Elijah was born on the Monday of Thanksgiving week. We had originally planned to stay one night in the hospital, but decided to stay a second night once the dust settled after his birth. He wasn't born until 4PM, so it's hard to get the necessary tests/screening done before he's 24 hrs old. This decision was based on many factors, including Jack's comfort at Grandma and Papa's house (reportedly Ozzie is the more difficult of the two, as he likes to go outside in the middle of the night) and we wanted to spend a little extra time focusing on Elijah before returning home. The nursery is nice at night when you're hoping for a little extra sleep before taking on 2 kids at home. Once again we got lucky with hospital rooms as we were given a room with a queen bed... again! Super lucky considering the baby ward was at full capacity. However, I will speak for both of us when I say that we loved getting home and really starting in on this new adventure that revolves around these 2 little boys.
We got home Wednesday and Grandma and Papa brought Jack and Ozzie home to meet their new buddy. We were both a little cautious to see how each would respond to Elijah, but both have been awesome with him! Jack even gives him hugs, helps to burp him, and comments every time he yawns, sneezes, burps or toots. Yawn is "yawn", sneeze he says "bless you", burps he says "burps", and toots he says "poop!" Ha ha so funny. You have to be careful when you toot around Jack, he may inadvertently call you out for poop :) These days he's into everything. You can't even do the dishes without him "helping", and by helping I mean eating soapy bubbles.
On Friday morning we took Elijah in to see the pediatrician and then had to return with him on Saturday and Monday due to his jaundice and high billiruben test results. Each day we went back, Eli had made good gains on weight (about 2 oz per day). He lost approximately 6% of his birth weight, which is well within the "normal" range, getting down to 6 lbs 13 oz. But at the Monday appointment, 1 week after he was born, he was back up to 7 lbs 3.6 oz, practically his birth weight. By Monday they said his billi looked ok, and they would see us again in a week. At Elijah's 2 week appointment, he weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz (50%ile), 21 inches long (50%ile), and with a head circumference of 36 cm (40%ile). He's had one additional doctor appointment since returning home. Our pediatrician recommended we see a urologist over some concern over hypospadia, where the urethra is not located on the tip of the penis. But the urologist, Dr. Galansky, with over 30 years experience, assured us that Elijah was perfectly healthy and there was no cause for concern. All good news.
Since then we've spent our time putting up Christmas decorations and trying our best to get shopping done for the holiday. Everything is a bit more challenging with Jack (aka Chaos) running loose when trying to feed and change Eli every 3 hours. It's a good thing Jack is such a good little helper, because his motor is non stop.
All in all Eli has been such a blessing. He's a great snuggler and sleeper, and we're so thankful as his big brother is currently too busy to snuggle. We'll enjoy the quiet times with #2 as long as we can.
