Whew- Made it through Week 1!

It's been a long and exhausting first week as a family of four, but we're all doing pretty well. Gracie has surprised us, really stepping up in her new role as "big sister." She is extremely loving and wants to help us with EVERYTHING. When Jeremy cries, she runs to look for his binky, or brings us diapers and tells us he needs to be changed. She loves to kiss him and hold him in her lap. When I look at her now, she somehow seems so much older...
Jason was able to take time off work to help with Jeremy, but he went back to work on Thursday. Jason's mom came and stayed with us Wednesday and Thursday night. She has been extremely helpful, particularly since Jeremy has had trouble nursing. On Tuesday, we took him into the lactation center and found out that in five days, he had lost over a pound off his birth weight. He still has jaundice and has not been eating well so we've had to make changes to his feeding. When we went to have him weigh in today, we were so relieved to find out that he's back in the 7 pound range. Our goal is that he will be back at his birth weight within this next week. It's been overwhelming! I had to start supplementing his feeding with a Supplemental Nursing System and formula. Jeremy takes over an hour at each feeding, and since he's supposed to be fed every 2 1/2 hours, you can imagine how much rest I'm getting! As well, Jeremy had his first appointment with his pediatrician today- he had "guy" stuff taken care of. So, not only is he having a hard time feeding, now he's also going to need time to heal. Every time I hear him crying, it makes me tense up inside and want to cry with him.
Anyway, despite everything, I have to say that as of this moment, I'm feeling much more optimistic and less stressed out. I am so grateful for all the friends who have come by to spend time with us. I haven't been able to really be out and about, so it's been nice to have company. We're also so thankful for the wonderful meals that people have been bringing. Click on our "Photo Album" for some pictures of things that have happened over this past week.