The first few weeks after baby is born

The first few weeks after baby is born

We welcomed our fourth baby a few short weeks ago.  Yes, you read that right, our fourth! 🙂  I have always wanted a bigger family with four kiddies; I know, people think I am crazy for it but, the reality is that I wouldn’t change anything about our crazy, chaotic, fun life.  Having a baby is so humbling, I always forget about those first few weeks after a baby is born.  It is crazy how quickly we forget the tiny newborn details as our kids grow over the years.

The first few weeks are messy in a way if you will. They are blurry, tiring, chaotic, emotional, snuggly and so much more.  I totally forgot how much a newborn needs.  They need to be fed frequently.  They need to be changed frequently.  They NEED to be held and loved.   They need to wake frequently to fulfill all of these needs.  It is exhausting.  As tiring as it may seem, I still find myself staring at this new member of our family for hours and just feeling my heart burst with happiness from all of it.

Even though we already had three children before Iris arrived, I definitely did not think that any of our kids would need an “adjustment” time.  Boy was I wrong.  Of course our youngest, Owen, would need that time.  He was replaced from his baby spot.  He was forced to move up to big brother spot and into the middle of the line with his older brother Oliver.  Owen definitely took the longest to warm up to Iris.  I remember the day i was sitting on the couch with Iris, maybe 6 days after she was born, and Owen came over to snuggle with me.  He sat down next to me and Iris accidentally moved her leg and touched him.  He turned to me and said, “I don’t want that baby to touch me.”  It really took me by surprise when he said that.  But, I realized that he just needed time to get used to everything because his world basically got turned upside down.

Biggest sister Amelia jumped right into her bigger sister spot.  As soon as Iris was born, Amelia ran downstairs to meet her.  We had a home birth so all of our kids were present at the time.  When Iris was born, everyone met her right away and there was no transition time; it was like she was always a part of our family.  Amelia excitedly cut her sisters umbilical cord and then snuggled with her on the couch next to me.  She has been an extremely hands on sister.  She is definitely a little mommy in the making.  Each morning Amelia likes to get ready for school with Iris in her bedroom so that they she can chat with her and sing her songs.  It is something that I always wished for Amelia to have, this amazing bond to a sister, so to witness these moments make my heart so happy.

Oliver, our second, was just like his big sister Amelia and jumped right into his bigger brother role.  He loves to snuggle with Iris, read to her and show her all his toys.  His biggest goal everyday is to see how big he can get her to smile.  As soon as she joined the family, Oliver would remind everyone to be  “gentle with Iris because she is fragile like an angel.”

I get asked a lot, even right now, with a baby that is three  months old; “Are you done having kids?”  It makes me laugh because yes we definitely are now but, if you asked me before, I definitely knew we weren’t done growing our family.  It is funny how you just “know” when the time is right.  There is no hesitation about it, we are totally happy and our family is full with four babies.  We are so blessed to have 2 boys and 2 girls.