~7 days old!~ / ~14 days old!~

~7 days old!~ (Wednesday, April 29 - Baby's Due Date)
Today Baby Braiden Makoa is 1 WEEK OLD! We can't believe it. So excited, yet sad to mark this day... he is growing each and every day. I'm sure that by the time he meets everyone, he'll be double the size.
My next email would of been titled ~7 days to go!~ and now it turns out to be ~7 days old!~ I have been wanting to document the last couple of days to keep everyone informed but somehow a week later has gone by. Better late than ever... Let's see if I can recall some milestones!... Here I go:
Last night Braiden decided to give daddy and mommy some much needed sleeping minutes....it added up to about 4 hours of straight sleep then another 2 more hours. I last fed him about 11:00 p.m. then he fell asleep around 12:00, woke up at 4:00 a.m.- screaming his head off. We were so surprised to look at the clock and figure out that we had all slept for 4 hours! On the other hand my boobs were rock hard and in pain. I had to pump and then try to nurse him which was sooo painful to do. He ended up only drinking on my left side and then falling asleep only to have me wake him up at 7:00 a.m. cause my left side hadn't been drained since 11:00 p.m. the night before (8 hours as opposed to every 2 hours of me normally feeding him.
At the 4:00 feeding I was already feeling chills and hot flashes and had a big headache. I decided to take a dosage of motrin which was a good call. Later on during the day I continued to have a fever due to not draining my milk. The good nights sleep came with a consequence for me.
.....
(Thursday, April 30)
Sorry, never finished this yesterday...
Well last night I was so paranoid that I set my alarm clock for every 2 hours to feed Braiden. Little did I know that Braiden WAS MY INSTANT ALARM CLOCK! He was good and fed every 2 hours which helped to get my boobs back on track.
At his 4:00 a.m. feeding this morning, we discovered that baby's umbilical cord fell out into his pj's. That was a sad moment for me. As much as I am in pain from head to toe.... I am really enjoying him. Trying to savor every moment with him and watching every moment he interacts with Matthew & Hailey. I wish that he would stay like this a little while longer. I can see his physical growth as well as his inner growth. He has alot of patience and knows exactly what he wants. You see, whenever he is put in my arms he would SCREAM at me wanting to just suck right away. I would scream back at him because I was in pain and we would both be playing around for a few minutes working ourselves up into a wet sweat. He wanted to be fed and I wanted to cry from being in pain. Within the last few days I found that him and I are more calm with each other and have found a middle ground that came from having patience with each other. I knew my baby would be smart...but WOW! he has patience like me too!
.....
~14 days old!~ (Wednesday, May 6)
Here I am, 1 week later..... wondering where the time has gone? I was supposed to finish this quick email and send it to everyone last week!
I'll try to catch everyone up on Baby Braiden news:
Today marked his 2 week birthday! He had a doctor's appointment this afternoon which went really well. We were so proud of him for being so good with the doctor. There was also a 3rd year medical student whom Braiden was flirting with.... he was all smiles and even blessed her with his fountain of pee! He grew 2 inches and has returned back to his birth weight. ( 21 1/2 inches - 7 pounds 5 ounces ) Doctor says that he is very healthy and is in good shape!
Some concerns I had was that he now has somewhat of a schedule.....going back to my 7 day old email when I would feed him around the 11:00 hour and he would sleep till 3-4:00 and feed at that time then wake up between 6-7:00 for his next feeding. I asked the doctor if I should wake him up after 2 hours or if I should just let him sleep? Doctor said that if that is his schedule then he doesn't see why I need to wake him....he is growing and has maintained his birth weight up until today.
I can't say enough of how good of a baby Braiden is considering that I went through my whole pregnancy feeling yucky all the time. I can also add that he lets us eat dinner together as well! I feed him between 5-6:00 and then he usually sleeps till about 8-9:00! That is time well spent for all of us!
Today we gave Braiden his first tub bath. It was well needed! I've discovered that he loves water. Hearing water and being in water is something that soothes him.
He has adopted a nick name from Michael..... "SIR POOP-A-LOT" cuz he POOPS-A-LOT! He seems to respond to that when Michael changes him. He also knows his name when I call him. Matthew and Hailey always ask why he calms down when I call him or when I carry him to feed him. They also seem to have a gentle touch with him as well! Always wanting to kiss him and stare at him whether he is awake or sleeping.
We are trying to take lots of pictures of Braiden and Matthew and Hailey to share with everyone his first days. He has changed so much and is growing into his personality. I will send pictures as soon as I can down load them. Hopefully within the next few days.
His next doctor's appointment is on June 22 - his 2 month birthday. Can't believe that he is already 2 weeks old. We are definitely treasuring each and every moment thus far! I will keep everyone updated as often as I can!
Lots of love,
Stacey~

P.S. Carpeting will be installed Saturday morning! We are hoping to start moving stuff right after that so maybe in a week or two we should be moved into our new house! It's been a long time coming!