A Magic Trick..

The past three weeks have flown by, the smoothest magic trick I've ever seen - they passed in the blink of an eye...
Week 1 - Appreciating the Grandma-made hat... being held by my niece...

Week 2 - Enjoying the patio and fresh air... post-lunch burp session...
 ... restin' easy... enjoying a first bath in a foggy and warm bathroom

Yesterday, Benjamin was three weeks old, *Ha - see, I started writing this LAST THURSDAY... so actually, day after tomorrow he will be FOUR WEEKS OLD!!!!
and this Saturday marks again last Saturday marked the first full three weeks we have been home...

He's enjoyed tummy time and a first bath... he has rolled over three times in a row (what?! my kid's advanced I guess... lol)
He has lost his umbilical cord (hello belly button!!)...
He has started to grin - and yes, it's most likely gas-induced pleasure, but we'll take it!

Last Thursday was my first day alone with him - E has been back to work since last Monday (requests HOURLY pictures of his son and no longer works a minute past 5pm...) and my mother just flew back to Texas on Wednesday...

What an INCREDIBLE experience it was to have her here, and how tremendous of a help she was... She was able to do our loads of laundry that I intended to do before Benjamin's arrival (I couldn't get up and down my stairs for days...) and she was able to keep the house (somewhat) clean - from the first hour home, there's been random socks, mitts, blankets, burp clothes, and nursing pads popping up around the house...

Breast-feeding has been going well (after a somewhat rocky start... I could only get colostrum and a good latch on my right breast in the hospital the first 24 hours and did NOT use any Lanolin... made for a very PAINFUL and scabby nipple, so I took a 24-hour break on that one breast with a bottle of pumped breast milk to supplement the left side... best idea.  EVER.)

So the nips have healed... last night E let baby suck some water off his finger and this morning was telling me, "holy cow that kid sucks hard!"
... YEA.

I KNOW.

Ben is averaging 3 hour sleep sessions and has from the beginning - some nights we get a four hour stretch!
Despite the good (oh what a relative term!) sleep we get, I've become a coffee-convert: at least 1 cup before getting the day started, and possibly another 1-2 throughout the day...


Oh and did I mention - my job called me a mere seven days after I gave birth?

Yea, I've logged almost 20 hours so far, for which I will be billing them as a consultant once my disability is officially over...

Nothing like leaving work to go give labor on the same day, and returning to at-home-status a few weeks later...


Now - sending good labor vibes to Katherine at GrowBabyGrow who is being induced tonight and (probably late to this party) to Kristy at Strength, Hope and Everything InBetween who was scheduled for her c-section yesterday... Hoping for healthy babies and mommies, and can't wait to "meet" LauraKate and Eva!