Photos from Late May

Trying to crawl up on Daddy. (Taken 5/25, 8 weeks old)

A rare occurrance. I actually CAUGHT a smile on film. (Taken 5/25, 8 weeks old)

Since I gave him back the hammock, he's liking baths more. Not LOVING them, mind you. But not crying through them either. Sitting in the warm water = OK. Being rubbed all over with that slimy stuff on the cloth = So NOT OK (Taken 5/25, 8 weeks old)

As usual, he sleeps through an outing. It was more exciting for us because he kinda, sorta fit into this jacket for the first time. He's getting into normal 0-3 mos sized clothing now, though still on the low end of it. (Taken 5/27, 8 weeks old)

Contented because he's getting his diaper changed in this pic. (Taken 5/27, 8 weeks old)

Chilling with Mommy while she watches TV. (Taken 5/27, 8 weeks old)

In the Mommy Chair! Wow! He was all excited with the newness of it when I first put him in it. That's my glider in the nursery. We sit there to nurse. (Taken 5/29, nearly nine weeks old)

A more pensive look in the Mommy Chair. (Taken 5/29, nearly 9 weeks old)

Capturing another smile. This is during a conversation session with Dan. They "gah" and "goo" and "snort" to each other for 20 or more minutes. Alex loves it. (Taken 5/29, nearly 9 weeks old)

A new game I read about on my Baby Center website: introduce the baby to new smells and watch their reactions to realizing that the scent changes. I took him onto the porch and snipped some lavender (being sniffed here), rosemary, basil, spearmint and sage and let him sniff them a few times. The lavender got lots of giggles and glee. The rosemary and sage bombed; the rosemary probably because it smells too much like soap. (Taken 5/29, nearly 9 weeks old)

Hanging out in the den with Mommy. This is a chair I had placed to the side while Dan was cleaning out the closets. When he's in the den with me, he sits in his bouncer which is located in this spot (to my left). He will look to his right and talk for half an hour straight. I have no idea what he's talking to. It's not me, because when I talk to him in response he turns towards me and looks stunned - as if I interrupted something or he forgot I was there. (Taken 5/29, nearly 9 weeks old)

These are just neat pics of a duck and her ten ducklings. Dan and I spotted them while out with Alex and walking towards our shopping area. The small creek shown there is the Mamaroneck River which runs through town. I can't wait until Alex can see and understand these things. There are plenty of rabbits, skunks, cardinals, blue jays, seabirds, mallards, robins, woodpeckers, mourning doves, titmouse, swans and racoons in this area (along with the standard squirrels, including black ones, and sparrows). Just on my porch, you can see nearly all of those things save the mallards, swans and seabirds. It'll be great when he can see them and understand that they are living moving things.

While we watched, she banished one duckling to the water. Have no clue why or what happened to him/her afterwards. You can't see him/her in this pic because it's sitting in the river near the shore.

May 30, 2007

The First Music Video

We just put a video together of a collection of stills and tape of Alex. We haven't designed our webpage yet, but we put up a link to the video already so that friends and family can see it.

May 25, 2007

On Breastfeeding

[Written in response to my mom who apologized for being at a loss on advice with a breastfed baby.
]
In the 60s, virtually no one breast fed in this culture. Not even the hippies. We were all pushed onto "better life through science" then. I gotta say that my life would be much easier if I formula fed him exclusively. It can take up to an hour's worth of breastfeeding just to make sure he gets a full meal at his new demand level until my body clues in that he needs more now and then makes more. It would most certainly be pretty hairy around here if I breastfed AND had other kids around. I do it because our "better life through science" has now moved into admitting that science can't yet create the formula that replicates everything in breastmilk and I don't have any older children. How women who have 3, 4 kids all close in age do this for their younger kids is beyond me. I know Kathleen had a hard enough time breastfeeding her youngest and she only has one older child.

According to Alex's pediatrician and the lactation consultants at the hospital and my breastfeeding class, I was to expect that Alex would not sleep a 5-6 hour stretch through the night until he was at least 3 months old. Formula fed babies sleep through the night earlier because formula is so much denser a food. Breastfed babies do not sleep through the night so early because breastmilk is a much lighter food and it's that much more efficient a food. The baby uses it up much more quickly than he would formula. It's common for breastfed babies Alex's age to STILL be eating every two hours. It's also common for them to have far fewer bowel movements, because their bodies use up the breastmilk that well.

I spoke to a pediatric nurse at his doctor's office yesterday about the lack of bowel movement yesterday. She said that with his diet of at least 50% breastmilk (some days more), I can even expect that he'd go DAYS without a bowel movement at this age. (He finally had one last night). The pig out he's been on is apparently also normal for his age and growth rate and that demand will be higher still because of the breastfeeding. It's kinda the equivalent of using high octane fuel. It has less gunk in it, so the engine burns it up faster - but runs better for it.

The pediatrician told me that I have to wait for his intellectual development to show signs of being able to understand anticipation of events before I can have any prayer of setting a rigid feeding schedule for him. Without Alex being able to understand that if I don't respond right away, I will eventually be coming, I'm fighting a losing battle on setting it down in stone. Alex has shown only a slight ability to anticipate events in the past two weeks. These days he will stop his crying and smile when we put a bib on him or when I place him on the Boppy pillow in a position for breastfeeding. Two weeks ago, he didn't yet understand what those actions would mean. I've also extended the breastfeeding times for him so that he'll get a little bit more than usual, which will last him a bit longer. That's made life a lot easier.

The thing about breastfeeding is that Alex and I will reap the benefits from it all by the things that don't happen, so it's hard to measure the success. I'll know it worked when he gets fewer ear infections or colds than he would have without it. We'll know that it worked when his IQ is higher than it would have been without it. Thing is, there's no way of knowing what the lower level of success would have been. For my money though, the fewer nights I spend pacing the floors at 4 AM with an infant screaming from the pain and discomfort of an ear infection, the better. So, it's all worth it.

We don't see the doctor again until the end of May/first few days of June, depending on when I get the appointment. The appointments are to be set for his month passage days - approx. May 28 for two months, June 28 for three months, etc. I'll let you know what comes of the next appointment. (He's supposed to start his immunizations then.)

May 17, 2007

Feed-a-thon

Alex is in a growth spurt, so it's been tough keeping up with his appetite. For some days at a stretch it was trying sometimes because I was dealing with a constantly hungry and therefore, grumpy baby. Yesterday in particular, his appetite was just off the scale. At 8 lbs and some ounces, he managed to drink somewhere between 28 and 32 ounces in about 30 hours. That's about 30-35% more than a baby his weight should be taking in. Though I was told to expect this by both his pediatrician and from reference articles and books, we're still going to call today and ask about it.

Today he's a totally different baby. Dan fed him 9 oz between midnight and four am this morning (two different feedings). I fed him AGAIN from between 5:30 and 7:30 when he spent about a total of 50 minutes at the breast (probably got about 5 oz) and had 2 oz of soy formula. He slept from 7:30 to 11:00. When I woke him up to eat he was quiet, calm, happy and giggling again. Maybe after his non-stop pig out of yesterday, he's got some left over for today. I just finished feeding him again, this time about 60 mins at the breast and he's just a little cranky right now because he wants to play. (I had to eat lunch.)

He's not pooping today. Again, I was told to expect this with a largely breastfed baby. Their digestive systems act maturely earlier because breastmilk is such an efficient food. (As young as one month old, a breastfed baby can have adult type bowel movements, as in a day or two without any at all.) I'll still be asking about it though.

Despite this, he seems quite fine. No crankiness like he feels bad - except when hungry. No sleepiness in excess of his regular sleeping. No fever. Plenty of wet diapers and alertness otherwise. I'll be taking him out to play now. That should tell me whether he feels satiated and whether he has his normal temperament and alertness level.

May 16, 2007

An update and some new pics of the little dude!

A few weeks ago, Alex had a bout of diarrhea, or so I thought. Turns out it was just a brief reaction to my having given him formula. At the follow-up check up - which was on Apr. 26, Alex was estimated to weigh about 6 lbs, 10 oz, which would have been a 6 oz gain in a week's time. At the time, he was just hitting about 3 oz per feeding, with a lot of them being 2.5 oz. He's not due for another check-up until the end of May, which will be his 2 month old physical and when his immunizations begin.

Over the past three weeks, his appetite has grown by leaps and bounds and it appears that he's grown with it. He's currently up to between 5 and 6 oz with each feeding which can STILL occur every three hours sometimes. Last week, known as a "growth spurt week" (6 weeks), he was regularly drinking 5-6 oz with 3 to 3.5 hours inbetween. Last night was the first night he took seven ounces. But, we estimate that he weighs only about 8 lbs now. That kind of drinking is a pig-out for an 8 lb baby if he were to keep it up. I can tell that the growth spurt is working. He's finally reaching the end of wearing his preemie clothes and now fitting into some outfits that I received as gifts. Well, three onesies to be exact. He must be using all of that food because his solid waste diapers have slowed down considerably from about 10-12 a day to about 5-6 a day. Also normal, I was told. It means he's getting taller and his intestines are growing longer along with him. It also means he's using more of the food we give him.

I'm hoping this feed-a-thon doesn't last into blimping him up. Due to the quick jump, I've had to use more formula to supplement because I can't produce that much milk. I'm really hoping I can stimulate enough production to catch up, which means nursing in the middle of the night instead of using bottled pre-pumped milk. With this kind of eating, I can't keep the pre-pumped milk on the shelves long enough to supplement any feedings with extra.

I'm also suspecting that he's allergic to the milk-based formula. He's had a rash on his face that started to spread to his neck and he's getting nasal congestion. I switched to the soy milk based formula yesterday and, so far, he's had just as much of that as he's had of breastmilk today. I hope to see if the rash and congestion clear up from the switch. I know that he has less gas already.

On the fun front, Alex now smiles and laughs spontaneously and in response to us. He definitely reaches for toys and other things he wants to hold (like my hair) and sometimes gets upset when he can't reach them. His vision is much more far sighted now, judging from the things that I've noticed will catch his attention. He's staying awake for longer periods in the mornings and days - with only two occurrances of wanting to play at 3 AM (so far). He can hold onto some round link toys and he loves them. He doesn't seem to like to turn over any longer, but his neck is getting stronger anyway. Now, when on his stomach, he always lifts his head at least 45 degrees. He's been showing some ability to lift his upper torso up on his arms too. He's shown a love of music already. He will fuss in his crib if I don't turn on the Munchkin iPod player Mildred gave me. It has a special mix for him with soft pop tunes and some new age Celtic music.

He'll also sleep in his crib very easily. He doesn't seem bothered at all by its large space size or by the fact that Dan and I are not in the same room with him all the time anymore. We still keep him in the bassinet in our room for over night and Dan is still sneaking in some co-sleeping in the early mornings. (Sigh).

Enjoy the pics!

May 15, 2007

Photos from Early May

NOT enjoying "Tummy Time". We're supposed to let him play on his stomach like this at least once a day so that he learns how to raise his head and learns the motions of crawling. He loved it the first two times we did it and never as much again. He much prefers "Tummy Time" spent on top of Mommy or Daddy which defeats the purpose because he falls asleep there within minutes. (Pic taken 5/1, aged almost 5 weeks.)

This was a better Tummy Time session. Pic is blurry because that's the way it goes with Alex. He's either asleep/about to be asleep or he's awake, active, laughing and moving.  (Pic taken 5/3, 5 weeks old.)

Great smile even if those feet are whizzing around. Pic was taken 5/3 at 6:20 PM - one of his usual, Active-Mommy-Let's-Play Times, after his afternoon nap.

His usual response to most toys right now. At this point, he's more interested in us than in toys. (Pic taken 5/5, 5 and a half weeks old.)

This is the usual result when I take him out to establish a "play time" with toys. We took out all of those toys to see which, if any, he grooved to. Eventually, he took to the linked rings, but not this day. He was entertained a little by the teething ring sheep in the upper most left hand corner, but only when I sang "Bah, Bah Black Sheep" with it. Pic taken 5/5.

Finally the crib! We were able to set it up a couple of days after it arrived. We ordered and paid for the set on 3/2, being told to expect delivery in 7-10 business days.  It arrived two months later when Alex was more than five weeks old. WHAT a tale. I will never again use Babies/Toys R Us for large purchases like furniture or purchases of a lot of items.

You'd think he had gas here. I always thought he had gas when he'd twist like this. Nope, he likes to twist like this when he wants to wake up. Pic taken 5/5, five and a half weeks old.

He took to the crib surprisingly well. He seems fascinated by the mobile and by the dinosaurs on the bumper. He liked it even better when I put the sleep positioner down and added the iPod Munchkin to play his favorite tunes.
Pic taken 5/6, five and a half weeks old.

Sitting up is sooooo much more relaxing and fun than stupid ol' "Tummy Time". These pants don't yet fit him. Poor thing either wears sleepers or goes pantless in onesies. Pic taken 5/7, almost 6 weeks old.

Morning with Mommy! This is his favorite Play Time - about 8 AM. That's his usual mood in the mornings. Pic taken 5/8, almost 6 weeks old.

Can we play now Mommy? (5/8, 8:30 AM)

No, I asked "Can we PLAY now? Is this play? What do you mean you have to eat?"  Pic taken 5/8, almost 6 weeks old.
 
 

One of his favorite "Cuddle Times", between 8 and 11 PM. Pic taken at 10 PM (5/8).

May 15, 2007