Baby Update - 51 weeks old

Age:  51 weeks

Weight: I'll be getting him weighed next week.

Health: The reflux is still not great but the Gaviscon seems to help a little bit.  He's had a couple of rough days with his teeth and was absolutely horrendous this morning/early afternoon.  However, the tooth cut this afternoon and he was back to his smiley, cheerful self by teatime (he devoured a big bowl of chicken pasta and lots of fruit after having barely eaten for 2 days).

Feeding: He's not really eaten much for the last few days but his appetite seems to have come back this evening so I'm blaming the teeth.  He can be quite fickle with what he likes and dislikes but the only foods he really seems to reject every time are mango and tomatoes (although he'll eat them cooked in sauces or casseroles).

Sleep: Things are up and down - he's been going down relatively well at night, anywhere between 18:15 and 19:30 depending on daytime naps, but waking up at 5:30 most mornings.  We've had a few nights where he's settled with a cuddle rather than milk when he wakes up which is nice.  We tend to nap together most mornings, unless we have to go out and he naps in the pushchair, then he naps alone in an afternoon.  I'm not sure how I'm going to cope without my naps when I'm back at work but I'm sure I'll learn to adapt.

Routine: We're in our last couple of weeks with no real routine as things will have to be more organised when I'm back at work!

Likes/dislikes:  He likes shutting doors (especially if it involves shutting me out of the living room when I nip to get something) and likes putting things into other things (for example he puts balls into "little library" boxes).  He's not keen on having Anbesol put on.  He still doesn't like you holding his hands to show him how to do something like scribbling or song actions.

Firsts:  I don't think we've had any firsts this week?

Milestones:  He's walking far more spontaneously although still wary.  Otherwise I don't think there have been any major milestones this week... just a lot of teething.  We do have SIXTEEN teeth now though so he just has his second set of molars left and then he has a full set.  They're not due until he's at least 2 so hopefully we'll get a bit of a breather for a while.

Things we did: On Friday we went to visit Nana and Grandpapa for Grandpapa's birthday - they were taking care of OJ's little cousin for the day which was nice as we don't see him often, although he was poorly so the boys didn't really get to play together.  On Saturday we went to visit ALS' grandparents and my grandparents then his brother came back to ours for a few hours.  On Sunday we had a relatively quiet day and watched "Coco".  Monday was swimming (our last one at our current class due to my working hours) and his little friend wasn't there so we might never see him again, I should have got his mum's number!  The last couple of days have just been about chilling and doing housework really.  Yesterday my mum and grandparents came to visit and we went out for lunch.  Today we went to the park for a bit and then Nana and Grandpapa came to visit but unfortunately they got OJ while he was at his grumpiest.

Me: I've finally had some success with the agency to start my business but they want a minimum of 16 hours a week (4 hours on Tues, Weds, Sat and Sun) which would mean I'd be working a 40 hours week over 7 days and we would never be able to have days out etc.  They've agreed to let me do 2 8 hour days instead but this will have to wait until OJ can go to nursery 5 days a week (if he settles) so I'm going to aim to start with them in December when we know how nursery is going.

I'm starting to get a little stressed about going back to work - especially because I have a list as long as my arm of things that I need to get done, including but not limited to: making a batch of meals for the freezer, getting OJ some shoes, organising things so ALS has everything he needs to hand, 2 birthday parties for OJ and getting ready for Christmas.

We've had a bill this week for £350 for storage of our frozen embryo for the next 12 months - it's such a shame it couldn't have come another month later when I'm getting paid again!

50 weeks - I went to settle him and he climbed up onto my chest and fell asleep snuggling.

50 weeks 1 day - I wanted to cut his nails and he decided he's rather snuggle his hands up.

50 weeks 1 day - watching "Annabelle: Creation" and suddenly the baby monitor starts to look creepy.

50 weeks 2 days - a foggy, early morning nap before heading to the grandparents' houses.

50 weeks 2 days - after a poop explosion, bath and peeing on the landing!

50 weeks 3 days - clambering all over mummy as always.

50 weeks 3 days - suffering with his teeth so switching between his dummy and daddy's ice pack while mesmerised by Coco!

50 weeks 3 days - he looks like a baby still when he has his medicine.

50 weeks 3 days - the monitor was there first, I didn't just prop it up on the cat.

50 weeks 4 days - he did not wake up well from his afternoon nap!

50 weeks 4 days - finally settled down but still super sad faced.

50 weeks 4 days - midway through a game of peekaboo under the table he decided to have a good munch!

50 weeks 5 days - practicing his crouching and standing.

51 weeks - early morning story time.

51 weeks - I was trying to take a photo of him being sad because he's thrown all his toys out of reach, he tried to eat my phone.

51 weeks - trying to climb the baskets.

51 weeks - teething hard and watching Taskmaster.

Baby Update - 50 weeks old

Age:  50 weeks

Weight: I'll be either getting him weighed next week or the week after.

Health: The reflux has been absolutely horrendous over the last few days - lots of vomiting, lots of wind, lots of hiccups and lots of burping/coughing with it at the back of his throat.  It's not been making him too grumpy and he's been having at least a few solid hours of sleep at the start of the night.  I spoke to the GP yesterday and she's asked us to stop the ranitidine, as it's not helping, so I'm weaning it off gradually.  She's prescribed Gaviscon again which I'm going to collect tomorrow to give him just as and when he needs it if he's really struggling.  I started reading a book by "The Reflux Lady" which basically told me to cut everything out of my diet and made me feel like crap.  Our Sleep Consultant has suggested his sleep issues do sound dietary in nature so has asked me to try some exclusions.  Her suggestion was to cut out dairy, soya and gluten then slowly reintroduce but with my own health issues I didn't feel comfortable with all that.  Given that, I discussed it with the GP and she said she is happy to try gradual exclusions before any new medication.  We're excluding dairy for 2 weeks then going to add in a soya exclusion if there's no improvement.  After 6 weeks we will try a gluten exclusion, either with or without dairy/soya depending on if there was any improvement or not.  She also asked me to contact the Paediatrician, as we have an open appointment, but they can't get us in until 22nd January so we've got quite a wait there!  They would expect his reflux to have calmed down by the time he was 1 so it's worth seeing the Consultant just in case, although I'm not looking forward to it as he was incredibly patronising before.  My other concern is that digestive issues are common with EDS so I'd like to rule that out as I'll feel awful if he's inherited my issues and they're worse in him.  In other news, he's cut tooth number 15 and number 16 is nearly cut so maybe that's what's made it worse over the last few days, fortunately they don't seem to have caused him too much pain.  His eczema has stayed away for now though.

Feeding: Food has been a little bit up and down this week but generally pretty good.  I took dairy out of his diet about a week ago and I've taken it out of my diet today too.  His eating is improving with solids too and he can manage the skin on things such as grapes and plums now rather than just chewing the flesh off and spitting the skin back out.

Sleep: We're now paying a monthly subscription to a private group where a lady helps with our sleep issues.  As I mentioned above she thinks that food could be the cause - we did a sleep/food/activity diary for 3 days and she had a good look at it.  There's no quick fix unfortunately and it's going to be a real challenge with me going back to work soon but we'll do anything to help him get some better rest.  Things have improved a tiny bit in that he has been having a solid 2-3 hours after he first goes to sleep at night.  A couple of days this week he's only had one nap so he may be starting to get ready to transition, but other days he's really needed two so I think it'll be a bit hit and miss for a while.  He isn't falling asleep in the pushchair so easily nowadays either.  The other day he was tired so I decided to walk an hour to my business meeting to get him to nap - he stayed awake the whole time, through my meeting and 40 minutes walk back into town to meet ALS.  He went straight down when we got home though and had a solid 2 hour nap!

Routine: We're just letting him rule the roost so to speak.

Likes/dislikes:  He may be slightly coming around to the new car seat and seems to enjoy the panoramic roof, although car journeys are still very tense.  He absolutely loves playing with balls - he always has done - and he'll play fetch by himself, throwing it across the room and following it.  He really enjoys his "Smart Puppy" that plays nursery rhymes.

Firsts:  First proper steps without our encouragement - today he did about 5 or 6 from me to get to my phone on the sofa!

Milestones:  He's really getting more confident on his feet, particularly just this evening.  He dances now when he hears music.  His babbling is really coming on and he now says "mama", "baba", "gaga" and "ya".  When you ask him if he wants something he shouts "ahh" at you as if saying "yes" but isn't using words yet, I really don't think it will be long though.  It's crazy how quickly he's developing at the moment.  If he sees someone with food he goes over to them shouting "mmmmm" too, it's super cute.

Things we did: On Saturday we went into town to do a bit of shopping and then went to the local park with some friends, they came back to ours and we had takeaway and watched a movie.  On Sunday another friend came over to visit and spend some time with ALS and OJ had a good splash in his Tuff Tray!  On Monday we went swimming as usual which OJ really enjoyed, even more than usual.  On Tuesday we had a long walk to my business meeting and then walked into town to meet ALS.  Yesterday Nana and Grandpapa came to visit and today we've just been pottering around, shopping and the like.  We've generally spent lots of time playing together and trying to work on his walking and language skills.

Me: I'm very overwhelmed at the moment with everything.  My business is taking forever to get going thanks to the agencies being unhelpful which means that it's going to start probably around the time I go back to work.  In the next few weeks I'm going to have to deal with my transition back to work, OJ's transition to nursery, figuring out feeding/pumping, dealing with our dietary exclusions, trying to get my business established and the general pressures of daily living, then things will just about stabilise and it'll be Christmas!  I'm also concerned that my weight might dip again now I'm doing the dietary exclusions so I need to keep a close eye on it.

49 weeks 1 day - sleepy boy after a bad night just chewing on his medicine syringe.

49 weeks 2 days - I tried to do an activity rolling balls through a tube but he just pulled the tube off the door so we turned it into sensory play with the sticky tape!

49 weeks 2 days - "Are you taking photos again?"

49 weeks 2 days - he went to bed at 6 while our friends were here, woke at 9 and was still asleep when we went to bed at 11, that's pretty much unheard off!

49 weeks 3 days - I thought he'd just have a splash but he had other ideas, going...

...going...

...gone!  He had a whale of a time though.

49 weeks 3 days - looking cheeky after soaking himself and flooding my kitchen.

49 weeks 5 days - he hasn't figured out how to turn it around yet so he just goes around the other side and pushes it from the front.

49 weeks 5 days - he was supposed to be sleeping but instead he dragged out the rolled up towels (from the gap between the mattress and cot side) and started posting his dummy down the slats and grabbing it.

49 weeks 6 days - just chillin' and emptying everything.

50 weeks - playing peekaboo behind the sofa!

50 weeks - chilling in the trolley.

50 weeks - some rare screen time as he woke up from his nap before we'd finished our episode of Taskmaster, it was a lovely photo of him sitting sleepily on ALS' lap but he moved just as I got my phone out.

50 weeks - mesmerised by the hoover!

50 weeks - ALS' phone camera is so much better than mine - I take dozens of photos and they're nearly all blurred or poorly lit or don't show off OJ's cuteness properly, I take one with his and it's perfect.

Baby Update - 49 weeks old

Age:  49 weeks

Weight: He won't be weighed until just before his birthday.

Health: We seem to have had some brief respite from teething this week and his reflux is calming down with the medication too.  Fingers crossed it lasts but I'm not hopeful.  He's really head banging lately, especially when he's tired.  He also flaps his arms a lot when he's excited or frustrated and struggles with his communication.  He's only just started properly babbling "mamama" and "bababa".  He doesn't use "mama" with meaning, hasn't copied any of the signs we've used and doesn't use gestures such as waving or pointing to indicate his needs.  All of the above are signs of autism - I'm not majorly concerned but I will be keeping an eye on things.  Both ALS and I have a fair few autistic traits so it wouldn't surprise me if OJ has some too but he's quite affectionate when he wants to be, has good eye contact, has good understanding and smiles/giggles lots so, as I said, not too worried.

Feeding: He's been eating non-stop this week - on Saturday we went out for a friend's birthday and he ate an entire child's portion of sausage, chips and peas without coming up for breath.  He's even been eating well at lunch time which he's previously not been so bothered about.  He still has plenty of milk and I'm a little concerned about the situation when I go back to work but we will just have to take it as it comes.  

Sleep: We're back to feeding on demand throughout the night and not a huge amount of sleep for me - he often just wants to lie on my boob rather than feed but it's hard for me to get comfy.  Bedtimes have still been taking a while but there's been a lot less screaming, presumably due to the reflux/teething having calmed down.  We've been working really hard for the last 4 days on getting good naps in and trying to get him down as soon as he's tired and it may be helping a little bit although it has involved us being trapped in the house all week.  I've also been staying with him for naps so not even been able to be productive.  If we haven't achieved anything by next Monday we're going to ask for some help from a woman I've been chatting to on Facebook who runs a group providing advice for gentle sleep tips etc.

Routine: We're back working on the 2, 3, 4 routine somewhat and it seems to be gradually improving things, maybe this is the start of something wonderful.  Ideally we will be able to be a bit more flexible though, or at least nap on the go, as being stuck in is killing me.  I'm really looking forward to the day he drops down to only needing one nap.  

Likes/dislikes:  He likes combining his toys - he wedges balls into rings and gets me to spin them for him.  He's quite fond of racing around the room with his push walker.  He's as hateful as ever of the car, despite a new car and a new seat.  

Firsts:  First animal actions - he claps his hands every time he sees a crocodile or you say "crocodile", he's not got the hang of turning them round to make a snap yet but it's close enough.

Milestones:  He's trying to let go of furniture and take steps but only manages one or two before falling or grabbing hold of something else, he's quite tentative still.  If you call him a good boy he'll give himself a little round of applause, which may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.  He now has FOURTEEN teeth. 

Things we did: We had a busy weekend - on Saturday we went to visit ALS' best man at his new house and he made us lunch, then we went back to our old town for a meal for our friend's 35th birthday (plus 2 very, very stressful car journeys).  On Sunday we went for a nice long walk to the park.  Monday was swimming as usual and then we've just been in the house for a few days working on naps.  However, Nana and Grandpapa came to visit on Tuesday and my mum and grandparents came to visit yesterday so it's not all boring.  

Me: I often feel guilty that OJ doesn't get more exposure to different settings and other children but he's always wanting to nap at the time that play groups are on, hence the wish for him to drop down to one nap.  Maybe if we sort his sleep out at night he'll only need one?  I'll be kind of glad when I'm at work and he's at nursery as he'll be getting plenty of opportunities for learning and socialising there.  

Health wise I'm feeling a bit better and I'm back up to 51 kg so I'm going to start exercising again this weekend hopefully.  I've been referred to a Dietician, just to check that there's nothing else I'm missing that I could be doing but I'm happy that there's nothing drastically wrong - I'll probably put all the weight back on as soon as I stop breastfeeding.  

We're busy planning OJ's birthday (although I'm in denial that my baby is almost 1) and Christmas at the moment so there's a lot going on, plus I'm working hard on my business and I've finally been accepted by one of the agencies so should be able to start earning soon. 

I didn't take many pictures at all this week which makes me rather sad, I'll try harder next week.

48 weeks 2 days - at ALS' best man's house enjoying lunch in his new Chicco booster seat.

48 weeks 3 days - with daddy at the park.

48 weeks 4 days - an example of his huge appetite, he devoured this whole portion!

48 weeks 6 days - bloody autumn weather, it looked cold so I wrapped him up then had to unwrap him while he was sleeping because it was so warm!

Baby Update - 48 weeks old

Age:  48 weeks

Weight: He won't be weighed now until just before his birthday.

Health: His ranitidine has been increased to the maximum dose as they'd put him back on a lower dose than before.  He's still having some issues with his teeth but he now has all 4 premolars at least partly through, that's THIRTEEN teeth.  I've never known a baby so young have so many teeth.  He's been really miserable for a few days but seems to have chirped up again a little in the last couple so hopefully the worst is over although he's screaming a LOT at night and I'm not sure if that's teeth, reflux, something else bugging him or just general tiredness and fighting sleep.  His face had cleared up nicely but has really flared up again over the last couple of days too.  

Feeding: He's been off his food on and off for a few weeks and I'm blaming the teeth.  I'm just offering milk and and when he wants it and continuing to offer 3 meals a day with a variety of foods.  I am trying to stop him feeding so often at night as we had a few nights were he was feeding constantly and not really sleeping so I try not to offer milk unless it's been 2 or 3 hours minimum since he last had it.  If he's really upset or restless I'll let him have some but we're just playing it by ear. 

Sleep: We had a few days last week where he was just feeding constantly almost all night and I was getting no sleep so we implemented the above plan.  We're also trying to be stricter with screen time during the day and not bring him downstairs at night if he won't sleep (unless it's the middle of the night and he's wide awake and has been for a while).  The last 4 nights have been horrible trying to get him to sleep (last night he fell asleep feeding straight away but then woke 30 minutes later to battle).  He'll feed then roam around for a bit before settling and trying to sleep.  He then almost falls asleep but jerks away or sits up and cries.  This eventually escalates into screaming as he gets tireder and tireder and it's taken up to 90 minutes to get him to sleep.  We've switched to Ambesol liquid for his teeth and are giving him the maximum dose of ranitidine, although we've run out of Gaviscon so maybe that's not helping.  I've been offering Calprofen after about 20 minutes of screaming in case its his teeth and he usually sleeps about 20-30 minutes after that but it could just be coincidence.  Tomorrow I think I'll try Calprofen at bedtime and see if we still have the screaming.

Routine: Maybe when I'm back at work and he's at nursery?  We can dream.

Likes/dislikes:  He likes playing with his medicine syringes for some reason and loves empty pop bottles - who needs toys??  He loves stir fry and it's the only meal he's really enjoyed this week - except for his breakfast, he often demolishes bowl after bowl of Cheerios!  He absolutely detests being restrained for nappy changes, clothes changes, drying after the bath or any other reason.  He has tantrums now if he's taken away from something he wants, told no or if people don't share their food with him.

Firsts:  He's taken a couple of very wobbly steps into mine and Ant's arms this week... mostly just falling into us but it's a start.   First real "daddy day" while I was poorly last Friday, all I did was give him milk and daddy did everything else.  

Milestones:  He's getting much better at standing unassisted and now controls himself back to sitting without having to hold on to anything.  He's gotten really vocal in the last couple of days and is back to shouting "mamamama" constantly.  He's not using any words in context or saying anything but "mama" but he is making lots of sounds.  

Things we did: On Friday I had a stomach bug.  OJ and I went to the park in the morning and I just made it home in time to throw my guts up.  Fortunately he'd fallen asleep on the way home and stayed asleep until daddy got home to take over.  They had a chilled day together and I spent the day in bed.  On Saturday ALS had a kickboxing seminar in Long Eaton so OJ and I went to West Park (although he was grumpy the whole time) and on Sunday we went swimming for a catch up as we couldn't go on Monday and then picked up our new car.  On Monday I had my CT scan (I had to go to a separate waiting room and leave OJ with Nana and Grandpapa, he was super tired and I could hear him screaming which broke my heart.  However they took him to the play area and he was having a whale of a time by the time I was done).  We've had a few chilled out days since then to try and recover from all the sleep deprivation.

Me: I ended up down at 49.5 kg after a nasty sickness bug on Friday and I had my CT scan on Monday.  Yesterday the GP rang to let me know the results were normal and I have a telephone appointment with her tomorrow to discuss where we go from here.  I'm absolutely exhausted and haven't really had chance to recover from being ill.  ALS is amazing and does as much as he can but obviously he has to work.  With OJ's sleep being so bad I'm starting to feel like a rubbish mum again, I know I'm not really but I just wish I knew what was keeping him awake at night.  I expected random screaming fits as a newborn (although we had none) but I thought that sort of thing would be getting better rather than worse at this age.  I've managed to remain pretty calm and deal with the screaming and lack of sleep but it's still horrible not being able to help your baby sleep when he's clearly exhausted.  He's getting a lot more cuddly which is nice though.

We also picked up our new car at the weekend and I LOVE it.  I've never driven anything other than my car successful in 10 years but this one is an automatic and was so easy to adapt to, I can't wait to take it for a proper drive at the weekend.

47 weeks 1 day - cheesy grin on the way to the park!

47 weeks 1 day - enjoying a go on the swings.

47 weeks 1 day - just wanted to crawl around on the park.

47 weeks 1 day - tired out from his trip to the park and looking precious while we waited for daddy to come home to take over.

47 weeks 1 day - fast asleep in bed after his impromptu day with daddy.

47 weeks 2 days - fast asleep while mummy waits to go to the park.

47 weeks 2 days - having a little snack on the grass to try and keep him happy.

47 weeks 2 days - having another little snack on a bench after refusing his pushchair... look at mummy's silly hair.

47 weeks 4 days - when I have toast in a morning OJ likes to steal my crusts, I hate eating crusts so it works nicely for me!

47 weeks 4 days - after our first 90 minute bedtime battle of the week.

47 weeks 5 days - feeling super refreshed after we had an almost 3 hour nap together the other morning, I woke up expecting us to have been asleep for maybe 2 hours maximum and was amazed when I looked at the clock.  He never sleeps so long without waking!

47 weeks 5 days - 11 month growth photo, amazingly this only took a minute to get as he happily sat and posed for once instead of trying to run away!

47 weeks 5 days - "Oh man... are you guys taking photos again?"

47 weeks 5 days - look at that cute little face... also note the bump on his forehead, we aren't sure where it came from but he bangs his head against everything when he's tired so we think it's just a culmination.

47 weeks 5 days - sometimes I wonder why I ever bother tidying up but whatever keeps him happy!

47 weeks 6 days - shovelling stir fry and frozen fruit dots into his face.

48 weeks - he woke up from his nap and just wanted to snuggle up to my face so we took some selfies, he looked surprised.

48 weeks - post-nap snuggles with a super sleepy boy.  I love that he likes snuggles nowadays.