The third time around...

Woah. Where to start? As always, the first few days at home with a new baby have been a composite of moments of utter peace and larger chunks of chaos. Overall, things have been much simpler this time. I have faith in myself, and I possess the knowledge that things will shift and develop, that there will be plenty of good days and plenty of not-so-good nights, and that although I may not be a perfect parent, my kids could do a lot worse!

The feeding. It started so well, it was effortless, completely effortless. The first week my boobs felt the way your face does when you have a severe sinus infection - heavy and throbbing. It must have been around Day 4 or 5 that I had my one and only teary moment, and that was due to the pain. My right nipple had been chewed up but my little guzzler, it was beeding and frayed, and there was some red streakiness on the underside of my boob that made me think mastitis was around the corner. But I iced it and fed from it, teeth gritted and back arched in a spasm, and lo and behold, all better now. Judd now weighs 4.55kg at 2 weeks of age, he's lovely and pink, doing plenty of yucky things in his nappy and is what I would hesitantly describe as "placid"... For now. But all signs suggest that he and I have quickly become a functional feeding team, and that is just the best thing. I feel very lucky.

The sleeping. It's not been too bad. I am just going with the flow for now, will try to exert a bit more influence over him when he gets to about 6-8 weeks, but for now just following his lead. It seems to be working. I am determined not to stress out about it. He refuses a dummy, makes the most disgusted faces when I try to push one into his little mouth... And then there was the time I made him gag and spew. Oops. Maybe we'll avoid dummies altogether this time? Ha. Unlikely.

The screaming... None. No screaming. He grizzles for up to two hours each evening, just the usual wind/reflux type symptoms, but most of the time he seems... Happy. Maybe it's the red hair? Hard not to be of a sunny disposition when you have a head of such vibrantly coloured hair!