I'm so happy to share that my son Ira was born on 11/14 at 4:46am. He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz. and was 21.5" long at birth. It was a wild and fast labor with no gory details that I can remember, though I was in a hazy fog of pain and can't remember much other than I barely made it to the hospital in time - he was out and nursing about 40 minutes after we arrived.
I was discharged from the hospital the very next day, and though I didn't feel quite ready, we packed up and arrived home in time to pick Ingrid up from preschool. I'm still not feeling quite ready (emotionally/mentally) to juggle it all, but I'm fortunate to have both my parents and in-laws nearby for help!
Ira is a sweet and content little fellow. He's perpetually hungry, but other than that - not too fussy yet. He's even started sleeping a 5 hour stretch each night, which is absolutely luxurious for me if I can get into bed early when he starts the stretch around 10pm. Ira seems so strong and hardy compared to his preemie sister - he can already hold his head up for a while, is acing tummy time with plenty of kicking and head rolling and even pushing himself a couple of inches forward on the carpet, and he follows movement and sounds with his eyes - some of these milestones took my little Ingrid months. I'm also convinced he's gained at least 1 lb. since birth! Our only issue was a pinch of jaundice (like everyone else in our family), but he never had high enough levels to need the lights, so we won't be seeing the pediatrician for a full month after his initial "new patient" office visit. He has a full head of short chocolate brown hair, dark navy blue eyes, and an adorable little button nose. I think he's a handsome fella, but I'm clearly biased.
Ingrid is madly in love with her new brother, though I'm seeing the green-eyed monster more frequently, especially when he's cluster-feeding in the mornings and evenings. I'm sure this jealousy phase will pass, but for now, one on one time is still very important to her and we're desperately trying to carve out little niches of time for make-believe play and crafts when the little bear is snoozing.
I'll be adding one hour of MDS&W prep each day starting next week, especially if little Ira continues his current napping schedule, though in all honesty - I'm just not ready to even think about jumping back into fiber just yet. I tried spinning the other day but it didn't work out so well, and I ended up taking an extra-long bubble bath instead. The enthusiasm will return, but until then, I don't want to fret away my little one's sweet babyhood with a strict production schedule. Our family is complete now, so these are my last "newborn days" until grandparenthood, and I plan on savoring them as much as possible. My booth at Maryland might have the same amount of product as last year instead of the extra I had planned, but that will be good enough!
