Second week of life - Doctors and Trauma

Max's second week of life had it's share of trauma for both me and Max.


After Peter got back from taking the Amos's to the airport, we had a calm, quiet Sunday filled with just hanging out.

I love cute baby pajamas

He fell asleep this way.  This boy really doesn't care about a pacifier.

Look at that chunky face!

Video of Max falling asleep with a cute cameo by a sneeze - I love his sneezes!

On every Monday Peter works from home, which is wonderful!  This Monday, it was greatly appreciated so I wasn't completely alone yet.  We had an appointment with a pediatric urologist to get Max circumcised am I was glad Peter was there with me.  It's not fun to hear your baby in pain.

Tummy time - bum in the air

At the Urologist office

At the Dr's office - notice his middle finger.  Think he knew what was coming and had a message for us?

You can see how worn out he is from screaming :(

Max didn't cry too much during the procedure, it was after and especially on the ride home that he really screamed.  It was so bad when we were driving that I had Peter pull off the freeway so I could hop in back with Max and try and comfort him.  Max has some serious lungs and his poor face goes red.  It makes me so sad for him.  :(  Later that day when I was changing his diaper I noticed that his umbilical cord that hadn't been coming off at all that morning was now just hanging by a thread and was bloody.  That completely freaked me out.  I figured that all his screaming had somehow contributed to this and was worried that the cord was coming off before it was ready.  I was so stressed about it, I was ready to take Max to his doctor but Peter reassured me that it wouldn't have started to come off if it wasn't ready.  Every diaper change though, I was examining his belly.  I have pictures of this but won't subject you to them. 

On Tuesday Peter went to work and I was home alone, for the first time with Max.  Overall we did pretty well.  As you can see below, there were some calm moments.  I did have a friend, Lori,  from work stop by on her lunch break.  It was nice to have her there especially since she has two kids of her own and has been a source of knowledge for me.  And then Brittany came over for a little bit too.  It's AWESOME to have her living so close.  I am going to enjoy that a lot in the months to come while I am home on maternity leave.

Happy and hanging out with Mom

However, by the time Peter got home, I was ready for some Daddy reinforcements and Max was too.  Peter was great and took over baby duty as soon as he walked in.  (It wasn't that much of a sacrifice, I could tell he had missed Max during the day.)  Most of Max's umbelical cord fell off during the day however his belly button didn't look normal and there was still some dark stuff on it so I was glad we'd be seeing his doctor at the end of the week and she could check it out.  Thank goodness for Google though, it is a fantastic resource to me as a new parent to check things out and see if they are "normal".

It was a rough day being alone with Mom all day!

On Wednesday, Peter again went to work all day. I was a little more adventurous than the previous day and loaded Max up in his stroller and we went downstairs to pick up the mail. It was amazing to me how little I got done during the day when it was just me and Max. I was so busy taking care of him that it was a struggle to find anytime to do anything but take care of him. If I got something to eat before noon, that was a win. And where was I supposed to find time to shower?

I know it's not very nice to video my poor son screaming rather than picking him up and comforting him, but I had to document his cry.

Don't worry - I only put socks on his hands a couple times.  I just can't do that to him.

Going for a (short) walk to get the mail.

That night we gave Max another sponge bath.  Since he was still healing from the circumcision, it was a partial sponge bath.  He loved being in the water and stayed nice and calm.

He loved his bath!

The shirt says it all

I feel bad that his head is nearly always crooked in the car seat but he prefers it that way.

Close up! (Despite his beautiful skin when he was born, he did end up having some baby acne.)

Sweet little sleeper.  I LOVE it when he snuggles in like this.

Kisses!

 On Friday we had Max's Two Week Old visit with his pediatrician.  He did a great job (he didn't have to do much but lay there and be examined and then bleed quickly when they pricked his foot to pull blood for a test).  Dr. Gondol, his pediatrician, looked at his belly button and confirmed that part of the cord had fallen off but that there was still some there so no regular baths yet.

Dad and Max at the Dr's

Mom and Max at the Dr's

Here are Max's stats from the visit...
Weight - 7 lbs 10.5 oz (20th Percentile)
Height - 19.5 inches (12th Percentile - yikes, I hope he doesn't have my height genes!)
Head - 35.75 (24th Percentile)

Other points from Max's second week of life

• Max is getting hard to put to sleep at night. When Max wakes up, Peter gets up and changes him and burps him while I get ready to nurse.  For the first couple weeks Peter was also helping me during those feedings because my mobility was still limited.   He was also helpful when it came to nursing.  Max's hands were always in the way so I needed a third hand to hold his hand out of the way so that he could eat.  Once Max starts eating, Peter goes back to bed and then I put Max to bed when he's done.  I struggled so much this week to get him to go back down after eating.  I was so tired from lack of sleep anyway that it was hard to have the energy to keep trying after trying for up to an hour sometimes.  I sure hope I get the hang of this because I end up only getting short naps inbetween finally getting him down and the next time he wakes up hungry.

• I am moving around much better and having less pain when I move.  By the end of the week I walked at a nearly normal pace and mainly only felt pain when I was doing something that involved my abs like squatting down or moving in bed.  Hopefully by next week I will be back to basically "normal".
• I can tell that Max is already growing and getting bigger - amazing!  However he is still really little in the newborn clothes and his carseat.
• We love this baby.  Peter is head over heels in love with him.  He coos to him and kisses him.  He danced with him to Mozart one day while I was taking a shower so Max could get the benefit of the steam.  At work, Peter checks in on Max while he is sleeping via the baby monitor/webcam.
• Max has been congested and there's not much you can do for a newborn so we have given him saline drops and keep a humidifier running 24-7.
• I don't think it's hit me yet that I am a mom.  It feels like I might just be watching someone elses baby for them.  He certainly is an absolutely cute and sweet baby but I don't feel like I have that amazing connection everyone talks about yet.  I think part of it is because I am so tired and worn down.  And in that state, I seem to gravitate quicker to sadness than happiness.  I have been mourning my mom a lot.  Every day is rough.  She would have been here this week.