Happy Fourth of July from Wyatt!

I’m late on this post once again!  He is 10 weeks old today.  I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I last posted.  It’s hard to fit in blogging since I need to take care of Wyatt, and then fit in chores and exercise while he is sleeping. I should probably schedule some time for it!  I’m also still trying to figure out what direction I want to take my blog.  Since my focus from #1 food and #2 exercise has now shifted to #1 mommyhood, #2 food, and #3 exercise… I may be starting a new blog.  We will see!  Now less about me and more about Wyatt!

Milestones

• Lifting his head up during tummy time
• Able to “stand” on his legs when we are lightly holding him up
• Cooing up a storm
• Smiling and laughing a lot
• Sleeping 5 hours or more an night
• Watching the videos I take of him
• Slight interest in looking at the books I read to him
• Swatting at toys (I think?)

Size: Wyatt is my BIG boy!  At his 2 month appointment, he weighed 13 lb 6 oz.  His head was 16 1/2 inches.  His length is 24 3/4″.  All his measurements are in the mid 90s percentile wise.

Feeding:  I feel like I finally have the hang of breastfeeding.  Wyatt usually nurses 6 – 7 times a day.  It can range from 2 hours to 4 hours during the day.  The last couple nights he has gone 6 full hours without eating.  That stretch is usually the early part of the night… from about 9pm to 3am.  But this past Sunday he was fussy and hungry!  I fed him 10 times within 24 hours which I haven’t done since he was a couple weeks old.  FYI, love the Baby Connect app for tracking all of this!

Fun Facts

• Clothing size: some 0 – 3, about to get started on 3 – 6.
• Longest time sleeping: 6 hours 20 mins, about 1 week ago.
• Diaper Size: 2
• Diapers used a day: 8 – 11
• Time spent nursing: About an hour a day
• Time spent sleeping:  About 13 hours a day

Sleep:   He is an early bird!  He sure didn’t get that from his mommy.  Wyatt likes to really wake up around 6 am and he sure is talkative then.  Then after that, he almost always falls asleep for at least 20 minutes in between feedings during the day.  Usually once during the day (early afternoon or late morning), he falls asleep for about 2 hours.  It’s nice to see that he is starting to develop a schedule.  What I’m most happy about is that he is finally sleeping in longer stretches at night!  This means that I usually only have to wake up once in the middle of the night to feed him.

Likes

• Talking in the morning
• Being in his swing
• Bouncing in his bouncer
• Riding in the car
• Being pushed in the stroller
• Watching himself on video
• His Sleep Sheep
• Baths! (until we take him out)

Dislikes

• Being in the Ergo (still working on it)
• Tummy time

Activity:  I’m trying hard to get in tummy time but it is hard!  He cries about 1 minute in each time.  Any tips??  I know I haven’t been getting enough in, maybe 6 or 7 minutes a day?  One thing he loves is his activity mat, I place him on there about 10 minutes a day and he loves to bat at his toys!  He has grabbed one of the toys a few times, but I think it’s more of an accident.  Besides those things, most of my “activity” with him is talking to him.  But I’m sure we will be doing more things soon.

My little bundle of joy is 6 weeks old now!  Man time flies (most of the time).  He is too freaking cute for words… but I am a little biased.  I’m so happy and honored to be Wyatt’s mommy!  But I have had my moments.  Here is how my recovery has been since he was born…

The Hospital Stay – I was in the hospital for a total of 5 nights. After 2 nights of hardly any sleep (the night I was induced and the night he was born) and no food because of the epidural and c-section, I needed to feed the baby…AND sleep.. AND only drink fluids…AND constantly take vitals. I was sleep deprived and hungry, not a good combo!  I still haven’t caught up on sleep since then.  On Day 2 of my stay, Breastfeeding was becoming very painful.  On Day 3, Wyatt’s weight loss kept progressing, and thus came the influx of nurses plus the lactation consultant coming in to our room.  The combo of major breastfeeding pressure, sleep deprivation, hormones, hardly any food, pain, and medication sent me over the edge and I started balling.  I just wanted a time out I knew I would never get.  Luckily, my awesome midwife really put things in perspective for me.  When I’ve talked to my mom friends about my hospital breakdown, lots of them tell me they had one too.  I’m glad I wasn’t the only one!

C Section Recovery – My first instinct when I got home was to protect my tummy.  I didn’t want Bella jumping on me and injuring the incision.  The first couple weeks were rough!  I was on a combination of Percocet and Ibuprofen…weaning off them gradually.  Getting up from a lying down position was impossible if I didn’t use my arms.  I couldn’t bend down to save my life.  The good part was that I was on strict orders not to do anything for 2 weeks!  It was nice to be 100% spoiled, hehe.  But even now I can’t lift anything super heavy (like the 5 gallon water jug we have) Exercise wise, after 2 weeks I started very light walking and by week 4 I was going on long walks with the baby.  I had my 6 week appointment today and the midwife gave me the a-ok to start exercising… and to take it slow at first.  I think next week I will start jogging and light weights. Any c-section mamas out there with advice?

Mind – Becoming a mom is a total life changer.  Of course, everyone tells you that but it doesn’t hit you until you have the little one in your arms.  Looking at my baby boy makes me so happy! I’m so lucky that I can be a stay at home mommy.  But it is the hardest job ever!  Even if Wyatt’s sleeping, I’m constantly wondering when he will wake up and listening for any noises or grunts coming from his direction.  Sometimes I feel like the only time I totally relax is when Jay comes home and I can take a shower.  Who knew a shower would be so awesome!?

Most of my emotional downs have been breastfeeding related in some way.  I felt like a milk machine for the first few weeks, especially when Wyatt was not gaining enough weight and I had to breastfeed, pump, and feed him what I pumped.  I had a few crying fits when I was exhausted and had to feed Wyatt when I was still in major pain. Breastfeeding is VERY HARD and PAINFUL!  I wish someone would have explained this in detail to me before I had the baby.  In my case, by day 2 my nipples were hurting… and then it just kept getting worse and worse.  Some nurses said to use a nipple shield, some said it was bad to use one. I did end up using a nipple shield after one of them was cracked and bleeding.  It was a life saver!  I used it until my nipples healed (which was about two weeks).  Also, Soothies and Lanolin were great for pain relief.  Now I only have a few seconds of pain when he latches.  Hopefully it will be smoother sailing from here on out.

Body – When I was in the hospital, I felt like my tummy was exactly the same.  I attribute that to the gas that builds up after a c-section. My baby belly goes down a little bit each week, which I am happy about!  I also used a Belly Bandit about 12 – 18 hours a day starting from the day after my week 1 picture to the start of week 6, not sure how much it helped though.  All I know is that I felt like my biggest change was from week 1 to week 2, so I guess that is a good sign that it worked.  My stomach is definitely still flabby though! I’m guessing the loose skin will stick around for a while.  But I am so grateful that I stayed stretch mark free.

I’m 4 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight as of now.  Weeks 1 & 2 were my biggest losses, with 12 lbs and 11 lbs.  I’ve lost between .5 and 2 lbs every week since then.  I’m hoping to lose about 15 more pounds, so we will see how that goes!  I’m looking forward to starting up an exercise routine again.

Hopefully I will be able to fit in small workouts while my little guy does this…

Happy Friday!