The Arkins: Caleb is 1 Week Old!

Caleb Patrick is 1 Week Old!
Age: 1 Weeks
Weight: ~7 lbs 15 oz (at the pedi on Wednesday)
Length: ~20 1/4 in (At birth)
Clothing Size: Exclusively Newborn
Diaper Size: Pampers Swaddlers Newborn
Feeding Schedule: ~10-14 x’s per day

We survived our first week with Caleb! We ended up staying in the hospital two nights until Sunday which we were a little upset about. We were hoping to go home Friday but were shot down at the last minute. The hospital had some major paperwork issues and were using Cameron's birth stats for Caleb. There were multiple times we had to correct his birth time (5:48 PM vs. Cameron's 11:29 PM) and birth weight (8 lbs 11 oz vs. Cameron's 8 lbs). We believe we would have been allowed to leave Saturday but the pediatrician thought Caleb was born at 11:29 pm so thought he wasn't even 24 hours yet.

When we were discharged from the hospital, Caleb was down to 7 lbs 10 oz, a 12% weight loss. The pediatrician said he wasn't concerned though with the number of output diapers and nursing sessions he was doing. Also, Caleb was very alert and seemed happy.

We had our first pediatrician appointment on Monday and Caleb lost another ounce, weighing 7 lbs 9 oz. The nurse immediately said I had to supplement with formula or readmit him to the hospital since his weight loss was so much. She was rather rude about it and didn't even talk to the pediatrician before saying that. When the pediatrician came in and examined Caleb, she was very happy with how Caleb looked, was eating and his dirty diapers that she said he was just fine and they was no need to worry. To be on the safe side we had a follow up appointment on Wednesday to check his weight and in 2 days he gained 6 ounces weighing 7 lbs 15 oz.

The first night at home was a little rough. I would feed Caleb and try and get him to sleep - if didn't go to sleep easily, Bryan and I would switch off and he was usually successful at getting him to sleep. We did this the first few nights. By Monday afternoon my milk came in so Caleb was much more satisfied when he ate.

During the first few nights home, Cameron was also teething pretty bad as she's getting in three molars. One night we actually got Caleb to sleep at a decent time - and then Cameron was awake crying on and off for the next hour. We couldn't win, haha.