Sam is one week old today!

He's a good eater.  His cheeks and feet are starting to chub out a little.  I'm not nearly as worried about ounces consumed and latch technique as I was the first time around.

He has sleepy smiles and gassy smiles that I love.

He spends a few times a day being quietly alert, just looking around at the lights and sounds.

He hates diaper changes with a fiery passion.   We've been fighting a diaper rash since his first day home and are just now starting to see some healing.  He also had some burns from the numbing cream used in circumcision, and of course the loveliness of circumcision and drying umbilical cord, all make for an ugly picture in the diaper area.  Can't say I blame him for donkey braying every time we change him. 

He sleeps easily, for 1.5 to 2.5 hour stretches.  At night he easily wakes to eat, then swaddles back to sleep rather quickly.  I can't remember if Jack slept this well right from the start.  Maybe the struggle will come later.  So I'm trying to enjoy the relative ease of the nightly feedings at this point. 

I can't get enough of that warm, fuzzy head under my nose and cheek.

Every morning Jack jumps into bed with us and we lazily snooze a little extra before starting the day. 

Jack loves his brother, although he wishes Sam would interact a little more.  In a few months they will start really having fun. 









This morning Ben invited Jack to the zoo.  I was going to stay home for some rest and quiet, but Jack easily swayed me to join them.  Obviously we split into two groups, but I think Jack was excited that the whole family went out together. 



Sam was not impressed with the animals.  We walked around a little, then settled on the grass near the mountain rams. 





If you want to see more photos, just click on my flickr link on the right side of my blog.  I put a lot of pictures there that I don't write about here.

It's amazing what a little sleep can do for your mood.  Sam blessed me with several hours of sleep last night.  Broken up into 60 minute or less chunks throughout the night, but enough power to give me dreams and rest my brain.  You know you are feeling better when you start cleaning the house.  A toy here, some laundry there, nothing much but it represents a lot.  Now if I can get over engorgement, I'll be in fairly awesome shape considering I gave birth a few days ago. 

Extra snuggling all in bed this morning.


Sam had his follow-up appointment at the pediatrician.  "I can't find anything wrong with him," she summed up.  He's a healthy, chunky baby.  Maybe a little yellow, but otherwise in tip top shape.

(Yup, this boy is rocking the hand-me-downs.  Here's Jack in this outfit when he was almost 1 month old.)

Feeling bold, I had Ben drive us all to lunch next.  Our first outing with Sam was fittingly to Chick-Fil-A.  I don't get many pregnancy cravings.  But with Sam I wanted to eat at Chick-Fil-A a couple times a week.  We didn't go quite that often, but I definitely put a lot of fried chicken sandwiches into making that kid.



The rest of the day was spent in a normal cycle of eating, pooping, and sleeping.  Ben mustered through our mountains of laundry.  Side note, the storms made all our water taste and smell muddy.  We called the water company and they say everything is safe to use.  It made laundry a bit swampy, showers smell like camping in the woods, and Ben is sticking to prepackaged beverages.  A weird result from all the rain this week.


By the way, Sam was given the middle name Storm for the rains that started Monday and didn't let up until we were discharged on Sunday.  We had another middle name in mind, but it wasn't clicking completely for me.  While laboring Friday morning I suggested Storm and Ben loved it.  Kind of superhero sounding, and meaningful to his week.  I kind of miss the other name we were going to give him, but Storm is so great I wouldn't go back.

I know that I should write out some details of Sam's birth before I forget them all.  But I'm grasping at brain cells here.  Sam slept like an angel at the hospital, but his first night home was fairly awful.   He just wouldn't stay asleep.  Cluster feeding galore, and my milk came in.  He was struggling with a gurgling tummy and frequent poops all night.  I think I slept for 30 minutes between 10 and 11 pm, then I fed him, got another 10 minutes of sleep, then he was awake from 12:30 until pretty much 6:30 in the morning.  I got him to settle a few times, but when I checked the clock on waking only 5-10 minutes had passed each time.  Ben rescued me in the morning and I took a little 30 minute nap while everyone else was downstairs.

So no big stories right now.  A few comments though:

• Longer, painful labor and longer delivery than with Jack.  But recovery is better this time.  Less tearing, experience, and expectations are helping.  
• Sam was 9 pounds 8 ounces and 20 1/2 inches.  For comparison, Jack was 9 pounds 1 ounce and 21 1/2 inches.
• He has light brown short hair, almost reddish in color.  
• He's perfectly healthy.  A little yellow-eyed today so we got some sunshine.
• Baby heads = better cheek rubbing than the most luxurious yarn.  I can't get enough.  
•  Jack is a total dear.  He is super helpful and loves Sam.  He can tell the house routine is kind of a mess, but he's coping well.

How about some pictures?  These are from my second day postpartum, going home on Sunday, and a few from today.

Here is Samwise Storm Mason!

Born Friday the thirteenth of September at 7:02 pm.

9 pounds 8 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long

I might as well post again to erase the optimism I inspired with my last post.  Just got back from my midwife with almost no change from last week.  I'm becoming convinced that my body doesn't know how to go into labor.  The bigger bummer is that the hospital is maxed out with scheduled inductions.  I got the next available, which is Thursday evening.  And I'll be first up to get bumped if they get too busy.

So that blows.

At least they've got me on the books I guess.  I wanted my membranes stripped but I'm GBS+ again, so that's not an option.  In the meantime I'll tell Ben we need to do this list of natural induction methods. 

• Consciously surrender and give consent to yourself the universe ... to allow the journey to begin.
• Try ‘slow-dancing’ and belly-dancing type movements.
• Visualise the swirling of a galaxy, and the funnelling of a hurricane.

I'll tell him to pick up some aromatherapy candles and then we'll REALLY be in business. Oh, and apparently we need to spend more time cuddling in the nude.  I hope Jack doesn't mind.