The Joys of Motherhood

Wow I was really hoping to be better about blogging while Bekham was napping! There is just too much to do when that boy falls asleep and usually that is to eat. It seems impossible to find time to eat- and when I do- its often with one hand and becomes a balancing act! If I'm not eating, I'm usually pumping, sterilizing, tidying up the house, washing dirty baby clothes etc. I do NOT know how I will manage when my Mom leaves. She has been a God send! Not only does she help keep the house in order, watch him when I shower, handle and coordinate dinners, do laundry, dishes, etc., but she takes Bekham after his last feeding at night (usually 10:30pm) and stays awake with him, then puts him in our room when he falls asleep a little after midnight and it lets me get a good 2 hour start on sleep! Lately Bekham has been logging 4-5 hours between this 10:30 feeding and his next, which means I am getting that much straight sleep (until Mom leaves...) It is glorious. He has already synced himself into a little schedule. He takes a good, solid 3-4 hour nap after his 8:00 feeding, then he has off and on awake time through the rest of the day. The hours between 4-7 tend to be his witching hours. He wants to eat non stop, and if he isn't eating, he's crying and rooting like you haven't fed him in days. He makes me laugh! Once he gets over his episode around dinner time- he eats about every 2 hours, and then, as I stated above, logs a good long sleep for me until about 3:00am.

I love being a mom already! It is a demanding schedule. We change a diaper. We nurse for a good 30 minutes to an hour. Then I pump for a good 20-30 minutes. By the time I sterilize all the equipment and sit down to eat or prop my feet up, we are on the countdown to the next feeding session! It is a never ending cycle! It's crazy. Often times I tell myself formula would be SO much easier, but I just can't compromise the health benefits of my milk, so as long as he's eating it, we are going to go for it. Plus, there is just nothing like the time I spend nursing him. It's just the best bond I have with him. And when he's finished, he snuggles right up against my chest and there is truly no greater feeling in the world. My guilty pleasure is to fall asleep with him like this in the mornings around 6:00am and it is pure bliss.

The biggest challenge we have right now is getting Bekham to latch on. We are currently using a nipple shield to get him to nurse, but slowly, we are attempting to wean him off of the crutch! Today, he finally successfully latched on for 2 feedings after I tricked him into thinking the nipple shield was on!

The biggest milestones of week 1: Bekham got his first bath (and second, and third) and his cord has fallen off (YIPEE!) Bekham was CONSTANTLY soaking through outfits due to the folded down diapers to accommodate his cord. Now finally we can put the diapers on as they should go on! It's the small things in life now :) Well, as promised, here are some pictures of our sweet new baby boy! We are madly in love and thankful for such a precious miracle!

Getting his first bath. Not sure how we captured this shot since he was literally SCREAMING through this entire process!

 First family photo! So glad the labor was over at this moment in time!

I love this face despite the classic hospital swaddler! This is just the sweetest face I've ever laid eyes on!

 

Dressed and ready to take our bundle of joy home!

Going home!!!

Swaddled in Grammie's arms

Love this face. Yep- in his white tee.

First bath. He is just so tiny, I love it!

Baby feet!

I melt every time I look at this picture.

Nothing better than when we lock eyes!

Don't you love him!?

His Grammie made this quilt, had to get a shot of the quilt tag!

There are so many more, believe me. I just don't want to go out of control! Signing off for now!