Ben is now a week old! And boy has it been a week.
First of all, I feel like a milking machine. It feels like the past week has consisted of three things: breastfeeding, trying to sleep, and wishing I were asleep. I didn’t expect to be so tired. But it’s getting better/easier each day. I’ve upgraded my condition from dying of tiredness to just tired. Progress! {Apologies to everyone for not returning calls, emails, etc. – I’ve been so tired that I completely understand why the hospital told me I shouldn’t be driving. My functioning has been minimal. :-)}
We’ve been worried about Ben. He’s lost 11 ounces since birth because he wasn’t getting enough breast milk. He’s had a little jaundice and been dehydrated, as indicated by pinkish/orangish urine and lack of bowel movements. We’ve been to the pediatrician 3 times.
However, since my milk’s come in, Ben’s been “eating” like a champ, he’s gained back 5 ounces, and he’s doing great.
Blake, Ben, and I were at Babies ‘R Us today and an expected mom stopped us to ogle BOB. She was anxious because she’s going to be induced tomorrow. I shared my experience and week as a new mom, like the first few days of breastfeeding hurt like hell. I felt like a pro already.
The cats are having interesting reactions to Ben. Mostly, I think they’re jealous of the attention. I swear, since having been holding Ben so much, and he’s so small, the cats seem to have doubled in size and hairiness. They’ve been good though. They periodically come over to sniff their new human bro. Ben’ll have fun playing with them/getting beat up by them when he gets older.