5 Weeks Old

I'm too lazy to upload pictures now, but they are coming!

This has been another event filled week. Evan has been having problems with gas/acid reflux. I've stopped drinking as much milk the past couple of days and that actually seems to be helping. For awhile earlier in the week I was drinking more milk than usual, so I think that's what caused it. Anyway, the acid reflux has resulted in a lot of spitting up and fussiness. :-( My mom assured me that that's normal behavior for a baby, but it's new for Evan and so of course it's upsetting to me. Evan has his one month appointment at the pediatrician tomorrow so I'm going to ask about it then. My theory is that the milk made his stomach more upset, but what causes the spitting up is him straining so much because of the gas. He tenses his whole body up, arches his back, and his face gets all red. Shortly after that he'll spit up big time.

He is definitely smiling for real now! Not as much as I'd like, but several times a day. It's so precious, I can't describe how I feel when he smiles at me. :-) He's also definitely imitating faces now. Mostly he imitates sticking out his tongue, but the other day he was imitating my big grins. He played that game with me, my mom, and my sister. It was driving Matt crazy that Evan wouldn't play it with him after he came home from his trip. But on Saturday morning they finally played the game together. I wish I could have captured that on video!!

Evan is holding his head up longer and longer. It's amazing how much he's developed in that area in just a week. I don't know when babies start to creep around and crawl, but Evan wants to be moving NOW. He works his arms and legs and does end up moving around, but obviously he doesn't have much control over it now. I have to watch him to make sure he doesn't launch himself off my lap these days.

He went to his first wedding last night. Matt and my dad stayed home and my mom and I talked to him. All of my friends from high school were there and able to meet Evan. I saw one of my old best friends from high school that I haven't seen since graduation! It was nice seeing her and I found out she now lives nearby, so I can see her again hopefully.

We've been going out almost every day. Usually on short trips, but it's nice to get out of the house some. I get discouraged by the fact that breastfeeding isn't smooth enough to do in public yet, but I have to keep in mind that even 2 weeks ago it would have been impossible. We've improved so much since he was born. It went from me dreading feeding times and absolutely hating it to being able to lean back on the couch and read a book or watch TV while nursing. I can only hope that it will continue to improve! The nursing cover helps a lot, I even nursed at my parents' church last week (in the nursing room).

Not much else is going on in my life, just baby Evan stuff. I'm working on editing the pictures my dad took last week so hopefully I'll have them ready in a day or 2!

4 Weeks Old

On Sunday we had a photo shoot of Evan. One of my dad's hobbies is photography. He has a bunch of professional grade equipment and has halfway turned his garage into a photography studio. Unfortunately he doesn't have enough time to put into it, but we finally got everything set up to take pictures of Evan at almost a month old!

I'm very pleased with the pictures, I just need to go through them, pick out my favorites, and touch them up. I wish Dad would touch them up for me, but he's so busy. He will probably work on them a little bit, but right now he's out of town. So for now I only have one photo to share, but I'll post more later!
Matt went out of town yesterday. It's his first business trip since Evan was born. I spent the night over at my parents' house last night and I'm going to again tonight. I had thought that my nights of staying over at my parents' house would be over after I had a baby, but obviously not! It's not too bad staying alone with Evan, but it is nice to have a little break after feeding him in the evenings. When Matt is home he can change him and then play with him just after his evening and night feedings. I hadn't realized how much I count on that until I thought about facing it without him. So now my mom can help out with that! Plus, it's nice to have someone cook for me too. ;-)

Evan has been pretty fussy the past couple of days. Today is better, but Sunday and yesterday were kind of rough. I think that he was over stimulated though. All Sunday afternoon we were taking pictures of him and moving him into different poses. Plus we went to visit my parents' church and everyone wanted to touch him (ugg! gross). I let a couple of people hold him, but people that I trusted. So that was a long day. Then yesterday was just plain stressful with getting ready to go over to my parents' house and some spit up/pee incidents.

I think that Evan is starting to smile for real!!! He's been smiling when he gets gas, but the past 2 days I've noticed that his smile has changed at times. I'm almost positive they are real smiles. My mom noticed it yesterday too without me bringing it up. My dad was playing with Evan and he smiled and it definitely seemed related to happiness and my dad's antics. I'm so excited!

I also think that he's starting to imitate faces. Today I was pursing my lips and sticking my tongue out at him and he started doing the same thing, but only after I would do it. I did it about 4 or 5 times with him imitating me. Then I stopped and he stopped too! It could have been a coincidence, but I think not. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this in the coming days and weeks. I'm excited about the new stuff he's doing. :-)

Wrap it up

Today I drove Evan over to the school that my mom teaches at so that one of her friends could show me how to use the baby carrier wrap that I made. I tried putting Evan in it the other day and it didn't work out very well. It was actually quite traumatic! Evan slept it off and I went and ate a big bowl of ice cream to get over it. lol Anyway, my mom's friend showed me how to use it and it's really fun! I'll have to see if Matt can get a picture of us using it. I love being able to "hold" Evan without actually using my arms. As a matter of fact, Evan is in it now. I don't believe in constantly carrying babies, but I do like to keep Evan close at certain times of the day and this is a great way to spend time with him without being confined to one arm all the time.

Of course while we were at the school we had to show Evan off to all of Mom's co-workers. She was so happy to do that. :-) One of my good friends from high school works there too and she just found out she's pregnant last week. So it's exciting to have a friend who lives HERE who will have a baby around the same age as Evan. She is my first friend who lives nearby to get pregnant. I have a lot of pregnant friends, just none who live within 8 hours. Oh yeah, and she sees the same group of midwives I go to - very cool!

I've been feeling pretty good lately, but today I'm tired after our outing. A week after Evan's birth I got cold for the first time since getting pregnant! lol Our AC went from being set at 73 degrees during the day to 75. Weird how the pregnancy hormones leave so fast. I also lost a lot of weight. I hadn't even noticed how big I got all around until after I lost the weight. Suddenly my arms and legs are skinnier, and I had never even noticed that they got bigger while I was pregnant! I tried on a pair of my pre-pregnancy pants a week after the birth and they didn't fit. I haven't tried them on again. I think they probably fit at this point since I'm the same size as I was before I got pregnant, but I'm pretending that they don't. I enjoy having an excuse to wear exercise pants all the time!

The other day I went shopping and bought a couple of new t-shirts. My old shirts are definitely too small now! My chest is one part of my body that has become bigger....much bigger. More stretch marks have appeared there and I'm finding it hard to maintain a good posture. The girls are so heavy that it's seriously hard to hold them up! I think I need a better support system. ;-)

Speaking of that, breastfeeding is easier. The pain from the mastitis has almost completely faded. My mom showed me how to breastfeed without a pillow (it's so easy! why did I think it would be hard?). So now I'm practicing for nursing in public. I want to be able to do it smoothly by the time we have our anniversary trip to Charleston on October 9. It would be much easier if Evan would cooperate better, but I guess he's still getting used to it too. He doesn't like to stay latched on and I have to keep maneuvering him back into place, which is hard to do while covered up with a blanket. I really need to try the nursing cover out, so far I've been practicing with receiving blankets covering us. Any tips or words of wisdom on this subject?

Enough about me, I promise that the next post will be all about my beautiful baby and will include pictures!

3 Weeks Old

This has been a week of firsts for Evan. His first bath, his first trip to Nana and Papa's house, his first outing (besides going to the doctor's office), his first time to go to church, and his first Panthers game.

His bath went great, he didn't cry at all. His second bath was the same way. He just relaxes. The first bath we gave him he actually kept his eyes closed the whole time, I think he was sleeping. The other day when we gave him another bath he was awake the entire time, but was still very relaxed. After the first bath I think he was too relaxed. We had completed the entire bath and were drying him off when he peed all over himself, me, and Matt. lol
He also had a good time going to Nana and Papa's house for Labor Day. We all ate on the porch outside and left him inside in his swing. We put him in the window so I could keep an eye on him. Partway through the meal I looked in at him and he was waving his arms and legs, thrashing around with his mouth and eyes wide open. He wasn't crying, just fussing. He knew we were leaving him out. So we brought him outside with us and made sure that no mosquitoes found him.

We put him to bed in his pack n play and swaddled him up in his swaddle blanket. It drove my dad crazy to see him all wrapped up. He didn't see how Evan could be comfortable, but I assured him that Evan likes being wrapped up to go to sleep. Well, after about 30 minutes of Evan being in the other room asleep Dad went in there and started talking to him. I just rolled my eyes and let him, being thankful that I have a calm baby who wouldn't start crying if he woke up. Soon Dad came out and announced that he had unwrapped Evan because "Evan was uncomfortable." lol Sure enough, a few minutes later Evan started making noises and I could hear him kicking his legs. Dad went in there and brought him out. Evan was wide awake and Dad talked and played with him the rest of the time we were there. Oh well, I guess grandpas are allowed to do that. ;-)

Mom, Evan, and I went to eat at the Mexican restaurant down the road on Friday. Evan did really well the whole time we were there. He stayed in his car seat on the booth next to Mom. He opened his eyes briefly at one point, but quickly closed them again. Next we went to Target and he kept his eyes open for the entire car ride (Mom sat in the back with him) and then kept them open for awhile in the store too. After that he slept the whole time.

Yesterday I took him to church for the first time. Matt was already there working on the parking team, so I loaded Evan up and drove over to meet him. Our church has a new building that opened up the day Evan was born. So obviously I hadn't seen it yet. It's still really close to our house, just a couple of minutes away from the old location. It's really cool and there's still an overflow area that is perfect for people with little babies. It's too loud in the sanctuary and the nursery doesn't watch babies under 5 weeks old. Not that I will put Evan in there even after he's 5 weeks. I'm not sure if I will let him go into the nursery at all during flu season, but we'll see. I know I'll wait at least another month or so even if I do decide to put him in there.

I won't even get into the football game. Evan watched a little, but we joked that the reason he went to sleep was because it was too painful to continue watching. ;-)

The olive oil has fixed Evan's cradle cap. It's still there a little, but I didn't even do anything to it over the weekend because it isn't noticeable unless you look really close. Evan's appearance is changing every day. I think he's starting to look more like Matt. His face shape is becoming more like Matt's and I'm pretty sure his hair is starting to get a red tint to it. It's definitely getting lighter than it was when he was born. His eyes have also lightened up. Right now they are dark gray (but not as dark as they were when he was born) and the area around the pupil is turning a light blue/gray/brown/green. I can't really tell exactly what color yet!! Mom thinks he has hazel eyes and that they won't change anymore. I think they will keep changing though. It's still early to have a set color.

Evan is more and more aware. Today Melissa was over and said that when I walked across the room while talking that he followed me with his eyes and turned his head to keep watching me! He is following things with his eyes and turning his head. He hates tummy time. I put him on his tummy a little every day and he can lift his head and turn it to watch me, but he fusses the whole time and thrashes his legs and arms. He's better if I put him on my stomach and chest and let him look up at me that way.

Alright, alright, I'm done with all the stories. I should really write more posts that are shorter instead of less that are longer. We'll see if I can manage that!

Due Date

Today is Evan's due date! It's crazy to think that he came so early. It seems like he's been here forever but at the same time it seems like it was just yesterday that we were in the hospital, exhausted and totally in love with our son after a long day of labor and delivery.

I love being a mom. I knew I would, but it's even better than I thought it would be. It helps that Evan is such a calm baby, but I know I'd still love it if he wasn't. The hardest thing about motherhood for me so far has been breastfeeding and that is getting much easier. I started using a nipple shield and I love it. For the first time since Evan started eating I'm not in excruciating pain during nursing. I don't think I'll use it permanently, but I will until my nipple heals and my breast isn't getting engorged as often. My midwife called today to see how I was doing and I told her that most of the redness and pain have gone away. She said the antibiotics are working and not to worry about the little redness and pain that are still there now. They will probably fade by next week when I stop taking the antibiotics.

I was just thinking how ironic it is that I didn't take a single drop of medicine during my entire pregnancy and birth and now here I am taking antibiotics, using an antibiotic ointment for my nipples, taking Motrin for the breast pain and swelling, and using prescription hemorrhoid ointment. Figures. ;-)

Yesterday was Matt's first full day back at work. Of course it was the roughest day so far! We had a couple of projectile vomiting incidents as well as poop and pee incidents. lol Today was much better! I'm finally starting to get into a regular schedule (hopefully). We will start our day at 7:00 and official bedtime will be around 10:30 - 11:00. After that I won't wake Evan for feedings every 3 hours, I'll let him wake himself when he's hungry. During the day he'll eat every 3 hours unless he's hungry before then (which he usually isn't).

He's staying awake longer and seems more aware of things going on around him. I'm curious to know when most people start tummy time? Right now if I try to put him on his stomach he folds his legs and arms up under him. Just wondering if it's too early or if I should keep putting him on his tummy until he gets used to it.

Matt and I are working on our birth announcements. We weren't going to do them, but then I decided to design my own and then print them at Wal.greens. We'll still have to pay postage, but I'm not sending them to everybody, just my extended family and friends. I'll be sure to upload a copy on here as well. :-)

Cradle Cap

Evan has it. Not surprising since I read that 1 in 2 newborns gets it. I read that it helps to rub olive oil on it, wipe it with a cloth, and then shampoo it. But how often? And have any of you tried something else that helped? It isn't terribly bad, but I would like to know if there's a way to get rid of it or at least reduce it.

2 Weeks Old

My midwife, Tina, holding Evan at our office visit the other day:






Uncle R and Matt playing with Evan:









So much has been going on this weekend...and it isn't even over!

First an update about me, yesterday was 48 hours since I started the antibiotics for my mastitis. It seemed a lot better to me until evening time. Then my breast started hurting again. The redness mostly went away except for a little spot. I think I'm just going to wait until tomorrow to call the doctor though. That way if I need to I can go into the office instead of going to the ER.

Evan has been doing great. It's just amazing how little he cries. Even when he should cry, he doesn't. Like the other day I pinched some of his skin in his diaper when I put it on. About 30 minutes later I noticed it because the top of his leg was all red. Poor child, he didn't fuss or anything. Maybe he couldn't feel it, but it didn't look very comfortable. Obviously I've been more careful about strapping his diaper on lately. I don't think there's anything wrong with him that makes him not cry, he's very aware and he does cry sometimes when he wants to eat and he isn't getting food fast enough. :-)

This child can pee...outside his diaper. The other day I looked down and saw a stream of pee coming out from the top of his diaper...onto our bed. Whoa! The really crazy thing...his diaper was completely dry afterward. I swear he sucked in his gut to make a space between his skin and the diaper and then aimed so that he could pee out of it! After he was done the diaper looked snug around his waist again.

Then 2 days ago I was changing him in his pack n play changing table and he peed while I had his diaper off. The stream of pee arched about 3 feet and landed...on our bed (of course!). Once again, he was completely dry and so was his changing table. It only got on the bed. Needless to say, Matt has been washing sheets a lot lately!

Last night Evan's cord fell off. I nursed him and then we took off his onesie to change him. I noticed it had fallen off. Matt and I couldn't find it anywhere. We looked all in his clothes, all over the bed. It turns out I was sitting on it...eww!!! I have no clue how that happened. I'm glad it's off now and I'm looking forward to giving Evan his first bath...I think. I wonder if that'll make him cry!

Matt's best friend's girlfriend flew up from Louisiana just to see Evan. R was going to fly down there to see her, but after Evan was born and C saw pictures of him she changed the plans so she could meet him! They came over on Friday night and brought presents and had dinner with us. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad C got to meet him so soon. She won't be back until New Year's. Evan is so loved and he doesn't even know how much. :-)

Infection

I have pretty bad mastitis. Yesterday I visited the midwife and as soon as she looked at my breast she said, "That's definitely major mastitis." Ugg!! I'm allergic to the antibiotics that are normally prescribed to treat it, so the midwife had to prescribe a less effective antibiotic. She's afraid it may not work. If I don't see improvement in 24-48 hours I will have to go to the emergency room right away since it's the weekend and their office isn't open, so I wouldn't be able to go there first to be checked.

So far I haven't seen any improvement, but it's only been 21 hours since I started the antibiotics. Please, please pray that this will get better - quick! I really don't want to spend tomorrow in the emergency room, especially with a newborn. Plus, this is painful! My breast feels like it's on fire.

That being said, Evan is nursing much quicker, now our nursing sessions take about 20-25 minutes. He went through a growth spurt and for half of a day was nursing about 25 minutes total instead of 10-15. He had another appointment with the pediatrician yesterday and he's gained even more! He's now 7 pounds and half an ounce, almost back to birth weight. The doctor is pleased and we don't have another appointment for him until he's a month old.

All last night he woke up every 3 hours, when he was sleeping 4-5 hours at a time. I don't know what's up with that, but I think it might be a blessing in disguise because I'm supposed to keep "emptying" my infected breast. Not that he eats out of either for very long, only 6 minutes at the longest, so that's why I'm thinking it's good that he's eating every 3 hours even during the night.

He also had a clogged tear duct the other day, which was stressful to me (especially at first before I knew what it was!), but it's a harmless condition. I just had to keep wiping his eye throughout the day. It's still a little messed up, but not nearly so bad. Of course I called the nurse to ask her about it, but she said it's common in newborns and that there's nothing to do except wipe his eye with a warm washcloth.

I hope all of you are doing well, I feel bad that I'm not commenting on your blogs as much. I'm trying to read as many as I can during my free time, but I don't always have time to say anything. I'll keep y'all updated

Congrats!

Congrats to Nity, who just had her beautiful little girl on August 25! It's awesome that her little one arrived 2 days later than Evan, weighed 2 ounces more, and was 1/2 an inch shorter!! She was even born around the same time as Evan! The morning after we came home from the hospital I received a message from Nity announcing the birth and I wondered if she knew that Evan was born too. Sure enough, a few hours later she discovered that Evan had made his appearance and we both thought the differences of 2 were cool. :-) Heh, I just thought about it, our due dates were almost exactly 2 weeks apart too.

Also, congrats to Annie Marie!!!! She received a BFP the other day after a long wait. Keep her in your prayers and tell her to take it easy!