leo's first two weeks

We spent two nights in the hospital. Because Leo was a big baby like his big brother, we had to go through the blood sugar protocol again. Luckily, this time, they had a glucose gel available that we used in the first several hours of his life. It was great because it allowed us to keep his blood sugar levels up without interfering with breastfeeding. Even better, he passed all his tests with flying colors. I was so relieved because I knew it was probably the one thing that could potentially complicate our hospital stay. It was also way less stressful this time around since we’d been through the drill before.

We noticed a pretty big difference in the hospital care this time. We had the same wonderful labor and delivery experience, but the postpartum care was far superior this time. It’s clear they had upped their game over the last two years. We splurged for the “VIP” room, which really meant we paid extra to have a bigger room with more windows. It was so worth it, though – if for nothing else than it had a better couch/bed for Jon to sleep on. We had a great troop of nurses who cared for us and interrupted us as little as possible. It was just an overall better experience. I couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital with Charlie, but it was almost, dare I say it, a little relaxing this time stay.

Papa & Shi Shi came to the hospital on Sunday night to meet Leo, but big brother Charlie had to stay home. Because of this terrible flu season, the maternity ward was closed to visitors under age 12. I was a little disappointed Charlie couldn’t come to the hospital to meet his little brother, but it was probably for the best to avoid both germs and potential meltdowns when it was time to leave mom and dad.

We got to go home on Tuesday. We spent that entire morning bugging everyone who came into our hospital room until all the ducks were in a row for discharge. We made it home just before Charlie’s nap time. It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm February day. It was so sweet to pull up to the house to see Charlie waiting for us at the door. He started to jump up and down when he saw us coming, which melted my heart. I missed him while we were in the hospital. Leo kindly brought him a small gift to open – a construction truck puzzle that immediately grabbed his attention. He acknowledged the baby, but was much more interested in his puzzle, which he took out of the box immediately and started working right there in the entry way.

Once he played with his puzzle for a bit, we tried to get him a little more interested in Leo. He was more fascinated by Leo’s car seat straps, which he wanted to help buckle and unbuckle. He did, however, immediately know that this was the baby Leo who had been in mama’s tummy, and who he had been talking about for a couple of months. In fact, I think Charlie gets credit for naming Leo. As we were mulling our top choices, we asked Charlie one day if he could say “Baby Leo,” which he immediately repeated as “Baby Wee-ooo” like a fire truck sound. It was such a cute moment that I think Jon and I both knew right then that we had to name the baby Leo. It also doesn’t hurt that both boys are now featured in one of our favorite TV shows, the West Wing. We didn’t do that on purpose, but it’s kind of funny it worked out that way.  

Just as we were getting settled back into life at home, we had this crazy windstorm Thursday night/early Friday morning. In my sleep-deprived state, I kind of blocked out how bad the wind was raging outside, but by Friday morning, we woke up without power. Thousands of people across the state were without power, and we were among the lucky ones.

We went to the pediatrician that Friday morning for a weight and color check. Just like his big brother, Leo had some jaundice so we had a follow-up appointment that morning to check his progress. As we left the house, we saw a truck from the power company on our block so we assumed our power would be back on soon. We waited all afternoon, but our electricity didn’t come back so we made the decision to move to a hotel before we were going to lose daylight. This was a hard day for me. The last thing I wanted to do was move to a hotel with a toddler and a newborn.

Luckily, we had barely unpacked from the hospital so I still had my toiletries ready to go. I haphazardly threw the rest of our things in a bag and we took the boys out to eat before checking into the hotel. Not how I imagined Leo’s first restaurant meal or hotel stay! But once we were finally settled into the hotel, it really wasn’t so bad. Charlie was an absolute champ about the whole ordeal and remained completely unfazed in spite of all the changes he’d experience in such a short time. It helped that Shi Shi and Papa were here to offer lots of distraction and attention.

For me, it was almost like being at the hospital, but without the interruptions of nurses and doctors. I just stayed in the room almost the entire time nursing the baby, cuddling with him and resting as much as I could. It also helped that Leo had his best night of sleep thus far that first night in the hotel. We ended up staying two nights and two full days until our power was restored Sunday evening. It felt so good to be back home, but it also felt like we were starting over on getting settled into being home as a family of four.

Charlie has been such a good big brother. He’s very sweet with Leo. It makes my mama heart so happy to watch him assume this new role with total ease. He has started to include Leo when he does his family roll call of naming everyone at the dinner table. He also gets very concerned when Leo cries, and can’t get over to him fast enough to try to soothe him with kisses. He’s only tried to share contraband with him once (sprinkles from a cake pop), but will go give him a blanket or try to restore his pacifier. But most of the time, he kind of just lets him be because he’s too busy playing. So far, he hasn’t shown any jealousy or annoyance at the attention Leo is getting. However, he does laugh hysterically when Leo gets really worked up and is crying hard. This happened in the car the other day and Charlie couldn’t stop laughing at Leo’s high-pitched wails.

As for Leo, he’s been a pretty chill baby so far. His first few days were especially sleepy, and I had a lot of trouble getting him to wake up to nurse. He’s gradually become more wakeful during the day, and we seem to be making progress on figuring out his days/nights. I think it’s about the same amount of work as the newborn phase was with Charlie, but it feels so much easier this time since everything is just more familiar. I’m thankful breastfeeding has been an easier learning curve this time. He’s a great eater – usually eating every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. He does like to cluster feed in the evenings, and he also likes to be held during this period. We survived our first growth spurt that he hit right at two weeks where all he wanted to do was eat and eat and eat some more.

Unlike his brother, he can be soothed in other ways besides nursing. He often refuses the pacifier, but he likes motion and so far will often fall asleep in his mamaroo, car seat or rock n play. He can also be cuddled and rocked to sleep fairly easily. I love all the snuggles I’m getting these days!

He usually goes to sleep for his first longer stretch between 10:30-12. He will sleep anywhere from 3-4 hours, wake up to nurse, and then sleep another 3 hrs or so, nurse again, and then maybe sleep a little bit more before we both get up for the day. The first several nights were rough because he wouldn’t always go back to sleep or stay asleep long after nursing, but now, he generally goes right back to sleep after nursing. He usually sleeps in his bassinet next to me, but sometimes if he’s being fussier than normal, I let him sleep in his rock n play. Once he gets into a good sleep, he really will sleep hard, which is very helpful considering big brother is always running around making noise.

He likes to be nice and snuggly – either swaddled or wrapped in a warm blanket or both! So far, he has enjoyed bath time until it’s time to get out and he gets cold. He’s starting to become more alert each day – having more wakeful periods during the day where he just kind of looks around or stares at us with his big blue eyes. I often wonder how strange this all must be for a little baby who spent so many months inside my belly!

He had newborn photos at 10 days, and was much more cooperative than his brother Charlie was for his. He slept through most of the shoot and let us manipulate him at will. He also lost his cord stump right in the middle of the photo shoot. Ewww. I think we traumatized our poor photographer (who is a mom herself) but hates the whole newborn bellybutton/cord situation. Photo day was kind of a turning point for me. It was the first day I showered, did my hair, put on makeup and wore real clothes. It felt pretty great to put myself together again for the first time in several days.

I’m so grateful that the transition to two kiddos has been smooth so far. Of course, all of this is made possible by many helping hands. My parents were here for two weeks keeping us fed and Charlie entertained. They left my freezer full of meals, and I barely lifted a finger to do anything other than tend to the baby in those early days. Jon’s parents visited next and were equally helpful. It’s also a huge luxury that Jon has been able to work from home every day since Leo’s birth. The real test will be when the help is gone and Jon starts going into the office more often. But every day gets a little bit easier and seems more manageable.

Eating his cake pop that mama and dada brought him from the hospital
(it was actually a gift from the starbucks workers who identified dada as a new  - for the 2nd time - father). 

Reading about how to be a good big brother

Hotel stay!

Hotel nap with mama

Lots of kisses from big brother