Tonight during dinner, Sarah called out, "These peas are soooo good!"
While I'm sure she'd prefer to be eating a cookie or chips, I was pleased that she was excited to be eating peas. She asked for seconds and then finished Charlotte's leftover peas, too.
Yay for good food!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Hot baby?
I'm beginning to wonder if 100 degrees is Alex's normal temperature. Now that the cough is gone, he's left with this low-grade fever that is hovering right around the "danger zone" of 100.4. But he hasn't crested that point yet so we're still all good. He had some blood drawn yesterday and his CBC was normal. The blood culture won't be back for a while but so far it's clear.
I took him back to the pediatrician today because was still 100.2 today and having a little bit of diarrhea so she wanted to see him again. She still didn't find anything else wrong with him (except one of his blood test results showed a potential early allergy, possibly to milk--DRAT!) so I wonder if maybe Alex is just one of those kids who is always a little warm.
The good news: Alex weighed in at 9lbs 15.5 ounces today!! That's a 7.5oz gain in 4 days!! Grow, little man, grow!!
Pics are coming soon...I promise!!
I took him back to the pediatrician today because was still 100.2 today and having a little bit of diarrhea so she wanted to see him again. She still didn't find anything else wrong with him (except one of his blood test results showed a potential early allergy, possibly to milk--DRAT!) so I wonder if maybe Alex is just one of those kids who is always a little warm.
The good news: Alex weighed in at 9lbs 15.5 ounces today!! That's a 7.5oz gain in 4 days!! Grow, little man, grow!!
Pics are coming soon...I promise!!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Week-long fever
Our little Alex has been running a fever for a week. He's been to the pediatrician twice but she think it's just a virus. He started with a nasty cough last week ("kindergarten cough" brought home by Sarah--big sisters like to share everything) but that's pretty much gone now. He's still running a temperature at about 100 which isn't outrageously high but a 7-week-old baby shouldn't be running a temperature at all.
I don't know how long his fever will last but I guess there's nothing to do in the meantime. We'll just keep waiting it out.
The good thing about going to the ped's office is that he gets to weigh in. He was up to 9 1/2 pounds on Monday so he's continuing to grow which is GREAT! We just need to keep our little buddy growing! I'll post a new pic soon.
I don't know how long his fever will last but I guess there's nothing to do in the meantime. We'll just keep waiting it out.
The good thing about going to the ped's office is that he gets to weigh in. He was up to 9 1/2 pounds on Monday so he's continuing to grow which is GREAT! We just need to keep our little buddy growing! I'll post a new pic soon.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Chocolate Ritz
Andy gave the girls each one Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookie for dessert last night. When I got home from running an errand, I asked if they'd had dessert (Charlotte forfeited her dessert earlier in the day when she snuck some candy into the office so I was fishing for information), they responded, "Yes! We had one chocolate Rit!" I think it's hilarious that they think that a singular Ritz cracker is called a "Rit" anyway and to explain the taste of Thin Mints as chocolate Ritz just makes it even funnier.
The girls are about to nap so I think I might treat myself to a couple of chocloate Ritz while they're sleeping.
The girls are about to nap so I think I might treat myself to a couple of chocloate Ritz while they're sleeping.
Long time, no post
Wow, it's been a whirlwind around here for the last 6 weeks. Alex's birth was amazing and beautiful. We are truly blessed to have a wonderful son and the girls are thrilled with their little brother.
Every time a mama brings home a baby, there are always learning curves. Each baby is special and unique and comes with his/her own challenges. For whatever reason, my milk supply has been questionable this time around and without cause. With Charlotte, because of a placental abruption during delivery that led to a large amount of blood loss and pituitary damage, I had some supply issues that were only complicated by her nipple confusion from being bottlefed in the nursery at the hospital. So we had a steep hill to climb with her but after some intense work, by about 7 weeks all was well. I never had any problems with nursing Sarah except for an occasional bout of thrush. So I was expecting everything to go smoothly with Alex since his delivery was DREAMY!
But alas, that was not in the cards. He lost a little weight in the hospital and continued losing weight after we brought him home, despite my nursing him every 2 hours around the clock. He also had to be hospitalized for jaundice and that definitely DIDN'T help. He was very sleepy and keeping him awake long enough to nurse effectively was a real feat. So it was no wonder he wasn't gaining weight.
By 9 days old, he was down to 6lbs, 15oz after weighing in at 8lbs 1.6oz at birth. That's a pretty significant drop, I know. So I rented a hospital grade pump and got a prescription for Reglan to increase my supply in the short-term. All of a sudden, he started gaining weight.
The ideal weight gain for a breastfed baby is 4-7 ounces/week. For the last couple of weeks, Alex has been gaining about an ounce/day. I weighed him yesterday while we were at the pediatrican for Charlotte's 4-year well check and he weighed 8lbs, 15oz which is 11 ounces in 12 days. So I'm okay with that. He's scheduled for his 2-month check in about 3 weeks so I'm hoping he'll be over 10 pounds then.
I also saw a new doctor to look into the possibility of a thyroid issue that could be causing this weird supply problem. Maybe something got messed up after Charlotte's birth that never really corrected itself? Maybe I lost more blood during Alex's birth than I thought? Maybe there's something I'm missing? I'm all set for blood work this upcoming Thursday to investigate these matters. In the meantime, today is my last day of my second Reglan prescription. According to the lactation consultant, Reglan can be used three times so I think I have only one more go-round with it before I won't be able to take it anymore. Apparently the side effects can be really bad but I've had none of those. I also go on Thursday for my 6-week postpartum followup. I plan to talk extensively about this supply issue and figure out what's going on. The problem is, most doctors think it's no big deal to get over it and bottle feed. But after I nursed Sarah for 13 months and Charlotte for 18 months, it's not easy (or really an option in my opinion) to give up on Alex. So I'm keeping at it in hopes of straightening everything out and enjoying a long breastfeeding relationship with my new boy.
Alex is a wonderful baby. He doesn't cry very much, he's been a great sleeper since his first night home, and he's very snuggly. He started smiling this past weekend but he's still pretty selective about to whom he flashes that toothless grin. I'm sure he'll be more generous with those as he gets older. He's spending much more time awake these days and is very observant. I am so looking forward to watching him grow and develop as the years pass.
I promise to update more often now that we have computer issues resolved. My computer bit the dust and Andy had to work some "computer guy" magic to retrieve my information for loading onto his machine.
Every time a mama brings home a baby, there are always learning curves. Each baby is special and unique and comes with his/her own challenges. For whatever reason, my milk supply has been questionable this time around and without cause. With Charlotte, because of a placental abruption during delivery that led to a large amount of blood loss and pituitary damage, I had some supply issues that were only complicated by her nipple confusion from being bottlefed in the nursery at the hospital. So we had a steep hill to climb with her but after some intense work, by about 7 weeks all was well. I never had any problems with nursing Sarah except for an occasional bout of thrush. So I was expecting everything to go smoothly with Alex since his delivery was DREAMY!
But alas, that was not in the cards. He lost a little weight in the hospital and continued losing weight after we brought him home, despite my nursing him every 2 hours around the clock. He also had to be hospitalized for jaundice and that definitely DIDN'T help. He was very sleepy and keeping him awake long enough to nurse effectively was a real feat. So it was no wonder he wasn't gaining weight.
By 9 days old, he was down to 6lbs, 15oz after weighing in at 8lbs 1.6oz at birth. That's a pretty significant drop, I know. So I rented a hospital grade pump and got a prescription for Reglan to increase my supply in the short-term. All of a sudden, he started gaining weight.
The ideal weight gain for a breastfed baby is 4-7 ounces/week. For the last couple of weeks, Alex has been gaining about an ounce/day. I weighed him yesterday while we were at the pediatrican for Charlotte's 4-year well check and he weighed 8lbs, 15oz which is 11 ounces in 12 days. So I'm okay with that. He's scheduled for his 2-month check in about 3 weeks so I'm hoping he'll be over 10 pounds then.
I also saw a new doctor to look into the possibility of a thyroid issue that could be causing this weird supply problem. Maybe something got messed up after Charlotte's birth that never really corrected itself? Maybe I lost more blood during Alex's birth than I thought? Maybe there's something I'm missing? I'm all set for blood work this upcoming Thursday to investigate these matters. In the meantime, today is my last day of my second Reglan prescription. According to the lactation consultant, Reglan can be used three times so I think I have only one more go-round with it before I won't be able to take it anymore. Apparently the side effects can be really bad but I've had none of those. I also go on Thursday for my 6-week postpartum followup. I plan to talk extensively about this supply issue and figure out what's going on. The problem is, most doctors think it's no big deal to get over it and bottle feed. But after I nursed Sarah for 13 months and Charlotte for 18 months, it's not easy (or really an option in my opinion) to give up on Alex. So I'm keeping at it in hopes of straightening everything out and enjoying a long breastfeeding relationship with my new boy.
Alex is a wonderful baby. He doesn't cry very much, he's been a great sleeper since his first night home, and he's very snuggly. He started smiling this past weekend but he's still pretty selective about to whom he flashes that toothless grin. I'm sure he'll be more generous with those as he gets older. He's spending much more time awake these days and is very observant. I am so looking forward to watching him grow and develop as the years pass.
I promise to update more often now that we have computer issues resolved. My computer bit the dust and Andy had to work some "computer guy" magic to retrieve my information for loading onto his machine.
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