Dr.'s Appt and My First Day

This past Thursday Matthew has his first appt. with the pediatrician, and it went really well. He didn't love being stripped down to his diaper, but what newborn does? Anyway, he was back to his birth weight after one week. When we'd left the hospital he was 8 lbs. 12 oz., but he was back to 9 lbs. 5 oz. by Thursday, so the doc said he has no concerns about him eating. Obviously he's getting enough and growing, and he's got plenty of wet and poopy diapers to further prove it. So his weight puts him in the 90th percentile, and so does his head circumference, which is 14 7/8. For his height, they measured him at 21 7/8 ", and that puts him in the 97th percentile! Sheesh, what a long boy we have on our hands. In the hospital he measured 22" even, so I don't know if they rounded up for an even number, but measuring the height of a baby mustn't be very accurate, since they like to be curled up and they like to squirm. Ok, so those are his stats. The doc checked him over, and everything seems to be fine. He's got a dimple in his lower back, but it's all closed up, so there's nothing to worry about. He's also got what they call Mongolian spots that look like bruises around his buttocks area, and he's also got an undescended testicle, which is completely normal for baby boys. He'll probably hate me one day for telling you all that piece of information :) The doc spent some time telling us about his head. He's got a very deep bruise that could take up to 6 weeks to go away, so his head will probably be more pointed and newborn-looking for longer than usual. He said he used to blame bruises like that on the vacuum, which they used on me, but he's seen the same thing on babies that didn't have the vacuum used on them. So it probably comes from a combo of that and my pushing for two hours. His poor little head (or should I say, big head) kept rocking back and forth while I tried to get it past my pelvis. I'd have a bruise too if I was in his place :) So overall the appt. went well, and Matthew didn't cry all too much. He'll go again in a month, and then at his 2 month appt. he'll start getting shots. I'm sure we'll see more tears by then :)

My First Day. Of what, you ask? Of being alone with my baby, just me and Matthew. Josh is back at work, so I'm here, just me. It doesn't feel as overwhelming as I thought it would. I think it helps that I feel better and am able to move around without pain, and I can get up and down while holding him. And that's all the stuff that matters, cause I'm just focusing on taking care of myself by letting my body heal and taking care of Matthew. Last night he didn't sleep too well, so I'm sure Josh is really tired today. Matthew woke up at 7am, and he was soaked, so first on the agenda was cleaning his little tushy and finding some clean clothes for him. Then I fed him and he fell asleep like usual, so I put him in his crib. I waited to see if he'd wake up and cry, and when I went in to check on him, he was wide awake just laying in his crib. I was really surprised at how content he was. Since he's not always alert like that, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to spend time with him, so I took him out, and he hung out with me on the couch. I think there was a diaper change in there somewhere too. Then I laid down on the couch and laid him on top of me and we napped together. When I woke up I put him back in his crib and jumped in the shower. Folks, I can't take a 5-minute shower yet. If Josh were here he would say I never could :) And he's right. But I still have to go slow in there, so it takes me 30 minutes at least. Anyway, I had the baby monitor close by, and I could hear him crying. But of course I could do nothing about it. It sounded like he had a dirty diaper, and I knew his next feeding time was getting close. He was as patient as a newborn can be. He cried a little, calmed down, whined some, calmed down again. I felt bad that I couldn't meet his needs right away, but I figure he won't hold it against me forever :) So once I was all ready I changed him and fed him, and then he slept on my lap for a little. So it's been a calm morning for both of us. Oh yeah, when I woke up this morning I was really dizzy, but that's gone now.

Aww, he's crying right now. Guess I should go take care of my baby. Sorry, no pictures this time.