Two Months Old

*I started writing this on 4.14.14 and, well, time just got away from me. Imagine that.*

The little fella turned two months old last week!

He had his 2 month well check and was exactly 12 lbs (40th percentile) and 23 inches (50th percentile.) He is keeping right on track with his growth curve. He got two vaccinations and will continue to get a couple each month until he's mostly caught up. I am just more comfortable spacing them out a little bit.

He is getting very responsive -- he turns toward our voices and smiles and "talks" to us and a couple of times over the weekend he came thisclose to a real chuckle! He holds his head up pretty well when he is upright, but gets really mad when he has to have tummy time. He loves to watch the mobile over his crib and tracks it well, and just recently has become enthralled with the toy bar over his bouncy seat. He's been trying very hard over the past couple of weeks to get his hand to his mouth and is getting a little better at that each day. I think there's a good chance that he may end up a thumb-sucker like Peabody, but we'll see how that pans out.

His hair is filling back in, as dark as it was before. His eyes are still dark but they are not turning brown as I had hoped. I'm not sure what is going to happen with them. In some lights they are dark dark blue with a hint of brown. In other lights they are hazel-ish. In our living room they look brown. So I don't know! It's weird!

He consistently turns his head to his left when lying on his back, so we are working on encouraging him to look the other way so he doesn't develop torticollis. I'm pretty sure the Boogie had it at around the same age -- hers was never diagnosed and with some help from us it self-corrected.

He is still randomly napping throughout the day though he is awake for longer stretches of time. He still sleeps great at night, usually giving me one 6-7 hour stretch then another 3 hour one after a diaper change and feeding. He's going to bed rather late -- as he starts consolidating his daytime sleep I will work with him toward an earlier bedtime. Overall, though, I have no complaints about his sleep habits. I know it can change at any time so I'm enjoying it for as long as it lasts ... and holding out hope that it never changes!

We've been really blessed with clothes for him. His cousin O was born in March, so SIL Deanna loaned us a couple of bins of seasonal- and size-appropriate clothes. Then someone else gave me a box full of cute little boy stuff, so we are pretty set for a while. I'm so thankful for hand-me-downs. And of course he's gotten quite a few new outfits too, including some from Scotland. Even our elderly German neighbor Oma went shopping for him which I thought was so sweet.

Due to little man having some *ahem* digestive issues, I have been on an elimination diet for almost two weeks -- no dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, or nuts. In that time I have learned that there is dairy in almost everything, there is soy in even more things, and wheat is hidden in surprising places. I was definitely skeptical about it working, but the little fella has shown some improvement, though I am hopeful that it is just coincidental. Wednesday will be two full weeks of the elimination diet and then I will start adding things back to see if he regresses. Not that I'm counting down or anything but Wednesday is less than 48 hours away. I am having trouble deciding which I want to eat first, eggs or wheat. First world problems ...

He's still on Zantac for silent reflux. I'd hoped that completely eliminating dairy and soy from my diet would take care of that, but I accidentally skipped a couple of his doses and he was pretty unhappy for a couple of days after each time, so I think he needs to be on it for a little while longer. That stuff is nasty tasting and it's becoming a struggle to get it into him! He is getting really good at spitting it back out. Poor guy, I feel so badly for him but I'd rather fight to get the meds into him twice a day than have him be uncomfortable and unhappy 24/7.


4.30.14
Goodness, how time flies.

I've added eggs, wheat, and soy back into my diet and while I've seen a little bit of regression for the most part he seems to be tolerating it well. In a few more days I will try some dairy. I don't know what I've missed the most -- half-and-half in my coffee, or cheese, or ice cream. I sure hope that he can handle dairy! Meanwhile coconut milk for cereal and baking has been tolerable. Processed tomato products have made it on the forbidden food list, though fresh tomato in small amounts seems to be okay. Seriously, though, look at this face:

I'd live on chicken and rice for this little guy!

Anyway, the only reason I postponed publishing this post for so long was because I have a bunch of pictures on Eric's old iPhone that I need to transfer to the computer so I can post them, but this has waited long enough so I will settle for cell phone pics this time.

"I'll fight you!"

And saving the best for last, this is my FAVORITE recent one. He's wearing his Easter Sunday outfit from Scotland.

Adorable little manchild!

Lela's Visit

Lela came to help out for a couple of weeks after Mr. A was born. We didn't do much, winter and new baby and all that being considered. She helped a lot with housework and kids and everything, but really I think we all just enjoyed having her around.

I didn't take many pictures but here are a few.

There was a lot of this while she was here:

 

One day the furnace stopped working and this was how we kept the baby warm:

Mr. A did a lot of this:

Curious George got up to some hijinks. Funny how he always gets into trouble while Lela is here!

And the girls got lots of Lela time as well:

We had the hardest time saying good-bye at the end of this visit!

 

The Jersey Mama Sets a Record

And the award goes to Jersey Mama in the category of "longest period of time with no blogging."

I have a list of excuses:
-baby
-kids
-sick dog
-school
-housework

I hope that is sufficient.

The little fella is growing like a weed.

He's six almost 8 weeks old already. *sigh* I know it always goes so fast, yet it still takes me slightly by surprise.

He was 7 lbs. 12 oz. at birth. When we brought him home he was 7 lbs. 6 oz. About 3 weeks ago at the doctor's office he weighed in at 10 lbs. 11 oz. I don't believe he was quite that heavy because he was weighed with his clothes on, but he was definitely well over 10 lbs. He has outgrown his newborn clothes and cloth diapers, and is in size 1 disposable diapers (which we use at night and when we're not home.)

He's getting better and better at holding his head up. He is awake for longer periods of time during the day, and sleeps well at night, typically waking only once to eat and giving me at least one 3-4 hour stretch of sleep -- he's even done a couple of 5-6 hour stretches lately. He is focusing on our faces, tracking the mobile over his crib, cooing, smiling at us, and one night when FIL was here he turned his whole body toward FIL's voice which was very cute.

He is generally happy and content and doesn't cry or even fuss much -- however, he is very vocal in the form of groans and grunts. Some of that is just baby noise, but some of it has seemed to be discomfort related, mostly right after he eats. I eliminated dairy from my diet which didn't seem to help much, so at his 1 month check up I discussed it with the pediatrician who agreed that it sounded like reflux. I gave it a few more days to see if we could "treat" it without medication but the poor little guy was so uncomfortable while eating and afterward that I started him on Zantac. It seems to be helping -- I don't like for him to have to be on medication, but for sure I don't like him to be miserable while eating!

My lovely friend Chrissy came over a few weeks ago and took a BUNCH of great pictures of our little man. I had asked her to do it but was only expecting her to snap a few shots with her nice camera -- instead she did a whole photography session! I'm so delighted with how they turned out. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Aren't they great? She took a bunch more but these are some of the ones I like the best. My favorite is of the three kids.

And, it was good that she took them when she did because now Bubby's hair is all falling out. First it was just on top but now the baldness is moving around the sides to the back. He seriously has old man head now. At least he's a boy so that when it starts to grow back in we can just buzz his whole head.

My mom came for two weeks (and has been home for two almost 4 weeks already! What?) We LOVED having her here. She was a big help but overall I think we just liked having her around. I have a few pictures but those will have to go in another post because this mama is going to bed now ...

Bacon!

Well, what do you know ... Bacon decided to make an appearance after all, without having to be served an eviction notice!

*Skip to the first baby pictures if you want to avoid reading the birth story. There aren't any gory details, though, I promise!*

The last week in January I had lots and lots of contractions. On Thursday the 30th I saw my doctor and he said that if I hadn't delivered by my next appointment on February 6th, we would make a plan for induction. I had February 12 in my mind -- a week past my due date, plenty of time to deliver and get home and settled before my mom flew out on the 19th and my MIL left on the 20th. Plus, if I was going to choose a birthday, 2-12-14 was pretty cool. 

I felt pretty well the first couple of days that first week in February, and the contractions I'd been having for the past week slowed considerably. I had a weekly to-do list as usual, but I added something:

Ha! It tickles me that it actually happened!

On Wednesday the 5th (my due date) I was very tired and felt like I was fighting a cold. By mid-afternoon we'd finished school and chores, and I sent Eric a text asking him to pick up something for dinner as the thought of cooking and cleaning up sounded particularly overwhelming. I let the girls watch t.v. in the living room and I set up the laptop in my room so I could lay on my bed and watch house-hunting shows online. After eating I felt a little better; however, I was still pretty tired and went to bed early (for me) at 9:00.

At 12:30 I woke up for the first of my nightly bathroom trips, and noticed that I was having some strong contractions. It wasn't unusual to have them throughout the night but I could usually sleep through them -- these were strong enough to keep me awake. Around 2:30 I gave up on sleep and decided to go sit on the pilates ball in the living room to see what might happen. First, though, the second bathroom break of the night ... and my water broke! Hurray!

I woke Eric who sent a text to his mom asking her to come over and then started moving car seats around and packing up the van. I showered and got ready to leave, called the hospital, and we left the house around 4:00 a.m. Once at the hospital I was admitted by the same nurse who taught our childbirth class when I was pregnant with the Boogie and who also admitted me when I was in labor with the Boogie! So that was neat. She got me settled into a L&D room and we waited for contractions to pick up. Because the baby's head wasn't far enough down they were concerned about the cord floating down by baby's head, so they told me I would have to stay reclined in bed.

By 9:00 a.m. my contractions, instead of increasing, actually slowed way down, so the doctor ordered pitocin. I had mixed emotions -- I didn't want to have to have it, but I wanted to get things going. So the pitocin started and so did real labor. After an hour or so the L&D nurse was concerned that the baby was not recovering as well as she'd like after each contraction, so she propped me up slightly first on one side and then the other which seemed to do the trick, and she also turned the pitocin dosage down to half of what it was. I watched (or closed my eyes and listened to) episode after episode of DIY shows on HGTV and though uncomfortable I was able to get through the contractions on my own.

At 1:00 p.m. the doctor came to check on me again, and I requested some pain medication. The doctor asked if I wanted an epidural -- I'd never had one before, and hadn't planned on one this time, but I also hadn't planned on drug-induced contractions and being stuck on my back in bed through them! Since it seemed like labor was probably going to continue quite a bit longer I hesitated initially then agreed. It took a while for the anesthesiologist to arrive and when he did the L&D nurse assured me that he gave the best epidurals. By that time I could tell that labor was progressing much more quickly but I didn't say anything to anyone -- I figured I might as well get the epidural to help get through the worst of it.

Well, that epidural did next to nothing for me. The pain decreased a little for a few contractions but then increased again and got even worse. It just figured that I would be sensitive to pitocin but immune to an epidural! Soon, though, the room filled with doctor and intern and more nurses and it was finally time to meet Bacon. Delivery was easy and Bacon came out crying and I cried and Eric cried (only a little because he's a man, you know) and everyone was telling me what a good job I did and then I thought I heard someone say "he" and I finally asked, "Is it a boy?" And the answer was yes!

When the girls were born they were both whisked away immediately and I didn't get to hold them for about 45 minutes, for one reason or another. I remember sending Eric over to the warmer to take a picture of Peabody with his phone so that I could at least see what she looked like. But this time I got to hold my baby right away. I held him skin-to-skin under a warmed blanket for well over an hour before the nurse weighed and measured him. He was 7 lbs, 12 oz, and 21 inches.

Of course as soon as he was born Eric sent texts to everyone announcing the birth, but he didn't send any statistics ... including name or gender. We wanted the girls to be the first to know whether they had a brother or a sister. I think it made everyone crazy not to know. It took longer than expected for the girls to arrive, and I found out later that the long delay started to worry a few people as well. (Sorry about that, everyone!)

We were eventually transferred to a regular room and baby had a bath which he did not like at all.

Finally the girls showed up! They were ecstatic to learn that they had a brother. As the Boogie told the nurse, "Honey said we have a brother and poof! I was just so happy!" Eric's mom had brought them so she was the next to know, and we had the girls call my parents, and we sent texts to the rest of the family and updated Facebook.

It's a boy!

We stayed one night and by repeatedly telling all the staff that we wanted to leave as soon as possible we were released early Friday evening. We came home and watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics and finally got some decent rest in our own bed.

 

The girls stayed at 52 Thursday and Friday nights, came home for several hours on Saturday, then went back to 52 for that night so they could go to Sunday school the next morning. Unfortunately Peabody threw up in the night so MIL kept her home with her and the Boogie spent Sunday afternoon at 52 as well, to try to avoid bringing germs home. Peabody was fine all day so both girls came home Sunday night, and the next morning Eric went back to work for half a day.

On Monday afternoon we took baby for his first check-up with the pediatrician. The doctor noticed that he was just slightly jaundiced but said it wasn't anything to worry about. At release from the hospital he was down to 7 lbs. 6 oz., and at his check-up he was up 2 oz., so that was good.

Aside from the trip to the doctor and a quick stop at Target for a few boy clothes, we have just been hanging out at home all week. Eric has been working mostly regular hours (except for another half day yesterday when they closed down the whole plant during a winter storm so that everyone could get home) and even went to the Philly Auto Show after work one evening.

The girls adore their brother and are so good with him. We weren't able to avoid that tummy bug after all -- the Boogie came down with it yesterday afternoon. Thankfully Eric was home and was able to take on puking kid duty so I could remain uncontaminated. The Boogie seems much better today but will remain in quarantine for a while, and we are praying hard that no one else gets sick. My mom comes next week and we're so excited! Peabody has accused me several times, "You said after Bacon is born Lela will be here, and she's not here." So we are counting sleeps until Lela arrives, and we want to all be well when she gets here so we don't risk passing any nasty germs to her.

Bubby is such a good baby. He sleeps and sleeps, wakes to eat and get a clean diaper, eats again then goes back to sleep. He does that around the clock so for right now I'm sleeping pretty well at night, too, waking only 2 or 3 times.  He only cries when he's hungry, and when he's tired he just goes to sleep without any fussing. I'll take it for as long as it lasts! He has nice dark hair and ... I think his eyes are going to be brown! They are very dark. I'm so excited about brown eyes, I've always wanted a brown-eyed baby. I think he would be the first grandchild on either side to have them.

Peabody gave him one of her favorite blankies. What a sweet girl.

 

We are so thankful to the Lord for our beautiful boy. I just stare at him in amazement sometimes -- it seems unreal that we are so blessed!