At Home

Everyday at home with Adam is different and exciting. We are exhausted and are still not quite keeping up with all the things that need to be done, but we are so enjoying life with our baby.

Adam sleeping in Berta's arms

We are finding that it's not true what people say about newborns: that all they do is sleep, eat and poop. Our little guy has also done a few amazing, sometimes terrifying, things in his first days at home. He is able to tuck his legs up and roll onto his side when he is not tightly swaddled. This makes us nervous about how soon he'll be able to roll over in bed and has made us extra careful to keep a hand on him while he's on the changing table.

Last night, he did a sit-up in Matt's lap. Matt had Adam resting on his thighs, with Adam's head by Matt's knees and Adam's feet by Matt's stomach. Matt was supporting Adam on each side of his body. Then, Adam crunched up his torso and raised his head towards his chest then his chest to his legs into 3/4 of a sitting position. Matt grabbed a tighter hold on him to keep him from falling back. We were stunned and added that to the list of things we need to be careful of in the future.

Adam loves to have his hand up by his face. He likes to suck on his fists--something we saw him do during ultrasounds. Sometimes this interferes with his latching during his feedings and it makes him strain against his swaddles. A tight swaddle turns him into Baby Houdini and he squirms and squirms against it, trying to pull his hands free.

Yesterday, Adam was more awake and active during the day. He has/had his nights and days mixed up, so we decided to start acclimating him to real night and day. We kept the nursery well lit by natural light coming in through his window, played soft, upbeat music for him while he was awake and gave him lots of attention. He had quite a bit of awake time during the day and during the night he went to sleep quickly after his feedings and changings. We were able to get him changed, fed, burped, changed (again) and asleep within 45 minutes during his 2a feeding last night. Yay!

Adam with Clara (aka Cho - maternal grandmother in Navajo)

My mom has been staying with us since we left the hospital. She is a gigantic help. We were not at all prepared for a cesarean delivery. Luckily, she was able to ask for two weeks off from work to help us take care of Adam while I recover from surgery. She has been the cook and housekeeper and she takes care of Adam while we sleep in during the mornings.

Matt has been the primary parent, taking Adam to his first doctor's appointments, getting up with him at night... I wasn't allowed to lift Adam or anything heavier than Adam for the first week, so Matt and my mom were always around to help me move him when it was my turn to change and feed him.

Preview of Adam's Smile

I'm getting better each day, so it allows me to do a little more with Adam without assistance. I'm looking forward to being able to do even more in the days and weeks to come. Overall, Matt and I are delighted with family life and our Adam seems to be happy with us. How lucky are we!

I've continued to read to Adam. We are now in the middle of Fudge-a-Mania.