Things we are loving...

As a new mom, I try alot of products. Everything is so trial and error at this stage. But here are a few things that I am already loving by week 7 of Blaine's life...

We are loving NUK bottles.

We are loving MAM pacifiers. (Of course we love the I LOVE MOMMY one better. :)

We are loving our Munchkin Bottle Warmer and Pacifier Sanitizer.

We are loving our kick and crawl discovery gym.

We are loving all the bright colors on Nick Jr.

We are loving our Boppy Pillow. He lays on his Boppy, on his kick and crawl mat, and watches Nick Jr!

We are loving Nutramigen that makes Blaine's tummy feel so good.

We are loving A&D ointment!!

We are loving Pampers Swaddlers!! Awsome diapers!

We are loving Pampers Sensitive Wipes!!

We are loving our swing!!!

Week 6

Dad stayed home with us again this week!! Woo Hoo! More help! The guys had a diaper party for my husband this week too!! Thank goodness because this new formula and diapers are getting pretty expensive! We got about 10 packs of diapers. Blaine also got his first hair cut this week. His hair was outta control. My Aunt Julie cut it.

Before Hair Cut

During Hair Cut

I had my 6 week check up this week and I got a clean bill of health. Everything looked great. Now time to schedule my appointment to get an IUD...no more babies for us until we are ready!! ;) After my appointment we took Blaine to meet his Great-Great-Grandparents. Not too many kids have those around!!

Blaine with Nana and Grand Daddy!

6 weeks old today! Go Gators!!

Week 5

What an awful week!!! Blaine was getting more and more fussy so we switched formula to GentleEase to help with the gas and fussing. Well this did nothing, so I called the ped and they said to switch him to Soy formula. Well things got even worse after that. He screamed around the clock and was so uncomfortable. On Monday at about 2 AM he had bloody mucous in his diaper. At this point I knew his problem was more than just gas, we had a problem on out hands!! So that morning when the ped office opened, I called and made an appointment. After some talking and an examination of my now 12 lb 3 oz baby, the Dr. determined he had a milk AND soy intolerance! GREAT. So he gave us some samples of formula that must be made of gold because of the price of it. But after the first bottle Blaine was like a new baby, no fussing, no gas!! It was wonderful!! This formula is $35 a can though!! YIKES. So I called Enfamil and got some coupons from them to help with the cost of it. It is so worth the price though, because it has made a world of difference with Blaine!! He eats, sleeps, and poops so much better! :)

5 weeks old today!

Week 4

Dad finally stayed home with us this week, and I am so glad because I needed a break! He is such a great help too. I feel useless when he is around. He does it all, feeding, diaper, burping, bathing...everything. We started putting Blaine in his crib this week and he started sleeping much better. We should have done that from the start because I missed sleeping in my bed. Before then Blaine and I were in the living room and he would sleep in his bassinet while I slept in the recliner (well I wouldn't call it sleeping, just resting). Things started getting really bad at the end of this week though. I decided that I would not be able to keep up with the pumping when I returned to work, so I started giving Blaine more formula and less breast milk. Well the more formula he got the more gassy and fussy he got. He stayed up screaming from 10:30 pm - 4:00 am one night. IT WAS AWFUL! We tried everything, gas drops, different bottles, rocking, bouncing, swaddling, leg excercises, everything. If I read it helped with gas, I tried it because he was so uncomfortable and so gassy.We reached another milestone this week too....SIZE 1 DIAPERS!

4 Weeks Old Today

Week 3

Things are getting a little easier by this week...sleep is still a thing of the past, but easier nonetheless. We didn't have any Dr. Appt's this week, THANK GOODNESS. Because leaving the house is just way too difficult! So me and Blaine just hang out at the house all week. He is eating every 2 hours around the clock which is exhausting but I am getting pretty used to it. Dad comes home in the evening and helps so mom can get a little sleep. But then I let Dad go to bed at a decent hour because he has to get up to go to work every day...it's hard on me but he helps when he can. Usually from about 4:30 - 11 at night. I am still pumping which is very difficult to keep up with on top of feeding him every two hours.

Blaine at exactly 3 weeks old.
His umbilical cord fell out today.
Woo Hoo...now he can have a real bath.

Week 2

On Monday of the next week I had to drop my car off to be worked on and pick up the rental. So Blaine and I took off on another adventure. I got to the dealership and was told that Enterprise would be there in 10 minutes. Well 45 minutes later Blaine was starving and in a dirty diaper. I was planning on being back home before it was time for him to eat...I wasn't to keen on nursing in public. I had taken some formula with me just in case this happened though. So I went in the bathroom to change him and run the bottle under some warm water. I get in the bathroom and there is NO CHANGING STATION. I'm sure this happens a lot. So I am changing Blaine on the floor of the bathroom, in his car seat!! I am an absolute wreck at this point!! I get him changed and walk back into the waiting room and there is the Enterprise man. A 70 year old grouch!! I told him he would have to wait a few minutes for me to give my screaming newborn a bottle. He told me he didn't have time and he would be back in 2 hours to pick me up! Wrong answer! My sleep deprived, new mom defense kicked in! I cussed this man for everything he was worth right there in front of God and the whole Dodge dealership. Needless to say he gave me a few minutes!! After about 3 hours Blaine and I were back home for me to cry some more because our little outings were getting more difficult, not easier like everyone said they would! On Thursday of that week it was back to the ped office for his 2 week well visit.

All dressed up ready for the Dr.

So at the 2 week visit Blaine weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and was 21 1/2 inches. He was back to his birth weight, and then some! What a relief! My nursing was working and he was growing. But I pretty much had a breakdown with the head nurse at the ped office because I was so exhausted. I was the only one that could feed Blaine and couldn't get any help from Dad. She gave me some formula samples and told me to supplement so I could pump and get a supply. I felt like a failure, but I did it. Before I knew it, I had several breast milk bottles built up. So we started on bottles. I LOVED the bottle concept. I could SEE how many ounces my little boy was getting. So I started strictly pumping and giving bottles. Before long I noticed he was eating more than I was pumping. So I still supplemented some formula here and there.

WE MADE IT!! 2 weeks down!!

I can do this!

Our First Week Home

So we got home on a Monday and Jeffrey went right back to work on Tuesday. He works for my dad, more on that later... So I was home alone with this newborn baby that I didn't know much about yet. In the beginning I was nursing and was bound and determined to nurse for the first year...until I tried it. I had no idea how difficult and demanding it was going to be. Blaine ate constantly and never seemed satisfied. I hated it because I couldn't tell how much he was getting. I cried all the time, I think I had a touch of the baby blues on top of sheer exhaustion. On Wednesday we had to leave the house for a check-up. We went to the hospital first to draw blood and check his jaundice level, then went to the pediatrician for him to have a look. It was so difficult to be out of the house. I had to nurse him in the hospital parking lot, then again at the peds office. We got home that day and I was exhausted and even more depressed because I saw how difficult it was to leave the house with a little one!! My life seemed over at that point because I decided there was no way I could leave the house again except for Dr. Appts and emergencies. It was too hard to leave any other time!! We had to go to the hospital and the peds office again on Thursday to check his jaundice and for him to be circumcised (I was so nervous about that). They told me the procedure would take about an hour, so I took that opportunity to go have an estimate done on my car (one more thing to worry about) and to go by the store to pick up diapers (which we were going through like crazy). I was back at the ped office to pick my little man up in 40 minutes. They said everything went great and that he did great. What a relief. So again on Friday we had to go to the Dr. to check his jaundice...it was finally going down, thanks to a little sun at home.

Getting a little sunshine in the window.

WE MADE IT!! Blaine was now a week old, and still happy and healthy!!

One Week Old