One Month Check Up!

Last Tuesday I took Zeke in for his 1 month check up. He weighed in at 9lbs exactly and was measuring at 21 inches. Cute growing boy!

As you can see from the picture this cutie has a terrible case of baby acne. Poor guy! He also has a bit of craddle cap too. We've been rubbing baby oil on his face and then brushing it with a soft brush to get the excess flaky skin off. I've also been rubbing Cedaphil lotion on it twice a day too and that seems to help. Thankfully it doesn't seen to bother Zeke and the doctor said it would clear up by the time he's 3 months old.

Since Zeke is bigger now the doctor said I can let him wake up when he wants to at night now. Before he would just sleep and sleep and sleep so I would set my alarm and wake him up to feed him at night. The first night of letting him wake himself up I couldn't make it...I was in so much pain I woke him up just so he could relieve my engorded breasts. However, that turned out to be a huge mistake! He wasn't all that hungry so he was a lazy eater and swallowed a bunch of air...can you say gas! It ended up turning into a 2 hour ordeal! Lesson learned! The next time I let him wake up on his own and it was much better! On average he sleeps for 4 - 5 hour stretches at night. A couple times he's gone as long as 7 hours!

He is having more awake time, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's happy awake time. He's happy for a little while and then he wants to be held or wrapped up in his blanket and snuggled. He LOVES to be wrapped...not tight, but he does love having the blanket around his torso and up by his face. He thankfully loves any and all baby contraptions - bouncing chair, swing, boppy, playmat and car seat...all of it! PTL! He would sleep all day in his swing if I let him.

The newness of him hasn't worn off with the kids. They all still love to kiss him and hug him. Owen is particularily fond of him and wants to touch his face and nuzzle him. Sometimes when Ella gets hurt or is crying she will say, "I need Z!" and then she has to hug him. As for Jack he doesn't feel the need to love on him as much, when he does want to hold him it's so funny because it last all of 2.5 seconds!

Nursing Issues!

 

For those of you that follow me on FB you know that Zeke had some nursing issues. This is really for documentation purpose, but here's the whole story.

While in the hospital Zeke had lost 10% of his body weight...he went from 7lbs 5.4oz to 6lbs 9oz. That is actually a normal amount of weight loss, but my milk hadn't come in yet and they didn't want him to lose anymore. So we came up with a plan....at his next feeding we gave him formula (I hate doing that) and then I pumped while he ate that. Then at his next feeding I nursed him and then he was given the milk that I pumped during his previous feeding and then I pumped again. The idea was that he would nurse and stimulate my breasts, but then he would get the extra that I was pumping as well. Good idea right?

Well....this turn Zeke into an even more laid back chilled baby and actually turned him into a more lazy baby. He wanted his milk and he wanted it now and the bottle gave him that. It got to the point where he wouldn't even latch onto me and would just scream at my breast. Not exactly what a new mommy wants. I was really feeling low and this came right around the time when I started to feel like my hormones were really messed up and I hadn't' taken my anti-depressant since the day he was born....bad combination folks!! I was sitting in bed holding him and sobbing. It was not good! That was Sunday and of course with the holiday weekend the lactation consultants wouldn't be in the office until Tuesday. I was able to talk to two LC's over the phone and through those conversations I was given quite a few ideas to try to see if they helped. After trying a few of them we figured out a combination that worked for us. The biggest help came from my friend Kim....I had called her earlier on Sunday...crying of course...after we got off the phone she started to pray for us and then she remembered this syringe that Micah (her husband) had used when he had some work on his tooth. It has a crooked thin spout at the end and would be perfect to use for breastfeeding. Her and Micah brought dinner over for us that night and she gave Michael the syringe for me to try.

Since Zeke is an instance gratification guy the first thing I had to do when it was time to nurse was prime the pump per se. I watched a video on You Tube...don't you love You Tube...on hand expression. I must say it's quite interesting watching breastfeeding videos of other ladies, but you know you gotta do what you gotta do. After learning how to properly hand express my own milk I started doing that before even bringing Zeke up to nurse. The milk I was able to express would go in the syringe to help entice Zeke to nurse. So when I brought him to the breast I could squirt some milk in his mouth to calm him down and then I would put a little on my breast so he knew that's where it came from. Thankfully on Monday after a day and half of just pumping and feeding him breast milk through a bottle he finally nursed from me directly again. For a breast feeding mama like me I was in heaven. I LOVE to nurse my babies and to hear that sound of him gulping up the goodness that God designed my body to produce for him....pure joy!!!

So that was our ritual starting on Monday. In the beginning he would get too tired to nurse from the second breast so I was still having to pump and then feed him a bit more by bottle, but that was another thing we changed. In the beginning Michael was the one that was giving him his bottles and although it was nice for Michael to get to have this bonding time we came to the decision that Zeke was getting a bit confused about who was supposed to feed him. So for the time being it became solely my job to feed him both by nursing and with the bottle. He needed to understand that food only came from me! By Tuesday afternoon he was nursing regularly from both breasts so I didn't need to pump anymore and feed him extra from a bottle, but I was still having to hand express and use the syringe. Then by Wednesday he was really getting it and I no longer needed to use the syringe. I still have to hand express, but I just do it directly into his mouth when I bring him to the breast.

I still don't feel confident about nursing him outside the home since he is a bit of a high maintenance nurser. He's also so tiny I really need have to have the Boppy and blankets to help support him. Thankfully the one time we've gone out he didn't need to nurse. If you had asked me on Sunday if I thought that he would be nursing this well by Wednesday I would have laughed in your face. It really is astonishing to me and an absolute answer to prayer.

New Toys!

I've been wanting to get the kids a water table for a few months now. I finally decided that it would be a good time since Baby Z will be coming soon. It's always nice to have new toys for the kids to play with and keep themselves entertained.

I researched a bunch of water tables online and decided on this one. It had really good reviews and it wasn't expensive.

It didn't take me too long to put together either so that was a plus as well! Even though the name is the Sandy Lagoon Waterpark I have told the boys that it's only for water. I do not want to mix sand into the mess. Besides we already have a sandbox. I decided to put this out on the front porch since the sandbox is on the back deck...less temptation! Plus when I'm sitting on the couch nursing the baby I'll be able to keep an eye on the kids through the window.

 The boys got to be the first ones to try it out since Ella was napping. Jack played with it for quite awhile. Owen on the other hand mainly used the water toys to make a river outside on the porch. Whatever keeps him busy and happy!

When Ella woke up from her nap I had Jack take her outside and show her the new toy. She loved pouring the water into this funnel and watching the wheel go round and round.

She was out their for quite awhile so I decided to check on her and all of sudden she looked at herself got this grumpy look on her face and walked away from the table saying, "All done wa wa!" She had gotten herself all wet and she was NOT happy about it!

I was pretty sure the kids would be a bit upset if we just went to the toy store and they didn't get to pick anything out themselves so I let them take some money from their piggy banks.

Ella of course chose another baby doll. This one came with a bottle and a sling so she can wear her baby. I wanted to sew her a baby carrier like mine since I'm sure she's going to want to wear her baby when she sees me wearing Baby Z, but I haven't been able to find a good pattern. Plus lets get real...I'm less than 2 weeks away from having this baby so it's probably not going to happen.

I was sure Jack would want a light saber, but he was very insistent on getting "Obe Kenobi" It's one of the Star Wars characters he doesn't have yet. I told them that I was sure Uncle Ry had Obe Wan Kenobi for him, but he just didn't want to wait for it.

Owen always has the hardest time picking out a toy. First off I really don't think he likes toys all that much. He like to be on the computer or play with things like sand, but toys aren't really his thing. After look around I finally took him over to the science area and we found this volcano. I seriously have never seen him get that excited about a toy. It was perfect!

I had my doctor's appt the same day we went to the toy store so when we came home we didn't have time to set up the volcano. I decided to have Owen wait until Daddy got home so he could enjoy the eruption with us. This particular volcano is really simple and can be reused over and over again.

Baking soda +

vinegar and food coloring and dish soap = LAVA!!! He loved it! The action is over quite fast, but that's okay since Owen's attention span can be pretty short sometimes.

Daddy did bring the volcano inside and we did the whole thing over again. It was fun and the kids enjoyed seeing it. Ella loved it so much she cried when Daddy took it inside to get more ingredients! I'm sure we'll be doing this over and over for the next couple of days!

Name Fun & Little Updates!

Owen is doing really well with Daddy being back at work. I thought he would have the hardest time of all the kids because he loves his Daddy so much. He is older though so he understands that Daddy comes back later in the day. He doesn't get much time with Daddy though since Daddy doesn't get home until 5 and then Owen goes to bed at 7. Why so early you say....well since he's not napping anymore he needs it. He is usually pooped by then and if we let him stay up because he's doing well or playing good it usually ends up in a complete and utter meltdown. So bedtime at 7 it is and it's really been working out good and he's still sleeping until 7am!

This cutie has been impacted the most by Daddy going back to work. He's reverted so much with his potty training it's driving me crazy!!! He was doing SO good and I wasn't even having to ask him...he would just come and tell me and I'd take him potty or he would just go right in take his pants down and go on his own and then tell us. So we started all over again with stickers and rewards and if he pees in his undies he gets toys taken away and so on and it's just NOT working. Nothing is getting through to him...and the part that absolutely drives me over the edge is the fact that when he does pee in his undies he comes and tells me with this big smile on his face. Frustrating!!

Ella Bean has had the biggest change...she is completely weaned now! Mama is sad and in pain...literally! You forgot how painful it is when you stop nursing them. A couple weeks ago when she finally started taking the sippy I was only nursing her in the morning when she first got up and then right before bed at night. My milk supply has just got down more and more and there wasn't really much left so we just called it good. She was my longest nurser though...she made it 5 days longer than Jack! :) I have noticed that she does like to snuggle more and she wants to touch me more often through the day. I can definitely tell that physical touch is one of her love languages. Oh yeah and she now has 3 out of her 4 one year molars!

Sippy Cup!

In my mind Ella's a little behind in regards to taking things like a sippy cup or a bottle. In fact she's NEVER taken a bottle...even when she was only breastfeeding! Once she went 6 hours without eating during the day and she still refused the bottle. She's so stubborn...yet again...she's like her Mama!

Anyways my friend Rachael and her daughter Kendra came over the other day and Kendra had this Munchkin sippy cup and Ella really liked chewing on it. It was the first time she took any interest in something like that. So I bought one on Black Friday. I put a little bit of apple juice and water in it the other night and gave it to her.

She thought it was fun to bite on it and crawl around with it in her mouth. It's hard to tell, but it's not touching the floor in the picture above. It looks so funny!


Then she finally got a little taste...mmmmm! I think this may be the start of a beautiful relationship!

The View From Here!

Five times a day a have the honor of nursing my baby girl...meeting both her nutritional and emotional needs. It's a closeness that I have yet to find in another situation.

Happy Jack...for a moment!

Last week I decided it was time for Jack to only nurse twice a day. He now is nursing right when he wakes up and then right before he goes to bed. I just felt like my milk supply wasn't what it should be (No, I'm not pregnant...I wish I was!) and Jack is almost a year old so I knew I wanted to start weaning him soon anyway. On Friday I went to my mom and dad's to clean their house and Jack had one of the worse days possible. He cried and cried every time I put him down. I started cleaning at 10am and didn't finish until 4pm. I'm usually done before the boys take their afternoon nap around 1:30! I'm chalking it up to withdrawal from breast milk. I've been trying to get Jack to take just regular whole milk, but he's so picky. Some days he likes it in a sippy some days he likes it in a bottle. Picky picky boy! We are still working out the kinks, but I think I've figured out that Jack doesn't like to just sit and drink he wants to drink when he's eating like the rest of us. For fun here are some pictures of Jack from Friday when he was happy...it didn't last long!

Mommy's Milk

On Saturday I decided to give my breasts a break and pump for Jack instead of nurse. Jack didn't drink all the milk I pumped so I set the bottle on my nightstand. The last time Owen had a bottle was the night Jack was born so it's still fresh in his mind. A little while later Owen came in the room and he grabbed that bottle so fast and started drinking the milk. I was sure he would get a gross look on his face since Mommy's milk is not the same as cow's milk, but nope...he just kept on drinking. He drank a whole ounce! Michael and I were cracking up!

Breached

Yesterday I had another doctor's appointment in Seattle. I'm 31 1/2 weeks along and I've already gained 28lbs which is what I gained with Owen and I made it to 36 1/2 weeks. Oh well I'm going to breastfeed and have two kids to run after so I'm sure I'll lose the weight. I asked my doctor to see if she could tell the position of the baby and it looks like he's breached just like Owen was. I think either the shape of my uterus or pelvis is just more comfortable for the babies to lay that way. I'm also measuring at 33 weeks so maybe I'll get my wish and have Jack early. I sure hope so! I'm so ready to meet him!