Levi: One Month

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 swaddle him because I felt like he was resisting it too much. But when he stopped sleeping at night, I went back to the swaddle and I feel like it's made a huge difference. He knows it's sleep time when he's pinned into his straight-jacket! He still sleeps much of the day. I sometimes think I should start getting him into a routine, but that just seems like a lot of work. Haha. He usually has one period of awake time for three hours between feedings and then is just awake in small spurts the rest of the day. For now, he sleeps whenever and wherever - the swing, the bouncy seat, the rock n' play, my arms. I do have some trouble getting him to stay asleep elsewhere if he falls asleep in my arms. We're working on that. (Although I enjoy the snuggles and am torn between "spoiling" him and cherishing these moments.)

Milestones
He rolled over from belly to back at 17 days. Lena did it super early too, but stopped after her head became more proportionate in size to her body. Lol. I think Levi will do the same thing. Right now, when I lay him on his stomach, he leans his big head over and it pulls the rest of his body over.

His umbilical stump didn't fall off until 24 days! But he's finally taking real baths now. He tolerates them, but hates being naked and cold when he's not submerged in the warm water.

Easter was his first holiday. I bought him a button-down shirt, navy pants, and sweater vest before he was even born. But since he's such a shrimp, only the vest fit. I found a smaller button-down in the closet that semi-matched the vest. And I went to Meijer Saturday afternoon and bought the only pair of newborn pants I could find. They were brown sweatpants. Lol. Oh well. He looked like an adorable little old man.

He hasn't smiled yet (other than in his sleep) and he does very little cooing. I can't wait for him to start interacting with us more.

Reflux
Levi has always been a pukey baby. But Lucy was too, and that didn't stop her from being a major porker, so I wasn't too worried. At least until this week. I started to notice that he was never happy unless he was sleeping or nursing. Anytime he was awake, he was crying. And he usually screamed for an hour or two after nursing. He puked over and over and then once his belly seemed to be empty, the screaming stopped and he settled down. Saturday was the worst. My parents, Justin, and I passed him back and forth, pacing and jiggling and getting puked on. I tried gas drops and gripe water, but nothing helped. He hated being on his back, and was happiest when held upright. And after weighing him on our scale, I was worried that he wasn't gaining sufficient weight. So after some Internet research, I called the doctor on Monday.

Levi weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz. Only 2 ounces bigger than his birth weight. :-( The doctor wasn't overly concerned because he's having consistent wet and dirty diapers, and he is gaining something, albeit slowly. But she agreed with me that something is not right. The first step was to rule out pyloric stenosis, so on Tuesday we went down to the Children's Hospital for an ultrasound of his belly. He got to lay on a heated blanket and drink glucose water so he was happy. He did great laying still and letting them poke and prod him. Of course the ultrasound tech wasn't allowed to give me any results, so we had to wait to hear from the doctor. Fortunately, she called later that day with the results: no pyloric stenosis! Whew! So for now, he's taking Zantac twice a day to control the reflux. I've read that it can take a week to really kick in, but I'm praying that it's effective! I can handle the puking, even though it's gross and results in a lot of laundry. I just really want him to be happier and start gaining weight!

My Recovery
Well a month later my back is still killing me. :-( If I'm on my feet for any length of time, I get this burning/searing pain from my mid back all the way up to my shoulders. And it's worse if I'm carrying anything - even a tiny 7 lb. baby. Even in the Moby. So I really start to hurt when I have to pace with him. I need to go see the chiropractor, but I'm afraid he's going to yell at me for waiting so long. Haha.

My weight loss has stalled at 16 lbs. I still have 12 to go to get to my starting weight. I might actually have to cut back on Dr Pepper and chocolate cake if I have any hope of losing it. And I still have quite a belly. I know it's only been a month, but I'm starting to feel self-conscious about it.

I didn't wear my belly binder as much as I should have. It probably would've helped with the back pain and the belly flab. It's just so annoying. I do still wear it if I know I'm going to be on my feet for a while or if I'm desperate to suck in the flab. Haha.

The good news is I squeezed myself into my largest pair of pre-pregnancy jeans this week! I could get them buttoned, but I did the rubber band trick to avoid some major muffin-top action. I was just excited I could get them up over my hips!

I've also been doing really well on the anxiety/depression front. I get emotional at times. I cried a little bit on Sunday when Levi was so fussy and I was terrified of handling his screaming fits alone all day when my parents and Justin went back to work. But for the most part, I'm doing well. Enjoying the snuggles, handling the sleep deprivation, and learning to juggle three kids. The girls still adore their little brother and we're loving being a family of 5!