Little Brother

We brought you home on a Friday afternoon (after a stressful rush hour stop at Woman’s Work to get a breast pump) and quickly settled you into your bassinet. Your Aunt Robin, Uncle Paul, and Cousin Karlie drove down for the weekend to meet you, so they were a big help in getting some of the equipment set up and offering help with feeding and changing you. Your dad picked up your brothers that afternoon and brought them home to meet you for the first time. We tried not to make a big deal out of it, but everyone was anxiously awaiting their reaction when they saw you.

When Collin and Kevin walked in the house, they casually strolled towards the bassinet where you were sleeping. Your Dad introduced them to you, and they seemed interested but not overly so. They took turns holding you and we snapped some pictures that are still on our walls today.







With Robin and your Dad on duty, I took a much-needed nap. I remember waking up that evening after my nap and I was in a grouchy mood! Lack of sleep has always done that to me. That night, Robin and I let your Dad sleep the full night and we took shifts getting up with you for a feeding and diaper change. I set up the breast pump and began pumping every 2 hours (no joke!) to attempt to establish my milk supply. (It worked, because I began flowing freely soon thereafter.)

 











It was hard for me to sleep during the nights with you at first because you were a little grunter. You grunted your way through hours of restlessness for me. And even when you weren’t a noisy sleeper, I would still wake up to check on you and make sure you were still breathing. (It’s a terrifying fear I have around infants – that they’ll suddenly stop breathing during the night.) But overall, we were impressed that you would sleep for decent stretches during the nights without much effort on our part.

Your brothers learned a lot about babies during those first few weeks with you in the house. They looked on as your Dad changed your diaper, gave you your first few baths, and swaddled you tightly in baby blankets. They laughed loudly when you peed (more than once!) on your Dad as he bathed or changed you. They fed you some milk and cringed when they realized it was “Mommy’s milk”. It was hard to tell what their feelings about you were, although you were always a source of entertainment for us all.