First, Charlie has been a very sleepy baby so far, I'm guessing due in large part to his arriving early. It is pretty obvious that a baby who sleeps almost all of the time will benefit his mother's recovery. He usually has between one and three waking periods per day, mostly with a happy disposition. Around the beginning of the second week, he started developing the early-evening fussy period that many babies experience (including Davey) and by Saturday night of that week the fussiness lasted all night long. It became clear to me that he was very uncomfortable due to gassiness so I purchased some Mylicon and began giving it to him before each feeding. It was amazing the difference it made almost immediately. I am still giving it to him and am nervous to stop since it seems to work so well. Supposedly it isn't harmful in any way to the baby because it isn't absorbed into the bloodstream; Mylicon simply lessens the surface tension of air bubbles so that they will combine and be able to be burped up more easily.
Charlie 5 days old during one of his rare wake
times. His favorite place to lay is on the ottoman;
he will be so happy that I can't resist picking him
up (I'm trying to be careful not to spoil him like I
did with Davey) but then he will often fuss. He's
happier on the ottoman than with me sometimes!
A second factor is that Charlie's feeding schedule is pretty well regulated. The hospital staff recommended waking him to eat every 3 hours and we have been able to maintain that rather well. I re-read the Baby Wise book and it's method recommends feeding every 2.5 - 3 hours and it really has been working well for us. I didn't read that until it was too late with Davey and I really believe that doing that has made a major difference in his disposition. With Davey I kind of fed on demand and didn't really know what to interpret as demand and thus I think I fed him way too often, offering to feed him almost every time he cried. It ended up completely exhausting both of us. Now, with Charlie on a pretty regular schedule (I will vary the 3 hour schedule if he really seems hungry) it is so much less physically and emotionally draining and it is so much easier to plan and schedule my day.
Third, I had less to recover from than with my last birth. I still had an incision that needed to heal (that was the worst part), but I didn't have the extensive tearing that I had last time. I still didn't leave the house for a week, but at least I could get up off the couch sometimes. After about the second week, I was still feeing sore and wondering if it was ever going to go away and then the next day I felt great. The entire recovery process isn't quite finished yet, but the pain is gone and I am gaining more and more energy every day. Friday I didn't sit down much all day and wasn't paying for it later. :) I have been able to take Davey to playgroup and storytime at the library while my mom has been here, giving him some mommy-time and me some time out of the house. We all took Davey and Charlie to the zoo yesterday
Fourth, I've done this before. With the last birth, I had all the adjusting to do of being a new mom and no experience to guide and reassure me. This time I was expecting it to be very difficult and having realistic expectations helps it not seem so hard. I have much better perspective and patience for a newborn now.
Experience didn't help me much with bathing,
though. For some reason I was very nervous to
give Charlie his first sponge bath, so (I'm
embarrassed to say) it didn't happen for 5 days
after we got home from the hospital and
obviously didn't go so smoothly (yes, I edited
the photo a bit but I love seeing his little body).
His umbilical cord fell off after 5 days.
The last and probably most important reason is the support I have had. Dave is a very supportive, understanding and involved husband and parent. He takes initiative to try to anticipate my needs and will rush to me when I need his help. My mother is also wonderful and came to help me for a full two weeks. She kept very busy helping with Davey (she got him up every morning so I could sleep), keeping the house clean and making all the meals. Not only that, she always made extras and now we have meals in the freezer to help ease the transition into real life.
I know I'm not out of the woods yet (reality will surely hit me this week -- and probably hard), but so far I'm feeling good and trying to focus on all the positives we've had. We are so happy to have Charlie as a part of our life, especially since life with Davey has been such a joy we know it will bring more.
*************
A few tidbits about Charlie...
Our little Houdini is expert at wriggling his arms out from being swaddled by pulling his arm right out of his sleeve.
I'm wondering if he's going to be left-handed like
his Grandma Adams since it's always his left arm
that he gets out first.
At his one week appointment, Charlie had gained back his birth weight plus another six ounces, weighing 6 lbs 6 oz and measuring 19 and 3/4 inches. The doctor also identified a mild case of jaundice so we began placing him in the sunny window...
Charlie catching some rays.
Davey has been such a champ, taking all of this in stride. He is very interested in his baby brother always wanting to say hello to him, hold him, kiss him, etc. His favorite thing to do is say, "Hi buddy," like daddy did once in the hospital.
The big brother.
At Charlie's two-week appointment, he had gained another 3/4 lb to 7 lbs 2 oz and grown another inch! His jaundice was gone.
10 days old with filled-out cheeks!
Grandma Paulson thoroughly enjoyed her time with Charlie. He has had regular sponge-baths and I haven't given him another one yet! She also gets lots of smiles from him (though I did get the first ones when he was 5 days old).
Charlie is grateful Grandma is doing them since
with her expertise they involve no crying.
Dave has fallen naturally back into his role of father to an infant, looking so natural! Though he made a comment on facebook the other day about doing something with Charlie and someone commented on it about loving hands-on fathers. When he saw this, Dave commented, "There are other kinds of fathers??" Darn -- he wasn't supposed to know!
Doing "the walk" that parents know so well!
Davey loves being a part of what Charlie is doing and loves to "lie down together."
2 cute brothers hanging out.
Davey loves to hold Charlie.
Our happy family of four!
4 comments:
Cute Jasmin! I think Charlie looks a lot like Davey. Thank goodness for your Mom and Dave. What great help!
What handsome little guys you have!
I'm glad that things have been really smooth and easy for you! Enjoy it! ;) I didn't realize it before, but things are SOOOO much easier with two boys in a row when they are both under four . . . after that, well, you'll soon find out!
I'm glad things are going well. Let me know if you need anything.
I think it's so cute how Davey likes to "lie down together" with Charlie. Awwwwwww!! And, I think Charlie looks a LOT like Dave, especially in his "10 days old" picture... just like his pop!
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