AJ: 5 Months

Baby’s Weight: He weighed in at 16 lbs. at his 4 month well check. I’d venture to guess he’s around 17 lbs now.

Baby’s Height: He was 26 inches at his 4 month well check. Probably an inch or two taller? We need to start marking his height on his measuring frame we have in his nursery!

What size of clothing does baby wear?: I’ve just packed away the last of the 3-6 month. He’s in 6 months exclusively. And the Carter’s 6 months probably only have a few wks of wear left

Any milestones baby reached during the month: Early on in the month, A rolled belly to back pretty regularly. He’s still not a huge fan of tummy time, but he does roll. He’s gone to his side from his back, but not all the way back to belly. He loves standing. He’ll hold a good standing stance propped up against something for a minute or two. He is also getting better at sitting up in the tripod position.

Special outings baby had during the month: This month was pretty low key. We are waiting for the nice spring weather to come and stick around for longer than a day! Running errands and dinner at ILs are a regular thing, we spent a fun Easter Sunday over there, too. We went to Catholic church for the first time as a family.

What was baby’s routine: A wakes up for his morning nursing session at around 6am (give or take a half hour), he snuggles/sleeps in bed until 7/8am and then his 3 hour day time cycles start. His awake time has increased steadily to 2 hours. And he’s taking naps well in the pack n play! He’ll avg 1 hour naps 3x a day. Some are longer, some are shorter. On teething days, he’ll even nap for 3 hours+! :O He “eats” 5-6x a day. On my office days, he’ll take a bottle 3-4x, and we’ll nurse in the AM and before bedtime. He loves playing on all of his baby gear/toys. My mom has him on a rotation! Exersaucer, tummytime, high chair/toys/fish tank viewing, bouncer with sassy links, etc.

Did any big changes occur: A has two teeth! His two bottom teeth are poking in and we first noticed them on tax day (4.15.13). I almost had a mommy meltdown. I can’t handle how fast my baby is growing!! He’s also grown out of his swing. We transitioned him to napping in the pack n play we have set up downstairs. First of the big baby gear to be put away in the basement. I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW FAST TIME FLIES.

What are baby’s favorites: He is obsessed with standing. LOVES it. He LOVES when daddy comes home from work. He has the biggest smile and laughs greeting him. He’s also started to notice the dogs and loves petting them (when Bailey’s not trying to lick his face!)

What are your thoughts about the past month: It is so mind-boggling how quickly time flies and how much A has learned in just a month’s time. There is just so much for him to take in, he’s such a curious baby, always wanting to look out for the next new thing in his line of sight. It’s hit me really hard this month at just how these weeks are flying by. I can’t believe how much he has grown in the last few months. :*) I’m also so excited for the upcoming Spring/Summer months of activities we have to look forward to with A!

Monthly Photos:

 

 

AJ: 4 Months

Baby’s Weight: I think he’s near 16 lbs? We have an old school baby scale that we use to get estimates and he weighed 16 lbs a few nights ago. His 4 month well checkup is next Thursday, so we’ll know for sure then.

Baby’s Height: Somewhere past the 2 ft. mark, only because I stood him next to the growth chart in his room.

What size of clothing does baby wear?: 3-6 and 6 month clothes. Onesies and shirts fit him okay in either size, his pants are better if they’re 6 month+!

Any milestones baby reached during the month: A had his first burst of baby laughter! He has also been grabbing for toys and playing with his hands.

A also hit his 100 day mark this month. In Korean tradition, the 100 days celebration signifies the 1st year of baby’s life (including the months in utero). It’s the first of many milestone birthdays (100 days, 1 year, 60, 70) that are celebrated in Korea. We had a small dinner with our family and friends.

Special outings baby had during the month: Auntie Jesi’s Bridal Shower, going to the store, ILs, daily outings are a norm now!

What was baby’s routine: His routine is the same as last month, but we had our run-in with the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. Luckily, A only had a few nights of interrupted sleep and is now back to his normal STTN sleep. We are so, so blessed!

Did any big changes occur: 4 month regression (short-lived), High-chair, etc.

What are baby’s favorites: FISH TANK! I know I mentioned it previously, but now he is just ALL about it. My mom sits him in his high chair and he’ll sit and watch for over an hour! Tracking the fishes, kicking his legs when he gets excited, talks to them.

What are your thoughts about the past month: This is the month that I realized that I “can do it all.” While it makes me sad time to time that I spend 8+ hours away from my baby on my office days, these last few weeks back at work made me realize just how much I can handle and how much I love being a work out of the home mom. On top of the fact I am so lucky to be able to work from home two days a week.

A is such a sweet baby. So laid back and easy going. Still sleeping well at night. Growing by leaps and bounds and becoming so aware of his surroundings. Seriously, his baby laughter is the sweetest, purest sound in the world.

Monthly Photos:

Little moments

In the past 16 weeks since baby A entered my life, I’ve experienced an entire new world of emotions.

Now that I’ve been back at work for a few weeks, it seems like time is flying by even faster than those fleeting weeks of maternity leave.

My baby is no longer a newborn. And much to my surprise I am starting to get the hang of being the best mom I can be to my son. (Though I have a plethora of mistakes to make and lessons to learn.)

In the midst of life’s ever growing ‘busy’ness, I’ve become that much more appreciative of the lil moments that make our life so fulfilling.

Yesterday, I heard the purest of all sounds on this entire planet. Baby A’s laughter. I was lucky enough to be working from home and took a break to change his diaper while my mom was washing his bottles. I was letting him air dry and instantly I became (insert your fave comedian here). A got the full on baby belly laughs and couldn’t stop giggling. In that momentous, yet fleeting moment, I was so overcome with joy that I couldn’t hold back the tears.

And then I realized, this is just the first of so many moments that has given my life an entirely new meaning and reason.

It is such an incredible blessing that He’s given me. The calling to be a mom, the calling to be baby A’s mom. Every fiber of my being was created to be his mom. And I’m that much more sure of it, each passing day.

(Then Mr.Dubs arrived home and my heart melted again when I witnessed baby A’s pure laughter at his daddy’s jokes and tickles.)

Infant Sleep: An Update

I left off at two nights into night weaning/crib transition, etc.

As a refresher:

February 12 (Night 1): down at 740pm, paci at 1130pm, paci at 130am, nurse at 310am, nurse at 740am

February 13 (Night 2): down at 720pm, paci at 1am, paci at 345am, ???

The rest of that second night was okay. He woke up at 6am to be pacied back down until 8am when he was up for the day.

On night 3, February 14 – Mr.Dubs offered as a Valentine’s gift to get up for night wakings. Since I wasn’t nursing him at night, Mr.Dubs was planning on doing what I’d been doing the two nights prior. Going into A’s room and giving him a paci until he fell back asleep, etc. We both went to bed that night around 1030. I slept peacefully knowing that Mr.Dubs was on night-duty. And before I knew it, it was 6am and Mr.Dubs tapped on my shoulder worriedly telling me to check the monitor. HE HADN’T GOTTEN UP ONCE since 1am. Apparently, 1am rolled around and Mr.Dubs heard A stirring, but as soon as he got to the nursery, he was back asleep. HALLLLLELUJAH. Mr.Dubs and I fell back asleep after ten minutes of staring at our baby sleeping soundly at 6am, and we all slept until 9am. NINE AM!!! 13+ hours!!!!!

Night 4 was Mr.Dubs and my first night away from the baby. And what an angel he was, sleeping through the night for the first time the night before to calm my worries about being away. Since his first STTN, Austin has been consistently going to sleep around 730/8 and sleeping until 8am+. The only reason his wake time is now 715am is because I am back at work and I wake him up for his morning nursing session before I head into the office.

His naps are still hit or miss. On our new routine, we usually get 1 long nap in the morning and then a few catnaps throughout the day before we start his bedtime routine around 630pm. On the days I’m in the office, I get sad because I only have two hours with him after I get home, but I am not about to mess with a good thing!

While weeks 6-11 were hard to get through night wakings, reswaddling, etc. it was all worth it to have Austin sleeping unswaddled and for 12 hours straight consistently. I hope it lasts! At least until next month when the 4 month regression hits!

THANK YOU SLEEP GODS. THANK YOU X100000000000000000000.

Breastfeeding: My Experience

Breast is best!

When I became pregnant one of my biggest fears was not being able to breastfeed. My mom wasn’t able to breastfeed and neither did 90% of all of my female relatives. Whether it was physical issues or docs/hospitals pushing formula, breastfeeding isn’t in my biology. I’m not sure if it’s genetically linked at all, but with no one to rely on for advice or information, I didn’t get my hopes up that I’d be able to breastfeed our son.

I was luckily able to have immediate skin-to-skin time with Austin. He even latched on really quickly. However, as a first time mom with a “go with the flow” (haha no pun intended) attitude when it came to all things motherhood, I didn’t really know what to expect in those first few days. I heard about things like mastitis, thrush, etc. But, didn’t really know what they meant. I didn’t even know the details about “milk coming in,” and just assumed that if I was meant to breastfeed it would just happen magically as soon as Austin was born.

The first few days at home (we only stayed one day in the hospital), Mr.Dubs and I were super confused because we couldn’t “see” the colostrum and I learned that my milk hadn’t come in yet. A few days later, we were told at Austin’s newborn check that he’d lost 10+ oz in two days. I was a sobbing mess. I felt like a failure of a mom when I had to give him that first bottle of formula. (In hindsight, I realize this is absolutely ridiculous and I was doing the right thing by nourishing my newborn baby with any food source possible!)

For days 3-5, we nursed to get my milk to come in and formula-fed to make sure he was gaining weight. I cried a lot those days. Both for happy and sad reasons. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t just breastfeeding, anything and everything was making me cry every other hour during those days.

On day 5-6, my milk slowly started to come in. I spent 24 hours with rock hard breasts (bozongas – as Mr.Dubs liked to call them), frantically trying to manually squeeze out milk and then finally asking mama friends and Nancy H. – super nurse for advice on how to get the edema swelling down enough to get milk. After a few bags frozen veggies, Mr.Dubs’ massages, and some sleep — I was able to feel my breasts softening and producing milk.

The only other hiccup we ran into was a day of getting Austin to relatch on my breasts. It wasn’t full-on nipple confusion, but he definitely had a day of preferring the bottle after being formula fed (and pacied) for a couple days.

That second week I spent arduously trying to figure out our breastfeeding groove. I said no to all bottles and pacis and fed him on demand. Even though I felt like a cow every hour and it was emotionally draining, I stuck with it to make sure that Austin wouldn’t have nipple confusion with nursing.

Since then, breastfeeding has been an easy ride for us both. We were lucky enough to not have any major issues and when I re-introduced the paci and bottles in the following weeks, Austin did wonderfully. He hasn’t had any issues with the bottle and I’m still able to enjoy our nursing sessions, especially now that I’m back at work a few days a week.

It’s the perfect balance of pumping and nursing and I couldn’t have asked for a better first time breastfeeding experience.