Leeland is now a whole month old. How time already flies! Newborn phase is such a strange time of wanting to soak in every single second in slow motion and feeling so tired and overwhelmed that you want life to speed up so you can find that new normal!
I sometimes have to pinch myself to realize that we indeed had another little boy! I didn't have a strong guess either way but I ended up feeling really surprised that it was a boy! Now that he is here, I just can't imagine our family being anymore perfect than it is. I couldn't have written a better story if I tried with our 3 sons and 3 daughters!
We are learning more and more about our little man! He loves to snuggle and pretty much wants to snuggle all day long! I might be able to get him down for one nap each day where he sleeps without being held, but otherwise it seems like a continuous phase of tag teaming our snuggly boy. He has no chill when it comes time to eat and as soon as he is hungry, he lets us all know! He generally takes a long time to get to sleep, like over an hour of fighting it but once he is asleep we get really good naps out of him! At night he has been going 3-5 hours, the last few nights he has only woken up once during the night and that has been a treat! The best part is that he is becoming more and more alert and loves when we talk or sing to him. He does smile sometimes at us (he has an adorable crooked smile!) and I know that it won't be long and we will know for sure that he is smiling at us! He is starting to figure life out and we are starting to figure him out!
Feeding is going well. Considering he went from not even wanting to drink a bottle in the NICU, to drinking a bottle and then getting him to figure out nursing, he has been a champ! I'm super proud of how well he has handled all the adjustments that life has thrown at him from the NICU to home. I already have over 800 ounces in the freezer and I know how important that stash is when my supply tanks in the later months so I am grateful that my supply is never a problem at the beginning! This sweet boy has chunked up past a whopping 10 lbs already so he is eating well! He still fits in some newborn but is starting to transition to 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. He has the biggest cheeks and cutest double chin already! I can't wait to see how chunky he is in a couple months!
We are still adjusting considering we have 6 kids at home, I would say this is probably one of our harder transition periods, likely because we have 4 busy kids who keep us on the move and then a toddler and a newborn. The first 4 days were exhausting with pretty much no sleep with the NICU. The next 2 weeks went by in a flash of exhaustion and adjusting. Peter went back to work at that point and the first week back was definitely a transition. I was very, very tired that first week back to work. This 2nd week of Peter working has gone much better, still tired but overall feeling much better and getting into a little bit of a routine. When he sleeps I have been able to organize some things around the house that were neglected over the last 9 months and also start getting my steps back up! Still not ready to get back into a workout routine but I would like to get back to walking if my body will allow!
Post partum has been a bit of a journey but the worst should be over! Pregnancy was so rough that my mind is ready to do a lot more than my body will allow. My body kind of yells at me when I overdue it. Extreme fatigue is taking a long time to pass, it seems worse than just normal baby keeping me up at night but it is slowly getting better. I'm sure I should probably be taking a blood builder or something because I'm sure my blood levels are low. Otherwise I've still had a bit of lingering pelvis pain but even that is getting much better! I can't wait to get more active but I am reminding myself to listen to what my body is saying so little by little I'll get there. Go figure that recovery seems to take a bit longer after each pregnancy too!
Emotionally post partum has gone pretty well. It has been an insane month of highs and lows. It may I have read it is normal to need to process a precipitous labor plus the fact that I was diverted to a different hospital with a different doctor and baby having to be transported so I am still working through those emotions. There has just been so much that has happened beyond what I could even write down this first month but in the end I am just so thankful he is here and healthy and thriving! I have recently learned that my placenta was below the 10% for size and there was a whole long list of problems with it that could have caused a late term stillbirth so I just feel so blessed in knowing that he is here and he is okay!
Mr Leeland, what a delight you are to us! My heart is so full of love for you, our newest addition! I just have to pinch myself because I feel so fortunate that you are ours! It was a long, hard, surprise pregnancy but I just could not have written a better story than the addition of you into our lives. I will never forget how we just laughed when we discovered you were on your way. How at your 9 week ultrasound you already had fingers and toes and were waving at us! How polite your little kicks felt. How you were trying to suck on your toes at your 30 week 3D ultrasound. How you entered this world fast and furious and those first moments of meeting you! We waited in so much anticipation for you to join us and we just love you so much already! I cannot help but believe you have an important purpose and that you came to this earth for such a time as this! You are already so amazing!
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