I’m backing up to catch up on the first few weeks of Avery’s life. My last update was when we came home from the hospital. Sunday was our first day at home, just the three of us! Not going to sugarcoat things, it was definitely an adjustment…a busy toddler & a newborn are a lot of work! Especially when you aren’t getting regular sleep, you can’t nap when baby naps ‘cause you still have a busy little bee running around! But it felt good to be home with our family of 4!
We happened to get a snow storm that night which made getting to our 7:45am appointment Monday morning quite interesting! Kyle had to get out and blow us out of a foot of snow before we could make our trek to the hospital. We had to go in so soon because they wanted to make sure Avery’s bilirubin levels weren’t too high. We dropped Adelyn off at daycare on the way so we didn’t have to keep her corralled while we were there. And thankfully we did. They had to prick Avery’s heel to draw his blood and drip, by drip, by drip they filled the vile with his blood. Needless to say it felt like FOREVER and Avery was NOT happy about it. We got a call later that morning that his levels were ok and we’d see the doctor again later in the week for his 1 week weight check.
There wasn’t a whole lot going on during Avery’s first week. We did a lot of snuggling and chillin’ out! I mean who wouldn’t love snuggling up with this little sweetie!?!? This is off the topic of Avery, but my recovery has been wonderful! {nothing like my experience with Adelyn} And I’m so thankful since this time around I have two “babies” to take care of!
I didn’t realize how much I used to lift Adelyn. For two weeks I’m not able to lift her while I’m recovering, which makes it hard to do a lot of things like washing her hands at the sink, getting her in/out of her crib, we’ve moved diaper changes to the floor, etc. Despite all these changes, Adelyn has really done well adjusting to life with her baby brother!
Avery, for the most part, is up about every 3 hours at night to eat. We did have one night, our 3rd night at home, that he ate at 11pm and slept till 4am! It would have been great if his big sister wouldn’t have woken up at 2am! I think the roughest night was on March 13th, Avery was up to eat at 10:40pm, 1:15am, 3:15am, 6am {he ate for 2 minutes & then was out}, and then again at 7am {where he finally had a full feeding}. AND…Kyle was up with Adelyn 3 times, the poor girl had a terrible cough. We were 2 very tired parents that next day!
But it sure does help that those cries that are waking me up at night are welcomed with this super cute little boy! And I love those “full tummy smiles” he flashes at me! Sure do love this sweet boy!
This may be TMI, if you don’t want to know about nursing skip this paragraph…Tuesday, early morning, was the first day I felt like my milk was fully “in”. It also brought a 102 fever, chills, sweats, and headache…on top of already recovering from having an almost 10lb baby. I called my Doctor, evidentially this is something that can happen to moms when their milk comes in and she prescribed me an antibiotic. By the next evening I was feeling much more like myself! Since I’m on the topic of nursing, Avery latched so quick in the hospital. I was so proud of him & happy to be able to nurse! Now that we’re home though he will cry throughout a feeding or two each day, not every feeding. After some research and talks with family & our Doctor I think its his way of telling me he’s done {he will usually do it when I switch sides} or needs to burp. It was definitely something new…with Adelyn, once we got her to latch & eat she ate like a champ! Once again goes to show you how different kids can be!
On Wednesday we gave Avery his first bath at home. He wasn’t too sure of it at first and cried, but he quickly relaxed and enjoyed the rest of his bath…until we had to get him out! We couldn’t get him dressed fast enough, which he isn’t a fan of at all. He doesn’t like it when we have to put his arms through sleeves, his arms get stiff and he really does not like to cooperate!
Also on Wednesday our photographer, Ashley, came to take Avery’s newborn pictures! Yet another different between my two kids…Adelyn’s newborn session lasted less than 30 minutes…Avery’s was over 2 1/2 hours! I couldn’t get him to sleep or even content for pictures for quite a while! But FINALLY Ashley was able to capture some amazing pictures! She’s awesome! Here’s a sneak peek!
On Thursday, when Avery was 1 week old, we had lots of visitors. Great Grandma Donna, Auntie M, and Grandma & Grandpa Greene. Kyle also went to work for a few hours, he teaches on Tuesday & Thursday nights. My Mom hung around for a few hours while he was gone to help out with my two kiddos.
Thursday was also the first time Avery peed during a diaper change! I was quite surprised we made it a whole week without a “shower” from him. And thankfully he hit the wall, not Mommy! We now have “pee pee tee pee’s” to “protect” us during diaper changes! Oh the differences from a girl to boy!
Friday March 15th was Kyle’s first full day back to work. He dropped Adelyn off at daycare and it was Mommy & Avery’s first day, just the two of us. We had Avery’s 1 week weight check, Daddy came home early and picked us up {I’m not allowed to drive for 2 weeks}. We also were able to squeeze an appointment in for Adelyn, she was still coughing at night. Avery weighed in at 9lbs 15oz and 22 1/8in long! Before seeing his weight, a question I had for the doctor was if he was getting enough since he spits up so much, but clearly he is getting plenty to eat! He’s already over 3oz above his birth weight in just a week! Usually they don’t expect babies to be at their birth weight until 2 weeks!
Waiting to see the doctor was quite interesting, Avery was hungry {AKA crying!}, Adelyn was busy, she spilled her snack, Avery filled his diaper, and I think they were trying to torture us…the room was HOT! Looking back I chuckle at the craziness! Dr Wallace was able to give Adelyn some meds for her cough, which I was thankful for, the poor girl really wasn’t feeling well {no fever, just lots of drainage}. And we got a thumbs up on our little {big} Avery! We took Adelyn’s prescription in to the pharmacy and did a little shopping at Target for a few necessities, our first shopping trip with all 4 of us!
That evening Grandma Sharon & Grandpa Jim came to visit. Grandpa Jim wasn’t able to meet Avery right away ‘cause he was sick, so this was their first meeting.
As you can see from Avery’s first week we are adjusting to life with two kids, who we love so much! Stick around, I have some more updates to get posted!
