Four-CHEN-ate!: Kyle

I'm happy to report that things have improved significantly since the last update.

Kyle still needs the shield for nursing but definitely seems to have better nursing stamina now than he did even two days ago. He is still a 1/2 pound under his birth weight (6 lbs 4 oz now) but when we got the infant scale on Thursday he was 6 lbs 0 oz so we are headed in the right direction. I am feeling much less stressed about nursing and am just praying nothing else comes along that would disrupt it.

Kyle is still somewhat jaundiced, but noticable mainly in his face/eyes, which is good because jaundice "spreads" from the head down to the toes. (The higher the bilirubin the more noticeable it will be on his trunk and extremities.) His pediatrician was not worried. I will call if it doesn't seem to improve gradually but overall I think he looks good.

Kyle is starting to wake up more. He has big blue eyes that we get to see a little more often now. He is a calm, sweet baby. He wakes on his own to feed and definitely lets us know when he is hungry but otherwise he is a pretty laid back little baby (so far).

Kyle is loved by all his siblings. They request to hold him multiple times a day. No naughty behavior from the older siblings yet. Victor is transitioning back to work slowly this week. He is staying home for bus duty. I can't quite yet get myself and 4 kids dressed, fed, and ready for school by 8:30 every day, particularly when Kyle wants to nurse from 7:00 - 8:00 everyday. So I have 6 more days to figure that out!

I am starting to feel like myself. I still am coughing some and have a lot of back pain but it is significantly better than it was a week ago. I have been getting out on some walks (armed with ice water and cough drops) but am so far from being able to run. I find that shocking because I was running up to 6 miles at a time until 34 weeks 2 days of pregnancy (right when the virus from hell set in, shortly followed by the pre-eclampsia). I am hoping that I will feel closer to being able to run again in another couple of weeks. (The inability to run now has nothing to do with being post-partum - it is solely due to the lingering respiratory side effects of the pneumonia.)

I have decided that for the moment at least, this past month has been a reminder that it's okay to slow down a bit! So, for the next few weeks I am going to try to just enjoy a slower pace of life than I am used to.

I love having a sweet new baby in the house. He's a wonderful addition to our family and we are so so thankful he is here safe and sound!