Introducing.......
Blake Alan
November 16th, 2010 at 12:56am
6 lbs, 14oz
20 inches long
He wasn't due until December 5th (today), but I was struggling with pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure), and had been on bed rest for almost two weeks. The doctor finally decided that the risks of waiting to have him outweighed the risks of having him a little early.
My labor and delivery was really easy..... if you can call ANY labor and delivery easy. They wanted to induce me using Pitocin, but I wanted to try just breaking my water first to see what happened. It worked! Blake must have been ready to come out, because my body kicked into gear and did it's Momma thing. They broke my water at around 7pm on Monday, and six hours later my son was brought into the world! And I did it without any type of pain medication at all! (Yay! Go me! It's my greatest accomplishment in life so far.)
The first two weeks of his life were kind of crazy... full of doctors appointments, and even one ER visit. He had jaundice, so we had to work hard to fix that. It also brought another set of struggles along with it. He had a hard time waking up to eat, so breast feeding was nearly impossible. We ended up supplementing with formula, just to make sure he was actually getting enough nutrients so he could grow and thrive, and also get rid of the jaundice that was causing the problem in the first place! We had him on phototherapy for a few days, and I think that, along with the supplementation, really helped him get back on track.
He still is struggling to breast feed, but I think he is getting better at it. We're still plugging away, trying to make it work. We'll see how that works out in the long run. I'm fine with either breast feeding, or formula feeding, as long as he is getting the things he needs to grow and develop.
As far as being a Mom..... it's different than anything I've ever experienced, but it hasn't been too hard to adjust. I'm exhausted from night time feeding/pumping, but I just love having this baby around! I wish he would stay this little for longer. He has already changed so much since three weeks ago, when he was born!
I didn't have many expectations for how life would be after I had a child, but one thing I did know was that it would be constant. The reality of that, though, is crazy! Right now he is eating every two hours. If he breast feeds, that's 30 minutes (15 on each side), then I supplement with formula, since he's not very good at breast feeding yet, so that's probably another 10 minutes. After he eats, I'll change his diaper and then play with him for a little bit (tummy time, or just cuddling and looking into each others eyes), and then I'll settle him down to sleep for awhile, then go pump for ten minutes. (fifteen, if he wasn't able to latch on to breast feed.) By then it's almost time to start the whole process over again! It's absolutely insane! I am so thankful for the great support system I have around me, otherwise I would never be able to cope!
I guess that's enough of an update for now.... I'm sure there will be more, as Blake grows, develops and reaches milestones, and as our lives continue to change as we adjust to having a kid of our own.
Three week old Blake, with Grandpa. :)
(This was taken today.)
