I’m finally getting around to updating about my new and
exciting life with little Michael at home! I (wrongly) assumed that he would
mostly sleep all day and that I would have all the time and energy in the world
to blog about him and the adorable things he does. Having this little munchkin
around is quite time consuming but it is 110% worth it. He puts a huge smile on
my face all day every day and I really cannot imagine life without him.
We were all very much excited to come home on Thursday, but
a bit nervous as the nurses wouldn’t be around to help or tell us if we were
doing something wrong. The night went really well; he woke up on schedule for
his feedings every 2-3 hours. I would breastfeed, David would burp him and
change the dirty diapers. Perfect system. Unfortunately, M’s daddy had to go
back to VA late that night/morning which made me even more nervous and anxious
about having to take care of M all by myself without any help. Saturday morning
was Michael’s first doctor’s visit. Nothing really exciting happened, he was
weighed, measured and his circumcision and umbilical cord stump were inspected.
He cried the entire time; poor thing doesn’t like doctors very much. I had to
breastfeed him in the car in the parking lot afterwards in order to calm him
down and fill his little belly so he would take a nice nap for the ride home.
His next appointment is in 2 weeks.
Temperament:
Michael is the most peaceful little baby. Without
exaggerating, he rarely cries. I can count on one hand the amount of times he’s
had a cry session since being home and even those times that he did cry, it was
pretty short lived. He is awake for a few random hours throughout the day
during which he loves to just look around and hang out either on his boppy pillow
or in his bouncer. He is incredibly alert and is very good at focusing on
objects or faces. His eyes will be wide open and he’ll turn his head towards
sounds or whoever is talking to him. Such a smart little baby already!
When he is upset or wants something (the boob) he makes a
little “ahh!” sound which gets increasingly loud and demanding if it goes
ignored. He kind of sounds like a squawking bird when he does it. It’s super
cute!
He loves being held, although I’m pretty sure it’s because
I’m the one with the boobs that feed him. In the mornings he likes to hang out
on my bed in his boppy pillow and look out the window or take a little catnap
while I wake myself up completely. He then comes and chills in his bouncer in
the dining room while I eat breakfast. The whole time he just observes his
surroundings, taking it all in.
Feeding:
While we were at the hospital, I couldn’t breastfeed right
away due to the infections/fevers I had, so he was started on formula from the
bottle. He had a lot of trouble latching on and feeding him was quite difficult
and caused us and the doctors to worry. Once he got the boob, however, he
became a total pro at feeding and now refuses the bottle entirely. I
exclusively breastfeed him and he loves it. For the majority of the day/night
he is on a good schedule of feeding every 2-3 hours or so. However, he recently
began cluster feeding in the mornings, so from about 5am to 10am, he will want
to nurse every hour to hour and a half. It’s extremely exhausting so when he
sleeps in between those feedings, I do as well. I’ll still usually feel like a
zombie afterwards, but after that, he’ll take a huge nap for about 4 hours or
so, allowing me to shower, eat, rest, update my blog, etc. I spoke to a nurse
about this, and based on his weight gain, he’s just going through his 2 week
old growth spurt! Yesterday I decided to start giving him a bottle of pumped
milk 1x per day in order to help him practice his bottle latch. I won’t always
be home to feed him in the future, so it would be good for him to be capable of
taking a bottle. Overall, it went well, but he still needed a lot of chin
support. I’m not worried, he’ll get the hang out it!
In between feeds, he is very good at producing massive poopy
diapers/wet diapers. So I know he’s definitely getting enough to eat. He is
also a pro at burping and has only spit up once.
Sleeping:
He is a great sleeper! He naps regularly and while he
sometimes fights the urge to sleep, once he does fall asleep, he is a deep
sleeper so I don’t really need to tip toe around him. His favorite places to
sleep are in his bassinet, on my chest or on his boppy but I only let him sleep
on the boppy if I’m next to him…just in case! He makes all kinds of funny
noises when he sleeps too…grunts, snorts, snores, coos, etc. As I mentioned before, he’ll usually nap
between feedings, sometimes he stays awake and hangs out, but he takes a long
nap around lunch time for about 4 hours. It’s a nice break for me.
Health/Milestones:
Birth:
Height: 22 inches
Weight: 7lb 4oz.
9 days:
Height: 22.25 inches
Weight: 7lb 13oz.
17 days:
Height: 22.25 inches
Weight: 9lbs! (I weighed him on my scale, so this isn’t 100%
accurate, but based on his size, I believe it!)
Despite his rough start on life, he is an extremely healthy
baby and as far as I can tell, he is exactly where he needs to be at almost 3
weeks old. He makes eye contact, he is very alert, he turns his head towards
noises/face, and he has a whole ton of facial expressions that he tests out
throughout the day! He has smiled a whole bunch of times, and today he even
laughed! Although I don’t think he laughed consciously…I think it was more
reactive…possibly gas. Oh well, he’ll be laughing soon!
We started tummy time last week. I’m starting off with him
on my chest. He is so good at it and has such strong little neck muscles! He
can lift his head for about 3-5 seconds and turn it both ways. He lifts very
well, but is still learning to control lowering his head without slamming it
back down on my chest.
Size:
He still wears newborn size diapers and newborn size clothes
fit him perfectly. He is slowly growing into the 0-3 month size clothes, but
they are still a bit big on him.
Activities:
There isn’t a whole lot you can do with a newborn
considering how much they sleep, but everyday we do the following:
Hang out and talk (aka I just ramble on to him in my baby
voice)
Listen to music as I sing to him
Tummy time
Play mat time
Walk around the block
Sit outside once it’s cooler out
Sponge bath
Read a few books together
FEED
Updates:
Circumcision is completely healed, and 90% of the umbilical
cord has fallen off! Yay! (That thing was really nasty) I developed mastitis in
my right boob. SO painful, but now I’m on antibiotics so hopefully within a
couple of days it will be all gone.
Overall, I am LOVING life with Mr. Michael at home with me.
He is a beautiful baby and is perfect in every way! I love the time we spend
bonding and I could stare at him for hours on end. He has grown so much these
last 2.5 weeks and part of me wishes he could stay a cute little baby forever. I
love him SO much.
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