My "Must Have's" (so far)!

We've made it through 6 weeks! Whew! It's been a busy month and a half, but a good one. There's been a lot of learning going on- from both baby and parents! Not much sleep, and lots of kisses and cuddles. :o)

Here's some of my must have's that have been lifesavers for me during these first few weeks:

Graco Swing

My little man loves to swing! I try not to put him in there too much so he wont become dependant on it to sleep, but I think he's got some reflux going on right now so propping him up in his swing is the only thing that is comforting to him right now. Also, if he's tired at all, it will just lull him to sleep and calm him down. This how I get to take a shower in the morning!

Play Mats

I have two play mats and Jack just loves them! He bats at the toys, talks and laughs at them, and is mesmorized by the light up toy that makes music and noises. He's so cute when he's playing and chilling on them!

Gripe Water

This has saved me numerous times during the night when Jack gets super fussy due to gas or upset stomach. It also gets rid of hiccups!

Binky

I know a lot of people dont like to use pacifers anymore, but I dont care... they work for me and for Jack. He loves them. They calm him down and he goes to sleep with them really well. (They also say using a pacifer at night can reduce the risk of SIDS) He likes the MAM and NUK brands.

Dr. Brown's Bottle

 

I am exclusively breastfeeding right now, but Jack is a horrible latcher, and he likes to eat small portions often... and he takes forever to eat! So going out in public it's nice to pump and have a bottle on hand! These ones seem to work really well and he took to it right away. 

Look at that cute little dimple! 

Here he is loving his play mat!

One Month

ONE MONTH

Mr. Jack you are one month old! (well, Monday officially you were a month old) 

A month has flown by so fast, I can't believe it's the middle of August already.

Here's some things about you from your first month:

• You slept a LOT in the first two weeks of your life. 
• You preferred to be alone in your bed those first two weeks.
• You now only sleep in about 2 hour increments at night. Maybe 3 during the day if we are lucky.
• This week your weighing about 10 lbs! 
• This week you have officially outgrown your newborn clothes, but most of the 0-3 month close are still way too big for you. So you only have a couple outfits that actually fit you!
• You love to nurse (although we still have to use the shield because you wont latch onto the "real thing") and will nurse for an hour at a time. 
• You take a bottle well- which has been handy for going places, but I'm going to have to work on getting the right amount in the bottle. Last night I pumped about 2.5 ounces and that wasn't quite enough for you.
• You love your binky and go to sleep with it the majority of the time. If your not hungry, it will usually calm you down.
• You do have some digestion/tummy issues, particularly at night. You grunt and strain and wiggle around from about 2:00 am on. We are working on changing my diet to see if that will help. I'm going to try swaddling you tight in your diaper tonight to see if that will make a difference too. (I've read swaddling helps with digestion?)
• You are impatient and want what you want right now! Especially when your hungry!
• You have sensitive skin, just like both mommy and daddy. Your poor little face broke out in baby acne around 2 weeks, but its starting to clear up now.
• You are holding your head up good and like to be walked around facing out so you can see.
• You are smiling more and cooing at us.
• You love to be held in a ball up against our chests.
• You love your swing and your playmat. You play and swing in the morning while mommy gets ready for the day.
• You are just the cutest darned thing. :o)

After The Birth ~ Hospital Stay

After The Birth & Coming Home

Whew... life with a newborn is busy~ I think I've tried to sit down and update this blog every day for the past two weeks and it just doesnt get done. But here I am... and hoping that Jack stays sleeping beside me for at least another 30 minutes. :o)

If you missed the birth story, you can find it here. This is a continuation on what happened at the hospital and coming home:

During my pregnancy, I had an idea in my head of how I wanted the birth to go~ I did voice that opinion quite regularly might I add~ but of course I knew my birth plan had to be flexible. Nobody's birth goes quite exactly as planned, at least not most of the time. I knew I wanted to to go to the hospital alone with Jacob and not tell anyone, I knew I would want an epidural, and of course I wanted to have the baby placed in my arms immediately after I delivered, do skin on skin and start breastfeeding right away. I wanted to have at least 2 hours alone with baby to get adjusted and for him to learn how to eat. Then, when I was ready, and looking decent, I would let all the visitors and family come that wanted to.

Well, that is not exactly how it went. As you read in my birth story, due to Jackson not breathing, they could not place him in my arms immediately, and in fact it took quite awhile, about 30-45 minutes before I got to hold him and by then he was all wrapped up so I did not get to do skin on skin. I was so out of it from the 3 hours of pushing that I did not even think to unwrap him and do it myself. Both sides of family had been in the waiting room for hours, my parents had been there all night, so they were all itching to come in. I knew they were out there, and I did feel bad that they'd been waiting for so long so they all got to come in right after. I was NOT looking my best, but oh well. I didnt realize exactly how "rough" I looked until I looked at a picture of myself later. Wow- hospital family picture will NOT be framed. I think somewhere around 6:00 the nurses kicked people out so I could try and feed Jack. So about 3 or so hours AFTER I delivered him. Again, not really what I had wanted, but with me being so tired and dazed I just didnt even think about it until after. Breastfeeding did not come easy, he would not latch on, and the nurses really didnt give me any support or much time. {But that's another post.}

We had a steady flow of visitors until about 8:30 pm that night. Man, were we tired. Finally I was helped out of bed and took a quick shower, and Jackson got his footprints done and a bath, and we switched rooms. We actually got pretty good sleep that first night at the hospital. The nurses did take Jackson for a couple hours at a time during the night to let us sleep. 

We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights after I delivered. Being in a lot of pain and laying in a hospital bed was not fun, it was really hard to get up and down without help, but by that 3rd day I did feel better. Wednesday morning we woke up early anticipating going home. When we got the ok from the doctor and the pediatrician we got everything together and eagerly yet nervously made our one hour trek home! Jack slept the whole way home, and we settled in quite nicely when we arrived at our house. We hadnt told anyone we were home yet so it was nice to get a little shut eye before having people over later that night. 

That first week home was hard! Although he actually slept better at night than he does now at a month old, my hormones were still going crazy, I was not feeling great, not used to the sleep deprivation yet, Jack not breastfeeding well-- and a steady flow of people coming over was a rough combo for awhile. I had a few breakdowns let's just say! But... we prevailed and here we are... one month later! Still sleep deprived, still trying to figure out his cries and why he wont sleep at night and how to fix his "gas" issues, but am loving this little guy more and more everyday!