Vaughn's first week of life

***1 WEEK***
Our first night...
Dave and I opted to stay at the hospital less than 24 hours in postpartum. All we wanted to do was come home to our own bed and sleep! We were released around 10:30pm on Tuesday, October 13. Grammy (Dave's mom) and Aunt Nay Nay were there to help us pack up. By the time we got home, Dave and I had maybe three hours of sleep within the past three days; we were incredibly exhausted and came home to a very confused and anxious dog. This was not a very good combination. Thank goodness Grammy was here to help or we wouldn't have survived our first night.

Since we got home so late, Rocco wasn't given enough time to get to know Vaughn before going to sleep for the night. Also, we didn't think about how cold Vaughn's room would be. In fact, it's the coldest room in the house so we had to close the vents. Let's just say, on the first night, baby was not a happy camper in his freezing room, mommy and daddy were beyond exhausted, mommy was uber emotional and puppy wanted to play. We made it through though and were able to get much needed rest the next day.

Dehydration...
Within twenty minutes of being born, Vaughn was able to nurse where an amazing bond was established. Little did I know that this bond of ours would be every hour and a half around the clock. Because Vaughn latched on the correct way immediately, we didn't anticipate any problems.

Most of Vaughn's first week of life was spent at the pediatrician's office because of these problems we didn't realize could exist. Vaughn became very dehydrated as my milk didn't come in until Friday and the colostrum wasn't enough. It was a vicious cycle. We did everything possible to wake Vaughn up, but it didn't work because he was dehydrated, but yet, he had to wake up in order to become hydrated. On Thursday night, it got to the point where I had to turn all the bathroom lights on (super bright), strip him down to his diaper, and lay him on the cold counter top before he would open even one eye. It was super scary. We made a turning point on Friday afternoon around 3:00pm when he pooped and peed a ton. Grammy and I did a little dance. He started waking up for feedings so we ended up cancelling what would have been our fourth appointment with Dr. Lombard on Saturday morning.

Adjustment...

The first night we got sleep was Friday night. With the doctor's approval, Vaughn was allowed to sleep four to six straight hours. We got four hours of sleep, fed Vaughn for a short time, put him right back to bed, and slept for another three and a half to four hours. Dave and I did a little sleep dance in the morning as we were so thrilled to feel a little rested.

Vaughn got his first (sponge) bath in his room on the changing table. Grammy did an amazing job at making sure all of Vaughn's little crevices were all clean. Surprisingly, the only time he didn't cry was when he was getting his hair washed. He loved getting his hair washed in the hospital, too. He just loves for his hair to be wet and head rubbed. His little skin was all flaky from being in the amniotic fluid for so long but soon started to become baby smooth!

It took time to get adjusted to dropping everything to cater to the very demanding (yet so adorable) baby Vaughn. By the end of his first week, Dave and I had it down. Vaughn's schedule was still very erratic, but we were catching on to what cry meant what, what to do when, and how to soothe our tiny little baby.