Our First Week

The Challenges
Today Vin is one week old today and we've had one BIG week full of learning experiences and progress. Teri and I brought him home on Wednesday afternoon and it was just the three of us for the night until Mayme (aka Patty) arrived on Thursday morning. For the first two days Vin absolutely demanded that he be held 24 hours a day. He refused to be laid down in his crib or bassinet so this was our first "project" with him. By Friday we were slowly getting him to "detach" for small amounts of time and at this point he's good to go!

The Help
We had lots of visitors this week and once again the kindness and generosity of our friends and family was evident. We had tons of food brought to us to help make life easier but the biggest help of all was Mayme. She stayed with us from Thursday through Monday and we can't thank her enough for her extra set of hands and her years of mothering experience. On her first night with us she volunteered to hold Vince all night so that Teri and I could get some sleep between feedings. She finally got to sleep at 6 am. She is the greatest! She gives us the help and guidance we need and yet lets Teri and I be new parents and learn and make decisions on our own. She is not dominating like many mothers can be and I am so grateful that she and Teri have a good relationship!

When Mat and I were kids we used to listed and sing along to records with her all the time. She has kept the records all of these in her basement, so for Mother's Day I got her a record player so that she can do this again for the multitude of grandkids she bound to end up with. ( Did you know that my sister Cassie is pregnant and due in October?!)

I also must mention my sister Tara here in the help category. She has been great! Since we found out I was pregnant she has continuously bought this child stuff he will need. For example, I already have two Halloween and a Christmas outfit for him. When I was in labor she came to the house and washed all his clothes and organized the nursery so that when we got home it was ready for us. I cannot begin to thank her enough for this. Once home she brought us a full set of baby cleaning products, sprays, stain removers and odor eliminators plus 4 packages of diapers. She works just down the street and I love that. Even though Mat, Tara and I technically live in the metroplex it is so difficult to make time to get together. For Tara and I we see each other every week, usually when I'm getting the mail and she is on her way home. It's a nice part of my week and we know we can count on her for anything!

The First Bath
On Sunday we took our first bath and he Hated It! You can view the picture below of him screaming his lungs out. At least we know his lungs are strong!

The Trip to the Doctor
Today we had our first outing and at this point Teri and I had finally figured out the car seat. Thankfully this was a Teri project that she worked on the last day I was in the hospital. Since Vin was early we had only started to work on this but Teri got some help from Tara and Erin so the car seat was installed when we left the hospital. Teri and I both expected a hospital staff member to escort us to the car and make sure that we strapped him in correctly but this didn't happen. However, by today we were ready to go and did just fine on our first outing - no crying fits or anything!
When he left the hospital he weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz. and is up to 5 lbs. 14.5 oz as of today. This is good news since he is so small that none of the clothes we had fit him. The doctor gave him a clean bill of health and we'll go back again in 2 weeks.
Can't wait to see what we'll learn and discover in the next two weeks!