Two Months Too Fast

Somehow another month has passed and my sweet baby is two months old! I'm both mesmerized and terrified at how quickly the days go by. I missed a third of the first month, and half of it was in the hospital, so maybe that explains it, but this month was better in my opinion. I feel like he knows me, like maybe I'm more than just the person with the bottle.

Nicknames: it kind of depends on his temperament at the time. Little Butt and Stinky Butt (thanks Alimentum) are good standbys and Sir Cries-a-lot has gotten a good bit of use. 

Stats: 8lbs 12oz and 21 inches

To me, we've had a good growth in a month... about two inches and two and a quarter pounds. But we're still not on the standard growth chart and we're under the 25th percentile for gestational age on the preemie chart. I'm not really worried, but the pediatrician wants us to bump up the calorie content. We're now fortifying him to 22 calories per ounce. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it's helping as he isn't finishing his bottles as much now. I guess we'll see though... he's got a weight check in three weeks to see how we're doing. 

Eating: He's still eating about three ounces every three hours. We had almost transitioned to four ounces, but he slowed down in the last week. He's doing about 8 bottles a day. Typically one or two are four ounces, and one or two are two ounces (typically late night/early morning). We've decided to transition to Similac Sensitive from Silimac Alimentum as no one is convinced that he actually has a milk allergy. It's day two of all Sensitive and things are going pretty well. If it takes a turn, we'll obviously switch back, but my wallet really appreciates half price formula.

Sleeping: He's sleeping pretty good at night, staying with the three hour feed schedule that he's created for himself. Every now and then he skips a feed (the 11pm) and makes it until 1-2am... it's obviously glorious when it happens, but I can't seem to control it or replicate it. His daytime sleep schedule is thinning out. He'd optimally be awake for about an hour to an hour and a half (that's the sweet spot) but he's been waking up a good bit during the day.  Lots of little cat naps of 15-30 minutes now rather than large chunks of napping.

Likes: he's still a really big fan of baths. It's pretty much the only time he enjoys skin to skin, but he also enjoys floating on his back and kicking his little feet. He's developed a love affair with ceiling fans. Someone should have mentioned that babies like ceiling fans before I took his out of his room. Oh well... his room is pretty. That's most important, right? 

Dislikes: He still hates hiccups. Bless his heart. He's also not a fan of tummy troubles. He's on Zantac for reflux, which he also hates. I mean I think he likes not having acidic formula come up his throat, but he is NOT a fan of the medicine. It supposedly tastes awful. He's also on prescription drops for stomach discomfort, because tummy troubles suck.

Looking forward to: I think we've seen our first real smile, but I'm definitely looking forward to that becoming more regular and predictable.

Not looking forward to: I'm on my last week of maternity leave. While my bank account will appreciate my return, my heart is understandably sad. My intention was always to stay home, especially after infertility hit. These days are precious and I may never get to experience these newborn days again, but the reality of our financial situation says that if we hope to have another child at some time, I need to continue working. The good news is that I actually really like my job. The career move was a good one early this year as returning to a job I really enjoy is I'm sure infinitely easier than the alternative. And they've been really good to me! They took a HUGE risk by hiring me and it kind of backfired on them... three weeks on the job and I was gone. But even in light of that, they offered me two more weeks than I was originally expecting. I'm sure it won't be as bad as I'm expecting. My job keeps me busy, so the day will go quickly. But I admittedly feel guilty about sending him off to daycare. And I worry about him bonding with day care workers over me. Not sure if that's a normal fear or a special adoption attachment fear, but it's there. So yeah, not looking forward to giving this sweet baby up for 9 hours a day.

It was a really wonderful month. My only complaint is that it went too fast. Little Man is so incredible (even when he's screaming bloody murder in my ear for half an hour). He is such a precious addition to our family and we know that we are truly blessed to call him ours.