Weights and Bilis and Breastfeeding, Oh My!

We had another doctor appointment today for the little man to check his bilirubin level and his weight...again!

Good news!!!!

He now weighs 9 pounds!

His bili level was at 10.7!!!!

Now, it's still not "normal", but it dropped over 4 points in 1 week.

That's the biggest drop we've seen since he was born!

Needless to say, I was thrilled!

We also now have a hungry man on our hands.

I am breastfeeding and yesterday, if he wasn't sleeping, he was attached to me!

Don't get me wrong, it's a great bond and all that, but there's only so much a mom can take.

I talked about it with the pediatrician today and she recommended supplementing him with either EBM or formula after his feedings.

I was a little dillusional about breastfeeding (I think).

I imagined feeding him, he'd sleep for a few hours, wake up and eat again.

I'd have so much supply that I'd have enough stocked up to feed him till he's 1.

Wrong!

I never imagined how much of an emotional thing it is.  Feelings of inadequacy wash over me when he is crying for more and I simply don't have any left to give him.  I literally cried the first time I gave him formula since I left the hospital.  It's making me cry now!  Hormones are a bitch!

I've now decided that I can't feel guilty 24/7 and that I need to do what's best for my little man, even though it might make me a crying sack of mush.  I want him to be a rolly-polly and chubby thighed baby.

I'm hoping that supplementing him will do that.

Hopefully I'll have some rolly-polly pics soon.

In the meantime...

Meeting Cousin Wyatt for the first time.

4 weeks old!

Little hands



Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We may only have a pinch of Irish in us, but we're celebrating anyway!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Kiss Me???

With a face like this who can resist?!?!?!

One month!

 4 weeks!

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks since this new little person arrived.

We are still watching his jaundice closely.  He looked a little more yellow to us over the past few days, so I took him back in yesterday for a check-up.

His bili level was at 14.7, so it had gone up, but not enough for the doctor to be too concerned.  We will have it checked again next week just to make sure it's not still going up.  The doctor called it "breastmilk jaundice".  My niece, Jayde, had it when she was a newborn and that was the first time I had heard of it.  I still need to do some reading about it to find out more info, but in short, it can last for up to 3 months, so at this point it's nothing to freak out about.

He now weighs 8 pounds 10 ounces, meaning he gained a little over half an ounce per day since his last weight was done.  The peds would is happy with is weight gain, but he was acting hungry while we were there even though I had just finished feeding him!  She then brought up the idea of supplementing with either formula or EBM after feedings if needed.  Thankfully I had started pumping and had some milk in the fridge and freezer.  We ended up needing to use it later last night.  I fed him and an hour later he woke up hungry again!  Thank God for a little bottle action!  I think Michael was thanking Him too!

Please pray and wish us luck that Michael gets all the nutrition he needs and that his weight goes up and bili goes down!

I'll be the first to admit that I'm slow with getting pictures up here.

This may come as a shock, but I haven't been doing the best with taking pictures of him.

Even though we did take some "good" pics of him a week ago, my sister mentioned that she regretted not having professional pictures taken of her girls when they were newborns.

On a whim on Monday, Rob and I took Michael into Target for a last minute photo session.

For being Target and only having a 20 minute appointment with a not-so-happy baby, we got some pretty good pictures.

I tried to attach a link, but can't figure it out.  You'll have to take my word for it...we have a pretty adorable baby!  Once I figure out how to attach them, they'll be up here.

In the meantime, this was Michael's opinion of having his pictures taken...

I really need to get the camera out more often!

Thanks for checking in!

2 weeks in the blink of an eye!

Make that 2 weeks and 3 days!

I've tried starting this post multiple times over the past 2 weeks.
You know how it is.  Still enjoying being a mommy!

I'll try to bring you up to speed.  Unfortunately, it'll be a long post and I totally understand if you skip it.

On our last day in the hospital, I realized that we hadn't taken a picture of Michael with his Birth Day Cake.  It's a tradition my sisters and I started with the birth of each their children and my sister, Dee, was sweet and brought Michael his first Birth Day cake.

We ended up having to stay in the hospital for one day longer than we were anticipating.  I was feeling great, but little Michael was needing a little extra time.  He hadn't pooped in 38 hours, his bilirubin level was high (jaundice) and he had lost 11% of his original weight (down to 7#1oz.).  Because of all these thing, the pediatrician felt better having him stay an extra day.  I felt better too!
By the time we left the hospital, he had pooped multiple times and had gained 2 ounces.  Unfortunately his bili level was still high, but not high enough for phototherapy, so they let us go home with orders to follow up in the clinic.

Our first day home was relatively uneventful.  Harley greeted Michael by ignoring him.  No worries there! My friend, Chantel, and sisters, Dee and Kate came over to visit, but other than that, it was time to relax and enjoy being home.

Sunday, Feb. 20th was Michael's first official blizzard.  Shakopee got about 15 inches of snow.  We got to spend the day snuggled in the house.

Rob had one more week of vacation and was enjoying every minute of it.  He didn't change a diaper or help with feedings, but he was wonderful and waited on me hand and foot.  With my hands full with fulfilling Michael's needs, Rob fulfilled all of mine.  It was great!   I even got a foot rub for my crazy "Fred Flintstone" feet!

We had both sets of grandparents come to visit and bring us wonderful meals that we didn't have to cook for ourselves.  Their payback was a little snuggle time with the peanut.

Michael's first doctor visit was on February 24th.  He had gained 5 ounces since discharge from the hospital!  However, his bilirubin level was still high at 16.3.  Being an L&D nurse, I know just enough about bili levels to be irritating.  Apparently the new standard is to not worry about the levels until it hits 20.  The fact that Michael is also alert, wakes for feedings, is filling his diaper regularly and has gained weight were also good things and made this first time mom a little more comfortable with having a yellow child.  We have a recheck sheduled for tomorrow, March 3rd.

On Sunday, Feb. 27th, we had planned having an "us" day.  A day with no visitors and nothing to do, but hang out at home as a family.  I had talked to my parents and they were planning on spending the morning with my Grandpa.  When Michael woke up, it was apparent that he was not going back to sleep, so we got ready, loaded everything up in the van and headed to Belle Plaine to visit Grandpa.  We took the 4-generation picture, but Grandpa had no interest in holding Michael.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, Grandpa was sitting in his chair and my Dad said "Here, Pops" and placed Michael in his arms.  I had my camera ready and snapped as many pics as I could of my Grandpa and Michael.

Someone mentioned the fact the with all the grandkids and great-grandkids, that Grandpa should be used to holding babies.  I replied by saying that it was always Grandma who held the babies.  Even after her stroke, she would use her good arm to hold the sleeping little ones.  In the end, I think Grandpa enjoyed holding a baby more than he will admit.  They are pictures I will always treasure.

Rob headed back to work on the 28th, so Michael and I were home alone for the first time since he was born!  All went well and I even got in a nap or two!

I had my 2-week post-op appt on March 1st.  This was my original due date, and as Rob pointed out to me, also the 3 year anniversary of our engagement!  My appointment went well.  I just need to follow up in 4 weeks.

Michael had his follow-up appointment at the pediatrician on Thursday, March 3rd.
Again, nothing but good news!  He is now weighing in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and his bilirubin level went from 16.3 to 13.7.  His doctor says that even though the bili is still higher than normal, he is on the mend and does not need to be seen again until he is 2 months old.  Yay!

We also had Michael's first photo shoot this week.  He was cooperative (for the most part) and I think we got a couple cute pics.   Maybe now I can order his Birth Annoucements!

Here are a few pics...
Enjoy!