1 week old today

First night home, asleep under the duvet together while we wait for Dad to get the house warmed up.



Funny how you get out of hospital, then start feeling better immediately!

In the almost four days we've had Braeden home, he's regained his birth weight and then a bit, and is charging along like a rhino. I can't believe what a good baby he is! He sleeps soundly for about four hours at a time, then wakes with a grizzle that becomes a roar if the milk bar doesn't open for business quite as quickly as he thinks it should.

However, unlike some babies, once you fix the bit that's wrong (ie offer a boob) he instantly forgives your oversight and becomes happy and busy pursuing his needs. A bit too happy, actually - we often have to stop mid feed and change his nappy and do other things to wake him up to finish feeding!

I got my first "windy" smile the other day - this kid's going to be a heartbreaker. Even with no teeth and a fart that could melt bitumen, he enchants everyone who gets near him. While his eyes are blue at the moment, they are very dark and seem to be threatening to turn brown. Now a year or so ago this would have puzzled the heck out of me, because I believed the old myth that blue/green/grey eyed parents can't pass on the brown eyed gene because it's always dominant. Not so, according to new evidence. Apparently there is a recessive brown gene that can pop up, and actually has already popped up in our family before.

(Although the relative in question I long believed was either swapped in hospital, or was left behind by aliens - such is the extent of my sibling adoration!)

Braeden's got light olive skin, another throwback in my side of the family (paternal this time), because his other three grandparents are all fair skinned. This is a very good thing, because his Dad can sunburn while looking at a postcard beach scene, and his mother is fair skinned with a childhood spent toasted in the Aussie sun (ie now has moles for China). A bit of natural pigment is a very good thing under the harsh NZ sun, what a clever baby for getting some!

His hair is a bit of a mystery (yes I know it will probably all fall out and change colour, but his Dad's stayed his birth colour so nothing's certain yet). Think dark auburn with gold lights. Now team this with his smooth toffee skin, large dark eyes, and pleasing features and you can see why I am so smitten.

(If anyone cruelly points out that my child is anything but the most beautiful baby they've ever seen, expect me to instantly write them off as a blind lunatic and ignore them as such!)

Not just gorgeous, but amazing nature as well. He can hold his head up 80% of the time (although we don't rely on this, because he is still a little fella and it's not nice to let him flop when he gets tired). He can and will do push-ups if he's lying against your chest and he'd like to change positions or get a better look at something over your shoulder. He can and will stand on his feet if you give him half a chance, and is quite capable of bopping you one with a fist, foot or forehead.

So yeah, I'm smitten. Sue me ;-)

There's things you learn the hard way with a baby though, and every day seems to throw another wrinkle at you and say "solve this, smart ass!"

For example - for any other Mum out there with stitches who is frightened to pee, get thee to a chemist (or ask the hospital!) for some Ural sachets. Take four of these a day in a glass of water each time, and they will neutralise the pH in your urine, allowing a much more ouch-free experience. If you forget, you'll soon be reminded!!!!

Can't get that perfect position to breastfeed? Think outside the square. After nearly a week of struggling, it just clicked for me last night when I was working at the computer and bubs woke beside me. Wayne was catching a quick nap, and I had to think of a solution fast (still very sore, milk not 100% flowing, oh no and I've no help right now!)

I popped a big pillow on the desk, put baby on that, then wheeled my office chair over and voila!

As I could alter my height and both of our alignments with one hand, in mere seconds I had a perfect position and as a result Braeden fed for a full 20 minutes each side and stripped me clean, mastitis and all! Within the next two feeds I had this so down that I could read a book or watch TV while feeding, and also manage to keep the pressure off my sore spine. Happy baby, very happy mother!

Nappy liners can and do go well in disposables. (I bet everyone already knew this, LOL)

Forget drawers - collect everything your baby is the right size to wear right now, and put it in a plastic clothes bin by the changing table. That way you (and Dad) have a change of clothes right there, right when you need them. When you find something no longer fits or is a right sod to get on and off, put it away in the drawer and it need never annoy you again.

When dealing with the Monster Poo (that first breastfeeding one that looks like a gallon of minced licorice), get Dad to stand at baby's head to distract him from throwing a tanty right at this moment. Otherwise you literally have shit for miles....

If you're not quick enough to do this, run the shower softly and undress bubs in the shower. Be prepared to be gobsmacked at how much can come out of such a small parcel! Don't worry, it's a one off :-)

So I guess I'd better go wake my son up and feed him! It's after six pm, and he's been asleep for five hours, never mind Dad mowing the lawns with the small tractor, back and forth around the house, the washing machine going most of the afternoon, and various incoming phone calls. This kid sleeps like you wouldn't believe, and does not require the bedroom to be dark, quiet or occupied.

Ah hah.. there's the first grizzle through the sound/movement monitor. Coming darling...!!!