I’ve been meaning to get this post out sooner while everything was fresh, but every time I go to blog at night I decide it’s probably smarter to just go to bed.
Here is Beau’s birth story.
Hospital Stay: He was born at 10:12 pm, so it was after 1 am by the time we got everything all settled & “in bed” for the night. Beau cried a good bit and wanted me to hold him & nurse him most of the night that first night, so I didn’t really get any sleep that first night. It took him a few minutes to figure out how to latch each time, but once he got it we were good. This may sound silly, but when praying specifically for all of our boys’ demeanor before they were born – we have prayed that they would be happy babies, would eat well and sleep well, and wouldn’t cry much. Jon said “Oh boy, do we have our first cryer?” Ha! I told him no, he was just getting adjusted to being in the world and it was probably a long day for him too. Sure enough he hasn’t cried much since then. Sweet baby!
Jenny took great care of us through the night & tried to let us rest as much as possible, but came in to check our vitals every few hours. I was sad she didn’t say bye before she left, but she was probably trying to let us sleep. The next morning at shift change we met our new nurse Stephanie, and she was phenomenal too. Very knowledgeable.
The charge nurse took his measurements for us. She was such a sweetheart. He definitely had big hands & feet. 7 lbs & 13 oz at 10 days late…so definitely not as big of a guy as we would have expected. (Especially judging from the torpedo!)
Mom brought the boys around 10 that next morning and they met their brother for the first time. It was SO sweet!! I wish we got a picture of the three of them and a family picture, but we were busy loving on the boys (I missed them so much! and I could tell they missed me too.) and didn’t think about it. Jase and Kade opened their gifts from Baby Beau and had a blast playing with the puzzles & games. They did Beau’s hearing test while the boys were there and he rocked it. (Jonathan keeps saying he has awesome hearing.)
Mom said when they left that Jase said in the elevator “I love Baby Beau so much!” Melt my heart.
Si was another nurse, and she came in to give him his first bath around lunch time. Jonathan helped her and snapped some pics for me while I took a shower. (I seriously could NOT figure that stinkin shower out! Too fancy for me I guess.) I felt like a new woman afterwards. Beau didn’t love getting the bath because he does NOT like to be cold. He tee teed twice while she was bathing him. He smelled SO good after his bath.
The pediatrician came by after his bath. She mentioned that he had Erythema toxicum, the same newborn rash baby Kade had. (It’s from my hormones- and there isn’t anything you can do about it.) Other than that, she said he looked perfect!
My dad came by a little while later, and then Laura, Brian, Braylon, & Mayson came to visit.
About that time the charge nurse came in and asked us if we minded moving downstairs to the overflow area because they were so full. I didn’t really mind except that it meant we were on a floor with patients recovering from various surgeries. It was very loud on that floor. Jimmy, Jade, and Baby Kayton got there a few minutes before we started packing up and so did Tammie, Zach & Morgen, so they all helped us get downstairs. They tried to get me to ride in a wheelchair but I asked to walk and the nurse said I was the first mama she’d ever seen walk. It felt good to be up and moving around.
Mom & Dad came back by later that evening with the boys and brought Jonathan some dinner. He had a pretty bad headache coming on at this point. Both of the boys were getting tired too, so we kept it short.
The hospital was so swamped that they didn’t have time to do his circumcision that day, so we knew we wouldn’t be able to leave till the next day sometime. We all fell asleep right around 10 pm (finally!), but that was right at 24 hours so as soon as we were all asleep they came in about that time to do his 24 hr tests. They did his heart and PKU test that night. She had to poke him twice because she couldn’t get enough blood from his heel the first time. He screamed the whole time. (I should have asked to hold and nurse him. I think I did with the other boys.) Everything came back great on all the tests. Baby Beau started cluster feeding through the night (so we didn’t get much sleep that night either), and the next morning Stephanie reminded me they do that when your milk is coming in.
Jonathan’s headache started turning into a migraine (I’m sure from lack of sleep, a LONG & emotionally exhausting day the day before, and probably somewhat dehydrated), so the next morning I walked upstairs with the baby for his circumcision while Jonathan went to get some headache medicine & ginger ale.
They wanted to watch Beau for an hour after the circ before they’d let us go home. They did it around 10 am. When Stephanie came to check on him, Jonathan had just got done saying that it looked really, really bad and then Stephanie checked on it and said it looked great. He said “I guess that’s the difference between a rookie and a pro’s perspective,” and she said, “Nah, that’s just probably the difference between a man and a woman’s perspective.” I died laughing! I know this probably sounds crazy, but I have a really hard time changing those first few diapers because the circumcision care makes me feel a little light headed and funny. I can and do take care of it obviously, but I don’t handle and kind of blood, cuts or wound care very well. (I know I’m going to have to get over it with 3 boys.)
Jonathan’s head finally started feeling better when we were working on getting discharged, but I knew he wouldn’t be in the mood for “going home” pictures. We went through everything with our nurse, packed our bags, and headed home around lunch time. We realized we didn’t have the infant insert for his car seat, so we used receiving blankets rolled up.
We live less than 5 minutes from the hospital. We were SO thankful to be home & start our journey as a Party of 5!!
Weight: Beau was 7 lbs and 13 oz when he was born. We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights (since he was born at 10:12 and they don’t really like you to leave at night…plus they couldn’t do his circ till the next day) and he was down to 7 lbs & 9 oz when we left. He had his first check up with the pediatrician the following Thursday morning (right at 1 week) and weighed 8 lbs and 7 oz, so he was back to birth weight and beyond.
Health: He has the same newborn rash Kade had called . It is from my hormones and will go away. (Went away right around the 2 weeks mark.) Other than that he’s super healthy and we are so very thankful!
When they originally measured him at the hospital they said he was 20”. At his checkup, they said he was 21 3/4” long. So, he’s somewhere in between there!
His diapers changed from the meconium to a greenish color on the 4th day, and by the 6th day it was the seedy yellow diapers.
His belly button clamp came off the morning of his first checkup (1 week old). Dr. G said that is a little early for breastfed babies. He has the same little birthmark on the back of his neck that Kade had, and a mark on his forehead (in a shape of a V) like Kade had too. His faded and I’m sure Beau’s will too.
He’s very alert when he’s awake.
Sleep: He’s sleeping pretty well. He even gave me a 5-6 hour stretch one night! We’ll take it! So far he’s sleeping pretty well for 3(ish) hour stretches. Sometimes shorter, sometimes a little longer. I feel like he sleeps better (more soundly) during the day, but that could just be because I’m busy and don’t notice every little sound like I do with him right next to my bed. So far he likes to be swaddled.
Nursing: Nursing is going really well. I am thankful to not be sore anymore! He has a shallow latch like Jase had, so that led to some soreness for the first few days. I was engorged for a few days, but thankfully it wasn’t as painful as it was the first time. He nurses for about 30 minutes. He burps like a CHAMP. TONS and tons of wet/poop diapers, so I don’t even keep track anymore. I feel like he nurses quicker than the other guys at first (or at least stays awake better). I always offer both breasts, but sometimes he only eats off one side and then I’ll just start on the other side for the next feeding. He started emptying them after about a week. I’m leaking milk everywhere and didn’t have any nursing pads till the other day when I ordered some off Amazon. I don’t know why I thought I could get by without them, but the other day I took the boys to story time at the library and my shirt was SOAKED. So embarrassing. Thankfully it dried up quickly.
What Beau is up to: Beau loved his bath. Grammy & Jase helped.
He’s doing great with tummy time. Sometimes I forget to do it, but I try to have him do it for 10-15 minutes once or twice a day. Check out that strong neck- My strong boy!
He looks so much like his brothers, but more like Jase did as a baby.
He gets very red when he cries and seems to have a little bit of a red tint to his hair. His big bros both LOVE him and they are so sweet with him. They love to rub his head. Jase sings to him and said to his Grammy “Mom feeds baby Beau out of her body and it’s disgustin.” Hahah!!
Visitors: Grammy & Granddaddy, Jade, Will, Papa, Baby Kayton, Laura, Brian, Braylon, Mayson, Tammie, Morgen, Zachery, Carsyn, Megan, Lea,
PostPartum: Thankfully I feel REALLY good and this has hands down been the best recovery yet. I used some Post-partum sitz bath (made with essential oils) bags in the bath to help with healing. I have had minimal bleeding, no problem going to the bathroom, and physically I feel great. I haven’t been getting a ton of sleep because I’m having a little bit of a hard time sleeping. Not so much because of the baby- I just can’t sleep. It’s hard to explain. I have also started having the crazy night sweats. Whew- didn’t miss that!
My first couple of days I went up and down the stairs WAY too much since I felt fine, so I tried to back off the next couple days after reading that even though it may not affect me now, it’s not a great idea to go up and down the stairs a lot because of the more long-term effects. It said that everything is still loose from having a baby, and the specific muscles you use going up and down stairs put a lot of pressure on those muscles, which could lead to issues (such as uternine prolapse) down the road. That was tough because the laundry room, all bedrooms, and closet/bathrooms are all upstairs, but we made it work.
Jonathan went back to work on finishing the house the Monday after the baby was born, so I was super thankful my mom came over every day for about 2 weeks to help me with the bigger boys. (I’m not supposed to lift anything heavier than the baby for a little while. Kade weighs about 26 lbs and still likes to be held, plus needs help getting in and out of his bed at nap time and bed time.)
I have had a really tough time eating raw veggies & salads like normal, so I’m eating too much “comfort” food & hope I can get back to more normal (for us) eating soon. I have been eating a lot of fruit- specifically oranges.
Baby Gear: swaddle, gowns, Pampers, Ava Anderson baby wash and lotion, Snuza, bouncie chair
Thoughts: Sweet baby Beau, you are SO very precious!! Such a sweet, sweet baby. We are ALL over the moon with you being here. You are so loved! I am so proud to be your mom and you are an answered prayer. Can’t wait to watch you grow!
My heart could just burst with joy.
1 comment:
Have you tried magnesium to help you sleep? They have it in a spray or a gel and some people rub it on their feet before bed. I would ask your doctor or nurse since you're breastfeeding and everything. My daughter was 4 months old when I first used magnesium to help me sleep better and it worked. I was also breastfeeding at that time, though I didn't ask a dr about it! I didn't have to use it for very long. When I was pregnant with my second I was having heart palpitations, nothing major just hormones, but my doctor said magnesium can help and told me to rub some of the gel right on my chest and that was when I was pregnant so I would assume it's ok while breastfeeding. But all doctors have diff advice! Just thought I'd mention it :). Looks like you're doing great, you go girl!
-Nat
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