Ta-da!!

Alex got his first tooth last night! I checked his mouth in the morning and there was a little bump but no tooth so I figured it would be another day or two before anything concrete made an appearance. We went out to dinner last night and when we got home, I checked again and VOILA!! There was a teeny tooth sticking out!

We have tried getting a good look at his newest gem but he guards it pretty well with his tongue. I can tell that he recognizes that something is new because he keeps running his tongue over that part of his mouth and making funny faces.

Once it gets big enough to see, I'll post a pic of his new pearl.

Congrats on your first tooth little man!

Dough Baby is 6 months old

Alex turned 6 months old last week and had his well baby check on Monday. He weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces and was 27.5" long. At their 6-month checks, Sarah was 16 pounds and Charlotte was 13 pounds; Charlotte didn't hit 18 pounds until her 12-month check! So he's definitely the biggest of our babies. He's getting so big and learning new things each day.

Recently, he's started rolling onto his belly in his sleep and I think this is what has helped him to FINALLY sleep 5-6 hours at a time. This is a major improvement over the 3-4 hours he'd previously been sleeping. And just this week, he has started sucking his thumb. While I think it's adorably cute and it does help him soothe himself, I am not looking forward to breaking that habit, as we haven't been able to get Charlotte to stop sucking her thumb--and she's 4 years old. He's blowing raspberries now, too, and putting everything in his mouth. He's growing up fast!

We are scheduled with two specialists to help us determine if some issues he's having are in need of further examination. Those appointments aren't until the fall so we have some time before those.

All in all, these last 6 months have flown by. It's hard to believe he's halfway to his first birthday already!

Dinner Discussion

Last night while we were eating dinner, Charlotte said, "My teacher told me that God is in our bodies." I asked what she meant and she said it again. I replied that Jesus is alive in our hearts. The conversation went as follows:

Sarah: How does Jesus lives in everyone's hearts? Does God make other Gods so everyone can have one? (This is a reference to the "helper Santas" at Christmastime.)

Char: Yeah, we each have God in our heart and when you drink milk, it goes through your heart to God.

Me: It's the spirit of God in your heart. You know how when you're in bed, afraid of a storm, and you pray for calm--then the calm comes? That's Jesus' peace in your heart.

Sarah: So that's The Holy Spirit? It's Holy and it's God's Spirit, right?

Charlotte (before I could respond): Yeah, and God lives in Alex's heart so we can't punch Alex in the heart or we'll be punching God and that will hurt God.

Me: You can't punch Alex in the heart because that will hurt Alex.

And with that, the conversation ended. How a conversation about the Trinity ended up about punching Alex is still a little confusing. Maybe next time we'll make better, less violent, spiritual headway

He's on a roll!

Alex rolled over last night. Andy put him on the floor in the office and came out to get a drink of water. When he returned to the office, he called me in to see that Alex was almost all the way over. We watched from afar as he worked and worked and after some serious diligence, made it all the way over onto his belly.

I was thrilled for Andy because he missed it when the girls rolled over because they did it while he was at work. So it was exciting that Andy got to see it happen. :)

Way to roll, little man! Mommy's so proud of you!

Nickname

Charlotte has a nickname for Alex that I finally asked about today.

We were driving home from picking up Sarah from kindergarten when both girls started with their singy chant, "Doe BA-by, Doe BA-by, Doe BA-by." I've heard them sing this before but I couldn't figure out what they were saying so I asked.

Me: What are you saying, ladies?

Char: Doe BA-by

Me: I can hear what you're saying but what does it mean?

Char: I call him Doe Baby because his skin is pushy, like dough. And he's a baby so I call him baby. He's a Dough Baby.

Both girls: Dough BA-by, Dough BA-by, Dough BA-by.

I guess we all come up with nicknames for people and things. Her term of endearment makes total sense now that I know that she's saying "Dough Baby". She's a tactile learner/person so she defines things by how they feel. And I have to admit that his "pushy" skin IS kind of like dough so I get it.

Alex is 4 months old

Today was Alex's 4-month well check. I stress about whether I have enough milk to satisfy his needs and to maintain adequate growth. He weighed in at 14 lbs, 8 oz. today so he's right at the 50th percentile for weight so I can calm down now. :) He outweighs what his sisters weighed at this age and I am reassured. And at 25.75", he's in the 75 percentile for height so that's in line with typical Murphy kiddos. :)

He's really growing and starting to pay attention to the world around him. He's cooing and making lots of singing noises. His laugh is hysterical and warms my heart every time I hear it. I'm still waiting for him to start reaching for things but he has mastered the art of shoving his entire hand in his mouth so I'm sure he's not far from grabbing other things.

He loves to watch his sisters play and he's still in love with the ceiling fan (ANY ceiling fan, really) and the big clock above our mantel. He's a very good baby and we have been very blessed.

Keep growing, my sweet son.

Tired

I'm tired. That's why I haven't posted in a while. I just can't seem to catch up on sleep. I know this is the period of my life when sleep is a luxury and someday I'll look back and wish that I was sleepless again. But I'm having trouble cherishing these moments of pure exhaustion.

Alex is still nuring very frequently--during the day he's still nursing about every 2-3 hours and for some reason, that seems to be really frequent at almost 4 months old. I feel like I remember the girls nursing less frequently by this age. Maybe I'm wrong and it's that ability of a mom to forget things like labor, delivery, episiotomies, etc. kicking into gear. But it seems like he should be able to go a bit longer.

We've started all of our kiddos on solid foods at 4 months so maybe if we get him started next week, he'll start to space out his feedings...maybe.

The weather has been beautiful so that helps but it makes me feel like even more of a dud when I'm too exhausted to go out and enjoy it. Today, Charlotte said when I woke her from her nap, "Mama, you can lie down with me." I told her it was time for her to get up and I had to make dinner anyway. Her reply was, "Well, after you make us dinner, maybe you can just go to bed." Ah, wouldn't that be dreamy? But alas, I have other jobs to do after dinner and after the girls are in bed.

Someday I'll sleep, right? And I'm sure I WILL look back on these times and long for them. I'm sure. I think.

First road trip

Today we're in Cleveland visiting Andy's family for Easter weekend. That means that yesterday was Alex's first road trip. When Sarah was a baby, she'd cry the entire 4 hours to Cleveland. She did NOT like riding in the car. Char always did better than Sarah but Charlotte never, never, never slept in the car. So we were nervous about how Alex would fare.

God smiled down on us again with this little guy. I fed him before we left and he slept until more than halfway. He woke up and yelled for food so we stopped at a rest stop and let the girls play in the grass while I nursed him in the van. He ate quickly and we were back on the road again sooner than we expected. He slept the rest of way to Grandma's and it was a smooth ride.

Now that we're here (with 7 adults and 6 other children in the house), there's no shortage of available arms to hold him. He's been charming everyone with his smile and we're going to see a lot more family later this morning. It's official----he's a hit! :)

We're keeping our fingers crossed for a repeat performance in the car on the way home on Sunday.

2-month well check

I took Alex for his 2-month well check today. Doc thinks he looks good and is growing well. He weighed 10lbs, 11oz. (25th %ile) and measured 23.5 inches (75th %ile). He has been doing a good job eating and sleeping. He's always been a great nighttime sleeper, getting up only once/night. He could use some help in the napping department--but who COULD nap with two rowdy sisters galavanting around the house? :)

I can't believe he's already two months old! Where has the time gone? Before I know it, I'll be planning his first birthday party.

A few photos

I keep promising to post a few pics of Alex and keep finding excuses not to do it. Andy is bathing the girls and watching Alex upstairs so I'm all alone and can't find an excuse to avoid it any further.

Alex smiling at Sarah, his favorite smiling target

Sleepy baby

I guess he didn't want me taking is picture!
**Note his BLUE eyes--they'll likely turn brown so I like early blue-eyed photos.

His "What choo talkin' about, Willis?" face

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!!

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.

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.