Journey to a Family: Baby Update

Age: 5 weeks

Weight: We've been told not to get him weighed now until the Health Visitor visits in a couple of weeks so I'm not sure - however, I weighed myself yesterday (4 weeks 6 days) both holding him and without him then worked out the difference. There was a 4.4 kg difference which equates to 9 lb 11 oz! That would be an increase of over 1 lb in 9 days so I don't know how accurate it is but he's definitely putting on weight so I'm happy.

Feeding: Feeding is going really well - some days he has a lot more than others but it balances out over the week. He did have one day last week where he only ate about half as much as normal and slept a lot but I think he must have just been tired or growing because he made up for it the next day! I've started trying to get a few pumping sessions in when ALS is at home so that I can get a stash of breast milk frozen ready for occasions when I'm not around or for when I want a drink.

Sleep: In terms of night time sleeping I can't really complain. He usually goes down after his feed around 11 pm and sleeps until 3 or 4 am then feeds every 2 hours after that with naps in between. If I have things to do we get up after his 8-9 am feed, if not we might stay in bed (if he goes back to sleep) until his 10-11 am feed so I can catch up on some sleep too. In terms of daytime sleep he often doesn't have much at all. It's not unusual for him to be awake from lunchtime right through to 8 pm with just the odd couple of short naps.

Routine: We're doing pretty well although I've probably stayed in bed late a few too many times this week! We managed to go out by ourselves and do some Christmas shopping this week and I've managed to get plenty of stuff done around the house when ALS is home during the day or during the occasional nap.

Likes/dislikes: He absolutely loves playing with his daddy and enjoys it when you pull faces and make silly noises at him. He loves bath time but detests getting out! He's not a fan of being still and constantly wriggles around.

Firsts: |He wore his first proper outfit that isn't a sleepsuit. We had our first proper smiles the other day and plenty since - it's the most adorable thing I've ever seen. We have our first proper Christmas tree up too (previously we've just had a little fibre optic one). He also had his first "squad" meet up with the guys from the gym when we had them all round for a pizza party on Saturday night. Oh and he's worn his first few Christmas outfits!

Milestones: Proper responsive smiles! :D

Things we did: We went Christmas shopping, we had a nice long power walk, we went out for lunch with a couple of our friends and daddy on Saturday followed by a pizza party with the guys from the gym. We've also decorated the house for Christmas and mummy has even wrapped all her Christmas presents!

Me: Yesterday I did my first proper exercise since OJ was born. I won't be cleared to lift weights or do anything too strenuous until 6 weeks postnatal (and my appointment has ended up being 8 weeks postnatal) but I turned my trip to Sainsbury's into a proper power walk. It's about 4.5 km with some big hills and I managed to get there and back, including picking up a few bits of shopping, in around 50 minutes so I'm pretty proud of that. Last time I did that walk was the day before I went into labour when I was trying to get things moving!