The first two weeks with Cruz have come and gone (we are actually on day 16 as I’m writing this). Time was crawling by when I was still pregnant and anxiously waiting to meet him and now I can hardly remember what day it is.
It’s been so wonderful getting to know our baby… but parenting a newborn is not easy! We have been getting to know his likes and dislikes and the cues he makes when he wants or needs something. I’m not going to lie and say my mothers intuition allows me to calm him every time he cries… There have been many nights that he fusses and we have done everything to console him and he is still unsettled. During these tired times I’ve found myself saying to Martin, “I don’t know what to do!” Which is exactly what I was telling him during my agonizing labor (pre-epidural). And somehow I got through that and my body knew exactly what to do. We are taking things one day at a time and doing what works for us. Each day things get a little easier… But I’ve also been blessed to have my mom here with me since we arrived home from the hospital. Yesterday my dad arrived too! Consider me spoiled and check back with me after they leave on Sunday!
The highlights of this week have been watching “The Happiest Baby on the Block”… I highly highly highly recommend all new parents watch this when they bring their newborn home. If you don’t want to buy the book or DVD you can pay for it and stream it on iTunes. Harvey Carp the pediatrician who wrote the book believes newborns are in their 4th trimester of your pregnancy. If your baby is still fussy after you change their diaper, feed them and make sure they aren’t too hot or cold don’t jump to the conclusion that its something you ate upsetting the baby’s stomach you should use his methods to help console your baby. Cruz is generally a happy and calm baby but he does experience colic late at night which is not the easiest thing to try tackle when you’re sleep deprived.
This week I have also started experiencing cabin fever… It’s tough being pent up in your apartment all the time. Our first outing with Cruz (besides picking up mom at the airport and taking him to his pediatric appointment) was to walk him to the grocery store which is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. It just so happened to be 17 degrees and very windy that day but we snuggled him up in his stroller and I don’t think he even knew the difference. He slept the whole time! Our next outing we borrowed Martin’s Jeep and drove out to the Woodfield mall in Schaumburg where we ate at lunch and shopped around. He slept the whole time until we woke him up to feed and change him before heading home. When we were leaving the mall we went out the wrong exit to the parking lot and panicked that the car had been stolen… It’s funny looking back on it now!
My breast pump has not arrived yet so my only method of feeding him at the moment is to breastfeed him. And when you’re out and about there are often times you need to feed your baby and there is not a family restroom to do this in. My first public nursing experience was in the Starbucks sitting area in Target. I just found a table, sat down, covered him with a small blanket and got him latched on. No one even noticed! My second public nursing experience was a bit more intense for me… I fed him sitting at a table in Red Robin. I just acted like I had done it a million times and carried on eating my meal like nothing was happening. I’m actually pretty proud of myself for doing this. Baby’s gotta eat!
In other news worth mentioning we received our first shipment of cloth diapers! We are using a cloth diaper service and are so far loving it! There’s a cute picture of him with his first cloth diaper on below!
And lastly this week we received our hospital bill… And all I can say is I am so thankful we have insurance! We owe $1,000 to cover our deductible but check out the last picture below to see what we would have owed without it! One bill is for Cruz and the other is for me!
Enjoy a few pictures from our second week with Cruz.
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<img src="http://cruisetocruz.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/20130207-085203.jpg" alt="20130207-085203.jpg"
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Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
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What blog post topics would you like to read about here? Anything pregnancy or baby related topics that I’ve missed that you’d like to read please let me know!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
