life with baby mcg

Week:
40. We had Vincent 3 weeks ago, but his official due date was this past Sunday...so TECHNICALLY he would only be about 3 days old now if he was born on his due date. But we had to squeeze him out a little earlier than expected. But it's been going really well.

Size of Baby:
Vincent was born at 6 pounds 14 ounces, but was 6 pounds 7 ounces after leaving the hospital. Then...because we had to go back to the hospital for a few days (see here), he ended up losing more weight...so he was well underweight from what he should be. Our pediatrician has had us come back for a couple weight checks over the past week to keep tabs on his weight. And, finally, as of this past Monday, V is up to 6 pounds 15 ounces. And by now he SHOULD be above 7 pounds. Finally! We want nothing more than for him to be a healthy baby.

Size of Mom:
I am finally shrinking! I am not going to tell you how much weight I gained during pregnancy because it will make you want to vomit. Seriously. But I have already lost about half of what I gained and it's only been 3 weeks! It's definitely slowed down a little and I know it will probably take a long time before I'm back to what I was before getting pregnant...but I'm happy with the progress so far. My knees are quite happy about me being a little lighter, too!

Fetal Movement:
I actually call our son "McSquirmy"...so that should tell you a little bit about how much he moves now that he can kick and stretch his legs. Now that he's not cramped up in my uterus anymore. His legs are getting so strong and he is also lifting his head a lot more now...and he's only 3 weeks old. I think he's going to be really strong like his dad in no time!

Sleep:
I sleep probably about 5 hours a day (6 if I'm lucky)...and it's always split up at random times. One hour here, 30 minutes there, et cetera. But...the other night an amazing thing happened. V slept for 4 hours straight! It was amazing! The pediatrician previously told us that if he sleeps for 4 or 5 hours at night, that's okay and to not always worry about feeding him exactly every 2 hours. So I decided to set my alarm the other night for 5 hours from the time I started feeding him...and he woke up 4 hours later. I was very happy with that. He hasn't done that again yet, but I'm sure that as soon as he keeps gaining more weight, the longer he will sleep. And that will make me happy. I never knew how important sleep was until now. The less you get, the weaker and more cranky you become. So I can't wait until I can get a full 5 or 6 hours in a row. Can't WAIT!

I Now:
Can hold our little baby and shower him with hugs and kisses. Feel more normal again. Am on my way being a normal, healthy weight again. Can see my feet again and can see my ankles again (SO EXCITING!!). Can get up on my own without help. Can shave my legs comfortably again.

I Am Looking Forward To:
Sleeping through the night. Seeing my boobs look their normal size (bras are flippin' EXPENSIVE and breast feeding makes my boobs crazy shapes throughout the day). Being a normal, healthy weight again. Getting a good schedule and figuring out what in the heck I am doing.

Extra Thoughts:
I was very overwhelmed during the first week and a half after giving birth. Call it the Baby Blues, call ts exhaustion, call it whatever you want. I was definitely overwhelmed.

First of all, I was not prepared to have a baby that week, but the blood pressure issues made delivering Vincent a necessity. So I knew I had to have the baby right away.

Second, the delivery was kind of difficult for me. Since V wasn't quite ready to see the world yet, my cervix was still locked shut...so the first 2 days in the hospital were spent trying to open my cervix. It literally took 2 days. The 3rd day in the hospital was when Vincent was delivered. I had to have an epidural because every contraction was making my blood pressure even higher. I think it's very amazing that women deliver naturally, with nothing at all...but I was very happy to have that epidural. So the contractions ended up not being TOO bad. But that last stage of delivery...the wonderful pushing stage...made me feel like passing out. Such hard work! Words can not describe it. I could barely feel my body afterwards.

Third, getting sleep in hospitals is like finding water in a desert. So I had to come home with a brand new baby on literally no sleep. And then we had to go back to the hospital for V after not even being home for a week, so it was just a very stressful time.

I'm not trying to complain...so I'm sorry if it sounds that way...but it was just very overwhelming at first. That first week and a half was rough. And I know that there will still definitely be ups and downs as we are getting used to parenthood. But now, however...

• I am (sadly!) getting used to living off of limited sleep.
• I am loving every second spent with our baby.
  
• He is beautiful.
  
• He is sweet.
  
• He makes the cutest noises.
  
• He is strong.
  
• He reminds me of Joe already.
  
• He has the smoothest skin.
  
• He makes a million different facial expressions every day.
  
• His eyes are adorable.
  
• He is getting a little better at focusing on certain things like faces and has even started to follow my face when I move my head from side to side.
• His smile makes me so happy.
• Seeing Joe cuddle with him is the sweetest thing in the world.
• This is weird, but I love that I have already been able to recognize his poo face (you know...the expression he has when he poops?).
• Speaking of...even when he poops he's the cutest little thing in the world.
• I love his face.
• I love how content and peaceful he is after he eats.
• I love his little nose.
• I love the way he smells.
• I love how innocent and precious he is.
• I love how his blonde hair sometimes looks brownish and sometimes looks reddish.
• I love every inch of him!

After all, what person could NOT love this little guy?