The first week after being home was full of adrenaline and sweetness! Camden was getting up every 2 - 3 hours, but I was so glad to have him home that I wasn't exhausted yet. Caroline was far more exhausting than Camden was! She is SUCH a great big sister and wants to help to everything. Sometimes that adds 10 minutes to what I am trying to do, but her heart is in such a great place. He slept on anyone at any time and only really got mad when he got really hungry or you were trying to change his diaper or clothes. He slept with his hands up by his face and I could just imagine him spending the last few months like that in my belly. We had lots of people coming by to meet him. There are so many pictures that I did not get!! Aunt Michelle, Sherry, William, Kya, and Mike and Bobbie Queen came by and I didn't get pictures! He is a very loved little boy already!! I was breastfeeding him, which was going well to begin with. He was eating like a champ and had since the minute he came out. I'm not sure if it was being in the NICU and being bottle fed or what, but after a few days, he would eat and eat for about an hour and start screaming because he was still hungry. So I would pump and he would eat another 3 ounces. So he was working really hard (latch was great, I could hear him swallowing) and I knew that he was doing things well, I just wasn't producing enough fast enough. So I started pumping to see if I could make enough to keep him fed. I breast fed him in the morning and at night to keep my production up. I did have a scare a few days after coming home when I got a 24 stomach bug. I was shitting my brains out (sorry, TMI) and I was so worried that it would make my milk go away. Luckily, Leslie was a reassuring phone call away and my mom was there to help me with Caroline so I could rest as much as possible. I am glad it was only 24 hours because I felt TERRIBLE, but luckily everyone came out unscathed! I also had a mild case of mastitis this week. I felt like I had the flu for a couple of days and my boob was ON FIRE. Luckily, it never amounted to anything horrible and I didn't even have to go to the doctor. My mom was there with us that first week and I cannot put into words how much she helped. Laundry was always done, dishes were washed, meals were made, Caroline was entertained, and I was able to care for Cam and get a nap when I could. My house also got mama cleaned, which meant that I didn't have to worry about it for a good while. I was so sad when it was time for her to leave! That is such a special time for me to share with my mama.
Finally home!
Got to have those hands up by his face!
Harley checking things out! The dogs have been GREAT with Camden. They usually come and get me when he is making any type of noise at all!
Daddy LOVES babies sleeping on his chest!
Big sister getting some time with Cam. She asks to hold him every single day. So sweet!
Helping me give him his first bath!
'Mom, can I please do the dishes!'
Uncle G and Aunt Michelle came by to see Cam!
Grandpa getting some help feeding Cam. Big sister is never far away!
We took our first trip over to Leslie and Will's to hang out with Jack while Anna went to Open House.
There is nothing like some Mimi love!
The second week we went back to the doctor and my chubster was up to 10.1 lbs! He had gained a pound and a half since he was born! Needless to say there was no concern of not getting the nutrition that he needed. He did have two huge bumps on his head (sub-dermal hematomas) from the delivery that had me concerned. The doctor said it may take weeks for those to go away, but that they would go away on their own. This week we had some fussing and some general discomfort. I thought it might be reflux, but when I asked the doctor about it he said that he wouldn't be gaining much weight if it was real reflux. We did a lot of walking, pacing, bouncing, Mama-Rooing, and not restful sleeping. Jason's mom was up that week and she did a lot of walking with him. He would fall asleep and then wake up crying. We weren't sure what to do with him and I was so worried that this was a preview of what our life would be. He was waking Caroline up and we couldn't get him to get to sleep like he had the week before. Jason also went back to work this week (he started at Reynolds HS and couldn't miss the work days because it was a new school for him), so the no sleeping was pretty painful. Jason was amazing and would get up and take him when he could tell I was just exhausted and getting frustrated. Jason's mom was wonderful and was so much help. She made her amazing meatloaf for us, took Caroline out on some outings so I could get things done around the house, and she did a lot of Camden holding and loving. Thank you so much, Grammie!
His big ol' bump on his head. He had one on each side, but the one on his left side was by far the larger of the two.
Those hands have to be up!
Hey, little eyeballs!
'Mom, I can hold him and you can take our picture!'
Aunt Kelly came to meet Cam (and get some snuggles from Max)!
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Thank you, Grammie!
At one point during this week I finally Googled what to do when you have a newborn that is fighting sleep. I felt like an idiot because the first thing I read was that babies needed to be swaddled and they needed white noise. When they are in their mom's belly, they are very cramped and it is very loud. It doesn't make sense for us to try to give them a lot of room and for it to be silent. We knew all of this. We swaddled Caroline and it worked great. I'm not sure why we didn't think of doing that before. So we grabbed the swaddler, bought a white noise machine, and the rest is history. We now have a 3 week old that wakes up to eat (and spit up everywhere!), we change his diaper, let him 'play' for a bit (look at the fan, put him under the play mat, talk to him), and then once he starts fussing we swaddle him up, put him in his bouncy seat on vibrate, and turn on that white noise. He is awake when we put him down and within a few minutes he is fast asleep and will stay asleep for a couple of hours until he is ready to eat again. During the day he is on a pretty good 3 hour schedule and at night he has been going from 11 to 7 only getting up once (around 3 or 4). Not too bad at all! He is starting to be so much more awake and he is changing all the time. The bumps on his head have started to go down, which I am very happy about. He does have that 3 week acne pretty badly right now, but I know soon he'll have that baby soft skin that he had when he was born. I'm excited to see how much he changes over these next few weeks!
Caroline keeping an eye on Cam while Jason and I ate dinner!
Our little sleeping, swaddled bean!
He gets more alert every day!
Bathtub fun!
Aunt Katie came to visit!!
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