Adjusting as a Family of Four

Levi is now 3 and a half weeks old, and we have officially been living together as a family of 4 for a little over one week now. The days have been long, but the moments have been so precious. Levi has abandoned his amazing sleep schedule and traded it in for an up-at-least-3-hours-during-the-night one. Our sweet boy who used to just lie silently in his moses basket even if he wasn't asleep has now taken to screaming his head off...usually after his 3 a.m. feeding. Since he loves motion, we got a swing in hopes that he would sleep better in that, but no luck. I just try to remind myself that Micah was a MUCH worse sleeper, and he started sleeping through the night at 5 weeks.

Updates on the Kids:

-Levi had a great 2 week check up. He weighed 8lbs 4oz which was a 1lb 4oz weight gain in just over a week.

-Micah has been such a great big brother! At first, when Levi would cry, he would say, "no, no, NO baby!" Now he says, "It's ok baby brudder!"

Keeping Levi company

-We attempted to start potty training Micah the other, but after 3 puddles on the floor and nothing in the toilet, I decided that I'm going to wait as I will need much more dedication and patience than I have to give right now...but he sure did look cute! :)

Quality bathroom entertainment

- Micah has become well acquainted with his new friend Mr. Puppy (aka his harness backpack). It helps that he loves wearing it.

His "smile" still kind of freaks me out sometimes. lol.

- I took both of the boys to Dr. Seuss' Read Across America at Target a few days ago for story time and snacks. Levi slept like a champ, while Micah was only slightly impressed. He didn't understand why I wouldn't let him hold the books (b/c I didn't want to have to buy 5 of them after he bent all the pages), and he was less than willing to just sit on the carpet and listen to someone else read. I then told him we could get 1 book, so he chose "Go, Dog, Go." He sat quietly on the carpet "reading" his own book and eating fruit snacks. As soon as the fruit snacks were gone, he was ready to go. I think we've read "Go, Dog, Go" at least 20 times in the past 3 days.


- The weather was amazing today, so we decided to take them to a park by our house...

- Micah has become quite the picky eater in recent days. He has recently eaten 3 things though that he originally wouldn't touch b/c he thought/I told him it was something else. 1) Beef and Sweet Potato Stirfry- he ate all the green beans out of it, but wouldn't touch the sweet potatoes (he's started not eating "potatoes"), but when I told them they were carrots, he inhaled them. 2) Meatballs- Wouldn't eat them, so we cut them up and he said, "chicken nuggets good!" 3) Lentil and Veggie Soup- He wouldn't touch the "beans", but when they magically became "corn", he ate seconds. Ay yi yi.


We are falling into a pretty sustainable routine, although I'm hoping it will soon once again include sleeping through the night. I am still wondering how an 8lb person manages to double my laundry load though. To my surprise, the house has managed to stay semi-clean with much help from my wonderful husband. Life has been pretty amazing the past couple of weeks; I'm trying to cherish every minute of it.

First Week Home With Levi

Our journey to this point has been a crazy one. I am so thankful for Lin and the life that we have together, and I am so grateful to God for allowing us to have it. Although we could not imagine our lives any differently now, starting out 3 years ago, we never in a million years would've dreamed we'd be where we are today. 

Friday, February 3, we welcomed the newest addition to our family--Levi William Bradley. At 6 lbs 14 oz and 21 in long, he was a full pound lighter than Micah while being 2 in longer than him, so he was long and lean.

We were able to leave the hospital on Monday, February 6 to head home with our new little bundle. Thanks to grandparents, we have spent these first few days at home with only one child since they took Micah back to SC with them for 2 weeks. For this, we are so grateful as it has made this transition a whole lot easier.

Sleeping:

     Although we are only a few days in, it seems as though we have a very good sleeper. Monday night, he woke up almost exactly every 3 hours to eat. He ate, and 30 mins later we were all back asleep. Tuesday night he slept for 5 hours straight, woke up to eat, then went right back to sleep.Wednesday night got off to a rough start. We were up every couple of hours until 0600 when we all went back to sleep and slept till 1000. (That was nice!) Last night was back to every 3-4 hours. He does so well without a pacy; even if he's awake when we go to sleep, he just lays there quietly until he falls asleep. This is one thing I hope to see continue.

Dr's Visits:

     We had to take Levi to the doctor on Tuesday to get his bilirubin levels checked because they were a bit high in the hospital and also to get a referral to the urologist because we were told in the hospital that he had hypospadias. Well when the doctor checked him, she said his color looked fine and didn't even bother checking his bilirubin levels, and she said she didn't think he had hypospadias, so he could be circumcised in the office that day if we wanted. The series of events are as follows:

-After waiting for her to go talk to the doctor that does the circumcisions, a referral lady came in and told us that the doctor would rather us be seen by a urologist since hypospadias had even been brought up as an option. 

-As we're getting our stuff ready to leave, the doctor who did the exam came in and told us the circumcision doctor was coming to talk to us. She also informed us that our insurance would not cover it and we would need to pay up front.

-I called Lin to make sure it was ok and that he wanted to have it done; he said yes. (If we would've waited it would've ended up costing more.)

-Because I was pretty sure TriCare would cover it, I called them. "Our system is down. Please call back later." Of course.

-A nurse came in to ask how long it had been since he'd eaten. It'd been 20 mins. It's supposed to be 4 hrs for them to do it.

-We're told he can't have it.

-Get ready to leave.

-We're told he can have it.

-I go to the front to pay for it.

-There are about 6 nurses/doctors/random people who work at the office debating over whether or not he can have it.

-I offer to reschedule it-this sent them into further discussion. (Of course talking about it like I wasn't standing right there.)

-Right there, in the middle of the pediatrician's office, I burst into tears.

    Long story short, I survived, Levi ended up being circumcised, and poor Stephanie (who so graciously drove us since I can't drive yet and Lin had class) had to wait with me for 3 and a half hours while all of this took place with her own 3 month old.

---Levi's 1 week check up went MUCH better this morning. He'd gain 3.5 oz since Tuesday and now weighs 7lbs even.

Random:

-Our Sunday School class has been amazing! We have enjoyed WONDERFUL meals every-other evening since we've been home (and lunch the past 3 days) thanks to them.

-I have called Levi 'Micah' at least a million times.

-I miss Micah like crazy, and can't wait to have him home! But we realize how blessed we are to have family willing to make this transition easier for us.