LIAM:
BODY
At his checkup this week he’s gained a quarter of a kilo, and is following the 2nd to lowest curve in the blue book with his weight and height. He was 50 something cm long, and he no longer fits in the crook of my arm – his feet overhang. His feet are getting too long for some of the closed-foot sleepers he’s in.
He is definitely longer now – I can’t put him in the crook of my arm without his feet hanging over the other side of my arm!
His cheeks, legs and even toes look more plump now.
I think his head has gotten bigger, and more rounder looking.
His eyes are looking more grey, with a tiny hint of blue in some light.
His hair is currently dark blonde.
NAPPIES
We’re alternating Newborn huggies at night and babylove in the day for nappies.
We manipulated the nappy bin to take regular garbage bags, because the nappy bags cost waaaaaaaaaaaay too much.
He still has a slight red rash on his little bumbum, so we apply Sudocream and are using wet chux wipes instead of babywipes. It’s working.
ENTERTAINMENT and LEARNING
I’ve been showing him black and white pictures of various shapes and he seems very alert when I show him those, and reading to him at least once a day.
Today I read him “Something Absolutely Enormous” and he seemed to love it! I used more inflections than usual, and he was very alert. He even reached out and touched a few of the pages, so I explained what was in the pictures.
We’ve been trying to teach him basic touch and body parts, like “Nogin, shoulders, knees and toes” 😉
We’re showing him the difference between night and day, by putting him in a dark room and no talking at night, and lots of noise stimulation and light during the day.
FEEDING
I tried (and succeeded) feeding him the dregs of the bottle with the teat off twice. He dribbles a tiny bit out, but he’s got the concept down pat already.
The feeding has ramped up a bit, and I’ve replaced most of his daytime top ups with additional feeding from the breast. He’s still wanting the 2-3 x formula top ups at night – (he takes anywhere from 40ml to 120ml.)
He’s getting quite clingy lately, and often won’t calm down or sleep unless someone is holding him 😐
He tends to have a fussy time between 7pm and 3am, where he will usually remain hard to settle, crave loads of milk, and cry for attention once he’s had enough milk. We’ve been letting him try to self soothe once we feel that all the essential needs have been tended to.
For burping now I’m doing a combo of tummy time on my chest or a pillow, or over the shoulder. He’s getting better at burping now.
I’m trying to study his cries to determine what he wants. So far I gather that a “ma / wa” cry is hunger, and the “aaaah” is wind pain or dirty nappy.
ME:
PRERENIUM and MENSTURAL CYCLE
My bleeding stopped on the 8th of Jan. I tried to inspect the stitches this week, but I couldn’t hold the mirror and hold the area in the right position to see. It feels like most of the stitches are still there though. Feels like it’s healing well
VARICOSE VEINS and BLOOD CLOTS
I’ve been taking Clexane injections daily for a week, which have now stopped. I ditched the TED stockings because they were cutting into my legs, and half the clots weren’t being compressed anyway. Still applying Hirudoid cream when I remember to.
BOOBS and FEEDING
My boobs feel MUCH bigger, and are often fuller. I’m not noticing as many breast lumps this week as I had over weeks 1-2.
I’ve been told that wearing a bra to bed is meant to help with milk production. I tried it both ways and I disagree so far, but the bra does help with leakage, as breast pads and shields don’t stay in otherwise.
My right boob definitely produces more milk, and leaks much easier than the left. On average I’m expressing 20-40 ml from that boob, and 5-20 on the left.
At first I thought Liam was weeing on me and my pillows, but now I know it’s my right boob leaking 😐
I’m also expressing whenever I have the energy, when he doesn’t feed from that boob, or when I feel engorged. I’m et to create a freezer store as he keeps guzzling my store!
I’m taking Domperidone 3 x a day for milk supply, and occasionally eating homemade biscuits aimed at producing more milk. (These contain flaxseed, oats, and witches brew.) I’ve also been trying to get more Iron and protein.
SLEEP
I’ve been trying to take a nap during the day so I can last through the night, but I usually forget until I feel absolutely exhausted around 3pm and start dozing on the couch.
Because of the irregular and constantly interrupted sleep, I’m finding it harder to sleep when I want to. Hubby wanted me to get a decent 4 hour stretch 2 nights ago and I just stared at the ceiling with insomnia. I ended up journalling, planning the next few weeks, and putting my clothes away instead of napping!
Generally aside from my daytime nap, I’ve been trying to sleep around 9 or 10pm, or sometimes 1 if Liam cries heaps, and waking for each feed for an hour. Around 7am I usually force myself to eat brekkie, put Liam in or near a window for sunlight, and take some meds if I remember. Sometimes I force myself to stay up, and sometimes I sleep in till as late as 2pm some days!
Occasionally for a night feed I might not have the energy to feed Liam, so I express instead and he gets formula for that feed.