Baby Paul's 2nd Week

I will eventually blog about something besides baby Paul, but right now that's about all I can focus on! Paul turned 2 weeks old yesterday. I feel like the 2nd week was better than the first week and I think each week will just get better as we'll get more and more confident about what we are doing. We also got more sleep during the 2nd week as we were able to stop waking him to feed so he got some 3-3.5 hour stretches of sleep at night which feel pretty amazing for mom! 

That milk drunk life

Likes: pooping right after we change his diaper, his pacifier (I know they say not to use them before they are 4 weeks when you are breastfeeding, but it helps soothe him so much and the pediatrician in the hospital told us to not worry about using it as he used them from the get go with his children, too), making funny faces at us, laying on his side and being bounced when he is upset.

He loves to pose with his little first by the side of his face. It's kind his 'thinker' pose, with a lip purse added in for some extra sass!

He also likes to houdini his legs out of sleepers so they can have them in a 'frog'pose with his ankles crossed. One time he ever got both feet in one leg of a sleeper. In hindsight we should have gotten some 'sack' type of sleepers. It would make diaper/outfit changes much easier!

Dislikes: still hates diaper changes and getting changed, being cold, and having to work to eat (he thinks mom's milk should flow like tap water it seems).

Firsts:  We started to do tummy time. He's usually not a fan.

He also had his first bath. He loved his first bath. He was not a fan of the 2nd one, though. We are only giving him a bath every 3-4 days as I don't want to dry out his skin. If he liked baths, I might do them more often but until he consistently likes them, we'll do as few as we need to do.

Lastly, he met his sister as she came home from Grandma's last Sunday. Phil thinks that Oscar has aged several years in the past week. She doesn't like loud noises we think the crying kind of stresses her out. She has mostly kept her distance from Paul but she does peek at him throughout the day. Sometimes during the night, she sits on the corner of our bed and watches him sleep in his swing.

Feeding: every 2-3 hours, but usually goes 3-3.5 hours between feeds at night. Breastfeeding continues to be challenging. He did well at his weighted feed last Wednesday but then when we had his weight checked on Tuesday, he had not gained an ounce, even though he cluster fed quite a bit over the weekend. So we saw the lactation consultant again on Wednesday and he did not eat much during that feed. She thinks he is not working very hard to eat when I am less 'full' so I have to pump after every feed, except during the middle of the night, and we give him a 1-1.5 oz bottle after every feed. I had no idea that breastfeeding a newborn could be so much work. I mean, I kind of new because I know other moms who strugged with BF'ing, but until it's you, you don't realize how much work it is and how anxious it can make you when your baby isn't gaining weight. 

That said, he's generating MORE than enough wet and dirty diapers and he's a content little guy so we know he's doing well. Both Phil and I were slow to gain weight after we were born and we were kind of underweight when we started kindergarten so I think that genetics is at play here. I just hope he has gained weight when we get it checked again tomorrow (and then again on Monday). So much for cutting down on doctor appointments after the baby is born. ;)  I'm hoping we get a break after his Monday weigh in - fingers crossed!

Sleeping: pretty well. He still HATES his bassinet. I tried laying him up against the wall of the bassinet (it's mesh so he can breathe through it if he turned toward it, which I doubt he would since he is a back sleeper) and that didn't make a difference. So he still sleeps in his swing. Sometimes he sleeps in it without it being turned on, other times he needs it moving and the white noise machine needs to be on. There's no schedule to his sleep during the day. Sometimes he will nap for a couple of hours. Sometimes he is more awake.

Snug as a bug in a rug in his swing 

Sleeping in momma's arms

Dad:  Phil goes back to work on Monday. Boooo! I'm so glad he's been home for 2 weeks with us. I can't imagine not having him around to help. My mom is coming for a couple of days next week so that will help with the transition to being on our own! Phil does most of the bottle feeding, all of the bottle/pump washing, and so many other things. He still pushes me to lay down for a nap or get out of the house for a break, which has been really nice.

Momma: my RA flare kind of came and went but I haven't had any pain for the last couple of days so hopefully the RA flares are a thing of the past now that I'm on great medications again (which cost $1,000/syringe!! Luckily I do not have to pay a penny for them since I met my out of pocket maximum, plus the drug company provides co-pay assistance since they make so much money on the drug.). 

My post partum emotions seem more in check but I'm definitely more prone to tears. Especially over the weight gain issues we've had. I felt really bad at his weight check at the doctor's office and cried as soon as the nurse left the room. It's tough to not feel all the mom guilt at times! But I'm reminding myself that I'm doing everything I can and that Paul seems healthy and happy. 

I start a new momma class on Monday which I'm excited about! It's a 6-week class led by an RN/Lactation Consultant. Each week there is a topic that gets discussed during the 2-hour class and then the instructor encourages all the moms to meet one other time. I think it will be really good for us to get out of the house at least 2 times a week!