Week One

As week one as a family of four comes to a close, I must say that the transition from one kids to two is much easier than I thought it was going to be. Though we still have things to get used to, life is good and God has given us another amazing gift.

Graham eats, sleeps, and poops like a champ! Within the first 48 hours of his life he went from being 9 pounds 11 ounces down to 8 pounds 13 ounces. Because we left the hospital right at the 24 hour mark, we were required to have an in-home nurse visit us on Friday afternoon. She was really sweet and reassured us that we knew what we were doing having already done it once. Fortunately Graham latches on well, looking like a little bird hunting for his next meal. He also sleeps really well, to the point that if I did not wake him to eat I'm not sure how much he would be digesting. On Friday night my milk came in and Graham gained 2 ounces before the next morning when we visited with Dr. Bishop. Everything checked out great at the appointment, proving that all I needed was a little milk to give our boy the nutrition he needed. Speaking of milk, I'm like a cow again this go-round. Within the first four days of my milk coming in we already have close to 100 ounces of milk in the freezer, not including what Graham is eating. That's only to fight the engorgement too, not to empty out the supply! I am hoping that I'll be able to decrease the amount I am pumping within the next week because we just don't have room for that much milk in our freezer. 

Oliver is adjusting. His coping mechanism is to get crazy energetic and not follow directions. This is meaning more Time Out and pops on the bottom than normal. We are working on giving him as much attention as we can, but it never seems like enough. The best thing we've found so far is just keeping him busy and giving him one-on-one time with each of us. Just last night he and I sang songs in the living room at the top of our lungs, built a castle out of Legos and bounced up and down. This morning he and I snuggled in the rocking chair before I woke Graham to feed him. He loved the attention! For the sake of consistency, Oliver is still going to daycare. We are sure that it will help him adjust and give him an outlet by learning new things and being with other kids during the day. Our friends, the Honours, came over on Friday night. Having Daniel and Oliver play together was also a gift because it took Oliver's mind off of the situation and let him enjoy his friend.

Brent and I are doing pretty well too. Brent is enjoying some time off just to be with the family. I love watching him play with our boys! It's especially cute to watch him holding Graham, make faces, and let him sleep on his chest. My physical healing process is going well, though I'm still taking ibuprofen to help my stitches heal and swelling go down from the engorgement. Emotionally I'm a wreck, but certain that it's not going to stick around long because it only comes in spells that are short lived. Things that help are getting out of the house, so Brent has helped me have at least one activity where we get in the car to venture out every day so far. Today was my favorite because Brent and I went on a mini-date, though Graham was with us. He slept the entire time so I think that's pretty close to a date right now! 

Last night I took some pictures of the boys. Enjoy!