12 Days Old.

In the middle of my 3rd trimester I had everyone at work constantly asking me how much longer I had until this little one would enter the world.  One OBGYN even made the profound comment that, "100% of pregnancies end in a baby."  While that seems like a silly statement i now understand what he meant.   So many women complain, gripe, and moan about being pregnant and want the baby out asap because they are miserable.  However, they fail to realize that once the baby is out... he's out and now you have the responsibility to care and keep him alive and to enjoy the moments of just being pregnant.

I have now learned the wisdom behind this saying.

The last 12 days have honestly been somewhat of a blur.  I'm not sure if it's lack of sleep or the fact that everyday has the same routine. eat. sleep. poop. eat. (for Bennett).

We came home from the hospital last Wednesday and had our first pediatric appointment Thursday morning (because my pediatrician is at Riverton Hospital and doesn't round and see newborns at Alta View).  Upon leaving the hospital on Wednesday Bennett's bili level was in the Low-intermediate category.  When we went in on Thursday we had his bili level rechecked and he had bumped up to the high risk category and we were going to begin phototherapy with bili lights.  I was also concerned that since we took him home from the hospital he wasn't having many poopy or wet diapers. My pediatrician reassured me that as the day went on he should start producing more soiled diapers and if he didn't that I could supplement with a bottle of formula.

So the day went on and home health brought over a bili-bed and bili-blanket.  Bennett HATED the bili-bed and within minute of putting him in there his temperature would drop and he'd get the hiccups so I gave up and just had him use the blanket which is more of a UV light wand which rests on his back.  By bedtime that night he had not had one wet/poopy diaper and was super fussy so I gave in and gave him a bottle which about tossed me over the edge emotionally.  He was doing so fabulously with nursing from the beginning that I didn't want to screw up things by offering him a bottle at 4 days old.  I literally cried for 2 hours straight- I'm sure a huge part of that was the hormonal drop-off post-partum and lack of sleep.  However, everything worked out just fine.  He ended up nursing just fine on the next feeding.

We continued each morning- Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday with bilirubin checks at the pediatrician's office.  Finally they declared that my ethnicity passed onto my little tyke and he is jaundice because he's 1/4 Asian and it will eventually resolve itself.  Wednesday home health came and picked up the bililights. YAHOO!

Overall he has been a good little baby.  It is crazy to see just how big he has gotten in the last two weeks. Last Sunday we tried to put on his gloves on his little hands but they were so big that I had to stitch them onto his little cardigan to secure them.  Yesterday his gloves fit his hands no problem and rarely fell off.  He even was able to wear his a 3 month onesie (although it was a little baggy).

The many faces of Baby Boy Bennett: