Adventures in La La Land

Look at those scrawny legs! Well, my little leap baby is one month old! Time for an update! Breastfeeding Breastfeeding is going well. The latch issues got better by week 3 and he usually gets it on the first try now. The right side is a piece of cake. The left side hurts me still - usually just for about those first 20 seconds until he gets a good latch. He eats on both sides every 3 hours around the clock. We got thrush at 2 weeks and are just finishing up our meds for it. That was an unpleasant experience I don't wish to repeat. And last night, he took a bottle for the first time with no problem! Lena never took a bottle, so I was nervous about Levi. I wasn't home, but Justin said he chugged it right down without hesitation. Whew! Sleep He's been sleeping a lot better over the last two weeks. I think he finally has his days and nights figured out. He wakes up every three hours to eat, but usually goes right back to sleep. For a while, I didn't s...

1. Good news, everyone! Levi slept so much better at night this week! I'm wising up and have learned just to scoop him out of bed, feed him, attempt a couple quick burps, then toss him back in bed. No unswaddling. No diaper changing. No giving him time to wake up. It seems to be working. 2. More good news: we got free newborn pictures taken! I have a photographer friend who messaged me this week offering to take free pictures in exchange for more "boy newborns" for her portfolio. I wasn't about to pass that up! I think newborn photos are so adorable, but have never been able to justify the price. Levi is actually a  little  old for newborn photos. He was awake a little too often, but Amy did an amazing job of calming him down and getting him to sleep. And she got some awesome shots! He loved this nest thing. I need to get one for at home! Old man forehead wrinkles! She captured the dimples! The grin!! Thank you so much, Amy! Check out h...

I really did start this entry on Saturday, but I got distracted . . . Levi's having his awake time now, so I'm going to quick finish it up. So sorry for the delay. 1. Levi turned 2 weeks on Monday and suddenly woke up. Especially at night. Haha. On Tuesday, he woke up at 1:30 to eat, and didn't go back to sleep until after another feeding at 4:30. On Wednesday, he was up from 2:00-6:00 am. On Thursday, it was midnight to 4. It is ridiculous . It'd be one thing if he was just awake and happy. I'd stick him in the swing and go to sleep. But he wants to be held/walked/jiggled. I told Justin that I can do magic tricks. Levi will be sound asleep in my arms. I'll lay him down in his bed and he magically jerks awake and starts screaming. When I pick him up, he magically silences again. I don't know what his deal is. I've tried gas drops and bicycle legs, but I don't really think that's the problem. I think he just wants to be awake - and he wants me t...

1. One of the best parts of having a baby is all the meals people bring you in the week following. Haha. We had so much good food this week thanks to Niki's delegating and my friends' generosity. Major thanks to Missy, Niki, Kris, Amy, Kelly, another Missy, and Tammi! I'm not looking forward to doing my own cooking again. (Although I won't have to for a while thanks to the mounds of delicious leftovers!) Oh, and good news! Despite all that amazing food, I'm down 15 pounds! Since I gained less than 30 pounds for the first time in the history of my pregnancies, that's over halfway! Woohoo! Not even going to attempt regular jeans, though. I know my hips are still too wide and I just don't need that kind of disappointment. Haha. 2. My due date is tomorrow and I am so glad I'm not still pregnant! Although I do kind of miss my built-in table. I had a bowl of cereal the other day and didn't know what to do without my belly to prop the bowl on! Haha. It...

Mr. Levi is one week old! He's already experiencing third child syndrome and I'm a day late on the update. Haha. Sorry, dude. He has been a great baby so far! He's an amazing sleeper, is getting the hang of eating, and is such a sweet snuggler. He's going to be totally spoiled because everyone wants to hold him all the time - from the girls to my parents, to Justin and me. I just want to snuggle him non-stop. I still can't get over how tiny he is and how he curls into the perfect little ball on my chest. Breastfeeding I've been telling people that Levi is kind of a combination of the girls in the breastfeeding respect. Lucy was terrible and couldn't figure out the latch for two solid weeks. Lena practically came out sucking and had the latch down within days, but really hurt me. Levi struggles to latch, but always gets there eventually and gets good feedings. And he's barely hurting me at all (although maybe I've just gotten smarter and am mo...

1. It's amazing how much life can change in a week. Haha. We're adjusting to life as a family of 5 and soaking up the newborn phase. I'm going to write an official "One Week Update" on Monday, but this entry is definitely going to be pretty baby-centric. Prepare yourselves. 2. After my day of leisure on Thursday when Niki took the girls all morning and we spent the rest of the day snuggling in bed, Friday was a bit more stressful. Fortunately, my mom was able to bring Lucy to school. But I had to bring the little Ls to the pediatrician by myself. I told myself it wasn't going to be that hard. I just had to get them in and out of the car a few times. Levi still sleeps pretty much all the time. Lena is easily entertained by YouTube on my phone. But the whole morning was a fiasco. His appointment was at 10:30, which ended up being really bad timing for the feeding schedule. He was getting hungry just as we were getting to the doctor, and I was starting to feel ...

This is ridiculously long, but I love to record all the little details, so feel free to skim. :-) First Night The first night in the hospital was a little rough. I was feeling pretty good- better than I did so soon after delivering the girls. The epidural wore off faster - probably because it wasn't in as long as it was with the girls. I could actually walk that first night. I know it took like 12 hours after the girls. I was amazed by how little pain I was in. Small baby+lack of tearing+quick delivery=happy mommy! Levi was very sleepy and hadn't successfully nursed since that first try in the delivery room at like 11 am. So I was constantly trying to wake him up to eat. We finally decided to try and sleep around 9:00, but I was being as paranoid as a first timer. Because he came out so fast, he didn't get "compressed" in the birth canal as much as he should have to expel the amniotic fluid he swallowed. So he spent a lot of that first day/night choking on/sp...

He's here! Two glorious weeks early, little Levi William surprised us by showing up on Leap Day! Saturday night, I started to have timeable contractions that were more painful than my usual Braxton Hicks. They lasted from 9:30pm-2 am, coming between 8 and 15 minutes, but then they totally stopped and I slept all night. I had the same sporadic, barely painful contractions allll day long on Sunday. Sometimes as close together as 8 minutes, sometimes as far apart as 40. I never had early, unproductive contractions like that with the girls and I was worried I would have them for the next two weeks. Again, Sunday night, the contractions stopped when I went to bed. Monday was Leap Day and the day Justin travels to Alpena (4 hours away) for work. So I just wanted the baby to stay in until Tuesday. Haha. I woke up at 5 am and rolled over to steal Justin's pillow (he left for work at 4:30), when I felt a gush. I immediately thought, "No way was that pee." By the time I g...