I’m a little embarrassed to see that I haven’t posted since SUNDAY. People, even a new baby is no excuse for that. Not that I don’t have PLENTY of blogging material, mind you. Just, who has the time or attention span? I would no sooner be finally ready to post and then something else would steal my attention away. Most often? That something is the Prince of Reno himself; Liam. And he can steal my attention ANY DAY.
There’s so much to catch up on! I mentioned in my last post that sleeping wasn’t really happening. And… still not really happening. We’re having to force me to sleep. How sad is that?? It’s not that Liam is a nightowl or fussy or anything. Quite the contrary. He still feeds every two hours almost religiously, but in between he sleeps really well.? I just can’t sleep, even when he’s sleeping.? We finally nailed it down that I can’t sleep if there isn’t another adult (preferrably Kile) awake there to watch him. We’re working on it, but last night (and tonight… or maybe that’s today? I can’t keep track. It’s 4:30 so it still feels like night) I got three hours. And that’s twice the amount of sleep I was getting in the hospital. So that’s improvement.
We got to go home late Monday afternoon. Yay! Liam’s bilirubin levels had gone down from 15.1 to 13.8. Still not great, but not too bad. So the pediatrician prescribed a “bili blanket” for us to take home and use just about around the clock. I figured we’d be having to use one of those, so I wasn’t surprised. It’s not really a blanket so much as it is an “insert” that you actually dress the baby around. There’s fiber-optic lights that, when in contact with the baby’s skin, help break down the bilirubin in the baby’s blood. And it has the somewhat amusing property of making my newborn look like a Glow-worm. Remember those things? When he’s all wrapped up in a blanket and his lower half is glowing blue, the resemblance is startling.
I think it’s working, but it’s hard to tell. I’m pretty sure, though, that his face isn’t as yellow as it was when we brought him home. Could be wishful thinking on my part. But we have a pediatrician appointment in the morning to get him checked out and get another blood draw to find out. Hopefully he’ll be in the clear and we can ditch the bili blanket because when we have to “unplug” him to feed or something, he’s got this obnoxious cable hanging out the bottom of his blanket and he looks like an alien baby or something. Kile jokes that our baby runs off a 120; we have to plug him in to charge him up.
We’re trying to settle in… it’s a process.? It’s been hard for me to remember to take it easy. My emotional state has been… interesting. Very touchy. When I wasn’t sure if I could have the proper breastpump to take home, I had a meltdown. See, the pump is important. We found out on Monday morning that Liam is getting absolutely ZIPPO when he nurses. Very discouraging. He latches great, but his suction just isn’t enough. I can pump easy enough, but he doesn’t get anything. The Lactation Consultant weighed him before and after a nursing session so we know for sure. It explained a lot. Luckily, we were able to secure a pump to take home, but I continue to worry about how this is all going to shake down. But that is another post for another day.
In the meantime, we’re dealing. Liam makes me so happy I could just bust open and ooze happiness everywhere. And I’m pretty sure I’m unbiased when I say he is GORGEOUS. And quite simply a gift from heaven.
This is me. I'm a thirtysomething stay at home mom to three kids. For years I was a stay at home mom to one kid and trying very hard to have more. It took a LONG time (ie: 6 1/2 years), but finally Liam arrived and charmed us with his blue eyes and ginormous, round head. Then we got a shock: I was pregnant again and this time it was a GIRL. Our hearts and home are full at last and now that we're done having babies, we get to relax (snort) and watch them grow (not too fast now, you hear?). Thanks for coming by, feel free to dip into my archives, read my About and History pages (just don't do Jackson's Story without tissues!) and make yourself at home.
