16 and 17 weeks old

Ethan was 16 weeks on Friday, January 10th and turned 17 weeks old on Friday, January 17th. Today, January 20th he turned 4 months old to the day.

He has outgrown all of the onsies I bought before he was born. They were a size 3 months from Babi.es R U.s but are now like second skin on him. I picked up some 3-6 months from Cart.er's and they fit much better with a little extra room.

I had to add another towel to the basket to bring him up a bit closer so that he wasn't so squished. He likes to press his feet to the bottom of the basket which mashes his head against the top. I'm not sure if it makes him look bigger or smaller.

I think we caught a little half smile!

We also had our 4 month vaccinations today...what a bear! He took it like a little trooper and was fast asleep in his moby wrap in no time. We also got another EKG done today on the fly. We need it for his cardiology appointment next week but just got the order in the mail on Friday.

He is now 11.9 lbs (I thought he was over 12 based on our home scale) and 23 inches. Both of these measurements put him below the 2nd percentile based on age. His head, however, measures 40 cm, which puts him in the 10th percentile. We have our very own bobble head!....Just kidding! He actually seems very proportionate, if small for his age.

They give you this questionaire to fill out prior to the appointment to see if he is meeting all of his milestones. They do not correct for prematurity so I had to put "no", or "only sometimes" for nearly every question on there, I think I only put "yes" for 2 things. 1: Can hold his head 3 inches off the ground during tummy time and doesn't let it fall to the ground but rather lays it back down. 2: When held in a sitting position, keeps his head from wobbling around most of the time.

The doctor said "he's not going to be the biggest kid in his class", however, the other day when we were shopping, a woman, whom I don't know, came up to me and pulled the moby wrap aside to look at his face and said "what a husky little fellow". This kid could not be considered husky in any sense of the word. Maybe she thought he was big for a newborn! But he is definitely small for a 4 month old. Either way, he's just chugging right along.

15 weeks old

Yesterday 1/3/14 the E-man turned 15 weeks old. (Yay for posting in a timely manner)

We had a rather exciting week as we celebrated the new year and my return to work.


We went to a friend's house for new years eve, it was sort of a last minute plan, but we had fun playing cards and then watching the ball drop on TV. This was immediately followed by going home and crashing into bed as I no longer function so well this late due to the hours that E keeps.


I have put in two full days at work and I didn't lose it like I thought I might when I left the house. It really helped that E stays home with Nate when I go to work. This means that I can request as many updates and pictures as I want throughout the day. I came home over lunch on Friday but wasn't able to feed him as I had hoped. They changed so much at work while I was gone that I'm struggling a bit to keep up, and also, I didn't have an assistant on Friday. So in addition to seeing patients, I had to man the phones and the front desk (it was a little insane actually). I hope this isn't the case every Friday, but I was afraid to ask.

This was the face that I came home to on Thursday.

My return to work meant a return to pumping. I intend to do a whole post on breastfeeding thus far, so to keep it short and sweet here...I am a milk making machine! I hope it continues to go well for us as I would like to breastfeed E as long as it is mutually desirable for us both.


Somehow, return to regular life has me motivated to post. I hope that motivation stays long enough to actually do so.

12, 13 and 14 weeks old

On 12/13/13, Little E was 12 weeks old

 On 12/20/13, E-man was 13 weeks old, and 3 months old to the day

This past Friday, on12/27/13 E was 14 weeks old

He is doing very well, he is about 12 lbs now, firmly in 3 month old clothes (if not already growing out of some of them). He sleeps well at night, only waking to eat (usually twice after I've gone to sleep) and then going back to sleep. He has good head control but can't push himself up on his arms during tummy time (well, he's done it once). We are not anywhere close to sitting up yet. I have to remind myself that his adjusted age is only 8 weeks old right now. He loves bath time and could lay in there for hours. He has only pooped in the tub once! He also loves being carried in the moby wrap. He has not found his thumb but is instantly calmed by a pacifier. He is typically breastfed but will eat from a bottle and will take 5 oz if you let him (and then spits up 1-2 oz...he is not a good burp-er). He is wearing cloth diapers full time and has been since about 8 weeks old.

This is my last update before I return to work. My first day is January 2 and I am not looking forward to it. I will have had almost 15 weeks off of work and I simply don't want to go back, but know that I have to. We have had essentially no income for the last 7 weeks after my sick leave, vacation, and Afla.c pay all ran out. I have to say that I am lucky that I don't have to take him to daycare. Nate will be a stay at home dad for the foreseeable future, I don't know that he knows what is coming. He has already stayed home with him when I go out and about, but has never done more than 1 feeding without me.  He will figure it out, and I will try my very best to avoid being a backseat driver while he does. At worst, I am a phone call away.

I will have to put some of the cutest photos back on my phone to tide me over while I'm at work and away from E.  Here are some recent cuties:

His favorite place to sleep

Giraffe Hat I crocheted to match his outfit (I had extra yarn from another project)

Christmas parade downtown

Modified tummy time

Walk on Christmas day, first time in the stroller without the carseat attachment

His Christmas presents from my brother, my sister and us

Christmas santa hat on Christmas day

Dad has a matching hat (we didn't have a corncob pipe though)

same hat without the beard

Grandpa J visiting on the day after Christmas

Grandma S visiting day after Christmas and first time meeting E

11 weeks old

Oh man am I behind on posting. I've got a couple posts in the wings waiting to be posted and all of my updates to do!!!


On 12/6/12 (nearly 2 weeks ago) Ethan was 11 weeks old!


He is as long as the basket now!

He weighs in around 10.5 lbs now and officially does not fit in any of his newborn clothing. I packed away everything that was in the closet and am putting everything else away as it is washed. I found one sleepsuit in his diaper bag labeled 5-8 lbs, talk about busting out the seams! He is officially in our 3 mos clothes.


By the way, baby clothes make me crazy. How are some 0-3 month clothes bigger than 3 months clothes? How are some 3-6 months clothes smaller than cloths labeled 3 months? Baby clothes manufacturers should get their act together!!!


He has never been a real crier but cries even less now. He smiles more regularly and is testing his buttons and levers to start to figure out how to laugh.

10 weeks old

On 11/29 (yes I'm a little late) Ethan was 10 weeks old.

We had a great week including his first Thanksgiving, as well as yet another doctor's visit. Ethan wasn't supposed to go back to the doctor until he was 4 months old, but I had a concern about how his circumcision was healing. It turns out that all is ok, but as a bonus he did get weighed in at that appointment. He was 9 lbs 6 oz.

We finally got control of his diaper rash this week by switching from a diaper rash cream to a powder.    

He has also started to smile at us and it seems to be under his control rather than a reflex.

He is bursting the seems on his newborn cloths but still wearing them. Same goes for his newborn cloth diapers.

Other than that not much is new. So here is his weekly picture, and there is a bonus picture with the hat I made, this hat did not fit him this year but probably will for the next 4-5 years.

9 weeks old

Once again, I'm a little late. Last Friday, not yesterday but the week before, on 11/22/13, my little pumpkin was 9 weeks old.

He is bigger, stronger and...well...fatter. He is starting to pack on the pounds. At his most recent, doctor's appointment he weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz and is 21 inches tall. He got his second round of vaccinations and is doing not just fine, but great.

We are still breastfeeding. I just typed and then deleted that we were doing it well, and maybe we are, but it sure doesn't feel like it. I think it's about time for a whole post on how breastfeeding has gone thus far.

This week on Wednesday we began a routine I will put all of that in another post.

E is wearing all newborn cloths and only cloth diapers. He has started to smile a bit, but it is more of a half smile and only when he is tired. He can't be bothered when he is awake.

8 weeks old

On Friday 11/15 E was 8 weeks old. 

It is official, more than half of my maternity leave is over. I had originally had November and December marked off for 8 weeks of maternity leave in case I was recovering from a c-section. Because I had him 6 weeks early, that 8 weeks turned into 14 weeks! Unfortunately, it is mostly unpaid. 

My contract changed in June and I now have 3 weeks of vacation each year. I also have 6 sick days. Finally, I have Aflac which gets you 2 weeks of pay. So in total, I had about 6 weeks of pay. Because we had to spend 10 days in Las Vegas, NV (on our own dime) we are really living off of savings rather than that 6 weeks of pay. Oh well, we will survive. 

Anyway... back to the baby...

An 8 week old baby...he doesn't look 8 weeks old, he doesn't feel 8 weeks old, and I guess it is because he is only 2 weeks adjusted. I can't believe he is that old already. I'm glad I get another 6 weeks at home with him as I feel he is just getting into a routine and I am really just now getting to know him. He slept so much when we first brought him home. Now he has stretches where he is awake an hour or more at a time. From 35 weeks gestation to nearly 40 weeks gestation or birth to 6 weeks old, he slept nearly 22 hours a day total. Now he sleeps maybe 16-18. It feels a whole lot different to have a baby that is awake sometimes and becoming mildly interactive.

E weighed in at the pediatrician on Wednesday and he is now 8lbs, the size we expected him to be born at. He feels heavier...the carseat with him in it feels heavier! He is completely out of preemie cloths, they have been packed away and given back to those that loaned us clothing. He is getting much more use of of newborn clothing than we ever expected. I haven't pulled out the 3 mos old cloths just yet though. 

We are back in cloth diapers too. The circumcision is healed and we are finally getting a hold of this diaper rash. Just as the rash was beginning to heal it suddenly got worse. The doc said that he thought it might be a yeast infection and prescribed Nystatin at his appointment on Wednesday. It started to get better immediately. However, we were advised to switch to a different routine. We now wash his little butt in the sink after each poop, which is essentially every diaper change right now. Then I blow dry his butt with a hair dryer. It needs to be completely poop free and completely dry to apply the nystatin. It is truly unrealistic to let a newborn be without a diaper for any extended period of time, so this routine works best. However, it means taking a naked baby across carpet to get him to the sink. Having the diaper change station in the bathroom is not possible so the potential for a poopy carpet disaster is extremely high. I debated using cloth with the nystatin, but everything I've read says that it should be ok with natural fibers, so I'm using cotton prefolds and organic cotton all in ones. We shall see if it ruins them or if they simply need to be stripped afterwards. I just could not justify letting him outgrow my newborn prefolds without ever really using them. Also, I couldn't stand the though of buying more diapers. The cost of diapers is astronomical!!!

He is just my little cutey pie and I'm so happy to be his mommy!

7 weeks old

This week was a very busy and a bit rough for the little guy.

I think that I mentioned on here before that E was diagnosed with a heart condition while he was in the NICU. He has SVT or supraventricular tachycardia. His heart races when he is at rest and gets up to over 200 beats a minute. It is an electrical problem in the heart where the upper and lower chambers have an extra electrical connection. Most babies grow out of it by 1 year of age or even sooner in some cases. It is only a problem when their bodies don't get enough oxygen. These babies tend to blanch or turn blue at random when they're having an episode. Sometimes they have trouble gaining weight and growing properly. It is especially troublesome when their episodes last longer than 3 hours at a time. Ethan had episodes that lasted less than 30 seconds each. We only picked it up because he was on a heart monitor the entire time he was in the NICU, had he been home we might not even know he has this. He is on medicine to make sure that it stays controlled and has not turned blue ever. If he does not grow out of it they can do a procedure where they use ablation to rid the heart of the extra connection.

Anyway, on Tuesday, we drove the 4 or so hours up to Albuquerque to visit with the pediatric cardiologist. They did an EKG which looked normal and was not indicative of a syndrome that is associated with SVT. All in all they said things look great, however, they also send us home with a Holter heart monitor for 24 hours to look for episodes. Luckily we can mail the heart monitor back instead of making a second trip. They upped his dose of medicine due to his weight gain and will do an ultrasound at a follow up in 2 months. For that appointment we can go to their outreach clinic that is only 1 hour away. He did not care for the monitor and the cables attached to the leads pulled at his skin as we moved him around. I really feel for the parents of kiddos who have to have one of these on for any lengthier amount of time, 24 hours was really long enough!

Then on Wednesday we had a follow up with his pediatrician who felt he was now healthy enough for circumcision. It was scheduled for the next day, so on Thursday morning we took him in to the hospital and the pediatrician did it in the newborn nursery. I don't want to start any debate here about whether or not we should have circumcised our son, it is a very personal decision for everyone involved. I will say that aesthetically it didn't matter to me either way, so my preference would have been to not have it done at all. It mattered a whole lot more to Nate, and, in the end, I felt it was best for him to have the final say on his son's circumcision.

They had us wait in this small room that was right next to the nursery. We could hear everything! I really wish they either let us in the room with him while it was done or had us completely our of earshot. He cried for the whole 45 minutes they had him, and then for the next 15 minutes or so after they brought him back. I don't know for sure, but I believe he was likely strapped down for that whole time to do the procedure and to stop the bleeding afterwards. He finally calmed down when swaddled and then I put him in the moby wrap and he fell asleep. The doc said that they do use anesthetic for older babies, but that it wears off in an hour. We gave him one dose of tylanol but after that he slept most of the day and most of the night. I had to wake him up to eat twice. I haven't given him any more tylanol today and he really seems like himself today except during diaper changes, where he screams, and rightfully so.

We are back in disposable diapers due to the circumcision. We were given bacitracin to put on the circumcision and told to put a dollop of Vaseline in the diaper to prevent things from sticking together. Vaseline is a huge no-no with cloth diapers, so rather than deal with liners and risk destroying our diaps, I just bought a few packs of disposables. I accidentally bought 1 size too big, but incidentally it holds a lot more pee and poop and therefore we can change him less often, which tortures him (and me) a lot less.

He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz at the cardiologist on Tuesday but didn't get weighed at the pediatrician because he was wearing his heart monitor. Size 1 diapers fit, but are a little large. He wears mostly newborn cloths when in disposable diapers but some 0-3 and 3 mos cloths with cloth diapers.

weekly cuteness

EKG

Heart monitor and borrowed purple diaper cover

Heart monitor under onesie with leggings

After a middle of the night wardrobe change. Clashing like it's going out of style...oh wait...

6 weeks old

On Friday November 1, Ethan was 6 weeks old. 

I know that I'm doing these posts back to back, but as I get more sleep, I'm more motivated to do things during the day. Including posting on this here blog! Actually, I shouldn't say that I get more sleep, I think that it is just that I've adjusted to getting less sleep and E is starting to form a more predictable schedule for himself. 

During the day E will eat every 3 hours and have some time periods during that where he is actually awake for more than 5 minutes or so. I guess that since we are now past his due date, he is starting to wake up a bit. During the night he wakes every 2-2.5 hours to eat, he is sometimes awake between feedings and is quite fussy as I try to get him back to sleep. He still has his nights and days flip-flopped.

He is sleeping in a co-sleeper in our room, but isn't actually co-sleeping. It is a half size pack and play meant for co-sleeping, it comes with a strap so that you can strap it to the mattress so that there is no gap and it is level with the bed. However, right now, the co-sleeper is at the foot of the bed so that either my husband or I can get up and reinsert the pacifier as needed, therefore, the co-sleeper isn't strapped to our bed, but rather about 6 inches away. I need to get some additional lift feet for it so that it can be the right height. Also, I need to get up and out of bed with him to change his diaper in the middle of the night. We are still fighting this diaper rash! That and the mess of the nipple shield all equal out to sleeping in a co-sleeper without actually co-sleeping.

This week we have officially switched to cloth diapers. I'm going at this cloth diapering thing full speed ahead. Even if we only cloth diaper for the time I am on maternity leave, the cloth diapers will have paid for themselves. I'd like to do a full post on how we are cloth diapering, so I won't go into it here, but E is in a cloth diaper in the picture below so I thought I'd mention it, it's not just that his butt grew 3 sizes overnight.

E is weighing in at just over 7 lbs, somewhere around 7 lbs 6 oz when weighed on our home scale. (Me getting on it with him, then getting on the scale without him and figuring out the difference) This method doesn't seem too accurate as I believe the scale to be rounding, also it doesn't measure in oz, so I have to convert. He is wearing mostly all newborn clothes, but the cloth diapers make some of the newborn sizes a little tight on him. The onesie he is wearing is a 3 mos size, but only because we didn't buy any newborn size onesies in white, thinking he'd be a big baby when he was born. 

Doesn't he look more like a baby now? Less like a fetus...or little old man?

5 weels old

My little peanut was 5 weeks old on 10/25/13. Not much changed that week.

We began battling a significant diaper rash that has continued to today. I believe it to be contact diaper dermatitis. I was advised by the pediatrician that sometimes diaper wipes just aren't enough, for preemies especially.  So we set up diaper changing shop on the small part of the counter next to the bathroom sink and we use wet washcloths (no soap). Has anyone had to do this? I want to move it back to his room where I have more surface area especially for when he squirms, it would be nice to have the changing pad under him. It really makes sense that water and a washcloth or washable wipe does just fine, obviously this was the way to do it before commercial wipes were available.

Ethan is now around 7 lbs at 5 weeks old. He has outgrown all the preemie stuff that I had and is wearing exclusively newborn clothes and newborn disposable diapers. Still hoping to switch to cloth very soon.

Anyway, we are all doing ok around here. I will have a few posts with pictures up here over the next few days.

4 weeks old

I can't believe that on Friday 10/18 my baby is already nearly 1 month old!

Time flew especially fast because of the first 10 days in the NICU, but really it also seems to fly because I don't want to have to go to work, so thinking that the first 1/3 of my leave is over is also what is getting to me.

This past week, we worked very hard on breastfeeding. After I met with the La Leche League leader, I vowed to exclusively breastfeed E without the use of bottles. She recommended the use of the nipple shield due to flat nipples and poor latch. She checked his lips and tongue and said he was doing well. Also, she did not feel that I had an overactive letdown as I had suspected. She gave me a few tips and we were on our way. Also, there was a LLL meeting last Monday that I went to and I had the chance to talk to a few other moms still breastfeeding older children. I got a few extra tips there as well.

I knew we had a pediatrician visit this Monday which gave me exactly 10 days to try it out and see how much weight he could gain. We have to use the nipple shield or he will not latch, and I have to pump at least 3 times a day but we are doing well.

After a previous post, there was a comment about why I was pumping in addition to feeding. Basically, because I pumped for the first several weeks. Therefore, my supply was established by the pump, not by my child. I suffer from a massive oversupply that results in engorgement and mastitis. Initially, I could feed him and still feel way overly full and then proceed to double pump a total of between 8-10 oz after each feeding. Much more than he could ever eat. It was painful and causing me true headaches in addition to loss of sleep. I couldn't lay on my stomach, back nor sides and be comfortable. I have tapered down slowly for the purposes of my comfort to pumping after feeding E a total of 3 times a day (morning, noon, and just before bed) getting a total of around 6 oz each time. I pump just for comfort and relief of pressure, not until my breasts are truly empty. He still eats every 2-3 hours around the clock. I should be able to taper off completely over the next few weeks, however, I may continue to pump once a day to continue to stock up my freezer for my return to work. I will pump at work, but don't know how often I will have the ability to do so relative to my schedule.

We went yesterday Monday 10/21 to the pediatrician and E is now up to 6 lbs 6 oz. That is a gain of 1 lb 3 oz in 2 weeks, or just over an oz a day! He said that he is doing fantastic and at the upper end of how much they would want him to gain each day. They did recommend a daily vitamin with iron for him and I wanted some opinions. If I am on a daily multivitamin and he is gaining weight and has not been diagnosed as anemic, is there really any reason for the vitamin? I can't see why he should have to take it. It was recommended and encouraged by the nurse/medical assistant at the same time she gave me dosing for acetaminophen and ibuprofen, but the doctor said nothing about it. Do you think it is necessary? Did any of you use a vitamin?

E is now in newborn clothes, they are still large, but he doesn't swim in them. He has outgrown his preemie stuff due to length mostly, but really weight-wise, he is large enough for newborn stuff. We are also out of preemie (less than 6 lbs) diapers too. It seems odd that we are now in newborn diapers where the diaper is cut down for the umbilical stump which he lost 3 weeks ago! We tried cloth diapers for a few days but E has gotten a rash. The rash is not from the cloth diapers, but until we find a cloth diaper friendly diaper rash cream, I don't want to ruin my cloth diapers. Washes with a cloth and soapy water during diaper changes seem to help. The doctor also recommended sitz baths for the baby daily, basically I dunk his butt in a sink full of plain water once a day in addition to his every other day daily baths. The rash is minor, but I'd like to keep it that way and not let it get worse.

taken 10/18/13

taken 10/20/13

Here are a few other photos that I wanted to share.

taken a week or two ago

taken last week

taken today

In summary: Breastfeeding is going well. E is growing rapidly. Cloth diapering hasn't really started yet. Any similar experiences with BFing and pumping? Any cloth diaper friendly diaper rash cream recommendations?