Welcome to the world, Noah Henry Guzowski! It has been one week since you were born, and we love you more and more each day. We are so proud to be your parents.
Week 1 with Noah has been quite a ride. He is an incredibly sweet, content, LARGE guy, and we love him more than we could have imagined. Evie is a wonderfully loving big sister, and is as helpful as we hoped she would be. We feel truly blessed with our beautiful children.
Protective big bro Roscoe
Noah's labor and delivery was a very intense experience for me, at 5 hours from start to finish. I labored at home for 3 hours before heading to the hospital, where I was 7cm dilated upon arrival. I had a beautiful birthing tub in my labor room to help me get through the final 3 cm without any drugs, and then my water broke and Noah dropped quickly, which also caused his heart rate to drop rapidly. The midwives, doctors, and nurses flew into action and had me get out of the tub, change positions, and told me we needed to get him out FAST. The doctor inserted an internal fetal monitor and said they might need to use a vacuum to assist delivery. I think my desire to avoid the vacuum allowed me to find some super-human pushing powers, because Noah came out with a few very hard pushes, and he came out screaming. That sound was the biggest sense of relief I have ever experienced, after the terror that our baby was in trouble. Due to the quick delivery, I had some burst blood vessels on my face and I required some extra stitches, but I had Noah skin-to-skin on my chest the whole time as I sat there in shock and awe as I tried to process it all. They finally weighed him and measured him after about an hour and a half, and I was even more shocked to learn that he was 9lbs 6oz and 21 inches long! No wonder things had been so intense!
First bath
Getting ready to head home
Leaving the hospital
First day home
My post-delivery experience has been a little more difficult, I think partly because Evie has been sick. She came down with a fever the day we came home from the hospital, then had some vomiting on night #2 at home, so Matt and I have been taking a man-to-man defense approach. It's made me sad that we can't have family time with all four of us, and I am missing Evie while I worry that Matt is missing out on Noah's first few days. I have been feeling weepy and emotional (the "postpartum blues"), which I didn't experience after Evie's birth, but it is getting better with each passing day and especially when I can catch a nap! We have had some tremendous help from our families and friends, and I don't know what we would be doing without them. Seriously, on one day, we had someone to help with meals, watch Evie, take Roscoe to/from doggie daycare, empty our dishwasher, fold our laundry, and give Evie a bath. I feel overwhelmed by the help, and I am wondering how we will ever manage on our own (that's enough to make me cry again!).
The family, with poor Evie not feeling good
Big sis taking care of Bitty Baby
Noah is a great nurser, and he's doing okay sleeping at night so far. His longer stretches of sleep are still during the day, so we are hoping he gets his days and night straightened out soon, because he will sometimes go for four hours without eating during the day. We are getting used to having a boy, trying to figure out why he pees through so many outfits at night, and doing our best to avoid getting peed on! On night #3 at home, he peed through 5 different outfits, including the diaper, onesie, fleece sleep sack and blanket. Time to do some laundry!
Unfortunately Evie has been going through the most difficult sleep issue we've ever experienced with her, having fears of being alone at night and needing Matt to sleep on her floor for the better part of the night. This would be hard without a newborn, but it is pushing us to the limit to have two kids not sleeping, and we each have to deal with one kid on our own during the night. Matt and I make a really good team, and I think we both feel guilty and frustrated that we can't trade off and help each other at night. We really, really hope this phase passes soon with Evie.
The most humbling thing has been the help we have received, because we really truly have needed it. To all of you who have checked in on us, brought meals, helped with Evie, and lifted our spirits, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
And here are a few other pics from Noah's first week, including his 0th birthday party!
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