The first week home was really great.... MUCH easier than I expected (I did the whole expect the worst, but hope for the best mantra). Viv was such an easy baby, so calm. She really did nothing but eat, sleep, poop and look completely adorable. She would go 2-4 hours between feedings and even do 4 hour stretches at night. The first few days I had to wake her for feedings, but by day 5 she was above her birth weight so she got the green light to sleep as long as she'd like. I, on the other hand, didn't sleep for longer than 10 minutes at a time. Between the adrenaline and neurosis, I just couldn't sleep.
My parents were also in town and they were a huge help!
We also stayed pretty busy...
On Day 3, Viv was looking very jaundiced so we took her to the ER. Seriously everything I knew about peds nursing (my specialty) went out the window... they were right when they said it's totally different when it's your child! Luckily, it wasn't bad enough for treatment so they sent us home with instructions to watch her closely and make sure she's nursing frequently. Within a few days, she was back to her normal color thanks to my milk coming in and plenty of indirect sunlight :).
Day 4 we drove up to the top of Mt Lemmon and had lunch:
Viv had her first sink bath! just like her mama (and if she's really like her mom, she'll be doing it until she's 6 lol)
Day 5 was Viv's first doctor appointment: (up 2oz from birth weight and 7oz from hospital discharge weight)
Day 6 was Adam's graduation from the B course:
Day 10 (the day after my parents left, of course) was NOT a good day... we woke up to Viv feeling really hot so I took her temp and she was 102.6 rectally :(. We took her to the ER (yes again..) and per protocol she had to be admitted for 48 hours to rule out anything serious. Luckily it was nothing, but it was definitely the worst experience of my life. I was a wreck and my heart hurt for her. It took 6 attempts to start her IV, which ended up in her scalp, and 2 attempts for the lumbar puncture. Nightmare. Plus, being a peds nurse, I know too much.. so my mind kept going to the worst case scenario. Thank God we got out of there happy and healthy. She is a strong little lady!
We left the hospital on day 12 and Adam's parents came to visit for a few days. Another huge help!
After her little hospital stay, my sweet sleepy Viv had a hard time with all the antibiotics they gave her (as a precaution until all the cultures came back). We had our first encounters with serious gas, fussiness and inconsolability. Not fun, but we got through it! Thank the heavens for gripe water and gas drops!
That week we also did her newborn photos (see separate post for all of them)
I had a hard time waiting to get the photo proofs, so I made my own:
During week 3, we introduced Viv to her first bottle of pumped milk. Dad was so happy to finally be able to feed her:
We also had a visit from our sweet friend, Fauzia... who we took a picture with but it didn't turn out :(. It was a fun visit though!
The last week of month 1 was a true test of my strength. Adam had to go to Phoenix for 2 weeks for training so it was just me and Viv. I didn't get much sleep and showering was a challenge, but I survived and we had a good time bonding.
It was really nice to get Dad home for the weekend though!
My friends Jenelle and Jason also came to visit for the weekend. We had a great time going to brunch and catching up!
Viv does a lot of sleeping and loves to laugh in her sleep. It is SO cute! She's a motion baby and loves to walk the house (while nursing sometimes... I'd say I'm pretty talented), bounce, and rock. But she also loves to cuddle. She's very alert and constantly looking at all of the colors and lights around her. She's beginning to smile socially and not just from gas ;). She also rolls to her side which makes me a little nervous at night, especially since she's a little wiggle worm and inches her way to the edge of the co-sleeper. She's becoming a little chunker too ;), I'm not sure how much she weighs since we haven't been back to the doctor since 2 weeks old (where she was 7lbs7oz), but from what we can tell (by getting on the scale with her) she's in the upper end of 8lbs and is getting little rolls.
Viv's tummy time:
Nicknames: monkey, gizmo, frog, love bug, mama, stink
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