6 Days Old

Is this not the sweetest thing you have ever seen? I caught these images on Leo's sixth day of life and as you can see, Daddy and Leo have really bonded. I have spent most of my bonding time with Leo at his feedings and Joe has spends a good deal of his time taking care of feedings, diaper changing and cuddling up with Leo for naps.

Leo went to the pediatrician on Monday (day 4) and got very high marks. He also scored an A+ with the lactation consultant on day 5 and she said that he is a breastfeeding champ. He is growing rapidly and is almost back to his birth rate. Joe and I were concerned that Leo would not be able to continue breastfeeding because he had to be supplemented with bottle feeding and syringe tube feeding (which is a complete nightmare and a 2 person operation). Leo was born with low blood sugar levels and because he is so small, formula supplementation was a necessity. Unfortunately, his first 2 days of life required blood sugar heel prick tests every 2 hours and as a new mommy, that was heart wrenching. I always tried to breastfeed prior to bottle feedings, but these newborns are insanely smart and figure out rather quickly that the bottle gives them the most food for the littlest effort. Luckily for us, by day 4, we were told that we could stop supplementing and Leo is now exclusively breastfeeding. We caught him just in time and he is really catching on.

In addition to Leo's low birth weight and blood sugar issues, Leo also was slightly jaundiced. For a couple of days in the hospital, he had to wear a blanket that glowed a vibrant shade of green. He looked just like a glow worm and it was completely adorable. After a day or so and a few tests (these tests required a small vile of blood taken from his heel and nearly caused a Mommy meltdown), Leo's jaundice levels were low enough to remove the blanket. Just when we thought we were in the clear, on day 3, Leo developed a rash around his mouth. It quickly spread down his chin and we were terrified. Nobody could figure out what was causing the rash, but before we were discharged, a doc from the NICU evaluated Leo and said that since he was healthy and striving, there was no need to be too alarmed, especially since we had an appointment with his pediatrician the next day.

Since we have been home though, things have been great. Leo is very happy and healthy and he seems to really like us. We couldn't be more smitten too.