Saturday, September 29, 2012
First Bath
At exactly 2 weeks of age, the cord finally fell off, so it was bath time! Which is good, because little man lost the sweet newborn smell and could use a freshening up.
Similar to Corinne, he enjoyed the water. Another water baby!
Similar to Corinne, he enjoyed the water. Another water baby!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
2 weeks
Evan is still proving to be a fairly chill baby. I've pulled him into bed with me a few times, but for the most part will actually fall asleep on his own somewhere other than my arms.
He's starting to be awake for longer stretches now. Sometimes up to 2-3 hours at a time. Just looking around and making weird pirate-like faces. His belly button stub fell off yesterday (at 13 days old). I thought that sucker would never fall off. I guess I'll save it. At least let him make the decision when he's older on if he wants to keep it or not (assuming it doesn't turn to dust by the time he's old enough to decide that).
In clothing size, the newborn onesies are long enough but they are quite tight around the belly. He has his two week check up tomorrow. I'd be surprised if he isn't a fair amount heavier than his birth weight. Dude loves his food. I've started pumping at night instead of breastfeeding, as it's much easier and less time consuming to pump for 15 minutes, and bottle feed (he can down a bottle in 10 minutes, easy), then it is to play the crappy latch game for an hour. I have more patience to play that game during the daytime hours. I will say he is a champion burper. No tricks needed. I sit him upright, pat his back a few times and out they fly.
With bottle feeding, he'll keep eating as long as it's there, which has led to him puking after two feeds before I figured out how much he can take (right now: about 3oz). Even though I try to hold the bottle horizontal to make him work for it more.
Pumping also has the extra benefit of getting enough to not only feed Evan 100% but having enough left over to give Corinne milk too (hopefully helping with her constipation issues). I can usually bank an extra 5oz over the course of a night, which Corinne has as part of her breakfast the next day. Having a nursing toddler (who is über efficient at nursing, I might add) is quite nice. Most of the time Evan will only nurse on one side, leaving the other side feeling full and leaky. Enter the Toddler, who will never turn down a boob. She then nurses on the other side, leaving comfort and a dry shirt for me. Win!
I think I'm going to give him his first bath today. His skin is starting to peel in the creases in his skin and he's kind of ripe smelling. Hopefully a good wash and lotion-up will solve that.
I'm thinking he's going to have brown eyes. In certain light, the slate gray he currently has has tinges of brown in it. We'll see. He has 50/50 odds (if we go by Mendel's simplified genetic formula) of getting my brown over M's blue.
He's still not a fan of the pacifier. I don't understand why both of our kids (who both love to suck, by the way) do not care for the pacifier. Very odd, indeed.
We still need to watch Corinne like a hawk around him, but she is getting better. Last night, she'd stick her finger in her ear, then stick her finger in his ear, then back to her ear. She has a recent fascination with sticking her fingers in people's ears. Still no jealously to speak of, but she is quick to tantrum when she's not being picked up. I don't think she's made the connection that HE is the reason why she's not being picked up.
But the tantrums. Christ on a cracker... The tantrums. It's been nice having my mom here to occupy her so she doesn't tantrum all day long. I'm scared for the time when it's just me and the two kids alone during the day.
Hold me.
I also scared for the lack of sleep. Some of my best sleep is accomplished between 9a and 12p... Hours that Corinne is awake and demanding.
Send wine. And red bull.
He's starting to be awake for longer stretches now. Sometimes up to 2-3 hours at a time. Just looking around and making weird pirate-like faces. His belly button stub fell off yesterday (at 13 days old). I thought that sucker would never fall off. I guess I'll save it. At least let him make the decision when he's older on if he wants to keep it or not (assuming it doesn't turn to dust by the time he's old enough to decide that).
In clothing size, the newborn onesies are long enough but they are quite tight around the belly. He has his two week check up tomorrow. I'd be surprised if he isn't a fair amount heavier than his birth weight. Dude loves his food. I've started pumping at night instead of breastfeeding, as it's much easier and less time consuming to pump for 15 minutes, and bottle feed (he can down a bottle in 10 minutes, easy), then it is to play the crappy latch game for an hour. I have more patience to play that game during the daytime hours. I will say he is a champion burper. No tricks needed. I sit him upright, pat his back a few times and out they fly.
With bottle feeding, he'll keep eating as long as it's there, which has led to him puking after two feeds before I figured out how much he can take (right now: about 3oz). Even though I try to hold the bottle horizontal to make him work for it more.
Pumping also has the extra benefit of getting enough to not only feed Evan 100% but having enough left over to give Corinne milk too (hopefully helping with her constipation issues). I can usually bank an extra 5oz over the course of a night, which Corinne has as part of her breakfast the next day. Having a nursing toddler (who is über efficient at nursing, I might add) is quite nice. Most of the time Evan will only nurse on one side, leaving the other side feeling full and leaky. Enter the Toddler, who will never turn down a boob. She then nurses on the other side, leaving comfort and a dry shirt for me. Win!
I think I'm going to give him his first bath today. His skin is starting to peel in the creases in his skin and he's kind of ripe smelling. Hopefully a good wash and lotion-up will solve that.
I'm thinking he's going to have brown eyes. In certain light, the slate gray he currently has has tinges of brown in it. We'll see. He has 50/50 odds (if we go by Mendel's simplified genetic formula) of getting my brown over M's blue.
He's still not a fan of the pacifier. I don't understand why both of our kids (who both love to suck, by the way) do not care for the pacifier. Very odd, indeed.
We still need to watch Corinne like a hawk around him, but she is getting better. Last night, she'd stick her finger in her ear, then stick her finger in his ear, then back to her ear. She has a recent fascination with sticking her fingers in people's ears. Still no jealously to speak of, but she is quick to tantrum when she's not being picked up. I don't think she's made the connection that HE is the reason why she's not being picked up.
But the tantrums. Christ on a cracker... The tantrums. It's been nice having my mom here to occupy her so she doesn't tantrum all day long. I'm scared for the time when it's just me and the two kids alone during the day.
Hold me.
I also scared for the lack of sleep. Some of my best sleep is accomplished between 9a and 12p... Hours that Corinne is awake and demanding.
Send wine. And red bull.
Friday, September 21, 2012
One week old
So far, he's still a chill little dude! Eats (not exactly efficient; he likes to savor his meals and play the crappy latch game, but I know this will get better in time), sleeps (in 2-4 hour blocks), and poops (lots).
He's content to sleep somewhere other than my arms. Not a fan of the pacifier.
Evan rarely cries. Except when he's getting his clothes changed, then he does this whimper cry. He did let out a good cry when I accidentally scratched him on the face (oops). And he puts up with Corinne pulling off his socks and tugging on his limbs before we intervene.
He's content to sleep somewhere other than my arms. Not a fan of the pacifier.
Evan rarely cries. Except when he's getting his clothes changed, then he does this whimper cry. He did let out a good cry when I accidentally scratched him on the face (oops). And he puts up with Corinne pulling off his socks and tugging on his limbs before we intervene.
Monday, September 17, 2012
4 days old
Happy 4th day of life, little dude!
During day 1 and 2 of life, he had to spend time under the bili blanket for jaundice. His bilirubin levels were around 12. They are still around 12, but 12 for a one day old is bad, but 12 for a 3 day old is just fine. It's much easier to hold and nurse him without that damn bili blanket. Plus, now he can be swaddled which gives him better sleep.
Nursing is going ok. We had to supplement with formula after a few feedings to put more stuff in his stomach. More stuff in the stomach= more poop=less jaundice. Some sessions he'll latch on like he's been doing it for years. Other times, it's like the nipple is a torture device.
In other news, my boobs are finally working. I'd barely get any colostrum at all since he was born, which was worrisome, as I knew milk was supposed to come in sooner/stronger with kid#2, and up until now, it seemed like my boobs were no where close to releasing the goods. I'd pump and get maybe 3mL total.
But this morning I noticed my breasts looked and felt nice and round and perky. I decided to pump instead of nurse for one feeding, just to see how much I produced:
Lefty (always the under producer): 1oz
Righty (rock star boob): 1.5oz
During day 1 and 2 of life, he had to spend time under the bili blanket for jaundice. His bilirubin levels were around 12. They are still around 12, but 12 for a one day old is bad, but 12 for a 3 day old is just fine. It's much easier to hold and nurse him without that damn bili blanket. Plus, now he can be swaddled which gives him better sleep.
Nursing is going ok. We had to supplement with formula after a few feedings to put more stuff in his stomach. More stuff in the stomach= more poop=less jaundice. Some sessions he'll latch on like he's been doing it for years. Other times, it's like the nipple is a torture device.
In other news, my boobs are finally working. I'd barely get any colostrum at all since he was born, which was worrisome, as I knew milk was supposed to come in sooner/stronger with kid#2, and up until now, it seemed like my boobs were no where close to releasing the goods. I'd pump and get maybe 3mL total.
But this morning I noticed my breasts looked and felt nice and round and perky. I decided to pump instead of nurse for one feeding, just to see how much I produced:
Lefty (always the under producer): 1oz
Righty (rock star boob): 1.5oz
In other news, today is discharge day. For BOTH of us. I'm going to be wheeled out with my full term healthy baby as M carries our bags/flowers/balloons.
I may even pass a current NICU mom in the hallway or lobby who is on her way in to spend time with her preemie in the NICU. She'll look at me with longing and tears in her eyes.
And I'll understand.
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| Carting out all the stuff |
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| First time in the carseat |
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| Baby Lo-Jack |
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| All snapped in and ready to go home! |
Saturday, September 15, 2012
IT happened
I knew changing boys' diapers came with an additional set of "risks" that girl diapers do not pose.
It only took less than 3 days.
I got sprayed in the face.
I was changing Evan on the hospital bed, leaning over to carefully apply the gauze/Vaseline to his recently circumcised penis. All of a sudden, I felt a warm trickle of sweat running down the side of my hair. Then I got blasted with a stream of warm pee straight to the face.
It wasn't sweat I was feeling, after all.
How can one baby produce so much pee with such strength to arc up a good 12 inches to blast me in the face and hair?
It only took less than 3 days.
I got sprayed in the face.
I was changing Evan on the hospital bed, leaning over to carefully apply the gauze/Vaseline to his recently circumcised penis. All of a sudden, I felt a warm trickle of sweat running down the side of my hair. Then I got blasted with a stream of warm pee straight to the face.
It wasn't sweat I was feeling, after all.
How can one baby produce so much pee with such strength to arc up a good 12 inches to blast me in the face and hair?
Welcome Evan Pierce!
Hello different birth experience!
Note: if blood, guts, or baby balls offend you, cover your eyes while you read this.
We got up on Thursday September 13 at an ungodly hour to arrive at the hospital at 4:45a. We went to the front check in desk and the woman said "are you here for a scheduled c section?"
I replied that we were, and asked her how she could tell. Her answer was that we strolled in, nonchalantly, looking calm. I guess when one arrives at the hospital in labor at 5a, one is a bit more harried looking.
M and I had a nice date night the night before. We went to a Japanese restaurant and ate our fill of food. I was hoping that food would tide me over for 24 hours before I got to eat again. But, my digestive system revolted, and I spent the night hugging the toilet. Maybe if I waited a few days for delivery, I would have gone into labor on my own, since hugging the toilet is a common part of the "right before labor experience". Who knows.
After we arrived at the hospital we went into a prep room where I took off all my jewelry and clothes (I got to keep my contacts in) and put on an oh-so-sexy hospital gown.
Then the IV fiasco started. It took four attempts and three nurses before they successfully got the huge ass IV in. Apparently my veins are kinky and they kept bending the IV catheter. It hurt...a lot. it was right around this time, I imagine M was thanking his lucky stars he was born a man, as he lounged on the makeshift couch, pain-free.
But that wasn't the end for the pain. Next step was the epidural. I imagine that once you've been in labor for awhile, the pain from the insertion of the epidural is a piece of cake. At least that's what I'm telling myself is the reason why people don't talk about how much the insertion process hurts.
It took about 5 minutes. I shook, I cried. I silently pleaded with M, as he rubbed my hands, to somehow make it go away.
But, 20 minutes later, I was feeling no pain and great! They are due to take it out about 30 hours after insertion. Since then (I'm at hour 24 post insertion), I pink puffy heart love the epidural. Whenever I start to feel pain, I press the little gray button for another shot of pain free happy juice. 12 hours after surgery, I needed to get up and walk to the bathroom. It was a piece if cake! The epidural numbed things just enough that it wasn't the super painful experience I had after Corinne's c section where since I was under general, the only pain relief I got was a few perocets. I now understand why people have reported getting up and loving walking around afterwards...because they had an epidural! Up until now, I thought they were just super tough and I was just super weak. I felt great walking around and even wanted to go into the hallway to do a few laps. The nurses advised against it, as they didn't want me to overdo it, plus my left leg felt a little heavy and tingly, so they were concerned about a fall. Instead, I made do with pacing around my hospital room.
Getting back to the birth story: after the epidural was in, and they tested its effectiveness but running a cold ice cube over me, and scratching me with a piece of hard plastic, it was off to the OR. M suited up in scrubs and a mask. As they got me ready in the OR (transferring me to the table, etc...oh, they did not tie my arms down), then M was allowed in and took a seat near my head. I asked him to take lots of pictures over the curtain, since im curious as to what my guys look like, and i wanted to capture every minute of the process that we missed out on before with Corinne's birth. Plus, it is looking like theres a good possibility of being two kids and done, so this would be my last chance at birth.
M told me the incision was made (I didn't feel a thing). I did feel lots of pressure and pulling, but not in the places I expected (like the uterus). Instead it felt like someone was reaching in and pushing my stomach towards my head. That was the main sensation. I did start shaking a bit and my teeth were chattering, but not for being cold. The doctors and staff chatted like they would around a break room table. Apparently having someone sliced open in front of then is no big deal.
My parents used to have a potbellied pig. This pig ended up being so fat that the fat pockets around its eyes turned his eyes into little slits. This statement is going to make me sound like mother of the year, but that is what first came to mind. His chubby cheeks and swollen eyelids are making his eyes super squinty. Corinne was always such a skinny baby, so she never really got the classic squinty eyed newborn look.
I don't know whether it's because of that or not, but I don't think he looks anything like Corinne. When Corinne was younger, she was the spitting image of M. Now that she's gotten older, she is starting to look like me. But this little guy looks nothing like Corinne, M, or I. M said that he could see my dad in Evan with the shape of the forehead and the slope down to his nose. I say even that is a stretch. Evan has my hair, but other than those two things, he doesn't look anything like us. I'm guessing in a few months once he loses the "newborn" look, he'll start to look like one of us.
When Corinne was a newborn, she had lots of body hair still left (standard for a preemie). Even though Evan is full term, he still has a fair amount of body hair. His ears are even coated in black hair! I'm curious to see what he'll look like after he loses all the body hair.
Daddy's first diaper change (for this kid):
Going back to the birth story... We spent about two hours in recovery. We watched him get weighed (8lb 11oz), measured (21 inches long) and bathed. I noticed his penis looked weird. M (since he knows about man things like that) told me that's because it was uncircumcised. Yeah...the little dude's little dude is going to be trimmed up before discharge. While the AAP articles that were just very recently published, linking uncut members to a greater risk of health issues, may have played a small part in our decision process to trim the tip, I can fully admit our primary reason for choosing the cut route is more shallow: I know a fair amount of girls who are grossed out by the uncircumcised penis, but I don't know of any that are grossed out by a circumcised one. So, the reasoning goes that having a circumcised penis will expand his dating options. I'm not sure if gay men have the same distribution pattern as straight women when it comes to penis preference, but I'm guessing they do, so even if he turns out to be gay, his dating options will still be expanded.
I changed two dirty diapers of his today. I had to pull back the foreskin to clean the tip. An extra step that will be eliminated in a few days!
While in the recovery room, I was able to hold him and try to breastfeed. Thankfully he latched on and sucked a bit. I have forgotten how much harder it is to nurse a tiny, floppy baby. Nowadays, Corinne will crawl over to me, and latch herself on without any issue. I don't have to do anything; she takes care of latching/positioning herself. It's really quite nice! One of the recovery room nurses told me I needed to wean Corinne right away and not to let her nurse at all because she'll steal all the nutrients from Evan. I tried to tell her that I've already spoken to a few lactation consultants, my OB, the kids' pediatrician and read numerous items (websites/books/articles) about how to best tandem nurse (nursing two babies at different ages). The only warning I got was from my OB to take extra calcium. Everyone else was in support of this plan. However, the recovery nurse apparently "knew best", so I just shut up and nodded my head. She got a big mental "whatevs" from me.
During recovery the staff pal pirated my belly, in an effort to move my uterus down and squeeze out the blood/clots from the uterus. Every 15 minutes they did this. It was highly uncomfortable.
Up until the birth, we had three possible boy names on our "short" list: Ethan, Evan, and Emmett. I really wanted Emmett, but I couldn't get M on board. He was concerned that everyone would think we named him after a football player: Emmett Smith. While I liked Ethan initially, it was a top 10 name for babies born recently. Which means he'd be one of 327,264 Ethan's in his school classes. Plus, it sounded a bit like a furniture store when combined with our last name.
The story behind how Evan got on the short list was that M put it out as a potential name a few months ago. I didn't really like it at the same, so I moved it to the "non contender" list. However, about a month later we were watching "American Ninja Warrior". One of the contestants was named Evan. It struck a chord with me, so I turned to M and said "what do you think of Evan?" Evan made it onto our short list.
For the middle name, we both liked Pierce. It was slightly edgy, and it flowed nicely with our last name. We thought it was too violent sounding for a first name, but for a middle name, it was great. Another contender for the middle name was James. James is the middle name of both of Evan's grandfathers, and it's a fine name. So, the middle name was between the two: Pierce or James. For the most part, M and I were 50/50 split on them. Even when posed the question: if it was solely up to you, what does your guy say right now? We were still 50/50.
The tipping point on choosing Pierce over James was this: Corinne isn't named after any relative. So, to keep it even between the two kids, we decided to not choose a name that would honor a relative. Pierce won.
In other news about honoring a relative: Evan shares a birthday with his aunt Jill. Our family has a large number of birthdays around this time of year, so the odds were good that he's end up sharing a birthday with someone. Looks like a lifetime of having two names on their birthday cake: "happy birthday Jill and Evan".
On Thursday, September 6, I had a BPP and growth ultrasound. All my weekly ultrasound appointments I made for Thursday mornings. This is because it worked best with M's work schedule, and Corinne's Gymboree/nap schedule. This whole pregnancy, M jokingly referred to that it would be great if the birth happened on a Thursday so he could take a maximum time off work without interrupting the flow of business. At my Sept 6 appointment, the baby was measuring large at a guesstimated weight of 8lb 9oz. The doctor advised to go ahead and schedule the birth due to his size, and the fact that I am on injectable blood thinners, so I can't go beyond 39w, anyways. For scheduling births, it can't be done sooner than 7 days, so the soonest available date was Thursday Sept 13. It was ideal for M's work schedule, my doctor's schedule, and for my health purposes.
Getting back to the birth story (again): we were moved up to our postpartum room around 9:30ish in the morning. This birth experience was vastly different than Corinne's. Instead of feeling like death and anti-social, I felt pretty good and social-able. I updated Facebook with a picture and birth stats, texted a few people, and M went home to get some breakfast and pick up my mom and Corinne.
Corinne wasn't too impressed by her baby brother. She looked at him and disregarded him the same way as if he were merely a pile of blankets. but she was happy to snuggle with her Momma 😊
With Corinne, I had many lactation consultants. I learned which ones I jived with, and which ones I didn't. I remember that there was one I really didn't care for. She was a nice lady, but way too talkative and non efficient for my liking. Problem was, I couldn't remember her name to specifically not request her. Later on that day, guess which LC walked into my room. Yep, the one LC I didn't care for. Thankfully, within the last year she either learned efficiency, or assumed she didn't need to explain every small detail to me that anyone with half a brain would already know "hold up, I have TWO breasts?!?!"
A note for the future: Susan=Bad Darlene=Good
When hungry, Evan will latch without much fuss. But, he seems to have a preference for shallow latching. He's too small and floppy at this point for my favorite position: cross cradle on the boppy, so we've been doing the football hold on pillows.
His first day of life, he showed what awesome bowels he had and produced a record number of wet and dirty diapers. Normally, the goal is one wet and one dirty. He produced about eight. Within his first day of life, he lost 7oz. That evening, he weighed 8lb 4oz.
For 12 hours after the c section, I was only allowed to have broths. Let's face it, broth isn't going to satisfy anyone. But at 6:45p, I could eat regular food. M brought me the world's most awesome "push present": an Italian sub sandwich, a bowl of chili and a piece of chocolate cake from my favorite cake bakery. I made sweet, sweet oral love to that dinner and it elevated M to white knight hero status in my eyes. Food never tasted so gooooood!
And so concludes Evan's first day of life.
Note: if blood, guts, or baby balls offend you, cover your eyes while you read this.
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| Last picture as a family of 3 (minus the cat) |
I replied that we were, and asked her how she could tell. Her answer was that we strolled in, nonchalantly, looking calm. I guess when one arrives at the hospital in labor at 5a, one is a bit more harried looking.
M and I had a nice date night the night before. We went to a Japanese restaurant and ate our fill of food. I was hoping that food would tide me over for 24 hours before I got to eat again. But, my digestive system revolted, and I spent the night hugging the toilet. Maybe if I waited a few days for delivery, I would have gone into labor on my own, since hugging the toilet is a common part of the "right before labor experience". Who knows.
After we arrived at the hospital we went into a prep room where I took off all my jewelry and clothes (I got to keep my contacts in) and put on an oh-so-sexy hospital gown.
Then the IV fiasco started. It took four attempts and three nurses before they successfully got the huge ass IV in. Apparently my veins are kinky and they kept bending the IV catheter. It hurt...a lot. it was right around this time, I imagine M was thanking his lucky stars he was born a man, as he lounged on the makeshift couch, pain-free.
But that wasn't the end for the pain. Next step was the epidural. I imagine that once you've been in labor for awhile, the pain from the insertion of the epidural is a piece of cake. At least that's what I'm telling myself is the reason why people don't talk about how much the insertion process hurts.
It took about 5 minutes. I shook, I cried. I silently pleaded with M, as he rubbed my hands, to somehow make it go away.
But, 20 minutes later, I was feeling no pain and great! They are due to take it out about 30 hours after insertion. Since then (I'm at hour 24 post insertion), I pink puffy heart love the epidural. Whenever I start to feel pain, I press the little gray button for another shot of pain free happy juice. 12 hours after surgery, I needed to get up and walk to the bathroom. It was a piece if cake! The epidural numbed things just enough that it wasn't the super painful experience I had after Corinne's c section where since I was under general, the only pain relief I got was a few perocets. I now understand why people have reported getting up and loving walking around afterwards...because they had an epidural! Up until now, I thought they were just super tough and I was just super weak. I felt great walking around and even wanted to go into the hallway to do a few laps. The nurses advised against it, as they didn't want me to overdo it, plus my left leg felt a little heavy and tingly, so they were concerned about a fall. Instead, I made do with pacing around my hospital room.
Getting back to the birth story: after the epidural was in, and they tested its effectiveness but running a cold ice cube over me, and scratching me with a piece of hard plastic, it was off to the OR. M suited up in scrubs and a mask. As they got me ready in the OR (transferring me to the table, etc...oh, they did not tie my arms down), then M was allowed in and took a seat near my head. I asked him to take lots of pictures over the curtain, since im curious as to what my guys look like, and i wanted to capture every minute of the process that we missed out on before with Corinne's birth. Plus, it is looking like theres a good possibility of being two kids and done, so this would be my last chance at birth.
M told me the incision was made (I didn't feel a thing). I did feel lots of pressure and pulling, but not in the places I expected (like the uterus). Instead it felt like someone was reaching in and pushing my stomach towards my head. That was the main sensation. I did start shaking a bit and my teeth were chattering, but not for being cold. The doctors and staff chatted like they would around a break room table. Apparently having someone sliced open in front of then is no big deal.
Did I mention it was uncomfortable?
The surgery itself took about 15 minutes, I'm guessing, and we heard sweet baby cries at 7:07a. Followed by the doctor exclaiming "that is one big baby!" Evan scored 8 on his first APGAR and 9 on his second one. Much better than Corinne's APGAR of 2!
After getting him cleaned up a bit, the nurse brought him over so I could see and touch him. His cheeks were so chubby!
My parents used to have a potbellied pig. This pig ended up being so fat that the fat pockets around its eyes turned his eyes into little slits. This statement is going to make me sound like mother of the year, but that is what first came to mind. His chubby cheeks and swollen eyelids are making his eyes super squinty. Corinne was always such a skinny baby, so she never really got the classic squinty eyed newborn look.
I don't know whether it's because of that or not, but I don't think he looks anything like Corinne. When Corinne was younger, she was the spitting image of M. Now that she's gotten older, she is starting to look like me. But this little guy looks nothing like Corinne, M, or I. M said that he could see my dad in Evan with the shape of the forehead and the slope down to his nose. I say even that is a stretch. Evan has my hair, but other than those two things, he doesn't look anything like us. I'm guessing in a few months once he loses the "newborn" look, he'll start to look like one of us.
When Corinne was a newborn, she had lots of body hair still left (standard for a preemie). Even though Evan is full term, he still has a fair amount of body hair. His ears are even coated in black hair! I'm curious to see what he'll look like after he loses all the body hair.
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| He has hair on his ears |
Daddy's first diaper change (for this kid):
Going back to the birth story... We spent about two hours in recovery. We watched him get weighed (8lb 11oz), measured (21 inches long) and bathed. I noticed his penis looked weird. M (since he knows about man things like that) told me that's because it was uncircumcised. Yeah...the little dude's little dude is going to be trimmed up before discharge. While the AAP articles that were just very recently published, linking uncut members to a greater risk of health issues, may have played a small part in our decision process to trim the tip, I can fully admit our primary reason for choosing the cut route is more shallow: I know a fair amount of girls who are grossed out by the uncircumcised penis, but I don't know of any that are grossed out by a circumcised one. So, the reasoning goes that having a circumcised penis will expand his dating options. I'm not sure if gay men have the same distribution pattern as straight women when it comes to penis preference, but I'm guessing they do, so even if he turns out to be gay, his dating options will still be expanded.
I changed two dirty diapers of his today. I had to pull back the foreskin to clean the tip. An extra step that will be eliminated in a few days!
While in the recovery room, I was able to hold him and try to breastfeed. Thankfully he latched on and sucked a bit. I have forgotten how much harder it is to nurse a tiny, floppy baby. Nowadays, Corinne will crawl over to me, and latch herself on without any issue. I don't have to do anything; she takes care of latching/positioning herself. It's really quite nice! One of the recovery room nurses told me I needed to wean Corinne right away and not to let her nurse at all because she'll steal all the nutrients from Evan. I tried to tell her that I've already spoken to a few lactation consultants, my OB, the kids' pediatrician and read numerous items (websites/books/articles) about how to best tandem nurse (nursing two babies at different ages). The only warning I got was from my OB to take extra calcium. Everyone else was in support of this plan. However, the recovery nurse apparently "knew best", so I just shut up and nodded my head. She got a big mental "whatevs" from me.
During recovery the staff pal pirated my belly, in an effort to move my uterus down and squeeze out the blood/clots from the uterus. Every 15 minutes they did this. It was highly uncomfortable.
Up until the birth, we had three possible boy names on our "short" list: Ethan, Evan, and Emmett. I really wanted Emmett, but I couldn't get M on board. He was concerned that everyone would think we named him after a football player: Emmett Smith. While I liked Ethan initially, it was a top 10 name for babies born recently. Which means he'd be one of 327,264 Ethan's in his school classes. Plus, it sounded a bit like a furniture store when combined with our last name.
The story behind how Evan got on the short list was that M put it out as a potential name a few months ago. I didn't really like it at the same, so I moved it to the "non contender" list. However, about a month later we were watching "American Ninja Warrior". One of the contestants was named Evan. It struck a chord with me, so I turned to M and said "what do you think of Evan?" Evan made it onto our short list.
For the middle name, we both liked Pierce. It was slightly edgy, and it flowed nicely with our last name. We thought it was too violent sounding for a first name, but for a middle name, it was great. Another contender for the middle name was James. James is the middle name of both of Evan's grandfathers, and it's a fine name. So, the middle name was between the two: Pierce or James. For the most part, M and I were 50/50 split on them. Even when posed the question: if it was solely up to you, what does your guy say right now? We were still 50/50.
The tipping point on choosing Pierce over James was this: Corinne isn't named after any relative. So, to keep it even between the two kids, we decided to not choose a name that would honor a relative. Pierce won.
In other news about honoring a relative: Evan shares a birthday with his aunt Jill. Our family has a large number of birthdays around this time of year, so the odds were good that he's end up sharing a birthday with someone. Looks like a lifetime of having two names on their birthday cake: "happy birthday Jill and Evan".
On Thursday, September 6, I had a BPP and growth ultrasound. All my weekly ultrasound appointments I made for Thursday mornings. This is because it worked best with M's work schedule, and Corinne's Gymboree/nap schedule. This whole pregnancy, M jokingly referred to that it would be great if the birth happened on a Thursday so he could take a maximum time off work without interrupting the flow of business. At my Sept 6 appointment, the baby was measuring large at a guesstimated weight of 8lb 9oz. The doctor advised to go ahead and schedule the birth due to his size, and the fact that I am on injectable blood thinners, so I can't go beyond 39w, anyways. For scheduling births, it can't be done sooner than 7 days, so the soonest available date was Thursday Sept 13. It was ideal for M's work schedule, my doctor's schedule, and for my health purposes.
Getting back to the birth story (again): we were moved up to our postpartum room around 9:30ish in the morning. This birth experience was vastly different than Corinne's. Instead of feeling like death and anti-social, I felt pretty good and social-able. I updated Facebook with a picture and birth stats, texted a few people, and M went home to get some breakfast and pick up my mom and Corinne.
Corinne wasn't too impressed by her baby brother. She looked at him and disregarded him the same way as if he were merely a pile of blankets. but she was happy to snuggle with her Momma 😊
With Corinne, I had many lactation consultants. I learned which ones I jived with, and which ones I didn't. I remember that there was one I really didn't care for. She was a nice lady, but way too talkative and non efficient for my liking. Problem was, I couldn't remember her name to specifically not request her. Later on that day, guess which LC walked into my room. Yep, the one LC I didn't care for. Thankfully, within the last year she either learned efficiency, or assumed she didn't need to explain every small detail to me that anyone with half a brain would already know "hold up, I have TWO breasts?!?!"
A note for the future: Susan=Bad Darlene=Good
When hungry, Evan will latch without much fuss. But, he seems to have a preference for shallow latching. He's too small and floppy at this point for my favorite position: cross cradle on the boppy, so we've been doing the football hold on pillows.
His first day of life, he showed what awesome bowels he had and produced a record number of wet and dirty diapers. Normally, the goal is one wet and one dirty. He produced about eight. Within his first day of life, he lost 7oz. That evening, he weighed 8lb 4oz.
For 12 hours after the c section, I was only allowed to have broths. Let's face it, broth isn't going to satisfy anyone. But at 6:45p, I could eat regular food. M brought me the world's most awesome "push present": an Italian sub sandwich, a bowl of chili and a piece of chocolate cake from my favorite cake bakery. I made sweet, sweet oral love to that dinner and it elevated M to white knight hero status in my eyes. Food never tasted so gooooood!
And so concludes Evan's first day of life.
Corinne seeing her brother for the first time:
Corinne meeting her brother in person later on that day:
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