As you can imagine, life with 3 little ones has left me a very small amount of time to do anything except a random status update on Facebook throughout the day.
Here is an update on Mr. Greyden.
At his 2 week appt he was 7lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches long.
He eats like a champ and would eat all day long if I let him.
We took him to the Dr. Sunday night due to the fact that he had seemed a bit congested and we had some family members come down with random illnesses and wanted to make sure that he had not contracted anything. Turns out he is perfectly fine...better safe than sorry. :)
At that appt he weighed in at 8lbs 7oz. So he put on a whopping 19oz in a matter of 10 days. They consider normal weight gain to be about an ounce a day (which would only be 10oz). Proof that my kid is a great little eater.
I haven't really updated by way of what has gone on since he has been home and the whole jaundice situation. That was seriously a nightmare and I would like to think I handled it like a champ.
Greyden ended up being on the lights for a grand total of 8 days. For 5 of those 8 days, I had to get 3 kids ready and out the door by 9:00am to get his levels checked by 10am. I am pretty fast at it now. :)
The first 3 or 4 days he was on the lights full time more or less and the last few days he was just on them as much as I could get him to be on them (which wasn't much). I ended up requesting the bili-blanket for the last 3 days to supplement with since he was constantly wetting himself and I was having to wash the bed cover and improvise with other things MULTIPLE times a day. Also, he wouldn't sleep much unless he was being held and I didn't want to start losing my mind with a fussy baby and 2 little girls that were already acting out due to lack of attention from Mommy. We finally determined that he had breast milk jaundice and had his Daddy's blood type (A+ and I am O+) so that contributed to his jaundice quite a bit.
I had to deal with 4 different doctors due to the fact that his Dr. just happened to be out of town the entire 1st week and a half after he was born. I was actually VERY grateful that things ended up this way. The Dr. that I saw for him the first week (Dr. Jackson) had talked to me about breast milk jaundice and that her son had the same thing. She explained to me the option of formula feeding for 24 hours and just pumping my breast milk. She told me that she didn't stop breast feeding because it is not harmful for a baby to have a higher jaundice level, so long as it stays below 20 (Greyden's has leveled out at a 16.5). EVERY other Dr. since then, even his regular doctor (Dr. Liddle), recommended that I do the formula thing for the 24 hours. I had done a lot of research on the breast milk jaundice since speaking with the 1st Dr. and most of my research came back saying that stopping breast feeding was completely unnecessary as well. So I pretty much told the other 3 doctors what Dr. Jackson had told me and that I would not be stopping breast feeding unless it was medically necessary.
I have to admit, breast feeding doesn't just magically get easier with every baby (maybe it will with #4...but so far I have not found it to be true). It is truly a learning process for Mom & baby every time. Getting a baby to latch on correctly can be a difficult task and painful for Mommy. Even with this being baby #3 for me, I still went to see a lactation consultant due to Greyden's jaundice and his lack of weight gain the first 3 days. I took her advice and modified it as time went on as to what worked best for me and Greyden. The first 2 1/2 weeks were not the easiest with breast feeding and we are now pro's at it. It was not easy, but so worth it. :)
Here are some random little facts about Greyden:
- He usually sucks on his lower lip when he is sleeping.
- He prefers to fall asleep while being held, forcing whoever is holding him to walk around until he falls peacefully asleep.
- He can sleep through MOST of his sisters loud noises, screaming and crying.
- He LOVES to sleep in Mommy's arms and sleeps best when being held by someone.
- He will not sleep in his swing for more than a few minutes at a time and that is only when you put him in there already asleep. He won't fall asleep in it and will start crying almost immediately after being put in it if he is awake.
- He truly only cries for 3 things: When he is hungry, needs his diaper change or just needs some Mommy loves.
- He is a dreamer. He is constantly having dreams and even nightmares every time he falls asleep.
- He has officially smiled 4 times now. The first time was Thursday night while I was holding him. The 2nd time was Friday at Grandma 'chilles. The 3rd time was Friday night at Daddy. The last time was just last night when he smiled for Daddy 3 times REALLY big all in a row. Seriously, SO adorable!
- Up until about 2 days ago he was eating just about EVERY hour during the day. Now he is starting to get on a better schedule and will eat every 2 or 3 hours.
- He LOVES to grunt, especially in the early morning around 4am when he is requesting a diaper change.
- He is a GREAT sleeper and only wakes up about twice a night to eat.
We all love our little guy and he has been such a blessing to our family. He brings us lots of smiles and has filled our home with so much love. Not to mention, he is one handsome little man.
