As I'm writing this, my little wonder of a boy is sleeping peacefully in his daddy's arms. Unfortunately for daddy, that is about the only time that Jake will let daddy hold him. When he's awake or even partially awake, it is all mommy... or really, all nursing. I am so, so, so, so thankful for how well he is nursing already. If I had any worries about this newborn experience, it was about nursing. I can still painfully remember the early days with Allie. As I look back, it was really more my fault of not having a clue what I was doing and being so overly concerned with my milk supply... but, things really did not start off well.
That hasn't been the case at all with Jake. Yesterday, we had a little bit of trouble getting him to latch on the right side, but today, he's been a champ on both sides. And, when he's not eating, he is sleeping so peacefully. I love it!
Our little buddy has accomplished quite a bit in his first 36 hours of life. Shortly after delivery, we moved into a new room. He nursed well a couple times and then slept for a couple hours. By mid-morning, we were getting into a good rhythm of trying to nurse every couple of hours. He had some good feedings and some real sleepy feedings, but both the pediatrician and the lactation consultant reminded me that the first couple of days are pretty sleepy for them. Mid-afternoon, he got his hearing checked. He passed the left ear with flying colors within seconds, but failed the right ear. They told us not to worry because a lot of newborns fail due to excess fluid buildup. I wasn't surprised because I feel like he's had so much fluid in his throat. After he wakes up from a little catnap and before he'll nurse, he almost has to burp out the saliva before he can get going again. I don't remember that with Allie at all.
The rest of the afternoon and early evening, Kerm and I switched off sleeping and just cuddling. Kerm would sleep while I would nurse and then when Jacob was asleep enough to let Kerm hold him (seriously, its funny how much he loves his mommy already!), I would sleep and Kerm would just watch Jake sleep.
Around 3am, the nurse took him to the nursery to do a test for congenital heart defects - apparently, a new thing? and to give him the HepB vaccine and check his weight and bilirubin levels. He has dropped to 7lbs. 12 oz. and is very slightly jaundiced. Immediately, after the nurse brought him back to the room, he ate and let out a good poop, so I was pretty sure his jaundice would be better the next time!
This morning, we had a flurry of people in and out of the room. My OB came by and said I could head home, but unfortunately, since I had tested positive for GBS and Jake only received about 1 hour of antibiotics due to my fast delivery, we have to stay until tomorrow. Then, we had nurses and nurses assistants in and out checking our vitals, refilling water and making sure we were comfortable. Luckily, I got pretty good sleep last night, so I wasn't too tired. Allie and my mom stopped by again and Allie had fun looking at her new baby brother. She hasn't been overly wild about him yet, she's more enamored by the hospital experience and how nurses come into my room and how I'm in bed and how she can bring toys here... but, I think once we get home and she can see him more in her everyday setting, that she will like her usual adoring self around babies.
This afternoon, Jake got his hearing re-tested and passed with flying colors! I was so relieved! He also got his bilirubin re-checked and is in a perfectly normal range. He nursed pretty sleepily this afternoon, but still did well. Then, I discovered his cluster feeding hour! From 4:30-7, he nursed continuously! Seriously, I couldn't even get him to come up for air. It was amazing! We had a couple visitors after he took his milk-drunk nap and now I'm getting ready to nurse again and then get some sleep.
I'm still in complete amazement that we have a son! I know I posted several times this pregnancy about my thoughts of the baby being a girl... and it is just so surreal that he is a boy! I am in complete love already though. We've gotten some gifts of clothes already and it's amazing how quickly I became obsessed with the little cars, baseballs and trucks that adorn all of his new clothes.
I am trying to hard to soak up every single aspect of these first few days with him because I don't want to ever forget how amazing it feels to be a mom of two kids... a daughter and a SON! A SON! I can't say it enough. Jacob, I love you so much already. I can see your personality emerging even in these early days and I love how calm and peaceful you are about every aspect of your day of life so far!
0 comments:
Post a Comment