Past 3 Weeks Postpartum!

I thought I'd catch up on life with Cameron the first 3 weeks after bringing him home, then I will write a post about his birth story & update his nursery pictures to catch up.  I plan to start writing a weekly letter to Cameron with pics and things he is up to, you can either read or overlook but basically after the 52 weeks I want to print them off from this blog into a photo book to have for his 1st year rather than doing a scrapbook, which to me is harder to keep up with, more time consuming and would probably be more expensive.  I did a 1 year scrapbook for Cory and it just took me forever to do and I'm still not completely finished printing off some pictures for it and he is almost 3yrs old now....lol so I figured I would try this route.

1 week postpartum!

 

As for me, my basketball belly is gone!  A week after Cameron came I was feeling pretty good and had lost most of the baby weight except for 5 pounds.  Luckily I escaped this pregnancy without any stretch marks or visible post pregnancy signs.  I feel pretty much back to normal other than some soreness from delivery and not being able to run yet.  Here's a pic of Cameron and I when he was 1 week old.

As for Cameron, the first week he was so easy going and slept a ton!  One time I think he slept about 5 or 6 hours in a stretch and by the time he woke to breastfeed I was looking like Pam Anderson..lol.  He has been a natural at breastfeeding since the first day and has latched on better than Cory did initially so I really haven't had any breastfeeding issues this time around which has been nice.  He got weighed at his 1 week and had lost 4 ounces from his birth weight.  Here's Cam at 1 week.

 

 As for Cory and the family, Cory took up with his brother and the role of being a big brother right away.  From first sight at the hospital, Cory loved his little brother and since then always wants to see him and hug him.  He loves to hold him with the boppy pillow for support and he always says "awe, baby Cameron so cute".  The dogs did fine with us bringing baby home and really haven't seemed too interested in him yet. 

 

 

2 weeks postpartum

 

Me:  My belly is gone now, pretty much flat, just not as toned as it used to be.  I weighed myself this week and I'm back to my old weight pre-pregnancy.  Also I can fit back into most of my regular jeans except the smallest size I have which is a bit too tight.    I think it is from all the breastfeeding and just taking care of a newborn...I told my Mom I think having kids is actually my best weight loss secret because some days I feed them and forget that I haven't eaten breakfast that day, for example.  Of course not on purpose but I really get so consumed with making sure the kids are well taken care of that I let my own care slack and almost have to remind myself to eat, but I will have to make my own health a top priority as well!  Below is a pic of Cameron about to get his 1st bath!

 

 

Cameron:  He is still doing great, never cries unless hungry & he is content after eating.  His umbilical cord fell off this week.  He likes the bouncer and the swing and the activity play mat.  At his 2 week weight check appointment he had gained a whopping 12 ounces from last week which is nearly 1 pound.  My Dr. said that is great and almost unheard of to gain that amount in a week so he must be getting plenty to eat so that makes me happy since I am the one that feels responsible for his weight with nursing.  He is so sweet I could just hold him all day and watch him sleep and never get tired of it!  From the first week to the second week he changed in his looks!  I thought he had a lot of Cory's features but now I don't really see much of Cory in him.

 

 

Cory and the Family:  This week John's Mom got to come visit from Florida and I am so happy she got to come to see Cameron when he is still so small. She wanted to help out and she bought our groceries and stocked us up on fresh fruits and stocked up our freezer with food and she cleaned out my refrigerator since she thought it was messy...lol. 

 

 

3 weeks postpartum

 

Me:  This is the last time I will post about me because I have a feeling from here on out it would be boring and nothing new since there won't be many more changes.  Basically I have bounced back to about my normal size and only thing now to do is to tone back up because these past few months without running or working out has caused me to lose some muscle tone.  I have been walking the puppies every night but since I still have slight bleeding almost like a light period, I think I'll give it one more week and start up light jogging next week.  John and I are signing up to do the Memphis marathon this December so that is my motivation to get back in shape!  Here's my 3 week post-baby pic!

 

  

Cameron:  He is getting so big just since last week and filling out!  He is really changing daily, at birth I thought he had Cory's eyes, mouth and complexion but now I don't see hardly any of Cory in him.  I was certain we would have another baby that looked just like John & Cory, but Cameron is quite opposite now and starting to look more like me!  He has different shaped eyes, different nose and face shape than Cory and I think he has a lighter skin tone than Cory but maybe a bit darker than mine.  He really has no Korean look to him which is weird to me since I thought those genes would be dominant.  He loves his snugabunny swing and he is still sleeping a lot but this week due to tummy/gas troubles he has been a bit fussier than normal but still doesn't cry much at all, he just grunts and seems discontent at times until he lets out some big burps and gas.  He is still pretty easy going.  He doesn't like to be swaddled and is like Houdini, he can escape from any swaddle I try to do.  I just bought the miracle blanket, which is a swaddle blanket that babies supposedly can't escape from, and it has a lot of great reviews so I think this will help him at night to sleep longer because he still wakes every 3hrs (sometimes less) and he's not swaddled anymore so he startles himself and wakes up, so I'm hoping this will help him sleep more sound.  After I nurse him back to sleep, I fall right back to sleep so I still feel pretty rested during the day even though I'm getting short spans of sleep at a time.  Saturday it took forever for me to get a haircut/hi-light so John had to supplement him with formula since he was getting super fussy waiting on me and I hadn't pumped anything for him so I am hoping that isn't what caused his tummy troubles/discomfort this week! 

 

 

 

Cory and the Family: John had to go back to work this week after having the past 3 weeks off.  Cory had so much fun with Daddy in the past weeks.  John took him to the zoo, story time at the library, All About Kids, the park, and they just had tons of quality Daddy and son time!  That made the transition sooo much easier that Cory still had 3 weeks of all that attention from Daddy and then the following week my mom had Tuesday and Wednesday off and came over to help out and she got me things I needed at the store and we all got out to the park to feed the ducks and Cory got to play on the playground and have fun with Nana.  Hoping things will go smoothly next week when it is just me at home with both boys and they will have to share the attention, but I think Cory has adjusted well to having baby home and he should be fine!  He plays well by himself so i won't have to entertain him all day.  He still crazy about his baby brother and still pays him lots of attention!

 

Mother's Day 2013

I have been sooo spoiled!  Seriously, my church family is awesome and totally spoiled us by bringing meals over for 2 weeks in a row! Here was a list of food we received from different families! 

 

4/27 - Chicken pot pie, rice, homemade bread, chocolate cake

4/28 - Pork chops, mashed potatoes, salad, homemade bread, derby pie

4/30 - Croissant roll tacos with toppings, angel food cake with strawberries & whipped cream

5/1 - Backed chicken tenders, dressing, green beans, croissant rolls, brownies

5/5 - Homemade lasagna, bread sticks, salad

5/7 - Chicken and noodles, house salad, bread, apple pie

5/9 - BBQ sandwiches, chips, coleslaw, cantaloupe, brownies

5/11 - Baked ziti, salad, bread, brownies

 

Then in the days when there wasn't anyone scheduled we ate leftovers and my parents brought us dinner a couple nights with Long John silvers and Shannon and Big R's BBQ.  Then when John's Mom was here, my parents treated us to dinner at a Korean Restaurant and to Jumbo Buffet on Mother's Day!  Another friend from church gave us a gift card for dinner at Hometown pizza too.  So between all this help with dinners, I am totally spoiled and if I could have my own chef that would be sooo awesome...lol! 

 

Starting next week it is back to reality.....meal planning/grocery shopping, house cleaning, etc!  It will be the first week with just me and the boys  but the great thing about John's job is that he gets every Friday off so if I have a hard week, I always know that I will have help Friday with John being here and on the weekends to get out, run errands and get a little "me" time. 

My beautiful Mother's Day flowers!

 

John's cousins wife made me a nice bracelet too and his cousins gave me a gorgeous diamond heart necklace in the box as a gift for having the baby.  We had a great Mother's Day and went out to eat after church and John and I celebrated 8 years of marriage since it was also our wedding anniversary and my sister had us over for dinner at her house that evening.

 

 

Below is a pic of my sweet neighbor Judy who came over several times to visit baby Cameron.  I think it is rare to find such caring, trustworthy and thoughtful neighbors who are always going out of their way to do things for us throughout the year and making the effort to get to know us and having us over for dinners, etc.  She gave Cory and Cameron matching blankets with their names embroidered on them and the puppies a handkerchief to wear around their necks with their names on them.  She also cooked us a spaghetti casserole.  She stays home too so Cory and I have gone to her house some during the days before Cameron was born and Cory loves her playroom and just going over there to hang out!  It is reassuring to know if anything happened I have her next door and she would be more than happy to help.  She is always offering to keep Cory if I ever need to get out or get a break and she loves when Cory comes over.

 

 

The time has gone by too fast already and I can't believe in 5 more days little guy will be a month old!  Words can't describe how much I have enjoyed these weeks with our new little bundle of joy and so many priceless moments....I really can't get enough of my house full of boys! :)