11 days later

We survived the first week since coming home from the hospital last Saturday. We're tired, but luckily not as tired as we were with our first.  At night he sleeps for about 3 hours at a time, which helps out a lot. I remember it was about every 1-2 hours for the first couple of weeks with our first. I can put him down after he falls asleep, giving me time to eat, clean, and update my blog. LOL...  Overall he's been a lot easier than our first. Thank goodness.

A lot has happened over his first week home. We've been to the doctor's office 3 times, twice to check his jaundice and the 3rd for his circumcision.  Physically looking at him, his jaundice was slight, but his blood test showed that his bilirubin level was pretty high. Not high enough where he needed to be hospitalized or had to have any other treatments done, but high enough to be concerned.  He had 3 blood tests (one a day) to monitor the bilirubin level, and all three was turning out to be on the high side. By the time we saw our primary pediatrician he didn't seem as concerned as the other doctors. He looked good, and the yellowing of his skin seemed to be going away.  Our pediatrician was waiting for one more test result to see if he needed to order another blood test, which luckily we didn't need to have another blood test. He also told us to continue to supplement with the formula to help flush the bilirubin out. He suggested that I nurse for 10 min on each side, and then supplement 30 - 45 ml of formula. He assured us that he won't overeat and only take in what he needs. It's been so long that we couldn't remember what the rule of supplementing was, the nurses and the lactation specialists at the hospital had scared us about newborns stomach being so small that they can only take 10ml or less. blah blah....  That's the same information that made us starve our poor Maddie and made us terribly sleep deprived.

Yesterday was the circumcision day. This is the one reason I hate having a boy, I feel so bad for them. It probably hurts me more than it hurts him, but you can't help but feel so terrible for them. Peter stayed and watch the procedure, and I left to wait in the waiting room. Mason did great, didn't cry during the procedure, but as the numbing gel wore off he started to cry. He slept through most of the day, but in the evening when he was awake, you can tell he was in pain. We just had to comfort him and soothe him as much as possible. I was thinking it was going to be a long night, but to my surprise he slept through the night very well. Waking every 3-4 hours to be fed and changed. And today he's much better. Still looks raw, but he's not crying or fussing and seems to be back to his normal self.

Maddie seems to be adjusting well, but I think he's bored being cooped up in the house all day. If we could afford it, I probably would have left in daycare on a part time basis for some socialization, routine, and fun. He's been a good helper, but definitely doesn't understand how rough he is or how loud he is.

Well that's our first week home.