One Week Later

The first few days after Otis was born things were a little crazy around here. On Sunday we had a handful of visitors, mainly Jane and Dave and their daughter Molly. Dave is on crutches due to a broken ankle and he crawled up the stairs to see me and meet Otis! Needless to say, once he was up he was going to hang out for a while! I was still on "baby-high" and hung out in bed while he and Matt played chess; we ordered Indian food for dinner and all ate in the bedroom. It was very nice.
But Otis was having some very rapid breathing and strange tremors in his hands and legs. The midwives were concerned and thought it might be due to low blood sugar. They told us that babies over 11 pounds often have these issues before the mother's milk comes in. I have two breastfeeding friends and they brought milk to the house. We made a breast milk cocktail of the two mothers' milks and gave it to Otis. It seemed to help, but the 4 oz. we had wasn't enough to sustain him and we had a very rough Sunday night of 5 hours of off and on screaming.
By Monday morning his breathing had not improved and we were getting worried. Our midwives suggested we take him to our pediatrician, whom happens to be the husband of another one of our midwives. He is very supportive of home birth (obviously, if he's married to a midwife) and we trusted that he wouldn't just shuttle us off to the hospital. He felt that a chest x-ray would be good to make sure everything in Otis' lungs was clear. He also ordered a chest x-ray for me because my bronchitis was still hanging around! we made our way to the hospital for the x-rays, which went very smooth and Otis did really well in the car seat.
The x-rays came back clear for Otis and showed no signs of pneumonia for me, so we were glad to have that put behind us.
Tuesday was a turning point for us all. My milk came in and Otis was happy! So happy! He is a great nurser and seems to be giving us 3 hour stretches at night. Aside from a little gas from time to time, he is pretty much the perfect little baby.
In all of our runnings around on Monday, one of my stitches from the birth came out and I have been ordered to stay in bed a little longer than normal. The bronchitis wasn't clearing up with the first round of meds so now I am on Prednisone....but after 5 really good days of rest; very little walking, lots of sleep and water; I am beginning to feel really good. This next week will be very good for us all. Otis and I are getting downstairs some, eating with the family, socializing and it all feels like we're settling in to our family of five.

One week old




Matt's mom, Pat, is here helping...and boy is she a great big help!! She is really keeping the house running, with help from Matt (and Sam and Arlo). But she is amazing. It isn't easy to take over someone else's household and make it work, but she sure knows how to do it....and can the woman cook!!!! I am being fed like every new nursing mother should be! She'll be here until the 30th. Matt's dad, Jim, will join us on Thursday. They have plans to take Sam to see The Lion King broadway show that is here in Lansing for a bit next weekend! Sam is thrilled and I am thrilled that he gets to go.
The boys are adjusting well. It has been a good slow introduction for them. Now that I am a little more active and around them more with Otis, they'll get to help and interact a bit more. Arlo seems to be having a little more trouble with the adjustment (he's been acting out a little, but he's also sowing his 2 year old oats). Sam has been wonderful! He helps and wants to hold Otis. They have both been surprisingly patient as well.
I am still working on a birth story. It is harder to write than I though it would be. Time will help and in the next few days I think it will be done. I'll post with pictures then.