Two weeks already! August 19, 2007

Hayden had his two week doctor appointment on Friday.  By two weeks they hope that babies have regained their birth weight.  Hayden was 7 lbs 4 oz when he was born.  At his two week check up he was 8 lbs 8 oz!!  He’s such an overachiever!  His length was 21 3/4 inches.  That makes him 50th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in length.

He hit a milestone on Thursday night as we were getting ready for bed — his umbilical cord fell off!  So Friday he was able to have his first proper bath instead of a sponge bath.  He was pretty tolerant, although I would be going too far if I said he liked it.  He did like the nice warm towel that Helen and Wyn got him, though!  He was all snuggled up in that for quite a while afterwards, as his reward for being so good. 🙂

My recovery is coming right along.  I stopped taking my pain medicine on Wednesday, which means hopefully someday soon I can start driving again.  I’m not supposed to drive until I’m off the pain meds and I can stomp my foot hard on the ground (to signify that I could brake suddenly without problems).  I have not gotten up the nerve yet to stomp my foot, as even though I don’t need pain medicine anymore things are still a little tender.  I’m trying to get out and take walks when it’s not too hot and humid, and that is really nice.  Hayden comes along in his stroller and when John comes with us we usually have Lucy in tow (I can’t take Lucy on my own yet because I can’t correct her if she pulls just yet).

John has been a really great daddy, and seems to really be enjoying it as you might tell from his blogs and all the photos! 🙂  He does a great job of soothing Hayden, and he’s an expert swaddler!  I have the edge on soothing I think because I have the magic food, which is the most efficient way to calm him.  Even when he’s not really hungry he gets comfort from the sucking.  But John gets right in there and uses the tools in his disposal — bouncing him, rocking him, singing to him, changing him, etc.  Speaking of changing him, we have a rule that when we hear that he is dirtying his diaper whoever is touching him or touched him last has to change him.  I think I started that, which was unwise looking back because John used to take a lot of the diaper duty whenever he was home (since I obviously do it while he’s at work), but now I find I am doing a lot of the changing because he dirties a lot of diapers while he’s eating!  I think the boys are ganging up on me!

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Thumb sucking August 14, 2007

Hayden has sucked his thumb a couple of times.  He hasn’t quite gotten it down yet, though.  He puts his thumb in his mouth and sticks all four fingers up and covers his face.  It’s soooo cute and funny!  The first time he did it he poked himself in the eye, bless him.  It was all red and watery for a few minutes.

We also might have finally solved the leaking problem somewhat.  We switched brands and seem to have had better luck so far with the new ones.  Saying that, though, we did have a leak this morning, but I put that down to sod’s law as I had just given him a bath 20 minutes or so before that happened.  I’m sure if I hadn’t done that he wouldn’t have leaked. 🙂

My little boy is growing

Hayden is now about a week and a half old, and already his face is starting to change.  He’s filling out a little around his chin and jaw.  John, Hayden, Lucy and I went on a walk last night (oh, and Abbey too – she was trailing us pretty much the whole time) and I mentioned to John that I thought Hayden’s face was already changing.  He was sleeping and we could only see his profile when I made the comment, so John couldn’t see it.  But when we went inside and he was holding him he could see what I meant.  I know there are lots of great times to come as he grows, but I can hardly bear the thought that he’s getting bigger already!  I want all those great things to happen, but at the same time I want him to always be this age and size.

Yesterday was our first day home without Daddy.  He was gone for 1/2 day last week but my mom was here with us and it was just a 1/2 day, so that doesn’t really count.  We miss having Daddy here.  But we’re getting some rough semblance of a routine started, as best we can considering Hayden sleeps most of the day and his eating routine is demand-driven.  Speaking of his eating, I have a book on breastfeeding that I have been diving into, and it says babies range from the all business types who pause little throughout feedings and get the job done in 10 minutes or so to the ‘dawdlers’ who may take up to 45 minutes for a feed.  Hayden is definitely a dawdler.  He’ll eat with a gusto for a few minutes, then he’ll fall asleep and take a few gulps here and there with big, snoozy pauses in between.  No amount of fussing with him, talking to him, even getting him undressed down to his diaper, seems to make much of a difference.  Sometimes I’ll stroke his cheek with my finger and say ‘Haaaayden’ and he’ll just get this big grin while still asleep but usually doesn’t prompt him to carry on eating.  I’ve already learned that even though he has slowed down in his feedings, it doesn’t mean he’s done.  He doesn’t do well with ‘top ups’ where I feed him until he starts taking his biiiig pauses and then I close up shop.  That just means he’ll start fussing a few minutes later because he’s still hungry.

He’s been pretty good in the night the past few nights, though.  It seems he takes a little while to really go down.  I give him his last feed upstairs, and he really draws that out by falling asleep a lot.  I’ll change him and he’ll wake up enough to want more.  Then I’ll put him down in his bassinet and the last few nights he will fuss a little and seem to want more food.  We’ve had good results with swaddling, though, so we get him good and wrapped up and once he finally does fall asleep he stays asleep for about 3 hours.  After that middle of the night feeding he tends to go straight back to sleep again (of course, that’s after 40 minutes or so of snoozy nursing!).  So it’s really not too bad.  But thank goodness I can take a nap or two during the day, because for me it really only adds up to two sleep sessions of 2 – 3 hours each.  I guess that’s not too bad for a newborn, but for me that’s not enough!  So during the day Hayden and I have a little nap together on the couch, which is the absolute best.  He’ll lay on my chest and we crash together while cuddling.  It’s one of my favorite things ever.

First Week With My Son! August 11, 2007

Time flies, obvious statement but so very true during the first week of Hayden’s life.   Every-time Kara and me looked at the clock we were like “How can it be that late? where did the last hour or two go?”  Every minute with him in these first few days has just been precious.  We just can’t stop holding him, cuddling him talking to him , singing and dancing with him (well maybe that’s just me!).  He is the most adorable little man ever.  I am biased but I don’t care.  For a newborn he is so just so beautifully formed, his complexion is fantastic and just has the funniest little expressions already.

He peed on his Mum this morning, a perfectly formed circle of pee appeared on her t-shirt. He he.  He ‘sat’ down and watched Grandpa Goodwin’s football team Tottenham Hotspur lose this morning.  He felt bad for his grandpa but he loved his first football game and has demanded that he is allowed to watch more.

He really is a little rock and roll star, the only thing he needs to improve on is his toilet habits.   The night before last I changed his nappy four times in 30 minutes, and then last night everytime he peed he leaked his nappies, i think we had to change his clothes 4 or 5 times, and already twice today and it’s not lunchtime yet!!!  Little pee pee monster!

Oh and of course he is the most advanced one week year old I have ever seen 😀

I love him!

Doctor’s office August 10, 2007

Wednesday I had my first doctor appointment.  My daddy had to go to work in the morning because he had some meeting for new employees, so Grandma Hammond came to help my mommy for the day since she is still recovering from having me.  Her doctors say she can’t drive for a while because of her medication and her incision.  So Grandma drove us to the doctor.  They weighed me and according to their scales I already weigh 7 lbs 9 oz.  When I left the hospital I weighed 7 lbs 1 oz, and of course when I was born I weighed 7 lbs 4 oz.  It’s normal for babies to lose weight after they are born, but Mommy’s not sure that I really gained all those ounces in 2 days, even though I’m such a good eater.  Anyway, the nurse who looked me over in my appointment was really happy with my progress and she even said I was a stud!  I get all the girls.  They love my hair.

Grandma Hammond was so helpful while she was here.  She got lots of cuddle time with me, so I was a very happy boy.  She also ran some errands, like getting my doggie Lucy some dog food.  And she did lots and lots of laundry, which was a huge help to my mommy and daddy.  I think she did like 100 loads.

Further to my previous post about how leaking on people is the highest compliment in baby land, last night I leaked onto Mommy while we were cuddling and watching TV.  I got her good and soaked through her top!  I love my mommy so much! 🙂

Hayden is a comedian August 7, 2007

I realized that Hayden has been blessed with quite the sense of humor on Saturday.  I was finally ‘unplugged’ and free to actually get out of bed — they had removed my IV, catheter, and leg braces that inflated and deflated to keep my circulation going and prevented blood clots.  John had gone home for a couple of hours to clean up, see the pets, and upload the latest photos.  My mom was staying with me while John was away, but she had just left and I was on my own for about a 20 minute gap between Mom leaving and John coming back.  I was feeding Hayden and he started to fall asleep.  I put my hand up his sleep sack to tickle his back so he might start feeding again, and I felt something… wet… on his back.  I pulled out my hand and it was poop!  He had busted up his diaper so badly that it had come out the top of the back!  Oh Hayden!  Since I was pretty sore and trying not to move about too much, I decided to change him at the foot of the bed instead of in his bassinet so I wouldn’t have to stand up.  I laid him down at the bottom of the bed, undid his diaper to assess the damage, and tried to figure out the best way to get his sleep sack off without getting poop up his back and in his hair.  By the way, Hayden does not like being naked and cries whenever his diaper is being changed, so add to this scenario some very unhappy crying coming from his little pouty face.   Also, newborn baby poop is comparable to tar until their systems get cleared out, and that type of poop (meconium) is black, very sticky, and just plain messy when it’s in a diaper, much less on the loose!  Anyway, the next thing I know, a stream of pee is arching its way over Hayden’s belly and onto his arm and the bedcovers!  It was hilarious!   I’m already trying to navigate poopy clothes, a very dirty diaper situation, an unhappy baby, and then unforecasted showers begin.  And I am not terribly mobile for dealing with the situation.  We got it all cleaned up in the end, though, and it’s good to know just how funny our son is!

He is actually quite the little leaker!  Last night I think we changed his outfit about half a dozen times because he had peed on them — sometimes his diaper leaked and sometimes he would pee while we were changing his diaper and in turn soak one side of whatever he was wearing.  Actually, as I type this I am feeding him while he lays on his Boppy, and I just noticed my shirt is wet.  He had leaked through again and this time got my shirt in the process!  I don’t know how he leaks so much, since we are quite careful when we put his diaper on about getting it tight (but it can’t be too tight because he’ll get diaper rash) and making sure it’s on properly.   Anyway, I just got up to change him and he did another sneaky pee where I finished diapering him and then saw there was a puddle by his side.  Oh Hayden!

Apart from (and including, actually!) all that, we are still just completely in love with Hayden and having a ball with him.  He’s such a little sweetie.  John spends most of his time taking pictures of him, and of course that is to be expected since this is John we’re talking about. 🙂  If you thought he took way too many pictures of Lucy, just imagine what it will be like when it comes to his son!

Thank you everyone for all of the congratulatory and good wishes emails.  I am way behind on email and it might take a while for me to reply, but both John and I have really enjoyed reading through everyone’s messages and we look forward to replying soon! 🙂