Sleep, Poop, Eat, Repeat

Well, Ames has been home for two weeks now and this picture essentially sums up how they have gone. Ames is wide awake at the wee hours of the morning (not always quite so happy) and one of us is passed out in various, strange positions (Lance is face down in the couch cushion, snoring- just to give you the full effect). 

These past two weeks have been phenomenal. I wasn't sure how we would do being detached from the monitors and without the comfort of having nurses and doctors within reach 24/7- but everything has gone very well. He has gained over a pound since being home, he's up to 6lbs 3oz and is now exclusively breastfeeding. He loves tummy time and has been much more awake and interactive the past couple days. He spends a lot of time exploring the world, smiling, and making his infamous blue steel face.

Sage came home the day after Christmas and she is pretty darn incredible. If he cries and she's upstairs, she runs downstairs to check everything out and once she realizes that we are taking care of it, she quickly exits the room to get away from the crying (take me with you?) We have been working on establishing a schedule for eating/sleeping and it's going pretty well. The grunting at night has decreased DRAMATICALLY. He is now sleeping around 2-3 hours before he cries to wake us up to eat. 

Our lactation nurse has been amazing through all of this and she said something to me the other day that I didn't realize I needed to hear; "For lack of a better word, you have a normal baby, honey."  

After holding my little guy and having him attached to a 4 foot beeping leash for 6 weeks, it was nice to hear that even without counting every milliliter he's consuming, or without knowing exactly what his heart rate at all times, he's growing and thriving. We have a "normal" well baby who cries when he wants to eat, eats what he wants, poops all the time, and is just working on his catch up growth. Thank you, Betty- that helped this mommy a lot. 

They always say to never stop learning and as a parent you are learning something new every day. Whether it's about yourself, your baby, your priorities, you name it- every day is something new.

Some of my favorite things thus far have been:

• Getting used to only having one arm. This is not negotiable. Survival mode means you are holding the baby with one arm, washing the god forsaken nipple shield with the other, picking up dropped items (kitchen towels, sponges, blankets, etc) off the floor with your foot, in hopes that if you kick it up high enough you can catch it with your neck...And just when you think you have your little bundle settled down enough to where he will finally latch rather than sit there and scream with it in his mouth, your dog starts heaving on your brand new living room carpet. Now baby is semi attached and being held in one arm and you're desperately trying to coax your dog outside...too late. Screw it. 
• Breastfeeding is hard. Pre-baby I thought that breastfeeding was this natural, unspoken rule that all parties (mom and baby) understood and just did. Now I know it's a little different with a preemie, but more than that, he's just impatient. If he doesn't taste results in seconds well then, "forget this mom, I'm done." Cue arm flailing, nipple shield flying, alligator tears (not always just from Ames..) and bargaining out of desperation, "I'll do your laundry until you're 18", "you can have our old car when you turn 16", "your first food can be a french fry?" When this doesn't work it then turns into demanding "son, this is your mother speaking, if you don't chill out and eat then..." and you realize you've got nothing to punish an 8 week old with. Back to bargaining you go...  
• Sleeping, Showering, and Style are things of the past. I haven't gotten more than a 3 hour stretch of sleep in the past 3 weeks. Lance tried to microwave his lunch in the fridge and I tried to unlock it with our car key FOB. That's true sleep deprivation. Showering involves only the necessities; scrub your body...shaving and hair washing can wait. And the only thing I want to wear are yoga pants because they don't squeeze my newly discovered hips covered in my pregnancy layer of fun. 
• Finally, I can easily waste an entire day cuddling Ames on the couch and not think twice about it. When we got home I thought of all of the house projects, laundry, and cleaning I could get done while he sleeps. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. When he falls asleep on my chest after burping you bet I'm going to sit tight for a bit and soak in all of the cuddles I can from this guy. That being said, reference my first lesson- I have gotten quite good at house chores with only one arm.

I have to say, going back to work is going to be incredibly difficult. I'm still working on getting paid just because I'm awesome. Stay tuned...