6 Weeks Post Partum

I had my 6 weeks post-partum checkup yesterday and was cleared by my doctor to resume all the activities of normal life. I guess that means no more excuses for not working out, much less not cooking or cleaning. Ha. When people have been asking me how I've been feeling, I always say how I feel is just a direct reflection on how Graham slept the night before.

Lovin' tummy time.

Bundled up on a cold night in the crib.

The last two weeks have been hit and miss with him in his crib/ room. Some nights he'll be fine until his 3am ish and 7am ish feeding, which seems totally doable now. Other nights he screams for hours for no reason or wants to eat every couple of hours. Those nights are completely exhausting, physically and emotionally. It's been hard for me to get used to listening to him through the monitor, instead of inches away from me, to tell how loud he's being or what his screams or noises mean. A few days ago, he started showing up in a different area of the crib than I laid him down. I have now watched him kick and scoot his way, while being swaddled, to cram his body up against the crib railing. He's also been trying to roll over when we lay him on the floor on his back and trying to stand up when we hold him. All that to say, swaddling him now that he's trying to be so active has started to make me nervous that he'll leverage his body from the side of crib to flip over and then suffocate himself since his hands and arms are restrained in his little straight jacket. So we switched to the sleep sack the other day, which I think has added to his trauma of being in the crib. BabyWise says he could be sleeping through the night at 8 weeks, but I'm not holding my breath. Our sweet neighbors were encouraging us last night that "this too will pass" and that all these hard, sleepless nights will be a blur and pass quickly. I don't want to wish this time away AT ALL but I wouldn't mind some consistent good nights' sleep. Oh little Grahammers, you're still worth it all. Andrew has been telling me I need to schedule in a nap to my day, every day. But it seems impossible to do with family and friends visiting, piles of spit-up laundry building up, dishes overflowing in the sink, nothing to eat for dinner, Christmas on the way, etc... Wow, do I sound like a stay-at-home mom or what? :) I actually am surprisingly loving my new role at home and of course the fact that Christmas is so close! A huge sanity saver for me has been Andrew being at home for the first month of Graham's life. I couldn't believe he got so much time off of work!! He was an awesome help, and it was just so nice to have him to talk to and share Graham's first moments with. He loved it, but is now back to work, so Graham and I are now trying to figure out what a typical day looks like now... if that even exists. Andrew and I are trying to learn what it means to parent together and what our "new normal" life looks like. These past six weeks have definitely made our marriage richer and harder. :)

Grahammers helping Daddy make Christmas cookies!

The picture that would've been on our Christmas card if I'd make one. :)
Merry Christmas from the Buckles!

The Grahaminator at 1 Month

Weight: 9 lbs, 2.5 oz. 

Height: 21 inches.

Clothing size: Newborn. 

Diaper size: Newborn.

Feeding: Nursing has been a learning experience for us both, as Graham baby is a little biter. After tons of help from the lactation nurses at the hospital and lots of practice, Grahammers is much improved. He eats consistently and well every 3 hours.

Sleeping: We began attempting a somewhat BabyWise schedule around 1.5 weeks, and he pretty naturally started following the schedule. At the beginning of each 3-hour cycle, he eats and stays awake for 1- 1.5 hours, and then sleeps for the remainder of the time. The first few nights at home were awful, with him screaming his head off forever and us having no idea what to do. After about 1.5 weeks, he began sleeping about 4 hours at a time at night for the most part, which was a huge relief, meaning I only get up once in the middle of the night to feed him. We occasionally have rough nights, but overall he's a pretty good sleeper at night. For his one month "birthday," we kicked him out of our room into his own room and his own crib. He took it like a champ!

Milestones: Being born. Getting unplugged from his jaundice glow worm. Cord fell off. First bath. Real tears when he cries. First bottle. First night in his room/ crib.

Likes: Snuggling!! Throwing his head around like a crazy man/ head-butting me when I burp him, his carseat and riding in the car, being swaddled, tummy time, being sung to, Baby Bjorn carrier.

Dislikes: Hiccups, the bottle, his bassinet/ crib (finally warmed up right before he turned one month).

Adventures: Lots of doctor visits at first for jaundice. Running errands/ Christmas shopping with Mommy. Church. Stroller rides around the neighborhood on rare warm days. Thanksgiving at Aunt Kristie's/ Uncle Mark's. Sitting on Santa's lap. The library. Meeting his family and all his new friends.

Before and After! 

We love our neighbors!
Only 8 days apart.

1st time in the stroller- a walk to the library.

At Thanksgiving- Too much turkey, Mom!!

Snoozed right through sitting on Santa's lap with his cousins.

What we couldn't live with out: The 5 S's from The Happiest Baby on the Block (Shush, Swaddle, Suck, Swing, Side). My mom and all her help Graham's first week of life. The Meal Train set up by our church. The Rock 'n Play from the Prentices- the only thing Graham liked to sleep in for his entire first month of life!

Kisses from Nonnie

This past month has been a blur of learning how to care for a newborn, parent together on the same team, trust God with our sweet baby, and try to get some sleep. It has been a steep learning curve, but we finally feel like we are somewhat learning our little boy and the new normal for our family of three. We love our Grahammers!!

One more look at his awesome hair. :)