Blessed Beyond Measure: Baby Life Week 1: Getting Acquainted Part 2

July 2, 2012: When we got home the first thing that we had to do was introduce Emma to her new little brother. In the past, Emma has shown dislike for and aggression toward kids. We first noticed it when she was about 8 months old. We were watching TV and when a baby started crying on the show, Emma started to growl. We new immediately that was not a good sign. Since then we have tried to get her as much interaction with children as possible to teach her the correct way to behave around them. Still, we were nervous about bringing a baby home to her, and we hoped that she would not become jealous of the attention we give it or annoyed by the sounds, movements, etc. that he makes. When we got home, I stayed with Asher in the van, while Eric went into the house to greet Emma and give her some love. Then Eric came back out, while I went in the house to do the same. Finally, after I had given Emma some love (who immediately had gone to get a toy to play), Eric brought Asher into the house. The toy was forgotten, and Asher got Emma's attention. Thankfully the meet & greet went well. Emma was very curious about him, but was also quite gentle. We couldn't have been happier with how it all played out.

Emma meets Asher

Emma curiously checking out the newest member of the family.

After we had been home for a little bit, we had a couple of visitors...

Asher meets Richenda Petersen (& Kaden...who was checking out all of the owls upstairs).

Asher meets Dave from PinD...he had wanted to come to the hospital earlier that day, but Asher was getting circumcised, so it was not the best time.

Finally, we ended the eventful day with Asher's first bath...or at least first bath given by Mom & Dad. He screamed the entire time, and tried to pee on Eric's mom, but we all survived the ordeal.

Asher's first bath by Mommy & Daddy

July 3, 2012: The next day started off with some morning snuggle time (after a long night with little sleep...again), followed by a trip back to the hospital, for Asher's check-up. When he was born, he weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. When we left the hospital, he weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. When we went back to the doctor he was down to 7 lbs. 10 oz. and borderline jaundice. Asher was still not very interested in eating. We were doing the best we could to keep him awake and get him to eat, but it just wasn't his priority. We hoped that it would get better soon, and the nurse wasn't too concerned about it, but did ask that we come back on Thursday for another check-up. As the day continued, Asher did not have ANY wet or poopy diapers, and we grew more and more concerned (you know you're a parent when a large part of your conversations revolve around pee & poop). His mouth was getting very dry and we feared that our little boy was getting very dehydrated. At the end of the day on Tuesday, we finally called the pediatrician (Dr. Leslie at Lakeside Pediatrics...an Ohio State fan, but still a decent guy). The nurse told us to bring him in, and so we buckled our little guy back up and headed over. Asher thankfully made us one wet diaper while we were there, and Dr. Leslie encouraged us to give Asher some formula to help get some fluids back into him. This whole ordeal is so frustrating though, because the lactation consultants and all of the books you read about breastfeeding, strongly urge you NOT to give your baby a bottle, pacifier or anything else until the baby is at least a month old (so that they can get breastfeeding down before they are confused by other items in their mouth). Thus, we were afraid to give him formula, but at the same time more afraid not to. When it comes down to it, Asher's health is far more important than whether or not he is breastfed, so the formula won out. This too proved to be difficult though, as Asher had no idea how to drink from a bottle.

Ready to head to the hospital.

Our tired pup.

July 4, 2012: Today was the Fourth of July, but for us it was basically the same as every other day. There were no parades or fireworks for our family this year, but we did still have a good time spending the morning with Eric's parents before they headed home (they were both very helpful to us while they were here and we were sad to see them leave), and just hanging out as a family.

Eric & Asher enjoying the new rocking lawn chair.

Grumpy face?

Grandma Migrin enjoying some snuggle time with Asher before heading back to Michigan.

Emma was super excited to play with Daddy for a bit. I think she missed us a lot while we were in the hospital.

Nap time.

Emma is exhausted these days. I think that we've really messed up her schedule with me being home, lots of company and a crying baby. She just passed out like this...half in and half out of her bed.

July 5, 2012: On Thursday, Eric, Asher & I headed back to the hospital for another check-up. Asher was still 7 lbs. 10 oz. and his bilirubin level was about the same as well. The good news was that he hadn't gotten any worse...the bad news was that he still hadn't gotten any better. We were still waiting for some dirty diapers (I never thought I'd look forward to a dirty diaper).

Asher & Eric waiting for his 2nd check-up.

Asher entertaining himself by trying to fit his hands in his mouth.

Still trying...

After we got back from the hospital, we spent the day like every other...tending to the baby and trying to get as much rest as we could.

Emma & Eric catching up on some Zzzzs

When the mail came, Asher got a package from Auntie Julie & Uncle Dave...it was his first piece of mail and it was bigger than he is.

When evening came, the moment that we had been waiting for came as well...we could tell it was about to happen by the smiles on Asher's face and the noises that he was making, so what does Eric do...go and get him a magazine of course!

Finally, we had the dirty diaper we had been waiting for. I never thought we'd be so excited about that, but we totally were. It was a good sign that things were finally on the up and up.

Eric prepared to change Asher's dirty diaper.

Diaper changing supplies are courtesy of Aunt Judy and Aunt Carol! :)

Emma is rather spoiled these days. I think we feel guilty that we can't spend as much time with her now, so she has been sleeping in bed with us every night. Lucky Dog.

Eric feeding Asher a bottle to try and get his fluids up more...don't tell the Lactation Consultants...or as the pediatrician calls them the Nursing Nazis

Checked out.

This is a random add-in: This is Asher's rose that was in front of church on 7.1.12. We waited to make our facebook announcement of his arrival until after church started so that Pastor Dave could make the announcement to our friends during church. :) ...from the sounds of it, he did a good job of teasing everyone with it.

Milk Coma.

July 6, 2012: Today was the last day of our first week with Asher. It started off with some time snuggling with Mom & Dad in bed and then visiting with my Mom & Dad for a while before they left to help Aaron & Erika move.

A kiss from Daddy.

Hanging out with Grandma K.

Once we motivated for the day, we headed back to St. Catherine's for Asher's third (& final check-up). Finally, we had proof he was getting better. His bilirubin level was down to 8 (which is much better), and he had gained 3 oz. since the day before! With that good news, we went to visit Tom & Alex Dryer and their new little one, Addison Joy (AJ), who had been born the day before. Now two of the four original IBC babies had made their way into the world.

Tom & Eric with AJ & Asher

Alex & I with AJ & Asher

When we got back home, we took Asher (& Emma) for a walk & Asher's first stroller ride. We realized he likes the bumpy sidewalks the best...which is good for our neighborhood.