1 Week Later
#3 is 8 days old today. Thus far, he's the "easiest" baby we've had yet. He doesn't sleep as long at night as #2 did, but his sleep is much more organized. He has regular 3.5hr stretches at night and a super alert period in the evening. He's still teeny (to me) -- weighing in at his birth weight on his Day 5 home visit from our midwife. The boys are still thrilled with him -- #1 showing more PDA for him than I expected. #2 has to be cautioned about loving on him too much! I feel great. I'm getting more sleep now than I was when I was pregnant. I've lost almost all the weight, though my tummy's still poochy -- looks more like a beer gut than anything, though. I swear I still looked 6mos pregnant a month after having each of the older boys, so this is fabulous. I finally get to be one of those postpartum moms I hated the first two times! ;)
We've been enjoying some lovely, generous food gifts from friends. Not having to think about what to make for meals has been wonderful -- and the donair pizza Rae brought to the birth was reheated in the oven and turned into a post-birth breakfast made of pure Awesome. Sausages brought by Vicky made an equally delicious Day 1 supper (and omg! I've been craving more of them -- must get back out to Nicastros!). One of DH's friends dropped by with a huge bag of marinated chicken pieces ready for freezing/grilling -- we've been enjoying those all weekend. All of it was greatly appreciated.
I love watching the boys figure out how #3 fits into our new family dynamic. #2 has been informing me regularly that "baby milk" is made from kisses -- his explanation of how nursing works. #1 has been asking a lot of more detailed questions about it all -- most of these conversations end in "the human body is a pretty cool machine." #2 has insisted he wants to learn how to change a diaper. I'm having a blast trying out some of the new cloth diapers I picked up to add to our stash -- watch for some product reviews -- and have been cracking out the knit-by-me wool soakers and shorties I knit for this little guy over the winter.
I popped into work when he was 2 days old to introduce him -- I've only been off a couple weeks, but miss work already. I liked the extra structure it added to my week, loved seeing the customers, and really enjoy my co-workers. I look forward to going back -- am mostly waiting for my milk production to regulate a bit, though. I had over-supply issues with both older boys and am trying to start off on the right foot this time to see if I can limit the condition with this little guy. Nursing is still too messy a prospect to think about going back to work immediately, but I'm hoping to be back by mid-June. I love my job and it's pretty awesome that I will be able to bring #3 to work with me.
When he was 5 days old, DH and I went out for lunch at Ceylonta to celebrate surviving our first week with 3 boys. It was amusing to me that we had to install #3's carseat for the first time in order to go -- as we had a planned homebirth, we'd no need for it before. #3 slept through his first car trip, through being tucked into our Sleepy Wrap, through the entire meal, and almost all the way back home. I'd forgotten how lovely and portable they are at this stage. ;)
Saturday, I had a Mother's Day "re-do" to make up for coming down with a stomach virus on actual Mother's Day. We all went for a drive and wander through one of my favorite garden nurseries. #3 was in the Sleepy Wrap again -- I'm not sure how I managed without it when the older two were babies. It's so much more comfortable than the carriers I had with them. Yesterday, I was invited out for coffee by my friend and boss -- we popped into a new children's boutique in the neighbourhood and then headed up to Thyme and Again. Little Dude slept through the whole thing. ;) Sense a theme here? He loves the Sleepy Wrap!
DH heads back to work tomorrow and I'll be flying solo. I'm looking forward to getting back to a routine and have already decided that -- lame-ass housekeeper that I am -- I'll be scheduling my daily cleaning tasks into my Google calendar. I don't want to let all the hard work I did before he was born to slide and go to waste! In some ways, I think that #3 will make it easier to stick to a schedule -- more of a reason to make sure things are getting done when they need to get done, I guess.
I'm still riding the post-birth high and I'm not sure it will ever wear off. It was a pretty fabulous experience and #3 is a pretty fabulous baby. I'm trying to enjoy every moment right now -- it all goes so quickly. :)