2U2: Week One

This series is a spin-off of the Babywise Mom Newborn Summaries, but with my own twist.  I hate how little I blogged immediately after Lucy was born; I wish I were able to look back on that time to compare.  My hope is to keep up with this series for at least 4 weeks, but I make no promises.  For those unfamiliar (Mom), "2U2" stands for two kids under two years old. 

Our first week was surprisingly easy...  Casey took the week off of work, so the parent to kid ratio was even.  (I expect next week's update to be slightly more interesting, as today marks my first day alone with the two kids.)  We were home from the hospital on Tuesday night, and Parker had his first visit to the pediatrician's office Wednesday morning.  He weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces, which is an 8.5% loss from his birth weight - much better than Lucy's loss of 13%.  The pediatrician suggested supplementing with formula until my milk came in, but we didn't feel it necessary.  The stress level has been significantly lower with the second baby. We had a very lazy week, full of mid-day naps and snuggles.

Here's a recap of our first week as a family of four:

BREASTFEEDING
Parker has been exclusively breastfed to date.  I seem to have had way more colostrum than I did with Lucy, so we skipped that whole cluster feeding nightmare, and my milk came in much earlier - by day three!  Park has a great latch and is fairly alert during each nursing session.  I usually nurse Parker on one side, change his diaper to wake him up, and then nurse on the other side.  He's averaging 15-20 minutes per feed.  I've had minimal discomfort, absolutely no cracking or bleeding.  Our one problem, which is totally and completely my fault, is oversupply.  The engorgement has been much worse than I remember with Lucy...so I started pumping after nursing...and that created more of an oversupply.  Way to go, me!  I've stopped pumping and am hopeful that my supply will regulate in a few days.  Also, must plug the breastfeeding app on my phone!  It has made tracking so much easier.            

NAPS
We unintentionally fell into a loose schedule on Friday, and, fortunately, it seems to have stuck.  Parker's waketime is currently 30-45 minutes, with one longer waketime of 45-60 minutes in the evening before bedtime.  He naps for 3 hours at a time, and I wake him every time; there have been a few occasions that he's woken on his own after 3 hours.  Several naps were cut short due to diaper mishaps (more on that below).  I swaddle Parker and put him down while he's still awake, but drowsy, and he goes to sleep on his own within a few minutes.  He's had no problem sleeping with all the noise, and I'm hoping that that continues as he gets older, because Big Sister is sooo not quiet.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP
Parker goes down for the night between 8-9 pm (like I said, we're following a loose schedule, but hope to become more consistent in the near future).  I was waking him every three hours up until Friday.  My plan was to wake him every 5 hours, but he tends to wake on his own after 4 hours.  We had one really lousy night, where he was awake every 1.5 hours because of diaper leaks, but that issue has resolved itself.  My readers will be surprised to hear that we are not bed-sharing; we are co-sleeping.  For as much as I love cuddling my sweet babies, I love my space even more.  We have the pack and play set up in our bedroom, and we are all getting the best sleep possible.         

DIAPERING
Without a doubt, the most frustrating task this week!  There was one 24-hour period that every.single.diaper.leaked.  And all those leaks led to early waking from naps and throughout the night.  (Apparently boy parts need to face a certain direction...not something that I'm accustomed to thinking about.)  We switched to cloth diapers on Sunday, and we haven't had a leak since.  We also have to be mindful of his circumcision; every diaper change involves gobs of Vaseline and gauze.  Oh!  And he peed on me on Wednesday...must remember to cover boy parts immediately after opening the diaper! 

SIBLING INTERACTION
Lucy is absolutely smitten with Parker.  (Such a relief! I was afraid she'd hate him.)  Every time she hears him over the baby monitor, she stops whatever she's doing and yells, "Baby!" and then runs to our bedroom to check on him.  She gives him tons of kisses and hugs - sometimes a few too many - and she loves to lay random objects on his belly (her snacks, breast pads, burpies).  Of course we still have to remind her to be gentle...  Parker isn't interacting, obviously, but he does enjoy watching his Big Sister run circles around him.   

MISCELLANEOUS
Parker has a clogged tear duct.  ::sad face::  At first it was his left eye, but that cleared up, and now his right eye is clogged.  Lots of eye boogers...it is heartbreaking. And Lucy had a language EXPLOSION in the last week.  Suddenly she's repeating everything we say.  I'll do a separate post for the postpartum stuff, but I'll say that recovery has been a dream so far!  It's been a great first week, I just wish we had a little more time to interact with Parker - most of his waketime is spent nursing and changing his dipe.  It's still totally surreal to think we have kid(s), like, plural.   

And, to conclude, pictures!

Heading home from the hospital!

 

 

Sink baths!

Laundry basket races!