First Night

Well, we all survived Mattie's first night home! He was very good, though he doesn't like diaper changes any better at home than he did at the hospital.

Right now taking care of one baby is a two person job! We pretty much know what to do, but we're not at all efficient about it. It might take us a few days to get into a routine, especially with the bottles and the medicines. (For some of his meals, he's still getting breastmilk supplemented with special formula for extra calories, and he gets his blood pressure meds twice a day in a small amount of milk.)

The top picture is "Nursery, v1.5" -- we scooted the crib over next to the bed to basically make a co-sleeper. This arrangement was very good for me being able to make sure Mattie was okay all night, but not necessarily the best for the most restful night of sleep. I'm sure at some point I'll be willing to have him a little further away, but not just yet! (He's in his carseat on the floor next to me right now.)

Stanley reacted to Matthew about as we expected (the same way he's reacted to Daniel, Charlotte, and other babies) -- he was quite enthusiastic and wanted to lick him. But he was very good when we told him no, he couldn't kiss the baby. Stanley doesn't like it when Matthew cries (and who can blame him?) -- he tucks his tail down and hides under the bed.

Jamesie is doing well (and was looking especially cute yesterday!) The "little" brother is still the "big" brother in terms of weight -- and now they seem to think it's mostly real weight rather than retained fluid. They're making a plan to try to move him up to full feeds over the course of a week or so. The doctor was also talking about trying to give him a bottle within the next few days -- very exciting!! It's possible that the fact that he's a little late in starting with feeding by mouth will cause some extra trouble for him getting started, but we'll see -- for now we're optimistic.