My First Hurricane Warning...

Not that Kaden seemed to know the difference, but I started to get nervous thinking about Fay possibly hitting us as a Cat. 1 storm. All you Weather Channel addicts know by now- she was just a tropical storm, and we were lucky enough to escape the worst part. So last night and today, we had a LOT of rain bands and gusty winds, but nothing too serious.


The night before landfall...... and the afternoon after. Not too exciting, eh?

In my pre-K days, I would've spent the time reading next to a window. Instead, I wound up nursing almost 2 hours straight (is the kid really that hungry? or just a slow eater?) and what felt like another 22 walking him around trying to get the gas out. Thank God we have a dr. appt tomorrow so I can get more suggestions. His gas doesn't seem to follow the formula only- he's bloated and fussy whether he nurses or gets a bottle. Anyone heard of gripe water? other 'wives tales' or home remedies?

One month!

Okay folks, while Jim entertains his brother & niece at the beach, Mom goes shopping, and Kaden sleeps in his comfy Mobywrap... I can let you know he's officially one month old today! Compare his 1 wk old pic to today:

ONE WEEK ONE MONTH

HMM- I think I need to work on my perspective photography!

Ghee- Four Weeks already!

By some strange calendar twist, our boy was 4 wks old yesterday, but won't be "a month old" until Sunday. Not sure how that works, but here's what's happening.





1) First bath! I forget when this was, but sometime in the last week. He seemed mostly okay with it- just stared at me a lot...









2) First coo! - the GHEE in the title (rhymes with we). It happened yesterday morning (wait, 2 mornings ago) after Jim burped him, like Kaden was satisfied. It was so cute- the first "eee" sound he's made, and the first obviously related to his feeling/behavior.





3) Uncle Tom & cousin Emily came to visit from Pennsylvania! So far, Kaden's pooped on Emily's hand (but in his diaper), peed on Tom and farted/burped through most of their first 24 hours with us. Great first impressions, eh?













4) I'm having fun singing silly Spanish songs to the little guy. One of my favorite nicknames for him is "Sapito lindo" or little handsome frog. It seems to fit, no?

Will write more Sunday or Monday :)

Update- Dr Appts

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but last week at Kaden's dr appt, he weighed 6lb 12 oz. The doc says he ought to be at his birthweight (2 oz shy), and he's not concerned yet, but we need to come back and check his weight again. He asks if he's eating okay, and our answer is 'sorta'- we were still doing syringe feeding and nursing battles, but he ate just fine when he wasn't sleeping. Wake him up, the doc says. It seemed a little crazy to me, I mean- who wakes a sleeping baby? Especially if you have to wake yourself first? But I'm a new mom, and don't want my little one labeled as a "failure to thrive" baby. Anyway, the La Leche folks had said I ought to be attempting to breastfeed (and then pump if needed) every 2 hours. We can do this, right?

That was last Tuesday (july something). Thursday, the one-time-use-only syringes from the hospital gave out... and Kaden apparently hit a growth spurt, as he wanted to eat *every 90 minutes*. Seriously eat, like 2 ounces- maybe even 3 - or nurse a good 10 minutes. So when we went back to the doc a few days ago, I was mostly confident he would be okay and was wondering if he'd be over 7lbs yet. The nurse weighs him... and he's 7lbs 13 oz.

Yeah, folks- our boy gained a POUND in ONE WEEK. My first thought was "Hey! I'm not waking this kid up to eat anymore!" Twenty minutes later in the car I got all weepy because I realized Kaden was now bigger than he was when he was in utero. Not that I was planning to put him back in there or anything- it just seemed like a huge milestone. Aren't postpartem hormones great?

Quick aside into life RIGHT now- Kaden just peed all over Jim! Through the diaper. Which could be the subject of a whole 'nother post (and a long one) - the diaper thing. We're on disposable for right now (I'm a bit too overwhelmed to try cloth yet... but would like to get there in another month or so). Why do the newborn Huggies fit so much better than the Pampers? Especially when everyone recommended Pampers? A friend gave us a huge amount of these cool non-bleach ones- they fit him really well and usually don't leak. (Not sure what happened a few minutes ago.)

Other doc news- Jim's knee doesn't need surgery, just therapy, which he's started this week. He also started a gym membership (a joint family bday gift) and is doing well for a sleep deprived new dad. I had my 2 wk post-C check up and was cleared to drive, though I'm not supposed to go grocery shopping, vacuum or other cleaning... or lift anything heavier than baby. I can live with that- mostly. The question is- can the rest of the family??

I've rambled enough for now and will try to get back on later this weekend. I've got some funny birthing moments to share later...