Yup, I know it's now been a week (minus a few hours) since Nolan Isaac was born. Here are some stats for those whom I haven't talked to personally yet:
Nolan: Born Thursday, 12 February 2009, 1309 @ Gulf Coast Medical Center in Panama City, Florida. He weighed 8 lbs 3.5 ounces (we say 4 oz) 20.5 inches long.
Nolan was 2 days late and was induced due to my elevated BP. We went in at 0630 and was started on Pitocin at 8am. I opted for an epidural (remember, I went ALL NATURAL with Mason, been there, done that, not too enthused about doing it again!). I was given that at 1100. And with a 5 hour labor, Nolan was successfully evicted, poor baby!
We started breastfeeding immediately and have been extremely successful. With Mason it took longer, since both he and I had to learn together. Nolan gave me a crash reminder course but he seemed to know what to do.
Nolan is a GREAT sleeper. The first night he was home he slept from 0100 to 0630! I had to finally wake him up and force the kid to eat! I said to Tim, "I hope we just add on to that time in 5-10 minute increments until he's sleeping 10-12 hours through the night!
We left the hospital Friday night and transitioned home easily. Tim's mom and grandmother, who had been staying with us for the past 25 days, left Saturday morning. I'm glad they were here and able to share in Nolan's birth. My mom leaves Friday, she's been here for about 2 weeks. I'm going to miss her, I already do and she isn't even gone yet!
Mason: What a guy!! I was so worried he was going to be the jealous type. After all, it has been only he and I all day since I quit my job last year. He has proved me wrong! He is so excited to have Nolan. When Nolan cries, Mason wonders over to me and puts his cheek to Nolan's cheek or his neck to Nolan's shoulder, giving hugs and trying to console him. It's SO incredibly endearing! He's loving and affectionate and very charismatic.
I keep getting asked "Is it hard with 2 babies?" It's not easy. You have to plan ahead more, you have to multi-task more, you can't just up and go like you can with a 1 year old. You only have 2 hands. Forget trying to do anything while breastfeeding! 2 babies crying is a lot harder to bear than 1. You have to choose which child is in more immediate need of "attention." Is it just a wet diaper, or did Mason fall out of the shopping cart AGAIN! (Yes, tonight we went to get some items and he leaned over out the back of the cart and was top heavy, go figure and toppled out and DOWN, landed on his back!)
Tim: Has the rest of this week off and goes back to work on Monday. He needed the rest of his vacation time for when we travel north in April. He's doing good with Nolan. It's easier than with Mason, he knows what to expect, how to hold him. He's a great burper ;-) and a great diaper changer! He also gets up with me at 2am and he'll changed Nolan's diaper before I feed him. He's been a super helper with Mason as well. I will definitely miss his hands when he goes back to work.
Our life won't settle down too soon. My dad and his parents are coming into town on the 3rd for a week and a half. Then we'll have 2 weeks until we fly up to PA for another 2 weeks. Once back though, we'll makes some changes and settle into our routine. THAT, I'm looking forward to!
