Oh my, our little bundle is 3 weeks old!! He’s such the cutest little thing, his face beginning to fill out thanks to some hearty eating.

I haven’t done measurements lately, but know he’s over 9 lbs. on our bathroom scales now. You can see how much he’s growing (size and length) when he’s in the swing – we’ll have to be letting out the buckle straps soon!

Since I wrote the other day, the reflux is better. I haven’t been able to have 100% avoidance of all trigger foods, but have used small amounts instead of normal ones. I can’t believe they’ve added peanuts and eggs to the list of trigger foods, they weren’t there 2 years ago (at least not what I can remember).

Wheat is also on the list, but there’s a big problem – I don’t feel full unless I have wheat, and lots of it. I know, that’s a bad sign and means I need to avoid it…. But I’ve tried to cut back before, and lost too much weight. (Yes, that’s possible)

I really need to try to do this though, because I believe all of my group shows signs of wheat intolerance. They all have some bumpy rash on their arms, and DS1 itches ALL the time. So if any of you have suggestions and recipes for wheat free foods, please forward them on!!

Okay, back to the baby. He slept a TON  yesterday! I think it was partly due to finally being able to sleep. We’d been placing him on his side to sleep, but it was still flat. So the reflux had been bothering him, causing him to wake up often.

Yesterday was the first full day of having him sleep in the Boppy Pillow. He slept nearly 4 hours one time! The only downside was that he wasn’t so sleepy last night – LOL.

Better go for now – we’re about to get some more severe weather here in AL. It’s getting darker and I can here the thunder getting closer. I can’t believe the tornado warnings we’ve had the past week. It’s usually mid-April when we have the most severe weather.

I’ll try to get some pics up later -

“Little Mommy”

Yep, I made it not even 3 whole days before resorting to a pacifier – something we were able to keep from getting addicted to on our last 2 babies. Well, they really didn’t even like them, so that helped.

Our first baby was such a happy baby, and a baby with a paci. It seemed that when we took it from him soon after his 2nd b’day, he became a lot more moody and fussy, never going back 100% to that perfectly happy child. So thus, we weren’t too fond of ever using a pacifier again. UNTIL…. Friday night…. I managed to find an old one stashed away in the kitchen….

I’m not sure if it was the spaghetti sauce (I tried not to use too much), or the Caesar salad w/ croutons (garlic?) – but we had one fussy baby from 10 PM until nearly 4 AM. We did get a little sleep in the middle of all that, but not hardly any until 1 or 1:30.

He did take the paci for a little while, then got upset all over again. I’m not sure if he was really hungry, but I was bone dry. (Note to self – be sure to drink LOTS more water, especially in the afternoons and evenings.)

The next night, same thing, only not as long. Okay, I had kept myself from salad with our steak, and DH held off of the garlic salt on the meat… So, maybe it’s not the food?

Last night, I decided to try putting him down for the night earlier. We’re not the earliest to bed/ earliest to rise family normally – our bedtime for the kids is 9 or 9:30.

It hit me that maybe he’s just over stimulated by that late at night. I can see it, and you could too if you were around the older three for more than 15 minutes. They’re not bad, they just have fun = are a tad bit excitable.

So, this has put feeding the baby around 9 or 10 PM for the last ‘awake’ time , but the problem being is that he doesn’t want to go to sleep then!

He’s tired, but still needs to have something in his mouth. I’m okay with feedings every two hours, he needs them, but I have to draw the line at being a human pacifier 20 hours a day.

Overall, last night was better. When he did wake up, I simply fed him in our dark bedroom, just one side, then would put him back down. I think it was 10 when he went down for good, and this was MUCH better than the previous nights!

We’re really glad that uncle and aunt brought over some paci’s in his gift bag! He’s starting to get the hang of them, and will take them for 15 or 20 minutes IF he’s not too tired. We’re not using them until they are completely necessary, but we have had those moments.

On another note, I am SO not following the feeding ‘schedule’ they suggest – it just doesn’t work with us. The baby is a little jaundice, so he’s especially sleepy today. I’m feeding him when he’s awake, but then he’s asleep 5 minutes later again (and not eating).

Breastfed boy babies are more likely to become jaundice for some reason, oh, and add Caucasian to that. All three of my boys have been this way. You just have to get them to nurse as much as you can, and hope the sun shines in the window enough to strip them down and let ‘em soak! We did have sun today, so we turned up the heat and stripped him down to his diaper.

He’s getting in his 8 or more feedings a day, just in his own time. I personally like it when he has 2 or 3 maybe 1.5 hrs apart, cause then he’ll go 4 or 5. I’m able to get some things done, take a nap, or spend time with the other ones during these long stretches.

Okay , this is about as much one-handed typing I can do for now,

“Little Mommy”

Note – I’ll go ahead and say, this post is ALL over the place – just bear with me.

I’m sitting here, watching my three little ones playing blocks, and wondering, “Where did the time go?”. I can remember so clearly when each of them was a newborn baby, then how each one accepted their new baby sibling.

And now, here we are, about to welcome yet another baby to our family. I’m somewhat sad that ‘my baby’ won’t be ‘my baby’ anymore. I’ll quickly admit to babying him more than I did the other two. I’m not sure if it was due to having a miscarriage before him, or just that I was in the midst of a lot of stress – and clinging to him helped calm me.

Either way, I don’t regret doing things a little different with him. He was our first to sleep regularly in our bed. Mainly because his reflux was so bad, I was afraid I wouldn’t hear him choking in his own bed – and I’d often have to grab him up quickly to help him breathe clearly. That is, when I wasn’t having to hold him asleep upright on the couch – simply so the pain wouldn’t cause him to scream.

I know this time go round things that I can do to prevent this. I’m no longer on cow’s milk, so the switch to goat’s milk isn’t a problem. I DO consume a lot of cheese again, so this will take some adjusting to – pizza, lasagna, ice cream, chicken alfredo….

I’m hoping that I’ll start to work up a taste for some red meat again – to give a little variety to our diet. We used to find some great deals on steaks and roasts – and these would usually allow for leftover meals.

I’ve really been taking it much easier the past few days, more because I’m exhausted than anything else. Contractions, plus having to potty every 1.5 hours, all through the night doesn’t allow for much sleep. So, I’m closing my eyes here and there throughout the morning PLUS taking an afternoon nap. It’s almost like the 1st trimester all over again – ha!! But as soon as I can get the younger two asleep, I’m out too!

It’s almost bittersweet rocking my ‘baby’ to sleep now. I’ve so enjoyed this one on one time with him. I decided with my first that I wasn’t going to allow some book tell me how bad it would be to rock my baby to sleep. Since we are never guaranteed another breath, I decided then to enjoy each moment that God gave me with my babies.

Yes, it did make for some difficult sleep times here and there, but it doesn’t come close to the wonderful closeness I felt holding my babies close, listening to the gentle rhythm of them breathing.

I realize that my time with the ‘baby’ is nearing the end. Each ‘baby’ has somehow grown up overnight with each new arrival. I don’t necessarily want them to, they just do. They even look older! How sweet it was to rock him to sleep today, then hold him an extra 10 to 15 minutes. He’s so pitiful right now, as he caught a really bad cold last week.

Yesterday was really bad for the little guy, who will be 20 months this week. He can’t breathe – AT ALL – and kept pointing to his nose and making the most pitiful “nose” sound and pointing to it. Then he’d try his hardest to get air moving through there…

The rest of us are on garlic pills, trying to get better before the baby. Yep, I’ve even come down with a touch of it, even flirting with a sore throat. We’ve avoided the outdoors for the most part the past few weeks, since the pollen here in the South has been really bad lately.

Oh, on another note, DD keeps asking if it’s still April – afraid it’s come and gone and we’ve missed the baby coming. She really is bothered about this when she asks each day!

She was apparently coughing Saturday morning at breakfast, at least that’s what she told me. I’d told them to keep their hands away from their noses and mouths, that they couldn’t hold the baby if they were sick. Well, that must’ve been in her mind, because she told me she was coughing (as seriously as she could), but “I still want to see the baby” (as sweetly as she could).

Oh, they are amazing, and I’m so glad that we have trusted the Lord to plan our family – for EACH member is such a blessing! The older two are inseparatable (is that spelled right?), and I’m hoping this baby will become great buddies with our ‘baby’, or at least give him one sibling to play with.

At the moment, he’s always breaking and tearing up what the older two try to do, so he’s left out a good bit. He doesn’t seem to mind most of the time, for often he can be found playing quietly and contently in a room all by himself. It’s kinda sad, but then I think that it’s probably good that he can occupy himself, so I let him play. (This being the child that we thought would NEVER do anything by themself!)

I wonder, how will life change over the next week or two? Quite a bit I’m sure – but in what ways I have no clue. We’ve been pretty relaxed, taking each moment and day as it comes, so I don’t think things will be rocked up too much.

I plan on continuing what I’ve done for years – taking the phone off the hook while we nap ( I need those naps too! ), and putting a sign on the door that we’re napping (the mailman or UPS has woke me up WAY too many times!). While we don’t stick to a strict schedule, we do plan visitors and trips around the baby just a little.

For me, I’ve learned it’s easier to stick with what we are used to, then mess it up and have fussy children and a fussy momma the next couple of days. Some might adjust well to adding flexibility for the sake of others (family/ friends), but honestly – I don’t.

I’ve had to realize it’s not the end of the world if I’m different than someone else might be – we have to do what works for us. FYI new moms – you do need to pay attention to this somewhat…. stress will REALLY affect your milk supply. I would dry up completely with our first when I was under a lot of stress. DH was great about it, realizing that I couldn’t help it, and was as helpful as he could be (even though it meant people getting upset with him at times).

Just remember, YOU’VE just had a baby – for once, rest and take care of yourself. It will speed your recovery, and make those first few days/ weeks much more enjoyable!

Any thoughts from other veteran moms out there?

“Little Mommy”

Ha – the title of this post reminds me of being 29 years old, and now I’m 30! It’s funny how it seems (in a good way) that life kinda froze when I met and married my husband. In my mind, what I was doing 8 1/2 years ago seems like yesterday.

I can remember friends, people, jobs, very conversations and emails!! Then it seems like there’s no way possible that I could’ve met him, got married, had three children, lost one, and be pregnant again…. wasn’t just yesterday that I thought I’d never meet someone to marry??

I look at my children… my oldest will turn 5 this June. He’s gotten so tall, so smart, so grown-up! I’ll admit, I still love that he calls me “Mommy” and just likes to cuddle close at times.

My 3 year old daughter is constantly proclaiming how ‘I’m not little anymore, I’m BIG now’. And that she is…. Potty trained (except at night, and when I’m too lazy to take off her diaper in the mornings), dressing herself, and always being a great mommy to her baby dolls. She is SO ready for this baby!

My 17 month old ‘baby’ – wow! He’s starting to talk a little more now, though not as much as I remember my other son talking. But he can get his point across very well (though not in the most desirable ways at times).

He still LOVES to be held, hugged, and kissed on all the time – mostly by me. If I don’t offer enough kisses, he’ll just drop his head into my face until I do kiss him! And oh, the sweetest little pats on my back or shoulder while I’m holding him…

And to think, in 11 more or less weeks we’ll be welcoming another precious life to our family. What will they be like? Who will they look like? What will we call them?

Now that my older ones are older – I’m afraid we’ll have some competition for holding the new one – me included! I SO love to hold new babies, to hold them close, smell them, kiss their soft little heads.

We will soon have to be getting a little prepared – packing the suitcases, washing some clothes and sheets, setting up the playpen.

I’m not sure, but I’m thinking we might have to use this the first night or two. Since we haven’t found out the gender of the baby, we don’t know which room to set the crib up in!

I haven’t ever liked the thought of having a baby sleep in our room. One, we hear every little noise they make (and want to!), so we don’t sleep as well. *YES*, I still hear the tiniest little whimper when they wake up at night, even though they’re on the other side of the house. God instills something in moms!

*NOTE* This doesn’t last forever, as my husband can attest to. Many times I never hear our children wake up – crying, throwing up, etc… – at night now, or even know he’s been up with them for 30 min. to an hour! He’s great to allow me to sleep (but I do occassionally get up with them when I actually do hear them!).

I’d rather the baby get used to sleeping in one place, rather than get used to one bed/ bassinet, and then have brand new surroundings a couple of months later. I can’t help but think they know it’s somewhere different.

Oh! My lunch is done cooking – til next time -
“Little Mommy”