Stratton is now 4 weeks old! Can you believe it? Time is flying....
Few little updates about him:
He is doing really good with his weight gain. I was worried that the nipple shields I have to use would hinder his ability to eat and grow, but I weighed him today and he is sitting at exactly 11 lbs so he is doing just fine in the chunky department. We have also decided that since he is growing so good that I probably don't have to get up 3 times each night to feed him. We are going to try and cut back to once a night and see how that goes. Any tips?
He cries a lot during the day. Our usual day schedule is something like this:
Stratton cries, so I feed him.
Stratton settles down during feeding.
After eating, he starts to cry because he needs to burp. I can't EVER get him to burp. It doesn't matter what position we are in, he will not burp!
We change his diaper while he is crying and then rock him for a little while to get him to stop crying.
He falls asleep and I put him down while I go do a few household chores.
Sleeps for about 20 minutes and starts to cry again.
He cries more because he has gas/has to poop.
And then we start all over again. It really makes the days really long! I also feel bad because I don't get anything done during the day. I'm really accomplishing something to make the bed and maybe do the dishes or something. It is terrible. I feel like such a slacker.
However, he is really good at night. After eating he goes right back to sleep. I hope I haven't just jinxed myself.
Anyway......
He really likes riding in the car and his stroller. It must be the vibrations and such. On one hand I am grateful that he is good in his carseat, but on the other hand I hope I'm not creating one of those kids that won't go to sleep unless they are moving. Yikes!
We have a photo session scheduled for Monday. I decided to cut his hair before we had his pictures taken. I'm glad I did. It was getting pretty long and nasty. Especially in the back.
Now a few updates about mommy:
I'm still healing and that isn't any fun. I really want to get back to exercising but that isn't going to be happening for a while still.
Speaking of exercising.....I really need to finish losing the baby weight. I do want to get back to my pre-pregnancy size for vanity reasons, but I also need to lose it for practical reasons too! I don't have any clothes to wear! All of my maternity clothes were summer items like capris and layering tanks with short sleeve shirts. I can still wear these clothes, but I don't want to freeze to death! I literally have 1 pair of pants that I can wear, and they aren't even jeans so people are going to notice when I wear the same pair of green cargo pants everyday. And I am too cheap to buy interim clothing.
I got all the way through pregnancy without any stretchmarks on my stomach! Yay! I had a little tiny one show up about a week ago, but it is really light and about 3/4 of an inch long, so I'm thinking when it fades I won't even be able to remember where it is.
However, my boobs didn't get so lucky. They have a ton of stretchmarks now. I'm not too worried. I mostly just didn't want them on my stomach:)
My feet have finally returned to their normal size! I am still thinking that I should get new heels. Just for fun:)
I think most days I'm doing really well with all the adjustments. However, every once in awhile things get a little overwhelming. Yesterday was one of those days.
I'd been up with him a few different times at night. I don't usually mind, but when he wakes me up and then only eats for about 2 seconds before falling asleep, I get really frustrated. This frustration will grow exponetially if he poops or pee's on me while I am changing his diaper. He pooped on me once and pee'd on my twice. I was ticked. During the day things didn't get much better. It pretty much was non-stop screaming and eating all day. I am in a ton of pain with feedings lately. We are weaning him off the nipple shields and he has the tendency to jerk back after he has latched on and pretty much rip my nipple right off my body. Oh! Did I mention that becoming a mother has given me the tendency to scream profanities throughout the day? Feeding time is pretty bad. Moving on with the story.....
So we were doing this all day. I hadn't gotten anything done and I was tired and sore from holding him and feeding him. 3 o'clock rolled around and I was calling my mother. I let her know that I was ready for Stratton to go to Grandma's house without me. She came and picked him up at 5 o'clock. I got feeling pretty bad around 5:30. Typical.
And then we did it all over again today. Only it was his Aunt Katie that saved me today. I know that I am going to have to deal with it and I'm not doing myself any favors by passing him off onto family members when we have a rough day, but it seemed like the thing to do these past couple days. I will do better tomorrow.
That is pretty much it. I'm needing to go to bed now. Ryan is gone to a Scout camp and I am thinking that Stratton and I will have a little sleep over in Mom and Dad's bed tonight. How do you guys feel about co-sleeping with your babies (we don't have a bassinet. We just went straight to a crib....)? Any thoughts pro? Any thoughts con?
And here's to hoping that he only wakes up once tonight!
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4 comments:
I knowit feels super overwhelming right now, but it gets better. Work on trying stretch him out in the day to like 2-3 hours in between feedings and like maybe 4 at night. We used to feed Tacen a little closer together before bed to help him go a little longer. They are little creatures of habit. Tacen got used to being held all day and it was rough for a while getting him to change.
Don't ever feel bad about asking for help! Also know if he has to cry so you can shower or go to the bathroom he'll be alright!
Co-sleeping while very convient when small is a hard habit to break so make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. I'm not sure if you've seen the porta cribs that have bassinets in the top? They're nice if you're thinking about getting a porta crib and then you can use the bassinet. Bassinets arent necessary though, just convient, to have them right there when you're getting up to feed.
Well, this looks like an epistle. Take it or leave it. You have to do what works for you! One more thing we got the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and we are still using it to help us with sleeping! Good luck if you ever need anything don't hesitate to call!
I'm no pro and I'm not going to claim that what we did will work for you, BUT, what we did REALLY helped and I'm always up for sharing something that could potentially help someone else =0)
(Note: my book of choice is "Baby Wise". Highly recommended. Basically everything I'm about to mention comes from that book.)
First, don't rock him to sleep. I know that's kind of hard to imagine when he is just a newborn and especially since he is your first! But it's so important for him to learn how to put himself to sleep. Every day you wait to let him learn is one more day he gets used to your help. Teryn has been putting himself to sleep since he was 2 weeks old. HUGE HUGE HUGE help in the mother-sanity department.
Next, have you tried a pacifier? I had the fear of "nipple confusion" with Teryn so I was going to hold off on introducing him to a pacifier, but when I offered my breast every time he cried he would suck for 2 seconds and be done. He wasn't hungry, he just wanted to be pacified. My pediatrician told me that boys are especially prone to that, so I gave him a pacifier and that did the trick. Just because he cries doesn't mean he's hungry. And a pacifier will help hold him off if you're trying to extend time between feedings too. Don't be afraid of nipple confusion. Teryn went between my breast, a bottle, and a pacifier without any problems.
Third, Teryn has never even slept in the same room as us. From day one he had his own room with his crib, so I can't comment on co-sleeping. I just know it's not for me.
Last, beware of the nipple shield! They gave me one at the hospital and told me to try to wean Teryn off it within one week. I tried.....and tried.....and tried......but Teryn WOULDN'T feed without it. It got to the point that he resented eating at all because I was always stressing about trying to feed him without it, so I finally gave in and decided to just use it so he would eat. I lost my milk at 3 months. I'll never touch a nipple shield again. If I have the same nipple problems this time around, I'm just going to pump to get my nipples in shape for him. Do you have a pump? That's what I would recommend. Get away from the nipple shield ASAP.
I thought there was something else I wanted to add but I don't remember! I guess I'll be back when I do =0)
More than anything, just keep a prayer in your heart that you're in tune with Stratton and everything will be fine. No freak-outs, just confidence that you're doing the best that you can!
Ps one more thing I forgot we used a binki with Tacen for a while and it really helped for the times he needed to be soothed, but wasn't hungry. We only used it to help him get to sleep and ge self weaned one day and decided he was done. I never wanted to be a human pacifier.
But again do what works for you!
I don't have any great advice as far as sleeping goes (ha, ha--we talked about that!). Jack had problems with always wanting to be held and sleeping during the day for short periods of time, the crying, etc... I finally discovered he had horrible acid reflux. Tyler would get acid reflux when I would eat any dairy products, but Jack's was all the time! I tried cutting out all kinds of things from my diet and finally just decided that for both of our sanity, I would try the medication they offered. It didn't fix everything, but it made a world of difference. Anyway. Something to think about. And I would recommend a binkie too. Tyler loved his and it helped him sleep longer, Jack hated it and wouldn't take one. But it's worth a try. Good luck!
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