Saturday, January 12, 2013

Asa's First Week Recap!

Well, yesterday (January 11th), Asa turned one week old! I can't believe he has already been an active part of our family for a week. It is just further proof that time flies.

His first week has certainly been atypical. He was born on Friday and that was a smooth and fun process. On Saturday, Jason returned home to deal with the children. His mom came down on Saturday afternoon and so she, Jason, and the children came to visit us quickly in the hospital. Shortly after they left, I got a phone call from my mom telling me that my grandmother (and last living grandparent) had died. It was a certainly a weird experience to be "isolated" in the hospital and be excited about our baby and sad for her passing. It took a while to process.

On Sunday afternoon, around 2pm, Jason and the children picked me up from the hospital. He had a pizza in hand and we went home and ate lunch as a family. It was good to be home and together with everyone. For dinner that night, I made pork chops. I had to hit the ground running in terms of catching up on laundry and dishes, but it made my heart happy to be back.

Monday was our first full day together as a family. Asa struggled throughout the night and so Jason let me sleep in until after 10am! The rest of the day we played together. Eating left over pork chops and pizza for lunch and dinner. Monday night, we put the kids down to bed as usual and then a few hours later, around midnight, Havana woke up throwing up! Now, if you know me, you know vomit is pretty much my number one fear in life. Thankfully I was in Asa's room with him so I didn't have to see it, but I was still thinking, "you have got to be kidding me?!" Wondering why she had to get it our first day together. She got sick a few times throughout the night - I heard it, but thankfully was hidden away in Asa's room. He didn't sleep well that night either, but I was able to sneak out a few times and start some of her dirty laundry.

Tuesday - she was sick. Running a high fever and not eating. She would occasionally perk up after her meds kicked in, but always for brief periods of time. She would drink some juice or water, but wouldn't eat anything. Thankfully, she never threw up, but still was "needy" and sick. Which meant a lot of TV.  Asa slept well Tuesday night going 3-4 hours between feeds. yay.

Wednesday - still sick Havana. Still running a high fever. She would nap on the couch a lot and around 1pm that day finally asked for food. She asked for french toast, but we didn't have any which sent her into a lot of tears. Jason loaded her up and they went to Meijers and got her french toast and some more juice and other quick things we needed. She ate some, but not a lot and then wanted to lay down again. She continued to nap and lay down the rest of the day. I ended up making a homemade chicken noodle soup for us all to eat for dinner. Oh, and normally the kids go to their Bible Study, Awana, on Wednesdays, but we told her she couldn't go that night and she cried for hours. She was so bummed. I felt so sad for her. In other news, Asa slept GREAT on this night only waking every 4-5 hours!

Thursday- I left the house before anyone was awake (9am) to get Asa to his doctors appointment. He weighted 8 pounds, 6 ounces which means he was 3 ounces over his birth weight! That is amazing and the doctor couldn't stop talking about it. He also measured 21.25 inches which meant he grew 1.4 of an inch. Way to go, buddy! Jason texted and said everyone was healthy and happy so we all made the 1.5 hour trip to my grandmother's funeral. I was glad to be able to go. I was planning on just going with Asa, but Jason wanted to drive me because of my lack of sleep and since all the kids were healthy we made a day out of it. He took the older children to Chick-fil-A while I was at the funeral with Asa. This was the first time anyone from my family had met Asa. I told Jason that night I still don't think I have had time to process everything between the newborn, being stressed out with Havana's illness, and the funeral. Asa slept well again this night.

Friday- first "normal" day... everyone was healthy. We hung around and just spent time as a family. It was nice. A friend brought over dinner and so my week of cooking for our family was over. It felt good. Asa was up more throughout the night on this night, but hoping that was a fluke and not a regression. ha.

Throughout this crazy week - Asa has been a trooper.  I can't express clearly enough how great he has been during the day. He put himself on the eat, wake, sleep cycle that I always strive for and has had a few nights of going several hours at night. He is able to look around and entertain himself which Selah struggled with... so that is freeing. His nights have been great - sleeping in his own room. He really is just a great boy. He seems so sweet and mellow. Just like his daddy. :) Jason says he thinks Asa looks most like him of any of our children. We both think he resembles Jonah a lot too. He has proven to be flexible and not needy. He does like to eat every 2 hours during the day, but I'm okay with that.





For me, I felt like I hit the ground running. Came home and had children to play with and housework to do. Then, with the illness, I was cleaning like a mad woman - sanitizing anything that stood still. Less than a week after having a baby loading everyone up to travel for a funeral. My body certainly hasn't rested much and I'm just now beginning to feel the affects of that, but hoping after a day or two of taking it easy and just being together as a family I will feel more like myself. We just got around to giving Asa his first bath today. Poor guy was pretty stinky. Ah, life with a newborn. :)

Tomorrow we are planning on going to church. Jason took the kids last week without me... which is where I suspect Havana picked up her nasty virus. Praying that tomorrow will be germ free. This cold and flu season is one in which I'm constantly stressing out over everything. Which is my problem and one I told Jason I really want to pray through... it isn't normal or healthy and truly robs my joy... it needs to go. So, please be praying for me as I fight this fear.

I am looking forward to this next week where Jason will still be home and we can begin to adjust to life and get into a regular routine. For a few days in there we watched a lot of shows because Havana was sick on the couch and I had a newborn so couldn't take the other kids places. The past two days we have cut back to our regular amount and it has been very refreshing. Looking forward to engaging with the children some more. We have plans this next week, but nothing too crazy or hectic and I have friends bringing over meals so I can sit back and enjoy life with my littles. I am extremely blessed!

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