Week 2

Tuesday, Preston turned one week old!  I got to sleep off and on until around 4am the night before.  I needed to get up and start getting ready so that we could get to Champaign for Preston's newborn pictures and doctors appointment.  It's crazy how your world goes from sleeping in to getting up at 4 am!  His newborn pictures were from 8-11 am.  Mr. Preston was a grumpy pants!  I don't blame him though.  He was hungry and tired, and not in the mood for pictures, but he did so good!  The pictures are going to turn out fabulous!  Our photographer was so good with him.  She is pregnant with her second, a little boy, so that was neat.  I'm not so sure that the family pictures we took are going to turn out too great.  It was so hot that I was sweating like crazy, and I was getting too flustered trying to get Preston to calm down for pictures that I got even more sweaty, not to mention my shirt was covered in breast milk!  But I know that his individual pictures and his pictures with Jaidyn are going to be great! :)  After picture was Preston's circumcision.  I struggled so much after this appointment, and I still am.  It was a horrible experience for me.  From the start, Kyle and I were both adamant about getting him circumcised.  When I was sitting in the room with the consent forms, I started to have second thoughts, but I quickly dismissed them and signed the papers.  We went back into one of the rooms where they checked his weight and jaundice levels.  His levels are still great, and he went from 6lbs 12oz from his Friday appointment to 7 lbs 5.5 oz!  I couldn't believe that he has already surpassed his birth weight, but was very happy to hear it!  When you are breastfeeding, it's hard to tell how much milk he is getting, and I have been nervous about it, but feel much better now!  After his weight check, they took him back to have the procedure done.  I could hear him crying from down the hall, and it broke my heart.  But then it got worse.  They brought him back to me, and he was shaking uncontrollably and making this sad little whimper.  I fed him, and he continued to shake and whimper the entire time.  Jaidyn cried after the doctor came in and showed us how to take care of his incision.  I looked over and she was holding his little hand with tears streaming down her face.  She just loves that little boy so much.  We headed home after that, but stopped at the outlet mall in search of something for Preston to wear to his baptism.  Fail.  Apparently newborns only wear sleepers, because I went to 3 or 4 different stores and that's all that I could find for newborns.  It was very frustrating.  We went home, and Jaidyn and Kyle went to the pool for a bit.  I stayed back with Preston, who was just not himself at all.  He was sleeping a lot, and wouldn't eat much.  When Kyle and Jaidyn came back and we were all sitting in the living room, I sat on the couch with my little baby in my arms and cried.  I felt so guilty about the circumcision appointment.  I just kept looking at his sad little face.  I couldn't believe that I let him go though all of that pain when it could have been avoided.  Maybe I will feel differently later down the road, but I think if I could do it again, I would have thought about it a little more before making the decision.  As time has passed, I don't so much regret the decision to do it, but I also don't think that people are crazy for choosing not to do it like I did before.  All I can think about is how his little body shook so hard, and how he snuggled up so closely to me when the doctor brought him back.  It still makes me sad :(  But, what's done is done, and he is back to normal!  

On Wednesday night, Jaidyn and Daddy went to the fireworks with the youth group, and mommy and Presty stayed home.  He was so alert, so we decided to play on his play mat for a bit and listen to different Rockabye Baby albums (Journey lullabies, coldplay. etc). Honestly, we haven't done a whole lot this second week.  Preston had his first cluster feeding this week, which lasted about 3 days.  He would be fussy for several hours a night, wanting to eat constantly.  He would start to eat, pull away and fuss, start to eat, pull away and fuss....and this continued for many hours.  This generally lasts from around 10-1 or 2am.  The only good thing about it is that once he's done, he is so full that he sleeps for a good 3 hours or so.  Thank goodness it has since passed!  Now he will wake up and eat, then sleep for a couple of hours, which has been great.  We are still sleeping downstairs though, and he still won't sleep unless I am holding him, which makes my anxiety about SIDS go way, way up!  I think we are just going to move upstairs and co-sleep until he is out of the 4th trimester, then we will try again to transition him to his cradle.

Kyle's parents came to visit from Saturday to Monday.  Kyle's mom brought his baby books, and oh my goodness does Preston look so much like Kyle did as a newborn!  I think Preston has my eyes, but everything else he got from his daddy!  Sunday afternoon we had a baptism for both Jaidyn and Preston.  Jaidyn has been asking Kyle and me for almost two years now if she can get baptized, and after having many talks with her about it, we both felt like she was ready.  We are very proud of how much she loves God, and we pray that that love will only grow as she gets older!  Sometimes, I think that little children understand God and his love more than we do.  We had several family members as well as some close friends attend.  It was a very nice ceremony!  After the baptism, we had some cake in the fellowship hall, and then went home.  Kyle's parents, along with both sets of my parents came back to our place to visit for a few hours.  Kyle had youth group that evening.  Joyce and Larry stopped by for a bit to see what he does every weekend, and I took the baby to meet the kids.  There weren't many kids there, so we will have to do it again sometime soon!  Preston and I went back home and Jaidyn stayed at youth group with daddy.  I snuggled on the couch with my boy and watched One Tree Hill.  I have watched countless episodes of OTH since we've been home.  It's keeping me sane while I'm constantly feeding the baby.  Sunday morning we met Kyle's parents for breakfast.  Afterwards, we headed to a doctors appointment for Preston, and Joyce and Larry headed back to Kansas.  We had an appointment to check Preston's weight and his circumcision.  Everything looked great and is healing nicely, and Preston is now up to 8lbs 2.5 oz!  I can't believe how quickly he is growing!  After his appointment we met my mom for lunch, then went to target to spend some gift cards.  We got him a bumbo, which Jaidyn had when she was a baby.  Then we stopped by our doula's house on the way home.  We stayed for quite awhile, talking about the baby and our birthing experience.  Jaidyn kept her teenage son busy, playing and bossing him around while we were there ;)  That's what my girl does best!  It was a very nice visit, and I hope to do it again someday!  

Highlights from week 2: I can't believe how much he is changing already!  Everyday he is changing, and it's both exciting and sad.  He is such a cutie :)  I love that he is chunking up...I love chunky babies!  He makes these adorable squeaks all the time, especially when he is stretching.  I have to get them on video, because they are so cute!!  Developmentally, not much is happening at this point.  He is just trying to figure out this crazy world that he was thrown into, and enjoying snuggling up with his mommy, daddy, and sissy!

Nicknames:  Presty pop, Presto, froggy boy, stinks, squeaker, Preston Weston...there are probably more!  This boy has so many nicknames already!


Challenges:  Cluster feeding, gassy baby, and fussiness.  Last week, he was perfect.  Hardly made a peep.  This week, the fussiness has started (he's still perfect to mommy though!).  But it's not so bad, and the 5 S's work so well at getting him to settle down!  We have started occasionally giving him gripe water for his gas issues, and that is helping quite a bit.  


His likes: He loves being swaddled!  He also really enjoys being bounced, swayed, rocked, etc....especially when swaddled.  The boy loves to eat.  He eats about every 1.5 hours, and when he's not hungry, he still wants to suck.  He is definitely a comfort sucker.  The moment he is in my arms, he starts to root.  Sometimes he sucks on his little hands.  He really likes the sound of the vacuum cleaner and the hair dryer.  Works like a charm to settle him down!  Something else he likes is having his sister hold his hand.  He generally settles right down when she does that!


His dislikes:  He absolutely hates having a wet diaper.  He will sit in a poopy diaper, no problem...but if it's wet, you will know it by his screams!  He also hates being changed, and screams the entire time.  He's not a fan of being put down either.  You can get away with putting him in the swing, boppy, or bouncy seat for a little while...but usually a very short time.  The only reason I am writing this blog is because he's asleep in his bouncy seat...not sure how long it will last though! :)   

July 5th~ Our First Family Walk