First Month

Ah, to have a newborn again... it's such a special time... a tired time... an adjustment... 

 and oh so sweet!

We were told when Jaxen was born that he had an accelerated version of Jaundice. It was a tough thing to fight those first couple weeks. Our pediatrician also told us it was likely that all our kids would have this. But after Embri was born, she was fine. We only took her back for one Bili test as opposed to Jaxen's 15+ visits. Jaron took her in the day after we came home (I tried going, but was surprised at how extremely weak I was. No energy to even walk around. Stunning.) and the pediatrician told us to bring her back in 2 weeks. Wait, are you sure she's going to be okay that long? We brought Jaxen back everyday for the first two weeks. Are you sure we can just hang out at home? It felt strange but was a refreshing change to what we'd experienced before. Who knows, maybe she came out fine because I wasn't fine. If so, what a blessing!

 This girl is a screamer though, so it makes those moments she's not screaming extra sweet.

Our little princess was fine with her weight as well. She was back up close to her birth weight the day after we came home, and steadily gained from then on. It was so awesome to watch her gain weight. Literally. I remember telling Jaron I swear I could see her gaining. Due to Jaxen's not gaining weight for six weeks, I was physically relieved to watch her fill in her skin. After her 2 week checkup, when the pediatrician told us to come back in a month, it felt strange again. We went back so often not only for the Bili tests with Jaxen, but also the weight checks. Every week. Every new baby is a new experience, and a little scary. We always knew Jaxen was okay that first six weeks because he was seen so often. Though Embri was gaining weight steadily, I didn't have a doctor checking her out almost every day; to rely on my own instincts and judgement with a newborn was different for me. 

So, to sum up that first month I'd say, "Whew!"