I thought that for the time being I’d post weekly updates about Samantha the same way I had been posting pregnancy updates. This will keep the week’s news all in one place, posted here every Sunday. I’ll also throw in new pictures if I have them.
The first week of Sam’s life went well. After she was born on Sunday, we stayed at the hospital for two days, mainly because she had a moderate case of jaundice and we wanted to take advantage of the nurses and on-site lactation specialist. You can see the yellowing of the skin from the jaundice in this picture:
We came home Tuesday and fully assumed our lives as parents, but Sam went back for two more lab tests and pediatrician visits to monitor the jaundice. After a couple of days it started to decline, thanks to regular feeding and sun baths like this one she took with daddy:
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Otherwise, Sam is doing great! So is Geralyn. She has really impressed me with how well she’s taken to this childcare thing, and I had high expectations to begin with. Sam is still having a bit of trouble learning to breast feed, but Geralyn is patient and calm and making progress. Apparently it’s not something that always comes easily. To make sure she’s getting enough milk, Ger is expressing using a pump and we’re feeding it to her (when she doesn’t get enough at the breast) through a syringe like shown in this picture:
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The syringe is hooked up to a plastic tube that we tape to Ger’s pinkie finger. She then inserts the finger into Sam’s mouth and feeds it to her this way. Why not just give her a bottle full of breast milk? Because finger feeding causes less nipple confusion (I highlight that term because it makes me chuckle to do so) and will make moving her to 100% breast feeding easier.
So everything is good and we’re enjoying the new baby even if it means getting up for an hour every two hours at night. I’m going back to work next week, so I’m anxious to see how that works out. I’ll leave you this week with a few pictures of Sam sleeping, sucking her hand, and getting her first sponge bath.
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Wow! One week old already! Hope ya’ll are getting some sleep and getting a tan while Samantha suns!
One more thing, those legs don’t look like Madigan legs although Brent said that might not be such a bad thing! 🙂
Heh, true about the leg thing. And she can kick them, too! I guess she gets them from Geralyn, who has some pretty nice gams herself.
Wow. That is some serious hair on that little girl! I’m jealous. My dad says I was bald until I was three.
No, no, that’s a tiny little wig we put on her. She’s bald as an egg underneath.
…ah, I kid. 🙂
Geralyn and I both have pretty thick hair. Sam got a double shot of hirsute.