Lincoln || Month 1

Lincoln Month 1 || July 17 – August 16

Lincoln Alan Marshall decided he was ready to join our family just after the day turned to July 17, 2013. Labor started just after 12:30 am and wrapped up at 4:19am. Yup, just 4 hours! It was a huge blessing and so nice to be DONE so quickly. I won’t bore you with the details. Just pictures of the beautiful boy!

Our photographer and friend Joanna came by to take some pictures and she did an AMAZING job.

You’ll get to see those in a minute.

First, the details! I got to nurse Lincoln before he was weighed, so after eating, he weighed 7 pounds 15.5 oz. LOL. Just barely under 8. He was 19.5 inches long. And I instantly loved him. LOVE. And I also knew he was super pretty. But that’s what every mom thinks, right?

You guys don’t want to hear about the hospital. Right? Not the little details. But some, maybe.

I was elated. Everything I wanted in this birth happened. Now, after that? Things didn’t quite go according to script. But it’s been 9 months (Lincoln is almost 9 MONTHS when I’m writing this…), so I don’t remember too many details. Thankfully!

Here are the hospital pictures. I’d hoped to have Joanna there for the whole labor and delivery, but it was SO FAST that I simply didn’t have the presence of mind to call her. Plus, it was 2am, and I kept thinking, right up until I was IN THE CAR, that I’d have more time. We were (a little) bummed, but I wouldn’t do it any other way.

These pictures are so special to me because we were simply elated. All day. And seeing Madeleine there, holding her, was amazing. Our whole family, all together.

[Note: If you want to see any pictures bigger, right-click on the image and select “view image.”]












A QUICK NOTE ON MAMA’S RECOVERY
Tailbone
Quickly after Lincoln was born, I realized I had the same “tailbone” pain that I had with Madeleine. It made sitting impossible and many other things very difficult. After two weeks, I emailed my chiropractor I’d been seeing during my pregnancy. I was able to see her very quickly after describing my symptoms. She asked me some questions, pushed here and there, and told me it wasn’t anything horrible (like a broken tailbone). Then she sent me to the massage therapist who was amazing. I didn’t feel much better right away, but two days after the massage, the pain started to improve. By the end of this month, I think most of the pain was gone. Probably … 85%?

Nursing
As for nursing, he started off GREAT. Then something in MY MIND panicked and it started me worrying about the pain. I knew there was normal nursing pain, but I guess I wasn’t able to differentiate so long after the fact. I worried constantly that it was yeast. Or something else.

Anyway, I ended up leaving the hospital using a nursing shield. I used one with Madeleine and it made things more difficult than they needed to be, but we got through it. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but things got HARD. And at the end of the month, they were still HARD.

Overall, it was a difficult month. I felt useless for my family because I couldn’t sit. Matt had to do so many things for me and the rest of us. It was super hard.

But now, onto better topics!

THE BOY!
Lincoln is precious!

Here are some pictures of him sleeping.

Just 2 days old. Look at that mouth!





When we left the hospital, he weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces, having already started regaining weight. ON July 25, he weighed 8 pounds, 1.9 oz, then at his 2-week appointment, he was up to 9 pounds, 0.3 oz.

O.o

Okay, so, he gained over a pound in 2 weeks! Granted, he likes to nurse. And when he nurses, he gulps it down. Very rarely does a fast let-down make him sputter and stop nursing. He just keeps on drinking!

My FAVORITE thing he does so far is snuggle into me after nursing. I had to nurse lying down, in bed (because of being unable to sit), so after eating, he’ll just melt toward me. That’s the best word to describe it, melt. LOVE it.

I remember, after Madeleine was born, how cool it was when she’d turn her head toward my voice. Well it is just as cool when Lincoln does it—only he ALSO looks for Madeleine! SO neat. We decided that he probably heard her more than Matt or I while I was pregnant!

He stretches out of his swaddle differently than she did. He just keeps going and going! Arms, neck, head, belly … super adorable!





Lincoln grew a little bit of new hair, I think. It’s darker than the stuff he was born with. Oh yeah, he is very fair, blue eyes (though most babies have blue eyes), reddish/white hair. So the dark hair would be different. However, he still basically has NO hair.

Another BEST about Lincoln: he grunts. All the time. IF you pick him up, he grunts. The harder, longer, more guttural, the more displeased he is. He’s very vocal for a newborn! We expect him to be quite opinionated, unafraid to express himself as he gets older.

Here is Lincoln’s first bath! No, literally. He didn’t get one at the hospital.





VISITS
Mimi was here when I went into labor, and she stayed two weeks. Originally, we’d hoped that two weeks would be the most live-in help we’d need, but my complications made more help … helpful. I would say required, but I’m sure we could have somehow managed without it?

Thankfully, we didn’t have to. Papa Pete and SuSu came up for the weekend, then SuSu stayed for the week. At the end of her stay, Russ and Marshall came up for a night and then drove with SuSu back to Florida. Then Mimi came back for the last week of this month. I know it seems excessive, but I most truly needed it.

Honestly, it was a such a paradox. We needed the help, but it also made it hard for us to be a family, to get into a rhythm, find our groove. We needed to be alone, but we couldn’t. On top of the usual newborn stuff, like no sleep, working through feeding stuff, etc.

So, many thanks to everyone who came by, and apologies for any unpleasantness you may have experienced here. We were far, far from our best.

PHEW
All of that behind me, a note about … milestones. For Madeleine’s first year, I used the book “Your Baby’s First Year: Week by Week” to note which of the milestones she met. I’d wanted to do that with Lincoln, but since I’m writing these many months later, I don’t remember when he did everything. I did take notes on the big things he did, so those will definitely be included. Just not the little things, unless I somehow miraculously remember.

Big things from this month:

He roots for food
He does the Moro reflex (flings arms and legs out spontaneously)
Definitely looks for us when he hears us talk, especially Madeleine
Grabs whatever his hand touches
The rest are so vague, hard to know for sure? So anyway, we’ll go from there.

PICTURES WITH FAMILY







MORE PICTURES!
Let’s end on something super pleasant, shall we? We were gifted with Joanna’s “First Year” photography package. Joanna came over during Lincoln’s second week to take some pictures. They were beautiful, as usual! Enjoy!








Joanna snapped some pictures of Madeleine, too. LOVE!



Both of them together. Cannot get more precious. Especially the last one in this group!



THIS BOY!





I’m thrilled that Joanna got this shot. The framed picture is Matt with the same blanket Lincoln is on.






OH WAIT
Aunt Susan once again gave us a cupcake to celebrate Lincoln’s birth. I’d like to end with that.