Temperament: happy, curious, relaxed, easy going, sleepy at first, interested, chill
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Swaddles and Rock and Play
Item/Toy You Love The Most: pacifier and bottles
Things We're Loving Most Right Now: your newborn squeaks and cuddles, how you curl up like you are still in utero, your smiles!
Things You’re Loving Most Right Now: the skylights, the windows, sleeping, pacifiers, swaddles, Abigail, sleeping on Daddy's chest, singing with Mama
Eating:
Eating has been our big struggle unfortunately although we are in a good place now. Ben was born with an anterior tongue tie which meant he could not stick his tongue out past his gums due to the tongue being stuck to the bottom of his mouth. This also meant he couldn't get his tongue out of his mouth far enough to nurse and latch effectively. Luckily it was identified right away and the lactation consultant at the hospital encouraged me to begin pumping and syringe or finger feeding while we figured out the tongue tie.
Both JP and our pediatrician were initially somewhat skeptical, sharing that they both felt tongue ties were being over diagnosed and the new scapegoat for any issues with nursing. However, upon examining Ben's mouth, they both agreed that this was an actual tongue tie problem. We were referred to an ENT so when Ben was three days old, we went up to their office. The ENT stated that the tongue tie clearly needed to be clipped as it could interfere with speech in the future as well as nursing and did the procedure quickly right there in the office.
We then went home to try to figure out nursing and had what I thought was some initial success with the help of a lactation consultant. Ben had begun to gain some of his birth weight back by the time we went to the pediatrician at five days old and I gradually began pumping less. But at his two week check up, he had lost weight from the week before rather than gaining. We agreed that I should begin to supplement with pumped milk and once I identified how little he was actually transferring when nursing due to a poor latch, switched to exclusively pumping for the time being. This means that I pump every time Ben eats and he is fed bottles of previously expressed milk. We started with 2 oz bottles and he has taken to them like a champ. As of a month old, we increased to 3 oz bottles and he continues to do well and is gaining weight. I am glad that he is able to have breastmilk and is gaining weight, but I hope we can get back to nursing at some point since it is so much easier logistically.
Right now he is eating 8 times a day, with two overnight wake ups between about 9 pm and 7 am, which seems pretty good for his first month!
Sleeping:
In contrast, sleeping has been one of Ben's strong suits! I couldn't believe it when he slept 5 hours straight in the hospital the first night after he was born, and he has continued to go to sleep easily and stay asleep well. He was so sleepy the first few weeks that it felt like he was barely awake other than eating some days, and I often woke him up to feed due to his slow weight gain. Ben does very well with being swaddled and has loved the pacifier since we introduced it at the same time we introduced bottles.
Ben seems to enjoy sleeping both in the bassinette in our room and the rock and play downstairs. He often takes a great long midday nap while I eat lunch and I typically have to wake him up to eat or he would sleep more than 2 hours in a row. He is also is able to go back to sleep after being transferred from the car seat to the bassinette for example, which is impressive. I initially was waking him up to eat overnight as well but he now has settled into a pattern of going a longer stretch of about 4 hours the first part of the night and then waking up about 3 hours between feeds. After I give him his bottle at night, I change his diaper, wrap him up and put him back in the bassinette. He falls asleep on his own while I go back to the nursery to pump, which is fantastic.
Playing:
It felt like Ben mainly ate, slept, and stared at the skylights for the first few weeks, but he has gotten more alert for longer periods. He enjoys watching the toys on the activity mat and waving randomly at them, he likes being held and sung to, and he likes it when Abigail talks to him and sings to him too. Abigail loves to give him kisses and is working on learning when is a good time (when he is awake) and when is not (asleep or eating).
Now that he is more alert, we are spending more time on the floor looking at toys, beginning to practice tracking, and in tummy time. He is working hard at tummy time and is starting to be able to pick his head up briefly and turn it to the other side. His neck is getting a lot stronger than when he first came home.
We also have been going on walks the last few days and Ben is briefly curious about what is happening on the river trail before promptly falling asleep. I am excited to continue the walks when he is more awake and it is not so hot so they can be a little more interesting for him.
Growth:
Ben is definitely getting bigger and heavier! After an initial slow start with weight gain due to his tongue tie and latch issues, he made it back to his birth weight eventually. At 3 days old, he weight 6 lbx 14 oz, and at 5 days old he was 7 lbs 5 oz. Then things started going backwards, and he was back down to 7 lbx 3 oz at 12 days old. This is when we resumed pumping and supplementing more assertively. He then started gaining slowly, getting back to 7 lbs 5 oz at 16 days old and finally making it back to his birth weight of 7 lbz 9 oz at 20 days old (7/31).
His face is definitely filling out and his arms and legs are starting to chunk up slightly, although he is still a long and lean baby overall. He seems to be getting longer too and feels heavier when I hold him than he did at the beginning.
Ben is still in newborn diapers and mostly newborn and some 0-3 month old clothes. The newborn clothes are beginning to get a little tight but still work for now. In the next few weeks I think we will be ready to move up a size in diapers and possibly in clothes, although some of the 3 month things we have still seem gigantic on him.
Ben also started smiling on his one month birthday which was a great way to round out a great first month with him! We are so happy he is here and healthy!
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