The First Few Days

The first few days of Tristan's life were difficult in a lot of ways, but they were also very special. It's really interesting to see how a new little baby fits instantly into the family. So even though I was mostly bed-ridden and often in pain, I was also enjoying the discoveries we were making along the way.

Discovery #1: Tristan loves to be swaddled. Which is complicated by Discovery #2: Tristan wiggles just as much outside of me as he ever did on the inside! There are a few little blankets that I used to swaddle Ashton in as a newborn, but I can't use them on Tristan. They're too little, and within a few minutes he's wiggling right out of them!

Discovery #3: Tristan is very yellow! His bilirubin kept climbing, and Tyler kept having to take him back to the hospital every day to get it tested again. It got up to 14 (I think), and if it had gone any higher we would have probably had to get a UV blanket or bed, but luckily it started coming down the next day. Phew!



Discovery #4: Ashton is having a harder time adjusting to a new baby than I would have liked. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES his baby. (And yes, he calls him "my baby.") I think he just wasn't ready for the change. Things are different, but in a way he can't understand. And not only am I completely helpless at this point, but our attention is now divided by this new baby, and I don't know that Ashton knows what to do with that. Thank goodness my mom was here for a few days, to love him and spoil him when I couldn't. And after she left, Tyler's mom came and took him for a little sleep-over. Beyond that, Ashton is getting to have his way a lot. Yes, my friends, we are proud to say that we resort to spoiling him! Not too much, though. We mostly just let him run around in his PJs (or nothing at all), and we try to give him lots of treats or rewards when he is being good, and bottles when he thinks he needs them. Poor kid, it just breaks my heart some days. I can't blame him, though.


But like I said, he totally loves Tristan. He constantly tries to climb in the pack-n-play so he can sleep with him.


And he wants Tristan to "watch" shows with him. (Let me just say that Sesame Street has been my saving grace so far...) It's really quite adorable.


Discovery #5: Tristan make funny faces and studies everything around him when he is awake.



Discovery #6: Tristan LOVES to sleep. Most of the time he is totally unconscious.

Every now and then he'll wake up to say hello...

...but then it's right back to Dreamland.

At night he even goes 4-5 hours until he eats, which means I can feed him before I go to bed and only have to feed him one time before we get up! It is beautiful. I really hope this continues. Ashton used to wake me up every 2-3 hours for months after he was born, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...