Update
I thought I’d update from the land of utter chaos. 
Desmond is 2 weeks (and 3 days) old. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of constant nursing, diaper changing, and catching sleep whenever possible. With brief moments in between for our meals, doing endless laundry, and trying to spend as much time as possible with G (which, sadly, isn’t nearly enough). Last week Philip decided that he wasn’t getting enough work done at home, so we packed up his computer and our stuff and headed to his parents’ house to stay for a while, until he can catch up on all the work he’s fallen behind on. While here, we have meals cooked and we don’t have to worry about keeping our household running, and best of all there are three extra people who can spend one-on-one time with G while I tend to the baby’s constant needs, and while Philip gets work done and helps me out when he can.
G is still doing great with the transition. His face brightens every time he sees his baby brother, who he insists on calling “Desi” or “Des”. Still no jealousy that I can tell. He was kind of sad about not getting much personal attention while we were at home, but now that we’re here, he’s happy with all the special attention he’s getting. He’s been spending hours outside with his Papa, doing all kinds of fun things, so that’s been a big plus of being here for a while.
Desmond is a good baby! He is a great nurser, and he demands it often. The longest he’ll go between feedings during the day is 1.5 - 2 hours, but in the evenings he wants to nurse almost constantly until bedtime. He’ll nurse for half an hour and then I’ll get up to eat or get some laundry done, and half an hour later he’s wanting to nurse again. Of course, this is normal newborn behavior, and won’t last forever…not that I really mind. I’m actually enjoying it all this time, rather than hating it like I did with G. One big difference is: Desmond sleeps! That cluster feeding in the evenings is him tanking up for his long nighttime stretches.
Once he goes to bed, which at the moment is around 10:30 (we’ll work on moving it back later), he sleeps for 3.5 - 4 hours. Then he wakes to nurse, which takes about a half hour, and goes back to sleep for another 3.5 - 4 hour stretch. Then he wakes again to nurse and will usually go back to sleep, but by then it’s morning and he’s back on his 1.5 - 2-hour schedule. I’ll either get up then or, if I’m still tired, I’ll sleep for that stretch. Usually I feel good enough to get up, though. He’s been sleeping like this since his first night home from the hospital, so I never got bogged down in that extreme sleep deprivation that I had with G (who literally did NOT sleep for days - I was awake for 5 straight days with no sleep!). I credit this precious sleep for my continued sanity and overall good feeling, both physically and emotionally.
It has just been SO much easier this time, in every way. I never expected to actually enjoy having a newborn; in fact I dreaded it, but this has been a surprise. Granted, I’ll be happy when he progresses to an easier, more “fun” stage, but even now, I’m really enjoying him and I’ve felt nothing but love for him since day one (remember, it wasn’t that way with G…I was very detached from him for months 
). Not that it’s easy; it’s still hard, it’s a lot of work, and at times it’s quite overwhelming. But the difference is, because I feel fairly rested, I’m able to handle the hard parts much better. And my outlook is so much different—I know that this period will pass, and that soon we’ll have a comfortable routine going, as well as a baby who becomes more and more fun with each passing month.
The recovery from birth was super easy this time! I had no tearing and no perineal trauma at all. Even the next day, I felt no pain or discomfort down below—it was like I hadn’t had a baby at all; everything felt almost normal. What a blessing! The only soreness I had was in my arms, where I’d been frantically holding onto the bed rails for leverage while pushing, and some soreness in my abdomen where my uterus was still heavy before it shrunk back down. I never had what I’d consider real afterpains…just moderate cramping whenever I nursed him for the first few days. I was expecting the terrible afterpains everyone talks about getting after a 2nd baby…but I never had anything I’d describe as truly painful. I think it’s probably perspective-based. Maybe women who describe them as so bad are women who choose epidural pain relief during labor, because after fully experiencing labor, I can’t imagine how anyone would think afterpains truly hurt! 
Let’s see, speaking of pain, we both have thrush. It’s been quite painful for me, but hopefully the treatment will work. I’ve been on diflucan for a week now and am still feeling it. He’s on nystatin, which has helped some, but it doesn’t do a great job. I’m just praying it goes away soon! G and I fought thrush for months before it finally went away. It’s so hard to get rid of. Other than the thrush, nursing has gone much easier this time. My milk came in on day 3, for one thing, which was a nice surprise. I had engorgement, but it only lasted for about 36 hours. I used ice packs and it went away quickly. My engorgement with G lasted for at least a week, low-grade fever included. I had no fever this time at all. As far as general soreness, I got some blisters right away, but they lasted only a few days, then went away. Since then, no more soreness (except for the thrush). The blisters and related soreness with G lasted for about 3 months…yeah, that was not fun. So, other than stinking thrush, nursing has been a breeze this time!
On to stats!
His birth weight was 7lbs 5oz.
When we left the hospital, he was down to 6 lbs 13oz.
At the 1-week weight check, he was up to 7lbs 1oz.; the doctor said that was better than average. They are supposed to be back up to their birthweight by 2 weeks old.
Then on Tuesday, we took him in for his 2-week well check, and he is up to 7lbs 9oz. Yay for regaining his birth weight and then some!
The doctor said that was excellent weight gain and that we should keep nursing as we have been. Here’s the funny thing. His weight is only 20th percentile! His height is just above 50th percentile. He’s just a tiny little runt! I guess I should note that it’s because he was 3 weeks early, because if he’d have come at full term he would’ve been the same weight as G was at birth. G was born and has always been around 95th percentile for weight, and 100th percentile for height. So I’m still in shock at having such a tiny little baby, but honestly…I love it! He is so much cuter because of it. 
He has wrinkles and scrawny little limbs. His hands and feet are so fragile and tiny and sweet. He’s so easy to carry around. And his newborn clothes are still BIG on him! We’ll get much more use out of the infant-sized diapers we bought for him, too. I wonder if he’ll grow fast and get to be higher on the percentile scale, or will he stay small? I guess only time will tell. It would be nice to have a baby who “fits” into things longer, since G outgrew everything so fast.
It’s only taken me 2 days to write this. At the moment, it seems like I’ll never get back to blogging again, but I’m sure it’ll get easier. I usually only have half an hour or so to do much of anything in between nursing. It doesn’t leave much time for anything else. Having a newborn can feel very isolating! I’m trying to get out more this time, and I have, but it’s only for short spurts. I hope he stretches his feedings out soon.
I realize this is a very disorganized post, because I’m just writing things as they come to mind. Apparently, my mind is somewhat disorganized at the moment! Haha…I’ll close for now but maybe I’ll have time for more later. I want to write a post soon about my lactation consultant, Susan. She was the one who helped me immensely with G, and I credit our success to her. I was honored to find out that she was taking care of us again this time—by her choice. I’ll write more about that later.