Since Coming Home

First of all, I apologize for the late post.  Believe it or not...I've been a little busy.  We'll start where I left off on the last post. 

The Hospital Stay:
Out stay at the hospital was really good.  It was a great experience, and we had wonderful nurses that were all eager to help with anything we needed.  Per everyone's recommendations, we sent Bentley to the nursery both nights we were there, but the nurses brought him to us every three hours for feedings.  That brings us to a whole different situation...learning to nurse.  Apparently preemies have a more difficult time learning to nurse than full term babies.  So, I would attempt to feed him at each feeding and follow that up with pumping for his next feeding.  Overall, it went okay.  The nurses said he was doing good, especially for being 3 1/2 weeks early, but it only took a few days for him to get the hang of what to do.

One of the great things about our hospital was the newborn photos.  Bella Baby Photography comes to the hospital room and takes beautiful pictures on the hospital bed.  You'd have no idea that's how they're done.  Here's a few, and you can go to http://www.bellababyphotography.com/.  Click on "view photos," and enter the password "huntsville".  Select April 11, 2011, then select "niki b".

Tuesday was a whirlwind of a day.  We had visitors all day, which we loved, and they did all the formalities at the hospital that day, as well.  (birth certificate, hearing test, pictures, etc.)  Lots of people came by to meet Bentley, but the most memorable moment was when Coen met him for the first time.  To recap, Coen is my nephew (Russ and Cyndel's son), and we are very close.  When we started talking about a baby and him meeting Bentley, he often said, "Mo, my Kiki."  He didn't want me to have a baby or play with someone else.  As time passed, he seemed to be a little better about the idea, but still not thrilled.  So, we all expected the worst when Bentley got here.  We were all afraid Coen would feel left out or have his feelings hurt if anyone was holding Bentley.  Well...he surprised us tremendously.  He was so sweet with Bentley, and he took to him right away.  Coen gave Bentley kisses, and I had him sit with me so we could hold Bentley together.  Check out some of the pictured Daniel got while I cried my eyes out over it all.

You'll notice two Biscuits (the little yellow dog).  Coen brought Bentley's to the hospital so he could play with it.  Too sweet!!

Call it hormones or whatever you want, but I couldn't help but cry at how sweet my two boys were together.

Wednesday was much slower and calmer.  We had a few visitors throughout the day, and we got to go home that afternoon at about 5:00.  While we were at the hospital, I did manage to fit in a nap.  Daniel got a sneaky shot while Bentley and I snoozed together.

This was a really good nap!!

Here's a few shots of us heading home, along with a couple once we got home.

Wheeling out to the car...Goodbye hospital!

Bentley looks so tiny in his car seat!

Here's Daddy, carrying Bentley into the house for the very first time.

Porsche was soooo excited to see Daniel and Me, but I can't really say the same about Bentley.  She ignores him the best she can.

The next day, I managed to fit in another nap.  This is the one and only nap I've had since we've been home.  I'm going to have to hide the camera if I plan to sleep from now on...Daniel seems to get like sleeping shots.

Snuggled with my snugglebug!  Heaven!

We went to Bentley's first doctor's visit on Friday morning.  He was so good, except they had to stick his heel to check for jaundice.  He was not thrilled at all about that.  As soon as that part was over, he went into a deep sleep, and he slept for about four hours.  Bentley checked out perfectly.  He was down to 5 lbs. 10 oz., which is normal.  He is a little jaundice, but the doctor wasn't concerned.  A little sunshine should cure that.  She said she'd like to see us back when he's two weeks old, so we'll see her again on the 25th.


This was right after the heel stick.  He was sleeping really good snuggled with me.



If you look closely, you can see that Porsche is wrapped up in Bentley's blanket and laying in the Boppy.  Bentley is laying over by himself...Is there anything wrong with this picture???

Finally, we had newborn pictures made of Bentley on Saturday.  A friend of ours, Sean Harrison, is an up-and-coming photographer, and we have talked about him doing Bentley's pictures for a while.  Well, the time came, and we couldn't have asked for better pictures.  They are beautiful, and I will cherish them for the rest of time.  While I don't have the pictures to upload on the blog, you can access then on Sean's website at Fine Light Photography.  Please take the time to look...I am so pleased with the photos, and I can't believe that beautiful baby is mine!!

For now, that's all the info I have to share.  I'll post again after Easter.  We will all be matching as a family, and I am SUPER excited for Bentley to wear his Easter outfit.

Have a great day! :)