2 months old

This week had some major changes.

First, I removed the bassinet from the Bugaboo stroller and put on the seat. Matty seemed to like looking around and as much as he still likes being strolled in the bassinet, I think he likes the seat better, especially since I can recline it.

Second, another growth spurt happening now as he went from 4oz to 6oz every 3 hours. This meant needing the bigger 9oz bottles and no longer using the little bottles.

Third, we are now down to only one wakeup per night. Matheson is still going to bed every night at 8pm. He wakes for his nightly feeding/ diaper change at 3am and wakes for the day around 6:30am-7am. This is huge as Nick is no longer helping out at night and is getting a full night's rest since he is the only one of us working outside the home.

Fourth, Matty has grown attached to a little raccoon stuffed animal and is using it as a lovey. It is the sweetest thing to see him snuggling his raccoon!

Thanksgiving

Our first holiday with Matheson was wonderful.

We celebrated a Friendsgiving with our friends, Andrea and Luis. It was pretty perfect. We ordered food from Pappa's BBQ and I made a few side items. Matheson is such a good baby and he is a wonderful addition to our family.

6 weeks

Monday, November 12, 2019 marked 6 weeks since Matheson came into our lives.

I had my 6 week follow-up at the doctor and was cleared for sex and exercise. My blood pressure is back to normal and I stopped meds at one month. I needed to do a 2 hour fasting to make sure my gestational diabetes didn't turn into full blown diabetes and my results came back normal! My thyroid and iron are also back to normal. Yay!!

Matheson is very much our child. At 6 weeks, he is sleeping six hours straight through the night in the SNOO.

His daily routine looks like this:

6-7am awake
Morning catnap
Long nap around lunchtime
Evening catnap
8pm bedtime
Up at 2:30am for 4oz bottle, diaper change and back to sleep (I take this feeding)
Up at 4-5:30am for bottle, diaper change and back to sleep (Nick takes this time)

Matty likes to be held all the time. Just the last few days, he wants to eat every 2 hours instead of every 3, which makes me think he is going through a growth spurt.

If he is fussy, a tight swaddle and a binky does the trick.

Finding your groove in parenthood

Dancing in parenthood.

Yesterday was one of those days where Matty was fussy and clingy in the evening. I am writing this because I want to remember how well Nick and I work together under pressure. I was holding him and eventually laid him down in his SNOO. I didn't realize it was dinner time and Nick put pork chops in the oven. Then next thing I knew, we had switched off, I was finishing dinner prep and he was holding the baby. I watched as Nick figured out his swaddle technique and rocked the baby in the chair. Matheson was content and sleeping on his chest. The smile Nick had on his face was priceless. Usually, I am the one that can calm him when crying, but dad was finally able to, too.

Newborn Professional Photos

I just got these photos back from Bri Sullivan Photography. The pictures turned out AMAZING!

One Month Old

It is hard to believe that Matheson is one month old today! Time flies, truly.

And this time, I don't want to rush through all the stages. With Tristan, I was in a different place in my life and I kept wanting to rush and get to the next milestone. With Matheson, I am very content and am enjoying everything.

We are settling into a routine at home. Matheson wakes up around 6am and wants out of the SNOO and to be held. He's awake a good chunk of the day, as of literally the last few days. He has about 3 long naps through the day and asleep for the night by 8pm,although we don't put him in his bed until we are ready to go to bed. We try to give him a dream feed at 10am to help him sleep longer. He is usually up by 1am and 4am during the night. He gets a bath every 3 days. I have been doing those during the day, but need to start doing them before bed to get into a routine.

We have his one month visit with Dr Penn today. We noticed Matty was getting constipated and he was uncomfortable trying to have a bowl movement, plus he had allot of gas. We were using Gripe Water almost daily to help with the gas issue. We switched his formula from Similac Pro-Advance to Similac Total Comfort; however, the formula had a smell and his gas had the same. Then, we tried the Similac Pro Sensitive and it seems to be better for his tummy. The one thing both of my boys inherited from me was my sensitive tummy!

At his one month checkup, Matheson grew 2" and 2lbs!

Dr Penn noticed he has a hydrocele. This will be watched and hopefully it will resolve by his first birthday.

A hydrocele (HI-droe-seel) is a type of swelling in the scrotum that occurs when fluid collects in the thin sheath surrounding a testicle. Hydrocele is common in newborns and usually disappears without treatment by age 1.

Hospital Bag Must Haves

I wanted to write this while everything was still fresh in my mind. I started researching and packing my hospital bag at 19 weeks, so I was super prepared!

The items I used and actually needed as below:

1. Eye mask. NEED. Hospital rooms are bright and nurses are in and out all day and night. We were there for 4 days, 3 nights and I was glad to have my eye mask to allow me to catch sleep for a few minutes here and there.

2. Cute Socks. NEED. I didn't wear flip flops or slippers, but getting in and out of the bed, I had my socks on. I wore my PUSH socks during the active part of my induction and loved them. If anything, next time I would pack another pair as I only packed two.

3. Clip on Fan. NEED. I had a magnesium IV due to pre-e, so my whole body felt like it was on fire. My fan clipped to my hospital bed blowing in my face was a GODSEND. However, I didn't realize the battery was a rechargeable battery and didn't pack the USB charger, so Nick had to go to the gift shop and buy me a charger. I'll remember that next time.

4. Dry Shampoo. NEED. I was in the hospital for 4 days. I took 2 showers while there, but never washed my hair as I didn't want to have to deal with blow drying and styling. My hair was never greasy or smelled bad. I swear by Living Proof Dry Shampoo.

5. Nightgown and robe. NEED. I brought one robe and two maternity nightgowns. After delivery, you are wearing mesh underwear and the biggest pad you have ever seen. You don't want to be pulling up and down pajama pants or leggings. Plus, your hospital bed will have a potty pad to sit on catch any leaks.

6. Delivery gown. NEED. I wore the hospital provided gown for the first night while I had the cervidel in. The back didn't cover my backside and the material was scratchy. I wore my delivery gown for my acual induction day and it was soft and comfortable, covering everything, but giving the nurses access to everything they needed.

7. 10ft iphone charging cord. NEED. I packed two and both were used. I always had access to my fully charged phone because induction is a long process.

8. Makeup. NICE TO HAVE. I wore makeup on days one and four. The other two I couldn't have cared less. It was nice to feel fresh and made up when we left the hospital.

9. Chapstick and ponytail elastics. NEED. There is something about the air in a hospital that your lips are always dry. I kept mine on the table right besides me. And my hair was always in a top knot or pony.

10. Toiletries bag. NEED. This is a hospital not a hotel, so nothing is provided to shower. I brought travel sized items like: Shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo, bodywash, deordorant, fluffy, facewash, razor, toothbrush and toothpaste. Nick was able to use all these items as well (he brought his own toothbrush!)

11. Fridababy Friget, the Momwasher NEED. The hospital will provide a squirt bottle, but this one is SO MUCH BETTER. It even comes with a travel bag to bring to the hospital. Trust me. You will need this.

12. Heating pad. NEED. I used this with my 10 year old son while in labor before I get the epidural and it was a godsend the second time around too.

The only item I packed that was absolutely a waste was the Amazon Fire Stick. DO NOT NEED.

The hospital tour stated the TVs were compatible, but we found that not to be the case. The nurse and electrical guy that was called couldn't get it to work either. We tried using this on day one when I just had cervidal placed and was in good spirits to pass the time watching TV. The problem seemed to be there was no way to switch to HDMI since the remote was a hospital bed programmed remote.