Carter's 1 wk appt

Carter had his 1 wk appointment last week and he passed with flying colors.  The pedi was pleased with how alert he was.  Also, the general rule is that babies should be back to their birth weight by 2 weeks.... well, Carter was 7 lb 7 oz, LOL!  So yep, no worries about his weight.  He also grew 1/4 in to bring him to 20.75 in.  His little toes and fingers are so long!  The only slight issue he had was that his right eye goops up- she said it may have something to do with his tear duct, or he may have scratched his eye/lid with his nails, so she prescribed us some gel to put on his eye twice a day.  We go back for his next appointment on Friday.

Having a new baby in the house has been such a big adjustment.  Daddy has been a great help by basically taking over the daily care of Rickybear.  With both kids getting up all night, we are both exhausted.  I think you forget how stressful and tiring and frustrating all of this is or else you wouldn't keep doing it over and over.  Carter is eating every 3 hours or so and has about 12+ diaper changes a day.  He eats like a piggy (about 18-20 oz a day) and gets the hiccups after nearly every meal.  He doesn't spit up very much.  He likes to be held and never likes to be put down.  He won't go to sleep if we put him down awake.  He doesn't like to lay flat on his back.  He frequently rolls from tummy to back... I guess he is protesting tummy time!  He has excellent head control and can push up on his arms, but can't hold it very long.  His cord fell off at 14 days.

Breastfeeding has been a huge struggle.  Something so natural should not be so hard!  I took classes on it before we had Rickybear, but started supplementing with formula by the second night in the hospital when he was having trouble latching and was hysterical.  He never did get the hang of it, so I pumped for 4.5 months, hardly making enough milk to make 2 bottles a day.  At the end, the amount I was expressing was laughable. 

This time around, I was even more determined.  I made it nearly 4 days without supplementing.  We nursed for hours on end but Carter would still be crying and hungry.  He was also so impatient and wanted instant gratification.  I began pumping at this point.  We use Enfamil Newborn when we do supplement.  Around the one week mark, Carter was drinking expressed breast milk plus 2-4 oz a day of formula.  At two weeks, my production was up enough to where he is only drinking expressed breast milk, with a nursing session thrown in there in the middle of the night.  Not the breastfeeding relationship I had planned, but I am so happy with the amount of breast milk he is getting.  I feel like I am tied to the pump, but pumping 10 mins every 2-3 hours is better than nursing for 45 mins every 2-3 hours.  I am getting anywhere from 20-25 oz expressed a day at this point.  Oh, if Carter is especially fussy, I will give him an ounce or two of formula before bed in hopes it will be heavier in his tummy and help settle him down a bit.

As for me, I am healing well.  No more pain, but I am still taking it easy and not doing anything too strenuous.  From the time I got home, I was pretty much an emotional wreck.  I doubted myself and it was honestly just so overwhelming.  I had the baby blues last time and I had it again this time.  I already get kind of down in the winter, but tied together with a new baby, I was crying several times a day.  It got worse around 5 pm when the darkness set in.  After about 2 weeks, my spirits lifted a bit.  It's been 3 days since I randomly started crying, which must mean it's passing.

Lastly, I am 30 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.  I am very proud of that, but I worry I might gain a little back.  Since I am nursing, I am not supposed to be dieting.  In fact, I am supposed to be eating an extra 500 calories a day.  Regardless, I am pleased!



18 Month Doctor Appointment

Rickybear had his 18 month well visit on Monday.  He passed with flying colors.  His Maw Maw and Paw Paw met me at the doctor’s office with him, along with one of his cousins.  He played peekaboo with everybody in there, lol.  He was already a little fussy and suffering from a diaper rash, so when we got back to the room for the actual visit- he was a MESS!

We did the screening questions that would show some markers for autism, but he passed that with no problems.  He is on par or ahead of schedule with his milestones.  His ears and lungs looked great.  His teeth and gums looked good.  Aside from his raw tushie, he was perfect. 

As for the stats:

Weight: 22 lb 1 oz

Height: 30.5 inches

Head Circ: 17.5 inches

I was given the option for Rickybear to receive 4 shots that day, but since he doesn’t go to daycare, I didn’t find it necessary to have them all given at once.  We ended up agreeing to the flu shot and then also one more (which actually is 3 vaccines in 1).  He screamed bloody murder and ripped those bandaids off his thighs as soon as the nurse put them on there.  That boy was ANGRY. 

His grandparents were planning to take him and his cousin to IHOP right afterwards for lunch and I was so nervous that he would be trouble, but they said he was great once he got in there and entertained all of the waitresses.  When they went home, he took a 4 hour nap, the last two hours of which were spent laying on his Paw Paw.  Poor thing was recuperating from the shots.  He didn’t sleep too well that night for me, but I brought him to our bed around midnight and didn’t have a problem after that.

We are so fortunate that our little man is so happy and healthy and full of life!!

15 month update

Rickybear had his 15 month checkup this week.  That child couldn’t even sit still in the waiting room.  As soon as I set him down he took off running down the hall.  I was happy when we got into a room simply because he couldn’t escape!  The visit went great.  The doctor thought he looked really good and loved his personality.  When we went down the checklist, the first thing I marked “no” that he couldn’t do was wave bye-bye.  She turned to me and asked incredulously, “He can’t wave bye-bye?!?!” and Ricky shot her the meanest face… like “What’s it to you, lady?!?!?” ….  It was hysterical!

My little boy grew!  He now weighs 20lb 4 oz (up ½ a pound in 3 months), is 30 inches tall (up 1 ¼ inches in 3 months!!) and his head circumference is 18 ½ (no change).

He is still in size 3 diapers.  He mainly sleeps through the night, except when he is teething.  He is a wild sleeper, tossing and flinging and sleeping in all corners of the crib before the night is over. 

He babbles constantly.

He still takes usually 2 naps during the week, but I can barely get him to take one when he is home with me on the weekends.

Eating out is impossible now.  He can’t sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time before he wants to get up and explore.

He tried to color for the first time over the weekend.  He ate part of the crayon, but he also seemed to really like trying to color.  I read an article about how great coloring is for his development just this morning, so I will start working on him with it more often.  One suggestion was to tape some paper onto his high chair and let him go at it.  That way he can’t color where he shouldn’t and the paper won’t get away from him.

He likes to put toys in boxes and take them back out.  He likes the stacking rings a lot, even if he can’t put them on in the correct orders.  He likes to flip the pages in books and will bring then to me to read.

He likes to use me as a step to crawl up onto the couch, only to wiggle back down and then crawl up again.

He can easily run FULL SPEED.

On Saturday we went to his cousin’s soccer games.  His little 4 year old cousin let him play with her soccer ball.  He loved it.  He wanted to play with the bigger kids, but he grabbed her ball and took off.  He looked so sporty- I loved it.  I wish it hadn’t been so hot, though.  The poor thing got so overheated, even while drinking tons of water.  I don’t know how those kids and play out there!

On Sunday we went over to Nana’s house to go swimming.  Although he still loves the pool, Ricky would much rather be splashing around himself and gets bored quickly in the floatie.  It was still a fun time.  We let him run around the backyard after that and he found a water hose.  Grandpa turned on the water and Ricky ran around with the hose for at least 20 minutes before I made him stop.  He turned the backyard into a muddy mess, lol. 

He napped when we got home, but afterwards daddy took him outside while he set up the sprinklers to water the yard.  I never should have let that child go outside.  As soon as daddy started the water, the kid made a bee line to the sprinkler.  He had a blast.  I am surprised that kid doesn’t have gills.  But yeah, this confirms that he is no longer scared of the sprinkler… at all!  Then of course I had to drag him inside and give him a bath.  *sigh*

Ricky has rediscovered Scout.  Scout is possessed.  He starts randomly without being touched and I think he has a short in him because he will play the same few notes over and over about 50 times and I can’t get him to stop.  I need to see if he needs new batteries or if I just need to hook him up to the computer and reprogram him.  Ever since Ricky found him in a tote in the spare room, they have been inseparable.  The good news is that when my baby woke up at 4am crying, he ended up playing with Scout for a few minutes and went right back to sleep.  Score! 

A quick update

Mommy and daddy enjoyed the three day weekend with our lil man.  He had a full weekend and he was an angel while we were out in public.  We ate out twice and went bowling and he was content to hang out in his car seat and play.  He is still getting over his cold.  Since it was lingering, I took him to the doctor on Monday.  His throat and lungs were clear.  He had 100% oxygen so that was great.  His left ear was clear but his right one was slightly irritated, so he was given some antibiotics for that.  He’s still all stuffed up, but he is so much better than he was before.  They also weighed him- he was 16 lbs 13oz.

Despite the cold, Rickybear had a play date over the weekend.  I used to work with the mommy and I haven’t seen her since we were both pregnant!  Too long!  But her two sweeties came over to play.  I cleaned and sanitized the house like a mad woman before they came over.  =)  Her little girl is 18 months and her baby boy is 6 months.  The babies were very into each other at first, but then they started doing their own thing.  No tantrums to speak of, so I consider this one a “win”. 

The weather was warmer on Monday so we headed outside to clean out my car.  I put Ricky on a blanket in the grass.  It was like he was on an island- he was a little leery of crawling on the grass, but he had no problem trying to EAT the grass!  His little friend next door even came over for a quick visit.  The neighbors have a 15 month old little girl.  Rickybear is so interested in everything she does.  I can’t believe that before I know it he will be walking just like she is.  As exciting as it is, I want me little baby to STAY a baby, and to need his mommy.

Another day at the doctor's office

Yesterday Rickybear was scheduled to have his second set of six month shots.  It was only supposed to be two shots- his second flu vaccine and one more that I can't currently remember.  Well, I took off from work and drove 30 minutes to meet my mom at the doctor's office, only to be told that they were out of the second shot.  Really?  And you didn't know you were running out before I drove over here?  They thought I would want to cancel, but since we were there I wanted the baby to go ahead and get at least the flu shot since it is still flu season.  It was so quick!  He opened his mouth to cry, but I scooped him up and held him and he was over it just that quick.  He didn't have fever or anything last night.  In fact, this was the third night in a row that he slept solidly without waking up.  Sweet!

I asked to have him weighed unofficially since we haven't had him weighed since he started solids.  He still had on his onesie, but he was 16 lbs 10.5 oz.  I also tried to measure him at home and I got 25.25 inches.  So. Very. Small.  But he is so healthy.  I was letting him play in just his diaper last night and it stuck me just how wonderful that little baby is.  He is so tiny but he is perfect.  He is so strong and so determined and it's crazy to me how everything it takes to make him function is packed into that teeny tiny body.  So far he has no scars, no freckles, and just a tiny light pink stork bite at the hairline on the back of his neck.  I wonder if I will notice when he gets his first freckle.  I wonder how much it will hurt me when he gets his first big bruise.

I hope that kid knows how crazy I am about him.

6 month doctor visit

Rickybear had his 6 month appointment on Monday.  It was sooo hot in the waiting room and he was a bit hungry and fussy when finally made it to the exam room.  By the time they got around to taking his temperature he was a screaming, crying mess.  They did the forehead scan twice and it was 101.5 both times.  The pedi was concerned because it also looked like he had hives on his chest and face.  I had just thought that his eczema was acting up, but apparently his eczema had flared and he had hives in addition to that. 

Since it didn't happen right after we tried solids, the doctor said it wasn't a reaction from that.  She was worried it was the early stages of strep, so they swabbed him, but he was negative.  They took his temp again and it was 99.0 a few minutes later.  I think it had gotten high because it was so hot in there and he was also upset about the exam.  Either way, the doctor didn't feel comfortable giving him his shots if he wasn't feeling well, so I will have to come back after 3 days of no temperature.  Mommy ended up getting her flu shot there and baby got away with none!

I want to have them recheck his length when we go back because he is measuring so so tiny.  His weight is 15lb 10oz (16th %), his length is 24.5 in (2%), and his head circ is 17.25 in (49%).  I did several growth calculators online and each gave a slightly different percentage, but overall these percentages seem pretty accurate.  I can't believe he is that small, though.  I feed him nutritious formula and let him eat till his little heart is content.  We didn't really discuss his numbers since she was more concerned with him possibly being sick, but I want to make sure everything is on track.


Oh!  We discovered something when filling out the developmental checklist at the doctor's office as well.  We had to wave a napkin in front of the baby to get his attention and once he was looking at it we dropped it.  I thought he would just keep looking at my hand, but to my surprise he looked down to see where it went.  I didn't expect that at all!  He apparently developed a sense of object permanence when I wasn't looking!  Overall, she said he was advanced as far as development is concerned.  I am so proud of my lil man!


I was given a prescription for some medicated lotion for his skin and for baby vitamins.  I also got a new... um... tushie thermometer since it seems to be more accurate than the forehead scan ones.  I was supposed to monitor him closely last night but when I checked he was cool and his temp was 97.9 degrees.  I added the lotion and the vitamins to his nighttime routine and he did fine. He had some avocado, finished off a bottle, and passed out.  He woke at midnight but I turned on his seahorse and drifted right back off to sleep without a feeding.  Sweet boy.


I hope he feels better today!