One Week Update
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 more liberal with the lanolin this time around). My milk came in on day 3 and I've been uncomfortable - especially because he's going so long between feedings - but nothing unbearable. I've only had to break out the pump a couple of times so far.
He's kind of slow. It usually takes a few minutes to get the latch, then he inevitably falls asleep after one side. It takes me forever to get him awake enough to eat again on the other side, but if I don't force it, he'll be hungry again in half an hour. From start to end, feedings take almost an hour - especially in the middle of the night. For some reason, he has a much harder time latching in the middle of the night than during the day. He does a lot of frustrated screaming at 2 in the morning. Everyone here appreciates that. Haha.
Right now, he's eating every 3-4 hours. Once in a while he cluster feeds, although I'm learning that he just likes to root and doesn't necessarily need to eat. He can usually be pacified with the Binky after a good feeding. I'm interested to see if he'll get down to eating every 2 hours like most newborns. I'm not convinced that he's totally woken up since birth. He's technically not even full-term yet and is really sleepy.
Sleep
Levi spends most of the day sleeping. He usually has some "awake time" after his morning feeding, between like 7 and 9 and again in the late evening. But other than that, he pretty much just wakes up to eat, then falls asleep again. I swaddle him at night and he sleeps in the rock n' play next to my bed. During the day, he sleeps wherever is convenient for me - the bouncy seat, swing, rock n' play, or my arms. He sleeps great at night - usually a couple 4 hour stretches. I'm definitely enjoying that!!
First Doctor Appointment
He was born at 6 lbs. 15 oz. When we left the hospital, he was 6 lbs. 8 oz. At his appointment on Friday (at 4 days old), he was up to 6 lbs.10 oz. Going the right direction slowly but surely! The doctor was concerned that he looked pretty jaundiced. His numbers were fine in the hospital, but he's definitely yellow - even the whites of his eyes - so we had his bilirubin levels checked again. Anything over 15 needs treatment, but his numbers came in at 11. So the doctor said just to keep feeding feeding feeding him to get the jaundice flushed out. I think he's already looking less yellow, so it's working!
Puking
He's definitely a puker. At first, it seemed like the normal amount of puking, but in the past couple of days, it's gotten ridiculous. I did not anticipate having such a small baby, so I only had like 5 newborn outfits. My mom and Niki have gotten me a few more from Once Upon, but at the rate he pukes, I change him upwards of 3 times a day and have to wash pretty much his whole wardrobe every day. The intense projectile puking of the past few days is making me a little nervous after a couple of my friends had babies with plyoric stenosis. But there's not much I can do about it right now other than keep an eye on it. We have a WIC appointment on Friday, so we'll make sure he's still gaining weight.
Big Sisters
The girls still totally adore him. Lucy is obsessed and wants to hold him every minute of every day.
I can't even explain how much she loves him and wants to be around him. She's constantly telling him that she loves him and saying he's so cute. She rarely leaves his side. When he's in the swing, she pulls a chair up and sits next to him.
When I'm feeding him, she sits on the bed next to me and asks, "Is he done yet? Does he still have to do the other side? Did you burp him yet?" Anytime anyone else is holding him, she gets antsy after a few minute and starts begging to have a turn.
Lena loves him too. I haven't noticed any jealousy on her part. She's not quite as obsessed as Lucy, but she loves to hold him too.
She's hilariously paranoid about him puking or pooping on her. She jumps a mile if he ever makes tooting noises while she's holding him, and anytime he pukes, she turns away and says, "I don't wanna see it!" Lol. She loves to help with him. She loves putting his binky in his mouth, pushing the buttons on the swing/bouncer, bringing me diapers, picking out clothes for him, and helping give sponge baths.
My Recovery
I am feeling so much better than I ever did at this point with the girls. The first few days were really rough with the back/sciatic/sacrum pain and I was dreading months of it like I had with Lena. I wrote in my previous update that the Belly Bandit helped, but was impossible to get on by myself. I read in the instructions, though, that you're supposed to lay down on your back to put it on. That really helps. And my stomach has gone down enough that it's getting easier to put on. Anyway, the pain is a lot more manageable when I'm wearing the band. I try to wear it a good portion of the day, but it's not the most comfortable. It pinches my back fat and rides up and gets this weird crease in it.
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.
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 more liberal with the lanolin this time around). My milk came in on day 3 and I've been uncomfortable - especially because he's going so long between feedings - but nothing unbearable. I've only had to break out the pump a couple of times so far.
He's kind of slow. It usually takes a few minutes to get the latch, then he inevitably falls asleep after one side. It takes me forever to get him awake enough to eat again on the other side, but if I don't force it, he'll be hungry again in half an hour. From start to end, feedings take almost an hour - especially in the middle of the night. For some reason, he has a much harder time latching in the middle of the night than during the day. He does a lot of frustrated screaming at 2 in the morning. Everyone here appreciates that. Haha.
Right now, he's eating every 3-4 hours. Once in a while he cluster feeds, although I'm learning that he just likes to root and doesn't necessarily need to eat. He can usually be pacified with the Binky after a good feeding. I'm interested to see if he'll get down to eating every 2 hours like most newborns. I'm not convinced that he's totally woken up since birth. He's technically not even full-term yet and is really sleepy.
Sleep
Levi spends most of the day sleeping. He usually has some "awake time" after his morning feeding, between like 7 and 9 and again in the late evening. But other than that, he pretty much just wakes up to eat, then falls asleep again. I swaddle him at night and he sleeps in the rock n' play next to my bed. During the day, he sleeps wherever is convenient for me - the bouncy seat, swing, rock n' play, or my arms. He sleeps great at night - usually a couple 4 hour stretches. I'm definitely enjoying that!!
First Doctor Appointment
He was born at 6 lbs. 15 oz. When we left the hospital, he was 6 lbs. 8 oz. At his appointment on Friday (at 4 days old), he was up to 6 lbs.10 oz. Going the right direction slowly but surely! The doctor was concerned that he looked pretty jaundiced. His numbers were fine in the hospital, but he's definitely yellow - even the whites of his eyes - so we had his bilirubin levels checked again. Anything over 15 needs treatment, but his numbers came in at 11. So the doctor said just to keep feeding feeding feeding him to get the jaundice flushed out. I think he's already looking less yellow, so it's working!
He's definitely a puker. At first, it seemed like the normal amount of puking, but in the past couple of days, it's gotten ridiculous. I did not anticipate having such a small baby, so I only had like 5 newborn outfits. My mom and Niki have gotten me a few more from Once Upon, but at the rate he pukes, I change him upwards of 3 times a day and have to wash pretty much his whole wardrobe every day. The intense projectile puking of the past few days is making me a little nervous after a couple of my friends had babies with plyoric stenosis. But there's not much I can do about it right now other than keep an eye on it. We have a WIC appointment on Friday, so we'll make sure he's still gaining weight.
Big Sisters
The girls still totally adore him. Lucy is obsessed and wants to hold him every minute of every day.
I can't even explain how much she loves him and wants to be around him. She's constantly telling him that she loves him and saying he's so cute. She rarely leaves his side. When he's in the swing, she pulls a chair up and sits next to him.
Lena loves him too. I haven't noticed any jealousy on her part. She's not quite as obsessed as Lucy, but she loves to hold him too.
My Recovery
I am feeling so much better than I ever did at this point with the girls. The first few days were really rough with the back/sciatic/sacrum pain and I was dreading months of it like I had with Lena. I wrote in my previous update that the Belly Bandit helped, but was impossible to get on by myself. I read in the instructions, though, that you're supposed to lay down on your back to put it on. That really helps. And my stomach has gone down enough that it's getting easier to put on. Anyway, the pain is a lot more manageable when I'm wearing the band. I try to wear it a good portion of the day, but it's not the most comfortable. It pinches my back fat and rides up and gets this weird crease in it.
I do think it's helping my belly go down faster though.
 |
| 2 days postpartum on the left, 7 days on the right |
I'm actually feeling pretty normal. Yesterday, I successfully got all 3 kids up, ready, and to Lucy's school on time. Then the little Ls and I ran a bunch of errands because I was feeling totally fine. My back and pelvic girdle really hurt by that evening, though. Lesson learned that I still can't push myself too much. And I tried to wear Levi in the Moby for a while, but it killed my back. I wore it without the Belly Bandit, though. I need to try them together and see if that helps. The only other weird "symptom" I'm having is "cold flashes." I was so hot all the time while I was pregnant, but now I'm suddenly freezing all the time. I guess my body misses the heat of that extra body inside of me. Haha.
Depression/Anxiety
I had postpartum anxiety with Lucy and depression with Lena, so I'm on high alert this time around. So far, I feel amazingly stable and happy. Don't get me wrong - I've had my moments. It's a little hard for me that the girls always want to be touching me/on top of me. They want to be by the baby and the baby is usually by me, but then I end up with all 3 of them touching me/needing me at once. It makes me a little crazy. But for the most part, I'm feeling very good emotionally and am exceedingly grateful for it!!
Well I've been writing this forever and I need to go do some more laundry since Levi's on his last clean outfit! Ha. I'll leave you with a couple more precious pictures of our precious boy:
Comments
Post a Comment