Adjusting to Life with Baby

We have successfully survived our first week of parenthood!! The first couple of days were naturally spent trying to get the hang of things.

Kim stayed with us the first night home from the hospital.  She was so helpful with Hanley and taking care of things around the house.  I have known this for a long time now, but I definitely scored the jackpot when it comes to the in-laws!

We spent the whole first week enjoying home cooked meals made by Kim, Kramer and Rachael and our neighbors across the street. This was a huge help and made a world of a difference.

We had some ups and downs with the nursing but that seems to have worked itself out now and we are starting to see some sort of routine with Hanley's feeding/sleeping schedule. 

I am finally starting to get some sleep at night! Once we got the nursing down, I think Hanley was trying to play "catch up" and wanting to feed every hour throughout the night. Now he is going 2-3 hours between feedings at night. I have also finally allowed myself to actually catch some zzz's between his feedings. At first, I wouldn't let my body shut down at night because I was aware of every single noise he would make.  Now, I feel more relaxed and know when I lay him in his cradle, he is safe and sound which gives me some peace of mind.

Cody is so good with Hanley. Sometimes I think he is even better with him than I am. There's nothing like baby cuddles and watching my 2 boys together.

Emotionally I am doing well. When I do get emotional, its a good emotional.  At one point I started to get teary eyed and when Cody asked what was wrong the only thing I could say was, "I just love him so much." It's so amazing how fast and how hard you fall in love with your own child.

Hanley and I had a Mother-Baby appointment yesterday.  He weighed in at a shocking 8lbs, 4 oz at 7 days old! Keep in mind, his birth weight was 7lbs, 13 oz.  He dropped 3 oz in the first 3 days of life but quickly made up for it! I think somebody is trying to live up to his Daddy's chunky baby days :o)

Hanley was born with darker hair and more of it than I thought he would have (Thank God, no beard though!).  His hair is already starting to lighten up (just like Cody's did as a baby) and it seems to have the slightest curl/wave to it. He might look like his Daddy but it's possible he got his Mama's hair (other than the fact that he already has Cody's hairline!). He has huge hands and feet...not sure where he got those from though!!! Cody calls him "Man Hands"...Haha!

Big Sister's, Roxy and Maxi, are still trying to adjust to life with Baby. Roxy seems to be doing better with the change than Maxi.  Roxy likes the extra snuggle time at night with Cody because she jumps into bed with him each time I get up to feed Hanley.  Maxi however, is feeling more neglected than ever.  She has tried crawling on top of Hanley while I am feeding him and has tried making me jealous by curling up on Cody's lap (which she has NEVER done before!).  I am sure with time, they will both be just fine.