Week One

August feels like a million years ago, but I’m finally sorting through all the photos we’ve taken since Soren’s birth day. When I look at my calendar, it appears that his first week of life was uneventful. But at the same time, the things we did that week were unlike anything we’d experienced before. We were taking care of a miniature human being who came out of my body! What could be more monumental than that? The first few days weren’t very difficult physically — my recovery was easy, and all Soren did was eat and sleep. But what a mental and emotional roller coaster.

Day 1: We weren’t anticipating any visitors during Soren’s first few days, but it just so happened that my dad, sister, and brother-in-law were passing through Boston on their way to Virginia from Maine. They came straight to the hospital on Tuesday and got to hold our less-than-one-day-old boy. (It was easy to determine who was holding Soren in this shot — the dog on Pappy’s shirt is peeking out.)

Day 2: We stayed in the hospital for the full 48 hours since I was positive for Group B Strep but didn’t receive the antibiotic. We went home on Wednesday evening after a day of cuddling at the hospital. I still can’t believe how tiny he looks in relation to my hand.

Day 3: Our first day at home was a success. No one told me newborns sleep so much! I was beyond paranoid that something was wrong with my baby because he was so incredibly drowsy. He sure loved the swaddle (still does!), and we couldn’t live without the Aden + Anais blankets Tim’s mom sent our way.

Day 4: Our big move was only a few days away at this point, so there was an added level of stress in our apartment. But we made time for lots of skin-to-skin snuggling. Friday was Soren’s first appointment with his pediatrician, and our first time venturing out of the house with a deadline. We weren’t even late!

Day 5: My mom arrived on Saturday to meet her eighth grandbaby. Grandmama whipped our house into shape, packing every last one of our belongings. She also gave us lots of opportunities for naps while she played with Soren.

Day 6: On Sunday we played hooky from church and went for our first family walk around the reservoir. Soren loved being outside, and I loved walking again after being sedentary for nearly a week.

Day 7: Don’t mind the small gash on Soren’s nose. During a late-night feeding he jerked his head up and my fingernail scratched his tiny face. When I saw that I had drawn blood I nearly cried. He didn’t seem to mind, but I was crushed.

I’m still amazed at how my love for this tiny creature progressed each day at the beginning of his life. I’m not one to get very emotional about anything (I was expecting to at least cry at some point during or after childbirth, but the tears never came), but this baby has softened me up quite a bit. I used to have a hard time sitting for very long if I wasn’t doing something productive, but during that first week it was so easy to be still for long stretches at a time, just staring at my baby. And that’s when I couldn’t help the tears from appearing. I told Tim a few times during those initial days that I just needed to cry because there was so much love in my heart. Now that we’re a couple months into this whole parenthood thing, I’m not quite so tender about everything. But I can’t deny that the love and happiness in our family continues to grow each day.

Tagged: baby, family, motherhood, parenting, Soren