Our first week

We've been home for a week now, and it's been a busy- but wonderful!- week. Both of our moms were here Monday and Tuesday to help take care of us. It felt very natural to have our moms mothering us, like it was the way it was supposed to be. We appreciated having them here so much, and I think they both enjoyed the time with Tye just as much.

Wednesday was the hardest day of the week for us because my milk still hadn't come in, and Tye seemed to be hungry already. We had been sleeping skin to skin because it calmed Tye so much, and Wednesday, in an effort to increase oxytocin production and bring in my milk, we spent the whole day skin to skin with me in an open cardigan and Tye loosely covered in a blanket to stay warm. She spent most of the day on my breast, but with only the colostrum coming out, she didn't seem to be getting enough to be satisfied, and she acted hungry as soon as she stopped nursing. During the day, I downed 6 cups of herbal tea intended to help aid milk production and drank a beer with lots of hops, another method for helping milk come in. Some time overnight (again, skin to skin), everything kicked in, because as Tye cried while Tyler and I changed her the next morning, I was pouring out milk. All day Thursday, Tyler and I watched in amazement as Tye slept soundly for hours between feedings, drastically different than the day before. Nursing has gone beautifully since then.

We are loving our time together as a family on what Tyler has taken to calling our "winter break." We're able to follow Tye's schedule, staying up a bit late when she's fussy and sleeping in each morning. When we wake each morning, the three of us lay in bed together, parents just lovingly, adoringly admiring their daughter. I think we could stay there all day just watching her facial expressions change and listening to her coos. It's the best part of every day. Tyler received the okay to use his personal time off following his paternity leave, so he'll be home through the New Year. Lots and lots of mornings together.