7 weeks

Just when I thought we were making progress with sleeping Owen changed his mind. We had 4 nights of blissful sleep and then last night was horrible. From Saturday to Tuesday his first stretch of sleep was almost 5 hours then the next ones were between 2-3 hours and I was in heaven! It took about 45 minutes of nursing before he'd go down but I was ok with that. When he would wake up to eat it was only 15-20 minutes and he was sleeping later than 5am. Last night though it took over 2 hours for him to go down and pat had to go in 3 times after that. He woke up at 2am so I nursed him and we were up for 2 hours and then at 7 he was ready to start the day. I'm praying it was just a fluky night and we go back to the previous nights schedule.
Tuesday morning he put himself to sleep in his crib and slept for 2 1/2 hours. I got so much done! Hasn't happened since but he's stating to sleep for longer periods during the day instead of the catnaps he was taking.
We're trying swaddling again since that's what worked when he put himself to sleep.
This weekend Pat's family was in town and Owen did okay most of the time. Friday night we were out to eat and he freaked out so we had to come home early.

I really can't believe how fast he is growing. He's smiling more which is great. He's so much fun when he's happy and I'm hoping that he'll start being happier more often.

No more OB appointments

Friday morning I had my 6 week follow up appointment and everything looked good. Owen was fussing a bit so I forgot to ask the doctor most of the questions I had. My blood pressure is back down so I'm weaning off the medication and hopefully it stays down.

It's kind of weird not seeing Dr Adam on a regular basis. You get used to seeing your doctor every month so now that I won't see her for quite a while it's a little bit sad. Hopefully I'm not the only weirdo that feels this way. I really liked my doctor and loved those appointments.

6 Weeks

Little man is doing pretty well with sleeping at night. Last night was our best night yet! He slept for 4 hours straight and went 5 hours without nursing. That is a new record. He fell asleep around 9:30 in his carseat and slept until 1:30 and then slept until 5:15. I tried to get him back down after that feeding but he was ready to start his day. He was pretty happy for a little while after we got up then got fussy and now he's sleeping again in the Moby. He naps great when I wear him but I can't really nap while wearing him. Oh well. I feel like I have quite a bit of energy for the amount of sleep I get but a nap every once in a while would be nice. 

I think we had a growth spurt this week. Owen nursed almost nonstop from Monday-Tuesday afternoon. It came at the same time I was trying to keep the pacifier away from him because he's been doing something goofy while nursing so I think that added to the feeding marathon. During the day he didn't go more than an hour without nursing and Monday night we slept in the same bed and I have no idea how often he ate. I was exhausted though.

Tuesday night the ladies at work threw a shower for us and they were so generous. I couldn't believe how many gifts we got. We are so blessed. Owen got this giraffe toy that he loves. We've gotten a lot of smiles out of him with that toy. He also got a lot of clothes for this summer and fall that are adorable. 

Owen will get lots of love this weekend as Pat's family will all be here for Jimmy and Jessica's wedding shower. I think he'll like all of the attention.

Smile

We had our first real smile this morning!

5 Weeks

Owen is so close to talking and smiling. He gets his mouth moving but hasn't quite gotten how to get it to make noise or turn into a smile. We've gotten a few sounds though which is so fun. I think he laughs while he sleeps and every once in a while he's nursing he gets a big smile on his face. So funny.

His eyes are starting to lighten up some but I'm still not sure if they'll be blue like Pat's or green like mine.

He still hates tummy time but we try everyday so he can build up his muscles. I pick him up after a couple of minutes though because he cries the whole time and he doesn't really try to lift his head even though I know he can do it. He does great when we hold him but I think he's being stubborn when he's on the floor.

He has a somewhat consistent schedule at night although I'll use consistent very loosely. We try to get him down by 9:00 but lately that isn't working so well and it's been more like 11:00. He then sleeps for about 2-3 hours before waking up and the middle feeding he'll go right back to sleep. It's hit or miss on whether he goes back to sleep after the next feeding. Yesterday he woke up around 6:30 and we were up after that which was fine but today he woke up at 4:30 and was not going back to sleep no matter how hard I tried.

He still cries a lot during the day and I think sometimes it's because he's so tired but won't go to sleep. I can get him to sleep for a few minutes but then he'll wake up and we start over. We went for a walk this afternoon and he slept then and I wore him in the Moby a couple of times and he slept then. Right now he's sleeping in the car seat and has been for over 2 hours. We went to the grocery store and he's been out since. Hopefully it doesn't interfere with his nighttime sleep. This mama is tired today. I hate hearing him cry and not knowing what he needs. Sometimes I wonder if he's just bored because I don't talk to him enough. I've never been good at talking to someone that doesn't respond but I'm working on just being a total idiot around him because he seems to like that.

He rocks a faux hawk quite well. (This is with no styling done!)

1 month stats

Weight: 9lbs
Height: 21 1/8 inches
Head circumference: 38.0

Little man is gaining weight like crazy! Not surprising since he seems to eat ALL OF THE TIME.

Sleep

Last night was the first night Owen and I slept in separate rooms since the hospital. There was some separation anxiety on my part but it went quite well. He was inconsolable from about 8-11 and then finally fell asleep in his seat. He still woke up every 1.5 - 2 hours during the night but went back down as soon as he finished nursing. Although I would love a longer stretch of sleep I'll happily take not struggling to get him back to sleep outside of my arms. We'll see how tonight goes though. He was crying again and then I gave him a bath which he loved this time. Sometimes he likes them and sometimes he screams the whole time so I had no idea if it would chill him out or make things worse tonight. I kept him in the tub until he started crying which was maybe 15-20 minutes. He screamed for a while but then calmed down and fell asleep. Right now he's sleeping in his seat and we'll see how long he goes before needing to eat. I found a recording of a blow dryer and that seems to be doing the trick. Thank you white noise!

Sounds like he's waking up. I guess it's been 2 hours since he last ate so time go!

4 weeks

I can't believe my baby is a month old already! (pretty sure I'll start every post out with "I can't believe he's ... old already)

We are still in a fussy stage and sleeping less at night now. Monday we started a new routine of putting Owen to bed earlier and trying to get him used to sleeping in his crib. The first night went okay but it's gone downhill from there. Last night he was waking up every hour and a half and was only happy while he was nursing. Finally around 3:30 (after it was my turn to cry it out) we laid down in bed and nursed that way and we both fell asleep. Not my ideal but if it meant sleep I was okay. Co-sleeping was something I always said I wouldn't do but so far with Owen we've only done the few things I said I never would. I guess even when you set your expectations extremely low you can still be disappointed. I'm slowly learning to adjust though. Hopefully we can get this nighttime sleeping issue figured out. Usually we swaddle him before putting him down but this morning he was fussing and calmed down as soon as I unswaddled him so tonight we're trying him in just a sleeper to see how he does. I figure it can't make anything worse at this point.

Our days our hit & miss with where he sleeps. Sometimes he'll sleep in the bassinet or in the Moby or just while I'm holding him. Sometimes he fights sleep like crazy and other times it's not an issue. There's still nothing I can count on happening during the day other than diaper changes and lots of nursing. He does seem to get tired around the same time everyday though.

3 Weeks

Mr Owen has begun a fussy stage in the last couple of days. I think most of the time his tummy is causing him trouble. I'm trying to cut dairy out of my diet to see if that is causing his issues but it is proving much more difficult than I planned. It's more than just not drinking milk and eating ice cream or cheese. I didn't realize just how much dairy I eat until I started looking at labels and seeing that almost everything I love has milk in it. I haven't been strict enough so I should probably work on that if I'm going to find out if that's the issue. I'm really praying that it isn't the issue because that is going to be so difficult.

Owen was so good last night and it was the first time he slept somewhere other than in bed with me or while someone was holding him. He slept in his rocking seat which is one step closer to his bassinet or crib. He slept from 11-3 which was awesome but then woke up every 1.5-2 hours to eat which made for a pretty tired mama in the morning. I felt great at 3am though! I'm not counting on that happening tonight though because last night he was really relaxed and didn't even scream during his bath which is a first.

I think he's hit a growth spurt because he's pretty much been nursing since 3:00 this afternoon. He falls asleep while eating but then wakes up as soon as I move him and wants to eat again. It's exhausting. I'm exhausted and there's no way that anyone can help. We just have to wait it out.

Even though a crying baby and exhaustion and feeling like you don't even have the time to pee let alone eat is hard I LOVE being a mom to this little person.

I'm learning to be thankful for the times when everything seems to be going well but not get excited for them because there is no "usual" with this little guy. Just when I think we maybe have some sort of routine he changes it up and I feel like we start over. Thats okay though because we'll get there eventually. This is a temporary phase that will seem like eternity while in it but will have flown by when I look back so I'll work on enjoying and treasuring every minute I have with this precious little bundle.