Noah - Week 1

Wow, soo crazy to think he is one week old already and changing everyday!!

For the first few days Noah was in the NICU, so holding him was less frequent, I first held him when he was just shy of 1 day old. It was really hard seeing him hooked up to the machines, IVs, and only being able to hold his hand or touch him. For the first day though M stayed by his side, taking breaks with my family to come see me or eat, because I was stuck in bed for 15 hours after delivery. 

He was discharged from the nicu on Tuesday, so we stayed the night in my room with him before going home to make sure he was eatting well and what not! He did great! He ended up sleeping in my arms for most of the night because he wouldn't settle, but the nurses said that's normal. 

Eating: Noah has been great at breastfeeding so far!! Despite receiving formula in the nicu to top up my colostrum the first couple days, which we allowed so he could get off his IV. Since he nurses every 2.5-3 hours, we had one 4 hour stretch and we paid for it later with a cluster feed evening and a very unsettled baby on Day 5! My milk seems to be coming in well despite being at high risk for low milk supply due to my blood presure, early delivery and thyroid. 

He hates burping, luckily Daddy has the touch for this, I am getting better!! After talking to the doctor we learned that he might not have to burp after each side!! He gets squirmy when he does need to!! 

Sleeping: Noah is working hard on self settling before a sleep, and usually his sleeps last 2-3 hours, we wake him when it gets to 3 hours. He tends to be awake after his 3AM (time varies) feed. He sleeps in bed with us, but in his Bummzie pillow - seriously best pillow ever!!! He sleeps best swaddled. I have been nursing in bed at night with a whole bunch of pillows propping me up because getting in and out of our bed in still hard with my incision. So I sleep on a funny angle around the pillows and Noah and M is on his side. When he is awake, he is soo alert, just wide-eyed and curious!! 

Clothing: Newborn size, which of course I didn't have any, aside from 2 sleepers - luckily they were packed in his diaper bag! The outfit we brought him home in is now a bit too short!! 

So M had to go clothing shopping for him - yes I was soo jealous!!! But M did a great job picking out 4 new sleepers for him!! We have some new born 3 piece sets, but pants don't work for him just yet because he's soo small!! I know they don't stay in this size long, so we didn't want to buy much! 

Diaper Changes: He is a machine!!! Hates having a dirty diaper, but hates having them changed!! He has peed on himself twice, once for each of us. He is wearing newborn size. M has been great with diaper changes and has changed Noah waay more than I have!! 

First Bath: Noah technically had his first bath in the NICU, which unfortunately they didn't call us down to help, so needless to say we were pretty nervous to bathe him at home for the first time. So day 6 early in the morning we bucked up and got it done and it went better than we expected! He actually didn't seem to mind it, aside from being chilly at first: 

Skin and Hair: He definitely has my hair and after his bath it spiked right up!! His skin color is pretty dark, in fact a lot of people thought maybe he was jaundiced, but after they checked him 3 times to be sure, his levels were low. He just can't wear yellow! 

What The Doctor Had To Say: His discharge weight was 6lbs 9oz and at the doctors he weighed 1/2 an ounce more 2 days later! His length at the doctors was 19.5 inches, chances are his length was off in the hospital or they didn't get a good stretch because there is no way he grew an inch that quick!! 

Nicknames: Stretch, Spike, Captain, Mr. Shake Rattle and Roll.

Fur Baby Update: the dogs are still adjusting. Gracie is super protective, gets up when he makes a noise, wimpers when he cries, follows him around. Lily just tilts her head to the different noises and keeps a watchful eye on him. Both of them have their noses out of joint and appear to be mad at me, but they will come around. Lily doesn't like the house warmer, and we ended up kicking everyone out if the bedroom until we settle with him a bit more, as the dogs end up panting and no one gets sleep. Binx thinks that all the baby stuff is hers now, in fact while were in the hospital she took a sudden liking to the bassinet in the pack and play that was covered... Brat cat!! Jazz could careless and Lux just wants his fleece blankets and my attention. 

Personality: He is super laid back! Of course Noah has had some fussy times, but it's mainly when his schedule gets thrown off. He doesn't like having a dirty diaper, but also doesn't like being changed! He has what we call the diaper dance, grizzly growl faces, and a whole lot of smiles!! 

My Recovery: I'm feeling better than I expected for ending up with a c-section. I don't have much of an appetite, but my guess is because of going 48 hours unable to eat, that it caused that problem! But I cannot get enough water!! I've been forcing myself to eat, but nothing really catches my attention as a want! 

With the pregnancy I gained 35 pounds, and I'm down 20 - 15 to go! Clothing-wise is still a struggle, as my maternity pants are too big, but with my incision, I can fit into my pre-maternity pants (not the smallest ones) but they rub funny on my incision. I also struggle with finding shirts I can nurse in easily! I need to get more nursing tanks! 

What would have been 38 weeks:

Coming home was soo surreal, I'm blessed with an amazing husband who did his best to help ease my mind of coming home to a renovation mess. He vacuumed and washed the floors, cleaned the bathroom, changed the bedding, etc. - all things that I would have wanted done before going in to have our baby. He has worked hard on getting the bathroom done - just little jobs left, paint is up, floors are down and vanity is in the bathroom! 

I won't lie and say it's been stress-free, it's been crazy at times, better yet I have been crazy with worries, disappointment set in regarding how I wanted my hospital stay to go, but the one thing that kept me at bay was holding our miracle! Knowing that yes, I didn't get the pictures I wanted, a clean house to come home to, an easy recovery, etc. but I have a healthy baby and that alone makes those feelings a bit better!! I felt useless and I felt like crap with my blood pressure being high for the first few days at home, but I just let my emotions go. 

Still can't believe he is here and better yet that he is ours! We made him!! No one takes him home at the end of the day. I get overwhelmed with happiness, pure bliss knowing these things.