This is for all parties involved here. Thanksgiving was great. There was lots of food, as usual. My sister and I had a great time together. It was also nice to see Jeffy's sister and brother-in-law from NY. I barely held Owen at all on Thanksgiving, pretty much just to feed him.
Speaking of feeding Owen, he's going through a growth spurt right now...which means he's eating every 90 minutes-two hours. Thank goodness for the nipple shield. It saves me quite a bit of pain right now. We have definately gotten the nursing thing figured out. At last week's group, Owen had gained (drumroll please) 10 ounces! He should be over 10 pounds by now. probably close to 10.5 pounds if the trend continues. I look at him, knowing that he's about the size right now that his daddy was when he was born and wonder how Jeffy's mom did it.
Owen is really starting to smile a lot. I've found that walking my fingers up his chest and then tapping his nose gets him to smile consistently. If I'm having a bad day and he smiles at me, it's so much better!
Tree season started on Thursday. Jeffy's family runs several Christmas tree lots. Jeff is in charge of one, his brother another, and some people from church the third. On Sunday, he called me and said, "Hi, Honey. Now I don't want you to worry but I'm at TG (a hospital)." Turns out he managed to cut his finger really good and deep with his knife as he was trying to jab it into some wood. The lock on the (jack)knife was either released or released on its own and the blade swung around and cut him. He had surgery last night to repair the tendon that he cut 60% of the way through.
We had our first date since Owen was born a week ago. We went to see Harry Potter, and left Owen with Jeffy's parents. It was tough leaving him, even though I knew he was in great hands. I nearly cried as we were driving toward the movie theatre. The good thing with nursing him is that for my own comfort, I can't be away from him for too long. Yesterday was the longest I've been away from him - 4 hours and boy could I tell!
Today it snowed! Not much, and it didn't stick around for too long, but hey, snow is snow!
11.29.2005
11.20.2005
A Month Old! (and a week)
Owen turned a month old a week ago. I can't believe he's getting close to six weeks old! The time really is flying. He has some new tricks - he's cooing and smiling on purpose now! He is also gaining weight, something that had been a problem for the first four weeks. Babies are supposed to regain their birth weight by the time they are 2 weeks old. He did it in four weeks. We went on an exhausting three-step regimen of breast feeding (30-40 minutes including burping time), bottle feeding either expressed breast milk formula to suppliment what he got at the breast (10 minutes), and finally pumping milk to increase my supply (15-20 minutes including set-up, and putting the milk in the fridge). If you've don the math, that's around an hour or more. Then we got to start the whole rigamaroll again in one to to hours. This was being done round the clock. The good news is that it worked. We started on a Wednesday evening following an appointment with lactation at the hospital (Owen weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz.) and by Friday noon, he had gained 7 oz.!!! Go Little Man!!!! He has steadily gained an ounce each day since then. Too bad it took us 5 weeks to get nursing really established.
One nice thing at the hospital is a free mommy/baby group that is run by a lactation nurse. We go each Wednesday morning and weigh Owen to see what he's gained from the previous week. It was at this group that we found out that he wasn't gaining enough weight. It's been great to get together with other new moms. After group, we go out to lunch. Last week they were going to go to Olive Garden, but I didn't have enough cash on me for that (nor did I have the check book and I don 't have a credit card) so they offered to go to Jack in the Box instead so I could come. We sort of took over an entire wall of the restaurant between the 7 of us, plus babies, and strollers. I'll be going to the group until I go back to work.
We had Owen's one month check up with his pediatrician last Monday. He grew 2.5 inches in his first month - he's up to 23" long now. (fromt he 50th percentile to the 90th in 4.5 weeks!) He dropped percentiles in weight, but that is under control and will change by the next appointment.
I go to my doctor on Wednesday for my six week check-up. I'm hoping that because nursing has JUST been established that my doctor will extend my need for leave through Christmas. If not, I'll have to go back the first full week in December. I'm not looking forward to that prospect. I'm not ready! I really don't want to interrupt the nursing right now. It's at too critical a point. I'll keep you all posted.
We took our first professional family pictures last Monday also. Owen was so good. He opened his eyes on the last picture, but was pretty much asleep for the rest of the pictures. After pictures were taken, we noticed that Santa was at the mall (and there was no line at all)so we had a picture taken with Santa. We got the package that had four pictures in it - all 3.5 x 5 - one for each of my parents, one for Jeffy's parents, and one for us. It's darling! I can't wait to see what Santa brings for Owen this year!
My sister comes out on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. She has yet to meet Owen. Jeffy's sister and brother-in-law are also coming out on Wednesday and they also have not yet met Owen. Needless to say, he will be spending most of the time Thursday with these two aunts and his uncle. I'll probably only get him back to feed him or put him in the back bedroom to sleep or chill out if he starts getting too overstimmed.
I'll try to post pictures this weekend from Thanksgiving and my sister's visit.
One nice thing at the hospital is a free mommy/baby group that is run by a lactation nurse. We go each Wednesday morning and weigh Owen to see what he's gained from the previous week. It was at this group that we found out that he wasn't gaining enough weight. It's been great to get together with other new moms. After group, we go out to lunch. Last week they were going to go to Olive Garden, but I didn't have enough cash on me for that (nor did I have the check book and I don 't have a credit card) so they offered to go to Jack in the Box instead so I could come. We sort of took over an entire wall of the restaurant between the 7 of us, plus babies, and strollers. I'll be going to the group until I go back to work.
We had Owen's one month check up with his pediatrician last Monday. He grew 2.5 inches in his first month - he's up to 23" long now. (fromt he 50th percentile to the 90th in 4.5 weeks!) He dropped percentiles in weight, but that is under control and will change by the next appointment.
I go to my doctor on Wednesday for my six week check-up. I'm hoping that because nursing has JUST been established that my doctor will extend my need for leave through Christmas. If not, I'll have to go back the first full week in December. I'm not looking forward to that prospect. I'm not ready! I really don't want to interrupt the nursing right now. It's at too critical a point. I'll keep you all posted.
We took our first professional family pictures last Monday also. Owen was so good. He opened his eyes on the last picture, but was pretty much asleep for the rest of the pictures. After pictures were taken, we noticed that Santa was at the mall (and there was no line at all)so we had a picture taken with Santa. We got the package that had four pictures in it - all 3.5 x 5 - one for each of my parents, one for Jeffy's parents, and one for us. It's darling! I can't wait to see what Santa brings for Owen this year!
My sister comes out on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. She has yet to meet Owen. Jeffy's sister and brother-in-law are also coming out on Wednesday and they also have not yet met Owen. Needless to say, he will be spending most of the time Thursday with these two aunts and his uncle. I'll probably only get him back to feed him or put him in the back bedroom to sleep or chill out if he starts getting too overstimmed.
I'll try to post pictures this weekend from Thanksgiving and my sister's visit.
11.05.2005
Into a Routine
As the title says, we are getting into a routine. It's nice because it offers some predictability. Owen continues to mature and grow each day. It's fascinating to watch. This week, we introduced a bottle (filled with expressed breast milk) which he attacks each time he gets it. At this point, it's just one feeding a day, though some days he doesn't get enough from the bottle and still feeds for quite a while on the breast. We also introduced a 'plug' this week. He'll suck on it for a little bit, then spit it out and be fine. Yesterday he almost managed to get it back into his mouth on his own! I was amazed. He's a pretty smart little bugger. One of his favorite places to be is in his bouncy chair. He's even managed to get the music started on his own a couple of times by pulling on one of the fishies that hangs down.
We are still awakened by him only once or twice at night, which is a real blessing. As of last night, we are officially shieldless on all feedings! (I was using the shield at night just to save myself a little bit of pain. I'm getting tougher. The latch-on is still pretty painful, but once he gets going, it doesn't hurt, unless he decides to bite down.
Speaking of biting down, it's my turn to bite down on some food. Hope you enjoy the pictures. As the caption on one of them says, he's three weeks old in both of them.
We are still awakened by him only once or twice at night, which is a real blessing. As of last night, we are officially shieldless on all feedings! (I was using the shield at night just to save myself a little bit of pain. I'm getting tougher. The latch-on is still pretty painful, but once he gets going, it doesn't hurt, unless he decides to bite down.
Speaking of biting down, it's my turn to bite down on some food. Hope you enjoy the pictures. As the caption on one of them says, he's three weeks old in both of them.
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