One Week Old Photography

We survived the first week with a newborn!!  Beatrix is really sweet, but honestly taking care of a newborn is so hard.  I just have to remind myself in the middle of the night that the first week is the hardest and that if we can make it through that we can make it through this next week as well.

I feel like the first few nights were easier than the rest of the week.  Nursing got harder and more painful and she seemed to want to be up more at night.  I'm hoping nights will start to get better as time passes.  We still can't really get her to sleep anywhere but in someones arms.  I know that if I just wait a month or two that will pass as well.

I had to work hard to get her to sleep in her basket for these pictures.  Everyone else is at church so I had at least a good two hours to get these pictures done.

Bob had a work thing last night and so it was the first time I felt on my own with the kids for dinner and bed time.  Actually, bob made dinner before he left, so we just had to eat and clean up and then get the kids to bed.  The older kids did amazing!  Beatrix cried a significant amount of time, but everyone was so helpful it worked out.  We all cleaned up the kitchen while one child held Beatrix.  She was fussy, but I knew she wasn't hungry, and she was being held so I didn't feel neglectful.  Then I went and fed her again while the kids did the last bits of cleaning.  Lastly the kids took turns holding Beatrix while watching TV and I took a shower.  It was great!  They were then able to pretty much put themselves to bed.  I love having older kids to help out.

I think everyone is adjusting well to having a newborn in the family.  I was concerned about Calista but she seems just fine.  She loves Beatrix and is always saying "baby" and pointing at her.  Calista is really a daddy's girl these days and Bob has been spending lots of time with her.  I'm hopeful that she will still be ok when he goes back to work in a week.

 Newborn yawn. 

This is really such a difficult but special time for our family.  Having a baby really forces everyone to bond together.  I'm excited to see how our family dynamic changes as Beatrix gets older.