Baby Boy is Six Weeks!

Hey everyone!  I have been wanting to write a post to update you all for a while but getting things accomplished with a newborn is easier said than done!   Currently baby boy is snoozing on my chest :)

Dylan is six weeks old today!  He is doing great!  All the kids have adjusted wonderfully to him, I have a lot of big helpers.  My older two daughters like to cook/bake so they can easily take over fixing meals when Dylan needs his mommy!  We up-sized to a 12 passenger van that we call “the truck” 3 days before he was born and I can drive that thing like a pro now! (Notice, I didn’t say I can park it like a pro haha! but I’m not too bad) 

Having 6 other kids means that, even though I have simplified our schedule as much as I can, there has still been dance classes/recitals, story-times, homeschool playdates, park days, etc. since he’s been born, not to mention everyone still needs clean clothes, clean bathrooms, and to eat several times a day(!) but I still spend a lot of time sitting snuggling with him in a big comfy chair in the living room just like the first week he was born…sometimes it makes me feel lazy, like I should just lay him down and get something done…but I am really cherishing this time with my precious baby.  My postpartum healing was worse than previous times (even now I still have a bit of spotting) so baby Dylan and I have really gotten into the habit of taking every opportunity to sit and rest together.

These first 6 weeks have flown by, I am already packing away a few onesies and sleepers that he has grown out of, didn't I JUST have him?? But it’s a good thing, breastfeeding is going great and I’m so glad he growing just as he should be!  On the other hand, I have 20 pounds to lose, I have wanted to make sure my milk is well established so I haven’t tried to lose weight yet, but I have always struggled with body image issues, even at my lowest weight, so it can be very depressing at times when I am trying to figure out what to wear and nothing fits! Trying to cut myself some slack, he’s ONLY 6 weeks old.

Getting ready for bed, I put him in a cloth
diaper over his disposable to prevent leaks,
Brian calls them his "fancy pants"!

We are getting into a little bit of a routine, like he seems to know when it is actually bedtime because that is when he gets swaddled, nurses extra and gets put in his crib which is right next to our bed, he will usually sleep for 4-5 hours before waking to nurse, then after that he goes (hopefully) another 2.5 hours maybe, then at that point it’s like 4 or 5 a.m. and that tends to be his fussy/gassy/grunting time when I just pull him into bed with me for the rest of the night/morning.  So I am getting some sleep, but I haven’t always been going to bed when he does because I need that little break when all the kids are in bed to spend time with my husband, it’s hard to juggle the need to sleep vs the need to have some time to yourself and marriage.

He is quite a needy baby during the day, I can have him sound asleep in my arms for a nap but if I lay him down to go to the bathroom or try to do something then most of the time he will wake up right away and cry for me…Brian says “You created that because you hold him ALL the time”…and yeah that may be true but so what, he’s only little like this for such a short time and I love that he wants me all the time.

Having a newborn is a full-time job, and a job I so desperately wanted and prayed for, it’s not always easy but it is SOOO worth it!  I still get tears in my eyes sometimes when I look at him and think about how blessed and thankful I am to have him.   After losing my two babies in 2014 I had this emptiness inside my heart and since having baby Dylan I feel like our family is complete now, it is a wonderful feeling.

Look at that smile!!!