February 18, 2021
To my Rainbow Baby, Henry,
Today, you are one week old! How is that possible already?! You came into this world in a whirl of excitement, nerves, and surprise, and you have kept us on our toes ever since. I still cannot believe that you are actually here already, that my water actually broke and I actually went into labor last week. Sometimes it still feels like a crazy dream because I was truly convinced that I was nowhere near delivery and that you were going to show up late. Just a week prior to your birth, I had not begun to dilate. I hadn’t felt a single Braxton Hicks contraction. I had told several people that, while most people say the last month of pregnancy feels like a million years, I hadn’t started feeling like that yet. Even with all of that seeming to point to the fact that you were not close to arriving, exactly one week later, my water broke without any signs of labor prior, the first contractions I felt were real ones, and when I arrived at the hospital, I was already 3 cm dilated! Instead of laboring for an eternity, I was fully ready to go in less than 12 hours. You sure did storm onto the scene, little one, and looking back at those days leading up to your birth, I still cannot believe I was prepared to wait two more weeks for you to arrive. Now that I had held you, smelled your perfect little head, heard you peeps and squeaks, and looked into your big, beautiful eyes, I could not have waited another second for you. I’m so glad you are here!
You have had a busy first week. We came home from the hospital on Sunday after making sure your jaundice levels were under control. You had a spike in your numbers on Friday night, so they continued to monitor them on Saturday, and they finally came down in the evening, allowing us the go ahead to bring you home. To add to the list of things to make mom worry, the pediatrician told us at your first appointment today that your newborn screen came back indicating a risk for hyperthyroidism and we needed to go to Children’s Hospital lab to have the bloodwork redone. She did not seem to think it was cause for concern- lots of newborns come back with a false positive on this test- so I’m not overly worried, but I’ll be glad when we can go to a doctor’s appointment and not have something to be concerned about! On the plus side, you have already gained back to your birth weight, so you are growing stronger every day!
We also met with the lactation consultant at the doctor’s office, and it seems you are finally on the road to eating like a champ! I’m feeling so much better about that, because coming home from the hospital not really having successfully fed you without the help of formula and a bottle was not something I wanted to have happen. Because you showed up early, everyone we talked to said it was totally normal for you to be struggling to latch- you didn’t get as much practice time while you were in my belly. But I still wasn’t sure how we were going to get things progressing without help, so I’m so grateful that the lactation consult at the doctor’s office was able to meet with us. She is awesome and was so helpful, so I’m confident you’ll be latching and eating like a pro in no time.
You’ve already had a handful of visitors to welcome you home! Your Gammaw and Pup Pup Heilmann picked us up at the hospital since we hadn’t gotten the car seat installed yet, and they are already in love with you and snuggling you whenever they can. You also met two of your honorary Aunties, Erin and Maria, who I have no doubt with spoil you rotten with their love. Your Gram and Pops Miller arrive this week to meet you and visit for a nice long stretch. You have also received cards and gifts from so many family and friends. Everyone is so excited you are here and you are already so loved beyond measure, little boy!
My prayer for you as your first week with us comes to a close is that you will continue to grow and progress now that you are outside mommy’s belly. You came out just perfect to us, but there are a few things that it will take time for you to master since you had less time to practice on the inside. I ask God to help you with those things so that you can continue to be healthy and happy. I pray that He will give your mommy patience and peace, that I will not struggle too much with anxiety and worry. I pray that He helps all three of us with our ability to sleep in these first weeks, so that we don’t all end up like zombies! I thank Him so so much for your amazing daddy, who has prioritized my recovery and taken the early night shift each night so that I can get some uninterrupted sleep to ensure that I heal from surgery. He has taken to daddy-hood so well and I can see how much he loves you, which makes me love him even more. I praise God for this and ask that He continue to develop this in your daddy. I’m so grateful to Him that my recovery has been smooth, that our transition home has been manageable, and that He has blessed our family with such a beautiful little miracle.
I love you, little Rainbow Henry.
Love, Mommy
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