Week One and Beyond..

Wow! New-born life. I’m surprised how much I have forgotten; the good and the not-so good.

Conrad has been home from the hospital for 10 days. My parents flew in the day after we came home so the timing was perfect. Four kids and four adults makes for good ratios (Seth was able to get some work done as well). I really did nothing more than sit in my recliner holding Conrad those first few days. My parents really came through! My mom took over Charlie’s piano lessons and he made incredible progress while she was here. She also played a lot of chess with him which he loved.  Grandpa was happy to take Lucy for walks to the park and Matthew went exploring in the forest a few times with grandma. With doctors appointments, dentist appointments, Sam’s club runs, new-born pictures, and school functions, it was so nice to have extra hands to help. My dad also spent a few days doing maintenance on our van (replacing filters, hub caps, and fluids) which we are grateful for and I think he had a good time doing as well. We also ate really well with my mom  taking daily request (BT Cake and the Italian meatballs were my favorite).They also kept us well stocked with Ice cream and Zebra Cakes! Their eight day stay went quickly by and we are looking forward to our visit to Utah in August.

For FHE we sang “Once There Was a Tulip” and Grandpa joined in the fun!

 

Charlie was awarded the “Principals Writing Award” at the spring Soaring Eagles Assemble. Grandma, Grandpa, and Matthew went to cheer him on!

Conrad is doing well. He was nursing a TON in the beginning and never seemed to be satisfied (and sucking down bottles of expressed milk after marathon nursing sessions). I spoke with a lactation consultant who told me I needed to relax and focus on my baby and everything would go a lot better. I was really frustrated with her lack of help so I let a few more days pass before I contacted a different  lactation consultant and I’m so glad I did because she is a lot more proactive(sadly that was on Friday so we haven’t met yet but we’ve talked on the phone A LOT).  We took Conrad in for a check-up on Friday afternoon and he had only gained ONE OUNCE in a week. Everyone seemed to believe that I had a supply issue (doctor and LC) so I rented a hospital grade pump to get things going. I actually found out that I have an AMAZING supply and for some reason this boy is not getting it. Thankfully the lactation consultant put things together and said that it was most-likely a reflux issue. I was a little surprised because he doesn’t spit-up but I guess they don’t always. She recommended giving him 2 mls of liquid Maalox but unfortunately liquid Maalox had a major recall and there was NONE to be found at any store(or gas station) in the area. She finally just called him in a prescription for Zantac and we were on our way. We started giving it to him last night and feedings are going so much better. We still supplement him after about half the feedings but he is not crying during them anymore (I thought he was crying because he wasn’t getting enough, when he was actually crying in pain, so sad).  I actually meet face-to-face with the lactation consultant tomorrow so hopefully things will only improve and we can get this boy chubby!! 

Conrad’s first home bath.

We love seeing a lot more of his eyes and his expressive eyebrows (thanks for the adorable summer outfit Kelly).