The life of a one week old

Balloon from Mom and Dad sent up to our
hospital room before our first night
after they left to go home for the evening.

Gavin's had a wonderful first few weeks! Of course there are lots of questions from us about what to do and he confuses us on a daily basis, plus night time is a whole other story, but mostly it has been awesome!

A few fun tidbits ...

• Gavin was born on Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday
• He was born two days after the Chinese New Year. He is a Water Snake, and while we are on that his Zodiac sign is an Aquarius. We read somewhere that both are "arch enemies" of my Chinese and Zodiac signs and "best buddies" with Stefan's sign - hmm, not liking they are tag teaming against me already ;)
• We had Ash Wednesday in the hospital and had someone from the church bring me Communion and give Gavin a blessing
• We went home on Valentine's Day
• He shares a birthday with both Ab Lincoln and Charles Darwin plus TWO of our friends here (Chris and Robb). 

Grandma and Grandpa Harte stopped by the
birth place of Ab Lincoln in Kentucky on their
trip down for Gavin's birth. Since we figured
he'd be born on Feb. 12, they found this book
 in the gift shop that is about a little boy who
shares a birthday with Ab Lincoln. We, of course,
ended up having a little boy on Feb. 12, so
this gift from his Grandpa is just so perfect! 

For memory's sake I wanted to document the first weeks of his little life. Feel free to hang on for a long post or stop now :) ! The first day we hung out with Mom and Dad H in the hospital just staring at the little guy in amazement and all taking turns snuggling. Our friend Mindy who worked as a nurse on the floor above stopped by with her husband, Kyle, for a quick visit. That first night was rough - he wouldn't sleep in his crib/flat on his back and only would rest if someone was holding him. Stefan and I tried to take turns and get a little sleep. Our hospital is great in that it is truly family focused, which was why we knew it was the right place for us to have Gavin. However, that means they practice "rooming in" so the nursery is reserved for sick babies/ babies with sick moms or babies who have procedures/ testing done. So the night times were just us trying to figure it out! During the day it was hard to rest with people coming in and out of the room (nurses, my doc, the pediatrician, birth certificate rep, lactation consultants, dietary staff, etc.) The next day we got a visit from Ashton who also works in the hospital and Brandi, plus there was lots more snuggling with his G&G. That day he was cluster feeding all day and through the night, which meant a lot of skin to skin time with Mommy! The lactation consultants there are terrific and they came to see us each day to check in. They were very helpful and even reviewed how to use the breast pump for later on. I was given a used one, and since you aren't really supposed to reuse sterilized-used pieces to the pump, they gave me a bag of all new supplies to go with the pump! Plus, they are on call for any questions and I have called them once already - really appreciate how accommodating they are! Gavin's pretty much been eating like a champ (minus a few times where he over ate and proceeded to throw it all up on both himself and Mommy, and some indigestion issues we are attributing to him just learning how his body works!). Now if we could just get him to not need to eat for 2-3 hours each time at night that would be a huge step in the right direction!

That evening our wonderful night nurse took him to the nurse's station for about an hour and a half so we could get some actual sleep since I was going on my third night of basically no sleep. The next morning we started the discharge process and were out of there and home by lunch time. We even got to stop by Starbucks on the way back to the house! The next morning we went to the pediatrician's for a weight check and the little guy was back to birth weight already! He had lost just 4 oz in the hospital, but we didn't want him losing too much for too long since he was on the smaller size when he was born. We had a few other visitors throughout the week, too (see pics in Gavin's web album). Stefan was off for several more days and went back to work the following Wednesday.

Besides the sleep adjustment, which I knew would be one of the hardest parts, I've been recovering pretty well. I was hoping my blood pressure would go back to normal after the pregnancy which it did, and I'm on the Lovenox as a precaution for about another week. I was on some Motrin for the first week, but never had too much pain. About day three and four I was certainly uncomfortable as my milk came in, but now, as your body tends to do, I've adjusted. You definitely know your body has been through something major, and there is some much needed down time, but overall I'm feeling good about the recovery so far. Emotionally I've been overwhelmed by the love for this little guy and sometimes still I find it hard to believe he is here and I get to be his Mommy! We both feel incredibly blessed to have amazing families and so many friends who have sent us so much love and well wishes! Having Mom and Dad H here to help us transition the first few weeks and share that time with him has been so special, and we get to have Gavin's other Grandma here for a few weeks next! Mom and Dad H left yesterday because of the winter weather coming up north, and as usual, I had a hard time letting them leave! They took really great care of us and helped a ton. We can't believe our fortune with timing that Gavin's Great Grandma and Grandpa Macocha were heading down this way and got to spend a few days with him. He is their 22nd great grandchild, so they've been through this a ton of times with their kids, their grand kids and their other great grandchildren, yet they were still completely enthralled by the little guy. We are certainly continuing to be spoiled as I just have two days to manage on my own while Stefan is at work before Grandma U arrives (safe travels tomorrow!). Gavin's had fun Skyping with his Uncles Matt, Andrew and Michael and Aunts Caitlin and Katie plus his Great Grandpa Harte. I'm sure more Skype visits are in line soon!


We are also excited that Mal's cousin, Brittany, who is just a month and a half older than her, had her baby just eight days after Gavin was born! She was due on Feb. 17 (our anniversary) and we were due Feb. 22. We flip flopped due dates it seems as we ended up getting induced early as you know and she went late on Feb. 20. Lydia Helen is here and healthy, congrats Brittany and Zach. If only we didn't live so far away. Sending love to you guys in Virginia!

Some of Mommy and Daddy's favorite things about our 2-week old (2 weeks old tomorrow already!).

• When he is about to fall asleep he smiles and sometimes giggles - even though we know he isn't doing it on purpose it is adorable! 
• He screams when he gets swaddled but then loves being bundled up. During the night he almost always manages to get his little hands up to his face, which is how he'd really like to sleep if he didn't keep waking himself up. We've tried Aden and Anais blankets, Swaddle Me, Miracle Blankets and Sleep Sacks. I think once he is a little bigger they'll fit better and will keep his arms down. 
• Snuggling and cuddling are his favorite things and if we could hold him all night he'd sleep like a champ! 
• He doesn't like to be cold or naked, so diaper changing, changing clothes and bath time are not so fun. If he really gets going he cries like what Stefan has coined, the Count! One big cry then several small ones while he catches his breathe. Kind of funny if it wasn't so heart breaking hearing him scream. He loved getting his hair washed though! 
• Watching him sleep so peaceful and trusting. 
• Seeing what nicknames come out of our mouths. So far we've come up with: Munchkin Man, Love Bucket, Mister Man, Lovey and G-Man

We'll have lots more to share once his Grandma U gets here and he has his first appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday!