{life as a family of four}

We are finishing up our first week as a family of four and I have to say that it has been nothing but perfect. Okay, I lie, there are definitely things that could be better... wonderful, yes, perfect, no. Like the fact that I'm still moving kind of slow, Xander cries when I change his diaper, I'm starting to feel a little sleep deprived, etc... but, you know what... life isn't EVER perfect, so all of those 'complaints' are totally and typically normal. I can't imagine our family without Xander now. He has fit in pretty seamlessly so far. Or as Ayden mentioned the night that we came home, 'Mom, things don't really seem that different.'

Physically wise I am doing probably as well as can be expected for just having an 8 lb 9 oz baby. The first few days I was in quite a bit of pain yet. Moving very slow, even to the point where I had to have Jay help me out of the hospital bed a few times. Now that we are five days out, I am feeling stronger and more like my old self again. I'm definitely still sore and moving slower than I would like, but each day gets a little bit better. The postpartum girdle that I got to help 'shrink' the left over baby pooch now fits and it has helped support my back quite a bit more than I thought it was going to which makes getting up and off things easier. (Although, I had my brother teasing me today that my grandpa is able to get up and around faster than I am. He's so nice... isn't he?!)

I am tired, but not nodding off during conversations yet. Yet. The sleep deprivation hasn't completely caught up with me, but I know that it is going to in the next few days probably. I have to say that I was full prepared to be up a lot more during the night with Xander than we have been. I also have to say that Jay has been amazing at helping out. Because we are bottle feeding, Jay is able to take at least one feeding during the night. And (knock on wood), Xander has gone back to sleep after his night time bottles pretty easily as well. Another plus, not having to get up every hour to two hours to go to the bathroom, haha! I am definitely enjoying that part! Also, the fact that I no longer have to use a bazillion pillows on the bed to feel comfortable. Our queen size bed feels ginormous now with all of the pillows gone. I really was hogging a lot of the bed during my pregnancy. Poor Jay!

Speaking of Jay... he has been amazeballs. I mean, I already knew that he was a great father. He has been since the moment that Ayden was born. There really was no question in my mind whatsoever that he would be great with Xander, but it has been SO long since I've seen him with a tiny one. And really, if you know Jay in real life, you know that he really isn't the mushy gushy show his loving feelings type (most of the time to people), and that he is more of a jokester. Let me tell you, he was SO cute in the hospital with Xander. He'll probably want to kill me for writing this, but he has no idea how much it warmed my heart to hear him talking with Xander while I was taking a bath and how he changed all but one diaper in the hospital and how he is being so great with him at home (even though he admitted to me last night that he's not a huge fan of the tiny baby stage). And of course, this momma's hormones are still flowing at an all time high.

Ayden has also been a great big brother so far! He loves to hold him and we've spent quite a lot of time just sitting together on the couch all cuddling together. Today we had Xander's first doctor's appointment for a jaundice level check and Ayden came along because he didn't have school. Well, at the appointment, the nurse had to prick Xander's heal and draw some blood to check his bili levels. Of course this meant that the tiny man wasn't too happy and was crying pretty loudly. I remember this with Ayden and Jay had accompanied me to that appointment as well. During that appointment this new momma was almost in tears. During this appointment, (Jay was along as well) and I held it together much better, but what surprised me the most was Ayden's reaction. He did NOT like it that they were making Xander cry and he was almost in tears himself. Well, that almost made me cry seeing him get so emotional about it. It was the cutest thing ever. Thankfully, we just got a call from the doctor and Xander's levels have gone down since his release from the hospital and he doesn't need any treatment for jaundice. Yeah!

On other Xander news, he did end up failing the hearing screening in his left ear, both times that they tested him. Of course the audiologist's son would fail his hearing screening in at least one ear. That just means we have to make another follow up appointment for retesting in a week or so. It is typical for newborns to fail their screenings for many reasons, so I am not worried that he has any hearing loss at this point. And honestly, even if he did have some in that ear, it's not a bad thing. It is something that we would totally work with.

I find that I could just sit and cuddle with the tiny man all day long and I am SO looking forward to enjoying these next weeks with him. I know that they are going to just fly by WAY too fast which is going to suck (although, admittedly, I do miss my patients to a certain extent as well) and that before I know it, I'll be headed back to work craving the weekends.

Our pup has taken to Xander pretty well. He definitely knows that he is around and has sniffed him quite a few times, but for the most part he just leaves him alone. The same thing kind of goes for the cat. Like I said, Xander just fits right in!

CIAO! LOVE ME!