Monday, August 13, 2012

One Week Old

Axel, 2012


Can't believe he's so OLD! I feel like we've had such an action packed first week together. On Thursday, Axel's umbilical cord fell off, which was exciting, except that it made me think, gah! He's nearly off to college.

I coped with that nutty thought by booking a newborn photographer for tomorrow morning so that we can capture him, and us, before he becomes a giant.

Other than that, I think we are getting into the swing of things. Last night we went out for a lovely dinner at Betto and a walk down to the waterfront. Amazing that our last walks down there were when I was in labor. He's been letting me sleep in 2-3 hour stretches at night, and I have pretty much cracked the breastfeeding thing.

The first few days home were really frustrating on the breastfeeding front, especially in the wee hours of the night when I was exhausted. I think my technique was a little wobbly and I just couldn't quite accept that a newborn needed to eat quite so often.

Until he was weighed at the doctor's, I was convinced that he wasn't getting enough milk and that was the root of his nighttime freakouts. Turns out that's not the case. He's eating just fine, and latching properly. He is just THAT hungry. Getting a lactation consultant and going to the breastfeeding support group at Caribou Baby helped a lot. For me it's a matter of confidence and going with the flow. I threw out those charts that tell you to track when the baby eats and stopped writing down feedings. Turns out Axel tells me when he needs to eat and that all that paperwork only serves to stress me out. If I'm not thinking, "But you only ate an hour ago," I am much more relaxed and so is he.

Will and I have been trying to strike a balance between getting out and about and getting naps when we need them. I had a ton of energy when I came home from the hospital and couldn't quite still my mind enough to sleep. But I'm gradually figuring out how to do it when I need to and also how to set boundaries and say no to visitors when I just can't keep my eyes open.

We've gone out for lunch a couple of times and on our usual errands. It makes me so, so grateful to live in Brooklyn, where there's so much to do in a 4 block radius, and the knowledge that if he does have a meltdown, we are about 3 minutes from home at any given point. In appreciation of our neighborhood, I updated the Williamsburg Baby Resources page. More to come as we go! I feel like our decision to raise kids in the city was 100% the right one.

I'm also recovering fairly well too. A few more reruns of Breaking Bad on the sofa and I should be back to my usual self.

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