We're Home! Life with Hunter

I had to do one last baby belly photo with baby Hunter! Isn't he so small and cute? I could just bundle him back up in my belly :)

Bringing Hunter home was sooo much fun! Our first day home was the BEST. We loved being in our own home, wearing our own clothes. Not to mention enjoying him with out being poked or woken up through out the day! We ate what we wanted, snuggled, took tons of pictures, watched movies and partied. :) We completely exhausted ourselves - forgetting that we had a whole night to party with Hunter too (ha, ha). We never did that again, but it was fun that one time!

We have just loved getting to know Hunter. He is the sweetest boy ever. His cries are soft and he is easily soothed. When he is awake he his so alert and has the brightest eyes! He obviously looks like his Dad, but he has his Mama's toes and most likely my nose too. I admired his darling little ears for days and when my Mom came down I noticed they have the same little elf ears. So special those ears. He also has his Daddy's hands - they have the longest fingers. I call them his Edward Scissor hands, that is especially true when we forget to file them down. hee hee. He also can't keep them away from his face! He always sucking on his hands or sleeping with them right up against his face.

Bringing him home was also a total shock - We didn't know how to operate quite right, ha ha! I think the total shocker for me was, babies don't sleep in the crib? Hunter absolutely refuses to be put down - of course - he was bundled up and warm for 9 months of his whole life, why would he want to sleep alone in a cold bassinet?! So once we figured out that we have to coordinate sleeping, we were also getting sleep. Although, for the first week or so our eyes were always puffy and tired! It took some adjusting. Hunter does sleep well and has from day one. He gives us up to three to four hours at a time at night. So most nights I get two, four hour stretches right in a row! It has been a blessing to say the least.

The end of the third day home was a bit of a downer though. I started to spike a fever and Hunter had some pink discharge in his diapers. So after talking with the Group Health consulting nurse, we were told to go to the ER. Looking back, I am upset with myself and with Group Health for sending new, tired parents and a THREE day old infant to the ER. I don't know what I was thinking. There were at least three other toddlers there sick and hacking, along with grown adults not even courteous enough to cover their cough. We are so lucky Hunter did not catch anything!

Hunter was poked a bit and thank goodness the ER doctor found nothing wrong with him. I was tested for everything under the moon and they couldn't find what was triggering my fevers. I was sent home with a pat on the bum and 'you have a virus.' Eight hours in the ER to find out I have a virus and that Hunter is perfectly fine. (Later on, our Pediatrician told us that sometimes babies pass uric crystals in their urine and will discharge a bit of blood. No biggie. *sigh*)

Five hours after we got home from the ER, we headed back to the doctor for Hunter's new baby check up. (I don't remember ever being so tired in my life). Hunter weighed in at 7 pounds 1 oz - so he dropped a little under a pound in a few days. But boy did he make up for that later! This boy can eat. Hunter was, of course, just as perfect as ever - he had just a touch of jaundice, but it was gone by the next day.

My Mom came to stay with us all for a week and that made life so much easier! Plus, we had so much fun! That's a picture of her with all the 'Shellhart' grandkids. She even woke up at all hours of the night to give me or Brandon a break. So we slept and slept while my Mama was here. Not to mention the house was always clean and we had cooked meals for a week. Thank goodness for Moms!

On Valentines Day we all celebrated and went to Chuck E Cheese with Nana, Audrie, Matt and their kids. We had lots of fun! We went right when they opened - it was fabulous. We had the place all to ourselves and everything was so clean. Hunter got his first photo with his Auntie and Chucke. So precious.

One of our first family photos was at Chuck E Cheese, ha ha!

On Hunter's two week check up he weighted a whooping 9 pounds 4 oz! He gained two pounds in a week and a day! What a little chub chub. He was in the 90 percentile in every category, so we have a nice healthy breast fed babe. Proud Mama here! He also was circumcised on his two week check up too. Brandon stayed in the room, but I was out of there before I could hear all his sad little cries! That was torture for me. My poor sweet baby so distraught. Nursing hardly comforted him afterward, he eventually fell asleep from exhaustion! I am not sure I could go through that again. Maybe we'll have all girls from now on. :)

On Saturday the 16th, Nana went back home to Colorado. :( We miss her so much - especially Hunter! He had fun bouncy rides and sang songs with his Nana all the time. On her last day here, my Mom watched Hunter while Brandon and I snuck in a lunch date. Hunter did great! I will admit, I did miss my baby Hunter! ha ha.

My fevers lasted for about two weeks, so as much as I enjoyed my time with Hunter, I was miserable for a few hours of the day while I waited for my fevers to break. My temperature would range from 100.5 to 103.7 when they spiked, so I was hardly moving at times. I am so so happy I had my Mom and Brandon here full time while all that was being sorted out. So you could imagine my excitement when one of the midwives finally thought to put me on antibiotics! My fevers were gone by the next day! It wasn't a virus after all, a just bit of endometriosis. Some of the placenta didn't make it out all the way.  Yay for smart doctors!