Here's my big sister - she's such a Diva... She's a good big sister.she loves to give me hugs, hold me, give me my binky, and gets me my burp cloth - but can you please tell her to stop trying to poke me in the eye?

Here's me on a typical day...now that I have medicine for my tummy...I'm a much happier camper :)

Check out my post-bath hair - am I cool or what? Yup...didn't go back down until my next bath when mommy made sure to brush my hair flat. :)

2 week check-up (at 3 weeks)

Balian is 3 weeks old today!! It's so hard to believe!

We were supposed to have a 2 week check-up...thanks to Tricare and the Kings Bay Medical Clinic and all of its glory, we had it at 3 weeks instead. :/

So here's how it went:
weight: 7 lbs. 5 oz.
He's back up to his birth weight exactly. The doctor would have preferred that he was back up to his birth weight a week ago...but she wasn't TOO concerned, because he is gaining steadily...just slower than she would like him to. He did lose a lot of weight at the beginning though, so he had some catching up to do. His last appointment was almost exactly 2 weeks ago, where he weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. So, he's gaining about 1/2 an ounce per day, which is normal (average weight gain is 1/2 oz to an ounce per day).

other stuff (related to the above):
The doctor was asking me questions about Balian spitting up, etc...checking to see if reflux was a concern. Honestly, up to that point, I hadn't really thought about it. I told her that yeah, he spit up...that it usually happened when he was being burped...but it wasn't a lot at a time...but I had noticed that it was kinda chunky, rather than just liquid.
She seemed concerned when I mentioned the chunky factor. She asked if it seemed to bother him at all... and I hadn't really noticed his fussiness being related to the spitting up, so I said no, not really. I told her that the biggest problem we were having was getting him down to sleep. (He has seemed to get over-tired super easily...and never really having any wake-time...will get fussy pretty much right after eating, so we'd try putting him to bed..and it would take forever...what gives?)
Doc said that we didn't have to do anything about it today, but that she was a little concerned and that I should watch it and see if we needed to give him medicine for reflux later on.

well, wouldn't you know that we came home today after going to the doctor, and it was one of the worst "fussy" days we've had...and we've had a lot of fussy days. After talking to the doctor, I started picking up on some things going on.

1. the more up-right of a position I have him in to feed him, the better he eats. (ex: eats better in football hold with body tilted downward than in cradle hold lying across the Boppy)

2. the spitting up isn't just after feeding him - it can happen an hour or 2 after feeding him...

3. lying him down for a nap has been almost impossible - he's content in his bouncer, or when held upright on our shoulders...but the minute we put him down, he's screaming inconsolably, even if he was in the process of entering dreamland when we lie him down. If he's totally asleep when we lie him down, he usually will wake up about 10-15 minutes later, screaming....and try as we may all the tricks in the book, it will either take about an hour to get him down, or we can't get him down at all...and the screaming goes from "something is wrong" to "I'm hungry" and the cycle continues...
he didn't sleep good. so then he doesn't eat especially great... and that goes over and over again throughout the entire day. He'll usually get one really good nap in a day...probably simply because he's so tired he can't function.
For some reason, he does better at night. I'm at a loss as to why... perhaps pure exhaustion?

4. thinking it's gas, I've given him tons of mylicon (and we've tried Gripe Water too), and it hasn't done a lick of good. I've said over and over "why the heck am I giving this stuff to him if it isn't doing a darn thing?"

So, I took out my trusty book "The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems" and looked up the section on Gas, Colic, and Reflux. It explains what each one is, how to tell if your baby has it, and what to do about it. Well, reading the section on Reflux hit the hammer on the nail for Balian. Amazing how hard it is to see something that is right in front of your face...when you don't know what you're looking for.

So tomorrow, I'm calling and leaving a message for Balian's doctor "Yup, we'll take that medicine now, thanks!"
Hopefully once his tummy is feeling better, he can sleep better, and eat better, and actually get some wake-time...and get on an all-together better routine...and start gaining more weight too :)

Update and Pictures!

I'm writing this on Friday, the 25th, even though it says monday, the 21st. o well...

Balian had his first doctor's appointment on Monday.
He's gained some weight, which is always good. His birth weight was 7 lbs. 5 oz. When we left the hospital, he had lost about 8.5% of his birth weight and was down to 6 lbs. 11 oz. Well, now he weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. - gaining about 2% of his weight back.

The weight gain is added encouragement that breast feeding is going a million times better this time around. I already knew from other things (stronger suck, better latch-on, lots of swallowing, lack of soarness on my part, etc.) that feeding was much better than with Bella (seriously...it's like night and day - totally different), but knowing that he is gaining weight makes me that much more confident.

Sleep-wise, Balian has been doing awesome the past couple of days. He seems to be getting on a pretty good schedule - eating every 2-3 hours during the day (usually 2.5 to 3), and at night, he's been going 4.5 to 5 hours between feedings...so only waking up once during the night, really...and usually I have to wake him up after 5 hours for his middle of the night feeding, just so that it doesn't affect my milk supply too much. crazy. We've been having trouble getting him down for naps during the day, but today seemed to go much better.

Me - I'm feeling pretty good. Tired, just as all new moms are. I try to get one really good nap in every day. I definitely have had some emotional roller coasters at times, but I'm dealing. I'm trying to walk more, which is helping me to not go TOO stir-crazy.
I swelled up pretty bad starting the day after having Balian, but as of yesterday, I think it's almost gone. I can see my ankles again, and my face doesn't look so much like a chipmunk. As far as other pain, I'm doing really good. After having gone through both options of episiotomy vs. no episiotomy - I have to say that no episiotomy is the way to go. I had one with Bella and I was hurting for WEEKS - this time, I didn't have one and I was feeling better after only about 3 or 4 days. Maybe too much information, but just a little FYI.

Bella - she's doing pretty good. She's been "crying over spilled milk" so to speak - small things are incredibly more dramatic - and seem almost tragic to her at times. so, whinier, and she cries more... and is begging for more attention from Mommy. I'm doing my best to give her undivided attention at least once or twice a day when Balian is asleep. She's learning how to be "gentle" as well. She wants to help out a lot, but she's learing the boundaries...how to pat his back gently...how to give him his binky...how to rock the moses basket gently, etc... She does love her little brother to pieces though...it's just learning how to show that love better. :)

ok, now for what you really want...PICTURES!! see the slideshow below (or above...not really sure how this will come out)!!

We're home!!

Hey everyone!
Well, we got home from the hospital Thursday morning about 11am. They have been releasing most people after about 24 hours lately, to get them home, but we needed to stay a bit extra.
Because of the fast delivery, Balian had a lot of fluid in his lungs. He was coughing it all up on his own beautifully, but because of all that fluid, he wasn't eating very often at all - like he had so much gunk in him that he was already too full to eat! At one point, he went about 14 hours without eating - even though I offered it to him many, many times when he was WIDE awake. So, they wanted to make sure that the gunk got out, and he started eating well before he left.

Balian also had an x-ray done on his skull. There was a spot on it that they were concerned about, but turns out it was just a bruise on his skull, again, most likely because of the fast labor.

Since we've been home, we haven't had any problems. He's eating very well (every 2.5-3 hours)and hasn't had to spit up any fluid, so we're happy about that.

Bella has been adjusting pretty nicely. She's a bit more whiney than normal - and was testing her limits with me yesterday - but that's to be expected. She wants to help out all the time, and if Balian is crying, she goes up to him, strokes his head, and says "it's ok, Balian". She always wants to give him his Binky, or his blanket, or whatever else she can find...even when he's sleeping...
I think she'll learn soon enough.

Anyway, Just wanted to update. I'll post some new pictures later on when I have a bit more time.

Pics from a poud Popop, but I'll have to say I think he looks like Poppy.