E’s first week of life

Ephraim is going to be two weeks-old tomorrow, but these are the rest of the photos from the hospital and from his first week of life :)

We were ready to go home the day after he was born, but we ended up staying another night. Eight babies were delivered on the same day as Ephraim (which the nurses said was twice as many as usual)—and five of them were my doctor’s patients. Since my doctor and the nurses were so busy, it seemed like everything took a lot longer to get done. Ephraim had to be circumcised, and he also needed a recheck on his bilirubin—so those things took a while. My recovery started off really well. I didn’t need much pain medication, and I felt a lot better than I did after having Nolan. I was super drowsy though, since I started out labor with no sleep, and then had very interrupted sleep at the hospital.

 
I keep trying to get a photo that conveys just how tiny Ephraim is, but none of these quite show it.

My view for the delivery and recovery. (Sidenote, we realized that the window in the corner faced out onto the school that Steve went to for 6th-9th grade.)

Our babies have Steve’s square-ish nails.

Ready to go home!

 
My doctor sent me home with a gift basket for the baby. Nolan quickly found this little doggie, which he claimed as his own (and fed it S’mores Goldfish).

 
My friend Briana and her 10 month-old son Decklen visited, and brought us balloons and gifts!

Nolan was crazy about the balloons :)

Some cute chocolates for Groundhog’s Day.

Our church recognized our new baby with a rose during the service last week.

A cupcake in memory of my sister’s birthday.

 
While avoiding germs and because of the huge amount of snow we have, I realize that Ephraim and I haven’t left the house in a week! I think that might be the first time in my life I’ve ever stayed home this long. I am surprised I am not more stir crazy, but we’ve had quite a few visitors to keep us company. Our house also gets a ton of sunlight, so I don’t feel too cooped up.

The baby is so sweet. He mostly naps during the day, and sleeps nicely in his bed at night. In contrast, Steve and I held Nolan 24/7 for the first month of his life (taking shifts through the night so someone was awake at all hours). Nolan broke out of his swaddles, and he would scream every time we set him down on his back—so this is definitely easier than that. When Ephraim’s awake, the only thing he wants to do is eat-eat-eat. Nolan is doing really well with the baby. He’s not acting out or getting jealous. And he shows more interest in the baby everyday—helping stick his pacifier back in, putting his hat on, turning on the swing and suggesting that the baby sit in it, and my favorite—tickling Ephraim :)

So this is definitely a wonderful adventure. I am loving it.