Here's a short overview of Ennio's first few days of life.
Friday, April 29, 2011: Ennio's Birth-Day!Born at 00:18 AM on the day of the royal wedding in England (not that we watched the news, we had other things to do!!!), our little prince is a bit of a lightweight (7 lbs 2 oz. or 3,2 kg) but is otherwise perfectly healthy. What a relief!
His blood sugars were continuously checked during the first 24 hours and were always fine.
Dr.'s check-up right after birthMarcus and I tried to get some sleep during the rest of the night and morning, but that didn't work out too well. I was just too excited and wanted to do nothing else but stare at my baby in his crib or take him out and cuddle with him!
Baby bonding time In the late afternoon, my colleagues from work came to visit. Marcus picked up Lily and they came back to the hospital. I heard them talking and laughing in the hallway. But when they entered the room, Lily wasn't all that enthusiastic about her baby brother. To the contrary, when she saw me holding him, she immediately started sulking... She didn't want to hold him or even simply say hi. Only when I handed the baby over to someone else did she come up to me to hug and kiss me! Hopefully that will change!
Lily doesn't really know what to think of Ennio, who just invaded her life... At night, Marcus and Lily returned home so everyone would get a good night's rest. What a day!!!
Saturday, April 30, 2011: At the hospitalIn between feeding my baby, I did get some sleep and felt well-rested the next morning. Pamela came to visit, and later Marcus and Lily showed up. Lily was in a better mood than the day before, although she still chose to ignore the baby. She did get excited about the chocolate cookies she got from auntie Pamela, the Duplo blocks and animals she had gotten from my colleague Marie Noëlle, and the fact that there was a TV in the room so she could watch cartoons!
Lily enjoys her cookie. We chilled and relaxed the entire afternoon. Lily fell asleep next to me while I was holding Ennio in my other arm. I felt rich like a queen!
(I don't know how to translate this, I mean "de koning te rijk")We enjoyed more visits from friends later in the afternoon. It was a great day!
Sunday, May 1, 2011: Going homeIn the States, you get to stay 2 days (48 hours) in the hospital for a normal delivery (4 days for C-section), so on Sunday morning we were discharged from the maternity ward at
Cedars-Sinai. This time, I was very happy with the care I received, my nurses had been very friendly and helpful. All in all, a better experience than the first time around! (maybe this is also due to the fact that I knew better what to expect and was more assertive in letting them know my needs)
We dressed up Ennio and put him in his carseat... Poor little guy didn't know what was happening...
Ennio in his carseatJust for fun, this is a picture of Lily, when she was put in her carseat for the very first time:
Haha, I guess you can tell they are brother and sister!!!I got very emotional when we got home. I was just so happy to have our new family of four at home.
Barbara, Peter & Martha came to visit and admire Ennio.
At night, we felt exhausted from the lack of sleep and all of the emotions of the past few days and went to bed early. Ennio needs to drink every 2-3 hours, so we won't be getting a full night's sleep anytime soon. But I do sleep well in between feedings, so feel like I am getting enough rest (for now at least)!
Monday, May 2, 2011: First full day at homeThe project of today:
finding a routine for baby boy and the rest of the family!
Ennio is still sleeping a lot, often times we have to wake him to drink. Even during his feeds, he falls asleep on my chest and we need use all kinds of tricks to wake him (tickle him, undress him, change his diaper,...).
Ennio after his meal! Our sleepyhead sleeps great in his moses basket...
He doesn't even need to be swaddled to fall asleep! (At night, we do swaddle him, though.)
... in the car...
Sleeping and smiling in the carseat
... or on me in the baby carrier (Moby Wrap).
Here he is awake for a change!
Our cutie-pie
At night, it is all about Lily. We try to give her as much attention as possible, play a lot and keep the same bedtime routine. She's slowly adjusting to life with the baby around. She "accepts" him, but she's still not interested in him and more or less ignores him. We try to involve her in taking care of the baby, but she doesn't want to, really, and that's OK, we don't want to force her. We'll see what the future brings!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 : First trip outside!We take it easy in the mornings. Lily usually comes into our bedroom (around her early wake-up time of 6:30 AM) and stays in our bed until 8:00. I feed Ennio, or doze off a little more. Then we all get up, have breakfast, and get ready for the day. Around 10:00, we bring Lily to daycare.
Today, we have an appointment with our
pediatrician,
Dr. JJ. We visited another pediatric practice in our neighborhood, but did not like it at all, so decided to stay with our old pediatrician, who we love love love. It is a farther drive (35 min. without traffic), but she is so worth it. Let's just hope our little ones won't get sick too often!!!
Our appointment is at 1:30 PM and Ennio behaves so well! He's peacefully sleeping on the way over and doesn't stress out too much when the doctor examines him. His jaundice levels are good now (on Sunday in the hospital, they were a little elevated). He has lost about 10% of his birthweight now and only weighs about 6lbs 7oz (+/- 2,9 kg). This worries me a bit. I now try to feed him
at least every 3 hours, even during the night, in the hopes that he will quickly regain his weight! He is so tiny right now! Our next appt. is in 2 weeks. Lily will have her 2.5 yr old check-up on the same day.
After the doctor's visit, Marcus and I, who have not have had lunch yet, decide to go to an Italian restaurant nearby,
Farfalla Trattoria. It's a gorgeous day today and we sit outside on the terrace (in the shade, of course). I have fed Ennio at the doctor's, so he is sleeping in the maxi-cosi. Suddenly, it feels like Marcus and I are having a date! (A baby is sooooooo much easier to go out with than a 2.5 yr old!!!) It's also great to be able to pick anything from the menu, without having to think about the diabetes restrictions!!! The food is really good (esp. the mozzarella appetizers), so I enjoy this little, unexpected getaway a lot!
After lunch, we head back to our neck of the woods, pick up Lily and go to a playground nearby. Lily gets her energy out, together with daddy, and I feed Ennio.
Another perfect day!!!
Op deze Amerikaanse feestdag, die het onofficiële begin van de zomer inluidt, hebben we het kalm aan gedaan. Geeb BBQ voor ons, maar een langzame start van de dag (wegens een wel heel vermoeiende nacht met de kindjes...) en een wandeling in de Huntington Gardens in de namiddag.
Immense bloemenpracht!
Een gids was niet nodig, Lily legde het allemaal wel uit!
Nog een nieuwe hobby van onze meid: stokken verzamelen!
Op tijd en stond was er ook plaats voor verwondering...
... om de pracht van de natuur.
