Shirt says: "Instructions Not Included"
Today has been our first full day at home and it has been very long. It is no joke when people say that no two babies are the same. Wayne and I both have limited experience with newborns so Jacob's first night home was an experience. The evening started off well and fairly uneventful. We made it home late yesterday afternoon and took some much needed naps, then Jacob's Grandmamma and Papa Greg, and Greg's mom Betty came over and brought us dinner. We had a good visit with them and Jacob did great the entire time. About 1 am when it was time for him to eat again he woke up and refused to go back to sleep. He had terrible gas pains and was acting hungry the entire time. Wayne and I were both up with them for several hours through out the night. About 6 am he finally went back to sleep for a bit.
We both were wishing for a take home nurse during that time to help us out. Our limited experience with newborns always came with an experienced person there as well until last night. If Jacob had an instruction manual we would have read the entire thing last night and memorized it.
The day today has been much better, after getting his gas pains under control he sleeps better and seems to be back on track with how he was in the hospital.
We have all been able to get some naps in and relax a little bit more today.
We are praying for a better night tonight. (Prayer is the closest thing to an instruction manual we have since God created him).
We are still waiting on news about Madison but trusting that since we are in PGN everything is moving along as needed.
We can't wait for our entire family to be together under one roof.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Jacob enjoying his crib and the bedding - Thanks Nana!
4 comments:
He is just beautiful! Congrats!! I wish I could snuggle a little baby. After 4 I am done, which is why I am going into nursing school now, so I can snuggle them hee hee.
Just a few things you might want to try to help you out. There are some gas drops you can get. We never got them but other people have raved about them. Another think you can do is rub on his tummy and move his legs up and down to gently relieve some of the gas. The main thing is burping though. Put him where he is sitting up leaning on your arm and burp him that way. You can also gently move your knee a little and that might help as you are burping.
We did co-sleeping. There is a lot of hype about it now a days, but they have things that attach to your bed that you can place him by and he won't really be in your bed. We actually had ours in our bed which made it easy since I was nursing. I am a very light sleeper but not everyone is so I would advise you not to co-sleep in the same bed if you are not. If you get the bed thing that is better, I don't think they really had those out when I had mine.
Finally the last thing, which I am sure you both know by now. Have some skin on skin contact, undres him to the diaper and lay him on you so he can feel your bare skin. This works for both mom and dad. It gives them comfort and might help calm him down and get him to sleep. He can actually smell mom, and his dinner if you are bf...so he may like to be close to the source! If you can lay on one of his blankets so it will have your scent on it and that will bring him comfort too. Even if you are not BF the scent thing will still work.
Hope you all get some rest!
Hi Wayne and Meredith,
Jacob is beautiful. I am sure each day and night get better. We can't wait to hear that Madison is home also. Congratulations!!
Gregg, Kim and Kailey
You guys will figure each other out soon, I promise! Definitely get the gas drops. Mylicon was our saving grace with Hayden. Our doc also told us to move his legs like he was riding a bicycle, and that helped, too. GOOD LUCK...it gets easier, honest!
It would be awesome to have a manuel with the first child, but unfortunately...I know how hard it is to recover from a c-section plus learning to care for a baby. Bottle fed babies do have more constipation and gas troubles than a nursed baby, so I would recommend the gas drops too. I did use them with Jordan when I had to stop nursing her & use formula. Hang in there! Jennifer
Post a Comment