Days 1 and 2 of Bennett's life...

Yesterday was Bennett's first day of life. Such an easy and laid back day for me. My poor mom was going to watch the big kids while Donald and I spent time with our newborn. However, about 30 minutes after Hope & Tanya (midwife and assistant) left our home (in the middle of the night), The Atrium called. The Atrium is where my grandmother, who has severe dementia, lives in assisted living. They called to let my mom know that they had called rescue to come and get Grandma. Grandma had been complaining of chest pain. So poor mom, having been awake since Friday morning, was off to the hospital to meet Grandma.

At the hospital, they ran tests and admitted her. All test results seem to be normal but they still want to do more testing on Monday. Mom has been at the hospital since. Grandma is too confused to be left alone at the hospital so now (Sunday afternoon) they have called in a "sitter" to sit with Grandma so mom can come home and get some rest. Mom starts her new job tomorrow after having been unemployed for over a year! She cannot miss the first day of her new job. Donald will be heading to the hospital at 9 PM (when the sitter leaves) to be with Grandma.

Donald has been caring for the big 4 all day yesterday and today on his own while I rest and sleep with Bennett. Poor Donald is exhausted as well after Bennett's labor and delivery being so late. We are thankful Donald hasn't found a job yet otherwise we aren't sure what exactly we would do right now with Grandma's situation.

As soon as she is back home tomorrow afternoon, we will definitely be getting hot and heavy looking for Donald a job.

Anyways, back to Bennett....

Bennett is a really easy baby with the exception that he whines anytime he is awake and he wants to nurse all night long. HAHAHA! Yeah, so basically, if he is asleep he is great! Today has been a "turn around the clock" day to keep him awake as much as possible today with hopes that he will sleep some tonight. The first half of the day that was pretty easy. Now he is wanting to sleep a bunch. I've let him sleep a good bit more this afternoon than I did this morning.

Tanya, the midwife assistant, came by around lunch time today and pricked Bennett's foot for his PKU test. I'm thankful that she lives nearby and we didn't have to load Bennett up into the car for a 30 minute ride tomorrow. I'll probably take him in sometime this week for a weight check though, just to see....

We've begun him on a pacifier. Alex and Nathaniel both refused pacifiers and there were soooo many times we had wished they took one so we decided long ago that Bennett would be getting a pacifier as soon as possible. The day after his birth he had one and had a hard time with it. Today he has done amazingly well and can keep it in his mouth. Yippee! Success!

Later this afternoon, Donald's mom will be heading this way to meet Bennett. She is bringing pizza for tonight and lasagna for tomorrow night. She is also bringing diapers and giftcards.

We had planned on having a "Welcome Bennett" party at some point. A way for friends and family to celebrate his arrival since we didn't do a baby shower this time around. Now we are debating it with how chaotic life has been since he was born. So depending on how fast things get to normal around here, we may still do it....

The big kids are doing fine.

Raymond is absolutely in love with Bennett. He has become the "big" to the "little." Raymond wants to be with Bennett nonstop and is super protective of him when the other littles get too close for Raymond's comfort. He wants to hold him continuously and walks around the house whispering and making everyone else whisper to keep from waking Benn. It's really cute. I have a feeling Raymond and Benn will be great friends. Raymond will be Benn's mentor of sorts. He has been the most excited about all of this.

Arianna is doing good. She likes Bennett. She is glad he is here. She thinks he is cute and likes to give him kisses and rub his hair, but she's not as into him as I thought she would be. But, she also isn't the "mommy" type. She took to Nathan when he was born and now I think she is all "babied out."

Alex could really care less. Haha. Seriously, he gives "Baby Vennett" kisses and giggles after doing so, but he could take him or leave him. He has wanted to hold him once or twice, but that was about it. He is more into Batman and G.I. Joe than Bennett. And that's okay as I think Bennett gets a little overwhelmed with so many hands touching him at once.

Nathaniel is, well, 18 months old. He enjoys poking at Bennett's eyes and shaking Bennett's body as if he were petting a dog very briskly. Bennett doesn't seem to mind and actually sleeps through it - although we are now holding Nate's hands to guide him as to what is okay when touching baby brother.