Nathaniel at 6 weeks

6 weeks ago I went into labor…it’s hard to believe! Our little guy has grown so much, and is such a good baby. Our 6 week visit with Dr. Pow was on Monday. We haven’t blogged about him yet, aside from his birth story, so I’m going to write as much as my poor sleep deprived memory can remember. From the first moment I saw my little guy (without the mind altering drugs!), I closely studied my angel. The first thing I thought was, he has my dad’s neck! The back of his neck is all Chant. When I’d feed him, sitting on the edge of my hospital bed, I would burp him propped up on my knee and holding his face in my right hand; every time I did this he would hold up his left hand, in a fist. I called this his “strong man” pose, it was so cute. Of course everything he did was cute… His little fists reminded me of great grandpa chant. Whenever I hold his little hands, and he grabs on to a finger as he drinks his bottles, I always think that he has my hands. His eyebrows, forehead, eyes, and nose– all Chant! His body has very little hair on it, his back is very smooth. I often study his face and hands during those late night feedings, often the only time I have alone to admire my little angel. And, I must say, he is a little angel because he is always so relaxed! He hardly fusses at all- only when he’s tired, hungry or needs to burp. How easy is that? 6 weeks is typically peak fussiness for babies; Nathaniel has met this mark without a trace of anything unusual. He may look like a Chant, but I dare say his temperment is all Murray!!! The first week at home I had to set my alarm to feed baby in the night, otherwise he wouldn’t wake up! So different than it was with Alice… After this week he’d wake on his own, every 2-5 hours, usually 3-4 hours between feedings. He’d eat about 50ml, then we’d change his diaper, burp, then he’d slowly finish his bottle until he passes out. Then on to the next feeding. His most sensitive relex is the gag reflex: when he’s had enough or needs to burp, he will gag, sometimes to the point of throwing up everything he just ate (it’s essentially a very large spit up, I think). He started out on Similac advance- the same formula he had at the hospital. Our reason for this was that with Alice, we kept changing formulas as we thought her fussiness was because of what she was eating…I kept looking for the silver bullet that would change her into an angel baby. We never found it… Anyway, we thought if we kept things consistent, we’d be more likely to have success this time around. So, same formula, and same form (ready to use vs. concentrate or powder). Also, we kept him in his moses basket, swaddled and propped up in his crib, since that’s how he slept in the hospital. He was doing well with this, so after a couple weeks we lost the basket and put him directly in his crib. At 2 weeks his big toe on his right foot became infected. When he was born, Nathaniel’s skin on his big toe was grown over the nail a bit; but the next day it seemed to dry out and I didn’t think it would become an issue. I guess I was wrong! The day we discovered the infection Don took him to the walk in clinic (since it was a Sunday) and the Dr. gave us a prescription for cloxacilin. Since the infection was under his toe, we couldn’t get at the pus to get rid of it; the Dr. told Don we should go home and try to drain it with a pin or something. Ummm, isn’t this your job? Monday morning I called Dr. Pow and talked to his nurse Connie; she squeezed us in so we could get it looked at by a (real) doctor. We told Dr. Pow what the clinic said, and he told us that he wouldn’t do that to one of our toes, let alone a newborn’s. He took a look at it and worked it a bit and managed to drain the infection (without sharp instruments). This was a relief, since his toe was so big and red it must have just throbbed! I told Dr. Pow I was also concerned about his left eye- it had a discharge/pus in it since he was born, that wasn’t going away. He said it was a malfunctioning tear duct, and to just massage under the corner of his eye to help. We also mentioned concerns about his poor tummy (or tum tum as I call it!)- he didn’t poo unless we had brown sugar or prune juice in his formula. He recommended we switch formulas (oh no!) to Isomil Advance- the makers of Similac, but this formula is soy based- no casein or lactose, in case Nathaniel has a milk intolerance. So we switched, and in a few days he was regular on his own. Though soy based poops are a little different; lovely green/brown paste. Nice. (Only fellow parents can appreciate the poo comments!) At this point we also stopped swaddling him with his arms inside, since he’d just fight his way out of it, though he still seems to like the swaddle. By this point Nathaniel seemed to be liking his baths better- he no longer cried. At 3 weeks Don went back to work, so I was on my own. I was able to drive now at least, but being home by myself every day seemed daunting. Alice was getting better with her baby brother, so that part was easier; she still hadn’t much interest in him, though (better than throwing a blanket over his head to try to stop his crying!) At the 4 week mark, our little guy started to loose his hair; he had old man head! Plus he broke out with baby acne, he was a teenager and an old man all at once! His acne has since cleared, and his hair is starting to grow back as well. Measurements at 3 weeks: 9lb 8 oz 22 1/4 in Measurements at 6 weeks: 10lb 4 oz. 23 1/4 in He no longer fits into 0-3 month size clothes… At about 4 weeks he started to get a birthmark on his left leg, right above his knee. Alice has a similar one on her right hip, which started about the same age- perhaps this is the trademark of our children!