On Saturday, Jacob officially became one month old! His current weight: 12 lbs 2 oz, height: 24 inches. He is wearing 3 mo & 3-6 mo clothes
We have had quite the month! The first week was spent fighting a stomach bug in our house...of which Sophia, Eric and I all caught. Thankfully Nana was here and stayed healthy to nurse us all back to health and help us survive that first week! OY. Also Jacob has stayed healthy which was our biggest relief! At one week old, Jacob got circumcised, which I won't lie, was a little traumatic for this mama! But all went well and within a week to 10 days, he had fully healed. Oh and we both got thrush! UGH! At least I could identify it much sooner than Sophia's newborn experience and though we are on another round of meds (going on 4 weeks), it is getting better each week.
Here are a few things we are learning about our precious son as we get to know him better!
*Jacob loves the Ergo. LOVES. He is in it at least 80% during the day. It is one of the only methods to get him to fall asleep (and stay asleep) for naps. Did we mention he loves being it? I'm so thankful for it and that it leaves me with free hands to care for Sophia! She doesn't seem to mind him on me all the time either... don't know if she is just used to my big pregnant belly before he came out or what but it isn't a hindrance for our time together for him to be tucked away in it.
*He hates being swaddled! He will cry, fuss, squirm, wiggle until taken out. It is surprising to us after how much Sophia loved her swaddle but of course he is reminding us he has his own personality/preferences! :) They are fun to discover! He really likes his hands up by his face and them not being tied down
*He enjoys and is calmed by the bath. But I have noticed he does NOT like being cold so he likes the water kind of hot (still cooler than I would like MY bath but for a baby, it is pretty warm!) I try to go as quickly as possible once he is out in the cold air, drying him off and putting his PJs on, then wrapped up in a fleece blanket. :) It has become our nightly bedtime routine... after Sophia goes to bed and he nurses... usually around 8-8:30 pm or so. We are still trying to establish a rhythm - each day looks a little different.
*He loved the car when he was a few days and even a couple of weeks old, but now he really doesn't tolerate it unless we are moving (and even then is a toss up). Red lights or stops are not so fun... Sophia does a good job tuning out his crying, she can usually keep singing along to the music cd, reading her books, looking out the window, or eating her snack unaffected. Every once in a while, she will yell, "The baby's sad!" or "Where's his Paci?!" like hello, can't you guys hear him?? but she doesn't usually seem irritated at him, just wondering why we aren't helping him stop.
*Jacob loves to nurse, suck on his paci, and has even taken a bottle (big news in our house after Sophia never accepted anything besides Mama!) It is nice to have him soothed by eating or the pacifier.
*He is a good eater! He has trouble keeping up with the milk flow and often gags, chokes, and unlatches during let down. I usually burp him after the first few min because invariably he has taken in a bunch of air. He spits up VERY frequently and pretty continually through the day. It doesn't matter if its been 10 min or over an hr since he ate, he will continue to spit up after each feeding. We go through a lot of laundry :) but he is gaining weight well so the Dr said it is more about symptom management and finding what soothes him best. He does seem to have some gas or tummy pain which is sad to see. He grimaces and scrunches up his legs, arches his back.... gripe water, burping often, and gentle massage has seemed to help some.
*Sleep has been a hit or miss the past month. Mostly miss. :) I think because of the gas and spit up, sometimes he wakes up prematurely during the night. At one month, we have stopped night diaper changes unless I know or smell that he has pooped because we cannot get through a diaper change without major spit up which leads to outfit change at which point he is FULLY awake and it is difficult to get him back to sleep quickly. His pooping isn't every diaper anymore (growing up so much already!), so even after not being changed for 8 hrs, it is usually just really wet. His longest day time nap usually coincides with Sophia's nap and that is awesome. So nice to get needed downtime during the day, even if he is still on me or being held, it is restful
*Jacob has an extra fussy period where he really cranks the volume for anywhere from 30 min - 2 hrs. It started off around 11p-2a (the early days when Jacob and Nana watched downton abbey together) and has slowly worked backwards... now it is usually 7-10:30p range. Sometimes I am so tired and head to bed to prepare for a long night ahead and Jacob & Eric hang out while Eric plays video games and wears headphones to drown out some of the volume :)
*He has deep blue-ish, gray eyes! I keep waiting for them to turn brown! Never dreamed of anything but dark brown eyed children so it will be yet another way he surprises us if they stay blue-ish! Plenty of time yet to see what color they will end up
*His hematoma (head bump) magically went away at exactly one month! We were told by two different pediatricians it would either take a month or two OR a year or two for it to fully round out so it is nice that it has happened so quickly and without any jaundice issues
*Jacob is smiling!! We don't have any shots on camera and it is still really surprising to be given the gift of him flashing one but we love it!! Can't wait for MORE! Since he has been a bit fussy in general, esp with the thrush and gas, his smile is that much sweeter to see.
*Seeing Sophia and Jacob interact is my FAVORITE! It is so fun. Sophia loves to help me change his diaper, give him his thrush med or gripe water (she is in charge of wiping his mouth if anything runs down his cheek), burp him, hold him, find his paci (and shove it in his mouth). :) She really has embraced her big sister role so well. If I leave the room to grab another diaper or burp rag, I will ask her to help me "watch" him and she will lay down on the floor right next to him and protect him until I get back (which is usually only 30 sec max). This was one of my greatest fears - how she would handle him getting our attention, crying, being needy, but the Lord has surprised me such a pleasant way. Sure, she still throws a tantrum for attn and will get into mischief while I am nursing and she KNOWS I am "stuck", but all in all, she has been such a champ and loves Baby Jakey already. She wants him to come on walks with us and be in the car with her... I am so thankful they have each other now. :)
jacob getting his face wiped above and going for a ride around the house below :) he has a very eager to help big sis!
We have had quite the month! The first week was spent fighting a stomach bug in our house...of which Sophia, Eric and I all caught. Thankfully Nana was here and stayed healthy to nurse us all back to health and help us survive that first week! OY. Also Jacob has stayed healthy which was our biggest relief! At one week old, Jacob got circumcised, which I won't lie, was a little traumatic for this mama! But all went well and within a week to 10 days, he had fully healed. Oh and we both got thrush! UGH! At least I could identify it much sooner than Sophia's newborn experience and though we are on another round of meds (going on 4 weeks), it is getting better each week.
Here are a few things we are learning about our precious son as we get to know him better!
*Jacob loves the Ergo. LOVES. He is in it at least 80% during the day. It is one of the only methods to get him to fall asleep (and stay asleep) for naps. Did we mention he loves being it? I'm so thankful for it and that it leaves me with free hands to care for Sophia! She doesn't seem to mind him on me all the time either... don't know if she is just used to my big pregnant belly before he came out or what but it isn't a hindrance for our time together for him to be tucked away in it.
*He hates being swaddled! He will cry, fuss, squirm, wiggle until taken out. It is surprising to us after how much Sophia loved her swaddle but of course he is reminding us he has his own personality/preferences! :) They are fun to discover! He really likes his hands up by his face and them not being tied down
*He enjoys and is calmed by the bath. But I have noticed he does NOT like being cold so he likes the water kind of hot (still cooler than I would like MY bath but for a baby, it is pretty warm!) I try to go as quickly as possible once he is out in the cold air, drying him off and putting his PJs on, then wrapped up in a fleece blanket. :) It has become our nightly bedtime routine... after Sophia goes to bed and he nurses... usually around 8-8:30 pm or so. We are still trying to establish a rhythm - each day looks a little different.
*He loved the car when he was a few days and even a couple of weeks old, but now he really doesn't tolerate it unless we are moving (and even then is a toss up). Red lights or stops are not so fun... Sophia does a good job tuning out his crying, she can usually keep singing along to the music cd, reading her books, looking out the window, or eating her snack unaffected. Every once in a while, she will yell, "The baby's sad!" or "Where's his Paci?!" like hello, can't you guys hear him?? but she doesn't usually seem irritated at him, just wondering why we aren't helping him stop.
*Jacob loves to nurse, suck on his paci, and has even taken a bottle (big news in our house after Sophia never accepted anything besides Mama!) It is nice to have him soothed by eating or the pacifier.
*He is a good eater! He has trouble keeping up with the milk flow and often gags, chokes, and unlatches during let down. I usually burp him after the first few min because invariably he has taken in a bunch of air. He spits up VERY frequently and pretty continually through the day. It doesn't matter if its been 10 min or over an hr since he ate, he will continue to spit up after each feeding. We go through a lot of laundry :) but he is gaining weight well so the Dr said it is more about symptom management and finding what soothes him best. He does seem to have some gas or tummy pain which is sad to see. He grimaces and scrunches up his legs, arches his back.... gripe water, burping often, and gentle massage has seemed to help some.
*Sleep has been a hit or miss the past month. Mostly miss. :) I think because of the gas and spit up, sometimes he wakes up prematurely during the night. At one month, we have stopped night diaper changes unless I know or smell that he has pooped because we cannot get through a diaper change without major spit up which leads to outfit change at which point he is FULLY awake and it is difficult to get him back to sleep quickly. His pooping isn't every diaper anymore (growing up so much already!), so even after not being changed for 8 hrs, it is usually just really wet. His longest day time nap usually coincides with Sophia's nap and that is awesome. So nice to get needed downtime during the day, even if he is still on me or being held, it is restful
*Jacob has an extra fussy period where he really cranks the volume for anywhere from 30 min - 2 hrs. It started off around 11p-2a (the early days when Jacob and Nana watched downton abbey together) and has slowly worked backwards... now it is usually 7-10:30p range. Sometimes I am so tired and head to bed to prepare for a long night ahead and Jacob & Eric hang out while Eric plays video games and wears headphones to drown out some of the volume :)
*He has deep blue-ish, gray eyes! I keep waiting for them to turn brown! Never dreamed of anything but dark brown eyed children so it will be yet another way he surprises us if they stay blue-ish! Plenty of time yet to see what color they will end up
*His hematoma (head bump) magically went away at exactly one month! We were told by two different pediatricians it would either take a month or two OR a year or two for it to fully round out so it is nice that it has happened so quickly and without any jaundice issues
*Jacob is smiling!! We don't have any shots on camera and it is still really surprising to be given the gift of him flashing one but we love it!! Can't wait for MORE! Since he has been a bit fussy in general, esp with the thrush and gas, his smile is that much sweeter to see.
*Seeing Sophia and Jacob interact is my FAVORITE! It is so fun. Sophia loves to help me change his diaper, give him his thrush med or gripe water (she is in charge of wiping his mouth if anything runs down his cheek), burp him, hold him, find his paci (and shove it in his mouth). :) She really has embraced her big sister role so well. If I leave the room to grab another diaper or burp rag, I will ask her to help me "watch" him and she will lay down on the floor right next to him and protect him until I get back (which is usually only 30 sec max). This was one of my greatest fears - how she would handle him getting our attention, crying, being needy, but the Lord has surprised me such a pleasant way. Sure, she still throws a tantrum for attn and will get into mischief while I am nursing and she KNOWS I am "stuck", but all in all, she has been such a champ and loves Baby Jakey already. She wants him to come on walks with us and be in the car with her... I am so thankful they have each other now. :)
jacob getting his face wiped above and going for a ride around the house below :) he has a very eager to help big sis!
