A Day of Firsts in the Campbell House

Yesterday was a very eventful day of firsts in the Campbell house. Looking back, it was quite the day so I will write about it as a memory to look back on in the future. Such a roller coaster of a day!

First Practice Morning Routine:
Dan and I have been hoping to start practicing our morning routine. I will slowly start returning to work next week, working from 8 hr/wk up to my full time normal schedule. We have a goal schedule for Jackson to help me figure out when to pump and give him some normalcy, but that schedule is still a work in progress. So, while Dan got ready for work, Jackson and I got up to practice us getting dressed, my getting ready, nursing, packing the bag and getting out of the house on time. I had a few errands to run, so I figure we might as well practice the morning routine and also do a daycare dry run to time the traffic.

Our goal morning routine:
6:00am- everyone awake
6:00-6:30- Mom and Jackson nurse, Dad gets ready for work
6:30-7:00- Mom gets ready, Dad and Jackson play/ get baby ready for daycare
7:00- Dad goes to work
7:00-7:30- Mom, Jackson and Wally finish getting ready, packing up and leave by 7:30 for daycare

First Crying with Tears:
We were in the car only 10 minutes late and our daycare run and morning of errands went off without a hitch- until Target. The oil change/ tire rotation took longer than expected, so Jackson started to stir while we were in Target. We still had one more errand to City Hall, and I had a choice to make. I could either go to City Hall to pay our bill and set up auto debit, risking a waking/ crying baby, or I could surrender to the house and attempt to go out again later. I chose to chance it. By the time the paperwork was done at City Hall, I had an awake and very hungry baby- and a 10-15 minute drive back to the house. By now it was 10:30, and I had expected to be home nursing by 10, so Jackson was already 30 minutes past feeding time. Well, the whole drive home he was MAD, and he let me know. It broke my heart to hear my sweet boy wailing and crying, knowing that there was nothing I could do to ease his hunger except try to get home quickly and safely. (Of course every slow, yahoo driver was on the roads- or so it seemed). When we got home my sweet baby boy had huge tears rolling down his cheeks, and we rushed inside to nurse. Finally, by 10:50 we were in the house, nursing, and I once again had my very happy baby boy.

First Smile:
I guess since I waited so long to feed Jackson, I deserved what came next. Jackson spent the few midday hours cluster feeding. We nursed until he fell asleep, then upon putting him down he'd wake up within 10 minutes and want to be held/ nurse again. This put a delay in my mental to-do list, but I got extra cuddle time with sweet Jackson so I can't complain. With me returning to work next week, I especially enjoyed these extra moments together. And then it happened. I showed Jackson a picture of his newest cousin, born yesterday, and he seemed especially alert. So I started talking to him saying "Hello, Jackson. Hello sweet baby. Hi! Hi Jackson." Jackson's pupil got big as he listened to my voice, then his eyes shifted, he looked at my face, and smiled a huge smile! Instantly my heart melted and I couldn't wait to see his smile again. Jackson soon drifted off to sleep, but I could have cried tears of joy! We have been waiting to see his first smile, and finally it happened. What a good day :)

First Workout:
Later in the afternoon, Jackson finally went down for a decent period of time and I was able to get some chores done. Dan decided to duck out of work a little early so we could get in a workout as a family. Up until now I've taken a few short, flat walks, but no substantial physical challenges. We decided to go to the Hathaway Bridge here in town- a 1.5 mile long bridge that is shaped like a huge hill. To walk up and over the bridge, and then back, is a 5K (3.1 miles). The weather was wonderful, Jackson slept through the whole thing, and we kept a great pace walking, even adding in about 3 minutes of uphill running on the return portion of the bridge. We were feeling great and I'm very relieved to say my body still remembers how to breathe when running, even after almost a year without running (thank you knee injury and pregnancy). I can't wait to make this bridge part of my regular workout routine! We followed up our workout with Publix fried chicken for dinner. We may have reversed all of our hard work with our dinner, but it was a delicious, cooking-free reward for us. We rented a Redbox and settled in for a night of family cuddling and hopefully an early bedtime. Jackson had been following our ideal feeding schedule all day, we got in a workout, and Jackson smiled. Yet again, it was a good day.

First Puking Session (and second crying with tears):
As we settled down for the night, Jackson took his time with our long nursing session followed up by cuddle and play time with mom and dad. Although he had eaten a substantial length of time, and burped well, he continued to be restless and require position changes. We'd cuddle on his tummy, sit him up, hold him, burp him, all sorts of things. Jackson was loving the attention and was not fussy at all. Then, I realized he must have peed out of his diaper because he had a wet spot on his PJs and our sheets. As I changed him, Dan grabbed new PJs for Jackson and new sheets for our bed. Dan started changing the sheets, and a newly changed Jackson and I sit down to nurse. Then it happens. Vomit. Everywhere. Who knows where it came from, or how a baby can make so much vomit. The nursing chair, all over me, all over Jackson, the boppy, the blanket, everything.

I quickly ran to the bathroom with Jackson in tow and stand in the bathtub in case he continues to vomit. Dan intercepts Wally to prevent him from licking everything. Wally gets out of Dan's way and proceeds to lick Jackson and I standing in the bathroom while I yell at him to stop. Around this time the vomiting stops, and a terrified Jackson starts screaming. So imagine it: Dan cleaning up puke and yelling at Wally to 'leave it!'; Jackson and I standing in the bathtub covered in vomit, Jackson screaming, Wally licking us both, me yelling at him to 'leave it!'; our bed half made; the nursing glider covered in vomit. Quite the scene. The panic in poor Jackson's eyes when he was getting sick was so sad to see, and then to have him inconsolably terrified with tears rolling down his beautiful, chubby cheeks was awful. Dan helped Jackson and I strip down, then put Wally into his crate while we cleaned up. Dan took Jackson, still crying, to try to comfort him while I grabbed all of the vomit covered materials and throw them in the washing machine to run after we shower.

First shower:
Thankfully at one of our baby showers we received this awesome duck that tells if the bathing water temperature is suitable for sweet baby's sensitive skin. We used the duck to find a shower temperature safe for Jackson, then the three of us jumped into the shower. Jackson had fallen fast asleep by now, quite exhausted by his crying. He practically slept through his first shower as Dan and I took turns washing our vomit covered bodies, then holding/ washing Jackson. We made short order of the shower, because big surprise: baby temperature is really cold at 11:30pm! We all get dried off and dressed, then after a short nursing session Jackson drifts off to sleep once again.

The rest of the night was uneventful and we woke up for nursing sessions like normal, with no more puking! It's a good thing, because in the height of the chaos, we called the pediatrician on call from the base, and she was less than helpful. I am almost positive it was the same Ped who made the measurement mistake at Jackson's 2 week checkup. The first number they tried to reach her at had no answer, so after trying a second number we were connected. The voice on the end of the line was half-asleep with one word answers. The conversation went something like this:

"Hi, yes my son just vomited everywhere, he's not running a fever, do we need to bring him in?"
"Was this the first time?"
"Yes ma'am, he's never gotten sick before. He just started puking everywhere."
"Ok."
"So, do we need to bring him in."
"No."
"Ok, so he's fine? We just have to watch him? Is there anything we should look for besides him getting sick again?"
"What do you mean getting sick again?"
"I mean getting sick, like he just did. If he gets sick again do we need to bring him into the clinic in the morning?"
"When you say getting sick you mean..."
"Vomiting, like he just did, the reason I called. (frustrated pause) Excuse me, let me rephrase. If my child projectile vomits again should I proceed to the clinic?"
"Oh, if he keeps getting sick after he eats, then ya, bring him in."
"Oh, ok, thank you.... hello?"
(nothing on the end of the phone... she hung up.) Let me just tell you, Lord help this woman when I see her at the 2 month check up, we are scheduled with her.

All things considered, everything turned out fine. I had not eaten any new foods yesterday, so I know Jackson's getting sick wasn't from a new food exposure. We think he was just very full from nursing, and we shook him up too much playing and adjusting- like a soda. Good news is he is wonderful and cuddly today, and we still have our happy healthy boy. Through the whole day, the moment of his first smile still sticks out in my mind and outweighs everything to make it a good day :) In reflection, I give thanks to God for our healthy son, for access to healthcare if needed, for our washing machine!, and most of all, I am thankful for my partner, my love, my wonderful husband Dan. I can't imagine doing any of this without him, and I am so glad that my son gets Dan for a daddy- he is one lucky little boy.