It's currently 9:30 at night and ALL THREE KIDS ARE ASLEEP. Yes, that deserves caps. Because, like, this never happens. Most people brag if all the kids are in bed by 8, but I see this as a total victory.
The house is trashed and our weekend is incredibly too full of plans but I'm just enjoying the silence. Because today has been LOUD. Poor Declan seems to be battling some tummy craps or something. Dude was just not happy. Connor has become obsessed with computer games and insists on playing them with the speakers on high. Emma just talks like she's speaking in a megaphone. So yeah, lots and lots of noise.
Night time around here as become sort of odd. I feel like we're getting into a nice groove in the morning. We all get up with minimal fussing, and so far we haven't even come close to being late for school! Emma still insists on me walking her in, so I do the nice thing and at least brush my hair for those who have to look at me. I'd be lying if I said I'm not looking forward to when she gets comfortable enough to be dropped off in the drop off line, because then my primping will be at the bare minimum. I predict lots of baseball caps and pj pants in my future, but my hobo appearance will mean I got 15-20 extra minutes of sleep that morning. But anywho, nights have been rough. Declan is getting to sleep well enough, but he's went from waking up 0-1 time a night to around 3 a night. 3 times being up is still ok for being almost 2 months old, but it's hard when we were waking up one time. I want that one time back! Last night I literally fell asleep while I was feeding him. It's a weird feeling to wake up all disoriented with a passed out kid in your arms. The good thing is that Declan doesn't mess around when he wakes to eat. The times I have been coherent I've timed it, and on average it takes us 15 minutes to be be changed, fed, and be put back to sleep. Not too shabby.
I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend! Just tomorrow we have a parade, Em square dances twice with two different groups, and then the Razorback football game. WPS!
Our journey from a family of 4 to a family of 5!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
8 week well baby check-up
Not only did Declan turn 8 weeks old yesterday, but he also had his 2 month check-up (although he technically doesn't turn 2 months until this coming up Sunday). This is what went down.
My growing boy- He weighs in at 11lbs 4oz, which I think is pretty impressive. He's gained at least 4lbs since he's been born. For being my littlest little, he's eating and gaining the most, which is sort of funny to no one but me. :) The ped never tells me percentiles, but just from using trusty Dr. Google, he seems to be right around the 50th% or so.
He's at 22 inches now, which means he's still a shorty. He's gained 2.5 inches since birth, however. % wise, he's around the 25th. So not really proportional in that area. It just makes him look chubbier, all those rolls on this short little body. He's actually in the 75th% in what he weighs vs how long he is. HA!
His blue, blue eyes were mentioned and even the doctor said that since they haven't changed at all, maybe he'll keep that color. Fingers crossed!
His head control was noted as "excellent" and "really impressive" which is nice things to hear about your kid. He also showed her how well he's doing during tummy time. Really, there wasn't one question she asked me that I couldn't say 'yep, he's doing that" to.
We were advised we could start adding some rice cereal to his bottles if we wanted to try to help with the spit up, but I'm wary to do that. His little belly isn't designed for anything other than breast milk or formula until closer to 6mo, so the thought of filling it up with cereal kind of makes me pause. Plus there's the constipation issue. On the other hand, _everyone_ I've talked to have said that it does seem to help with the spit up problem. If I push much harder, he'll probably have to go on medicine and I'm not sure which is best out of the two evils.
He also got his first round of shots, sort of. Just by knowing my son's personality and how he reacts to things, I knew I didn't want to give him more than 2 at a time, at least right now. So, after some discussions with the nurse, we have a plan in action for the next several months. Yesterday he got Dtap (with polio mixed in) and the rotavirus oral vaccine (since Em is in school). In 30 days he'll go back and get the Hib and PC vaccine. I'm assuming the Heb B will be combined with the Hib, although I'm not concerned with the Heb B at all. At 4mo, he'll get the round he got at 2mo, 5mo he'll get the round from 3mo, etc. By 7mo he should be caught up and then I'll do the regular shot schedule from there (except for MMR/chicken pox which I delay until 2). He did awesome with the shot he did get and didn't even cry. However, as I expected, he had a rough night last night. Thankfully no fever, just really cranky and unhappy (which I know isn't uncommon for him at night, but I could tell a difference). He's slept through taking big sis to school and is still passed out, so he's still in the middle of his vaccine-induced sleep they all seem to go through.
All in all, a nice appointment. Connor screamed "I'm hungry! I need Sonic" the entire time, but that's to be expected, because I'm pretty sure _I_ sound like that when I'm hungry. ;)
My growing boy- He weighs in at 11lbs 4oz, which I think is pretty impressive. He's gained at least 4lbs since he's been born. For being my littlest little, he's eating and gaining the most, which is sort of funny to no one but me. :) The ped never tells me percentiles, but just from using trusty Dr. Google, he seems to be right around the 50th% or so.
He's at 22 inches now, which means he's still a shorty. He's gained 2.5 inches since birth, however. % wise, he's around the 25th. So not really proportional in that area. It just makes him look chubbier, all those rolls on this short little body. He's actually in the 75th% in what he weighs vs how long he is. HA!
His blue, blue eyes were mentioned and even the doctor said that since they haven't changed at all, maybe he'll keep that color. Fingers crossed!
His head control was noted as "excellent" and "really impressive" which is nice things to hear about your kid. He also showed her how well he's doing during tummy time. Really, there wasn't one question she asked me that I couldn't say 'yep, he's doing that" to.
We were advised we could start adding some rice cereal to his bottles if we wanted to try to help with the spit up, but I'm wary to do that. His little belly isn't designed for anything other than breast milk or formula until closer to 6mo, so the thought of filling it up with cereal kind of makes me pause. Plus there's the constipation issue. On the other hand, _everyone_ I've talked to have said that it does seem to help with the spit up problem. If I push much harder, he'll probably have to go on medicine and I'm not sure which is best out of the two evils.
He also got his first round of shots, sort of. Just by knowing my son's personality and how he reacts to things, I knew I didn't want to give him more than 2 at a time, at least right now. So, after some discussions with the nurse, we have a plan in action for the next several months. Yesterday he got Dtap (with polio mixed in) and the rotavirus oral vaccine (since Em is in school). In 30 days he'll go back and get the Hib and PC vaccine. I'm assuming the Heb B will be combined with the Hib, although I'm not concerned with the Heb B at all. At 4mo, he'll get the round he got at 2mo, 5mo he'll get the round from 3mo, etc. By 7mo he should be caught up and then I'll do the regular shot schedule from there (except for MMR/chicken pox which I delay until 2). He did awesome with the shot he did get and didn't even cry. However, as I expected, he had a rough night last night. Thankfully no fever, just really cranky and unhappy (which I know isn't uncommon for him at night, but I could tell a difference). He's slept through taking big sis to school and is still passed out, so he's still in the middle of his vaccine-induced sleep they all seem to go through.
All in all, a nice appointment. Connor screamed "I'm hungry! I need Sonic" the entire time, but that's to be expected, because I'm pretty sure _I_ sound like that when I'm hungry. ;)
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Baby blues
I am right in the middle of trying to write Emma's first week of kindergarten post, but I want to do it justice, so it's taking me a bit to get it all down. Plus the fact I have about 10 minutes on the computer at a time before a child needs help right that minute.
But lookie here at this child's eyes.
Even if they eventually turn brown or green (Connor got DH's brown ones and Em got my green ones) at least I have proof that Declan did have some amazing blue eyes at one point. They seem almost too blue to change, but Connor's didn't turn brown until after 6 months, so who knows. I do know that whatever color they end up being, he's going to have some gorgeous eyes. :)
But lookie here at this child's eyes.
Even if they eventually turn brown or green (Connor got DH's brown ones and Em got my green ones) at least I have proof that Declan did have some amazing blue eyes at one point. They seem almost too blue to change, but Connor's didn't turn brown until after 6 months, so who knows. I do know that whatever color they end up being, he's going to have some gorgeous eyes. :)
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Declan - 7 weeks
Declan turned 7 weeks yesterday and I'm really starting to see a difference in him. He's not this little squished ball of newbornness anymore. He's this not so little baby who kicks his legs, smiles at me, and is starting to become more vocal in things other than crying. I'm not sure which I'm more fond of - the smiling or the not crying. ;)
Sleeping - we still have no schedule for this and it's something I'm really going to have to start working on. Night before last it was after midnight before he went to sleep. Last night he was out by 9. The not knowing every night can be exhausting. In my dream world, I'd like him to be in bed by 7 every night, a dream feed around 11, and then a feeding around 6-6:30 before I got Em up for school. So far he's slept while taking her to school and has been waking up around 8:30 or 9 for a few hours. Up around noon and then back down for a nap when it's time to get Emma. So, that's working out ok for the most part. If, you know, he actually sleeps. He still has problems staying asleep once I get him to that point. I'm starting to put him in my bedroom for naps since all that newborness disappearing I mentioned earlier? It comes with a price. He can't sleep through a lot of noise anymore. I'm hoping the dark and quiet will help him take better naps. I'm still thanking my lucky stars that he sleeps so well at night, though. The night he didn't go to bed until after midnight he didn't even wake up again until it was time for his morning feeding at 6. And last night he slept from 9 until almost 3am before waking up.
Eating - he's a piglet, for sure. I think once he's old enough for solid food, he's going to go to town! There have been time he's taken all 4oz and only an hour or so later start rooting around for me, so I think 5-6oz bottles are in our immediate future. I do wish he's take a pacifier since sometime he eats just to comfort himself. This results in _ a lot_ of spit up because he overfeeds. I keep trying different ones and you'd think I was shoving a stick in his mouth by the faces he makes. He even gags sometimes! Probably in the long run it will be good that he never took a binkie (considering the fact my almost 3 year old still has one, and seems to have no desire to ever give it up. He'll have it in his pocket on his wedding day) but right now I think he'd benefit from one. Emma never took one, but she didn't have any interest in sucking on anything, so it was never an issue. He is still nursing occasionally, but I admit this hasn't happened as much as usual over the last few days. It's been a hectic time with big sis starting school and for whatever reason, it was pushed to the back burner. He's been a bit more interested in it today, though. Funny, but last night during Em's square dancing practice, he started trying to latch on to my friends shoulder, so he still acts like a little nursling for the most part. :) He's going through a wicked good 6 week growth spurt right now, so I'm anxious to see what he weighs at the end of it. He's not been weighed in a while, but I'll probably do that this weekend so that I can compare it to what the scale at his doctors says on Monday.
Milestones - He's FINALLY starting to smile at me now. I mean, his first smile was when he was a few days shy of 5 weeks. But he's _really_ smiling now. Still hard to get on camera, but those shy smiles are the best. I caught the funniest smile a few days ago and it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Maybe because most babies don't smile with their lips closed? He looks rather smug, doesn't he? ;)
Sleeping - we still have no schedule for this and it's something I'm really going to have to start working on. Night before last it was after midnight before he went to sleep. Last night he was out by 9. The not knowing every night can be exhausting. In my dream world, I'd like him to be in bed by 7 every night, a dream feed around 11, and then a feeding around 6-6:30 before I got Em up for school. So far he's slept while taking her to school and has been waking up around 8:30 or 9 for a few hours. Up around noon and then back down for a nap when it's time to get Emma. So, that's working out ok for the most part. If, you know, he actually sleeps. He still has problems staying asleep once I get him to that point. I'm starting to put him in my bedroom for naps since all that newborness disappearing I mentioned earlier? It comes with a price. He can't sleep through a lot of noise anymore. I'm hoping the dark and quiet will help him take better naps. I'm still thanking my lucky stars that he sleeps so well at night, though. The night he didn't go to bed until after midnight he didn't even wake up again until it was time for his morning feeding at 6. And last night he slept from 9 until almost 3am before waking up.
Eating - he's a piglet, for sure. I think once he's old enough for solid food, he's going to go to town! There have been time he's taken all 4oz and only an hour or so later start rooting around for me, so I think 5-6oz bottles are in our immediate future. I do wish he's take a pacifier since sometime he eats just to comfort himself. This results in _ a lot_ of spit up because he overfeeds. I keep trying different ones and you'd think I was shoving a stick in his mouth by the faces he makes. He even gags sometimes! Probably in the long run it will be good that he never took a binkie (considering the fact my almost 3 year old still has one, and seems to have no desire to ever give it up. He'll have it in his pocket on his wedding day) but right now I think he'd benefit from one. Emma never took one, but she didn't have any interest in sucking on anything, so it was never an issue. He is still nursing occasionally, but I admit this hasn't happened as much as usual over the last few days. It's been a hectic time with big sis starting school and for whatever reason, it was pushed to the back burner. He's been a bit more interested in it today, though. Funny, but last night during Em's square dancing practice, he started trying to latch on to my friends shoulder, so he still acts like a little nursling for the most part. :) He's going through a wicked good 6 week growth spurt right now, so I'm anxious to see what he weighs at the end of it. He's not been weighed in a while, but I'll probably do that this weekend so that I can compare it to what the scale at his doctors says on Monday.
Milestones - He's FINALLY starting to smile at me now. I mean, his first smile was when he was a few days shy of 5 weeks. But he's _really_ smiling now. Still hard to get on camera, but those shy smiles are the best. I caught the funniest smile a few days ago and it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Maybe because most babies don't smile with their lips closed? He looks rather smug, doesn't he? ;)
In other milestone news, he's continuing his mission of rolling early. He's now rolled both back to belly and belly to back (just once on the belly to back and twice the other way). His head control impresses me so much. It will be no time until I can just swing him on my hip when carrying him (although I'll miss the snuggly newborn carrying positions). He's cooing all the time now. He coo's more than he smiles, although dude has the happiest eyes ever. He "smizes" for sure. :) I'm going to perish from the cuteness when I get that first laugh from him.
Grumpy McGrumperson - Once again, his mood was just a little bit better this week than last. He still has his moments, especially when he's tired, but now I can say "he's just tired" which is so much better than saying 'I don't know why he's crying". He's also started complaining when he has a dirty diaper, which is also nice because I can _do_ something about those grumpy periods. I still can't just sit him down and let him amuse himself, because he immediately thinks "this ain't happening,woman" and sets me straight, but if he gives me sweet baby smiles I don't mind. ;)I hope I'll soon be able to drop this topic all together.
Me - My appointment is tomorrow, so I should get the all clear in that department. I either seem to be trying to start my first period or still have a little postpartum bleeding. I did have a gap of about 4 days between them. Weight loss is still a slow going process. I've had two friends tell me this week that I've lost all my baby weight, which is nice to hear but also not true. I have somewhere between 8-10lbs left to lose, depending on scale and time of day. I start exercising, do really well at it for a couple of days, and then drop it again. I'm hopeless. I also continue to have problems with my face breaking out, which also happened with Emma. I can't quite remember when that started clearing up but I still notice it when she was around 3mo in pictures. Since it's hormonal, it's not easy to treat. I figure by the time D's baby acne clears up is when my (mommy?)acne will as well.
Coming up - a post all about Emma's first few days of school!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Oh, so tired!
I feel like there is so much to blog about here recently and just not enough time in the day to sit down and write it. My big girl started kindergarten today and that definitely deserves it's own post (fyi, she rocked it!). My littlest man also turned 7 weeks old today and I'm hoping to write about what he's been up to since I'm not quite ready to give up those weekly updates yet.
All 3 kids have been asleep for almost an hour, so I'm going to enjoy this time by watching bad Lifetime movies (which, let's face it, are the best!) and perhaps sneaking in a quick shower. Because at this stage in my life, a quick shower is something to look forward to!
All 3 kids have been asleep for almost an hour, so I'm going to enjoy this time by watching bad Lifetime movies (which, let's face it, are the best!) and perhaps sneaking in a quick shower. Because at this stage in my life, a quick shower is something to look forward to!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Open House!
Earlier this evening was Em's kindergarten open house. Up until this point I was having some major freak-outs. Thinking about my tiny girl in this class room all by herself would literally keep me up at night (along with, you know, a 1mo old). I felt like how tonight would go would make or break me in terms with how I feel leading up to Monday morning. So I am very happy to report that things couldn't have gone any better!
My MIL decided she wanted to go to the open house with us. I was a little apprehensive about someone else besides me, DH, and the kids going to something so important, but it ended up being a good thing. She got to see her granddaughter in her element (because seriously, my girl was made for school. Reading, learning, making friends in 2 seconds? That's her thing), she helped cart around a fussy baby, plus when I felt uncertain about the pick-up schedule from school, she had no qualms about just marching up to the teacher and asking again. So, a good thing. :)
We got there about 6 this evening and made our way to the kindergarten wing. One of the first people we saw was this dad of one of the little girls from Em's t-ball team. I had worried about his daughter and Em having the same class because she was the one always in trouble, not listening, running away, etc. I do like her dad, though, especially since him and DH hit it off. I was sort of cute, him having a daddy friend. :) So, of course, Em and M ended up in the same class together! I'm ok with it, as long as my little follower doesn't start coming home in trouble! Because when I say little follower, I mean it. The whole "if someone jumped off a cliff, would you?" applies to her because if one of her friends jumped off that cliff, she'd take a running leap right behind them.
She made another little friend while I filled out the endless piles of paperwork, so I'm not worried about that come Monday at all. Girl can make her some friends. She actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go and I had to tell her it was only 4 more sleeps until her first day of school. So yeah, my little 5yr old is going to be all calm and chill when she gets dropped off, while I'll be discreetly breathing into a paper bag.
The rest of the week/end looks a little something like this:
Friday - dropping the kids off at my mom's early and then me and my bestie are going shopping at the Rhea Lana sale here in town. I've started early on the kids' fall/winter wardrobe, so I'm hoping to pick up some pj's and play clothes this time around.
Saturday - clean. CLEAN. C.L.E.A.N.
Sunday - take Emma to the grocery store to pick out what she wants to pack for lunch for the week. They don't have the lunch menu up yet at school so I'm not sure when she'll actually eat there.
Before heading out. Aren't they the cutest?
My MIL decided she wanted to go to the open house with us. I was a little apprehensive about someone else besides me, DH, and the kids going to something so important, but it ended up being a good thing. She got to see her granddaughter in her element (because seriously, my girl was made for school. Reading, learning, making friends in 2 seconds? That's her thing), she helped cart around a fussy baby, plus when I felt uncertain about the pick-up schedule from school, she had no qualms about just marching up to the teacher and asking again. So, a good thing. :)
We got there about 6 this evening and made our way to the kindergarten wing. One of the first people we saw was this dad of one of the little girls from Em's t-ball team. I had worried about his daughter and Em having the same class because she was the one always in trouble, not listening, running away, etc. I do like her dad, though, especially since him and DH hit it off. I was sort of cute, him having a daddy friend. :) So, of course, Em and M ended up in the same class together! I'm ok with it, as long as my little follower doesn't start coming home in trouble! Because when I say little follower, I mean it. The whole "if someone jumped off a cliff, would you?" applies to her because if one of her friends jumped off that cliff, she'd take a running leap right behind them.
She made another little friend while I filled out the endless piles of paperwork, so I'm not worried about that come Monday at all. Girl can make her some friends. She actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go and I had to tell her it was only 4 more sleeps until her first day of school. So yeah, my little 5yr old is going to be all calm and chill when she gets dropped off, while I'll be discreetly breathing into a paper bag.
The rest of the week/end looks a little something like this:
Friday - dropping the kids off at my mom's early and then me and my bestie are going shopping at the Rhea Lana sale here in town. I've started early on the kids' fall/winter wardrobe, so I'm hoping to pick up some pj's and play clothes this time around.
Saturday - clean. CLEAN. C.L.E.A.N.
Sunday - take Emma to the grocery store to pick out what she wants to pack for lunch for the week. They don't have the lunch menu up yet at school so I'm not sure when she'll actually eat there.
Before heading out. Aren't they the cutest?
Even Declan got in on the action, although all 3 look decidedly unimpressed. Here. And also, how huge does my 6.5 week old baby look here? There was another couple in Emma's classroom that had baby and my MIL had guessed that the boys were around the same age. Nope. Other baby was 3 months old!
Monday, August 13, 2012
The big 6 weeks!
For whatever reason, I've always counted 6 weeks as a little baby milestone. They're getting out of the newborn stage and some personality is starting to shine through. Plus only 6 more weeks of counting his age in weeks! After they hit 12 weeks, their age starts being labeled in months. Or at least that's always how I've done it. We continued to have some highs and lows this past week, but overall things are starting to feel a bit more "normal" (I say this lightly, since how normal can life be with 3 kids under 5??)
Sleeping - This is one area that we can't seem to get a clear routine on. So far I have not tried staying on a schedule. I'm the type of parent who likes a bit of scheduling in their day. I mean, I'm not the type who'd come home because it was baby's nap time because baby MUST nap at this particular time or anything. But it makes the day a bit less chaotic if things follow a small routine for the most part. Right now I've just been following his cues and hoping he'd sort of develop a schedule all on his own. I think he started to, but over the past few days it's just been a jumbled mess. One day he'd sleep all afternoon, have a brief period of wake time in the evening and then slept all night. The next day he'd be awake ALL DAY LONG and then still not go to bed very easily. Last night he woke up around 6pm. Usually he's asleep at that time, wake up around 8ish, and then down for the night around 10-11. But he stayed awake from 6pm until a bit after midnight last night. 6 full hours. He'd occasionally pass out in my arms but as _soon_ as I'd lie him down, those baby blues would pop right back open. I handled the first few hours pretty well, even though DH has been working a night shift and wasn't home. But by 10 or so I was starting to get run-down. When did DID fall asleep finally, he woke once at 5:30am to eat and then didn't move again until 10:30 this morning. So we are all over the place! With Emma starting school next week, I think this really help us start getting into more normal schedule. He'll have to be fed at the same time every morning before we take her to school, fed the same time before we pick her up, etc. That should also carry over into when he sleeps as well.
Eating - My goodness my boy is getting chunky! I've not weighed him since last week, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was at 11lbs+ now. He's also growing in length and it's noticeable! His little feeties are starting to dangle over the edge of his car seat now and we have officially grown out of the majority of newborn clothes. I squeezed him into his 4th of July onesie he wore home from the hospital today and it was funny seeing all of rolls pouring over the sides. ;) So yeah, eating is good. We're still doing a mixture of nursing/bottle feeding although the bottle is more for actual nutrition while nursing has become sort of his pacifier (which he doesn't take, no matter how many times I've tried) If he's crying and I know he's not hungry, cold, hot, needs changing, not sleepy, etc I just latch him on and he's happy. He doesn't nurse for very long, usually long enough to settle down. He then just unlatches and hangs out down there for a bit..lol. It's cute seeing him all snuggled up against me and I feel like our bond is really starting to take off. Last night, during his marathon awake time, at one point he just stared into my eyes and gave me teeny little half smiles. I don't want to get all mushy on you, but it was way cute. Trust me. :) Back to the eating, he almost always takes 4oz every 2.5-4hrs at this point. His longest stretch at night without eating has been 7hrs. On average he eats about 27.5oz a day at this point, which is perfect. I still write down every time he eats and how much. We always find random sheets of paper where I've jotted down times and oz's. At some point I'll have to see if he wants 5oz but right now he seems satisfied with the 4 and can go up to 4hrs sometimes before showing signs he's hungry again.
Milestones - He's really starting to smile, although they are still very random - which means I haven't been able to capture them on film yet. He's still more apt to smile at the ceiling fan, but he gave my dad 2 smiles today, so I'm hopeful that will be the norm soon. Earlier this week I was starting to get worried about lack of eye contact, even though it's still pretty early. But over the last few days he's really picked up in that area and I'm happy to say he's starting to become a pro. His head control continues to amaze me. While laying on my chest, he's able to lift his head completely up to stare at me. I'm hoping I can start using my Ergo carrier sooner rather than later. I'm too cheap to buy an infant insert so until he has good head control, I'm stuck with just my pouch sling. He likes it ok, but I think we will both be much more comfortable with I can pull the Ergo out. It's awesome and SO worth the money.
Grumpy McGrumperson - This week also marked a happier baby. He's still got a small case of colic I believe (it brought a certain amount of relief to just admit that's what the deal is. It's nothing health related or something I am doing wrong. Just something he'll have to grow out of) but overall I am seeing a little bit of improvement. Night time, before bed, is still a chaotic time and he spends much of that time crying. It breaks my heart when I KNOW he's tired but he just can't get himself settled down. There's a lot of me just holding and rocking him while he cries. Then it's like he just flips a switch and he immediately stops crying and just goes to sleep. Only problem is that I never know when that is going to be. Definitely a work in progress. He's also still very much a 2-parent kid. I tried taking just him grocery shopping yesterday. Yeahhhh, bad idea. Dude woke up by the time I got to my first aisle and was crying by the time I left it. And then proceeded to cry and cry. And did I mention cry? I eventually had to chalk up the trip as a fail and left. Not sure when I'll tempt that little adventure again. We really haven't taken him out in public yet, mostly for that reason right there. He's not a "hang out in the car seat/stroller all content and happy while I do my business" so until he either a.) gets that way or b.) becomes big enough for me to just stick him in the Ergo I don't think we'll get out that much without using grandma and grandpa as babysitters. I'm already starting to worry how it will be at Em's open house later this week. Fingers crossed!
Me- I _think_ I can finally say that my postpartum bleeding has finally quit (although every time I have said this, it says "haha, no" and starts up again). I've also seemed to have finally gotten of the weight loss plateau and I lost a pound this week. Not a lot, but seeing as I stayed the exact same weight for almost 3 weeks prior to this, I'll take it. So only 9 more pounds to lose before I hit pre-pregnancy weight. My check-up isn't for another week since I had to reschedule, but I'm anxious to see what their scale says. Hormonal, I think I've moved past the "new mom" phase and am now in the "Omg, my oldest is starting kindergarten" phase. Seriously, I am freaking out. Today, while driving home, I passed by a school zone and they already had their traffic lights blinking, even though school is still a week away. Just seeing those flashing lights put me into full-blown panic mode. I'm going to have to hold it together for Emma's sake, but I am going to be cry some large, large tears come Monday. Open House is on Thursday and I'm hoping meeting her teacher and seeing her classroom will ease my fears a bit (because obviously my 5yr old starting school is all about ME...LOL)
Non-baby related news - Life continues at a record breaking pace. Emma's square-dancing performance is getting closer, she starts ballet in a couple of weeks, school, Connor's birthday/birthday party here in about 3.5 weeks, etc. I've almost completed his birthday present shopping. There are times where one of the kids hasn't expressed interest in any particular toy around bday and/or Christmas and we've ended up just having to do a lot of "filler" gifts. Just something to open with no real thought behind it. This year, though, C has been VERY vocal about things he wants and I am so excited to see his face on his birthday. :)
Sleeping - This is one area that we can't seem to get a clear routine on. So far I have not tried staying on a schedule. I'm the type of parent who likes a bit of scheduling in their day. I mean, I'm not the type who'd come home because it was baby's nap time because baby MUST nap at this particular time or anything. But it makes the day a bit less chaotic if things follow a small routine for the most part. Right now I've just been following his cues and hoping he'd sort of develop a schedule all on his own. I think he started to, but over the past few days it's just been a jumbled mess. One day he'd sleep all afternoon, have a brief period of wake time in the evening and then slept all night. The next day he'd be awake ALL DAY LONG and then still not go to bed very easily. Last night he woke up around 6pm. Usually he's asleep at that time, wake up around 8ish, and then down for the night around 10-11. But he stayed awake from 6pm until a bit after midnight last night. 6 full hours. He'd occasionally pass out in my arms but as _soon_ as I'd lie him down, those baby blues would pop right back open. I handled the first few hours pretty well, even though DH has been working a night shift and wasn't home. But by 10 or so I was starting to get run-down. When did DID fall asleep finally, he woke once at 5:30am to eat and then didn't move again until 10:30 this morning. So we are all over the place! With Emma starting school next week, I think this really help us start getting into more normal schedule. He'll have to be fed at the same time every morning before we take her to school, fed the same time before we pick her up, etc. That should also carry over into when he sleeps as well.
Eating - My goodness my boy is getting chunky! I've not weighed him since last week, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was at 11lbs+ now. He's also growing in length and it's noticeable! His little feeties are starting to dangle over the edge of his car seat now and we have officially grown out of the majority of newborn clothes. I squeezed him into his 4th of July onesie he wore home from the hospital today and it was funny seeing all of rolls pouring over the sides. ;) So yeah, eating is good. We're still doing a mixture of nursing/bottle feeding although the bottle is more for actual nutrition while nursing has become sort of his pacifier (which he doesn't take, no matter how many times I've tried) If he's crying and I know he's not hungry, cold, hot, needs changing, not sleepy, etc I just latch him on and he's happy. He doesn't nurse for very long, usually long enough to settle down. He then just unlatches and hangs out down there for a bit..lol. It's cute seeing him all snuggled up against me and I feel like our bond is really starting to take off. Last night, during his marathon awake time, at one point he just stared into my eyes and gave me teeny little half smiles. I don't want to get all mushy on you, but it was way cute. Trust me. :) Back to the eating, he almost always takes 4oz every 2.5-4hrs at this point. His longest stretch at night without eating has been 7hrs. On average he eats about 27.5oz a day at this point, which is perfect. I still write down every time he eats and how much. We always find random sheets of paper where I've jotted down times and oz's. At some point I'll have to see if he wants 5oz but right now he seems satisfied with the 4 and can go up to 4hrs sometimes before showing signs he's hungry again.
Milestones - He's really starting to smile, although they are still very random - which means I haven't been able to capture them on film yet. He's still more apt to smile at the ceiling fan, but he gave my dad 2 smiles today, so I'm hopeful that will be the norm soon. Earlier this week I was starting to get worried about lack of eye contact, even though it's still pretty early. But over the last few days he's really picked up in that area and I'm happy to say he's starting to become a pro. His head control continues to amaze me. While laying on my chest, he's able to lift his head completely up to stare at me. I'm hoping I can start using my Ergo carrier sooner rather than later. I'm too cheap to buy an infant insert so until he has good head control, I'm stuck with just my pouch sling. He likes it ok, but I think we will both be much more comfortable with I can pull the Ergo out. It's awesome and SO worth the money.
Grumpy McGrumperson - This week also marked a happier baby. He's still got a small case of colic I believe (it brought a certain amount of relief to just admit that's what the deal is. It's nothing health related or something I am doing wrong. Just something he'll have to grow out of) but overall I am seeing a little bit of improvement. Night time, before bed, is still a chaotic time and he spends much of that time crying. It breaks my heart when I KNOW he's tired but he just can't get himself settled down. There's a lot of me just holding and rocking him while he cries. Then it's like he just flips a switch and he immediately stops crying and just goes to sleep. Only problem is that I never know when that is going to be. Definitely a work in progress. He's also still very much a 2-parent kid. I tried taking just him grocery shopping yesterday. Yeahhhh, bad idea. Dude woke up by the time I got to my first aisle and was crying by the time I left it. And then proceeded to cry and cry. And did I mention cry? I eventually had to chalk up the trip as a fail and left. Not sure when I'll tempt that little adventure again. We really haven't taken him out in public yet, mostly for that reason right there. He's not a "hang out in the car seat/stroller all content and happy while I do my business" so until he either a.) gets that way or b.) becomes big enough for me to just stick him in the Ergo I don't think we'll get out that much without using grandma and grandpa as babysitters. I'm already starting to worry how it will be at Em's open house later this week. Fingers crossed!
Me- I _think_ I can finally say that my postpartum bleeding has finally quit (although every time I have said this, it says "haha, no" and starts up again). I've also seemed to have finally gotten of the weight loss plateau and I lost a pound this week. Not a lot, but seeing as I stayed the exact same weight for almost 3 weeks prior to this, I'll take it. So only 9 more pounds to lose before I hit pre-pregnancy weight. My check-up isn't for another week since I had to reschedule, but I'm anxious to see what their scale says. Hormonal, I think I've moved past the "new mom" phase and am now in the "Omg, my oldest is starting kindergarten" phase. Seriously, I am freaking out. Today, while driving home, I passed by a school zone and they already had their traffic lights blinking, even though school is still a week away. Just seeing those flashing lights put me into full-blown panic mode. I'm going to have to hold it together for Emma's sake, but I am going to be cry some large, large tears come Monday. Open House is on Thursday and I'm hoping meeting her teacher and seeing her classroom will ease my fears a bit (because obviously my 5yr old starting school is all about ME...LOL)
Non-baby related news - Life continues at a record breaking pace. Emma's square-dancing performance is getting closer, she starts ballet in a couple of weeks, school, Connor's birthday/birthday party here in about 3.5 weeks, etc. I've almost completed his birthday present shopping. There are times where one of the kids hasn't expressed interest in any particular toy around bday and/or Christmas and we've ended up just having to do a lot of "filler" gifts. Just something to open with no real thought behind it. This year, though, C has been VERY vocal about things he wants and I am so excited to see his face on his birthday. :)
Monday, August 6, 2012
Declan - week 5
I promise that I won't give an update every week but I feel the need to document these first few weeks of life. They change so much during this time and I know I'll love being able to look back and read about his newborn period (and maybe look back and say "wow, I don't remember that time AT ALL. Because yeah, it will probably be a blur.) Since I just posted his 1 month update last Thursday, not much has changed in terms of sleeping/eating so I'll just go over them quickly.
Sleeping - for the past few days this was all over the place. While he was still sleeping well at night (ahem, we had a 5 hour stretch last night! Way to go D!) the napping thing was shot. He'd fall asleep pretty easily in my arms but wake up within minutes after I laid him down. This went on from about 10 yesterday morning until 4 yesterday evening. I admit I shed a tear or two right along with him. Especially since Em and C were with my parents and I had had plans of really tackling this house, which has, you know, been abandoned over the past month. I eventually found this white noise video on youtube and I could seriously kiss whoever made it. It was a lifesaver and he passed out for a few hours after that. This video, however, is so freaking creepy that I'm halfway expecting the little girl from the Ring to come and kill me in about 7 days or so (well, 6 now ;) ). To be murdered brutally by a girl who needs to brush her hair is a small price to pay for a calm baby, though. Ha. Thankfully he seems to be back to normal on that front today. Knock on wood.
Eating - We went ahead and switched his formula to Gentlease. While I'm not sure if it will help some of the fussiness and gas he's had, that formula is my comfort zone. With Emma and her insane milk allergies she had, Gentlease was the last formula she was on before getting the go-ahead to reintroduce milk. With Connor, after I quit nursing him, I immediately went to that. I figured since it's partially broken down, it might be a bit more gentle on a belly that was used to breastmilk. He did wonderfully on it. When we started supplementing we just used the newborn formula since that's what they offered in the hospital. This weekend was the first time we had to buy formula due to a mix of not 100% bottlefeeding and from his doctor giving us free samples every time we had an appointment (fingers crossed that continues). Since we'd have to switch here in a few months anyway (Newborn is only used for newbies up to 3mo) I decided to just go with what I know. Best case scenario he gets a little more happy. Nursing wise, we're still on the same course. He nurses for naps and any time I just can't make him happy any other way. Since I haven't pumped in a few weeks I couldn't tell you how much I'm making but I do know he's getting something. I'm not sure I could label myself a nursing mother anymore, since "real" feedings are coming via bottle, but I'm content with all of our choices. He's definitely a growing boy. He eats 3-4oz every 3hrs or so, although he still likes to cluster feed, which is sort of funny. Old habits die hard, I guess. ;) I weighed him on the Wii fit this morning and he came in at a whopping 10.3lbs, which is roughly 10lbs 5oz or so. That means he's gained over 3lbs in 5 weeks since he got down to 7lbs even before leaving the hospital. :)
postpartum- I haven't really talked about how my recovery is going, especially physically. Emotionally, as you could probably tell from my earlier posts, has been an up-hill battle. I didn't have any sort of baby blues with Em was born. It was nothing but sunshine and rainbows and blah, blah, blah. With C it started out that way, but I noticed pretty quickly that something was "off" with me, emotionally. While everyone else gushed over this little perfect creature (and he was! Perfect, I mean. Not a creature ;) ) I would sort of sit there like a lump, dreading his next feeding. I think this deserves a post all it's own, but I sometimes think I have what is known as D-MER. Not all of the symptoms are/were there, but enough that Dr. Google kept pointing me in that direction time and time again. But anyway, within HOURS, I swear, of switching to a bottle I felt my depression start to lesson. It wasn't as severe this time, but I felt it coming on pretty quickly after we got home with Declan. I wouldn't let it get to the point it was with C, so that's when I started introducing bottles. I was so "it's all or nothing!" with Connor, so that was one of the things I knew I was going to change this time around. I was allowing myself to feel ok with combination feedings. I know I'm starting to ramble, so in conclusion, emotionally I have been progressively getting better. I still have my occasional freak outs, but life with 3 isn't looking so bad. I dare say, it's getting almost normal :)
Physically things are pretty much back to normal. TMI but I still have just enough bleeding to warrant a panty liner. Weight wise, I seemed to have hit an impasse. At 3 weeks postpartum I had lost 20lbs, which I was feeling so good about. Now at 5 weeks I have lost.....nothing. The exact same weight for 2 weeks. I was so hopeful this morning when I started up the Wii, but nothing. Obviously just trying to eat less isn't working anymore, so it might be time to dust off the treadmill (I kid. I'm sure it's nice and dust free since it's under about 300 piles of clean laundry.) Overall, I'm just a slightly bigger, flabbier version of my old self. ;) 10 more pounds to lose and I'll be back to pre-pregnancy weight.
In non-baby related news, Emma starts kindergarten in 15 days. 15 DAYS. Two weeks. Someone hold me. Last week I took her in for her kindergarten testing. Just as I expected, she rocked it. I'll never know exactly how they scored her, but I'd like to think they wrote "this child is brilliant". All in caps, too. Sometime this week we'll find out which teacher she has and then next Thursday is Open house. Em also has sqauredancing once a week right now and I just signed her up for a ballet/tap/hip hop combo dance class that starts in Sept. She's a busy, busy girl. Connor continues to amaze me with his speech and just how freaking hilarious he is. Right now he's decided on a knight birthday part AND wants to be a knight for Halloween. Stay tuned for all kinds of birthday planning excitement.
Sleeping - for the past few days this was all over the place. While he was still sleeping well at night (ahem, we had a 5 hour stretch last night! Way to go D!) the napping thing was shot. He'd fall asleep pretty easily in my arms but wake up within minutes after I laid him down. This went on from about 10 yesterday morning until 4 yesterday evening. I admit I shed a tear or two right along with him. Especially since Em and C were with my parents and I had had plans of really tackling this house, which has, you know, been abandoned over the past month. I eventually found this white noise video on youtube and I could seriously kiss whoever made it. It was a lifesaver and he passed out for a few hours after that. This video, however, is so freaking creepy that I'm halfway expecting the little girl from the Ring to come and kill me in about 7 days or so (well, 6 now ;) ). To be murdered brutally by a girl who needs to brush her hair is a small price to pay for a calm baby, though. Ha. Thankfully he seems to be back to normal on that front today. Knock on wood.
Eating - We went ahead and switched his formula to Gentlease. While I'm not sure if it will help some of the fussiness and gas he's had, that formula is my comfort zone. With Emma and her insane milk allergies she had, Gentlease was the last formula she was on before getting the go-ahead to reintroduce milk. With Connor, after I quit nursing him, I immediately went to that. I figured since it's partially broken down, it might be a bit more gentle on a belly that was used to breastmilk. He did wonderfully on it. When we started supplementing we just used the newborn formula since that's what they offered in the hospital. This weekend was the first time we had to buy formula due to a mix of not 100% bottlefeeding and from his doctor giving us free samples every time we had an appointment (fingers crossed that continues). Since we'd have to switch here in a few months anyway (Newborn is only used for newbies up to 3mo) I decided to just go with what I know. Best case scenario he gets a little more happy. Nursing wise, we're still on the same course. He nurses for naps and any time I just can't make him happy any other way. Since I haven't pumped in a few weeks I couldn't tell you how much I'm making but I do know he's getting something. I'm not sure I could label myself a nursing mother anymore, since "real" feedings are coming via bottle, but I'm content with all of our choices. He's definitely a growing boy. He eats 3-4oz every 3hrs or so, although he still likes to cluster feed, which is sort of funny. Old habits die hard, I guess. ;) I weighed him on the Wii fit this morning and he came in at a whopping 10.3lbs, which is roughly 10lbs 5oz or so. That means he's gained over 3lbs in 5 weeks since he got down to 7lbs even before leaving the hospital. :)
postpartum- I haven't really talked about how my recovery is going, especially physically. Emotionally, as you could probably tell from my earlier posts, has been an up-hill battle. I didn't have any sort of baby blues with Em was born. It was nothing but sunshine and rainbows and blah, blah, blah. With C it started out that way, but I noticed pretty quickly that something was "off" with me, emotionally. While everyone else gushed over this little perfect creature (and he was! Perfect, I mean. Not a creature ;) ) I would sort of sit there like a lump, dreading his next feeding. I think this deserves a post all it's own, but I sometimes think I have what is known as D-MER. Not all of the symptoms are/were there, but enough that Dr. Google kept pointing me in that direction time and time again. But anyway, within HOURS, I swear, of switching to a bottle I felt my depression start to lesson. It wasn't as severe this time, but I felt it coming on pretty quickly after we got home with Declan. I wouldn't let it get to the point it was with C, so that's when I started introducing bottles. I was so "it's all or nothing!" with Connor, so that was one of the things I knew I was going to change this time around. I was allowing myself to feel ok with combination feedings. I know I'm starting to ramble, so in conclusion, emotionally I have been progressively getting better. I still have my occasional freak outs, but life with 3 isn't looking so bad. I dare say, it's getting almost normal :)
Physically things are pretty much back to normal. TMI but I still have just enough bleeding to warrant a panty liner. Weight wise, I seemed to have hit an impasse. At 3 weeks postpartum I had lost 20lbs, which I was feeling so good about. Now at 5 weeks I have lost.....nothing. The exact same weight for 2 weeks. I was so hopeful this morning when I started up the Wii, but nothing. Obviously just trying to eat less isn't working anymore, so it might be time to dust off the treadmill (I kid. I'm sure it's nice and dust free since it's under about 300 piles of clean laundry.) Overall, I'm just a slightly bigger, flabbier version of my old self. ;) 10 more pounds to lose and I'll be back to pre-pregnancy weight.
In non-baby related news, Emma starts kindergarten in 15 days. 15 DAYS. Two weeks. Someone hold me. Last week I took her in for her kindergarten testing. Just as I expected, she rocked it. I'll never know exactly how they scored her, but I'd like to think they wrote "this child is brilliant". All in caps, too. Sometime this week we'll find out which teacher she has and then next Thursday is Open house. Em also has sqauredancing once a week right now and I just signed her up for a ballet/tap/hip hop combo dance class that starts in Sept. She's a busy, busy girl. Connor continues to amaze me with his speech and just how freaking hilarious he is. Right now he's decided on a knight birthday part AND wants to be a knight for Halloween. Stay tuned for all kinds of birthday planning excitement.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
1 month old!
I can't believe I have been a mom of 3 for one whole month. Some days it feels like he was born yesterday and other times I feel like it's been a million years (since I took a shower, brushed my teeth, cleaned the whole house, slept for more than 3 hours at a time, etc). While it might have taken me 4 full weeks, I finally feel like I'm starting to get to know him a little bit. I'm learning his cues, what he likes/dislikes, and we're slowly starting to figure out all the grumpiness that has surrounded us this month.
Sleeping - For the most part, I can't complain. Besides today, where he's fought sleep all day, he takes about 2 really loooong naps. Usually from around 11-12 until 3 or so. He's then up for a few hours and goes back down around 5. Sleeps until around 8ish and then is up until bedtime. Last night he was asleep by 10:30. We only have two wake-up calls during the night. One around 3am and then another around 6am. So, not bad at all. He seems to have a 4hr long stretch at the beginning and then a 3hr stretch. For the most part he goes back to sleep well after the 6am feeding, although for the past two days he's stayed up for a bit. I usually have to snuggle him back to sleep with me, but that's ok. We are obviously a pretty pro co-sleeping family, considering our 2yr old still co-sleeps full time. I won't know what to do with myself once all the kids are out of our room. I haven't quite got the hang of how to spend my time when he's sleeping during the day, though. Right now he seems to FINALLY be asleep for a while and instead of cleaning like I need to be doing, I am on here.
Feeding - It's still sort of all over the place, but it's obviously working since he seems to be growing at a nice rate. I don't know exact weight, but definitely in the 9-10lb range I would guess. That still seems little to me, since Connor was 11lbs at 5 weeks but Declan's getting some nice chub on him. As for what he's eating..um, pretty much anything he can get his mouth around. We do still nurse, although at this point it's more for going to sleep and for comfort. I think I would have to work to get him back to exclusively nursing and frankly that thought scares me. I wash my hair more in the sink than in the shower at this point, so having the time to sit around and do nothing but breastfeeding to boost my supply back up sounds like such a daunting task. I just don't think my heart is in it enough, although that in it's self makes me sad. With D being the last baby, I'll never have another chance to get this breastfeeding thing down. :( As for bottles, he's drinking between 2-4oz at a feeding, usually closer to 3-4oz. You know how one of the perks of bottlefeeding is that they go longer between feeds? Hahahaha. No. Declan still eats like an exclusively nursed baby. Every 2hrs or so, unless he's in one of his long naps, he's up and wanting to eat. He eats around 24-28oz a day which I think is pretty impressive for a 4 week old baby. I'm afraid to even contemplate how much he'd eat if he wasn't such a good sleeper at night.
Grumpy McGrumperson - Yes, he's still a meanie. DH and I spend the majority of our time talking about what we think is the matter. We first thought it the diaper rash that was making him so upset. I mean, I'm sure it definitely contributed to it, but his rash has finally started clearing up, with not a lot of improvement in the crying business. Because this kid can cry. And his little tear ducts are starting to work, which just makes it extra sad. Along with learning his cues, I'm also learning his cries. I got the "feed me woman!" cry and the "rock me to sleep, lady!" cry down pretty well. But then there are times where I know all of his needs are being met and yet he is still fussing, whimpering, and crying his little heart out. So this leaves colic or in pain. I vote in pain and here's why.
- He still spits up SO MUCH. If he's awake there's almost constantly a stream of liquid coming out of his mouth. He projectile vomits usually once or twice a day. His doctor sort of waved off my concerns at his last appointment since he gained so much weight but all of the spit up has got to be painful. So maybe acid reflux?
- He also sometimes has a really hoarse voice. Not when he really lets a scream out, but just the every day compaining. His voice even breaks sometimes which just breaks my heart. Dr. Google says that that is another symptom of acid reflux since all the spit up/acid irritates the vocal cords.
-Gas. SO MUCH GAS. From both ends. Also, when he first starts eating, I can actually hear his stomach gurgling which just seems weird to me. This makes me think milk allergy since he had those un-answered bloody stools.
- His poop is still odd to me. Still some orange mucous which the doctor agreed was a since of an allergy. I am supposed to bring in a sample any time I see this, so I have two diapers sitting in my fridge (I promise, they are wrapped up and covered and not just hanging out by the milk) but I haven't had the chance to make the 1hr drive up to his doctor yet. I'm hoping I can send a fresh dipe with DH tomorrow before the weekend or I'll just have to make the trip up there with 3 kids in tow. If he needs another formula and for me to change my diet up a little I sort of want to know. There's just too many signs of something going on for me to just chalk up all the crying for colic. (Although I do think he also has a nice case of baby attitude that is just magnified by whatever else wrong.)
Milestones - Dude can hold his head up goooood. He also has rolled over twice! Once at 9 days old and then again about a week ago. Kid needs to slow it down some. I've also got a few smiles here but those are still few and far between. I don't want to wish his life away (ok, maybe just get to the point where he's happy) but I can not wait for months 4-6. Really, those are so fun because their personalities are really shining through, all the smiling. ALL THE GIGGLING. Oh, the cuteness is out of this world. Declan should hit that right around the holidays, which makes me all kinds of excited.
Sleeping - For the most part, I can't complain. Besides today, where he's fought sleep all day, he takes about 2 really loooong naps. Usually from around 11-12 until 3 or so. He's then up for a few hours and goes back down around 5. Sleeps until around 8ish and then is up until bedtime. Last night he was asleep by 10:30. We only have two wake-up calls during the night. One around 3am and then another around 6am. So, not bad at all. He seems to have a 4hr long stretch at the beginning and then a 3hr stretch. For the most part he goes back to sleep well after the 6am feeding, although for the past two days he's stayed up for a bit. I usually have to snuggle him back to sleep with me, but that's ok. We are obviously a pretty pro co-sleeping family, considering our 2yr old still co-sleeps full time. I won't know what to do with myself once all the kids are out of our room. I haven't quite got the hang of how to spend my time when he's sleeping during the day, though. Right now he seems to FINALLY be asleep for a while and instead of cleaning like I need to be doing, I am on here.
Feeding - It's still sort of all over the place, but it's obviously working since he seems to be growing at a nice rate. I don't know exact weight, but definitely in the 9-10lb range I would guess. That still seems little to me, since Connor was 11lbs at 5 weeks but Declan's getting some nice chub on him. As for what he's eating..um, pretty much anything he can get his mouth around. We do still nurse, although at this point it's more for going to sleep and for comfort. I think I would have to work to get him back to exclusively nursing and frankly that thought scares me. I wash my hair more in the sink than in the shower at this point, so having the time to sit around and do nothing but breastfeeding to boost my supply back up sounds like such a daunting task. I just don't think my heart is in it enough, although that in it's self makes me sad. With D being the last baby, I'll never have another chance to get this breastfeeding thing down. :( As for bottles, he's drinking between 2-4oz at a feeding, usually closer to 3-4oz. You know how one of the perks of bottlefeeding is that they go longer between feeds? Hahahaha. No. Declan still eats like an exclusively nursed baby. Every 2hrs or so, unless he's in one of his long naps, he's up and wanting to eat. He eats around 24-28oz a day which I think is pretty impressive for a 4 week old baby. I'm afraid to even contemplate how much he'd eat if he wasn't such a good sleeper at night.
Grumpy McGrumperson - Yes, he's still a meanie. DH and I spend the majority of our time talking about what we think is the matter. We first thought it the diaper rash that was making him so upset. I mean, I'm sure it definitely contributed to it, but his rash has finally started clearing up, with not a lot of improvement in the crying business. Because this kid can cry. And his little tear ducts are starting to work, which just makes it extra sad. Along with learning his cues, I'm also learning his cries. I got the "feed me woman!" cry and the "rock me to sleep, lady!" cry down pretty well. But then there are times where I know all of his needs are being met and yet he is still fussing, whimpering, and crying his little heart out. So this leaves colic or in pain. I vote in pain and here's why.
- He still spits up SO MUCH. If he's awake there's almost constantly a stream of liquid coming out of his mouth. He projectile vomits usually once or twice a day. His doctor sort of waved off my concerns at his last appointment since he gained so much weight but all of the spit up has got to be painful. So maybe acid reflux?
- He also sometimes has a really hoarse voice. Not when he really lets a scream out, but just the every day compaining. His voice even breaks sometimes which just breaks my heart. Dr. Google says that that is another symptom of acid reflux since all the spit up/acid irritates the vocal cords.
-Gas. SO MUCH GAS. From both ends. Also, when he first starts eating, I can actually hear his stomach gurgling which just seems weird to me. This makes me think milk allergy since he had those un-answered bloody stools.
- His poop is still odd to me. Still some orange mucous which the doctor agreed was a since of an allergy. I am supposed to bring in a sample any time I see this, so I have two diapers sitting in my fridge (I promise, they are wrapped up and covered and not just hanging out by the milk) but I haven't had the chance to make the 1hr drive up to his doctor yet. I'm hoping I can send a fresh dipe with DH tomorrow before the weekend or I'll just have to make the trip up there with 3 kids in tow. If he needs another formula and for me to change my diet up a little I sort of want to know. There's just too many signs of something going on for me to just chalk up all the crying for colic. (Although I do think he also has a nice case of baby attitude that is just magnified by whatever else wrong.)
Milestones - Dude can hold his head up goooood. He also has rolled over twice! Once at 9 days old and then again about a week ago. Kid needs to slow it down some. I've also got a few smiles here but those are still few and far between. I don't want to wish his life away (ok, maybe just get to the point where he's happy) but I can not wait for months 4-6. Really, those are so fun because their personalities are really shining through, all the smiling. ALL THE GIGGLING. Oh, the cuteness is out of this world. Declan should hit that right around the holidays, which makes me all kinds of excited.
I promise he has hair, it's just all in back old man style.
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