After a rough week last week (hubby's first week back at work), today things are so far, improved. I showered before hubby left for work (means getting up early but Charlie needed to eat anyway), had breakfast, did some paperwork and am now getting ready to leave the house for the first time alone with the baby. I have a grand plan of going to the post office. And maybe the bank. I'm so ambitious! LOL.
For now, as I run around the house getting ready, Charlie sleeps in a sling I made for us. He's cozy and I have hand free. Must take a picture to share. For now, here he is all dressed up for a stroller ride on Sunday.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Home (Almost) Alone
Today is hubby’s first day back at work and two hours in, nothing bad has happened. I woke up Charlie to change his diaper and feed him just after hubby left at 7 and he’s been sleeping since. I actually brushed my teeth, made the bed, got dressed and made breakfast. I had leftover strata and coffee out on our deck while Charlie napped in his bouncy seat. Makes me feel very fancy. Next up is folding all the laundry I did while I was up feeding him overnight.
The last few days have been so hectic! The chaos goes all the way back to Thursday. Hubby and I had chiropractic appointments at 11 am and it was a challenge to get us all dressed and out of the house but it was well worth it – I needed an adjustment so badly after spending 8 night sleeping in a hospital bed and then 10 days nursing.
After that we came home and napped. Hubby wasn’t feeling well and it was starting to freak me out. The night before Charlie was born, he felt funny and had a nurse check his BP. It was 150/110. It remained high throughout our stay in the hospital. On Thursday he added chest pain, nausea, and fatigue (well that one maybe doesn’t count) to his list of woes. I forced him to call his doctor and get in to see her ASAP. We went that evening and his pulse was 130. Bp was still high. The doc went over his situation and recommended mood stabilizers to help him deal with the anxiety of our new life but he already takes one to prevent his migraines. I pushed to treat the BP now and let the anxiety work itself out as we get settled in as a family. The doc agreed and that night hubby had his first restful night of sleep in 12 days. Since then, his whole body seems better – less tense and more rested. What a relief!
Friday we had a well baby visit and it went really well. After one visit to a non-HMO pedi we went back to what was familiar and are so glad we did. The HMO we use is huge and bureaucratic but they also have great systems in place. Their newborn clinic is all nurse practitioners and you can come in whenever you want to check on your baby. The nurses did a feed and weigh session and were totally proud of us when it showed that he was getting one ounce on each side in a ten minute feeding session. Woohoo!
Yesterday was unexpectedly good. I invited my family to come up for brunch at our house with my ILs and my mom and younger brother took us up on the offer. After a hectic Saturday, it had disaster written all over it. But I nipped it in the bud. At 7 am I fed the baby and convinced hubby to get out the stroller so I could walk to the grocery store for supplies for our favorite egg strata. He didn’t want us to go alone, so even though he was still half asleep, he came with us. It was a lovely 10 minute walk in the cool morning air to the store, and we loaded all the groceries in the basket of his stroller for the walk back. The best baby ever slept the whole time! I can’t wait to do it again!
Once we put the groceries away, we gave Charlie his second bath. He disliked it just as much as the first, but at least his hair got clean and he smelled good. I dressed him up and put him in his bouncy seat while I made my casserole. Once that was ready for the oven, I fed him before hopping in the shower. Our parents arrived and we sat down to a really lovely breakfast – fruit, pastries, the strata, coffee, Oj. All very yummy. A few hours later, my brother and his family showed up for the second shift bearing all the fixings for a yummy lunch. Our neice Maddie got to meet Charlie and she was just so good with him – she sat and held his hand for ten minutes while her daddy cradled him. And then she did this piggy went to market on his toes with my mom. All so lovely!
We ended up spending the whole day with our families, taking a million pictures and just loving on our boy.
After our company left, hubby and I took a nap before tackling the filthy house. He did dishes while I did laundry, swept and mopped the floors. The house looks better than it has in months!
I feel fantastic and am so excited that this is how our lives have turned out. I could get used to the bliss.
**Before I could post this, baby went a little nutty. He cried and nursed and cried some more for almost two hours before falling asleep. I got desperate and stripped us both down and did skin to skin and just let him suckle until he fell asleep. Oh sweet sleep.
I suppose the honeymoon had to end sometime, right?
The last few days have been so hectic! The chaos goes all the way back to Thursday. Hubby and I had chiropractic appointments at 11 am and it was a challenge to get us all dressed and out of the house but it was well worth it – I needed an adjustment so badly after spending 8 night sleeping in a hospital bed and then 10 days nursing.
After that we came home and napped. Hubby wasn’t feeling well and it was starting to freak me out. The night before Charlie was born, he felt funny and had a nurse check his BP. It was 150/110. It remained high throughout our stay in the hospital. On Thursday he added chest pain, nausea, and fatigue (well that one maybe doesn’t count) to his list of woes. I forced him to call his doctor and get in to see her ASAP. We went that evening and his pulse was 130. Bp was still high. The doc went over his situation and recommended mood stabilizers to help him deal with the anxiety of our new life but he already takes one to prevent his migraines. I pushed to treat the BP now and let the anxiety work itself out as we get settled in as a family. The doc agreed and that night hubby had his first restful night of sleep in 12 days. Since then, his whole body seems better – less tense and more rested. What a relief!
Friday we had a well baby visit and it went really well. After one visit to a non-HMO pedi we went back to what was familiar and are so glad we did. The HMO we use is huge and bureaucratic but they also have great systems in place. Their newborn clinic is all nurse practitioners and you can come in whenever you want to check on your baby. The nurses did a feed and weigh session and were totally proud of us when it showed that he was getting one ounce on each side in a ten minute feeding session. Woohoo!
Yesterday was unexpectedly good. I invited my family to come up for brunch at our house with my ILs and my mom and younger brother took us up on the offer. After a hectic Saturday, it had disaster written all over it. But I nipped it in the bud. At 7 am I fed the baby and convinced hubby to get out the stroller so I could walk to the grocery store for supplies for our favorite egg strata. He didn’t want us to go alone, so even though he was still half asleep, he came with us. It was a lovely 10 minute walk in the cool morning air to the store, and we loaded all the groceries in the basket of his stroller for the walk back. The best baby ever slept the whole time! I can’t wait to do it again!
Once we put the groceries away, we gave Charlie his second bath. He disliked it just as much as the first, but at least his hair got clean and he smelled good. I dressed him up and put him in his bouncy seat while I made my casserole. Once that was ready for the oven, I fed him before hopping in the shower. Our parents arrived and we sat down to a really lovely breakfast – fruit, pastries, the strata, coffee, Oj. All very yummy. A few hours later, my brother and his family showed up for the second shift bearing all the fixings for a yummy lunch. Our neice Maddie got to meet Charlie and she was just so good with him – she sat and held his hand for ten minutes while her daddy cradled him. And then she did this piggy went to market on his toes with my mom. All so lovely!
We ended up spending the whole day with our families, taking a million pictures and just loving on our boy.
After our company left, hubby and I took a nap before tackling the filthy house. He did dishes while I did laundry, swept and mopped the floors. The house looks better than it has in months!
I feel fantastic and am so excited that this is how our lives have turned out. I could get used to the bliss.
**Before I could post this, baby went a little nutty. He cried and nursed and cried some more for almost two hours before falling asleep. I got desperate and stripped us both down and did skin to skin and just let him suckle until he fell asleep. Oh sweet sleep.
I suppose the honeymoon had to end sometime, right?
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
One week old
I can't believe how fast that last seven days have gone. He is a dream come true. His umbilical cord stump fell off today and it seemed like a good time to take a few pictures of him on the blanket I knit while we waited for him to arrive. He is more beautiful than we ever imagined. Tomorrow he'll get his first bath.
Someday soon I'll write about the induction, the eventual cesarean and the recovery in the hospital. It's eight days we spent living in a time warp of the hospital to digest so it may take a while. And he's so fascinating, taking the time away from him to document it seems silly. But I don't ever want to forget what we went through to get him here and give him a good start.
Someday soon I'll write about the induction, the eventual cesarean and the recovery in the hospital. It's eight days we spent living in a time warp of the hospital to digest so it may take a while. And he's so fascinating, taking the time away from him to document it seems silly. But I don't ever want to forget what we went through to get him here and give him a good start.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Home
Today was our first full day home and it was wonderful. Charlie ate like a champ. He slept when he wasn't eating or peeing or pooping. Hubby went out this morning and brought me a yummy breakfast and coffee. My mom came to visit and watched me feed him and changed his diapers as soon as he stopped suckling long enough to breathe. Hubby went out and got us groceries and fresh fruit. I got to nap. We made dinner together while hubby held him in his sling.
The lion cub is more beautiful than I imagined. I feel like I've known him forever. He is my boy and I am his mother and despite a lot of other issues (jaundice requiring a night under lights in the nursery, high bp for me requiring more meds, and leg swelling so bad it makes it tough to walk), these days are among the happiest of my life.
The lion cub is more beautiful than I imagined. I feel like I've known him forever. He is my boy and I am his mother and despite a lot of other issues (jaundice requiring a night under lights in the nursery, high bp for me requiring more meds, and leg swelling so bad it makes it tough to walk), these days are among the happiest of my life.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The lion cub has arrived.
He's finally here! Charles Everett Alden Kingsley arrived at 9:22 am on Tuesday, July 1st via cesarean birth, weighing 8 lbs. and 3 oz. and measuring 20” long. We are absolutely thrilled and in love already.
Mama and baby are doing well despite an exhausting 3.5 day long attempted induction and should be going home on Saturday.
It was a long road to get here but he is absolutely worth it.
I will post the long, absolutely crazy birth story once we get home. For now, here he is. He has his father's nose and eyes, my chin and a full head of dark wavy hair.
Mama and baby are doing well despite an exhausting 3.5 day long attempted induction and should be going home on Saturday.
It was a long road to get here but he is absolutely worth it.
I will post the long, absolutely crazy birth story once we get home. For now, here he is. He has his father's nose and eyes, my chin and a full head of dark wavy hair.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)