Newborn Pictures :)

We had Ryan's newborn pictures taken with the wonderful Heather from Red Barn Photography once again, and once again, we're in love with them :) Enjoy!!

Week 1

It has been one week since we brought sweet little Ryan into our family, and we're already in that stage where we're having a hard time remembering what life was like without him.

Ryan is such a little honey, and I have thoroughly enjoyed his snuggles this first week. The first few days were pretty rough overall, attributed partly to a really rough recovery from childbirth for me and my milk not being in yet for him.

We only stayed in the hospital for one night, which I regretted almost immediately, considering how weak and exhausted I was. That's not to mention that with my milk not being in, I had a horrible night of sleep, where he was up every 5-10 minutes.

I had Mark stay home with me that first morning we were home just so I could get a couple hours of sleep.

Thankfully, the second night went much better, since my milk came in. By day 3, I started to really regain my strength, and Ryan and I did probably too many errands, including a follow up appointment at the hospital (a new program they're doing).

The follow up revealed that his actual discharge weight (considering he was discharged at 1 day instead of 3 days, which is more the norm) was at 9lbs 6oz, so we were looking forward to being on the up and up from there on.

Ryan has been a REALLY good eater, so we have a feeling it won't be long before he's back at his birth weight (and then some!)

This first week, Ryan and I have been sleeping upstairs so as to let everyone else get some good rest. I'm getting 2-3 hour chunks of sleep, which is great! We usually sleep from around 11pm until 6am, get up from 6 to 7am to help Daddy get big brothers up and ready for daycare, then head back to sleep from 7-9am or so. Depending on the day, we might just eat and then head back for another nap afterwards, but sometimes we've stayed up for the day.

It has been extremely quiet on the visitor front this time around for this first week. In the hospital we had the boys along with Mark's Dad and family come, then my boss and his wife, followed by Mark's Mom and then our friends the Studes. The rest of the week we haven't really had any visitors, aside from Mark's Mom came back for a few hours on Wednesday afternoon, and then my friend Jill, who stopped in to say hello and meet Ryan. I'm sure that'll get a little busier this coming week, but it has been nice to just rest and relax after a pretty rough (albeit "textbook") delivery.

How is Baby Doing?

Ryan is just the snuggliest most content little baby, and even as I type this update, I see him across the room in the swing and want to scoop him right up and breathe him in :)

(Granted, we had 5 hours of newborn photos this morning, so I think he's perfectly content not being touched for a while) I absolutely adore his snuggles and sounds and little grins :)

Ryan despises being naked and/or cold. In fact, if you even just take unbutton his pajamas, he screams bloody murder. He also completely hates diaper changes.

He really prefers Mama to anyone else, which is just fine with me :) We've been co-sleeping at night because he isn't really a fan of the rock 'n play sleeper, swing or sleeping anywhere even remotely not close to me. To say I wasn't enjoying that would be a lie.

How is Mama Doing?

I'm beginning to finally start coming around this time, although it has definitely taken me longer than anticipated. Delivery took its toll on me, including a significantly greater loss of blood than previous deliveries as well as tearing in both directions, so I'm still taking ibuprofen and trying to take it easy to heal completely before undoing any of the good. I've been having back spasms since delivery as well, and my ankle that I sprained a couple weeks ago is beginning to be significantly more sore.

That being said, I'm beginning to feel more myself. I'm slowly regaining energy and feeling much more myself now. I've been pleasantly surprised at how quickly the baby weight has fallen off this time. I'm currently just two pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, and I feel pretty darn skinny compared to a week ago :)

Being a mama is just one of the things I naturally adore, and while Daddy isn't as fond of the newborn stage, I just eat it right up. I love this time during maternity leave where I spend my time napping with my babies, nursing, snuggling, journaling, scrapbooking, and just overall being in this peaceful place. I've had this 12 weeks with each of my babies where I've had uninterrupted days (both of the older boys go to daycare), and I wouldn't trade it! It's absolutely a luxury to be able to focus on just Ryan for those daytime hours, and to feel rested enough to handle the night time hours he keeps as well. I'm very much looking forward to the next 11 weeks we get to spend together as well :)

How is Daddy Doing?

Life hasn't really changed too drastically for Mark since Ryan was born, truthfully. He has mostly been getting up and going to work each day, which is what is working best for all of us. We haven't had any crazy weeks yet. I think he's enjoying a *little* more downtime from being the only one caring for Cashel and Kendrick, as that's pretty much how these past few months have been with me being so exhausted and immobile. Mama takes care of most everything concerning Ryan, and I have time to get the other duties done during the afternoons, so it's nice to have a break from doubling up on the housework and extra kid duty for him. He is coming down with a cold right now, though, so that kinda stinks.

He loves all the baby snuggles lately, and Ryan couldn't have been born at a more perfect time, as he has enjoyed watching all the March Madness games while snuggling.

How are Big Brothers Doing?

Cashel and Kendrick are absolutely smitten with baby Ryan, and they want to hold him all the time. Cashel just loves his little face and wants to kiss him all the time. Kendrick is actually more in love with the back of Ryan's neck, which just cracks me up!

If we thought we would have any concerns about jealousy or the adjustment, things couldn't have gone better! These guys both just absolutely adore Ryan.

Cashel loves to hold baby Ryan, but he kinda freaks out a bit when he cries. He sings "Rock a bye Baby" to him whenever he starts fussing or crying, and takes great pride in turning the music on the baby swing if he's fussing during supper. If those tricks don't work, though, he wants us to make baby Ryan stop crying immediately.

He is so proud of his little brother, and he kisses him probably 10 times a day :)

If I was worried about one of the two big brothers, it was Kendrick. Surprisingly, he has been incredible so far! He also loves to hold baby Ryan and gives him big wet slobbery kisses on the top of his head. If Ryan starts crying, Kendrick will run to him as soon as possible, get right up in his face and yell, "It's okay, baby Ryan! It's okay!" Sometimes he'll take Cashel's cue and start singing "Rock a bye Baby" as well. He just beams with pride when he talks about his baby brother. He loves to swing him in the baby swing too :)

Overall...

I am actually shocked at how smooth the adjustment has been to having a new baby in the house this time around. We haven't had (nor have we needed) any extra help this time around, but it all just feels so natural as well. I'm still holding my breath in anticipation of a few more weeks or months down the road when the boys realize that this is our new normal and maybe have more of an adverse reaction to their new baby brother, but for now we're just enjoying this nice calm :)