Benton Parker. His first week.

My Benton man had a very different first week than his sister.  He came out screaming and acted like a term baby from the get go.  I have been told and reminded many many times over the last 4 weeks that this was not normal at all and he is a total rock star.  I knew that ;) He was smaller and I worried about him but he basically said, "Chill Mom.  I got this."

They observed him in the nursery for a few hours just to make sure he stayed stable.  Once they knew he wasn't going to have trouble breathing they brought him to my room.  I was thrilled.  I had been sitting in a room full of people just waiting for them to say he was ready to come in for what seemed like FOREVER.  

I cried a lot of tears when I finally got to hold him.  I just put my head to his head and cried.  I was overwhelmed.  After all this time and all that we went through...the babies were finally here.  

I asked if I could nurse him.  He was so tiny!  They said yes and he took to it right away.  But seriously...his  mouth was so tiny...I was scared!  He was having some trouble keeping his blood sugar up so he had to be on an IV.  Just like with most newborns, the biggest hurdle with breastfeeding those first few days was keeping him awake long enough to eat.  Since he was premature he couldn't regulate his body temperature super well so they wouldn't let me unwrap him to nurse.  That was hard because that was always my go-to to keep Blakely awake..that and a wet washcloth.  But we did it.  After a few days he was able to hold his temp and we did some skin to skin.  

I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday but they let me stay and "room-in" with him since he was still a patient and I had to feed him every 3 hours.  So thankful for that.  I got to stay in my same room I just was not longer a patient and could come and go as I needed (which was never) and had to get my own food.

We had a lot of visitors during that week in the hospital.  People brought me food and came to keep me company.  Lonnie was back at work so he would stop by occasionally during the day and after work.  

Benton was nursing great and my milk came in the 3rd day postpartum.  Right before that time he was still not able to keep his blood sugar up so we had a few instances of getting off the IV only to go back on it after a feeding and blood sugar check.  I could tell my milk was well on its way and I knew that would fix the issue.  But at one point they checked his blood sugar before a feeding and then after.  After the feeding it was only 28 (want it to be 45) so this was way too low.  I mildly (HA!) freaked out and decided to give him a little bit of formula instead of waiting for my milk because I was super worried it would stay low even with the IV.   He had to go back on the IV that time as well.  Literally the next feeding my milk was flowing so we had no more issues with that.  

Benton and I did A LOT of snuggling that week.  I kept him in the room with me most of the time unless I wanted to try and take a nap.  I knew that time was special.  I knew I would always remember that first week with him and cherish it.  It was just me and him and I couldn't get enough.  I memorized his face and all his little expressions.  The way he pursed his lips all the time, his cute little squeaks and how he looked like a tiny old man because he was so wrinkly.  I loved seeing the fuzzy blonde hair all over his face.  

  

His bilirubin went up and he needed to be under the lights for a little over a day.  That meant he had to be in the nursery except for when he was nursing.  That happened to be the day I went to see Emery for the first time.  That evening after nursing him at 8pm I mentioned to his nurse that I missed him.  She was too sweet and said we could set him up under the bili light in my room and he and I could snuggle.  So we did skin to skin under the light.  It was wonderful and I loved it even though I was a sweaty mess after 2 hours of it!  

 

One of his nurses one night found him this little sleeper and she was so excited to show it to me.  It was a preemie size and he wore it the rest of his stay.  I love that sleeper and will never get rid of it! 

 

The night the babies were born my aunt went to my house and packed up a few things to bring up to me (since I had nothing!)  Blakely just had to send a "peep" up to Benton.  She picked her little Minnie.  Later in the week I took this picture because they were about the same size!  My tiny little man!  

 

The day after the babies were born Blakely came up to the hospital to meet Benton.  She was seriously excited and did so well.  She held him and was gentle and kept saying "he's so soft".  

 

Saturday after they were born Lonnie was on call.  He brought Blakely up to hang out with me and Benton while he rounded on his patients.  She thought that was so fun.  She held him and helped me change his diaper and tried to help me feed him.  Ha! 

 

Although his first week was much less scary than Emery's, it was not without stress.  A lot of that had to do with the fact that I was an emotional wreck the whole time.  I tried to "have it together" but I definitely lost it a few times.  I was in a lot of pain, trying to take care of my tiny preemie son and worrying about my preemie daughter that I couldn't be with.  Not to mention I was away from Blakely and I felt terrible about that.  We would FaceTime as much as possible and she was being such a big girl but I could tell she was sad that I wasn't ever home.  I was also determined to make breastfeeding work so I was feeding 2 babies in 2 different locations.  I fed him every 3 hours and then pumped for 15 minutes after every single feeding.  There was not a lot of sleep.  I am thankful for wonderful nurses that never made me feel like I was over reacting or "too emotional".  

It was a crazy first week with all my babies but a week I will never ever forget!