As amazed as we are by Wes’ many talents of sleeping, sneezing, and hiccupping, we’ve been trying to increase his resume fodder by helping him learn to grip things. He will grip our fingers pretty well, so much so that his little fingertips turn white, but we thought we’d take it to the next level:

with Link-A-Doos.

Doesn’t he kind of look like a Chinese monk in this picture?

Anyway, he’ll grip it for a second.

And then . . .

Well, we’ll keep working on it.

As long as he doesn’t get too tired.

Here’s a shot of him with his dad in the nursery.

(Note: This post, for whatever reason, wasn’t showing up on our blog, so I am reposting it. It was originally posted on October 11th.)

Our baby’s 29 days old now. I took him in for a checkup today and he weighed 5 lbs 5 oz!

I think that’s huge, considering how little he started out. But the doctor said he’s still pretty small and I need to bring him in next week for another weight check.

Here’s a picture to give you an idea of his actual size. This is Wes wearing a preemie outfit, lying next to the same outfit in the three-month size.

The sticker on his cheek helps hold on his oxygen tubes. But the sticker on his other cheek had fallen off, so I just took off the tubes for the afternoon. We’ll have to replace them tonight, since he’s supposed to sleep with the oxygen on.

When all your pregnancy hormones start depleting, they’re apparently replaced with the photo-taking hormones. It just goes with the territory of new momhood. I couldn’t resist taking more pictures of him today, even though he wasn’t doing much.

Although here’s Wes doing one of his favorite activities: thrusting out his arm like he’s telling us to Stop!

And just one more cute one.

(Note: This post, for whatever reason, wasn’t showing up on our blog, so I am reposting it. It was originally posted on October 4th.)

Yesterday was Wesley’s three-week birthday. And tomorrow is his official due date. Hah.

He’s gaining weight well. He gained six ounces since his doctor’s appointment last week. Now he’s up to 4 lb 11 oz (with diaper on). The doctor wants us to keep him plugged into oxygen as long as he’s sleeping or in the car seat for long periods of time. I’ll be glad when that’s done with, because it gets annoying toting around his oxygen tube that’s taped to his face, and he keeps tugging at it and pulling the tubes from his nose into his mouth.

We’re adjusting to new parenthood and all the sleep deprivation that goes with it. Wes is a good kid, though, and is fun to have around. Today we took our first walk together around the neighborhood and made our first social call to one of my friends down the street. Wes was real easy, sleeping the whole time.

Next week we’ll take him to the doctor again for a four-week checkup to make sure he’s gaining weight all right, and maybe (cross fingers) the doc will let him off the oxygen.

(Note: This post, for whatever reason, wasn’t showing up on our blog, so I am reposting it. It was originally posted on October 4th.)

Here are some things I didn’t realize I’d like so well about momhood.

1. Speaking in babytalk to your own baby is not only socially acceptable, it’s really fun.
2. Naked baby bodies are dang cute, and sometimes bathing your baby is fun just because you can see him wriggling in the nude.
3. Dressing your baby in sleeper pajamas with the little feet on them can make any dull day a whole lot brighter.
4. Holding a baby in your arms who’s sleepy and content to just be held is about the most peaceful thing in the world.
5. Babies can make a hundred different expressions in just a few minutes, and most of them are pretty darn adorable.

Case in point: Here are some photos I snapped of Wesley today while he was hanging out in his cradle. (Disclaimer: I don’t pretend to know how to focus my camera properly. Any photos that turn out in focus are completely by chance.)

While Wesley was in the hospital I had to call our insurance agency twice to get some information about preauthorizing two different things. Both times I happened to speak with the same agent, Kyle.

The first time I spoke with him he told me that his little baby is also in the hospital for an extended period of time. When he asked me how long our baby has been in the hospital I told him twelve days.

“Oh, that’s not too bad,” was his reply.

Turns out that his daughter’s been in the hospital for two months or something like that (she was born three months early).

Still, just because his baby has been in the hospital longer than mine doesn’t mean that twelve days isn’t a very long and very expensive period of time to have our baby separated from us, our home, and our family. I felt he was trivializing our experience. But, still, he was just the insurance guy.

The second time I talked with Kyle was the day Wes was being released from the hospital. He asked me for some information for some forms the hospital needed. He asked me more about our son and his condition. Here’s more or less how that conversation went.

Kyle: So, what’s wrong with your baby?

Me: Um, he was born three weeks early, and really small. He weighed 3 lbs 15 oz.

Kyle: That’s not so bad. Our daughter was born three months early and weighed just two pounds.

Me: Gosh. Um, well, the insurance company will probably need to know that he also has Downs syndrome.

Kyle: Oh? That’s too bad. We weren’t sure if our daughter would be at risk for Downs, because someone else in the family has it. But we lucked out and she’s normal.

Me, thinking to self: Lucked out?

Kyle, going on as if he hasn’t just said something somewhat offensive to a tired and emotionally vulnerable new mother of a Downs syndrome baby: Our daughter was born so early that there was risk of mental retardation and other physical problems, but so far she seems fine. We are really lucky.

Me, outloud: That’s good.

Me, to self: Who are you to say that we’re not lucky to have our son exactly as he is?

I didn’t much like Kyle after the first conversation. And I really started disliking him by the end of our second.

Wesley is a joy to have around. Yes, he’s a newborn baby, which brings challenges to our daily lives and sleep patterns. But he’s Wesley. Our baby. He’s perfect.

Sunday morning I walked into the hospital nursery and the nurses had big smiles on their faces. Turns out that our doctor gave the OK for Wes to come home with us on Monday. It took all morning to get things in order. He had to pass a car seat test, where they make sure he can sit in the seat for 90 minutes without his oxygen saturation level dropping too much. He actually failed the first test, but on the second test they hooked him up to oxygen and he passed. We also had to wait for home medical services to bring over some portable oxygen and a sleep apnea monitor to take home with us. We only have to leave him hooked up to the oxygen and monitor when he’s asleep in his crib, and sometimes he needs the oxygen when he’s eating because I think he forgets to inhale occasionally.

So Monday afternoon we finally got him home. All the nurses were so sad to see him go. One nurse who was off-duty even came in especially to say good-bye to him. They made us promise to send them pictures and email updates when we can.

Once we got him home it was like, now what? We have a baby at home…what do we do with him?

He seems to be a fairly low-key kid to take care of so far. He doesn’t cry a lot. In fact, the first night I didn’t hear him cry at all to wake me up to go feed him. John had to nudge me awake when he heard Wesley making noises (but not crying) through the monitor.

Today we took him in for his 2-week checkup. He’s gained a little weight. When he left the hospital on Monday he weighed 4 lbs 2 oz. Today (with his diaper on) he was 4 lb 5 oz. The doctor wants us to take him back next Wednesday for another checkup, and we need to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist to look at Wesley’s heart. It’s very common for babies with Downs syndrome to have heart problems. So far, at least, his heart appears to be in fine condition. But the visit with the cardiologist is just to make sure there’s nothing the doctor missed.