Life With a Baby

So, I know my posting has been scant over the past few weeks, but there's a newborn in the hizzy and I haven't had much time to shower, let alone sit down for a few minutes and think of something (sorta) brilliant to blog about. So here is my feeble attempt to update y'all on My New Life...

Harrison has morphed from feeble preemie into full-fledged newborn, eating and pooping and sleeping on a semi-predictable schedule. He has been eating every 2-3 hours or so during the day, and at night sometimes he sleeps for a 4-hour stretch (although that doesn't happen often), and he has been averaging 3-4 ounces of breastmilk per feeding. I am still pumping every three hours to keep up with Harrison's demand, although I ran into a snag when I had to return my rented hospital-grade pump back to the hospital and I purchased a less-than-stellar electric double pump and my milk supply slowly started to dwindle. Because of this, we decided to bite the bullet and buy the Medela Pump-in-Style last night, so hopefully that takes care of the problem, otherwise we'll be stuck with a very expensive pump and some serious feelings of inadequacy.

Other than that, Harrison is doing really well. He is awake for longer stretches now, so we are able to spend time chatting with him (well, chatting AT him) and gazing into those beautiful eyes. And, although I know it is probably gas, I swear he smiles at me as he drifts off to sleep in my arms...that makes all of the sleepless nights more than worth it.

Lots of people have asked me how Grace is doing with a new brother, and my answer is always, "Better than we expected." Sure, we did have a couple of rough days at the beginning (the first time she saw me kiss Harrison, she said, "You don't love me," and then she ripped my heart out of my chest and tore it into bite-sized pieces. Just kidding about the last part.), but on the whole, she has been doing pretty darn well. She did sleep on her own in her room for several nights in a row right after Harry came home, but now she is back to falling asleep in her room and then coming in by us during the night, and that seems to be working out all right for now. And, she has pretty much gotten over the initial jealousy that she was feeling and even offers to help me out with diaper changes and baths. The best thing ever, though, is when it's time for her to say goodbye or good night to Harrison, and she gives him a little kiss on the head and says, "I love you, little brudder." Cutest thing ever.

And, Aaron and I are slowly but surely adjusting to the sleep deprivation and busy lifestyle that come with having a baby. I did have a mild case of the baby blues the first week or so after we got home, but I must be getting used to my new sleep schedule (or the hormones are wearing off a bit) because I have been feeling pretty okay for the past few days. Now I just need to find time to take a nice, hot shower and maybe grab, like, six hours of uninterrupted sleep...