The Newborn Ride

Well, we’re two weeks into this thing called parenting a newborn.  How much we forgot in eight short years!

Here are some high (and low) lights.

As with Elijah, Jeremy spent the first week or so sleeping…a LOT.  He would wake up to eat every two-and-a-half to three hours and drop right back off to sleep. Elijah did this, too, we thought we had gotten an easy baby, and then he woke up with a vengeance at two weeks.  So, we reserved judgment with Jeremy, and rightly so.  This past week, Jeremy did the same thing. 

The difference between him and Elijah is that Jeremy is not very consistent.  Sometimes, he eats, stays awake a bit, and sleeps great.  Other times, he goes four or five hours with no sleep whatsoever, which, at his tender age, is not good!

Of course, he IS only two weeks old.  He doesn’t know how to put himself to sleep or what to do when he gets over stimulated from being awake for too long.  Sometimes, he isn’t happy when we hold him, and he isn’t happy when we put him down.

Sigh.  I think this is the part of caring for a newborn that parents forget! 

That being said, we are greatly enjoying him, at least when he’s not fussing in the middle of the night!  He has started trying to track things with his eyes and is attempting to make some eye contact.  He has also started cooing a bit, which is just about the cutest thing ever, at least when it’s your own baby doing it!  During his first week, he had especially comical facial expressions; he would startle himself when he yawned, which resulted in a wide-eyed, open-mouth expression that never failed to crack us up.

Here are a few photos.  We think he’s pretty cute.

 

Jeremy had his two-week checkup on Friday.  He weighed eight pounds, 12 ounces, and had grown over an inch in length since birth.  So, he’s doing pretty well!  Our first two babies were major spewers…a feeding wasn’t finished until they had spit up at least half of it.  So far, Jeremy has only spit up when he’s overeaten or when we’ve gotten too vigorous on the burping.  One day, he actually stayed in the same onesie all day long, something that never happened with Charlotte and Elijah.

Jeff’s parents came to visit a few days after he was born.  Here they are getting acquainted with their new grandson.

 

Jeff started his family leave this past Monday, which was definitely a highlight.  Unfortunately, he caught a raging sinus infection over the weekend, which resulted in a fever, which meant that he couldn’t do much with the baby…definitely a lowlight!  On Wednesday, he headed to the doctor, who gave him a Z-pack since he “has young children running around.”  He’s feeling much better now.

I continue to be amazed at how quickly I have recovered from giving birth.  Other than sleep deprivation, I feel back to my old self.  I’m trying to walk a bit every day, which is fantastic after being on such limited activity for four months.  I’m waiting to be cleared by my doctor to start running again, but I’m really feeling good.

In other news, Elijah had his first soccer game (ever) yesterday.  This is the first time that Elijah has been involved in a team sport, and he had a great time.  Jeff is coaching his team, and, while they didn’t win, they definitely made a good showing.  The league here plays four, 12-minute quarters with the second and third graders.  That’s a lot of time to run around out there!  But I think that they all had a good time.  I’ll post some photos later on in the season.

Well, Jeremy calls.  Talk to you soon!