Samuel at Two Weeks and Voting

We are two weeks into life as a family of 6. Wow! Family of 6. I don't think about us in those terms. I don't really think in terms of having FOUR children (and, yes, my hands are full and I am busy, thank you for noticing, Oh! and yes, she is the princess). I guess it's because I see my children as individuals rather than as one whole group. It's startling to me at times the way people react to my family. You'd think we were a large family or something. Moving on...

Friday we took our first outing - the pediatrician's office. Samuel weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces. One ounce over his birth weight. Babies can safely lose up to 10% of the birth weight in the first few weeks. Sam was down to 7 lbs. 3 ozs. when we left the hospital. That means the boy gained 10 ounces in a week! Holy Cow! No wonder I'm tired.

While at the pedi. we received a prescription for cream to put on Ellie's face. She's had some bumps that won't clear up for about 6 weeks. It's amazing how well the right medicine is doing the trick.

Dr. S also told us to put petroleum jelly on Ben's face. He (and Will) scratches his face a lot and then picks at the scratches. People are constantly commenting that a cat has gotten a hold of him. Not that boy! He runs from cats. Scared of them. I have no idea why.

Here's a picture of 2 week old Samuel. Doesn't he look spiffy after a sponge bath?

The Little Old Man

I forgot a detail in my account of Sam's birth. I didn't take any of the sleeping drugs after the surgery. I really think that's why I've recovered so quickly. I didn't have to recover from a week of Percoset. I've always taken it in the past. The nurses brought it routinely and advised me to "stay ahead of the pain." I hate the way it makes me woolly headed. I don't like not being in control of my thoughts.

This time I decided to wait until the pain got bad enough to take the Percoset. I took a couple of Motrin and regular strength Tylenol. And that was all I needed. That's not to say I was comfortable but I'd rather be a little uncomfortable and think clearly than knocked out.

It helped that earlier this year Joel took Percoset following oral surgery, within 30 minutes of taking a pill he was sound asleep in bed. So I knew if my pain got to the point I wanted something stronger it would take affect fast!

And on a completely random note, we all voted today. Our polling place is within walking distance of our house (we did NOT walk!). We created quite a stir bringing four small children with us. Joel and I believe it's important for us to vote (our responsibility!) and to take our children with us so they learn by our example.

We are blessed to live in a country where we can vote (at least for now). So we should. I hope you all voted! End of lecture. After we returned home Ellie wanted to take pictures with the digital camera. Here's one of her pictures (I helped a little).

I Voted!