Isaac's first month at home

Today is Isaac's first month birthday. I can't believe it has already been a month! It's been an eventful month, and we're glad to have life getting back to normal. Between me and the 3 kids, we have had 3 hospital stays, and 13 Dr. visits. Yes, I've been going a little CRAZY! :)

When Isaac left the hospital he was slightly jaundiced. When he was 4 days old I went in for a follow-up appointment with his pediatrician. He had dropped a pound in weight (which the Dr. considered too much), and his bilirubin level was 20.5, which is considered high risk. So we were sent straight to the hospital to have him admitted for photo therapy treatments. I didn't like seeing my tiny son with a mask stuck to his little face with velcro. It absolutely devastated me to see him like this and not be able to hold him. I was told to nurse him on the dot every 2 hours, and I really cherished this time with him because I felt so distant while he was under the lights. I know many babies go through this, but it was a pretty emotional time for me (as I'm sure it is for any Mom who has to see their baby in the hospital). I was so worried about him getting his weight up, about my milk supply, and mostly about seeing him so lonely under the lights. I also had some complications with my own recovery and was trying to avoid being re admitted to the hospital myself.

Thankfully we only had to stay in the hospital for about 24 hours. Throughout the next 2 weeks I went to the doctor every other day to check Isaac's weight. Unfortunately each appointment found that he wasn't gaining weight and so his bilirubin level kept increasing. Of course this stressed me out again. I eventually was told to pump my milk and offer it to him in a bottle every 2 hours so that we could gauge how much he was actually eating (it turns out he was only eating about an 1 oz each feeding, when he should have been eating 2 oz). I did this for 4 days and hated it. But at this point I was a total wreck, and ready to try something else to get results or I was going to officially go crazy. And thankfully it worked! By the end of the 4 days he would eat the full 2 oz, and when we went back to the doctor she was satisfied with his weight-gain. Also a huge blessing was that he went back to nursing like a champ...well sort of. He's still a sleepy eater, but at least he prefers me over the bottle :) By the end of all this, I counted 11 pricks on his feet from having so much blood drawn. Poor guy :(

But this story has a happy ending...I have a friend who let me use her baby scale and in just this past week he has gained 11 oz!! He is now a 9 lb 3 oz, healthy baby!

I have to mention a memory that sums up how I felt during all of this. In the midst of this drama, Elaina had an already-scheduled well-check appt with our pediatrician. We added Isaac to that appointment for one of his weight-checks. Add Erin to the appointment to have the Dr. look at what I believe is an infected ingrown toenail (yep! We need to have it removed...add 3 more doctor visits, a hospital visit, and even more antibiotics). Oh and add me to the appointment because I was also having some issues with my own recovery (add more antibiotics). I can only imagine what the doctor was thinking when she walked in to find 5 people crammed into this tiny room. Imagine: a frazzled new Mom of 3 (who is living off no sleep and her stress level is through the roof) trying to nurse a 6-day-old baby, while also attempting to tame her other two wild kids, and the Nana along for crowd control and moral support. I was now officially going insane and went home to write up a detailed schedule with a timer of when everyone needs their meds, and not to mention a strict 2 hour nursing schedule for the baby. It's a good thing I wasn't getting any sleep because there just wasn't time for it! Welcome to being a Mom of 3 I guess! :)

Among all this craziness, I've actually thoroughly enjoyed little Isaac this month and am loving this little addition to our family. Here are some pictures of the happy times of his first month...

Isaac lives in his bouncer! Poor third child

First bath. Not so fun :(

Look at that adorable little face!

Posting about Isaac's first month would be incomplete without mentioning my Mom and all of her help. She came 10 days early when we realized that Isaac would be early, and thank goodness because I don't know how we could have done those first 2 weeks when we were constantly back and forth to the hospital and the doctor. She was able to stay for almost 4 weeks, and was a huge help. She took the girls all over town for their activities, she put meals in my freezer, she cleaned the house, and took over while Isaac was back in the hospital (even doing laundry and cleaning my bathrooms!). For a while Isaac wouldn't sleep at all during the night, and she even woke up to help me and had several sleepless nights herself in order to allow me to recover and get a little bit of sleep myself. What a Mom! I am just so grateful for her.

Isaac loves to be swaddled! Neither of my girls particularly wanted to be swaddled (Elaina especially hated it..she was not a cuddly one!) but we learned quickly that he would sleep much better like this. So the next day my Mom went out and bought 4 swaddling blankets and they are fantastic. He loves them! We refer to it as his straight jacket. And I think he looks especially cute when his little hands escape :)

Isaac's first walk. He even waved for the camera!

On Isaac's first day to church he wore an outfit that I wore as a baby (hand knit by my Great Aunt Vimmy). And here he is sleeping in the beautiful cradle that my Grandpa made for me as a baby. All of my siblings slept in it, and so far all of my children have been able to sleep in it. I'm so grateful to still have these things.

Nana and Isaac

Isaac and his sisters, who take such good care of him

Love little baby faces! I love to imagine what he might be thinking when he starts making faces (although I know it's really just a reaction to whatever is going on inside his tummy at the time)

Cute boy!

Tiny fingers

Isaac's first time to the playground...he slept through all the excitement! But he looked adorable in his over sized hat!

This is my handsome little man today, on his one month birthday!

I am so grateful to have this little boy in our family. It's incredible how someone so small, and who can do so little can make me so happy. I love him a lot:)