Brooks
My little man is doing awesome. I was given steroid shots at 29 weeks to mature his lungs and I am so grateful they did. Born at 36 weeks, he came out screaming! He weighed in at 7lb 9oz and was absolutely perfect. (I don't want to think about how big he would have been if he had been full term!) Lee and I often joke about the fact that he was technically a preemie and he could hold up his own head while we were still in the hospital. His name, Brooks Walker, is a dual family name. Brooks is Lee's Papa Joe's middle name and Walker is my Nannie's maiden name. He is a super laid back baby who grins often and loves to cuddle.
Nursing
Because he is a "poor preemie", we had a bit of a time teaching him how to nurse. He wasn't interested in latching and because of his bad case of jaundice, he would have rather slept than eat anything. Once we treated the jaundice and I found a section in my La Leche League book on near-term babies and latch problems, we made a few adjustments and now we have no problems. He has a super cute squeak he does whenever he's hungry and it makes me giggle.
Sleeping
When I was pregnant with Nina, a girlfriend of mine told me about a book called "Babywise". It's a basic, common sense book about scheduling that trains babies to sleep through the night without being super rigid and never "crying it out". It worked like a dream (see what I did there?) for Nina (she was sleeping through the night by 8 weeks and 12 hours by 11 weeks) and is already proving true for Brooks. He sleeps 4 hours, nurses, and is down for another 4-5 hours. No complains from these parents!
Nina
Nina is obsessed with her brother. She loves to show him everything she thinks he needs to know about the world. (She's currently telling him who all the characters are on Handy Manny. Important things.) She has a changing table in his room so she can change her baby, too. So far, no jealousy. Every night, when we tuck her in, we let Brooks lay beside of her for "Nina Brooks cuddle time". It's her favorite part of the day.
HELLP
I'm feeling okay. Every day is different. Some days, I feel good and some days I cry because I feel so badly. I have lots of headaches, and some days my vision is off, most days I'm very nauseated, and everyday, I'm so tired that I only have a few hours of energy. I'm on lots of iron for my anemia and have to still take it easy as much as I can. The doctor says it could still be a month or more before I start to feel like myself again. Coming off of 9 weeks of bed rest and 2-3 months of recovering from HELLP syndrome... If you know me at all, you know that not having energy is a direct contradiction of who I am. But, my blood pressure is going down, which is a great sign that I'm healing. Every day is different and one day closer to being better.
Lee
Lee isn't called by his name very often around here, but "rockstar". He has coached soccer, worked, and taken care of all household responsibilities since July. Soccer is winding down with only a week left in the regular season and I'm slowly getting back to doing a few light household tasks. I'm hoping he gets a break soon.
Adjusting to 2 kids
Most people cautioned us that we were in for a crazy ride with two kids. So far, it was a much rougher adjustment to one kid than 2. When Nina came, I remember thinking, "No, I can't feed you! I'm tired." But, now I'm used to someone needing me all of the time. (Note: I am not held responsible for any of these statements when Brooks is mobile.)
Overall, we are grateful. Grateful for a healthy baby boy (who grins when he pees on me or toots). Grateful for a big sister who loves to help (When being puked on, her feet can run really fast to get more burp cloths). Grateful that I'm alive to enjoy the moments. And so looking forward to so many more memories.
