Keeping Up With Kolson : Kolson weeks 1-3

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted something! I'm so far behind!!

Kolson's first picture taken at home!

The first night (day since he was born at 2 in the morning) that we spent in the hospital was absolute hell for me. Since Kolson got stuck in my birth canal for so long, and with all of the pushing, my poor baby came out with very large cone shaped head. Because of this, that first day he was in a lot of pain. Everyone (including the nurses and lactation specialists) were afraid to touch his poor head because of the pain it would cause him. Because of this, it made breastfeeding a little difficult. Lucky for me, Kolson had a very strong latch, and an even stronger urge to latch (kid still tries to latch on to everything!). I got very little sleep during the time we spent in the hospital. It got so bad that the nurses would have to come in and basically force me to let them take him to the nursery so I could get some sleep. The whole time I was there I felt as though I was the reason he was in pain. Thankfully he was a little better the next day, but it still made me wonder how I was going to be able to do this without the help of the nurses...

First family picture :)

We were originally scheduled to leave the hospital after three days, but because Kolson and I were both recovering well my doctor (after a few failed attempts at convincing me otherwise) let us go home after one night. I was very lucky considering all that had happened to me in labor. I had a lot of tearing and a ton of blood loss, but the next day I wasn't in any pain and felt like my old self again. I only took the pain medication because the nurse watched me to make sure I was taking it haha.

Cooper meets Kolson!

I spent our entire last day in the hospital freaking out because the night we spent there with help was miserable and now I wouldn't have nurses to help me out. Thankfully, Kolson must have sensed my dismay because he was a dream his first few days home. He barely cried and slept most of the day. At night he woke up every two hours to eat, be changed, and get some extra cuddles in, but otherwise he was a dream. Oh! he was strong too. From the first full day of his life he could actually lift and somewhat support his head. At first I thought I was just being a mom and thinking my kid was amazing. But two nurses and three of my friends were all surprised at his strength I'm not kidding when I say this kid has superpowers ;). It seemed like everything was falling into place and I was really going to get the hang of this whole motherhood things. Cue my bad luck...

My parent's and their first grandchild

Newborn photo session

Holding daddy's dog tags!

My favorite...goes with his Monster's Inc. nursery :)

The third day we were home with Kolson I got a phone call from my younger sister who lives in Philadelphia. I thought she was just calling to see how Kolson and I were adjusting to life at home (she's a seasoned veteran with 2 kids), so I answered without any concern. It didn't take long for me to hear the sadness in her voice, and when she asked me to sit down I knew this wasn't going to be a good conversation. I asked her what was wrong and she told me our youngest brother had passed. I've never been shot before, but I swear the pain I felt was way worse than any bullet wound. I could breathe, I went completely numb, if it wasn't for my mom, I would have fallen to the ground with Kolson in my arms. I called my older sister and we made arrangements to fly to Philly whenever the service was. A few days later my Maria called and told me the service would be in a week. I almost had another panic attack. That wasn't enough time for me to book a flight and a hotel room and figure out if Patrick and my parents would be ok with Kolson. After discussing with Patrick, we decided that it would be best if Patrick, Kolson and I drove up to Philly together. My mom wasn't happy, but since Kolson is breastfed, it was really the only option we had. So with Kolson at almost a week old we made the drive to Philly at 1 in the morning.

Kolson was a dream the entire time...from the drive up where he slept almost the entire ways (through Patrick and my screaming at stupid drivers), to the service, and finally to the drive back home. Between stops to feed and change Kolson, stops for us to go to the bathroom, stops to eat, and stops to fill up for gas, the entire trip was about 16 hours each way. I couldn't have been more proud to be Kolson's mother than when we would bring him out in public and people could not believe how young he was and how well he was behaving. I have the best son in the world.

Kolson's first visit to the ER :( only 4 days old

After we returned home, Kolson's scheduled changed. Since he had spent the past few days in the car, he was used to sleeping almost all day and had a few pretty rough nights, but we got well adjusted. A week after we returned from Philly, my parents left to go back to Mass. It was really hard for me to say goodbye to my parents. Not only because I would miss them, but because they were lifesavers to Patrick and I the few weeks before Kolson got here until they left. They cooked, cleaned, took care of Cooper...you name it! They made the first two weeks of Kolson's life so easy for me because he was all I had to focus on. I didn't know how I would survive.

Throw onto the pile finals for college and a huge move coming on that's how the first three weeks of Kolson's life went. Somehow I managed to get through finals, and my parents help us pack a large bulk of things for the move (I will talk about that another time). But now for a ton of pictures of Kolson's first three weeks.