Sunday, May 29, 2011

Chase is 4 weeks old!


*Isn't his Memorial Day outfit cute?!

Chase is 4 weeks old today! It's crazy how quickly the time goes. I'm about to be super honest here people. Hubby was off work the first two weeks. That went really fast! We spent the first few days getting the whole breast feeding thing figured out. It took a few days for my milk to come in. We had been keeping track of poop and pee diapers and he was behind so we called the advice nurse at our ped's office and she said to give him a couple ounces of formula. Luckily people had given us bottles and similac had sent us formula. I got pretty upset and freaked out because I didn't read about bottle feeding in the books. I didn't know what to do and thought if Chase tasted formula from a bottle he would never want breast milk again. The formula helped hydrate him and he went back to breast feeding. My milk still hadn't come in and we had what we refer to as the "bad night". He wouldn't sleep anywhere and was crying a lot! We saw the ped the next day and she reassured us that we were doing good and my milk came in later that day.

We've done ok with Hubby going back to work, at first I didn't know what I would do with Chase all day and then I was sad because hubby didn't want to be away from us. Broke my heart! Hubby helps out a ton when he is home and I love that he comes home every day and doesn't travel for work.

I have no idea where or how Chase slept those first few weeks. I guess sometimes he slept in his pack and play and sometimes in the bed with us. I think we were putting him in the pack and play when he was completely asleep.

This week I wanted to get him on a schedule. I got the book the secrets of the baby whisperer. Her secrets were not working when I tried to put him in the pack and play. I was exhausted after trying to get him to sleep for like two days. I was asking every parent I know what they do and found out a lot of people sleep with their kids and have no clue. During a desperate moment hubby put Chase in the crib in his room and he went to sleep! I got desperate again and did the same thing and it worked! My theory is he likes the sturdiness of the crib, the pack and play was wobbly and would move if he fussed. So Chase made that tough decision of when to move him to his crib for us. We are all sleeping much better now and it's wonderful!

Breast feeding was difficult in the hospital. Things got better after I got the my Brest friend pillow. After about two weeks I had a mild infection and was kind of over breast feeding. It's going better now but the breast I had an infection in still has a cracked sore nipple. Things would be really great if that would heal! He eats about every three hours during the day. We are flexible which is nice.

He is awake for about an hour every three hours. Sometimes we do tummy time, walk around, look at the fan, or watch reality tv. I love waking him up because I miss him when he is sleeping! He gets lots of kisses then.

We think he has gained about a pound. Our friend let us borrow their baby scale. He's probably grown an inch. We only had 1 pack of newborn diapers so he is in size 1s now. A couple of his newborn onesies are too small. His eyes are getting lighter blue and I think his hair is getting lighter.

I had no idea how much work having a baby was! We both really wanted to be parents and love kids. Everyone would tell us what great parents we would be. If you aren't so sure about having a newborn, I don't recommend it. I don't think it's for everyone. I'm lucky I have tons of support and know what a blessing having this little miracle is. When he looks at me with those big blue eyes it does melt my heart!

12 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to hear things have gotten a little easier. I'm super nervous about the newborn phase but I know the hard work will be worth it. He looks so sweet! I can't believe he's already 4 weeks old.

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  2. He is super cute, what a handsome little man you have! :)

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  3. I'm glad everything is working out! How long does he sleep at night now that he's in his crib?

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  4. He is so precious! So glad things are going well!

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  5. The first weeks are rough, but we are sleep deprived so the bad memories fade. :) Glad to hear things are going better. He is so adorable!

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  6. Have you looked at the nipple gaurd protective covers? I read on another blog about how much it helped when one nipple would become cracked or sore. Just a suggestion. I'm sure things will get easier and you'll be a mommy pro in no time!

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  7. I wish my hubby was home during the week and dint travel
    I just remembered reading this- one night I put Anika in her crib at like 3 weeks because she was crying and I just needed a break, so I put her in her crib- I went back to our bed and I fell asleep!! I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but I did for 3 hours and when I woke up and went and checked on her, she was sound asleep! So, she slept in her crib for the first time on “accident” I also read that babies sometimes sleep better in their own bed because they are woken up by the movement of their parents if they sleep in bed with the parents. ALSO- she can smell me and my breast milk so she is apt to wake up more to eat even when not hungry, but for comfort if she is right next to me. Ever since Anika has slept in her own crib and room, she sleeps almost through the night.
    I also think I am just lucky because I just dont require a lot of sleep. When People keep asking me about sleep, I have to say I have only been tired once, but my mom pipes up that I would never nap as a kid and she could never believe how little sleep I required, so I guess that little quirk just helped me with a newborn.

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  8. and ps as I have pointed out before- I am blssed with a good sleeper, but I have yet to drop any baby weight- so I dont have clothes that fit- but at least I can sleep. We win some, we lose some!

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  9. I'm so glad you're being real about the situation and not making it look like it's rainbows & sunshine all the time. What a good mom :)

    I love his pics in his striped outfit, so cute!

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  10. That's great that things are going well. He's looking so cute!

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