The First Week

The first week in the life of Charlie has literally flown by.  Every day he changes so much and does new things that keep us on our toes.  He is eating like a champ, filling up his diapers good and sleeping enough at night that mom and dad are actually functioning members of society. We couldn't ask for a better little boy.

On Wednesday, Charlie was officially one week old. We celebrated this event by a trip to the pediatrician (followed by a McFlurry for momma).  Charlie is perfectly in proportion and is growing like a weed. He had lost 11ozs at the hospital before our release and by Wednesday he had gained it all back plus some.  This impressed his doc and made me feel a lot better about breastfeeding. It is crazy to look at him now and think that he had fit in my belly.

And because who doesn't love a before and after--- here I am on Wednesday of this week, exactly one week postpartum.

I do have quite a bit to go before I am back down to fighting weight, but even a little progress gives me hope! Once I am feeling a little bit more normal I intend to kick it into high gear. 

But really, who cares about pictures of just me--- I know what you all want, more pics of the babe.  I am happy to oblige and will even follow it up with another tale from our labor and delivery experience.

"Is that your baby?"- The first night that we spent in the hospital after Charles arrived was very stressful for us. We were so tired after being up for over 36 hours and our adrenaline had completely crashed.  At midnight the nurse came to get Charlie to get his weight and vitals checked. She brought him back shortly after and gave me a stern lecture on how important it was that he eat ASAP.  Yeah, lady, I know. But it is easier said than done when your less than 24 hour old baby has no interest in eating anything.  But, always one to do as I am told I continued to try and force my boob on the poor little guy.  

Hours (literally) later there was a silver lining when, thank the lord, the little guy turned his head and miraculously latched tight and started sucking away. I was relieved and excited that I had finally managed to get it right. My excitement was somewhat short lived.

Suddenly, loudly and abruptly, our room door swings open and in rushes our nurse, our tech, a second nurse, a security guard and a cop. Outside the door I could see another security guard and a couple additional nurses. There I am in my breast feeding glory, both breasts completely exposed and a baby hanging off of one suckling away oblivious to any oddities in the situation. The nurse made her way directly to me in the rocker and asked "is that your baby?"

Um, "Yes" I answered making no attempt at all to cover myself up. 

She then asked if she could check our security bands. I told her that she could, but there was no way in hell she was taking the baby off my chest because it had just taken two hours to get him to latch. Awkwardly she checked my band against his and confirmed that yes, it was my baby. She released the troops and told me that his electronic bracelet must have come loose and that it had triggered the "Stolen Baby" alarm. While I could only see those people sent to find the baby, the whole hospital had been put on lock down. Doors were all locked and no one could enter or leave. When she was telling me this I just started laughing... if it was going to happen to anyone I should have figured it would be us.