Aubrey was so excited to have him home and asked us to take a picture of them together before we could even get him out of his seat.
Hanging out during his first day home.
I had my first post partum meltdown Monday night because it really hit me that I would never be pregnant again. This coming from the lady who hated being pregnant. I guess I will miss more of the anticipation and excitement that comes with being pregnant and that moment when they put that new baby in your arms for the first time. Its like crack, I swear. I know our family is complete and I have no desire to be pregnant again, I just felt sad that it was over and knowing I won't experience those things again. Luckily, Todd took my dramatics in stride and helped to comfort me through the tears.
Tuesday was Mason's first bath at home. He was about as excited to have a bath as I was to be running on 5 hours of sleep. Luckily for him, the bath was fast and we quickly warmed him back up and comforted him with a paci before he fell asleep.
The expected reaction to his bath.
All better being snuggled up and dry
Wednesday was our first trip out to take Mason to the doctor. Unfortunately, they told us Mason had dropped another 3 ounce since coming home, but Dr. Honeycutt seemed to think now that my milk was in his weight should come back up soon. She said everything else looked great and wanted us to come back in a week for a weight check.
Dressed and ready for the doctor. He was none too happy about it.
Snuggling with Todd on the couch.
Thursday was our appointment with the lactation consultant. My milk started coming in late on Tuesday and I felt that Mason and I finally had a little groove in nursing. I knew he was draining me yet, but I was still really engorged so I hoped once we got that milk out we would be in better shape. The consultant weighed him and it appeared he had dropped another ounce since his doctor's appointment the day before. She had me nurse him and in 30 minutes he only took in half an ounce. I knew he was a little slow and really hard to wake up, but I was surprised that was all he had taken in. She then had me pump off what was left in my breasts and it was felt great to not be engorged anymore. She said she was concerned about Mason's weight and the fact he was not taking in much milk, so she wanted me to start pumping after every nursing session and supplementing with what I pumped. I was so upset because I know breastfed babies aren't supposed to have a bottle for the first few weeks until breastfeeding is established. It was part of the downfall to nursing Aubrey and I didn't want that to happen again. She said his suction was good, but it feels like he could have a high palate and she didn't want me to loose my supply in the time it took him to get stronger and nurse better. I left the appointment so mad and upset and wondered how I was going to make this work. Nursing for 30 minutes and pumping plus feeding was going to be tediously long at night when I just wanted go back to sleep. We wondered if she even knew what she was talking about, but I later read in my nursing mother's book that her treatment plan was recommended so I sucked it up and decided I would make it work somehow.
Friday was picture day. I found a great photographer online who does on location photography so we would have more natural pictures instead of just the posed studio shots. It was awesome to watch a professional photographer in action and see how she did her job. She posted a few sneak peaks on her Facebook page and I love what I've seen so far. I can't wait to get our disk so I can print and share them with everyone.
Saturday our grand adventures included a running errands (just so I could get out of the house) and then a visit from Todd's parents, sister and her boyfriend. The exhaustion of pumping and nursing was starting to get to me by that point so I was not the happiest of company. This was the start to my daily meltdowns about the nursing/pumping situation and lack of sleep was not helping them.
Hanging out in the bouncy seat.
He was supposed to be doing tummy time. This is what he thought of tummy time.
Sunday was Mason's first real adventure outside the house. My coworker has a son that is Aubrey's age and we had wanted to get them together to play for a while. So Sunday we took both kids to Discovery Place Kids and they had a blast. I decided to go with them and used it as a learning tool in how to change diapers and wear Mason in the Moby wrap in public. It was a little tough, but I managed to make it work. Aubrey melted down when we left and Mason melted down in the car so we had to deal with both of them screaming in the car for the first time. Fun times, this 2 kids thing. Mason also made his first trip to Target with me to pick up a few supplies that afternoon. It was my first time out of the house alone and first time driving, so it was a weird experience for me. It had to be a super quick trip to fit inside the pumping/nursing schedule, but it was still nice to get out and experience some normalcy in my life again.
All in all, the transition week home was not terrible. There were tough times, but that was expected. It is awesome to see Aubrey interact and love on her brother. She is handling the transition so much better than we thought and that is a blessing. Mason is such a chill baby and that also makes life easier. He really only cries when he is hungry and since we have to wake him to eat, that doesn't happen very often. He does get a little fussy during diaper changes, but a dry diaper and some snuggles stops that fussiness before it gets out of hand. The real fun will begin with Todd going back to work and me being a mom to 2 children all day everyday. Luckily, my mom will be helping me out when she can because I am sure I am going to need it. Managing Aubrey by herself can be exhausting so I can only imagine adding a needy newborn to the mix on very little sleep. Let the fun begin!
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