Easton: 1 month

Well, here we are...a month into our new family of five. I can honestly say it has been easier than I thought it would be. That is mostly due to our family who came up and gave us twin-and-dinner coverage for a month straight! It has been SO SWEET to have a newborn in the house again...and so easy I must say! Easton is pure joy and such a sweet, sleepy, cuddly, sleepy, squeaky, sleepy little boy :) It doesnt' appear we have the reflux bear to deal with yet so that has helped tremendously. The twins have turned on us and have made the transition the most difficult aspect. Terrible two's are real. Very real. It was God's grace that we had patient grandparents up here to deal with Caden and Jenna's tempers...mommy and daddy would have lost it several weeks ago if it were just us up here :)

But, for mommy's sake (because one day I will work on your baby book...oops I need to buy it first :) ), lets recap the past month.

Week 1: Son, you are precious! Just precious! You are soooo sleepy. Nana says your Daddy was the same way. You quickly make it known that the hardest part of your newborn stage is getting you to stay awake to feed and burping. You won't let that burp go for anything! As a result, you get hiccups after every feeding just about. Thank you Lord for Gripe water - gets rid of those mean hiccups every time. This is what you look like all of the time.

The twins don't even acknowledge you...you are not part of their world for anything. We ask if they want to touch your head, give you a kiss, sit beside mommy holding you...nope, nope, nope. They just want to play with each other. (Definitely a positive to having twins...they have each other to play with all the time!)

We had so much trouble with your brother and sister having reflux, Mommy decided to go the prevent defense route and put you in your bouncy seat to sleep. All swaddled up in that bouncy seat will melt my heart - every time! I have to wake you up most every feeding this first week - we barely get a full feeding in. You are a champ at nursing by the way - thank you! Thank goodness the Lord gives us what we can handle... it is a good thing you are such an easy baby because Mommy had a HORRIBLE first few days at home. (Mommy sidenote here: remember how I said to avoid the Pertussis vaccine AT ALL COST? Here is the reason...a) it has tetanus in it so your arm feels like it is BROKEN, oh my mercy! b) leave it to me to get a ton of the possible side effects from the vaccine, including a super sore jaw that I could barely open and couldn't even touch (ummm lockjaw anyone?), a fever which turns into the chills/shakes (not fun when your trying to nurse!), and all over body aches. All of these symptoms started a day or so after I got home. Bad enough, right? No, no, no...I'm going to keep my other difficulty short and simple. Let's just say my poor body thought  I had delivered twins again and therefore had to produce enough milk to feed said twins. Easton was drowning during feedings and I literally developed a massive tumor in my armpit of backed up milk. Easton nor my pump could get the milk out fast enough. So there was about 2-3 days of rough roughness and maybe some cursing in my head. (kidding). Nevertheless, we prevailed and lived to tell about it.

Daddy stayed home a few days this week and was a lifesaver, taking the twins out for runs and walks everyday to let Mommy and Gigi get a break. (another mommy sidenote here: the twins turned Jekyll and Hyde on us. They started throwing incredible tantrums, and acting like crazed animals! They never acted out towards Easton or when I was doing something with Easton...they just reacted towards each other in a brother/sister rival moment like they never had before. yikes!) Caden continued his eating issues while Jenna ramped up her sleeping issues. I'm not kidding when I say, quite literally, we were up with Jenna more than our 1 week newborn. EXHAUSTING.

Another big happening during your first week home was the Election. Gigi is a bit obsessed with election coverage so she snuggled with you all night watching what was going to happen. It let mommy get some sleep :)

Week 2: Throughout the week, you continue looking yellow and yellower and yellower. At your first check up ( 4 days old) you were 7 lbs 3 oz (50%) and 19.5 inches (25-50%). The Doctor was still concerned at the way you "looked." They order bloodwork to check on your billirubin levels. That was pitiful to see all the blood they took out, but in your Easton fashion - you slept right thru it.

Your bloodwork came back great, but your color got a little worse. At another doctor appointment they said you had "breastmilk jaundice." Who knew there was such a thing? They said that there was some enzyme or something in my milk that your liver was just having a tough time filtering, thus increasing yoru billirubin levels. They told me to keep nursing you frequently, even thru the night to help your liver "outgrow" this issue and flush it out. So, I set alarms thru the night to nurse you every 3 hours. No wonder you gained weight so well! We had lots of playtime by the window to help too.

Minus the tantrums from the twins, Gigi and Mommy survived quite well this week with Daddy back at work.

You provided lots of new entertainment for your brother and sister. Bathtime was (and continues to be) a huge hit!

When you were 7 days old, we took you for another weight check / jaundice check. You had regained your birth weight already! So you are getting plenty of milk in your sleepy state! We took you to get Newborn photos done and oh.my.goodness. Son! You are adorable. Mommy found a photographer up here who was AWESOME - mommy and daddy sat on a big leather couch the whole time with our feet propped up. She changed you, positioned you, soothed you....everything! Those photos are for another post.

During week 2 we made sure to teach you how to drink from a bottle.  Mommy loves the flexibility to get out of the house and just get a break! You took right to it...no teaching necessary! Good boy! This week was all about trying to get you back into a routine. Since you slept so much, you  were not having any awake time after feedings. We worked on it so you could get your days and nights straight (the small awake time you did have was in the middle of the night of course).

Week 3 was such a fun week because Aunt Robin and Papa T drove up from NC to spend Thanksgiving week with us! It was like waiting for Santa to arrive the day they drove up. Gigi and Mommy were so happy for some extra hands to play with the twins during the day! Aunt Robin and Papa T looooved snuggling with you and meeting you.

Mommy and Aunt Robin took some pictures of you in your adorable little suspenders. Mommy.is.goo. looking at these pictures. So cute! We can already tell you are plumping right up and gaining weight so fast!

 

 

We had to keep reminding Papa T there was a newborn in the house again...you were almost sat on a couple of times :)

We had a fun Thanksgiving in Ohio  this year. It was very different from what we are used to, but we were so thankful for YOU! That YOU were the reason things were a little different than normal. Here you are in your very handsome Thanksgiving attire:

In the meantime, you continue to be Easton: asleep.

Around this time, Mommy and Daddy have an epiphany  that one baby is so much easier than two babies! We talk about how much we are ENJOYING your first weeks at home instead of SURVIVING like we did with your brother and sister. We hold you, talk to you, look at you, SIT DOWN with you (what???), and have conversations to other people! What a delight!

During week 3 we began to have some sibling sightings. I caught Jenna looking at you a couple of times! Eureka! Then, Caden began having stare down competitions with you...I suppose it is his way of saying "I love you, brother!" :)

This week was the week Aunt Robin and Papa T made mommy feel guilty for not wanting to decorate for Christmas. You and your siblings take alot of energy so mommy didn't have extra to put towards decorating the house. Well, you can thank Aunt Robin for being mommy's "elf" and putting up our little charlie brown tree and some lights on the mantle. Your brother and sister LOVED it, so it made mommy feel better that we put some stuff up.

Week 4 was sad because we said goodbye to Gigi, Papa T and Aunt Robin, but it was only sad for about 8 hours. Nana and Papa arrived at supper time that day! yea! They loved meeting you and seeing all of your features and faces.

 

By this time, Mommy had not been to church in 2 months! (bedrest and after your delivery) so I was itching to go. We packed you all up, cold whether and all, and enjoyed going to church as a family.

Mommy took part in her first outing with all 3 of you to her MOPS group. Everyone did great! The second outing...Easton's 1 month appointment, was much harder and more exhausting, but you all did great for that too. At your one month appointment, you were perfectly healthy and happy. Thank you Lord! Mommy almost fell down on the ground when we weighed you....10 lbs 12 oz (75-90%) !!! That means you grew 3 lbs in 3 weeks. Holy Moly. Your jaundice was gone and everything else turned out great. You measured 21.75 inches (50-75%). We feel like you are a giant baby since you are measuring above 50%!!!! The twins never got close and still continue to be in the 25% (J) and 2-5% (C).

I can't believe 1 month has come and gone. What a great month learning your signals and signs. We are so glad you are here! And for the record...the final verdict is: One baby is LIGHTYEARS easier than two babies. :) What a fun experience to enjoy.