The New "Normal"

So life for the past three weeks has been one GIANT learning curve. John and I are now calling this the new "normal". Normal meaning functioning on little sleep - pretty much living from one feeding to the next. The second week was a bit rougher because Reese had pretty much become the sleepiest baby in the world and would not stay awake to breastfeed. She lost some weight, so the pediatrician had us give her the milk through a bottle. So in order to keep up the milk supply, at every feeding John would give her a bottle and I would pump. Then we would have to hold her upright afterward for about a half hour so that it would all stay down because of her reflux. As she gained her weight back, Reese became strong enough to relearn the art of breastfeeding which I had no idea took so much patience on both our parts! That has made things a bit easier. So anyway, breastfed babies eat about every 2.5 - 3 hours. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Add all the diaper changings to the mix and the rare moments when she is awake long enought to have some conversation with her and you have some pretty tired Chilcotes.

I have found that a tired John is not a very trustworthy person when awakened in the middle of the night. More than once, he has tried to convince me that the baby just ate when in reality it was three hours ago! I have also had the worst diaper changing experienc yet at the ungodly hour of 1 AM. No one should experience what I experienced that late at night. Let's just say that by the end of it, Reese, the door two feet away fromt the changing table and me were all covered with what was in Reese just a moment before.


With all of those experiences, it is still the most amazing life we could have asked for! We have been overwhelmed by the support of friends and family. We have received meals almost everyday, gifts throughout the week, and most importantly prayers and encouragements! I don't think we could have survived these first few weeks without them.

These pictures are all just from today. We had an eventful morning of eating, bathing and napping. (We learned that using the kitchen sink was a whole lot better than using the baby bath tub. Our mom's could have told us that!) I can see why mothers have been warning me for the past so many months that the time goes so fast. Look how big she is getting! Yes, I'm already mourning...



We love you all!
- Nicole, John, & Reese


- a side note from John: In the kitchen bath picture, you can't see it, but my shirt's pretty wet. I was in the middle of carrying a naked Reese from the nursery to the kitchen after changing her, deciding that we didn't need a diaper for a 10 second transport. Just as I stepped into the kitchen, she decided to let it flow...all over the kitchen floor and my stomach! At least with a girl the streams go down!