Oh my gosh, I can’t believe he is finally here. This blog is brought to you by me with my writing companion, Logan, napping next to me! I really can’t believe he is here and neither Charles nor I can believe how much in love with him we are. It is crazy that no amount of tiredness makes me not yearn to be with him, hold him, kiss him, and love him. Conversely, hearing him cry or worrying there could be something wrong with him tears me apart! When Charles is holding him, it is so fun to come around the corner and see him gazing with love and pride and his beautiful son!
Alright, now for the stats: Logan was born 12/30/12 (Sunday afternoon) at 3:10 pm. He weighed 6 lb 10 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He was perfectly healthy at birth (much to Mom and Dad’s relief) and got a 9 on his APGAR. Most amazingly, he has an incredible head of hair (about 1 inch long). He also has the most beautiful skin (not shrivelly like so many babies). All the nurses and staff were so smitten with him and couldn’t stop commenting on what a cute baby he is (of course the first comment was always about the hair). Although cute was not an important factor, it is fun to see such an adorable baby, especially because his appearance at birth is so similar to Charles. There is nothing cooler than gazing into the eyes of my brand new baby and seeing a reflection of my soul mate!
I’m going to save the birth story for later (the important part is he came out), and for now focus more what he is like and what our lives have been like since he joined our family. In utero, Logan always had his hands by his face (making ultrasound pictures quite weird looking). He is no different on the outside (although now his long nails can do a lot more damage to his poor face! – Daddy filed them down this morning thankfully). He loves to have his hands near his face and refuses to nurse if I don’t let his hands free from any swaddling device. He loves to suck, and this is both a blessing and curse. Diaper changes and comforting him are made easier by the fact that it is a nearly bullet proof way to get him to stop freaking out if he is crying himself into a fit. However, it also seems to be a little bit of a hitch in the self-soothing process. He absolutely NEEDS to get his hands in his mouth, which he can sometimes pull off, but he will keep himself awake and then piss himself off because he is unable to do this consistently. If we bind his arms down he will struggle forever. Even now that we have introduced a pacifier (as of about 1 hour ago), he is still fighting to get his arms out of the swaddle (although if I let them out he just jolts himself awake!).
He is very sweet and loves to gaze at us in the eyes (which we could do forever). Of course I don’t know how other babies are but he does seem to get frustrated very quickly which can make lots of things difficult at times. My milk came in today but the let down each feeding isn’t immediate and he is willing to suck 3 or 4 times, but then starts freaking out when milk doesn’t come out. I am going to work on getting the let down before we start, but I have learned in the meantime that if I repeat the process of latching, sucking 3 or 4 times, screaming, etc. and then once I see milk, I hold him to my chest and calm him down, then he will go back and latch on and feed consistently.
We have been unsuccessful in getting him to sleep on his own so far but we are getting mighty close. The use of the woombie swaddle, the addition of the pacifier, and my milk coming in seems to be a winning combination. He was in the bassinet with us for about an hour tonight but he isn’t quite a pro yet at it all and kept gurgling and crying often enough that no one got any sleep. I brought him out here though and he is perfectly content to chill on the couch next to me (something he has NEVER been willing to do, even for short periods). I am hopeful that later tonight or tomorrow we will have this all figured out.
He is also a classic boy and has peed on Charles 3 times during diaper changes. In fact his first 3 “wet diapers” were really wet people! We are improving our technique, but he seems to be getting more clever as well, I swear!
We are so thankful for the help of my parents who have come over to baby-hold while Charles and I sleep (or get things done). It is a win-win because they love the baby and we need the time, but really it we are winning because without the extra hours of sleep they have given me, I would have really been struggling (see upcoming birth story). Many friends have made offers too, so we’ll have to set up some sort of rotation of this sleep thing doesn’t work out soon (although I know it will).
I am healing well and feeling pretty good so far (though I fear I am coming down with some kind of cold). The biggest struggle for us both right now seems to be taking care of ourselves (how cliché). Of course sleep suffers, but I have not been remembering to eat or drink enough. Of course being up at night really screws up the schedule and makes this even more of a struggle. On top of that, I have been struggling with nausea, which makes eating unappealing and ultimately not super rewarding.
It has been fun to be first time parents and it has been so funny to see ourselves fall into the same trap as others. The first night in the hospital we were both waking up every time Logan made a noise, or didn’t make a noise, worrying about whether he was okay. It has faded slightly, but our worlds now revolve around him and his health and safety are our number one concern. At the hospital they had to check Logan’s blood sugar (because of my occasionally high blood sugar from medication in pregnancy). I literally started crying when he was shrieking as they poked and squeezed his little foot. I didn’t expect such a strong emotional reaction, but watching him hurt is AWFUL!
Tomorrow we go back to the hospital for Logan’s check-up. Hopefully he won’t have lost too much weight (he was down 5% after 24 hours, which was fine). Since my milk came in pretty early, I am hoping that will help. We then will see the pediatrician in a week.
I just can’t believe he is ours and I can’t believe he is here. We are so excited to have him be part of our family!
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