One Month Old

Technically he is five and a half weeks today, and more than likely I will be late on posting anyway for future months!  This will be a somewhat boring post because there isn't a lot going on with a one month old except eating, crying and sleeping. 

 

5 week pic

 

G trying to help

 

 

Height & Weight:  He is currently at 11.69 pounds and 22 inches long.  He has grown 2 inches in 5 weeks!  Holy smokes!  His weight is in the 81st percentile and his length is in the 53rd percentile.  Hopefully he will keep growing to distribute that weight.  Although I love his chunky little legs and cheeks.  Garrett was chunky until after the age of two and then he thinned on out.  He is still SOLID...ha!

 

Health:  We went for our check up today and we have an overall healthy baby.  As most of y'all know I was involved in a pregnancy study where they tracked me with exercise.  The study has continued to our babies at this point if we want to continue the study.  I decided to continue on with the study.  They performed an ultrasound on his heart, and EKG and MRI (from shoulders to knees).   I agreed since there was no radiation involved and they didn't have to put him to sleep, etc.  When we did the heart ultrasound they found a hole in his heart.  They said this is completely normal, but his was a teeny bit larger then what they normally see.  They said not to worry, but they want to follow back up when he is 6-7 months old.  So we will see what happens.

Our first three weeks were an adjustment and hard for everyone.  Carter was in pain (reflux/gas) and we were sleep deprived and couldn't figure out what was going on with him.  We went through three formulas and Zantac.  Experimented with rice (per our pediatrician)  and just kept at it.  He's still not good, but has improved a lot and that's all we can ask for.  The doctor increased his Zantac and said to keep on it through the weekend and if we haven't improved she has given us a new medication to start to see if that works.  We will see what happens!

Picture of the EKG...so many wires!

 

Sleep:  Oh sleep, how I have missed you and took you for granted.  Wow!  We forgot what the first bit is like.  Wow.  I have an AMAZING husband that I can't tell you how much I appreciate!  He is alternating nights with me.  We take turns every other night staying up with Carter.  This has worked out amazing for us (except not seeing each other at night as much).  The first three weeks were a crap shot and we were all over the place.  In the past couple of weeks we have seen improvement and as I said we will take improvement.  He has finally made it to every 3 hours pretty much at night time.  We have had the occasional 4 hour stretch which are so EXCITING!!!  We are just continuing on and know that eventually he will sleep through the night.  Being able to recoup every other night makes the biggest difference.

He is sleeping in a rocker (see previous post on blog) and it has helped so much.  We will see what happens when he goes to daycare and sleeps in a crib.  We will start transitioning to a crib around 4 months.  Or until he outgrows what he is sleeping in :-)

We started off swaddling him because G couldn't sleep without it. Well Carter didn't want it.  As soon as he gets control of his limbs I think he will sleep well in the crib, but he wakes himself up at this point.  At night time he is in a sleep sack. 

We currently do not have to rock him. G had to be rocked for 30-45 minutes before he would fall asleep so this is great for us. 

During the day he is in our arms a bit, but I've decided that I'm going to enjoy it.  He is our last baby and if we snuggle more than normal than so be it.  He will sleep by himself too (he currently has been in his sleeper for about and hour and a half) so that's OK with us.

 

Clothes/Diapers:  The boy busted out of newborn clothes after the first week.  He is pretty much in 3-6 month clothing.  He is in size 1 diapers. 

 

Social:  He has started smiling, giggling and cooing.  So awesome.  He is also able to reach out and grab things.  He knows my voice and will turn his head when he hears me.  It is going to be hard going back to work.  I have created a bond with him and will miss it tremendously.

 

Diet:  He is currently on GentleEase and is taking 4 ounces.  We have gas drops in each bottle along with 2tsp of rice.  He eats pretty much every three hours except at night time when he occasionally hits longer stretches.

 

Baby Gear Love:  At this point there isn't a lot to play with.  He loves black and white.  We have a play mat (pictured below)  for him to lay under that he will laugh and giggle with it.  I get so tickled listening to him giggle.  He also loves anything that crinkles. 

This is a picture of it. 

 

 

 

 

Crying:  It's not terrible.  He doesn't cry too too much, but when he does, be prepared!  He can flip in a heartbeat.  when he is angry you will know!  That little face goes beat red and the alarms go off!  Ha.  I can usually calm him within 5-10 minutes (that feel like 5-10 hours sometimes).  We have had times where he goes for 30 plus minutes.  We are hoping his medication will improve him.

 

Likes:  Loves baths, food and having his diaper changed.  He will sit in the bath and just chill.  He looks like a little old man sometimes in a hot tub!  Ha!  He enjoys sleeping in our arms.  He also burbs and farts like the big boys.  My life with boys will be loud and interesting!

 

Dislikes:  Sleeping on his own...ha.  We really have gotten better with this, but if he could sleep on his belly I think he would sleep for HOURS.  He sleeps so well.  But he can't safely sleep at this point on his belly.  Eventually when he can roll back and forth maybe he will become a stomach sleeper.

At first the sun was not his friend.  He wouldn't even open his eyes.  Now he will open them :-)

Not a huge fan of his car seat.  It's a 50/50 chance on if he will ride peacefully or scream. 

 

Milestones:  He can now focus on objects and reach and touch them.  He does amazing at holding his head up.  When we do tummy time he can lift that big head and turn from side to side!  He is sleeping longer by himself and at night.  We are not on a schedule by any means and don't plan on being on one anytime soon.  We are still in "survival" mode and just taking it day to day.

 

Firsts this month:  Well since he just came into the world, everything is new.  The smiles and giggling are what stand out.

 

What I'm thankful for:  God, family and friends FOR SURE!  I could not do this without all of them.  We typically listen to Christian music during the day.  It calms me and I think he does too.  I have also started reading Jesus Daily and it is point on!  I love it.  We are so fortunate to have family that lives in town.  Without them we would not have been able to be where we are!  Praise the Lord for them.  I am also thankful for a sweet five year old that LOVES his brother and does an amazing job dealing with the crying and new schedule of this new life.  I am so proud of him. 

 

Pictures from his first month:  sorry for the number

Snuggles and pure bliss

 

our burrito all wrapped up

 

this makes me laugh...see Josh in the background :-)

 

Making Carter a part of the family dinner experience.  Sometimes he cooperates, other times he is in our arms

 

Sandy showing some LOVE

 

Big Brother and Little Brother.  Crazy how much Carter has changed from this picture

 

Carter in his mittens because he would always scratch his face.  He doesn't wear them now

 

When Carter would just fall asleep anywhere!  Watching Tom and Jerry together

 

Smiles while falling asleep

 

 

Garrett enjoying Carter's toy as much as he does

 

Very alert!

 

He laid slept in a basinet for the first few weeks

 

 

Ugly cry...sometimes mommy would cry too.  ha

 

He loves to be naked

 

Love those big eyes!!!

 

This is good sleep, eyes rolling in the back of your head good.  scary looking but funny

 

 

Tummy time

 

Proof of how angry we can get

 

What you looking at?

 

Big brother love

 

First start of smiles

 

always has his fist up

 

 

Outdoor time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Today

Well it's been about five weeks and I just want to document how things are going and what life is like for us these days.

I'm going to be honest.  The first three weeks were so very hard.  We came home from the hospital and things seemed to be going great with Carter.  We would lay him down and poof he would go to sleep.  We thought that we had won the lottery and that we were going to have a great sleeper on our hands.  Well I guess he was just giving us a few days of peace before he piped up!  Ha! 

He was all over the place with sleep/eating etc.  He was looking like he was in pain a lot.  Not sure if it was gas or reflux or just adjusting to life outside the womb.  We were at the doctors office two or three times and we went through FOUR different formulas.  We started with what the hospital sent us home with.  Then we tried Gentle Ease from Enfamil.  He was still spitting up and acting as though he was in pain.  They switched us to Enfamil AR.  This seemed to be working the best but he was still acting unhappy and in pain.  From there we were switched to Nutramigen and prescribed Zantac.  This was kind of "the last option".  Well it worked great the first couple of days and then Carter started having diarrhea.  Apparently this is a side effect of this formula.  One step forward, two steps back.  We called the peds and they said to keep him on it for 10 days and if we weren't happy to switch back.  Well we made the decision to switch him back to GentleEase and continue the Zantac and add rice to his formula (the peds said we could do this before I get any backlash of starting rice early).  We would have never done this with the first baby, we would have left him on it until the 10th day.  This time we listened to our instincts and glad we did.  He still has tons of spit up, but doesn't seem "in pain" except occasionally.  We've decided to wait it out.

Right now we are waking Carter every three hours during the day.  He is so HUNGRY all the time.  Sometimes it's hard to get him to three hours.  It was also hard to figure out how much he is supposed to eat especially with the spit up.  Are we feeding him too much?  Not enough?  etc.  Right now (at 5 weeks, 6 Days old) he is eating 4 ounces of formula with 2tsp of rice and gas drops in each bottle.  For now this is working.

I try and do the eat, play, sleep with him.  It's hard.  Babies don't come with instruction booklets.  Sometimes he sleeps and then wants to sleep right after a bottle.  Doesn't he know he's supposed to play now!  I've started now just going with the flow and doing my best.

 

 

 

These were taken in the first few weeks.  He looks so different now. 

 

A "typical" day for Carter and I right now is kind of boring, but I'm enjoying.  I watch Army Wives when he is sleeping.  We got a subscription to Netflix before I went on maternity leave.  Best decision ever (or not).  I have always wanted to watch Scandal, so I watched the first two seasons.  Dying to see season three!  Now I'm watching Army Wives.  OMG  Amazing.  Love it!  I also try to do something productive each day.  I've cleaned a closet out, cleaned out our freezer, etc.  We do a ton of laundry, vacuum, and wash and clean bottles and make bottles.  I think I could make bottles in my sleep. 

He is sleeping in this amazing sleeper I found through another blog. 

 

We had started him off in a bassinet, but with his reflux and spitting up it wasn't working.  We tried a wedge to elevate him but that wasn't great either.  He would wiggle his way down and wake himself up.  The reviews were amazing on this and said their kids slept so good in it (for like HOURS).  Well he will go about 3 hours and we will take it!  Praise!!

He has started to giggle lately and it melts my heart.  We have good days and we have days that make you want to open a bottle of wine at 10am.  Ha! 

With Garrett I wanted to go back to work by 8 weeks.  I just couldn't figure it out and needed to go back to work.  For the first 3.5 weeks I felt the same with Carter.  This past week though we have started having a good time.  I am truly going to miss being with him daily.  We are so fortunate to have an amazing daycare and I love his teacher.  Ms. Connie was Garrett's teacher and helped us so much!  She is incredible!  I feel so confident leaving Carter with her.  It will be an adjustment for sure.

This week I plan on doing a one month update this week.  As part of the pregnancy study I did Carter is now in a study as well.  He had an EKG done, a heart ultrasound and an MRI this week.  They hope to repeat again at 6 months and a year.  The study could go further than that, but they are just in the beginning stages right now.