4 weeks postpartum

Liam 4 weeks old

Liam 5 days old

It has been 4 weeks since our son was born. So much has happen since his arrival. It's amazing how much he has grown. He is now 10lbs ( he was 9lbs 13 oz this past Monday). His doctor even asked if I was bottle feeding with formula. I told him no, just breastfeeding and he was impressed. He had gained 1 lb in 10 days.

I had my sister here with my nephew (age 8) for 10 days. They really helped out, helping me get into somewhat of a normality to my day. We set up the swing which he likes (when he's in a good mood), got a baby bouncer, a boppy, and he had his first REAL bath. It was sad seeing them leave.

Night home from being in the hospital the 2nd time.
9 days old

Liam's first sponge bath: 5 days old

Development: Liam is very strong, and is able to hold his head for 30secs-1min. He has had plenty of fake smiles (gas smiles) but no real smile yet. He will have his 1 month checkup Monday and I will have an updated weight and length.

Liam sucking his thumb after  bath time: 3 weeks 

Sleeping: He sleeps on and off. Sometimes we are able to get in 4 hour stretches at night (rarely) but most of the time its 2-3 hours at a time. This means that I have not been sleeping much. Sometimes he will fall asleep on me, and then if I move to put him down, he wakes up. This defeats the whole "sleep when baby sleeps" advice. I recently heard that the better naps they get in the day = more sleep at night. I am willing to try it and thankfully hes slept most of today (waking up every 1-3 hrs to feed).

Dreams: I have been having dreams where I wake up thinking he is in my arms... to later realize that I'm hugging the blanket. It actually takes me a moment to wake up and not panic. The first time this happened, I was half asleep, frantically searching the bed, and waking up Steve to ask him where Liam was. He calmly told me he was asleep in his pack and play. Steve also is having those dreams. He woke up asking where Liam was last night. He also (later on) sat up in bed and when I asked what was wrong he said he was trying to figure out how to stop Liam from crying by crunching numbers. He said he was crunching his weight, height and age. At this point I knew he was sleep talking and asked him what the hell he was talking about. He laid back down and said he wasn't in the mood to explain it. I think we are both a little sleep deprived.

Health: I am still healing physically but I have noticed my body slowly going back to shape. I was 163 lbs the day my water broke, and today I am 127 lbs (no exercise, just breastfeeding). My tummy is painted with stretch marks but in time, those too will fade. For the last week, I have given up diary. He has been very gassy, spits up a ton, and very fussy. His doctor suggested that he may have a milk allergy so I in turn I gave up milk, cheese, yogurt and everything else that I love. I have not seen that much of an improvement but they say it takes 2-3 weeks to notice a difference. He is also on baby probiotics. We have tried many different methods of burping him... over the shoulder, on the knee, tick-tock and sometimes a combination of all three. We also do baby massage to get out any gas.

Diapers: So we are still doing disposable. I would love to get into cloth right now but its just alot right now. I do plan on starting him (hopefully) by the time he is in daycare.

Things that work for us: If you are a new mom or soon to be new mom, here is a list of things that made my life easier. 1) If you live in a two story house, two changing stations are a must. Our dining room table is one right now, and his pack and play is number 2. 2) Pacifiers are great for times when he wants to comfort suck. They didn't cause nipple confusion for me. 3) If you are breastfeeding, IT DOES GET EASIER! I am onweek 4 and its now somewhat better. I have heard that by week 6, its much much better. 4) A bouncer is great for when you need to shower, cook or do anything that you cant do while holding him. I am also getting a sling and will update you on that.

That's the update for now.






Liam phantom sucking :)