through week 3 of life with our family of 3. Things are going much better now that I feel about 95% normal. For a while there I felt as though the recovery process would never end. It was pretty brutal there in the beginning. I had to keep remembering that our bodies are able to withstand monumental changes and immense pain and therefore, were also created to heal and recover. With dark comes light, with bad days comes good days, with love comes despair, and so with pain comes healing.

Nathan had his first doctor's appointment on Christmas Eve, which was the day after we were all discharged from the hospital. Then he weighed 6lbs, 7oz, down from 6lbs, 9oz, which is perfectly normal. Everything checked out ok... his lungs and heart were right as rain. Nathan's doctor, which is the same doctor that delivered him, said "I'm supposed to say this to all my patients but I really mean it with Nathan. He is cute." That evening, Nathan had his first visitors who showered him with immense love and affection. Nathan did great having his new friends hold him. Not a peep came out of his mouth.

Christmas Day was a fairly uneventful one for us. All 3 of us slept much of the day as we were still in the recovery process from the hospital. We had NBA basketball on the TV, which always provides for great napping, as we snoozed on the couch. In the evening, Nathan had his second visitors drop by who, like the first, made him feel warm and loved. My parents arrived the next day and we were excited to introduce Nathan to his grandma and papa. We all had so much fun while my parents were here! During that time, Nathan had his first trip outside in the stroller. We were like the paparazzi, taking pictures and videos from all angles of this big event. It's funny because Dan and I are now "those" parents.

On New Years Eve, Nathan had his 1 week check up and he weighed 6lbs, 14oz which was great. He had gained 7oz in 7 days. Again, everything was perfect and my parents were able to come and see our doctor's office. Unfortunately our family doctor was on vacation so they could not meet him but at least they were able to see the office. On January 3rd, my parents left the bay area so January 4th began my new life as a stay at home mom.

So far, I am LOVING being at home with Nathan. I know this is exactly what I was put on this earth to do. I am definitely not 100% proficient at everything but I am learning day by day. It's nice to be able to go to the store and take care of errands during the week instead of having to cram everything in on the weekends. Plus I can take him on walks during the week day. The weather has been really nice so walks are fine. Dan works at home so it's pretty cool to have the family all together and when I need to run errands, he can keep Nathan at home.

Our sleep schedule isn't too bad. I usually am up twice at night with Nathan. He sleeps in a co-sleeper right next to the bed on my side. It's funny... usually when he starts to cry a little or stir, I do what I can to pacify him before getting up to feed him. It's kind of like when your alarm goes off and you press snooze 15 times before actually rolling out of bed. It's the same with him. I'll blindly try to put his pacifier in or I'll feel his back to see if he's wet. Eventually though there isn't a pause in his crying and that is my clue that I need to get crackin'. He sleeps close to 4 hour intervals and seems to sleep even longer in the late morning to early afternoon. My sleep is less in quantity but the quality is definitely better. No more heart burn or running to the bathroom twice a night or feeling like my back is going to break or using 4 pillows to support my out front heavy load or having my hip fall asleep. I can even sleep on my tummy now which ROCKS! I can sleep harder so even sleeping in intervals isn't so bad. I am just thankful that Nathan sleeps as long as he does. I know of children who woke up hourly as an infant so I feel pretty lucky in that regard. We also are making sure to not tip toe around Nathan when he sleeps. We keep him in the living room all the time except when I go to bed at night. During the rest of the day, we live normally and have the same amount of noise around Nathan. It's amazing how well he sleeps through it all! Dan is doing great too. The first week home when I was terribly sore and still very very tired, he would take care of Nathan all night. I would pump enough food for him to last the night. It was great how during the recovery process, Dan was my Superman in both the hospital and at home. I never ever could have made it through the labor, delivery, and immediate recovery without him. Now that he's back to work and I have assumed the stay at home mom role, I pretty much do 100% of the care taking during the day which is fine by me. My job now is Nathan, however Dan is still there if I need him.

Today Nathan was circumcised. The reason it took this long is because he could not get circumcised at the hospital since he was in NICU for 48 hours. Once we were discharged, it was Christmas and then my doctor went on vacation for 1 week. Logistically, it only could work out this week so the doctor made room for an appointment today. I sat in the room with Nathan but could not watch. I would glance over from time to time but it was a messy scene. The worst part was when his little legs had to be strapped down and he was given a local anasthetic. Once the pain medicine kicked in, he was fine. As the surgery made its way to the conclusion, Nathan started getting pretty hungry so he was a little fussy. The nurse kept filling up bottle nipples with sugar water and would use them as pacifiers. That helped for a little while but eventually Nathan was ready for the real thing. Poor little guy! I felt so sorry for him but it's best that he had it done now and not in the distant future. Hopefully he'll recover quickly.

Dan and I feel blessed to have so many great friends! So many of you have helped in enormous ways from bringing us meals to providing clothes, greeting cards, and lots of love. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone for being so supportive! Dan, Nathan and I think the world of you all.

Kisses,
Toni