Baby Update - 2 weeks

Age:  2 weeks

Weight: 5 lb 6.8 oz, he was weighed today.

Feeding:  Feeding is basically all consuming at the moment.  Finley's weight gain has been very slow - since leaving the hospital he gained 10 g in 3 days then nothing for 2 days.  He then gained 40 g in 2 days and another 20 g in the last two days.  He's still quite a way off his birth weight but we seem to slowly be going in the right direction.  He is breastfeeding two-hourly pretty much and also having three bottles of expressed milk a day - after the nursery run, lunchtime and before bed.  We've got some size 0 teats which is helping him to take the bottles but even breastfeeding has its challenges as sometimes my letdown is too forceful and he gets upset after a couple of minutes.  We are working hard at getting him to put weight on but I'm desperate to drop at least one bottle, maybe two, as finding time to express is such hard work.  Night feeds are a bit of a challenge on my part as I'm finding it hard to stay awake but he's waking for them at least, having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and his jaundice seems to be settling.  He's been vomiting after feeds maybe 50% of the time, usually if he ends up lying down flat afterwards.  I'm hoping this isn't the start of reflux or dairy allergy but whatever happens we can handle it. 

Sleep: Sleep has been okay with Finley going a couple of hours between feeds and generally not really waking Oscar up.  He isn't hugely settled at night but nothing too bad so far and we are managing between us.  I've actually managed bedtimes by myself quite well so far, although I'm sure they will get harder once Finley is more awake!

Routine: We are slowly finding our routine with me taking Oscar to nursery in a morning then coming home and giving Finley a bottle followed by a pumping session.  Then we generally just chill for the morning, do some chores or take him to get weighed etc.  I pick Oscar up at lunchtime, sometimes leaving Finley with Ant if he's home, and then we spend the afternoon doing whatever we fancy and taking it in turns to have Finley/Oscar.  Once Ant goes to work in an evening we generally just chill and then I feed Finley while Oscar has his snack before taking them both upstairs.  Once Ant gets home he gives Finley a bottle while I pump again and then we take it in turns to get ready for bed.

Likes/dislikes:  As with Oscar, Finley is not a huge fan of lying on his back.  He loves being held upright and likes to look at the world.  He doesn't like getting changed but once his clothes are back on he's pretty happy.

Firsts: He met his grandparents for the first time at various points over the weekend which was nice.  He also had his first poop explosion all over me mid-change the second Ant left us alone for his first evening back at work.

Milestones: His umbilical cord fell off this morning so he will be able to have a bath soon!

Things we did:  On Friday my dad and stepmum popped over for an hour and then we took little man to the clinic to be weighed.  On Sunday we went to a street party for the jubilee for a couple of hours which was nice.  On Sunday Ant's parents visited and my mum and grandparents did too.  Once Oscar was back at nursery things settled down.  One morning Finley and I walked down to the retail park to buy some essentials and had a little stop at Costa for a strawberry lemonade.  One evening I took both boys down to the pharmacy on foot by myself (including a little stop for a boob picnic on the grass) which was interesting and exhausting!  Essentially there has just been a lot of pottering around and finding our feet as a family of four.

Me:  Emotionally I'm starting to feel a little more normal again.  I'm pretty exhausted and absolutely starving all the time - probably due to a combination of tiredness and breastfeeding - but otherwise doing okay.  I'm keen to get back to some exercise but I'll stick to walking until I've had the all clear from the GP at my postnatal check.

I'm starting to stress a little bit about getting everything ready for the house move in time, although we still don't really have a date, but I'm sure we will manage!

Snuggles with Daddy - this was one of Oscar's favourite places and is now Finley's too.

Sucking his thumb.

Looking absolutely teeny tiny in his newborn (up to 7.8 lb) cardigan.

Little pouty face - it's a hard life being a baby!

I just can't stop taking photos of him - he loves a good snuggle in a soft blanket.

Our first solo bedtime and Oscar wanted to read We're Going on a Bear Hunt to Finley <3

Finley's first Costa!

He's slowly starting to get more alert and we are seeing his eyes more and a few facial expressions.

Just like his big brother, he always rolls onto his side immediately when you put him down and is much more settled.

First trip to Aldi!

Baby Update - 1 week

Well I didn't expect to be writing this so soon (although I'm actually a few days late) but our little man made a surprising arrival at 35+6 weeks and we made it home from the hospital 5 days later.  My waters broke at 35+1 and I was going to do a full update in my 36 week pregnancy post but I never quite made it there.  I'll do a full update on the events preceding and following the birth but it was all quite traumatic and is going to take me a while to get my head around so, for now, here's our first baby update.

Age:  1 week

Weight: 5 lb 4 oz (on day 5), due to be weighed again tomorrow

Feeding:  I feel like feeding has consumed my entire life in the last week.  Finley took to the breast relatively quickly after being born, albeit in small sittings, but I had a really hard time with sore and bleeding nipples in the beginning and his latch wasn't great.  With him being premature he tires quite easily so often falls asleep very soon after starting to feed.  He was born at 5 lb 11 oz but when he was weighed on day 3 he was down to 5 lb 2 oz, which is a loss of 9.3%.  The hospital weren't happy with that and he also became jaundiced so I started pumping and giving him the odd bottle too.  By day 5 he had gone back up to 5 lb 4 oz which means the loss was only 7.4% so they were happy enough to let us go home.  However, due to the pumping and constant feeding, my milk has come in and I seem to have developed a bit of an oversupply.  My breasts are incredibly swollen and painful which, added to the nipple soreness, has made feeding really hard.  Fortunately things seem to be settling down a little bit now and we are gradually getting more comfortable and finding our stride with feeding.  We are only giving one bottle a day, sometimes none, as I'm trying to slow down my supply a bit to get some relief and he's due to be weighed again tomorrow so hopefully he has put some weight on.  It has been nice for Ant to be able to feed him although I'm constantly conscious that he's going to start rejecting the boob for the bottle, although at the moment the bottles seem to be a bit fast for him and he often vomits afterwards.

Sleep: Sleep has been very hit and miss.  We spent the first five days in the hospital so I was getting very little in the way of sleep between feeding Finley, observations, other babies on the ward and general hospital noise.  However, I was getting fed very well and managing to rest during the day and have little naps so I was actually coping quite well.  Since coming home I am much more tired as I'm physically a lot more active and obviously can't really sleep in the day as I have Oscar around too.  I've had a couple of little catnaps on the sofa with Finley on my chest while Ant entertains Oscar or he watches TV but night-time sleep isn't great.  So far Finley hasn't really disturbed Oscar at night which is helpful but he doesn't settle very well.  We have a new next-to-me crib so he's close to me but he fidgets out of his blankets, wants very regular feeds and also often settles then poops so wakes and needs changing.  Ant has been great as often I've not heard him when he's been just a bit unsettled so he's taken over. It's all a bit of a learning curve but in the day he's very settled between feeds and unfortunately I can't "sleep when the baby sleeps" with him being the second child.  All things considered though, we are doing okay.

Routine: Well, given that we spent a large portion of the week in the hospital and then came out just in time for the bank holidays, I think it is safe to say that we don't really have any sort of routine yet. I had got into a little bit of a routine at the hospital because there were fixed timings to focus on (meals, drug rounds etc) but I was mostly just staying up until the small hours then settling and dozing between feeds until around 8AM when breakfast was brought round.

Likes/dislikes:  It is a bit early for the little man to have any real likes or dislikes and with him being preemie he is generally quite calm and sleepy. He isn't keen on being undressed but Oscar was the same. He loves being snuggled or swaddled in a blanket. Generally though he has no real opinions about anything yet as he should still be in the womb.

Firsts: We've had a lot of the standard firsts this week - first feed, first cuddles, first nappy change etc. However we have also had some more unusual firsts that we didn't really experience with Oscar such as first blood tests and first bottle. He did also have his first trip to the park which he wasn't thoroughly impressed by!

Milestones: No major milestones in terms of development etc but we managed to establish breastfeeding, recover from jaundice, start putting weight on and get discharged from the hospital which was quite the journey.

Things we did:  We haven't really done much due to spending the first five days of Finley's life in a tiny cubicle on a hospital ward. After coming home we did take the boys to Markeaton for Oscar to have a bit of a runaround - we were utterly unprepared and then it rained so it was a fleeting visit!

Me:  My weight is down to 65.8 kg and physically I'm feeling quite good. I'm a little constipated and my core feels incredibly weak but otherwise I'm doing okay. Emotionally I've really struggled with the baby blues this week, especially in the last couple of days at home but hopefully that will settle down again soon.

Here's a few photos of our first week:

Just born, following some skin to skin and getting ready to go to the NICU to get his antibiotics.

Little man being weighed - he looks incredibly long here!

A close up when Daddy came to visit and got to hold Finley for the first time.

A photo from Aunty Amy who put Oscar to bed on his first night as a big brother.

The next day we got to see his eyes for the first time, it's only a tiny bit terrifying.

Phototherapy blanket, albeit only for an hour as his blood results turned out lower than expected.

Poor little monkey with his cannula in.

A teeny tiny baby burrito in the middle of the night keeping Mummy company while she was having a bad day wanting to go home and missing Oscar.

Actual phototherapy for about 18 hours with a dummy that's almost as big as his face.

Wide awake and waiting to be discharged.

On our way home from the hospital after five very long days!

Safely home and waiting for Daddy to fetch his big brother from nursery.

My boys meeting for the first time <3

Bonding right away over a shared blanket.

Looking super teeny tiny in his crib, so much so that we put him in it sideways.

Finley's first trip to the park, albeit a short one.