Week 1

It's been over a week that Noah's been around so here's a quick update on how that's been.

The first thing the spouse and I noticed about Noah is that he looks almost exactly like Judah.  So much so that we kept calling him 'Judah' in the first early days.  That evolved into calling him 'Ju-ah' in an effort to remember his name was Noah.  Every time I looked at Noah, I felt like I was in a weird sci-fi movie where there was some wrinkle in the space-time continuum and I got to have my first baby back as my second baby.  Looper baby!

Which is which?  They're like twins separated by 2.5 years!

But that's pretty much where the similarities stop.  Anyone who's familiar with my account of Judah's early baby days know that it was pretty much hell...or as the kids say these days--a hot mess.  Even as early as Day 1, Judah showed his very vocal, expressive nature.  Change his diapers--WAAAAAAAH!  Change his clothes--WAAAAAAAH!  Put him down in the bassinet--WAAAAAAAAAH!  Put him in the car seat--WAAAAAAAAAH!  You get the idea.

Noah on the other hand has been pretty calm and quiet about everything.  I remember how anxious I was taking Judah to his first peds visit when he was 4 days old.  He cried during the car trip.  He cried during the visit.  He basically never stopped crying except when I was nursing him.  Noah, on the other hand, didn't make a peep the entire time I took him to the peds, even though I woke him up in the middle of a really good  nap, his head flopped over the entire time in the car seat (poor guy), and I didn't nurse him at all.  He was amazingly calm.  My angel baby.

My sweet, handsome little man.

No, Noah is not the problem.  Judah, on the other hand...

He's generally pretty accepting of mommy taking care of another baby, but he's definitely going through his own journey of jealousy and anger.  Poor kid.  He'll let me nurse Noah, but then insist on having a milk bottle  while being rocked in my lap, just like a baby.  He even insists on laying on Noah's nursing pillow while enjoying his milk bottle.  I can't tell if Judah's being more clingy since his clingy-ness level has always been a 10 out of 10.  But a few nights back he did tell me "I hate the baby" and often says "Mommy, I'm a baby!"

Judah has a rare moment of affection for his brother--when he's not consumed with jealousy.

But generally, Judah isn't that annoyed at Noah probably cuz Noah spends most of his day sleeping, as a proper newborn should (unlike newborn-Judah who maybe only slept 12 hours each day, ugh).  And there's always daddy to play with Judah and take him out of the house.  Thank God for paternity leave!  I'm going to be really really sad when it's over.

For me personally, week 1 was all about getting over physical postpartum aches and pains.  For several days I could barely move an inch due to the stitches and bursitis in my right hip.  Just to shift my bottom on the couch felt like a monumental task.  And the engorgement--oh the oh so uncomfortable over-producing engorgement.  Moooooo.

But overall, the adjustment so far has been pretty smooth--thanks mostly to Noah's accommodating nature.  I'm finding myself feeling so much more "present" this time around.  With Judah the early months were a total blur of stress and exhaustion.  But with Noah, everything is lucid and I really am cherishing every moment I spend with him.  Maybe because he's calm.  Maybe because he's probably my last baby.  Maybe because I'm calmer this time too.

And I know how quickly they grow.