Three Weeks Down...

Noah is three weeks old today.

So, what have I learned in three weeks?

• That everyday is different. 
• Just because he slept all day does not mean that he will stay up all night and just because he was up most of the day does not mean he will sleep all night. 
• The bouncy/vibrating chair is my friend. It helps him nap and gives me time to do other stuff- very quickly, I might add.
• The baby carrier is also my friend and allows me to do other stuff.
• I can only do things (chores, nap, etc.) on his nap schedule, which means in spurts of about 1-2 hours.
• There is a lot of crap on daytime t.v., so I tend to stick to reruns or Netflix.
• Babies don't always pee and poo in their diapers, it sometimes get all over their clothes and other stuff.

I also found out that even if I am able to get a decent night's sleep I feel like a frigin zombie. I drive, go to the shop, whatever and feel like I am in a daze. Maybe it's the lack of interaction with people. Despite trying to read the paper daily to stay abreast of the world around me, I somewhat feel like the world around me has kind of stopped and I'm a bit of social retard. Just dazed. 

I have to say though, Noah is still pretty good in the sense that he doesn't cry a ton and it really is because he wants something- he's hungry, needs to be changed, is gassy or tired. 

Okay, the cries just started, back to parenting...

Day Four/Five

It really is amazing how much one can learn in a  few short days, especially as a new parent. Here is my summary of his first few days of life:

Birthday Day: Wow! I have this amazing baby who is so cute and seems pretty calm. He sleeps a lot and doesn't cry too much. He isn't very fussy and I think I'll be pretty lucky.

Day Two: (At Night) Okay, so the nurse said that baby's first nights are usually easy because they are so tired from labor. The second night on the other hand, not so much. He is up and crying all night. Hmm...I think I spoke to soon on the being lucky with a not so fussy baby. He was good during the day though. He seems to have jaundice, so we'll have to monitor.

Day Three: Going home from the hospital day. Pediatrician said if he is really hungry, don't feel bad about about supplementing with formula to get him full and satisfied. Okay, will make note of that, but let's try to see what we can do without it. Took him home and had another sleepless night. He was not a happy camper. Succumb to using a pacifier to soothe, which only worked a little.

Day Four: No sleep. Very tired. Rethinking this formula thing since it still seems like my milk has not come in. Decided to supplement and the moment we gave him some, he got the first good sleep since Days One and Two. What kind of drugs do they have in there? Supplemented before bed and we even got a few good hours of sleep. Thank the lord. He seems like that pleasant baby I met on Day One again.

Day Five: Baby's first doctor's appointment. Milk has come in, so don't feel the need to supplement with formula and he actually gained weight from when we left the hospital. He was born at 5 pounds 14 ounces, left at 5 pounds 8 ounces and is at 5 pounds 11 ounces. Jaundice is under control. Don't need to follow up until his one month appointment.

Lesson learned: As Doctor said formula and supplementing with it is not the end of the world and is meant to help you. There is way to much emphasis on strictly breastfeeding, and I admit I got caught up in the hubbub. If it means my sanity, I'll take it. Also, a baby that isn't crying all the time is way cuter than one that wails all night and keeps his parents up.

I peed. Nope, I am having a baby.

I was worried that I would totally miss the on coming signs of child birth and be one of those people that just barely made it to the hospital, which I guess wouldn't be all bad because then you'd miss most of "process." I had just heard about an other woman that worked the entire day and didn't realize she was in labor until a few hours before giving birth.

Anyway, just before the end of my work day, I thought my water broke because everyone says they think they pee themselves. I was pretty sure I didn't pee, but at the same time I didn't think my water broke-- too early. When Akira picked me up from my office I felt another little gush and started to get concerned, so I called the doctor who told us to head into the hospital. Good thing we had moved to hospital bag to the car earlier in the week...

The hospital pretty much confirmed that my water did indeed break and I would be checking in. It was all pretty surreal and I don't think it really hit either Akira or myself that we would be having the baby within the next few days until he came out. The overnight stay was filled with waiting for the pitocin to kick in, which would start contractions. In the morning, when the doctor came in, she broke whatever was left of my water bag and the contractions started rolling in. 

Akira had to run home to pick up a few things, since the doctor said it would still be a at least several hours. And of course, once he left, the contractions became pretty intense. He was gone for less three hours and my pain level went from a two to a seven and had dilated from about 4 cm to 7 cm. I needed that epidural, but was supposed to wait for Akira. When he arrived, they were getting ready to insert the needle. I could not believe how intense the pain was. I have to admit I was not expecting it to be that painful and there is no way in hell I could have done it without the epidural. And the breathing did not help. I could go further into the pain and that ring of fire and such, but I think those details are better left unsaid.

By around 3 p.m. Thursday I was at 10 cm and the doctor wanted the baby to continue to drop. By around 4:30 p.m. it was push time and by 5:40 p.m. he was born. Noah Ryusei Kimo Kaneko was born at 5 pounds 14 ounces and 18.5 inches long. He's a little guy, but probably because he was a little more than 2 weeks early. 

Here is the before and after. Looks like his dad.

 We are all home now after 3 long pretty sleepless nights at the hospital. Not that we are getting much more sleep at home. We are figuring out our routine and continue to get settled in with baby since although we were ready for his appearance it was still earlier than expected. We all thought he would at least make it until July. But I guess, like mom, he prefers to be early than late. 

So far we have determined that he has Akira's nose, mouth and ears, my chin and we can't quite figure out the eyes. But from the pic to the left, I think he has Akira's eyes too. We'll see as he continues to grow and I will try to continue and update. I'll be off with Noah for the next 11 weeks, so hopefully I'll have some time.