Long Overdue Update

Reed has made it into the world and is now 6 weeks old. My labor was induced 7/13 at around 7: am and Reed was here just before 12:00 pm. It all went very quick. I hardly pushed and he was ready to meet us. I actually had to wait (no pushing) for the Doctor to get in to deliver him. Brian said it was only a couple of minutes but to me it felt much longer. I had an epidural but still felt quite a bit. Once it was all over I felt NO pain!! I am lucky. I did get sick to my stomach from the epidural and I was so tired. River stayed with my Mom and Dad and they brought him to meet his new brother. He liked him right away and wanted to hold and carry him. When it was time for him to leave he left happily with Grandma and Grandpa.

I have to admit the first 2 weeks were rough!!! I had lots of help adjusting to having 2 kids from Brian and my family. Brian stayed home a couple days. My sister took me to our first pediatrician apt. My Mom and Dad came up and Brian took River to work an afternoon or morning here and there. I had been sick with a bad cold before delivering and was just so tired. Reed cried alot. I was breast feeding and he seemed to want to eat all day, like every 20 min for over an hour at a time. Turns out he was not getting enough milk. At his 2 week check he had not regained his birth weight. He started getting formula and was really a different, happy, relaxed little guy. However that was the begining of the end for breastfeeding. I never could make enough milk no matter how I tried and Reed stopped sucking hard enough. We made it for a solid 5 weeks with what I had.

For Reed's third week of life we had a visit from Papa Jim. We all had a nice time. Papa Jim spent lots of time holding baby and playing "ruff and tuff" with River. I think Reed spent all his sleeping moments on Papa's chest! We got out to see some of the local sights like Tumwater Falls Park and Percival Landing. We had a nice breakfast at Budd Bay Cafe. We even made it to both Mt Rainier and Lake Cushman, with our trip to MT Rianier being the highlight. We miss Papa Jim and wish that he lived close by so he could drop in and visit more often.

Since then we have been slowly getting back to life as normal. River LOVES being a big brother. He wants to squeeze Reed's hands and feet out of love but I have to keep him from being to rough. He also loves to rest his head on his brother as a way of hugging. Again I have to prevent him from "hugging" to hard. I think it is a bit hard for him to understand. He has been a bit defiant but I can not tell if it is because he is adjusting to having a sibling or he is just three. In the midst of it all he now rides his bike without training wheels!! Brian had raised them up a few months back and decided to just take them off before he leaves for Iraq. He is so proud of himself now. Reed is starting to really show some personality. He smiles big smiles at us and he coos, goos and gaga's a little more everyday. He is starting to fall into a bit of a pattern for sleeping and eating making it easier for me to develop a routine for all of us. It was a bit of a rough start but I am really starting to enjoy being a Mom of 2, in fact I wouldn't mind having another at some point.