Adjustments

We’ve been home at least part of 5 days now and I guess most importantly, 4 nights.  It was rough sledding that first night. Natalie was up about every hour so it was not a great night for Tiffany. Her sleeping has progressed nicely though as she only woke up once last night about 4 hours after falling asleep. That’s pushing the limits on how long you want the child to go without eating so it worked out well.

Yesterday Chase came home. I know I was a little apprehensive about how our furry son would react to his not so furry sister.  It’s gone very well so far though. We had Chase sniff one of Natalie’s blankets and he is letting her be for the most part and sits at TIffany’s feet while she feeds her. Natalie doesn’t appear to have a reaction when he barks, she’s use to it from hearing it for 9 months and Chase doesn’t seem to mind the crying too much .

I’ve been working from home the past few days, but it’s back to the office tomorrow. Today was our first pediatrician appointment and I didn’t want to miss that, plus Tiffany can’t carry the car seat yet. I don’t think either of us realized the physical recovery from the birth that his required by the mother. Just from my perspective, the aftermath seems worse than the actual birth. Tiffany feels better every day, but it seems to me it will easily take a few weeks for her to recover and feel close to 100%.

I got lucky with this one

Today at the pediatrician we got Natalie’s latest measurements. She’s 20 1/2 inches even though they measured her at 20 3/4 inches at the hospital. The good news is that she is back to just over 8 pounds. She had slipped to 7 pounds 15 ounces before we left the hospital so her weight loss, while normal, was somewhat of a concern because babies who are breast fed tend to lose weight for 3 days after birth and Natalie had already lost a pretty high amount just after two days. Suffice to say, it was nice to see an upswing and our doctor today was not concerned at all and expects her to be back to her birth weight by her appointment next week on her two-week birthday. 

One thing I’ve figured out is that newborns don’t photograph well. The flash usually forces them to close their eyes so it’s hard to get any good shots. It is nice to see her focusing on objects now, however, with those same eyes. The first few days is a little spooky when you’re looking right at them and the eyes seem to wander around with no real purpose at times. 

Chase on guard duty

Breastfeeding is no walk in the park either. It’s not hard on me obviously, but I understand why some women don’t or stop shortly after starting. It was frustrating to me at the beginning so I’m sure it was for Tiffany as well. All this switching sides, what kind of latch, it’s a lot to deal with when you can just stick a bottle in their mouth and call it a day. Tiffany has done well though and we seem to have turned the corner. 

Both the ladies are napping now so there will be a diaper change in my future here shortly and Natalie HATES to have her diaper changed. I guess it’s a good thing that she doesn’t cry instantly when she needs to be changed, but you would think the child would be happy to be getting clean. She’ll be in a fine mood but as soon as that diaper comes off, her mood changes sharply. As soon as the new diaper is on and she’s dressed again, it’s like there was never a problem. Very strange.