Thursday, November 28, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Friday, November 8, 2013
Amos's Two-Month Check-Up
Amos is two months old already!! We visited his doctor on Tuesday for a check-up and vaccinations (DTap, Hib, Hepatitis B, PCV13, polio, and rotavirus). First up, his stats. In the past month, he gained just 5 ounces, to measure up at 10 lbs 8 oz (down to the 23rd percentile), and grew just 1 inch, to measure up at 22.5 inches (down to the 34th percentile). His head was up to 15.5 inches (up to the 36th percentile). So as of now, his growth has slowed down again and is more on track with the original growth curve he started on. Because he hadn't gained much at all though, I asked to see if we could do a gram study to see how much milk he is getting from me, since it's otherwise impossible to know while nursing. To do this, he is weighed on a gram scale, I feed him, and then he is weighed when he's done to see how much weight he has gained and how many ounces that translates into. I was surprised to see that in just 15 minutes he ate 3 ounces on the first side and 2 ounces on the second! Wow! I didn't think I was having any problem producing enough at this point, so that was reassuring to see the actual numbers. But, knowing he was eating enough didn't explain the slowdown in growth. More about that in a bit...
The second month was another difficult one. We made it, but it hasn't been easy. As I've said before, the newborn stage is always rough on me, so I'm looking forward to the coming months! On the plus side, things have been getting better in the sleep department for the most part. Most nights, he'll last 4-5 hours before he wakes me up for the first time, then he can usually go another 2-3 hours until the next feeding. Sometimes though, he is still waking every 2-3 hours at night to eat, too. Waking up once a night then to feed him isn't bad. Definitely something I can handle, but I'll still be rejoicing the day he decides to sleep through the night! Haha! His record right now is actually almost 7 hours, which was pretty awesome! This past month, he averaged about 14 hours of sleep a day, 8 of those hours being at night, so not too bad. Unfortunately, he still won't take a pacifier, which I think would help. When he wakes at night, I don't think he's hungry as much as he just wants to suck for comfort. He appears to have a very sensitive gag reflex though, as the pacifier tends to gag him when we've tried it.
You wouldn't guess it by his size, or weight gain, but the boy loves to eat! His appetite really picks up in the evenings, and I think he'd eat for 3-4 hours straight if you let him! Haha! Sadly, oftentimes I can't keep up with him that late in the day, so most nights, Josh supplements with a bottle before bed. This also allows me to get to bed earlier than when he usually falls asleep, which is not until at least 10, and usually not until 11, sometimes 12. This is much different from big brother Noah, who was always out by 8, or 8:30. Ethan always stayed up later, until 11ish, but being my only child, who also slept in until 11ish in the morning, it was an easy schedule, and worked out better for Josh getting to spend time with him! Haha! With preschool everyday for Ethan now, I actually have to wake up early, so earlier bedtimes are a must!
The other issue we've been dealing with this past month is spit-up. Projectile spit-up to be exact. It's pretty crazy. I used to think that Noah spit-up a lot at this age...that was until Amos started doing it. He doesn't do it the entire day, at every feeding, like Noah did (he always required 2-3 bib, and/or outfit, changes a day). Instead, he gets it all out in one incidence...but it is a lot. As in like, an entire feeding. It shoots out like something out of The Exorcist. It covers everything...me, the boppy, him, etc. It requires a complete change of all clothing for both of us normally. It's just lovely. His doctor has decided for now that it's GERD and he has been taking Zantac to help. It seems to have helped some, but he's still doing it, just not every day now. So, we got a new prescription for Nexium at his appointment, to see if that one works better for him. If not, we'll need to explore other reasons for why it is occurring. Sigh. I hope we can get it figured out because it looks like it is miserable for him! Poor guy actually had an episode while we were at the doctor's office. I had just finished the gram study and we went back to the room to get his vaccinations. The nurse gave him the oral rotavirus vaccine first and within a couple minutes, back up it came! :( The lucky nurse was able to witness the action, so while it was reassuring for her to tell me that no, that wasn't normal, that it is definitely projectile spit-up, my preference would be that he just had normal amounts of spit up instead! :/ I don't know if this could be the reason for his slower weight gain? I'm sure babies that spit up all day long lose as much as he does in this one instance, so I don't think I can fully attribute the decline to this.
Below is a pic of Amos at two months, wearing a 12-month onesie. I will be taking a pic each month in this onesie to show how much he grows each month, just as I did for both Ethan and Noah. He is still a baldy, just as his big brothers were for most of their first year, but I don't think he has lost as much of his hair as the other two did by this point. What is there is still darker than the other two had, too. His eyes still appear to be blueish-gray. Not as blue as Noah's though, so they may change yet. It took 9 months before Ethan's started turning brown, so time will tell!
The second month was another difficult one. We made it, but it hasn't been easy. As I've said before, the newborn stage is always rough on me, so I'm looking forward to the coming months! On the plus side, things have been getting better in the sleep department for the most part. Most nights, he'll last 4-5 hours before he wakes me up for the first time, then he can usually go another 2-3 hours until the next feeding. Sometimes though, he is still waking every 2-3 hours at night to eat, too. Waking up once a night then to feed him isn't bad. Definitely something I can handle, but I'll still be rejoicing the day he decides to sleep through the night! Haha! His record right now is actually almost 7 hours, which was pretty awesome! This past month, he averaged about 14 hours of sleep a day, 8 of those hours being at night, so not too bad. Unfortunately, he still won't take a pacifier, which I think would help. When he wakes at night, I don't think he's hungry as much as he just wants to suck for comfort. He appears to have a very sensitive gag reflex though, as the pacifier tends to gag him when we've tried it.
You wouldn't guess it by his size, or weight gain, but the boy loves to eat! His appetite really picks up in the evenings, and I think he'd eat for 3-4 hours straight if you let him! Haha! Sadly, oftentimes I can't keep up with him that late in the day, so most nights, Josh supplements with a bottle before bed. This also allows me to get to bed earlier than when he usually falls asleep, which is not until at least 10, and usually not until 11, sometimes 12. This is much different from big brother Noah, who was always out by 8, or 8:30. Ethan always stayed up later, until 11ish, but being my only child, who also slept in until 11ish in the morning, it was an easy schedule, and worked out better for Josh getting to spend time with him! Haha! With preschool everyday for Ethan now, I actually have to wake up early, so earlier bedtimes are a must!
The other issue we've been dealing with this past month is spit-up. Projectile spit-up to be exact. It's pretty crazy. I used to think that Noah spit-up a lot at this age...that was until Amos started doing it. He doesn't do it the entire day, at every feeding, like Noah did (he always required 2-3 bib, and/or outfit, changes a day). Instead, he gets it all out in one incidence...but it is a lot. As in like, an entire feeding. It shoots out like something out of The Exorcist. It covers everything...me, the boppy, him, etc. It requires a complete change of all clothing for both of us normally. It's just lovely. His doctor has decided for now that it's GERD and he has been taking Zantac to help. It seems to have helped some, but he's still doing it, just not every day now. So, we got a new prescription for Nexium at his appointment, to see if that one works better for him. If not, we'll need to explore other reasons for why it is occurring. Sigh. I hope we can get it figured out because it looks like it is miserable for him! Poor guy actually had an episode while we were at the doctor's office. I had just finished the gram study and we went back to the room to get his vaccinations. The nurse gave him the oral rotavirus vaccine first and within a couple minutes, back up it came! :( The lucky nurse was able to witness the action, so while it was reassuring for her to tell me that no, that wasn't normal, that it is definitely projectile spit-up, my preference would be that he just had normal amounts of spit up instead! :/ I don't know if this could be the reason for his slower weight gain? I'm sure babies that spit up all day long lose as much as he does in this one instance, so I don't think I can fully attribute the decline to this.
Below is a pic of Amos at two months, wearing a 12-month onesie. I will be taking a pic each month in this onesie to show how much he grows each month, just as I did for both Ethan and Noah. He is still a baldy, just as his big brothers were for most of their first year, but I don't think he has lost as much of his hair as the other two did by this point. What is there is still darker than the other two had, too. His eyes still appear to be blueish-gray. Not as blue as Noah's though, so they may change yet. It took 9 months before Ethan's started turning brown, so time will tell!
.jpg) |
| Happy little guy at 2 months! :) |
And here is a comparison of all three at two months, just for fun. I don't think he looks quite as much like Noah here as he did at one month, but I think he is still favoring him more than Ethan. Ethan and Noah were significantly bigger at this point (Ethan was 23 inches long and weighed 12 lbs 11 oz and Noah was 23.5 inches long and weighed 13 lbs 4 oz), so I guess this really is our little "micro man!" ;) Ethan was "little man," Noah was "tiny man," so "micro" seemed to be our next option! Haha!
 |
| Ethan, Noah, and Amos (each at 2 months) |
Here's another pic of him where he is looking more like Noah though... :)
Accomplishments this month:
- Cooing
- Smiling
- Producing real tears now :(
He has started really cooing and smiling at us a lot now when we talk to him. It's so much fun to be able to interact with him now! The boys have really been loving it as well. Ethan loves singing to him and Noah can't walk past him without giving him a kiss on his head and saying, "Amos is a little baby!" Haha! It's so sweet how much they love him! Click on the links for some cute videos! :)
 |
| Feelin' the love! |
Poor little guy is producing real tears now. I don't remember at what point this happened with Ethan and Noah (I think around this time, too), but I actually just noticed it for the first time on Tuesday!
For the most part, he's your typical baby...he eats, sleeps and poops. Now we're excited to watch him grow and develop his own little personality!
For the most part, he's your typical baby...he eats, sleeps and poops. Now we're excited to watch him grow and develop his own little personality!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)