1 Month Appointment

Due to holidays and such, our month appointment was a bit delayed seeing as how he's 6 weeks old tomorrow. Oh well. Dr. said that he looks perfect and that all the blood work came back with no issues! Always a relief to hear. He's now 9lb 11oz, 23 inches, and his head circumference is 14 1/2 in. Weight and height are still in the 50th percentile- his head is in the 25th percentile. He did really well at his appointment; he even cooed at the doctor, which she loved. He's meeting all the milestones that is expected at this point, so we must be doing alright.

The negative was that he had his first vaccination- Hep B. We delayed it in the hospital until now. It was so hard seeing him just start to cry. Poor baby. He's taking a nap now, so hopefully he'll have forgotten all about it when he wakes up.

We go back in one month (sort of- I aligned it back to his age, so it's only about 2 1/2 weeks) and he'll get his next set of shots (sad) and his next well baby check-up!

Christmas 09

It was a pretty great Christmas! We were constantly having to tend to the little guy, so it's a bit of a blur. But, it was still a lot of fun. The timing of things just didn't seem to work out with his schedule. He was hungry when we were going to eat, he was fussy when we were opening presents, etc. What else can you expect from a 5 week old? We're lucky that he's a pretty calm baby, at least. He just hates being put down.

Jeffrey cleaned up for his first Christmas- lots and lots of goodies. The majority of it was clothes, and most of the clothes were for 12months+. I thought that was strange, but I know that it will be used! He got a super cool teether from Santa, some wooden blocks from Gramps and Grammy, and a bouncy ball toy thing from Me-maw and Paw-paw, along with some books and other miscellaneous toys. He did good and will really enjoy it all during this next year. I'm looking forward to next year when he'll have a better grasp of what's going on.

Jony and I both got a few good presents. My favorites are a retractable clothes line that I can use for Jeffrey's diapers and a Glamourmom nursing tank. Jony's favorite is a toss up between a grill and a 1.5 T hardrive. He looked like a 5 year old opening up that hard drive- made his parents day, I'm pretty sure. It was cute.

On to New Years! I'm pretty scared about this holiday due to it's late hours...

Merry Christmas!!

Jeffrey has lots of fun and exciting Christmas activities planned for the next two days: party with Grammy's side of the family tonight, Christmas morning with Santa and Mom and Dad (us, lol) tomorrow morning, Brunch/presents with Gramps, Grammy, and Aunt Alisha/"Uncle" Jon (there may be a proposal tomorrow!), and then dinner with Me-maw, Paw-paw, Aunt Alexa/Uncle Andy, Cousin Aly, Uncle Ron, and great- Uncle John (blah). My older sister and her deadbeat husband might arrive tomorrow, but the weather in Dallas seems to have gotten quite dangerous for driving! Darn.

He should be exhausted by the 26th. Me, too.

In honor of Jeffrey's first Christmas:

Happy Holidays!

Clogged Duct Craziness

Me and my right boob don't always get along. It's consistently produced less milk than my left by somewhat substantial amounts. However, it's saving grace was that it never got itself clogged. My left one was giving me the joys of a clogged duct about once a week. That ended a few days ago when the whole left side (from my view) got super clogged. Ouch. I was working it out as best I could with massage and compresses, especially whenever Jeffrey ate from it. Well, yesterday, with the clog being about 12 hours old, I felt a fabulous release. BUT, Jeffrey was full. So, he pulls off and proceeds to get a breastmilk bath from a nipple that will not stop spraying. He got stunned so he put his hands out, which just so happens to press on where the clog was- more milk starts coming out. I had to call Jony in the room to help me. He took Jeffrey and wiped off his face/body, while I cleaned myself up and held a nursing pad on my crazy boob. Jony was pretty interested in watching the milk come out, lol. It was an interesting/hilarious experience.

1 month!

My little baby boy is not so little anymore! Well, he's still pretty small- just not nearly like he was merely a month ago. He's over 9lb and about 23 inches long (by our measurements which are probably not super accurate)! I cannot believe that a month has gone by already. Time goes by super fast when you have a newborn in the house. I cannot imagine my life without him, though, even when he's waking up at all hours of the night or screaming for seemingly no reason. He's just too cute to not love. Overall, he's a really good baby. Nothing I can complain about. He eats well (even with the bottle now), sleeps fairly well the majority of the time, and is pretty content the majority of the time. He is still not a fan of pooping, but he seems to be going a bit less than he used to. He's the love of my life, for sure.

Jeffrey's 1 month Stats/Milestones:

• over 9lb and about 23 in.
• wearing 0-3 month clothes
• can hold his head up for at least a minute
• lifts his head and switches sides during tummy time
• can focus his eyes and follow an object (if it holds an interest to him)
• coo's and makes the cutest contented sigh (ie: my favorite noise in the world)
• is starting to smile when we smile at him, mostly in the mornings
• brings his hands together; getting better at arm movement overall

Santa, meet Jeffrey...

My hospital has a support group for new moms (birth-12 months) every Wednesday morning, and today was the Christmas party! I got him all dressed up for the holidays (and myself, as well) and took him to play with some of the other kids. Low and behold, Santa showed up! Thankfully, I had my camera, so we have his first time to meet the infamous Santa Claus. He liked him- fascinated by the mass amount of hair, I think. Or, it may have been that he spotted the bunch of balloons on the ceiling right as I took his picture. haha. Either way, he's cute. He even got a stuffed duck for his very first present from Santa. There was a book exchange at the party, too, and he got a new Dr. Seuss book that we didn't have yet! Success!

Speaking of book exchanges, Jeffrey loves his two new books from his secret elf! Even though she's a little old for him, he may still have a tiny crush ;)

Pictures with Santa!!

Bottle- C+

I wouldn't classify our introduction to the bottle last night as a fail, but it definitely was no success. He had moments where he was just not having it, as well as moments where he was eating just fine. It did take him a bit to figure out what was going on, though. I was crouched off in the room so that he wouldn't see me and want me, but I could see what was going on. It was tremendously harder on me than I thought it would be. Seeing him cry because he wanted his mommy was SO tough. He finished the 2oz, we waited a bit, and then I fed him. Obviously, the 2oz was not enough. How the heck do people know how much to feed their kid?!? It was fine, though, because it made me happy to pop him back on and be all snuggly with him. He was in a much better mood afterwards. We shall have attempt #2 on Wednesday. We're trying to ease into this to make it easier on him (and me, too, obviously).

Finally!

Today, at 3 weeks and 3 days old, that nasty umbilical cord finally fell off. I had been wondering if it ever would. Of course, we still have a few days of healing and such left until we can see what that belly button has in store for us. I'm so glad that we're finally to that point, though. Jony just went and changed his diaper and called for me to come see the nasty little thing laying there on the changing pad. I've never been so excited to see something so gross! It had been oozing the past few days (gross) and staining the very tops of his diaper covers, so I'm glad that we can wash those and not have to worry about that anymore.

Sad thing: he's definitely not a newborn anymore. He'll be one month this coming Saturday!!!

3 week PP appointment

So, I was terrified about anything going on down there. It wasn't bad at all, though. Phew. Everything looks great- healing just as it should be by this point. My stitches are all still there, but there are no signs of infection. They should be gone by my next appointment which will be a bit after 6 weeks due to the holidays- January 6th. I'm not complaining. At this point, I'm really not ready to hear that I'm cleared for sex yet. Although, I'd love to use a tampon! My PP bleeding has gotten substantially better over the last few days, so I'm hoping that I'm nearing the end. I'm tired of it. We discussed birth control, but we're just going to be using charting/condoms since my body has rejected every form of birth control I've ever taken. I just don't want to risk it anymore, especially since we wouldn't be horrified if we got pregnant again. I'd prefer to not until Jeffrey is about 1 year and weaned, but it wouldn't be devastating. The birthing center at my hospital is going to be completely redone in around 18 months, so I'd love to wait to make sure I'm having my second in the new fancy center! I'm also back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Still not my pre-pregnancy body, though. That will come later. So far, so good!

Newborn Photos

Jony and I decided that we could do these ourselves. They're not spectacular in any regards, but they captured our little man in his tiny cuteness. Though, he's not so tiny anymore- he's almost 8.5lb!?! Enjoy our little babe.

Not a great picture since he moved his hand, but look at that adorable smile! I can't wait for him to flash it to us all the time.

A New Adventure

Today, I became friends with my breast pump. Since I've learned that supply is the highest in the morning, I decided to designate that as my pumping time. So, after Jeffrey had some breakfast, I waited about an hour and then sat and did my thing. Time goes by MUCH quicker when you're actually breastfeeding. I pumped for a long 15 minutes (although it is fascinating to watch it all go down, but I'm sure I'll get over that real quick) and got about 2.5oz! Not too bad, I think. But, how much does he eat in a feeding?!? I have no clue! This is one of the reasons I fear introducing the bottle. That, and the irrational thought that he'll no longer what to breastfeed anymore. I know it must be done, though. Both for emergency sake and for when I return to my part-time job in January. The plan is for me to pump every morning this week, and we're going to introduce the bottle next week- probably at the pre-bedtime feeding (at which I'll pump then, as well). We'll see how it goes! We have a ton of bottles to go through since my niece was formula fed. Gotta make sure we have a slow releasing nipple!

Oh, and he slept well again last night. YAY!

yay!

TWO four hour stretches last night- woo-hoo! Granted, there was an hour of wake time after the second feeding, but that's why we have husbands. It felt SO nice to get some decent amount of sleep. I'm hoping that this continues and that my milk supply is now up to the new demands. Especially since we're approaching new territory: a full week of work for Jony. Eek!

This is rough

First off, some good news: his eye infection is healed! It's so nice to see those beautiful blue-gray eyes again (that are just like his daddy's, so I'm hoping they don't change). He's much happier about it, too.

However, my little sleeper doesn't so much like to sleep anymore. I'm exhausted. We knew we were too lucky when he was sleeping in 4-6 hour stretches at night. I'm pretty sure we're amidst a growth spurt. He's been waking up about every 1.5-2.5 hours for some hardcore munching. THEN, he stays awake for about 45 minutes. Oh, the tiredness. I just ate my oatmeal breakfast, and I'm hoping that my milk supply catches up quickly to his needs so we can get some rest again.

Exclusive breastfeeding is hard work. I'm living my life in 2 hour increments, approximately. Since it's slightly varied when he actually wants to eat, when it gets close to that- I can't do anything but wait for the call. I haven't showered in like 4 days- yuck. Don't get me wrong- I love our special time, but it is very hard. Especially at night when I'm extremely exhausted. I know it will get easier, and I'm ready for it.

I do love this little man, though. I knew I would, but I never knew it would be this much. Seeing Jony with him does things to my heart that I cannot explain, also. As tough as it all is, there's never a moment that I don't want to do it.

Here's some pictures, as requested. We've been using our nice camera, so it's not as convenient for me to upload. Sorry!

2 weeks old!

My little munchkin is already 2 weeks old! Hard to believe. He's still doing great. If last night is an indicator, then he has his days and nights down. He went to bed about 11pm (takes after his parents) and slept until 5am! We're dumb and didn't go to sleep until after midnight, but it was still a good stretch of sleep. Granted, he was wide awake when he got up for about 2 hours. He finally went back to bed and gave me another three hours. His eye is looking SO much better. It doesn't get nearly as crusty and disgusting anymore, and he can open it so much easier! He should be back in business in no time! I'm ready, as I'm not a fan of eyes. In fact, they horrify me. I guess motherhood changes some things- I would have never guessed that I would be rubbing a q-tip along someones eyeball. Ugh.

Today is a sad and terrifying day. Jony is back at work. He looked so sad when he left, but it'll be nice for him to get out and about. He's not very good at being at home all the time. I have a onesie that says "My Daddy Loves Me" that he'll be dressed in waiting for daddy's arrival- he'll like that. It's strange to think that it's just me being responsible for this little thing. We're taking an adventure out to Target today, so that's scary, too!

As for now, he requests food. Gotta keep him growing!