A night with a newborn

11:00 p.m. William fell asleep

11:15 p.m. Mommy fell asleep

4:00 a.m William wakes up to eat

4:20 a.m. William projectile vomits on himself and all over Mommy (including in her hair)

4:22 a.m. Change William's clothes... too tired to change Mommy's clothes

4:30 a.m Put William down thinking he's asleep

4:35 a.m. Go to living room to pump because William only ate on one side

4:36 a.m. William starts crying (still hungry?)

4:45 a.m. William resumes eating

5:00 a.m. William falls asleep on Mommy

5:15 a.m. Mommy goes to sleep with vomit still in her hair and on her clothes.

7:15 a.m. William wakes up to eat

7:30 a.m. William decides to take a nap..Mommy takes one too.

8:15 a.m. William and Mommy both have breakfast

10:00 a.m. Mommy gets a shower thanks to Daddy!

4 Weeks Old

Update on me
I can't believe it has been 4 weeks since William was born. Time really does fly by when you are caring for an infant. The past couple of weeks are a bit of a blur and I wake up each day not really sure what day of the month or week it is. Again I am humbled by this whole experience. I can't claim I didn't know that babies don't sleep for long stretches the first few months, I just really thought I would still be able to complete the most basic of tasks. I haven't figured out how to do anything around the house like cleaning or laundry or even cooking dinner yet. I am hoping I will figure it out soon or Chris and I may starve..at some point I know my family is going to stop cooking and cleaning for us.

The one thing I have managed to do is shower each day..which I hear is a big accomplishment in itself..and this has only been possible because my husband is home in the morning. The sleep deprivation gets to me sometimes...I am breast feeding, and am responsible for almost all of the overnight and daytime feedings. I understand now why so many women choose to use formula.

Update on William
Right now William eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and hasn't slept longer than 4 hours at a time. Before you get jealous, the 4 hour thing only happened a couple of times....mostly it's 2 1/2 -3 hours at night and 1-2 hours for naps during the day. The pediatrician said babies this age sleep anywhere from 11 to 22 hours a day....we are definitely on the low end of that scale.

As for William, he is doing great so far. His 2 week checkup went very well. Everything we asked the doctor about was deemed totally normal and he had gained a whole pound from his birth weight! It's amazing how a trip to your kid's doctor can inflate your mood..validating all you've done.

Labor, Delivery, and Recovery Part 2

The first night was the worst I am not going to lie to you. I was still hooked up to an IV of fluids, had a catheter, and a nurse came in every hour or two to check my blood pressure, temperature, wound dressing and bed pads which she had to change almost every time. Chris suffered as well having to sleep on a miniature couch for the 3 nights in a row..all while still having to get up and go to work each day.

The next 2 nights were less restless than the first although the nurses brought William in to me every 2 hours to feed..not exactly to best environment to recover from surgery, even so I looked forward to seeing baby William at each feeding.

Breast feeding was a challenge the first week. My milk wasn't in and didn't come in till Friday and I was having trouble sitting up, standing up, and getting out of bed. Any movement involving using your core muscles is painful to do after a C-section even with pain medicine.

Once we got home breast feeding became much easier and we aren't having any trouble now. I wish I had known while I was in the hospital that it was going to get easier. Many tears were shed and many lactation consultants tried to help us.

The rest of the hospital stay was fine and each day I started to feel a little bit better. We had many visitors and the whole family was great through it all. There were two nurses who were a great help to me..they were such a blessing. God bless nurses!

Thursday night we were released and got to take William home. The first night at home was rough..again I still had no milk and none of us got much sleep. My in laws stayed with us the first weekend, they were a great help, and my mom, dad, sister in law, and brother in law have been by many times with food, and/or comfort..whatever we needed. William is so lucky to have such supportive grandparents!

As for my recovery I really didn't start to feel like myself until I reached the 2 1/2 week mark and even then I haven't done anything except eat, sleep, and take care of William.

Today William is 2 weeks and 5 days old and is such a joy! He loves to be rocked and snuggle and would rather lay on your chest than be cradled unless he's eating of course. He likes to look at his mobile, and a baby animals book while he lies in his crib. He is such a sweet baby and we feel so lucky and blessed to have him in our lives.