First days home

We spent the first few days after getting home adjusting to life as a family of four.  Thankfully, Jason didn't have to go back to work until Tuesday so we had some down time to figure out what our new normal was going to be.

This included our first drive down to Mom and Dad's to drop Charlotte off before taking James to his first doctor's appointment.  We were excited to hear that he had gained back 7 of the 8 ounces that he had lost while we were in the hospital by this visit to bring his weight back to 5 lbs 15 ounces.  And we were especially thankful that his Billie Ruben number was fine so that we didn't have to worry about jaundice.  It was very nice to take him in for his first visit on a Saturday -- no one was in the office so no need to worry about other kids passing things around and we were in and out about as quick as we could be!

We spent the afternoon watching football, especially the Alabama vs Penn State game.  Memma came over and brought dinner and helped us out in the afternoon which helped us so much since I was not feeling good on Saturday.

By Sunday we were starting to get the feel for what life was going to be like and were starting to try and get James into a eat/wake/sleep routine.  We found that Charlotte is good at trying to keep him awake and especially loves shaking his blue dog in front of him and tickling his toes.  Sadly, he still wasn't really up to staying awake but we did manage to get a few minutes of awake time out of him!

Charlotte adjusted to life with a sibling better than I expected her to.  She loves James and tolerates him being in one of our arms very well.  She hasn't gotten jealous when I feed him at all which surprises me.  She has asked some questions about it but seemed satisfied when I told her he was drinking milk.  :)  There have been some occasions where she will come and sit in the chair with me and James while he's eat and I'll rub her back or neck while we're sitting there.  I think she likes sharing that time but she doesn't push for it.

We found that she started using the potty for attention.  She would start needing to go to the bathroom almost as soon as I started feeding James but after a day or two of that she quit doing it.  She doesn't really understand using an inside voice when he's sleeping but I guess that's why I've always heard that second babies are sound sleepers who can sleep anywhere!  She has to tell him good night or good bye if she's leaving and she's asleep and sometimes likes to go in while he's sleeping and stand in front of his swing and sing to him.

After about four days the newness did wear off on her and she began to get a short temper with Jason and I (although she never expressed it at James).  She would get upset very easily about little things and it would be hard to calm her down.  However, this didn't last more than a few days at a really heightened state so that's good.  I know that this transition will have ups and down but so far it's been only nominally stressful so that's been very nice.

As for James, he's adjusted well to life at home.  He's sleeping at night from feeding to feeding which is fantastic and allowing us to get decent bits of sleep which helps tremendously during the days.  We have only had a few rough nights since he's been home which has been such a blessing.  I had forgotten how many dirty diapers babies go through though and we had a very limited stock of newborn diapers anyway since we thought he was going to be really big so we have had to make a few diaper runs.  We also had very limited clothes options and Mom went out and bought a few preemie outfits which even now are still fitting him.  He's basically living in gowns that are pretty long with the sleeves rolled up and the preemie outfits.  We've also already established the differences in changing a boys diaper and are learning how to manage those changes so that we don't get wet.  :)

Overall, it's been a pretty good transition although the first week or so at home were pretty rough with me feeling much worse than I remember feeling with Charlotte.  But we're also getting more sleep than I remember with Charlotte which is a huge blessing.  It has been very fun having two little ones in the house and seeing how Charlotte interacts with James.  It's going to be a busy next few years but they're definitely going to be fun!