WOW! I can't believe 3 weeks have already gone by. That's 21 sleepless nights and thousands to go. So here's a recap of the last 3 weeks and some of the laughs and tears that came with our new bundle.
The laughs for week 1 were usually related to lack of sleep and dirty diapers. On our 4th night home (that's 6 nights without sleep) Madelynn and I were up for our 4:45 feed. All week we've been praising Maddie for her dirty diapers (because that's the way to get rid of the jaundice color of the skin) so we were thrilled each feed with poopy diapers. At this feed, I went to change her before feeding her, and there was just a small amount of poop in her diaper. I told her we wanted more poop, and she gave it to us! I'll let the photo explain.
So, that's poop all across the changing table and clothes. We ruined 23 diapers in one diaper change--and yes, that's poop on the wall (3 feet away). By the way, stain remover for carpets and clothes also works on walls.
Week 3:
Week 1:
A majority of our laughs and tears were during our first few days home. We spent hours each day staring at our little Maddie and neither of us could put her down...that leads to many of the tears in week 3 (we'll get to that later). In this week, we both realized we knew much less about caring for and raising a child than we had previously thought.
Our first tears were about Madelynn's jaundice. Her skin and eyes were very yellow for the first few days, and we were at the doctor or emergency room daily for blood draws. As a nurse, I should know the importance of these tests, but by the end of the week, I was sending Kheang and Maddie in alone for the blood draw. I cried more than she did each time. It's so much different when it's your own child. Each day after the blood draw, we came home for some natural phototherapy!
The laughs for week 1 were usually related to lack of sleep and dirty diapers. On our 4th night home (that's 6 nights without sleep) Madelynn and I were up for our 4:45 feed. All week we've been praising Maddie for her dirty diapers (because that's the way to get rid of the jaundice color of the skin) so we were thrilled each feed with poopy diapers. At this feed, I went to change her before feeding her, and there was just a small amount of poop in her diaper. I told her we wanted more poop, and she gave it to us! I'll let the photo explain.So, that's poop all across the changing table and clothes. We ruined 23 diapers in one diaper change--and yes, that's poop on the wall (3 feet away). By the way, stain remover for carpets and clothes also works on walls.Week 2:
We've all learned a lot in the last week and grown in more ways that one. Madelynn has grown over 2 inches and now weighs 7 lbs and 1 oz. We were all so very excited about that. This week we've had lots of visitors and new friends were made. Oh--and we also celebrated Madelynn's first Thanksgiving and watched our first Aggie Football game.
Week 3: You have all seen the highlight of our week 3. We did our newborn photos and made a quick stop at Madelynn's first Christmas party. All in all, we are doing well, still having sleepless nights, but last night Madelynn spent her first night in her room--in her crib--and a few tears later, we all had a good night's sleep.
So, those are a few of the over 400 pictures we took during the first week. I promise our next entry will have stories and laughs-- cause even the first week has had plenty of both!! Let's just say we're having lots of fun with our little Maddie!
Everyone had such a nice time, and Kheang and I are so thankful for all of the support of our friends and family!
Kheang's belly is still a little bigger than mine! Only 10 weeks to go....I'm sure I get there!
We had some formal nights on the cruise where we got to dress up for dinner.
