an introduction, and an apology

First things first: Bennett is here! Actually, he's three weeks old, but I'm a little delayed in posting. He arrived on his due date, December 30th, weighing 9 pounds 8 ounces. Labor was kind of weird, it seemed like things were starting up, they continued but didn't really change or progress for 10 hours or so, and by the end they fizzled out and we weren't sure he'd make it that day after all. Then my water broke and BOOM, he was out in an hour. A friend of mine came to take some beautiful pictures at the birth, which I am SO excited to receive soon, and we also had newborn pictures done for the first time. I wanted to do some extra special things this time, since he is supposed to be our last baby (still having a hard time putting that to words).

He's been a pretty easy-going little guy so far, he still sleeps a ton and nurses a lot, as well. He's generally pretty pleasant, as long as he's being snuggled (which I take full advantage of!), and smiles in his sleep all.the.time. A boy after my own heart. He does nap well in a bed or on the floor, too, which is helpful when I need to set him down. Mike was off work for two weeks so I had lots of help, and this past week I was on my own for four whole days. We did all right--we all survived and we're slowly getting into a groove...a newborn will of course throw a wrench in things, but I'm hoping we can work out some changes to the daily 'routine' that work well for everyone.

So far the older boys are pretty interested in him...Cameron likes to hold him and tell him how cute he is. Fletcher likes to pet his head, point out his nose, and laugh at the sounds he makes. Fletch also asks after him if we go somewhere without him, pointing to his carseat and furrowing his brow, "Baby?" I think they will all be good friends, as B grows and is 'more fun' and more a participant in their play. I remember Cam being bummed that Fletcher didn't come out ready to run and play with him, I'm sure to little kids it seems like babies take forever to get bigger (while we parents are left wondering where in the world the time went!).





Now, the apology. We've been through three different brands of disposable diapers, and several varieties of cloth diapers...cursing them all for being cheap or crappy (no pun intended), as the baby continued to pee through all of them! As it turns out, I think I just haven't been changing Bennett often enough. ::shuffles slacker-mom feet::

I guess it's expected to get out of the habit of changing a new baby 297309253 times a day...I couldn't figure out how he was leaking through disposable diapers (first we blamed off-brand, then it happened in Pampers) AND cloth diapers (again, first a less-absorbent AIO, then a tri-folded prefold!)...finally we realized it's not the diapers, it's the baby! He pees A LOT. Last night before bath, I changed him and he made a big puddle on the bathroom floor. Like, huge. I imagine two of those would fill a diaper pretty well!

Apparently we need to set an alarm and change him every two hours (if not more often)...he sleeps most of the day still, so it's not unusual for him to go 3-4 hours between changes, if he falls asleep and stays that way for a while. And like, overnight? The last thing on my mind (when he's up every 2-3 hours) is changing his diaper. Today he napped on me for an hour and when he woke up we were both soaked! Got what I deserved. But anyway, I'm sorry, Bennett. And diaper companies. We're going to try every two hours and see how that works out--at least for now, while he's eating so often and so much!