Well the past 2 weeks has definitely been an adjustment for everyone. The first 10 days Darrin was home and little Grayson was an angel baby. I would feed him, change him and he would sleep for hours, which was totally different than how Reagan was. Darrin and I were both getting up at nights with him. I would feed him and try to get him back to sleep, if I was too tired Darrin would put him to sleep. It seemed like it was harder to get him back to sleep at night. Sometimes it would take a few hours, but then during the day he was so easy. We were busy going back and forth from each grandparents house and so we kept busy. Darrin would take Reagan to the park during the day and I would stay home with Grayson and rest.
Monday, the 21st, we decided to give Grayson his first bottle. He did great and took it with no problem. We wanted to make sure he was getting enough milk since he was so small. He was born 6lbs 12 oz and when we left the hospital he was 6lbs 3 oz. So tiny.
The next day Darrin took him to the doctor because he had a little congestion and a cough. His peditrition said it was just allergies and nothing to worry about, just to use some saline spray and a cool mist humidifier.
Wednesday, the 23rd, Darrin left to go back to Mongomery, AL. He is working there temporarily, so he will fly back home every other weekend. We knew he was going to be back and forth for a little while so we planned for a night nanny to come and help out during the nights. Since Reagan doesn't go to a MDO or anything, it would be hard for me to be up alone with Grayson during the nights and then have enough energy to entertain Reagan and him during the day. Ms. Sharon stared tonight and has been a huge help, totally worth every penny. She comes at 9:30pm and stays until 7:30am Monday through Thursday.
Thrusday, the 24th, Grayson had his 2 week doctor appointment and it was the first time I would take both kids out alone. The appointment was at 1:45pm and I think around 11:30am I started getting ready. Getting myself dressed, both kids, packing my bag, feedings and just loading up the car would take a while, so I started early. We made it on time, 10 minutes early actually, and everyone was happy. Grayson was sleeping and Reagan was content. Of course we waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes and then they called us back. Grayson was sound asleep and the nurse wanted me to undress him so she could weigh and measure him. I cringed just thinking about waking him up, I just knew once he was awake the doctor would take forever before coming into our room. Sure enough, I was right. About 40 minutes later she came in. Reagan was tired of being in there, Grayson had eaten and wasn't going back to sleep and we all 3 were on the verge of a meltdown.
Once she came in, everything looked great. He had gained more than his birth weight and had passed all his tests.
Weight - 7 lbs 4 oz
Height - 21 in
Later that day and into the night is when the fussiness started. It was as if he became a whole different baby. He was so gassy and just so uncomfortable. You could just hear his stomach rumbling. The nanny said he was up all night and she couldn't get him to sleep. All this sounded way to familiar, we dealt with this for 3 months with Reagan and it was terrible. Right away we decided to get him on formula, similac alimentum, the same one that Reagan was on and he was much better. Needless to say, I am not breast feeding anymore. I could have tried to figure out what to eliminate from my diet to make it better, but there were so many foods to watch out for that I would have driven myself crazy. And honestly, I don't have time for that.
Other than that Grayson has been doing great. He doesn't sleep for long stretches during the day. From about noon until around 5 is his up and kinda fussy, just not wanting to sleep time. He is sleeping in 4 to 6 hour stretches at night and still is a pretty easy baby.
Reagan is kinda having a hard time adjusting to someone else consuming my time. She is used to 100% attention from me and she needs it. She is not independent. She has thrown more fits lately and had her first tantrum the other day, it was terrible. I thought something wrong with her. I could not believe how she was acting. She was so mad/angry for no reason and nothing would console her. I tried ignoring her at first but that didn't work, it only made things worse. After about 15 minutes, I tried talking with her, that didn't work. I tried to distract her, that didn't work. Finally, after about 30 minutes she decided to take her cup of milk ( since it was bedtime) and just lay down. It was really tough for me to see her like that, I had a good cry that night and then started researching tantrums. I thought it was more than just a tantrum, but sure enough, that's what it was. Other than that, she is pretty good. I just have to make sure to give her plenty attention and play with her during the day.
She is still learning how to be gentle. She must ask me 100 times a day, "I hold baby brother, I hold him." Problem is, she just doesn't know how aggressive she can be. She wants to squeeze him and love and kiss on him and it's always a little to hard, but she is getting better. I know she just loves him and is trying to care for him in the way she sees me care for him. I just try remember it takes time and I have to be patient with her. (which can be hard)
