Two Weeks of Living.

Before I get into the details of Grant's first two weeks of living... I must first give an Ode to my Mother. Without whom, I'm not sure we would have survived these first few weeks. She was here from the moment of his birth (present for the delivery) and stayed for 9 GLORIOUS days. I can not even begin to thank her for all of her help. She took Emma for play/shopping dates every day, she cooked for us every night, she cleaned my house, she did my laundry, she ran my errands, she did my dishes, she watched both kids multiple days so that I could catch up on desperately needed sleep and so much more. She was SUPER WOMAN and I am so grateful for her selfless service. I bawled like a baby (thank you hormones and sleep deprivation) when she left. Emma kept asking me what was wrong - YIKES - just your Mother wondering whether she can actually care for two children all by herself.

THANK YOU MOM - I LOVE YOU!!!

I'll be sure to change a few of your diapers down the road... :)

Has it really only been 2 weeks since baby Grant was born? Seriously seems like at least 2 months. Amazing how slow AND fast time can go...

Grant has truly been such a sweet baby. But, really all he ever does is eat and sleep, so it is hard to tell temperament this early.

I'm going to document some things about his first few weeks that I want to remember - so you can indulge me - or just look at the pictures and tell me what a cute baby he is. :)

The first day home I was so overcome with gratitude for our little miracle baby. Then the first night came - and I remembered why newborns are so difficult. Yeah, they don't sleep at night. I quickly remembered the horror of complete and utter exhaustion. Greg and I stumbled out of bed the next morning with Emma clamoring for breakfast. We just gazed at each other and exchanged mumbles of "I forgot about this part"...

The next week of sleepless night went about the same. Although Greg and I got smart and started taking shifts so that both of us were not awake all night. Grant had jaundice and I was not allowed to breast feed, which allowed Greg to help with feedings at night. Lucky for me. Unlucky for Greg. :) When Greg went back to work, I took the nights as much as possible, only a few times have I had to wake him for relief. Luckily, sweet Grant figured out his days and nights fairly quickly and has now been giving us 3-4 stretches of sleep each night between feedings which has been HEAVEN. Amazing what a good 4 hours stretch of sleep can do for your emotional health. :)

Grant has one STRONG sucking reflex. He LOVES pacifiers, which his sister flatly refused. He has taken to breast feeding with no problem and also takes a bottle with no issue. This has been a tremendous blessing. I swore after our bottle issues with Emma that I would give this baby a bottle from the VERY beginning so that he could do both. Lucky for us, this has been a very wise decision and Grant eats well from both sources.

To save my sanity and allow me to be a better Mother to Emma during the day, I exclusively give Grant bottles during the night. This is a huge time saver and allows me to sleep more. Breast feeding is not easy for me and was causing a lot of stress in the middle of the night. Now Grant can happily slurp down a huge bottle and the both of us are back to bed. I breast feed during the day when I am more alert and not utterly exhausted. It is a MUCH more enjoyable experience for me this way.

Grant had jaundice the first week of life. His bilirubin levels were as high as 17. The doctor was very worried and sent us to the STUPID STUPID STUPID Lab Corp laboratories THREE days in a row to collect his blood levels. If you've been to these labs before you'll know why I felt the need to repeat STUPID three times. Small, dirty offices filled with too many people and too few phlebotomists. After ceasing breast feeding for 3 days, his levels finally started to come down and normalized. Evidently there is something in a small percentage of breast milk that can cause problems with the baby's ability to process the bilirubin through their body.

The doctor's delayed his circumcision until January 10th because of his jaundice levels. I took him to the office by myself and opted to step into the waiting area during the actual procedure. It was a hard day. He was a very sad baby that day and had a VERY difficult night. Luckily it only took one day to start healing and reduce the pain. Greg was especially traumatized by the event. Must be something about "feeling the pain" of his son.

We have had so many wonderful friends and family stop by to visit. I could start listing people, but I'm sure I would leave someone off and feel horrible. We have received so many sweet gifts. So many wonderful meals. And just wonderful visits. We have just felt so loved and hope that someday Grant knows how much he was loved.

Courtney actually knitted this AWESOME vest for Grant. That is some serious talent. Of course he won't wear it over his pj's - but I just had to get a picture with him sporting his dapper vest.

This kid has had some SERIOUS blow outs in his diaper. In Emma's entire "diaper career" she has has about THREE blow outs. TOTAL. She could seriously always keep it contained. This little Grant is a totally different story and has about one blow out every other day. And for my first time as a Mother, I experienced projectile pooping. WOW. What an opportunity.

And bath time. I think Grant may be headed to metro-sexual days in the spa. The second day we had him home, I told Greg I wanted to wake him up for a feeding and decided to do it by washing his hair. Much to my surprise and disbelief, Grant stayed ASLEEP through the entire thing. And even better, he had this hilarious smirk/smile on his face as if saying, "oh yeah, this is the life". SERIOUSLY LOVES BATHS/WATER. Emma hated them. If he is crying, I can stick him in the warm water and he settles right down. Maybe he'll be my Olympic swimmer?

The only crying that happens in association with bath time is when I pull him out...

Grant is constantly smiling in his sleep. He's even giggled already in his sleep. It seems like he does this A LOT more than Emma ever did this early in life. He seems so happy and content whenever he is sleeping. Must have lots of angels keeping him happy while he slumbers.

Overall, Grant's first 2 weeks of life have been very enjoyable. I remind myself constantly that the sleepless nights do not last forever and his sweet little tiny body doesn't either. So I cuddle him and love him and snuggle him as much as possible to enjoy this stage to the fullest. We feel so completely blessed to have this darling little boy in our family.

Thank you to so many who have sent along love and congratulations. We appreciate everything!