Jerid, Jenny & Baby Axel: The first few weeks

We brought Axel home from the hospital three days after he was born. We did a quick stop at my parents house in Shingle Springs before heading down to Monterey. My Mom came down a few days later to help out. From day one, our little Axel has had a feisty little temper. Change his diaper or change his clothes and it's game over! There's only one thing in this world that could calm him down and that was, of course, nursing. I loved those first few days, even though I was still hurting like crazy. I was able to fall asleep with Axel in my arms and we wouldn't move an inch for a few hours, we were both so tired. Jerid was a superstar. He helped me with everything and I could see in his eyes how much he loved our little boy! After the first four or five days real life hit, the adrenaline and excitement started to ware and it became harder and harder to wake up for those feedings every hour and a half. For the first 6 weeks, as most Moms, I slept only a few hours each night. I was never able to nap during the day for some reason. I wish I could have. Axel was one fussy, fussy baby! I knew there was something different about him. His crying was persistent and he sounded like he had a tummy ache most of the time. I went on elimination diet for two weeks and we visited a few doctors and came to find out he is allergic to milk whey. Poor little boy! After we changed my diet and changed to a special formula, he started feeling better immediately! He is still a "high needs" baby, but he for once started to calm down for a few hours in the day. We were so glad to find out his problem and fix it! Those first weeks, I was in true survival mode. Survival mode didn't start to fade until a few weeks ago for me. Thank goodness we're sleeping more and we have a much, much happier baby!