Wednesday, October 20, 2010

An Update from the New Mommy!!!













I can't explain just how in love I am with my son, Ryder. He arrived earlier than I ever expected. Granted, I was full term (which is anything after 37 weeks), but I thought for sure with my first that I'd have him late.

Ryder was born on September 23, 2010 at 11:34am. He weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Long and skinny, not a spot of fat on him! He came after a long and exhausting 18 1/2 hours of labor (according to Mama. Doctors say it was 26 1/2 hours long!!).

My water broke in the night, and I woke up to the discovery on September 22 at 9am. I honestly didn't feel it or anything. It didn't fully break, just some of it. I wasn't sure that's what it was, so I lingered around at home and wanted to check and be sure. I kept leaking, so I made the call in to the doctor. Long story short, I was induced and he took his sweet time getting here. Docs count labor as starting at 9am when I woke up to the broken water. I count it as starting with the induction, because I wasn't dilated and I wasn't contracting until they induced me.

I've been recovering at Mom and Dad's because for 6 weeks I'm not supposed to handle anything weighing over 15 pounds. So I can't take care of my dog (like letting him outside to go to the bathroom, etc). They also don't allow me to do laundry, vacuum, or anything strenuous. So it's just easier to be at Mom's where I have help. Siblings can take Pharaoh out for me, and Mom actually got up with me in the first few nights when he was crying and I needed to sleep. The first few nights of Ryder's life I honestly didn't sleep much at all. But I've gotten better.

I am currently trying to break him of the habit of sleeping with me. If he has been fed, changed, and doesn't have any gas issues he will sleep on his own just fine. If he is hungry, wet or stinky, or is having lots of gas issues, he will only sleep with me. At home, he has his own crib and Pharaoh sleeps with me in my bed. So I want Pharaoh to still be able to sleep in bed with me, meaning Ryder needs to be in his crib.

Pharaoh was very overwhelmed with the baby at first. He didn't know what it was. And I came back from the hospital, after being gone 3 days, and he probably expected a huge production like I always do. Loving on him, babying him, playing and cuddling with him... but I was holding this tiny little thing and yelled at him less than 5mins after arriving because he jumped up trying to see him. So he was depressed and not too happy with me at first. He would physically turn his whole body away anytime I'd try and cuddle with him or give him affection. But now we cuddle and he has learned that he can't jump up. I think he still has confusion issues with the baby, but overall he does LOADS better. I can't wait to see Ryder grow up and love Pharaoh as much as I do, and I can't wait to see how protective Pharaoh gets over Ryder as he grows up and gets bigger! I have my 2 wonderful, beautiful boys and honestly, that's all I need...