So much to be thankful for!

So Teddy is 2 weeks and 1 day old!  I can barely believe it.  He definitely seems older to me, and I know it's only going to get worse!  When he was born he was born 8lb, 6.5 oz.  When we left the hospital he was down to 7lb, 11oz.  The following Tuesday at his first pediatric appointment he was down to 7lb, 3 oz.  But they said that was fine still, my milk was just starting to come in.  Last Tuesday at his (nearly) 2 week appointment he was 8 pounds exactly, gaining nearly a pound in one week!  He eats like a champ. 

Speaking of eating, it's a lot easier to get him to eat now.  I'm not taking my precription pain meds any longer so I think that contributes to his wakefulness.  Sometimes I still need to change him and/or burp him first but it definitely is no longer a 30 minute excercise to get him awake enough to not fall asleep mid-feeding.  A pattern has also seemed to emerge.  He will have shorter feeding sessions followed by a longer one every 2-3 feeds.  Originally I was waking him every 2 hours as recommended by books.  But then a bunch of friends said not to wake him and let him set his own schedule.  So I tried that and sometimes he went 5 hours without waking and then that night he reached a point where he woke every hour.  I was not a fan!  It continued a second night.  And his dirty diapers decreased so I was worried he wasn't getting as much.  I asked the pediatrician and she said to try 3 hours during the day and 4 hours over night.  The 3 hour schedule seems to work well and he continues with that overnight, so I bascially never need to wake him up.  He usually starts rousing a few minutes before the 3 hour point and I just need to help him along, same thing over night.

He now spends time awake a few times a day.  Today he spent nearly 3 hours awake, but he was really over tired and I'm not quite sure why he was fighting sleep then.  So far Doug and I have been the only ones to hold him while he's been awake.  A few people have seen him awake at church, but other than that he's pretty much asleep when others are around.  Which is totally ok with me.  It's not like I'm timing when he'll be awake, it's still a mystery to me as to when he'll choose to stay awake.  The only thing I can think of is that I've been letting him sleep longer over night, but making sure he's getting enough during the day since Tuesday as recommended by the pediatrician and he's still waking every hour for several hours overnight.  He won't always need to eat, sometimes he'll just be fussy, but I think it's effecting his sleep.  In the last night he's also become a noisier sleeper.  We're still getting used to deciphering when to come to attention and when to let him sleep. 

He's still sleeping a few hours each night with us.  He really seems to dislike his pack and play and the swing over night. At some point it's just easier to have him in bed with me and he seems to wake less.  He's only 2 weeks old so we're not worried about him being in our bed "forever" yet.  And we like cuddling with him.  The last night or so since he's become noisier, he'll be quieter in bed and it seems like we all get more rest.  We'll see how that goes but for right now it's working for us.

This has been a busy week!  On Monday a friend and her little girl came over to visit for an hour, that was so nice!  Then on Tuesday was Teddy's second pediatric appointment and then we ran some errands.  It turns out he has a clogged tear duct and so we had to get an ointment for that and also some vitamin supplement since Vitamin D (and others) don't transfer very well in breastmilk.  He loves that stuff and doesn't seem to mind the eye ointment (which is working great, by the way).  Wednesday I had a follow up appointment at the OB office.  Before that in the morning one of my best friends who lives in Winchester came by for a visit.  In the evening friends dropped of some food and visited and then we went to another friend's house for a good visit.  She and her husband were in the area visiting family.  After we got there we realized it was the first time we have taken him some place besides the doctor's office, and certainly for a lot longer.  It went pretty well.  Teddy did need to nurse twice and I'm just not comfortable doing that in front of people I don't know well, and basically any guy except Doug.  So I was in the bathroom with him but it wasn't horrible.  It was nice to slip away and have some alone time with him and then emerge again to hang out with the group.  Most of the chit chat was about Teddy and parenthood, since we're the first in that group of friends, so I hope no one was bored!  Doug insisted talking about poopy diapers etc.  Gosh I hope we don't become those kinds of parents, but in reality Doug and those friends talk about poop a good deal anyway so I don't feel too bad, haha! 

We stayed until midnight and probably actually overdid it considering Thanksgiving was the next day but it was fun and worth it.  The plan was to quickly visit Doug's sister's house.  Usually she doesn't host a Thanksgiving meal and we were told about it just the day before, and then it turns out that the time was really close to the time my Mom had dinner planned.  Then my nephew was trying to buy a paper and was late getting to my sister in law's house and then we were late getting to my Mom's.  The three of us were pretty tired most of the day.  At my sister in law's everyone kept trying to wake Teddy up so they could see his eyes and crap.  I swear I was going to slap someone if they woke him up.  Also, Doug's niece held him most of the time.  Which was totally fine and I was in the other room for about 10 minutes when I realized that's the longest and farthest away I had been from him (except for 3 times when he's been left in the car with my mom or Doug).  So I had to go and check on him.  But at least I've stopped hovering over him to make sure he's breathing while he sleeps, well for the most part anyway.

I'm so thankful for Doug!  He's been such a wonderful husband and father through this adjustment.  I was really worried on bed rest how things would go and he made sure I had food every day and would do all sorts of chores for me on his days off and before going to work etc.  It's been just the same after Teddy's been here.  If I'm feeling a little sore in the middle of the night I can wake him up and have him bring me the baby.  He's been doing all the laundry and cleaning, heating up food etc.  He's been absolutely amazing.  He spends time with Teddy every day and always tells him and me how much he loves us.  I'm so lucky to have such a sensitive and attentive husband!  Doug grew up never hearing from "I love you" from his dad.  Heck, he grew up hadly hearing a thing from him.  And I'm so amazed at how great he's been with Teddy, even though right now all he can really do is just lay there.  Growing up with out a steady father figure it really melts my heart to see him with Teddy. 

Motherhood is just amazing.  Not only has all the regular pregnancy things become worth it, and even the last several weeks where things were scary and difficult, my whole life has meaning now.  The lowest and darkest points are suddenly worth it all because they've made me who I am and maybe without those experiences Teddy would be different, or not even here.  Waiting so long to get pregnant and have him here is worth it all now.  And it's worked the same magic in our marriage.  Honestly, seeing how amazing Doug is with Teddy and how he's been there for me when I really, really need him- I don't think I can complain about the little things anymore.  I could be totally kidding myself, in 6 months or 2 years or something I could be back to griping about the fact that some how one sock always manages to go flying across the room and remain hidden until after the laundry is done; but for right now all I can think of is "Who cares about how annoying it is to hunt down the missing socks.  I have a husband who truly loves me and our child."  I hope that I can always remember feeling this way, and of course that Doug is always this way.