This post has been on my to-do list for a while. I know it's overdue, but I'm posting it anyway since these are really to help our family remember this journey.
So, first off... a picture!!
Week 4 Highlights:
1) No AC! I know God won't give me more than I can handle, so I had to just laugh as life threw us a curve ball. It was only about 36 hours of no cool air, but it was long enough when you have a new baby. Some sweet friends named Kevin and Aislinn (pronounced Ash-linn) adopted the three of us for the night. We had such a relaxing time (not easy with a 3 and a half week old!) E actually slept great in a new place. Plus, we learned about this new (to us) thing called a Rock'N'Play by Fisher Price. E now sleeps in one every night. Love it!
2) The E's monitor alarm jolted us out of bed. We have an Angel Care monitor that beeps if baby stops breathing for more than 15 seconds. Friday morning, just before Tim's alarm clock went off, we heard our first beep. Tim quickly jolted out of bed and calmly called out, "Emmitt..." as he hurried down the hall. Me? I panically recited "Oh, God! Oh, God! Is he breathing? Is he alive??" on loop while I ran behind Tim. You see, the monitor is to help prevent SIDs. I am terrified of SIDs if I stop and dwell on it, which is what the beeping alarm led me to do - dwell on the possibility that my little bundle was no longer breathing. It turns out that E had simply wiggled his way off the movement-detecting mat. I learned two things from this experience: Tim is a much calmer person than I am when it comes to a possible crisis. Also, E cannot be trusted to remain in one spot. Let the wiggling begin!
3) E's first tornado sirens! (A notable event for an Oklahoma baby.) The sirens went off while we were at Kevin and Aislinn's. We weren't worried since they have a storm shelter. However, since we live in Oklahoma, I wanted to be able to tell E that the first time he ever had the tornado sirens to worry about, he slept right through it. I'm hoping this will convince him that he doesn't need to freak out when there is severe weather. We were safe and everyone was okay. Plus, we made some yummy "shelter cake" (aka hastily iced warm cake) to get us through the adreneline rush of tornado weather. (Thanks, Aislinn, for the pic!)
4) First date night for Mom & Dad! Miss Aislinn watched E while Mom and Dad went out to Red Lobster for dinner. She instructed us not to come back for at least two hours, so we went and wandered Academy afterwards. It was a short outing, but it was nice to have some time alone with my best friend. Plus, Aislinn sent me pictures of E while we were gone. Those cheered me up each time I missed him!
5) E is already in his big boy diapers. What I mean by this is that he is out of his newborn diapers and wearing his one-size diapers. These bigger diapers are adjustable so that they will fit him all the way through potty training. This happened too fast for momma! We had been having leaks with the newborn sizes for almost a week before I finally realized that they were too small rather than too big. (I'm slow like that sometimes...) The nice thing about this is that we have more of the one-size diapers than we have newborn diapers. This means less laundry. Hurray!
6) E can lift his head and move around during tummy time. I'm not sure exactly what the age markers are for this, but we watch him move and look around with awe and excitement. Now, I'm not talking about a steady, smooth head lift. He wobbles that noggin around quite a bit. But the cool thing is that he is moving it and holding it off the floor for more than a fleeting second! And boy can that kid wiggle! If we put him down, a few minutes later he is not in the same spot!
Things I've learned as a rookie mom this week:
1) Ask for help! Tim and I hosted our small group on Friday night. I knew my house wouldn't be spotless, but it hadn't been cleaned in the 4 weeks since E had arrived. It also wasn't cleaned the week before that. (Do you see where this is going?) In an attempt to prevent embarrassment on our part and disgust on the part of our friends, sweet Aislinn came over to help me clean. She had been offering for almost four weeks, so I finally accepted. We vacuumed, swept, mopped, cleaned bathrooms, dusted, and cleaned glass doors. And when I say we, I mean Aislinn did most of it and I helped. My energy is getting back up there, but my endurance is still trying to catch up. It helps that Aislinn loves to clean. Thank you, friend!!
2) Batteries are for the birds! E really likes his swing. In fact, he's even slept in it a night or two when he wanted to be fussy but mom and dad wanted to sleep. This meant that we used up the batteries much faster. We now know to shop for electronic items that can be plugged in for continuous use.
3) Nursing pads are serious business. I wasn't ready for that! In fact, I didn't really understand just why they were so important or how often you would need to change them. I had a box of disposable nursing pads and used those for about a week. When I ran out, I decided to make cloth nursing pads that I can just wash and reuse. I'll post a blog about them later to show you how easy they are to make. I just couldn't imagine having to keep track of how many disposable nursing pads I had left before I would have to restock again... and again... and again.
4) Babies cry in their sleep. Loud outbursts, then serene breathing. What's the deal? One night I got up three times within twenty minutes. Each time I quietly entered the nursery, there was E, just sleeping and breathing as peaceful as can be. One time I even thought, "I'm going to wait for him to do it again just so I can see how he does this!" I waited for ten minutes before I gave up and went back to bed. Of course, as soon as I was laying down, he did it again! I think he must be practicing his ornery timing for when he's a teenager...
Stephanie
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