It has flown by! There were a lot of difficulties, but it has been so sweet and rewarding too.
We discovered he had tongue and lip ties, so we had those revised at 7 days. That made it so we could finally nurse without a nipple shield, but it was still difficult, and I struggled with cracks, plugged ducts, a milk blister, and mastitis. Mastitis is AWFUL. I woke up at 1am with chills, a headache and a fever and pain on the left side. We did lots of nursing, but the pain spread to my right side, and I spent about 24 hours fighting it with herbs and natural remedies. I am very thankful to have avoided antibiotics! It tried to flare up again a few days later, but after a visit to my naturopath to get even more remedies, I think it's knocked out, and now I know to be more diligent about clearing blocked ducts!
Thankfully, in spite of all those problems with nursing, Timothy has never had any difficulty gaining weight! He was already getting into 3 month size clothes at 3 weeks old! At his one month visit, he weighed 10 lbs, 5 oz, which was just 5 days after the LC had weighed him and estimated that he should weigh between 10-2 and 10-4. He gained a whole ounce per day!
He's very strong lifting his head, it's really neat to watch during tummy time how he seems to get stronger every day! He's also become very interested in using his hands, grabbing things, and even tried to push my hand away when I was washing his face! He is tall enough that when I lay him on me to try to burp, he can "jump" off my legs and bang his head on my chin, and he likes to do that a lot. He was active in utero, and he is still very active! He's going to be fun to keep up with once he's mobile!
He makes some pretty funny expressions, especially when working on poops, but I'm not sure we've caught a real smile yet. There are definitely some that look like smiles, but when accompanied with grunts, concentration and a red face, I'm pretty sure they're not social smiles. He is very vocal, with some cute "aaah"'s and one adorable little sound that made me realize why people say babies "coo." That's exactly the way to describe it, even though it's an unmistakable and inimitable baby sound. He also grunts and snorts like a little pig, makes a "phfff" sound through his lips, and blows bubbles. When he's starting to wake up for feeding he makes whiny little "eh" sounds. Matt jokes that girls are supposed to be talkative, not boys!
Timothy loves looking at things, he is fascinated by the ceiling fans (very dark brown against our light ceilings) and sunny windows. He makes great eye contact, and will hang out looking at me and "talking" which is so fun! He also enjoys a crocheted black-and-white bullseye that my great-grandmother crocheted for me when I was a baby. We hung it from his swing mobile, so he gets to look at it as he rocks. The mobile doesn't move quite as far as the swing, so he has to track it, turning his head a little (our swing goes side to side) back and forth to keep it in focus.
Car rides and walks are great, as long as the motion doesn't stop! We'd been doing a lot of walks in the stroller, but Matt wore him in the Lillebaby carrier just the other day, and that was great, he liked snuggling with Daddy and napping while we walked. Much better than being buckled into the car seat and stuck in the stroller! I've also been wearing him in the Boba wrap, and he took a great nap yesterday while I took a short walk, and then did some chores around the house.
Matt is the best at swaddling in blankets, and Timothy always calms down when Daddy wraps him up and bounces him, sometimes with shushing. We have a yoga ball that is great for sitting and bouncing. Timothy is having more fussy evenings, and fights sleep for his pre-dinner nap, and fights going to sleep at bedtime too.
We just recently started attempting to establish a bedtime routine, and that is still a bit rough. Sometime around 8pm (last night he decided it should be 7:30) he gets his bedtime feeding in the nursery. We have an amber nightlight that isn't supposed to suppress melatonin production, a diffuser with lavender (approved by his pediatrician), a humidifier and a white noise machine. I change him, swaddle him tightly in a velcro swaddle sack and feed him until he's practically asleep, rock him a few more minutes until he is asleep, and then try to put him in the crib. That's when he somehow goes from conked out, to awake, and we have to start over, with another couple minutes of nursing to calm him down, more rocking, more careful attempts to put him down in the crib without waking... it gets very trying. Last night "bedtime" took an hour and 45 minutes. But then he slept until midnight, and that's when I transfer him to his co-sleeper next to our bed. Lately he's been waking at midnight and 4am, then getting me up around 7-8am. Which really isn't bad! Especially since he tends to go right back to sleep after each nighttime feeding.
Overall, it's been a bit of a bumpy month for Mommy and Daddy, but Timothy has been thriving, and we've definitely been enjoying the cuteness! The trying times have really been growing our patience, but he is quite a joy, and a sweet little man. I'm so blessed with my two wonderful guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment