Our First Week as a Family of Four

Our first week at home with Hailey was great! Ahmad was very sweet the first day home with her. We were discussing dinner and he asked me what I missed most while I was pregnant. I told him deli meat and then on a side note, I also threw in raw cookie dough! All those batches of cookies we made while I was pregnant and I couldn't have any; I just watched Miles enjoy it. He went out to get food and came back with Subway and cookie dough from Papa Murphy's! It was great!

Hailey is such a great baby and sleeps well. At the hospital, she was up all night long and the first night at home, she was up a lot as well. The next night though, she was down to about 4 times up, then the next night was like 3, then she settled into just getting up once a night! She's going down about 11ish and is then up about 2:30am and then again about 5:30 or 6am. She's kept that schedule pretty well and hopefully will continue, although as soon as I am done writing this, she will probably change!

Miles just loves having Hailey home and out of my belly! He calls her "my baby Hailey". He truly loves her and showed her her room, toys, likes holding her, and playing with her. He insists on sitting with her and playing with her often. So far he's doing great with her and has only had to be corrected twice (as far as being gentle and such). He is very gentle and gives her kisses and invites her to play. He even got upset one morning because she was sleeping and he wanted to play with her before going to school. He loves having her bug bug with us before he goes to bed and insists that she join us for books and moon. She does well with him also and will usually let him hold her for a bit. One morning he didn't want to take a bath, but after a suggestion that Hailey could join him, he was all for it!

I've really enjoyed being home with Hailey for the first week. We've spent a lot of time just snuggling and getting to know each other. Ahmad was also home our first week and spent a lot of time studying for his insurance test so he can get a new job. Miles has kept his schedule of going to school daily and will continue for another week or two. Then I'm going to keep him home part time for the rest of my maternity leave. I think it will be nice to spend more time with him!

Uncle Jamal, Aunt Tiphanny, Max, Mill'ion, and Mckenzy came to visit this first week at home as well. It was great seeing them as it's been several months since we last visited. They welcomed Hailey and the kids all enjoyed playing together. It was really nice!

The Kleins also came to visit and spent the first half of the Super Bowl cheering for the Colts. It was great to hang out with them and see the girls getting along! Too bad the Colts lost...

The nurse came out to visit me and Hailey as part of the program they offer. We both checked out well-I'm to keep an eye on my swelling and we need to continue to work on Hailey's latch, but otherwise, are doing well! Hailey was born at 8 pounds and weighed 7.9 on Monday before we left the hospital. At 6 days old, she weighed 8.8! Growing so fast already! She was also just a bit jaundice, but the nurse wasn't concerned. She said that jaundice usually peaks at 3-4 days and since we were well past that, it would be going away soon.
Hailey turns 1 week old!

The first week has gone well as a family of four and there have been some adjustments, of course. Since Miles has adjusted so well thus far, the main thing that I have noticed that is going to be harder for me is just being there for both Miles and Hailey. It's hard emotionally to not be able to do something with Miles or address his needs right away as I've been able to do for the past 3 years because now Hailey needs my attention too. Miles has been pretty understanding so far and does well when she's crying and when I have to feed her and such, but for me, I feel bad that I can't respond as I always have. Hopefully this will get easier, but I also think this may be a continual struggle.

Miles seems so big now! Physically he seemed to gain about 10 pounds overnight; after carrying Hailey around, Miles seems so heavy! But also cognitively, he just seems older. He's becoming such a real little person with his own thoughts and ideas and is asserting his independence in new ways. It's amazing to me how much he seems to have grown up since bringing Hailey home. He's still my baby, but he sure is turning into a big boy!