Sorry to everyone that reads our blog...I am sure we have lost some readers since I promised to post weekly updates and it has been 7 weeks since my last post. I will try to catch you all up in one blog :) For those that I talk to daily, you all know that I have had some challenges with breastfeeding, infections, INFECTIONS, thrush, yeast, reflux and last and the worst Owen's reaction to one of his vaccine :( Between all that, I have wanted to spend as much time with my little guy as possible...so forgive me for not blogging!
With that said we're all doing great! I will start with breastfeeding, just a short little note to say that it's much harder than anyone ever tells you. It's week 9 and we are just getting things on track. From me having mastitis to yeast to dealing with a month of thrush...we have had our fair share of trouble in the feeding department! I also had a poor milk supply which by eating oatmeal and pumping lead to an over-supply. Wouldn't think that would be a problem, right? Think again...imagine a baby trying to drink from a fire hydrant versus a slow water hose. Nursing during this time always ended up with me and Owen crying and then Chris bottle feeding him then consoling me that I wasn't a failure and it would get better! And it did :) I go to a weekly
bfeeding moms group and they all say that I am the poster mom for
bfeeding b/c I am so determined even after all the problems I went through. Maybe I will become a lactation consultant in my spare time. But we got it...at least for now. THRUSH IS GONE after a month of treatment. It's a nasty virus that is pretty much impossible to get rid of. Maybe Owen has had his share and will never get it again.
On to Owen, or as we now call him "O Man" he's doing great and gaining weight like a champ. We went for his 2 month
appt on Tuesday and found out that he is 12lbs 2
ozs (75
th percentile), head is in the 75
th percentile (yes he has a huge noggin), height 24.5inches (90
th percentile). We can't get over how tall he is. He is still wearing some newborn clothes but they are too short in the torso for him so we've moved into the 0-3 which most are still a little big. It's strange how they all used to fit well and then all of a sudden he grew longer and got leaner. Don't get me wrong, he still has a chunky belly but he looks more proportioned now.
Things that O Man is doing lately: He has started to recognize our voices and will follow them around the room looking at us. He smiles all day and laughs at himself...it's really funny to watch. He loves looking in a mirror and laughs. We have a mirror on the back of the seat in our car and he just watches himself and laughs. He is swatting things and just last week actually was able to grab onto things in front of him. He hasn't quite figured out how to let go but I am sure that will come. And he coos all the time! This week he has just started trying to make the same sounds that we make. We think he's pretty smart :)
Other O Updates: Poor baby has reflux. I had to take him to the doctor about 2 weeks ago b/c he was having horrible gas pains and couldn't get it out. We were constantly doing bicycles with him to help his little tummy but a few weeks ago it got so bad that he wasn't nursing properly. He would nurse for 3-4
mins then pull off screaming. I would burp him but that didn't help. I realized that his little belly was hard as a rock and knew that wasn't normal. The doctor said that he may grow out of it as his GI system matures. We sure hope so! The
Zantac that he takes 3 times a day tastes AWFUL! He has learned how to spit it out so it's a challenge to get it in him. I didn't realize that 90% of all babies have some form of reflux.
O got his vaccines on Tuesday and of course he would be one of the 3% to get a reaction. He had 3 shots and then
Rotavirus which is a sweet drink. He loved it and did good with this shots. Our doctor told us that he may be fussy for a few days or he may be sleepy or both. We got home and he napped from about 10:30am until 4pm only waking every 3 hours to eat. I was in heaven and got some things done around the house. Or so I thought...O woke up around 4pm screaming and nothing I did helped. I walked the house with him for hours and hours and he was just not feeling good. We started him on Tylenol every 4 hours but that didn't seem to help. Finally around 10pm he fell asleep and we thought that maybe that was the end of his fussiness. He had a low grade fever but nothing to be worried about. He slept about 4 hours and then was up for the rest of the night. I held him and rocked him then when he did fall asleep, I put him down only to wake up 30
mins later with him crying. This was so unlike Owen as he isn't really a crying baby. The morning wasn't any better so I finally called the doctor around 3pm to see if it was normal for him to be that fussy. Also, he had gone through about 10 dirty diapers in less than 12 hours which was a lot. They wanted to see him and we found out that he had a mild reaction to the
Rotavirus, meaning that he got it. I have never had it but the doctor said it's really painful and you have horrible cramps and upset tummy. That explained it! So I came home ready for the challenge we were about to have with night. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I think he was so tired from not sleeping and crying that he was able to relax and sleep a bit. He went to bed around 8pm and woke up at 12:30am, then slept until 2am and was up every 30-45
mins after that. I went to bed at 9pm so I was not a zombie like the night before. Today has been better and he has napped and nursed a lot. He went to bed at 7:30pm so I am hoping that we will be back on his normal schedule (7:30pm - 1:30am then back down until 5:30am...wish I could stretch that until 7am but I will be happy for just getting up two times instead of 5-6!!).
Last week was our first family beach trip. We all had a great time. It was so nice to get away for a week. It was Sadie's first trip too and she wasn't too fond of the water. It took her all week to get in and when she did, it was a short time. She made friends with a lab pup and she followed him into the water. They were too cute playing. Owen loves the beach...just like his mom and dad! We bought him this neat tent that was SPF 50 and he napped in it every day. He spent about 20
mins laughing and cooing and then was out. Something about the fresh beach air and the sound of waves relaxed him completely! He sleeps with the sound of the ocean so he was in heaven on the beach. Both of the grand parents were there and it was nice to spend time with everyone and to also have some time for just me and Chris. Grandma Sue came back mid-week to watch Owen and also the last weekend. Chris and I got some good beach time together while she watched him. Much needed alone time for us. We were so sad to come back home after 10days in NC :(
Owen also went to his first ECU game, well the tailgate. I couldn't take an infant in the stands :) He had a fun time and spent most of the time in his bassinet talking to anyone that came by. He met our good friends and we got some cute pics. Daddy went to the game and we went to lunch with the grandma's and did a little shopping. O is such the shopper...maybe b/c he knew that we were buying him things...ha!
Owen was baptised that same weekend in my church at home. Chris' parents were able to come and it was great to have all the grand parents there all that was missing was Aunt Jen. We haven't found a church in VA yet and wanted to have him baptised now and then we will do something else when we join a church here. Owen did great and it was such a special day! It was really special b/c Owen wore Chris' baptism outfit from when he was a baby.
I think that's about it for us, I am sure I am missing something but here's a bit of an update. Now that we have established a good schedule, I will...SERIOUSLY, I will update the blog weekly.
I will post pictures in new posting since this one is so long...ha!
Love the 4 of us!
Owen wearing Chris' Baptism outfit...so cute!
