We had our newborn care class the Saturday after Luke was born so we took him to the class with us while everyone was surprised that we had already had our baby. Although we had already been doing some things (like changing diapers), we did still learn a lot from the class so it was good that we went.
One thing we learned, which comes from The Happiest Baby on the Block, is that it is actually very loud in the womb, so noises such as a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer are actually quite soothing to the baby. One suggestion was to use white noise. When we got home, J looked up iPhone apps and found one that played white noise as well as some other sounds (like the vacuum and hair dryer). It costs 99 cents and was the best investment we've made so far. Usually if Luke is upset and we can't seem to calm him in any other way, playing the white noise helps him sleep. It's amazing.
While in the hospital, Luke spent most of his time swaddled (using a Halo Sleep Sack) and he seemed to like that. But then he realized that he really loves his hands (he likes to have them free and also to suck on them). So every time we swaddled him, he would struggle and strain to get those arms free. It seemed that he decided he had had enough of being swaddled. So after a night of him not going to sleep very well, I decided to try not swaddling him. He slept really well that night, so we hadn't swaddled him since.
He sleeps like this now:
First visit to pediatrician: We pulled up to the office and just as we entered the parking lot, Luke decided to dirty his diaper. So I filled out the paperwork while J changed him. While changing him, Luke decided to poop some more. So he had already pooped quite a bit. Then came the exam and the rectal thermometer. He somehow managed to find more poop and as soon as it was inserted into his little butt, he promptly pooped it right out! Later, during the doctor's inspection, he decided to pee on her. So it was a poop and pee filled visit! But he checked out just fine, so that was good.
Breastfeeding and caffeine: I learned that having a Dr. Pepper with my dinner meant that Luke would be up for half the night, bright-eyed and refusing to go to sleep. Yeah, that was a fun night. He got super upset if we turned out the lights and even the white noise wouldn't soothe him. So I sat with him in the living room with the lights on while he looked around at everything he could see until finally around 1 am when the caffeine started to wear off and he finally closed his eyes and went to sleep. New rule: no caffeine after noon.
And here's a picture from today of Daddy and Luke taking a nap together:
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