David after his bath today

Ben also wanted to see pictures of our other children at around a week old:

Nikki sunbathing her jaundice away

Michael dressed warmly for winter in England

Vi on velvet

What a fun first week we are having with baby David!

Ben parents four with a smile

The whole family is benefiting from the extra time Ben has at home during the babymoon! David enjoys 24-hour care (I handle inputs and Ben takes care of outputs), the older kids get even more attention than usual with two parents on the scene, and Ben and I are able to talk at leisure since there are no schedules.

You would think with the fourth baby in five years that newborn breastfeeding would have been straightforward for me. Actually, no. I took a shower during that important first hour. And he slept a lot during the first day. I hated to wake him, so although I attempted several latches during the first 12 hours, only one was particularly successful.

Warning bells started ringing in my head that evening, and I once again turned to my equivalent of a personal lactation consultant. It took some undressing of the baby to wake him enough to feed, plus a lot of experimenting with angles, before David and I got a couple good latches in a row. Now he wakes himself for feeds and I only have to prop myself a little on my elbow to get him started before I can lower myself to lay easily next to him at night. Whew!

David sleeps after a feed on the nursing pillow

Daytime feeds are even easier with My Brest Friend, a firm feeding pillow that keeps David’s body all on one plane so he can easily latch on. It’s like a third hand for positioning. Once he’s happily settled, I have a hand free for typing and eating.

Speaking of essential items in the immediate postpartum aftermath, here are two more that I wouldn’t be without: mesh pants and a peri rinse bottle.

Nikki reads the instruction manual for her new booster seat

This morning Ben put the finishing touches on our new car seat arrangement. No longer will we have three car seats in the middle row and the back seat folded flat. Instead, the back seat is now up, with Nikki in a new booster seat and Michael in Nikki’s former throne. The middle row now has Vi facing forward in Michael’s former seat, and baby David facing rearward in Vi’s former seat.

David sports his baby mohawk

I’ll leave you with a picture of David joining us at breakfast this morning. Have a terrific weekend!

My parents are visiting, so I’m having fun with them rather than spending time on the computer. However, I couldn’t wait another moment to share some of my favourite photos so far. I think it’s safe to say that Vi is smitten with Grandma. And vice versa.

          

See also:

grandfather, granddaughter – 24 Oct 2009

This morning Baba took Vi aside for a few photos.

At first she wasn’t too sure.

Then Vi got in the swing of things.

Finally she saw Mama approaching, and she smiled.

After church today, our family rode the train to the Smoke Free Perth Royal Show, Western Australia‘s state fair.

We watched sheep judging, a wood chopping contest, and motorbike stunts. Cows were milked, alpacas admired, and dagwood dogs consumed. We finished a fun day with show jumping.

          

You have to admit, it’s impressive.

Kent and Loni just happened to be visiting London when Nikki was a newborn, and three years ago they were our first relatives to meet the newest member of the family.

They’ve done it again, visiting Western Australia for a week while Vi is brand new. Loni happily scooped up some of those first cuddles in the process.

They were also in demand with Nikki and Michael, who requested that they read aloud all the books they brought as gifts.

We took a walk along the Swan river before they had leave. It was a fun visit!

Now that I’ve tasted the freedom, I can’t believe I never tried a back carry with a newborn before. A whole new world of possibilities has opened up – things I just can’t do with a baby on my front.

For instance, Vi slept on my back this evening as I gave Ben a haircut. This was risky since I knew that once I started, I would have to finish the job, even if she woke up unhappy for some reason.

Fortunately she snoozed the entire time, so Ben won’t have to answer any questions from his colleagues about what happened to his hair.

At some point today, I figured out why Vi was so sad yesterday.

Poor, poor Vi.

She’s too long for all her 000 (0 to 3 month size) footed outfits, so yesterday I dressed her in an outfit without feet.

Result: Cold feet! Sad baby!

Today we employed a cute pair of Infantino rattle socks, and Vi is back to her normal, peaceful, happy self.

After yesterday’s discomfort, I think we can safely say that Vi is delighted with this new development. Socks!