Catch Up

It's been a while since I've posted. The holidays and new baby leave no time to blog. Thanksgiving was fun. My mom's side grandparents and Landon's grandparents got to see Remington for the first time.

Remington still isn't gaining weight like he should. I called the doctor today and asked if I could just stop by and weigh him. The last time he was weighed was 2 weeks ago. I stopped by the doctor's office and Remington weighed 7 lbs 3.5 oz. That's 1/2 ounce less than 2 weeks ago. Our doctor came in and told me to start supplementing with formula. Instead of me feeding him for 30 minutes every three hours, I'm supposed to feed him for 10 minutes on each breast then feed him 2 ounces of formula (if he takes it- I'm not supposed to force it down him). I'll take him back to the doctor on Wednesday to see how he's doing. I hope the supplementing works.



Remington has also developed a case of baby acne. I feel so bad for him, he looks like a teenager. There's nothing you can do for it, so we'll just wait for it to run its course. My youngest brother also had baby acne when he was little.

Friday Random -New mom thoughts

*While I was pregnant I wondered if I would still feel the baby kick during labor and contractions. When I went into the hospital and as I suffered through contractions I was still able to feel Remington kick. At one point, he positioned himself so that his butt was clear up in my ribs on my left side. Around that time I got the epidural and I don't remember feeling him kick after that.

*I never had morning sickness while I was pregnant. I never even felt nauseous. While in the hospital, though, I puked twice from the pain of the contractions. Luckily I hadn't eaten anything since 6pm the previous day.

*I don't understand all the fuss over Twilight. The book was not that good or well written, in my opinion. I've been a fan of vampires and supernatural fiction for a while, and I was not impressed. I like vampires that have the same qualities they've always had, not ones that "sparkle". Give me Anne Rice and Lestat any day.

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Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. Tush- ZZ Top
2. Dopes to Infinity- Monster Magnet
3. Don't Talk to Strangers- Dio
4. Like A California King- Everclear
5. Where the River Goes- Stone Temple Pilots
6. All She Wrote- Default
7. Cumbersome- Seven Mary Three
8. Twister Transistor- Korn
9. Everyone I Love Is Dead- Type O Negative
10. I Will Buy You a New Life- Everclear

Relieved

The doctor's appointment to find out if Remington is gaining weight was yesterday. Landon and I took him in and I nervously brought Remington to the scale to be weighed. I hoped and prayed so much these last couple days that he would gain, if not I don't know what I would do. Of course, I thought worse case scenarios like cystic fibrosis or celiac disease.

I watched the scale, and sighed in relief when it said 7 pounds 5 ounces. Rem gained 4 ounces since Thursday. I'm so happy and now I can relax. I can already tell that I'm going to be one of those mothers that panic every time their kid has a cold. Or like Landon said- he has a headache, it must be a brain aneurysm. Even though he's not back up to his birth weight like he should be by now, at least he's not loosing weight.

Everything that I've read and heard about babies and sleeping through the night is coming true, unfortunately. Apparently babies sleep pretty well until about 2 weeks, then the trouble starts. Right now Remington sleeps well, but it's getting him to sleep that's the problem. Last night we started trying to put him to bed at 7pm. He was sleeping just fine on his boppy, then I feed him at 9pm and took him up to the crib to sleep. He was not going to sleep in the crib. He would cry and scream every time he lost his pacifier, which was like every five minutes. So, Landon and I are constantly having to go back to his room to give him the pacifier. Just as we lay back down, he starts crying again. Even if we held him and rocked him until he was asleep, as soon as he was in the crib he'd cry. He wasn't hungry and didn't need his diaper changed, he just wouldn't stay asleep. Finally, Landon went downstairs and got his bouncy/vibrator seat. We put him in that with his WubbaNub and finally got some rest at 1am. I felt sorry for Landon, because he had to get up for work at 5am. There better not be any more nights like this.

2 Week Doctor Appointment

Remington had his 2 week doctor appointment last Thursday. Everything is going well, except he's not gaining weight. He actually dropped half an ounce from the last time he was weighed. I was not expecting this since he's been eating so well. He eats every 3 hours at least and will eat for 20 to 30 minutes each time. The doctor had me weigh him in kilograms then feed him at the doctor's office and then weigh him again. He gained .07 kilograms which equals to about 20 milliliters. So, he's taking in enough just not gaining weight from it.

We're going back to the doctor on Monday to see if he gained any weight over the weekend. Hopefully he does otherwise we'll have to start supplementing or something. Also, I looked up possible causes for babies not gaining weight or "failure to thrive" and it could be cystic fibrosis or celiac disease. I sure hope Remington doesn't have some underlying problem like that. Gain weight baby, please...

Newborn Portrait Session

Yesterday, Landon and I hauled Remington to Wichita for his Newborn pictures. We had an appointment at 9:30am, so we had to leave early. We haven't mastered the going places with a kid yet and were running late. Landon was going to work after the pictures and rode the motorcycle while I was in the car with Remington. It was cloudy and I felt so bad for Landon when it started raining. By the time we got to the photographers, Landon was soaking wet. Before we left he thought about bringing his rain suit but didn't because we were late any way.

The session went really well. Remington didn't really cooperate. He was awake and fussy the whole time. We weren't able to get any of the cute sleeping baby pictures, but the ones I saw that the photographer took look awesome. I can't wait to see all the pictures. It was weird to be there and be the parents to the baby. It was the first time that I've felt that we were parents. What a crazy and exciting feeling.

New Baby Must Have

An essential baby item that we've used since the first day Remington was brought home is the SwaddleMe blanket. It's so easy to use, and definitely easier than trying to learn how to swaddle with a blanket. No matter how many times you watch the nurses do it in the hospital, it's just too hard to get as tight as they do. With the SwaddleMe, you don't even have to try. The only downside we've found is that it might get too hot for the baby, since it's fleece. Remington loves it. You can find it at Wal-mart for $11.

Tips for Expectant Moms

Before going to the hospital, I had read a few lists about what you need to bring with you. Here's my list of what you need:

Pajamas- Hospital robes work for a while, but do you really want to wear those the whole time?
Loose shirts for breastfeeding- A must.
Toiletries- A must. The hospital might supply, but I brought shower items, toothbrush, contact solution, etc.
Camera- Duh.
Cell Phone- Another Duh.
Money for vending machine- Definitely good for dad.
Socks/Sandals- I never left the room, but still liked to have.
Sanitary/ Maternity pads- The hospital supplied for use, but I still brought and used my own. No one wants to feel like they're wearing a diaper along with their baby. Also bring some "period" panties. The hospital provided these mesh maternity things, but after a while it's better to have your own.
Going Home Outfit- Good for pictures.
Baby socks- The hospital provided little gowns for him to wear, but I also liked to make sure his feet were warm.
Things for Dad and Mom to do- It gets boring in the hospital, have something for you to do.

Landon went home for a bit every morning to shower, etc. so we didn't bring anything for him. If you live farther from the hospital, or the husband isn't going to leave at all, you should bring stuff for him too.

Almost everything else on those hospital bag lists would've been a waste to bring. Our hospital room ended up having a ton of stuff in it, especially with gifts coming in everyday. I'm glad we took half of it home a day before we were discharged.

I'm losing my mind!

1:00am- Conversation between Landon and me after the alarm goes off to feed Remington:
Me: Landon, could you go get the nipple shield so I can just feed him here?
Landon: Do you want me to bring him to you?
Me: No, I have him.
Landon: ---

I didn't have Remington, I hadn't moved from bed since the alarm. Landon- he's been amazing!- went and brought Remington to me and I feed him in bed for that feeding.

Being a mom is so exhausting. I'm a basket case that cries at everything. Breastfeeding was not going well. I would struggle for an hour to try and get him to latch on and suck. He just wasn't having it so I was supplementing with formula. I couldn't handle it. I would wake up, struggle and cry with him for an hour, then try to go back to bed only to get up in 2 hours to feed him again. Feeding every 3 hours is exhausting!!! I can't wait until he's back up to his birth weight so I can feed him when he's hungry instead of having to wake him up. I bet he would sleep through the night if I let him.

I feel incredibly overwhelmed with everything. Feeding every 3 hours. I'm not getting any sleep. The whole sleep when they sleep doesn't work either. When he's asleep I just think about everything that needs to be done. Clean the house, eat, stuff to do for work, etc. We really need to go to the store and buy food and stuff, and we need to take down the Halloween decorations, we just have no time!

I couldn't take the breastfeeding problems stress, so I called the nurses at Labor and Delivery for help. I totally recommend this to new moms. Ask for help when you need it, it's worth it. I went into the hospital and they watched me try to feed Remington and I told them what the problems were. I'm crying and I just couldn't deal. I was trying so hard and nothing was working. The nurses had me stay and relax in a room and try to feed him. They told me to stop supplementing (nobody told me to do that anyway- I was just feeding him the formula because I thought he wasn't eating enough). Then one amazing nurse gave me a nipple shield to try. I had tried this earlier when I was still in the hospital and it didn't work very well. This nurse showed me exactly how to use it. It worked instantly. I went home with instructions to use the shield, don't supplement anything, and to call and let them know how it went. Let me just say, I'm sooo happy! It's working like a dream. All of the feedings last night went flawlessly and he ate for 30 minutes each time.
When Landon got home from work last night, I let him know that the shield was working, but I still cried on him for awhile because I still feel overwhelmed and emotional. He has been amazing. He said he didn't feel like he's doing anything, but he totally is. The emotional support he's giving me is so needed. I love him so much! (I'm even getting teary writing this.) Landon took Remington for awhile and let me shower and eat. It sucks that he can't take over a feeding, and he'd be more than willing too. In fact, he would even like to be able to give Remington a bottle at night and let me rest.

Everyone is telling me that it gets better, and I hope they're right. Since the breastfeeding thing is going well now, it's already a huge relief.

First Doctor's Appointment

Remington and I got out of the hospital finally yesterday at 11:30. His biliruben was finally low enough. We were and still are having trouble with breast feeding. He just doesn't want to latch on anymore and/or he won't wake up to eat. It's so frustrating and emotionally draining. I know Landon feels bad too and helpless that he can't do anything to help.

The doctor wanted to see how Remington's biliruben was going today, so I made an appointment right away for 10:40 this morning. It was our first outing, and definitely my first alone with Remington. Landon had to go back to work. It went really well getting him in the carseat and in the doctor's office. When I get there, there's another couple of babies- one week old little girl- and a bunch of kids. I wait with Remington to do his lab work. I feel so sad for him, he's had his heels pricked so many times! I took him back to the lab and the nurse pricked his foot. He was sound asleep the whole time at the doctors, so he didn't cry that much. Then the nurse had to fill up a little vile with his blood. This took forever as she squeezed his foot to get all the blood. I felt so bad for him, it almost made me cry. I'm surprised I didn't too, since I've been very emotional lately. Then she couldn't get enough blood from that heel, so she had to prick his other one. She even commented about how she didn't want to have to prick his second foot because he'd already had it hit so many times and you could tell it was tender. At least he didn't cry that much, but I'm still sure it hurt so bad. Poor baby!

After the lab, we still needed to see the doctor. I go back to sitting in the waiting room. It was cute to see the babies and I had two people come up and ask about Remington. It was the saddest thing though. This looks at Remington and tells me that they just lost a grandbaby on Friday. He was premature and only lived a short time. The parents were in the waiting room having to watch all these little kids and two newborns when they had just lost their baby. I felt sooooo sad for them. It would be incredibly hard to have to do that. It made me extremely grateful for Remington and his health. We may be having trouble with feeding that tears me apart at times, but at least he's here and healthy. Even the jaundice is no big deal compared to what could happen. I'll pray for that family and hope they get through that tough time.

We go to see the doctor and first Remington was weighed. All babies loose weight from what they are at birth and Remington weighed 7 lbs 2 oz. today. This is up from 7 lbs 1 oz. yesterday at the hospital when he was discharged. This is a good sign. At least what little he's eating is enough. He's not loosing weight, which is good. The doctor also told me that his biliruben is up to 13 again (which we knew it would, but it's not too high). We talked about feeding and I showed he the chart I've been keeping about how much I feed him (from the bottle) and how long he nurses. It also charts his diapers. She seemed to think this was all good. I told her too that we were going to buy a breast pump tonight, so that at least he's getting that instead of formula. I needed to buy a pump eventually to go back to work, so now we're just having to get it early. The doctor's appointment gave me confidence that what I'm doing, even though it's hard, seems to be working. We have our 2 week appointment next Thursday (12th), so we'll see how it's going then.

Remington's First Pictures