When Micah was a newborn, he was hungry all the time. For a while, he was nursing every 1.5 to 2 hours throughout the day and throughout the night. I was so relieved when he started spacing out his feeding to 2.5 to 3 hours. It would seem that the reason that he was eating so often was the boy was growing like crazy! At Micah's doctor's appointment when he was 3 days old, he weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long. By the time we took him for his 1 month appointment, he was up to 11 pounds, 11 ounces and was 22.5 inches long. At 2-months old, he was 14 pounds, 12 ounces and 24.25 inches. I absolutely cannot believe how big he is!! No one expects me to tell them that he is only 2 months old when they ask. The doctor says that he is growing beautifully and is perfectly proportionate. He was also impressed with his head control and his social skills (smiling, cooing).
Life at home is much more busy. We were lucky to have my mom stay with us for about a week after Micah was born to help with the cooking, cleaning, and baby consoling. It was also wonderful that Jeremy had a full 2 weeks off from work to stay home and help with the adjustment. He was only off for a week with Cora, and because we ended up back in the hospital, we were only home for a day before he went back to work. Having two babies to take care of on very little sleep, I don't know if I would have made it without him! After Jeremy went back to work, my sister, Mandy, came and stayed with us a few days. We were also blessed to have friends from church, Jeremy's co-workers, Jeremy's mom, and my sister-in-law to bring us food in the early days. Here we are two months into this thing, and cooking is still a challenge!
We think that Micah probably has colic to some degree. Every evening, we can count on him to be cranky. The good news is that he is usually consolable, but it is exhausting trying to keep him happy. Most of the time, we have to eat dinner in shifts. Cora's bedtime routine (Bible story and prayer) is much more chaotic now that we are trying to keep Micah happy. Sometimes it is just not possible and either Jeremy or myself will do bedtime with Cora alone.
Even with all the craziness and difficulties, we love our little guy. He may be demanding, but he is so cuddly! He grunted like crazy when he was a little baby (as did his sister), but now the grunts have been replaced with adorable coos. He especially loves to "talk" when he is laying on his changing table or activity mat. He's also smiling now when he is awake. It doesn't get much better than seeing a big, open-mouthed, gummy grin! He really seems to love his sister. It amazes me how closely he watches her.
Cora has done amazingly well adjusting to having a baby brother! She didn't seem to know what to think about him at first. She just kept her distance. She seemed to instantly learn how to play on her own (she was used to Mommy always playing with her), and did not complain about the amount of time I was spending taking care of the baby. She did discover that she could do whatever she wanted while I was nursing Micah since I could not get up and stop her...luckily, she's not taking advantage of that quite so much these days. Cora has helped me with burping Micah, she likes to try and give him his pacifier, and she likes to do "this little piggy" with his toes. She is getting to be more and more comfortable with him. I can't wait until Micah starts laughing; I think Cora will love trying to get him to laugh!
We feel so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy children. Life is crazy right now, but we wouldn't change a thing!
I remember the first month or two with two so well....So many adjustments...so many things you had simply forgotten about having a newborn in the house. But I promise - at month nine - it's hard to remember life with out my girls:-) Aren't Micah and Lilah lucky to have such great big sisters, too?
ReplyDeleteHope we can get together soon!