First Few Days

 Dawson has been a delight and a joy thus far during his first few days being alive on this earth!  It is so interesting to realize that babies have to learn how to be alive!  They are born knowing how to suck, a survival skill that's inborn.  But other things are so new to newborns that it takes time and practice.  No wonder they cry so much.  Dawson was having a hard time swallowing. It was a skill he hadn't mastered in the womb.  So the first few days, he would burp up some milk and just could not swallow it back down.  It worried me!  I was afraid he'd choke or be unable to breath in the night.  So I kept him close by me at night so I would hear any and every grunt or noise, just to make sure he was alright.  If I helped him sit up rather than lay flat, he could get it down.  But it was a challenge for his little body.  We made sure to prop him up when was in his crib so he'd be laying at an angle instead of flat.  However, after about 4 or 5 days, he mastered this new skill and was doing great!  

The nurse came to our house to do our home visit and checkup, since we left the Birthing Center so soon.  It was realllllly nice not to have to pack up my newborn and go to the pediatricians office.  They just came to me instead.  They weighed Dawson and he had only lost about 4 pounds from birth!  That was excellent!  They also did his PKU newborn screening pokes on his little feet and did a hearing test on him.  I'd never seen this done before, but apparently its standard in the hospitals.  I've always been laid up in bed with numb legs with my other babies, so I never got to see this done.  It was very interesting.  He was sleeping, which made it all the easier.  They put sensors over his ear and over his forehead and played sounds and vibrations.  The test measured his brain activity during the sounds and he passed with flying colors.  

 Grandpa Hutchinson, my dad, sent these adorable chocolate covered strawberries as a Welcome Baby gift.  What a surprise!! It was so fun to receive these in the mail, a most unexpected baby gift.  We all got to enjoy a strawberry or two decorated in cute blues and browns for baby.  Thanks Dad! I couldn't help but take a picture of them since they are so adorable!