1 week

The first week of a newborn's life is really just sleeping and eating for them so there isn't a whole lot to say about Nathan himself. He ate, slept, peed, and pooped. LOL. But I figured I could also compare last time to this time. Last time around a week I posted this talking about how nice it was to not be pregnant anymore (and of course talking about the first week of Neil's life).

I'm going to spend this post talking about the differences between the two kids.

Things were night and day for me between Neil and Nathan. This labor was much faster with a lot less pushing. I still was sore, who isn't going to be? But not as bad as I was with Neil; not even close. I also managed to take a shower within an hour or two of Nathan's birth and a second shower within the first 24 hours of his birth. With Neil I think it was probably a full week before I ever got into the shower; everything was so overwhelming (yes gross). Plus this was the advantage of a home birth- a shower in my own bathroom. It was nice. And I continued to take showers, daily. With Neil I just couldn't figure out how to do it with a newborn. A side note, I don't know what I would do if it weren't for daycare. We are paying for it anyways, it's helping us adjust to a baby and give him the attention he needs, and gives Neil the time to run around and play, which he just wouldn't get here. Our first weekend with both Neil and Nathan was REALLY rough and we dealt with a lot of attention issues from Neil.

Breastfeeding went a lot better this time around. Last time, Neil didn't latch- and we didn't realize until he was 3 weeks old that he was tongue tied and it was affecting his latch. Nathan has latched on a whole lot better, from the start. My milk did come in and Nathan's weight was back up within 2 ounces of his birth weight within 3 days of his birth. (Neil, we had some issues with weight where we had to keep going back to the doctor to get him weighed, and he had lost enough weight that they were talking supplementation with formula, which I did avoid.)

I emotionally felt a whole lot better. With Neil I was just so overwhelmed and tired. This time I'm doing a better job making sure I'm getting some sleep. The sleeping arrangements are against what they tell you to do. They have rules for cosleeping, which are don't use blankets, etc. One is don't sleep on the couch/recliner. That is exclusively what I have been doing (and what I did with Neil). The danger is that in your sleep you could roll over and pin the baby between your body and the furniture. But I can't sleep with him in bed with me; if he's in my arms I will drop him and that's how we seem to sleep best. The recliner or couch helps prop my own arms up. I'm also a super super light sleeper so whenever he moves it does wake me up. He often falls asleep nursing and just lays there on me for who knows how long as we both sleep. Right now we are just in survival mode, which is normal for a newborn. Anyway, so the amount of sleep I get really affects my emotions. Last time I really was going through a lot of hormonal/emotional changes. I'm not sure I would call it post partum depression but it was probably marginal there. This time I'm feeling much more happy, and just have more energy.

There was one night towards the end of the week that was rough. I have to establish a supply of milk and the way to do that is to nurse often. It's amazing how our bodies work and mom/baby work together to generate what the baby needs. But that means constant nursing at times, which is really wearing. In Pittsburgh, the lactation consultant at the midwife center talked about getting "touched out" where you just can't handle the touch of the baby or anyone for that matter, after awhile. And I did get to that point one night when Nathan was nursing (switching sides) for 12 hours straight. Dave did give me about a 2 hour break in there at one point, using his index finger as a pacifier. But still it was just too much.

I weighed myself a day or two after having Nathan. I never wrote any of this down with Neil (and honestly this is still in my head after Nathan). When I first weighed myself I was down 11 pounds from my 39 week weigh in, which means I was 7 pounds over pre-pregnancy weight within a day or two of Nathan's birth. I weighed myself again around a week and had lost another 4 pounds, so I was about 3 pounds over pre-pregnancy weight 1 week after having Nathan.

I was able to wear my regular jeans less than a week after having Nathan. We decided to take the boys to the aquarium here. (I didn't get ANY pictures.) Spider Man was making an appearance and we knew Neil would enjoy that. BUT there were no places to sit really, and it's mostly outside, and was really crowded. So this was not the greatest idea about 1 week postpartum. Also, even if I am wearing regular clothes, right now it's my "fat" clothes and although my belly has been going down it's not all the way down and I assume won't be for at least a few months or so.

Ok enough about me. Nathan at the end of a week was starting to get a bit more alert and likes to pay attention to his brother in particular. And Neil loves holding Nathan and kept asking to hold him. At first Neil was upset about lack of attention from me but he wasn't connecting it. Once we hit the weekend, though, I think it started to connect for him and he has been asking to hold Nathan less. He has also been very defiant, refusing to listen to us, etc. I know this is all just a way to get our attention. I feel so bad for Neil but I know this will pass with time. The hardest part is the fact that I am not allowed to lift him and I'm not sure how long that will be. I so badly just want to pick him up in my arms and give him a big hug, and he wants that from me as well.