The First Few Days at Home...

Coming home from the hospital, Ryan and I were excited to adjust into some sort of routine. We were ready to be out of the hospital room and eager for Buddy to meet Jude and "show him" (as if he understood) all the preparing we'd done around the house for him.

Walking in the door for the first time we needed to get Buddy used to the idea that there was a new baby. So we started by taking Buddy outside on his leash. Ryan then took a blanket outside with him to have Buddy sniff (he had no real interest in the blanket). Meanwhile I took Jude inside. When Ryan led Buddy into the house he kept him on his leash and had Buddy sniff Jude while we were holding him.

At first Buddy was very interested in the little addition. When Jude cried he would always perk his head up and even make little crying noises himself to either let us know he was crying or to try and get the same attention (who knows). It didn't take very long though for him to lose interest. Especially when we were waking up in my middle of the night to take care of him (Buddy likes his beauty sleep). However, we have the pack n' play set up near the fireplace and Buddy regularly hops up on the little step in front and pokes his head into the bassinet-type area to see what's going on. Usually he'll only take a quick peak, but if Jude's moving around he'll lick the top of his head. It's adorable.

Other than Buddy the adjustment home has been going smoothly. Perhaps it's just the jaundice keeping Jude asleep most of the day that's making a 'normal' life possible, but as of right now I'm wondering what exactly people have been warning me about for months. I've had no problem cooking meals, cleaning the house and keeping up on the laundry.

Nights have been fine for the most part. Jude typically wakes up every 2-3 hours for a feeding, but other than that stays pretty content under his glow light. When we do seem to miss more sleep than usual (when Jude thinks it's day time, but it's in fact night) we make up for it the following morning, taking a nap after his early morning feeding. So far I feel like I'm functioning very well. Right now Ryan and I have agreement that I wake up with Jude no matter what when it's time for a feeding (Ryan usually tries to wake up, but is fairly unsuccessful). In the event that he wakes up in between feeding he's all Ryan. I'm convinced I have the short end of the stick - but I guess that comes with the boobies.

Tomorrow Ryan goes back to work. It'll be a double whammy with Lowes at night, so I think that will be the true test of how well this all is REALLY going for me/us.