davejenbarnes

We’re getting to know each other as a family. The biggest adjustment for me and Dave is not being each other’s center of attention. I do miss my husband - though he is right here by my side most of the time (he started work a week ago and will be working from now on) - when we are together, our attention is on James. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect that I would miss my own husband’s attention, but I really do. My parents have been down twice and it has helped with the extra loving arms to hold little James so Dave and I can watch a movie and snuggle on the couch. Boy, that has been nice.

Picture-wise, we have so many… and I am so sleepy… eventually there will be all kinds of pictures online (I have recently discovered that James will still nurse, even without my death-grip on his little neck, so I can get some computer time in (albeit one handed) when he’s nursing in the mornings) … and we’re uploading them to both flickr and shutterfly. I know, eventually you’ll be able to order pics from flickr, but you can’t right now. Since my family all has shutterfly accounts, we decided to go with them. I had checked out ofoto, snapfish, and some others… but shutterfly seems the easiest to use (and for some reason, snapfish says certain things cannot be ordered or created from a mac… what?! anyhow) so here is James’ shutterfly site:

jamesbarnes.shutterfly.com - you can order pictures, add pictures, and leave messages if you wish

Well, it is almost time for a hungry-mungry to call his mama… better get ready for my little Bubs!

… but this would sure be sweet … just a suggestion! hehe!

1 week old, uploaded by davejenbarnes

We took a few pictures yesterday, though he didn’t seem overjoyed to finally be a week old. Actually, he appeared kind of tired of it all…

Already!?

Where has the time gone? He is sleeping, after a short but apparantly good meal, on the boppy in my lap at the computer as I type. David and I are amazed at the sounds he makes and the faces … oh, the faces! He never really opens his eyes very far yet - but if it is darkened in the room (think electricity going out dark!) he’ll open them enough for you to see that he has them. He’s just not very generous with sharing that part of himself with anyone yet.

We think he has grown a lot in the last week. At a week old, he seems less fragile than when he was born. He might not weigh a lot more but he is somehow more durable… plumper feet and legs, stronger kicks and punches, practicing lifting his head, his round, not pointy, head! I can’t wait until his next check-up on August 1st to see how Dr. Wacker thinks he is doing. Yes, that’s our pediatrician’s name. Yes, she was the one who performed his circumcision… yes, we got a laugh over it!

I will be taking week-old pictures today… sometime… hopefully when David gets home from work and I will post one with a link to more once they get taken, edited, and uploaded.

picture uploaded by davejenbarnes

Sunday before my parents left, my Mom and David gave James his first bath. It was a “sponge” bath, though they used wash clothes. He didn’t seem to mind tooooo much…

New Pictures! We have new pictures online of his bath and of the visit he had of David’s cousin, Adam, and his family. Also, I’m adding pictures to a Shutterfly album for anyone to order prints of his birthday if they wish.

So, yeah, milk. It’s amazing. Easier to eat than colostrum (oh yeah), provides everything a growing boy needs, makes James’ bottom a hoot (or a toot!), diaper changes are a cinch compared to that meconium poo, and the new chest… I’m gonna hafta buy some differently proportioned tops (tee-hee!).

Nursing has become half-easier and half-enjoyable. I say half because the left side is a joy to nurse from while the right side still lags behind in the pain department. We had some complications with the shape of things over there on the right side, but with a little encouragement, a lot of jaw-clamping and toes curling to bear the pain, we have overcome the worst and are getting closer with every suckle to being pain-free and enjoyable.

James does like to fall asleep, though. This is something I think all babies do. Nursing is so… soothing to him. Not that he’s upset or uncomfortable, but he’s at his happiest at the breast and relaxes to the state of limpness. So far, a burp or a diaper change later (he goes poop with every nursing) and he’ll latch on again and keep on trucking.

Concerning the nights - he just likes to be held. I think he is totally a tummy-sleeper, and one that likes to be hot (almost sweaty hot) all the time. If he is on his back and it is cool (like, at night!) fuh-geta-boutit… kiss your sleep goodbye. Grandma & Grandpa Knight did buy him some sleep wraps and that worked for 2 hours last night, but he got his little arms out of it (it’s still a tad bit big for the James-man) and only his lower body was in it and his little nose and hands and cheeks and elbows were all sooo cold. Thankfully, David is one hot guy (rrrwaaaarrrrrr! - I can say that, I’m his wife!) no, seriously, he gets warm when he sleeps, so David let James sleep on his chest last night and we had three happy people in this family until the next nursing session.

I love my new family. James is the best. Isn’t God wonderful?

The nights are probably the most difficult time for me right now because he cluster feeds at night. Thirty minutes of chow, five minutes to burp, five minutes to diaper check/change, five more minutes to do the boobie routine (so they don’t get raw, dry, cracked, or bloody - so far so good) and 15 mintues to fall asleep only to wake up and do it all over again - every hour for 4 hours. But today David moved the recliner into the livingroom. James and I will probably get some quality snoozing on that thing tonight… I have a great set-up there with the heating pad set up for my neck. I think I pulled a muscle in my neck when I was pushing him out… darned “put your chin to your chest” instructions… worked better when I pushed my head against the bed! Anyhow, tonight we are going to snuggle on the recliner and see if we can’t get more than 2 hours of sleep. So far the pack-n-play basinnet and crib are not good places to put him down if you’re expecting him to sleep more than 3 minutes. I think he gets too cold and since you can’t use blankets with a baby in a crib or basinnet - and the boy has some amazing kicking power to knock the wind out of any swaddling job - the snuggling is what we found to work last night. At least for 2 hours! :-)

James is eating much better. Like a champ. And it doesn’t hurt anymore. I was blessed that only one side got irritated and I think that was mostly due to an inverted nipple. Thankfully James is able to get it in the right shape when he nurses. The lactation nurse told me that it would be much more painful on that side and she was right, though now things are more “normal” and becoming more tolerable and yes, even enjoyable.

David will be going to church tomorrow. I wish we had pictures to pass around but they’re all digital! :-) Next Sunday will be a trial because he’s scheduled to play and will be gone from 7 am to 1 pm for all the services. Hopefully Grandma Knight will be able to spend the night Saturday and keep me company on Sunday morning.

It is getting late for me - I am going to go try to get some z’s in the recliner.

First 5 Days Bible Verses, uploaded by davejenbarnes

I subscribe to many RSS feeds through Safari. One of them is the Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day. I haven’t checked any of the RSS feeds since Monday.

Read the bottom verse.

That is exactly what I need to hear as a new mom - the nights are so hard - God spoke to me today through Tuesday’s verse and I know that He is with me, even in the dark, quiet, lonely night when it’s just me and James trying to get some food.

IMG_5997, uploaded by davejenbarnes

This little guy has stolen my heart. I love him beyond comprehension.

Praise the Lord for James, my son.

We just got back from the pediatrician (technically the neo-natal nurse), and James has a very good bill of health. When he was released from the hospital, he weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces (two less than birth), and today he weighed 7 pounds 7.5 ounces. He’s almost re-gained all of the weight he lost since birth. He is eating like a ravenous eater, and has good color to his skin. We’ve got another appointment in about two weeks, and we’ll actually be seeing the doctor this time.

After a long day of discharge and then not being allowed to discharge, we finally got the okay after he started nursing. We had to jump-start his nursing pattern with some pumping and syringe feeding, but praise God, it worked! He has it down.

Now, if I can get the latch on right…