Brock's first two weeks in the world

Brock's first week was a whirlwind. Brock entered the world on January 3rd at 1:29 pm. We spent the first couple days in the hospital. Brock's first couple days in the hospital were filled with visitors and lots of love from the hospital staff. We had a wonderful nurse name Donna who my mom and I spent a ton of time talking to. We spent a couple late nights chatting and getting to know her. She loved our little boy so much and took him to the nursery the first night to give me some sleep. When he arrived back in the morning, I was so relieved to learn that he had wonderful care in the nursery. Phyllis, the wonderful nurse that spent time with me during my c-section spent the night rocking and singing to Brock. I also woke up very rested which was nice. Its amazing when you haven't slept for four days what fours hours of sleep will do for you.

On Thursday January 5th, Brock's results came back from the test we had to do when he was born to test for infection due to my fever. It came back negative and we were released to go home! I couldn't be happier to be heading home. We spent the evening having a nice dinner courtesy of my mom and some relaxation before heading to bed. I was still in really rough shape but managed to take a shower and I had two wonderful nurses ( Matt and my mom) to help me around. We spent the first couple days around the house and sitting under the pergola with Brock. It was really relaxing anf have me some time to heal. On Saturday we brought Brock to the doctor for his wellness check. He was doing great but had lost a couple more ounces than they wanted him to lose so they asked me to supplement an ounce of formula with every nursing session. Nursing was going great with Brock but I was having some production issues due in large part to the extensive medications and trauma of his delivery. After a few days Brock had gained quite a bit of the weight back and I started working with a lactation consultant and between that, fenugreek supplements ( used to help with production), lactation teas, and extremely increases my calories, and just time we are in business. The doctor said at day 8 I was really at a production level of day 4. I guess this can happen when your body goes through what mine did. Regardless, its now going great after tons of work and Brock is growing like crazy.

So, I had no idea that babies go through a initial growth spurt at around 7-10 days but thank goodness someone told me because I wouldn't have know what turned our awesome little sleeping into a crazy man at around day 8 when he went from sleeping for like 3-4 hours and me waking him up to eat to wanting to eat every hour non stop and staying up all night for two days. Holy hell, it was a rough couple nights but we got through them and he is back to normal sleeping last night for 5hrs then 3hrs so I feel so much better and more rested.

On Brock's 7th day, Matt, my mom and I got up around 6am and left the house before 7am to drive to Jacksonville for his newborn pictures. This included 40 minutes of nursing which left me with about 10 minutes of getting ready. Luckily, I am known to be abele to roll out of bed and be in the car in 10 minutes so motherhood has nothing on me :) I was so excited about these pictures. I have been lusting after Stephanie Knowles photography for a couple years now so I was overjoyed that she was doing our pictures. Brock was a champ and she was able to shoot him for about 3 hours. Watching her was like watching an artist in their element. This was no Olan Mills ( no offensive), Stephanie is so talented with infants. The studio was very warm so that the baby stays really sleepy and she understands baby behavior and kinetics like a nurse. She could tell you when Brock was going to smile by the slight rise in his rib cage  and could make his eyes close by massaging his temple and eye brow. It was really incredible to watch and I couldn't be happier with the shots we got.

Overall, here is what I will remember from the first two weeks:

-Visitors- We started having visitors from day one. I know some new parents prefer their alone time in the beginning and I really respect that but that is not us. We are the happiest when we are surrounded by friends and family. Brock has so many Aunties and Uncles and we are so blessed that he is loved by so many people, we couldn't keep him all to ourselves. I can't even list every one here that has come to visit Brock because it would get way too long. He is one lucky and popular little boy.

My brother and Hannah

 Holly and Frank

 Kelly and Eric

Joslyn and Brock

More to come once I upload!

- Sleeping: Besides a couple rough nights, Brock has been a really good sleeper. He likes to sleep for 3-4 hours at a time and seems to be pretty easily soothed at night. We have lucked out with a few nights of 5 hours and would love to replicate this every night.

-Nursing: A lot of work for me and pretty exhausting at first but Brock was a natural and didn't give me any trouble as long as I nurse him whenever he wants. The lactation consultant helped me a ton and just realizing that not every person follows the same formula for production etc. Also, finding the right doctors to support you helps a ton. I even went and saw my OB GY, Tracey, because she missed us ( or so I hope :)) and she have me so much real life advice from her own experiences with her four kids.

- Personality- Brock is pretty laid back, like his daddy, but defiantly has my fiery personality which contributes to his complete meltdowns during diaper changes. I know its funny to talk about a newborns personality but trust me you start to see if very soon.

-Outings- After a few days of recovering at home, my body has really bounced back really quick. I attribute this to my fitness regime during pregnancy and hours of spinning on the bike. This has enabled me to be able to get around very well and we try to go for a walk in Brock's pram every afternoon. He loves the fresh air and really seems to enjoy the walks. It makes me feel good also. We have also ventured to Jax for the pictures and afterwards my mom and I spent the afternoon at the town center. We had a lovely lunch outside at PF Changs. I had a delicious glass of wine and tons of food. Have to get those calories! We then walked around a ton and I bought Brock a cute pair of dark washed jeans. What newborn doesn't need stylish jeans?! Besides this, going to doctor appointments, we have made a couple trips to the grocery store and we even ventured to the mall for a quick stroll. Brock stayed in his pram all covered up but it let us get out of the house some. We also started going to the post partum lunches at the hospital, I really enjoyed meeting other mommies of similar age with babies around Brock's age. It seems to be a great network and I look forward to going to more of them.

-Looks- Brock has tons of hair, I think thats the first thing most people say when they see him. His hair color is a beautiful strawberry blonde color, exactly like mine when I was born. He has long limbs. We call his legs chicken legs because they are long and lean. He has really long fingers that look like they are meant to learn the piano, or be a football receiver, depending on who you ask:) Brock's eyes are still a dark blue color so we won't know the permanent color for quite some time but with my blue eyes and Matt's green eye's, my bet is on light blue. His complexion is somewhat between mine and Matt's, not too fair but not too olive. He has a cute little button nose and tiny little ears.

On Brock's two week checkup with Dr. Mary Grooms, he measured in right at 9lbs, 21.25 inches long, 15 inch head. We found out his head at birth was over 90 percentile, hence the lovely long labor and c-section. His head and height is now in the 75 percentile. We really enjoyed Dr. Grooms. I know her from the Junior League and what a fantastic doctor she is. I loved that she sat down and just talked to us like we were having lunch together. So friendly and easy to get along with. I am really glad to have her as his doctor.

Ok, I think that is all for now. Its been an amazing two weeks and I really want to slow down time. I know Brock will only be this small for so long and I really want to cherish this time and not rush it. I could do without the late night feedings but I know there will be a time when I miss these times so I try not to take them too seriously. One of my best friends gave me a great piece of advice before I had Brock and that was if you ever get too anxious, or overwhelmed in these early days, just remember this time will pass. Its a very short amount of time and it will be over in the blink of an eye. So don't get too worked up about any of it. Enjoy the ride. I have taken this to heart and really am working to be as patient as I can with him and enjoy this time. Some days I wonder what the heck I did all day. I am so used to running on high speed with everything, that this has taught me to just relax and enjoy it because it will all pass and you will miss the time.

Thanks for reading.

Christy