MELodrama...: Jonah's first 2 weeks!!

I'm playing catch-up here on the old blog, but I wanted to sum-up Jonah's first 2 weeks at home. My mom stayed with me for pretty much the entire first 2 weeks. It was nice to have the help, but it was even better to have the company during the day. David's mom and dad came the wednesday Jonah was born and stayed until Sunday. Let me just tell you that this little boy is LOVED by his grandparents!! I'm pretty sure Jonah was held 75% of the time during the day those first 2 weeks.

My big concerns during those first 2 weeks are actually pretty funny now that I look back. Our sweet boy wasn't waking up every 3 hours at night. No one ever told me that this was ok, so I assumed I needed to be setting an alarm to wake him up and feed him all night long. There were 2 nights in a row around day 9 or 10 where I slept through my alarm and he went 5 hours between feeding. I almost cried!! I felt like a horrible mom--I couldn't even wake up to feed my child!!!

So when we went in for Jonah's 2-week check-up on May 26th, I was embarrassed to tell Dr. B that I had let Jonah go for 5 HOURS without eating!! I was expecting a gentle lecture. Then came Jonah's 2 week stats:
Age: 9 weeks
Weight: 8.9 pounds    87th Percentile
Height: 21.7 in           98th Percentile
Head Circ: 14.5 in      73rd Percentile
Our sweet boy had gained a full pound from his BIRTH WEIGHT (so a full pound, plus the 7 ounces he lost in the hospital. He had also grown a full inch in length and a full inch in head circumference...in 2 weeks!! So, Dr. Benzick gave his blessing for us to let him go 5 hours between feeding at night. True to form, Jonah started waking up every 3 hours starting that night!!! I should have known not to brag on him!! Our other concern at that visit was a very goopy right eye! Dr. B took a culture that ended up coming back negative for infection a few days later. So after a couple of days of treating with an antibiotic ointment, we got the clean lab results and thus became experts at the inner-eye-lid massage!!

During those first 2 weeks, I had several "freak-out" moments. Is his poop supposed to look like that? Is his breathing supposed to sound like that? Why didn't he wake up to eat--is he sick?? Is he nursing long enough? Too long? Should I offer both sides or just one? How do I make him stay awake to eat when he just keeps falling asleep? Am I a bad mom if I put him in his swing AGAIN-he was just in there this morning? It really all boiled down to one question: Am I doing the very best thing for him that I can do? That became and still is the overwhelming desire of my heart for Jonah. I know I will make mistakes, and I know I will fall short in motherhood. I think I am supposed to. Those will be the oppotunities to humble myself and teach Jonah about the perfection that can only be found in our Savior. What a beautiful picture of our desperate need for a Savior, right? Despite the failures that I know will come, I pray every day that the Lord will use every decision I make regarding Jonah's care to reveal Himself and His Grace, Love and Mercy to our little boy.

I will leave you with pictures from Jonah's first 2 weeks

Jonah, meet Preston!!

This might be one of my favorite pictures of Jonah EVER. This was taken with an hour of us being home from the hospital. David's mom was holding Jonah, and he put his hands up over his face like this and stayed that way for probably 5 minutes. It was hilarious!!

This was Jonah's signature nap-pose for the first few weeks. I just love his sweet little hands!!

2 reasons I love this picture: 1. We love that swing despite it's curious behaviors. 2. For some reason, i feel like we should replace the swing with a mechanical bull.