eat
He started off eating about every 1-3 hours a day with longer stretches if we were running errands or even, gasp, at night! PTL. Around 2 weeks I started training him on a schedule and really working on getting him to eat at 3/6/9/12 throughout the day. Most days are good. Some days he eats at 7,8,11, and whatever ha! He is a NOISY, gulping eater. I haven't ventured to feed him in public yet, sheesh.
With evynn we fought a bad latch/nipple shield/no weight gain/under supply maybe?/eating for an hour+ at a time/everything and so I was prepared for a tough start breastfeeding this round but was pleasantly surprised. Around day 2 in the middle of the night I woke up to about 10 lbs on my chest and excruciating pressure/stinging pain. I ended up pumping about 2 times during that "leveling out" stage just to relieve the pain and finally it went away! Whew. I do use my milk saver sometimes while feeding and have collected about 2 oz each time, which adds up quickly! I've also started pumping 1-2 times a day and saving roughly 6-9 oz each time. Gotta build that stash to go back to work!
sleep/schedule
either he's an easy second child or we finally got a brain and decided to sleep train early. Either way, thank you Jesus. I read the book "moms on call" and it has been the best thing as far as scheduling. They broke it up by ages and even have a schedule for newborn + toddler, etc. I started training him at 2 weeks of age: feed him at 3/6/9/12 and try not to let him eat longer than 30 minutes (now i am a sucker and he wants to cuddle and cluster feed, i let the boy eat.) then tryyyy to keep him awake for 10-30 minutes. I usually do tummy time/swing/etc. at this time. Then at 4/7/10/1 I make sure he's burped, clean diaper, I swaddle him in his swaddle me swaddle, sway him for a few seconds/minutes until his eyes start to get heavy then lay him in his crib with his sound machine on. IN HIS CRIB. I am beyond thrilled that at (nearly 4 weeks at the time I'm writing this) he is sleeping 2 hour naps and 5 hour stretches at night in his crib. Sometimes his eyes are wide open when i lay him down and he puts himself to sleep. PTL. In the middle of the night, I go into his room, turn off the sound machine, unsaddle, feed, change diaper, feed shortly, burp, reswaddle, turn on sound machine, and leave room. If he starts to cry I wait a few 4-5 minutes to ensure he's really upset before getting him back up and 90% of the time he is asleep before the 5 min mark hits. I'm truly so happy that he is sleeping and on a decent schedule, I can't recommend this book/education enough!
play
obviously there is no "play" but we have done tummy time a few times and he is great about lifting up little by little. He stays awake for about 20 min at a time during the day, with a longer stretch at evening time. When I was pregnant he was always SO BUSY around 7/8pm so it makes perfect sense. We're totally enjoying the sleepy newborn stage, I remember Evynn hardly slept at all, or if she did it was on our chest. Cuddles were great, but it's a dream come true to not have a crying baby to console 24/7. Of course we compare everything to Evynn because that's all we know and so far these two are very different. We love our first born but whew, did she prepare us for parenthood! Like I said, evenings are his busiest times and he sometimes is fussy then which means we're busy trading off holding/playing/cooking/bath time duties between us. send help.
loves
cuddles, sleeping, a clean diaper, eating, & looking at lights.
he may not "love" his sister yet but she SURE loves him! Brings him all his paci's, blankets, burp rags, etc. all the time. Always asking for "baby" or "brother"
dislikes
needing to burp-i've noticed if he's fed, clean, and still reallyy fussy he needs a good burp. I think we may be battling little acid reflux and he'll occasionally spit up what seems like a whole feeding. So, I try to be very intentional about burping him before laying down.
a wet or dirty diaper... and then the diaper change even more so.
When this boy is mad, he is MAD. Like, turns purple and holds his breath screaming.
we love
his big ole gummy mouth which most shows when he's upset but, still cute. his super soft hair that still has that newborn smell.
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