One Month Update

(Writing this two days early while I can)

Can you believe it??? I can. I have enjoyed EVERY day and just soaked it all in. I love spending the time with him and I am SO grateful I don't have to go back to work. It does suck that Tim is deploying at the end of June - but its apart of our life.

So - Leiland is still on Zantac for reflux and today (day 4) I feel like it might actually be helping. He HATES taking it and it seems like a lot (1mL) but we make it work. Yesterday he puked it up shortly after taking it - but today he cried while I gave it to him but calmed afterward. Today he has had minimal puke and much less fussiness - so that has been nice. But yesterday was rough so it may have just felt like a relief.

Most days Leiland is eating every 3 1/2 hours or so - but he occasionally wants to nurse after an hour or two - just depends. He only nurses for about 8-12 minutes then he needs to burp. This is usually when he is most fussy with all the bubbles in his belly - but he burps pretty big and good. Sometimes after about 20 minutes he will want a little more and will nurse the other side for about 5 minutes. His awake periods are much harder to pinpoint. Usually he is awake the first half of his feeding but almost always falls asleep while eating then I wake him up by moving him to burp him. Then once he has calmed down from his bubbles he usually falls back to sleep in the burping position - this is his favorite place to be - on my shoulder. The past few days I have noticed a few longer awake periods and with the exception of yesterday he has had a couple "happy" awake periods. That just makes my day. At night he nurses between 1-3 times. I don't know why he wakes more some nights then others but he is nursing good. The good part is that he is getting better about barely waking to nurse at night - and I think this could also be because of the reflux meds. It makes going back to bed much easier when nursing only takes 30 minutes instead of a two hour production of a fussy butt.

Everyone I know says this time flies by - and I have read the BEST quote - "The days are long but the years are short". These are words to live by and SO true. The days really can be long and when you look back everything seems to have gone by so fast. But I am doing what I can to just enjoy it all. Every couple days or so I notice changes is Leilands features and expressions. I love noticing these things and seeing him lose that "newborn" look. He is getting chubbier, the double chin is coming in, and I think he is longer then when he was born (not just stretching out more). I have noticed his dark blue eyes are beginning to change as well. I can't tell what they will become but I believe they will have SOME brown in them. They have two different shades in them so he could have hazel eyes like me (my favorite feature). Although his cord stump fell off at a week - he still gets a little bleeding in there and has a crusty scab. I just let it be though. His circumcision has been healed since about 8 days or so and he doesn't hate diaper changes too too much anymore (but I use a warm washcloth instead of cold wipes). His baby acne is coming in strong and it surprisingly heals pretty quickly. The white pimple looking things in his mouth seem to be disappearing though.

This boy also sweats a TON. I can't believe how bad he sweats. Most days you can feel his head and he is all clammy from sweating too. It could just be the hormones he is still getting from my milk but I have no idea. He also has little boobies. I know this is normal but you can feel little "breast buds" and this I DO know is from all the hormones of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

I will update Leilands stats on Monday after his appt.

What Leiland Likes:
His bouncy - He has been WONDERFUL. He is a fussy guy but he has been great about sitting in his bouncy seat so I can shower. We have the Bright Starts Ingenuity and it actually bounces which he likes as well as the padding that hugs him. I only use it for showers because I don't want him to get sick of it and me lose my showering ability. When he is big enough we will put a jumper in the door.

Snuggling - Leiland is a GREAT snuggler and we spend most of our day just cuddled up together in the glider chair.

Boppy - We both love the boppy pillow. Its so much easier to nurse with the boppy on my lap because I still have to hold my boob for him. He is getting better but I just am not great feeding him and holding his body all at once.

Moby Wrap - AS soon in some previous posts/ pictures - Leiland likes his moby style wrap. We don't have a true moby wrap but a similar ones. The only problem I find is on a hot day (hello we are in Southern CA) he sweats SO bad in there. But it does allow me to get the dishes done and cook dinner when he is fussy.

His Monkey mobile - We change Leiland on the pack n play top and always turn on the music mobile for him and he just loves it. This is one of the FEW places he will lay down and not get mad. Its also the only way I have the ability to go potty - thank you monkey mobile.

Breastflow bottles - I started out giving him Nuby no spill bottles and the Medela bottles but he leaks so much out of his mouth when using these ones. Then I was starting to get really sore as we adjusted to breastfeeding. So I decided to go ahead and get a Breastflow Bottle and he seems to like this one best.

What Leiland Doesn't like:
The Pacifier - The only one he will even remotely take is the mam newborn pacifier and most times he refuses it. I still keep trying though. Yesterday he took it for a couple hours but he wasn't feeling well however MOST times he just gags on it. But I hold out hope for him and carry them on us when we go out.

The swing - though this could be changing. Anytime you put him in the swing its only a matter of seconds and he is screaming.

Carseat - I don't think its the comfort of the seat as much as it is the angle of the seat. I spits up almost every time he goes in there so I think it just doesn't keep him upright enough.



As for me - wow its been a month. I am stuck at my prepregnancy weight of 172 but hope to have the energy to start working out soon.I also need to clear it with the dr as well though. I do believe some of the weight is stored in my bowling ball boobs though. I feel good for the most part. Some days I wake up pretty tired however by mid day I feel much better. I was very worried about postpartum depression but I have been doing really well. I have only had 2-3 instances where my emotions got away from me but I recognized it and tried to just let it pass.

Being a mom to Leiland is amazing - its everything I have wanted and I love watching his grow and learn. Smiles are on the horizon and I just can't want to see the changes ahead while relishing in every minute of his newborn-ness. I would NEVER wish this time to go by no matter how tired I get or how fussy he gets.