Dear Mr. McCoy: Of 5 weeks

Mr. McCoy:
You are already a man of 5 weeks. This has been a very trying week for you and Mommy. Daddy has been in Texas for a week so we've been living the single parent life. Whew, I'm glad this week is almost done. You had good days and not so good days. On the not so good days, you won't let me put you down for 10 minutes. Even when you are sleeping, you need to be held. Don't get me wrong, I like holding you, but my arms, back, neck-everything gets sore after a few hours. Sometimes I wonder if you don't get enough sleep during the day so you are over tired and just get cranky. Because of that whole weight gain issue, I've been feeding you religiously every two hours, except at night. So, it's been-eat for 30-40 minutes, fall asleep for 5 minutes, mommy tries to put you down and you wake up angry, she changes your diaper, swaddles you and walks around with you as you fight sleep, then you fall asleep, and after about 20 minutes, we do the whole thing again. But today, I let you take a long morning nap, which meant you skipped a feeding (but the previous one you got a supplement, so I was hoping that evened things out), but when you woke up for the next one, you ate really well and were happily awake until the next feeding. Did you just need a longer nap? Who knows.
Other news: You have found yourself in the mirror and it's really fun to watch you watch yourself. You enjoy your playtime in your activity center(the one that you just lay in on the floor). Prudence also enjoys her playtime in the activity center! You like to look at your little book with the black and white pictures, and will follow a rattle across your face. I think you've flashed me a smile that wasn't gas, but I can't always get you to do it on cue, so maybe it's still just gas! You laugh/smile in your sleep and it's hilarious. You still wear all of your newborn clothes. Today you accidentally hit the toys that hang on your carseat and were surprised that they made noise. That was pretty entertaining. You generally take your last feeding at 10pm, wake up at 2am to eat and then are ready to wake up for the day between 5:30am and 6:30am. You are a morning person. You are very alert after your first morning feeding. You still hate baths, and are still super gassy. I love watching you make your silly faces and when you stretch when I change your diaper. Hopefully by the next posting we'll be seeing lots of smiles and maybe catch a few on camera!

Dear McCoy: (Of One Month)

Dear McCoy: (Of One Month)
*Today is actually your 4th week, but it's not the 17th. I'm blogging today because I have time. If enough changes before the 17th, I'll add it in!
I can't believe we've made it to that one month mark. You've already grown and changed so much. Your neck is getting very strong. Your legs are strong and are always kicking. You love being swaddled in a nice soft blankey in order to take a nap. And Mommy or Daddy needs to walk around with you swaddled for you to actually fall asleep. Except at night. You get all cozy in your sleeper, eat, burp and fall right asleep in your bassinet. Right now you sleep in the same room as Mommy and Daddy. You've gotten a few kisses on your toes from Prudence. You don't mind her barking at all. You really don't care for your paci's anymore. Your eyes are a beautiful dark blue just like your Daddy's and I hope they stay that way. You enjoy stroller rides and long walks to the library or around town. So far you've had Mommy and Daddy both home with you during the day. You've had many visitors and have generally been very good for them. Mommy and you had a lot of learning to do while nursing, but now we've basically figured each other out. You toot a lot! You like to take naps in your bouncy seat which sits in your play pen so that Prudy can't get to you if Mommy or Daddy ever needs to leave the room. You HATE having a wet diaper and need it changed immediately. You and Mommy have read a lot of books. You love when Daddy helps you fly like Superman. You like laying on the couch and "working out the toots" or playing bicycle. You like looking at your black and white picture book and will look for the rattles when we shake them. You'll even track them a bit. You've been to two weddings. One you were pretty cranky, unless Frauntie Jessi was holding you, and the other you were really good and let everyone hold you. You have an adorable smile, but right now it's not in reaction to your Mom or Dad. You used to like car rides, but the last few you have screamed most of the way. You've been to church once and were basically an angel. (At least that's what it seemed like. Mommy was playing piano and didn't hear you once.) You had a hard time gaining weight at first, but now you are making up for lost time. At last check you were 9 lbs 1 oz and 20 1/2 inches. You scream during your baths. You like to be held up, or facing outward so you can see the world. Lately, you have been very awake in the mornings, and very sleepy in the evenings. You still wear all of your newborn clothes. Some are finally getting a little snug, and some are still pretty big for you. You have 5 pairs of shoes and Mommy thinks they are awesome. It's been a month filled with Mommy and Daddy trying to figure out the parenting thing, while you are just trying to figure out the world. It's been a crazy month, and your Mommy and Daddy are excited for the next.

Breastfeeding

How can something that seems so natural, seem to come unnaturally?!? I don't know if I ignored all the portions in the books that described how difficult nursing can be or if I just took the attitude "oh it won't be hard for me". Ugh, I was wrong. We seemed to do all the right things. Daddy was super supportive. Our families were supportive. I tried to nurse you right away. We didn't allow bottles. But you were not an agressive eater. You didn't understand how to latch and I didn't know what to do to help you. The nurses were so wonderful and had soooo many options as to how to help us. Because you weren't able to latch right away, we had to supplement with some formula after each attempt at nursing, and then I had to pump after each feeding as well. When I mean supplement, I mean that Daddy had to sit you up on his lap, fill a tiny little medicine cup with formula and feed that to you. And if I was able to get anything from pumping, that was feed through this syringe type deal that didn't have a needle. It has been a process. Eventually, we settled on using a shield. I'll admit, I felt like a bit of a failure. Everyone preaches about how good breastfeeding is and how you are giving your child such a head start in life. I was trying so hard, why wasn't it working?! I can understand how some people who are lukewarm about the idea would settle on formula feeding. I've had moments where I've wanted to give up, but I let them pass and keep trying. Once we came home from the hospital, we kept nursing. When we went back for your first check-up, you weren't gaining like you should have. I immediately thought "Another failure for mommy." We had a lactation consultant come out and work with us. She weighed you again and you were still dropping. As if my emotions weren't out of whack already, add this stress on top of it. We set up another weight check at the clinic. We worked with the lc on latches and how to get my milk supply up to par. Next weight check at the hospital and you were down almost a pound from your birth weight. Daddy and I were scared. You were supposed to be at least back up to your birth weight by this point. Daddy called Dr. Leino (at home-thank god for Daddy's connections) and we had a new plan. Every time we fed you, I would nurse both sides, then pump. Then Daddy would feed you 1-2 oz of formula from the cup. This process takes about an hour. You eat every two hours from the start of each feeding. We were determined to get you growing. Our next weight check was a few days later at the clinic. We put you on the scale and you were somehow 9 oz bigger. Nurse Chad informed us that this scale just got checked and was the most accurate. The scale that had you down a pound was obviously wrong. While this was a huge relief, you still weren't quite up to where you should be so we would still be supplementing. Another few days passed and the lc let us borrow the scale at home to check progress. Finally we were getting somewhere. By week three you are back to where you should be, but we're still having to do some supplementing. Even though things are better, I can't help but to be paranoid about how much you are actually getting from me. I can't tell how much milk you get at a feeding besides just watching your temperament and how am I supposed to tell if you are being fussing from being hungry, or tired, or just plain old being fussy. This nursing thing is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. We still have to use the shield and we still have to wake you up to eat. Add on top of this the fact that I'm not the type of person that is very comfortable "whipping it out" in public. Yes I have one of those shawls, but is it still weird for people to see that because they'll know what you are doing and that simply makes people uncomfortable?? I'm still determined to make this work and maybe I just need to stop worrying about what others think. It's a perfectly natural thing, even though it hasn't come so naturally to me. It's only been three weeks. Maybe I should just give us a break and be happy with the progress we have made! Or maybe I just need a nap. :)

Prudence's Reaction

So Prudence has been known to be a very spoiled weiner dog. Daddy and I will be the first to admit it. She has full reign of the house while we are away, she sometimes gets people food, she sleeps in bed with us, and is allowed on whatever furniture she likes. I was a bit nervous as to how Prudy would handle not being the baby anymore. I thought she was acting a bit more depressed a few weeks before your due date, but that honestly could have been in my head. When you were born, Grandpa Ben came to get Prudy and she stayed with them for a few days. She loves it at the farm. I guess she did miss us though. Grandma and Grandpa said that she would check upstairs every so often, just to check if we were up there. When we brought you home from the hospital, Prudence wasn't home yet either. We decided to get a day or two of parenthood under our belt before adding Prudy into the mix. And then one morning, Grandma and Grandpa brought her back. Daddy went outside first to greet her and brought one of your blankets to smell. I don't think she noticed the blanket because she was too busy kissing Daddy. Then we switched and I went outside to greet her while Daddy stayed with you inside. Once Prudy was all kissed out, we brought her in and I honestly don't think she noticed you right away. You were sleeping and she was busy making sure that everything was where she left in. We didn't let her get too near to you though. At one point, you were sleeping in your pack and play and Prudy saw you moving. She then got very curious. You started to fuss and Daddy went to pick you up. Prudy started to paw at the pack and play and barked. Daddy and I were quick to reprimand Prudence, and I think she got it. Since then, she has never barked at you. Even when you are screaming your lungs out, she acts completely normal. She very patiently waits while we hold you, until it's her turn to give us kisses. She doesn't try to jump on you, but every once and a while she tries to sneak a sniff or a lick at your feet. Someday you two will be great friends, but as for now, we will be very careful. I really think Prudence has matured since you arrived. She has been such a great puppy and has reacted much better than I thought she was. She is even so kind as to keep my spot warm in bed when I have to get up in the middle of the night to feed you. And she's still as great of a cuddler as she's always been. Maybe someday she'll get to cuddle with you too.

Motherhood-the first three weeks

Because it has been a crazy few weeks, I thought I'd write some of it down so I can remember what it was like for future reference.

The first week-The hospital stay was nice. Nurses rule. They take care of mom and baby so well. I knew that I would be going through a lot of recovery after delivery, but I think I was so focused on the pain of the labor/delivery, that I didn't really think about what happens afterwards. Man, everything hurts. Just to get out of bed is a chore. Sitting is super uncomfortable. Making a trip to the bathroom has never been so much work. The bathtub at the hospital is a godsend. I took about two baths a day. I also took advantage of hospital food, the nursery at night and the slippers the hospital provided. The first 24 hours was the biggest blur. I hadn't slept for a day, family kept showing up and I was really struggling breastfeeding. Tyler was a huge trooper. I don't think I changed a diaper during the entire hospital stay. Because nursing wasn't going very smoothly, he took care of all of the cup feedings. He entertained guests when I was pumping. When he came back in the morning and I was still sleeping, he just went to the nursery and rocked you for a while. Not only did I feel physically out of sorts, I was enotionally whacked out. I remember on the morning we were being discharged, I sat in the bath and cried because I honestly thought that you liked your father more than me. Like I said before-emotionally whacked out! During our first night at home, I was so paranoid that I didn't sleep. I was worried that I didn't do something correctly during the day and something bad would happen during the night. Since then, I think I'm just so exhausted that sleeping has not been a problem! You liked to sleep too. You slept a lot. We had to wake you up for every feeding. See my future post on nursing for more info on that topic. It's been....a rollercoaster we'll say. Everyone said that I'd graually start to feel like myself and I guess thats partially true. I can walk and sit and go to the bathroom normally, but I'm not like I used to be. It's great that you lose 20 pounds right after baby is born, but then it stalls. And most of your "normal" clothes still doesn't fit. So you're stuck wearing odd things because your maternity stuff looks weird and your normal clothes is too small. Add in the fact that it needs to be easy to nurse in. Ugh. So there's my rant on that.
Within these first three weeks we've had numerous weight checks and visits from the lactation consultants and gone to two weddings. You do really well on car rides, and enjoy walks in the stroller. You'd rather be held upright than the traditional cradle hold. Your eyes are a gorgeous blue just like your daddy's and I hope they stay that way. You were very content for your first bath, but you've screamed during every one since then. You've recently been very awake during the mornings and very sleepy in the evenings. You love being in your swaddler at night and do very well sleeping in the bassinet overnight. Huggies diapers are not your friend, but Pampers are awesome. You generally like being held while napping during the day, but if you're tired enough, you will sleep in your car seat or your bouncy chair. You also like your paci. Mommy thought she was going to be against them, but honestly, I don't care anymore because it seems to calm you down when you just want to sleep but don't know how to get yourself there. You don't react at all to Prudence's barks. (There also will be a future post on Prudence's reaction to your arrival!) We are very lucky to have Daddy home. You are definitely a two person job right now! You still like to have your hands up by your face. You are super gassy lately and you fuss until you get rid of it. On occasion you laugh in your sleep which in turn makes me and Daddy laugh. You have some hair and it's a very light brown. I can't help but to smooth it out every time I hold you. We sometimes call you Coy Boy as a nickname. I can't believe you are three weeks old already. Before I know it, I'll be sending you off to Kindergarten. (Hopefully between now and then, Daddy and I get to sleep more than 3 hours at a time!) Well, that's a run-down of the first three weeks! I'll check in again soon!