First Week Home with Newborn

Hi there!

Happy Saturday!  Today a friend of ours is visiting this morning to meet baby Sage and my parents are visiting this afternoon.  After that I'm sure I'll be in need of a nap (and hopefully Sage will too).

This was the first full week that we were all home together.  It's a much different experience taking care of Sage in our home than in the hospital.  I'm thankful for the extra time we spent in the hospital because we really did learn a lot.  It's very daunting coming home and looking at this little being that you are responsible for. It's also the most amazing gift, but nevertheless eye opening.  I can happily say that I am much more confident today with caring for Sage then I was a week ago.  

We've had a lot of fun this week. I've gotten to know him more and he makes me laugh so much.  He's starting to smile and that's just about the best thing in the world.  There also were moments when I felt emotional and slightly overwhelmed.  These times were enhanced I'm sure because of my lack of sleep.  There were a few times that I could count on one hand when Sage was upset and I was having difficulty soothing him.  I just couldn't immediately figure out what was bugging him.  Did he need a diaper change? Was he still hungry? Did he need to be burped? Was he just overtired?

However, he of course did settle (each time within a half hour) and in doing so taught me how to stay calm in those moments.  I've learned that walking around my house with him in my arms is soothing for him. Sometimes the swaddle does the trick, sometimes not. Also, feeding most often seems to calm him down.  It's a learning process and I know a lot more today than last Saturday.

My husband worked the majority of the week, but was a huge help when he got home each afternoon.  He takes Sage after I feed him and this gives me a chance to reboot a little and nap.  I'm getting much better at forcing myself to nap. I typically have never liked sleeping during the day, but having a newborn changes that for sure.  I'll take any opportunity for sleep I can get now.  

Speaking of sleep, I am getting one to two hour blocks of sleep throughout the night.  Below is how last night went with breastfeeding and sleeping.  A solid example of how this week has been.  I feed Sage on demand for the most part, but wake him every 2.5ish hours if he hasn't by himself.  I was told to do this for the first two weeks and I plan to talk to the pediatrician on Monday at Sage's two week appointment about how we should proceed now. 

Also, keep in mind that his feedings generally last around 10 minutes. We have to keep them short due to his reflux, and at this point it seems to be working well that way.  As soon as Sage wakes up, the first thing I do is change his diaper and then feed.

7:30pm feeding

9:55 feeding

12:29am feeding

1:08 feeding 

1:39 short feeding

4:12 feeding

6:29 feeding

I slept 8:30-9:30pm, 10:45-12:20am, and 2:20-4:00am.

It's 7am right now and I'm holding Sage up in my arms for a half hour (to help with his reflux) then I plan to put him in the Rock n' Play. 

Overall it has been a great first week. I've had my ups and downs, but there's been way more ups and just a few difficult moments, so I think we're doing pretty good over here!  Time for me to get some breakfast and take another nap.  I'm tired.

Hope you have a great weekend!