A Week of Firsts

Tuesday, May 5 we brought Dean home from the hospital. It was so new, but so comfortable being at home as a little family of three. We had waited for so long for this baby to come into our lives and were thrilled to finally have him home. It made it feel real--this little baby boy was actually our baby boy!

The transition from taking care of only myself to also caring for a new baby was not as hard as I expected. At first I was not sure what to do. I admit that in the first week Dean was held pretty much all of the time. I had a hard time putting him down, plus Ryan's parents were still staying with us so between the four of us someone was always happy to hold our sleeping baby.

Sleeping was pretty much all he did too. He woke up to eat every few hours and would look at his surroundings in awe for a few minutes at a time, but mostly he just liked to nap. I expected to have this little baby that depended on me to feed him every two hours. I thought pregnancy was just the beginning of my sleepless nights. Dean slept four to six hour stretches at night from our first night home, which meant I only had to wake up to feed him once during the night. During the day he usually only woke up to eat every two to three hours. I worried a little, but at the same time I knew survival was a basic human instinct and this baby would wake up if he was hungry.

I actually appreciated the long stretches between feedings because my nipples were still so sore. I loved the bonding of breastfeeding and knew it was good for my son, but it was torture for me. I was putting teabags in my bra after feedings (the tannic acid in black tea has healing properties) and lathering up with lanolin ointment as often as I could. Nothing seemed to take away the pain though. I had to pump sometimes because I would get so engorged that it hurt. Dean would sometimes go so long between feedings I would be too full for him to latch on so I would pump a little before feeding him to make my boobs softer.

I also sometimes opted for a bottle; I would still have to pump in place of the feeding, but pumping did not hurt. This gave Ryan (and grandma and grandpa) a chance to feed little Dean and it gave me a break. Dean had his first bottle his second day home, which meant Ryan got the opportunity to feed his son for the first time. He enjoys feeding Dean, but we only give him bottles every now and then so it's something Ryan doesn't get to do very often. I wanted to make sure Dean would take a bottle so he wold not be dependent on me alone for food in the first year. I read contradicting information on how soon a bottle should be introduced and ultimately decided it would be best to introduce the bottle early to make sure he would take it. We have only offered bottles every once in a while; I use slow flow nipples and don't warm the milk too much just to make sure he still prefers to get it from the source! Just in the first week I built up quite the freezer supply of milk.

I was proud of my overabundant supply, but still could not wait for it to regulate so I would be more comfortable. I tried to pump as little as possible to tell my body to slow down on the milk production. That plan backfired and on day nine (which also happened to be Mother's Day) I ended up with mastitis: pain, red hot spots on my boobs, fever and chills. This meant I now had to keep my boobs as empty as possible, which meant frequent feedings or more pumping. Since Dean tends to prefer sleep over milk and often falls asleep during feedings and cannot be aroused no matter what tricks I try, pumping it was.

Let's backtrack a little first though, this first week was full of firsts for us as parents and for Dean! Some of them were little milestones that happened in the hospital: he sneezed for the first time on May 2 and had his first hiccups outside the womb on May 3. As he did while I was pregnant, he gets the hiccups about once a day now. It's fun to see it knowing what it felt like when he was inside me. He smiled for the first time on May 8, although I am pretty sure it was just an accident...or gas. I was smiling at him when it happened though, so I like to think that he was mimicking me.

Smiles from May 8 through May 21 (I wish I could catch better...I'm not quick enough with the camera!)

He even got to meet his aunt Kim and cousins Bailey and Dylan the day after we came home. Bailey was thrilled to have a new cousin and kept putting her hands out asking to hold him. She would also peek under the nursing cover to make sure he was okay whenever I fed him. Dylan was not so gentle...he stroked his cheek, which we thought was so sweet and cute until he smacked Dean in the face. Then he held his hand (awe--how sweet!) and tried to bend his fingers back. Dylan's not quite a year old yet, but in a few years I'm sure the two are going to be great friends!

Another first that first week home was our first outing. I was still nervous about him sitting in the backseat in his car seat by himself, so I rode in the backseat with Dean while Ryan's mom, Lynette drove (Ryan had to pick up Kenzie and Brinlee from school and then met us there). We did not go far...we took Dean to see his Aunt Amber and meet the rest of his cousins (except for the oldest who was not home) that did not come see him in the hospital. We also brought cupcakes and Lynette brought gifts for one of the boys who had just turned seven a few days earlier. Of all our little nephews, the 5-year-old was the most interested. He made sure to tell his brothers to wash their hands before they touched the baby and was excited to get to hold him. He even kept offering Dean his little Curious George stuffed animal.

A big first: Dean's first bath at home! He got this on Friday May 8 when he was a week old. He still had not lost his cord stub or his plastibell from his circumcision, so this was just a little sponge bath. Ryan put a space heater in the bathroom and closed the door about 15 minutes before to make sure the room was nice and warm, then Ryan, Lynette and I took little Dean up for his bath. We filled the bottom of his little tub with just enough water that we could dip the washcloth and I undressed our boy.

In the warmth of the bathroom Dean didn't even get mad about being naked! However he was very unhappy about the bath part and screamed the entire time. He especially hated having his hair washed and just to show me his displeasure he pooped all down the side of me when I had him in a football hold rinsing the soap out of his hair. I finished bathing him then helped Ryan towel him off while Lynette wiped Dean's runny yellow poo off my shirt and pants. We did not even try for a lotion rub down. This was probably the quickest bath ever. We both hated hearing him cry so much that I rushed through the bath and got him dressed as quickly as I could. Once he had a diaper and pajamas on he was perfectly happy again.

I must say I am impressed at his modesty: in every naked picture, he has his legs scrunched up so you can't see his little wee-wee

The next one was a big first for me: my first Mother's Day as a real mom! Mother's Day has always been a tough holiday for me because it celebrated the one thing I wished to be more than anything, but could not seem to achieve. This year I was the proud mom of a 9-day-old baby boy! As previously mentioned I woke up not feeling too great, but we had a big morning planned so I got dressed and fixed myself up in preparation for company. My aunt was in town to pick my grandma up and take her back home to Idaho, so we had my mom, sisters and their families, grandma, two aunts and one cousin over for brunch. It was our house or my aunt's house, but I felt more comfortable being home so I volunteered our house.

My mom came over early to put the muffins and fruit out and get the frozen quiches in the oven so that I would not have to do any work. She took one look at the giant red mark on one boob and the small red spot on the other and told me to call my doctor. Fortunately my doctor was the one on call for the day so she called in an antibiotic for me and Ryan had it picked up in less than an hour. My mom also made me pump myself empty after I fed Dean and told me to feed him (or pump) as often as possible for the next couple of days to help clear the infection. This was the last thing I wanted to hear when I was trying to get my supply to regulate!

Our Mother's Day brunch was a success: there was plenty of food and everyone seemed to have fun. I even got my first Mother's Day card as a new mom from my youngest sister, Kim. Just before everyone was getting ready to leave, Ryan took Kenzie to get the car washed and ended up taking her shopping with him then meeting up with Melissa at the mall. Once our company left I was on my own (Ryan's parents were there, but they were still downstairs). I did not feel so great. I did not even clean up after everyone left; I went straight upstairs with Dean and we took a little 2-hour nap.

While I was sleeping, Ryan came home and cleaned the whole kitchen. A while later his oldest sister, Tricia surprised us all by showing up unexpectedly to drop off a card for Lynette. Tricia loved on baby Dean and told us some fun stories about our niece's dance competition from the night before. It was fun to see her.

After she left, Ryan and I sat down at the table with his parents to open cards and presents. I got my first Mother's Day card made out to "Mommy"! Ryan's parents gave us a Willow Tree figurine of a mother, father and baby and Ryan's dad gave me and Lynette little blocks with words for Mother on them that he got for us at church that morning. Ryan gave his mom two bottles of perfume from us. Ryan gave me a card from him and another from Dean, and a necklace with two open hearts and a diamond in the middle that constantly moves and sparkles. I love everything: the gifts, the cards and the sweet messages! I had such a good first Mother's Day.

As always, when Lynette is around, we also took pictures to document my first Mother's Day and show off our sweet baby boy.  She even took a 3-generations picture of Ryan with his dad and Dean that turned out so sweet. Ryan is already such a good dad (although we are more than three weeks in and he has yet to change a diaper), always loving on Dean and cuddling him. I am so proud to be momma to this sweet boy of ours! I just can't get enough of him!