Baby Update - 46 weeks old

Age:  46 weeks (posted a day late because we were super busy buying a car yesterday!!)

Weight: He is due to be weighed next week.

Health: We had a horrendous weekend again due to teething - he had a 40 degree fever, lots of middle of the night screaming fits and now has his second molar at the top.  He also seems to be cutting at least one of his bottom canines, but it's hard to get a look. He seems to have calmed down but he's still struggling with reflux (little foamy vomits) and generally quite cranky.  He also fell and hit his head on the TV stand earlier so he has yet another bump!

Feeding: He's been really off his food for the last few days with the teething so he's had quite a bit more milk.  This evening he polished off a whole fish fillet, some sweet potato wedges, broccoli, peas and grapes so his appetite seems to be coming back.  He drinks water quite well now too, although tonight he learned how to spurt it out of his mouth which he thought was hilarious!

Sleep: We've had some horrendous nights with his teeth and last night he woke up with a randomly really blocked nose.  He's been struggling to fall asleep at night, especially last night as we were out all afternoon at dinner then the car dealership (and he was stuck in his pushchair/highchair).  After he woke up with his blocked nose last night he fell asleep between us, snuggled up to ALS which is a first!  I can definitely see the attachment between them getting stronger - previously he's only seen ALS as a play mate and didn't seek comfort from him but that's changing and I'm sure it'll get even stronger when I'm back at work and they're alone together more.

Routine: Out of the window again!

Likes/dislikes:  He loves running water - he'll get really excited if he can see the shower running.  He also likes watching people hoovering or mowing the lawn.  He loves books and ripping paper up (not the books, we don't allow that).  He's starting to get quite affectionate too, but only on his terms, and will come and put his arms around my neck/snuggle into my chest, which is adorable.  He doesn't like being restrained in any way unless he's thoroughly entertained and has started having mini tantrums when I shut the living room door so he can't chase after the cats/get up to general mischief.  

Firsts:  First time falling asleep snuggled up to daddy in bed, even though mummy was there.    

Milestones:  He seems to be starting to understand when clapping is relevant and claps when I sing or when he hears music being played.  He's getting better at standing unassisted for a good few seconds, usually while clapping.  

Things we did: On Saturday we had a long walk to the park in the morning and had a play on the swings then daddy picked us up on his way home from work.  On Sunday one of our friends came over (to try and help him recover from a break up) and the temperature/teething issues started.  Monday and Tuesday were mostly just lazy, grumpy days.  On Wednesday we went to Once Upon a Rhyme - it's really reassuring to see that as soon as we get there he just crawls off and interacts with absolutely anyone.  Today we went for lunch with my mum and grandparents then went to Toyota and bought ourselves a second car ready for when I go back to work - it's our first "new" car although it's a few years old and we got it on finance.  It's a hybrid and I'm super excited about it but we don't collect it until next Friday, boo!

Me: I decided to get back to some exercise and thought I'd try running - saves time travelling to the gym, means I can freeze my gym membership to save some money now I'm not getting maternity pay and is quick and easy to do.  I went for a run on Saturday afternoon and managed about 2.3 km in 18 minutes (mostly jogging with a little walking every so often), not bad for a first attempt.  However, since then I've not been able to get out with busy days and OJ teething.  I'm hoping to get out again at the weekend.  Otherwise I'm just super excited about the car!  I've heard back from one of the agencies that I want to freelance with and they sent me all their tests to pass to work with them which I've completed so I'm just waiting to hear back - fingers crossed.

45 weeks 2 days - I thought the park would be quiet at 9 am on a Saturday... I was wrong!  We got caught up in Parkrun, which made me feel a tiny bit guilty about the fact that I was walking around eating a Crunchie for second breakfast.

45 weeks 2 days - sometimes I wonder whether we moved to the right area as we're in Derby but still quite far away from family, then I sit in beautiful places like this listening to the river and watching the baby sleep and realise that having this on the doorstep is the perfect location - yes, I was also playing Jurassic World Alive but that's beside the point.

45 weeks 2 days - looking super chill on the swings. 

45 weeks 3 days - woke up screaming with his teeth around midnight and nothing would settle him except a boobsicle.

45 weeks 4 days - look at that little squishy face, I've noticed he's asleep in most of the photos I take, mostly because he's never still enough otherwise!

45 weeks 4 days - poor teething baby with a temperature.

45 weeks 4 days - trapped but perfectly happy.

45 weeks 4 days - look at the little monkey starfishing in my spot!

45 weeks 5 days - too tired to sit up but wants to play with the TV remote.

45 weeks 5 days - trying to eat a packet of tissues like a little weirdo.

45 weeks 5 days - I wanted ALS to be nearby at bedtime so OJ gets used to it so he snuggled up on the opposite side of him.  Apparently Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sends them both to sleep!!

45 weeks 6 days - absolutely shattered after play group, this is the first time he's fallen asleep feeding in my arms in ages.

45 weeks 6 days - isn't he just the most precious thing you've ever seen? We call him "pecious" without the "r".  I don't know why...

46 weeks - buying cars is tiring work (the system crashed and we were there for 2.5 hours), not long after this he fell asleep on my shoulder.

46 weeks - not impressed to be on the bus on the way home after being confined to a highchair or pushchair all afternoon - we were at Toyota for so long ALS had to go to work so we had to make our own way home which involved a long walk then a bus journey.

46 weeks - bribed him with a biscuit on the bus!

Baby Update - 45 weeks

Age:  45 weeks

Weight: He won't be weighed until his HV review on 25th Sept.

Health: The GP decided she would like to wait a few weeks to see if his reflux improved on its own before trying his medication again.  It's a bit up and down at the moment but we're still giving him a half dose of Gaviscon before bed - the one night he didn't have it he woke up 3 times in the first hour then refused to sleep until 9 pm.  However, he then slept through until 2 am so who knows what that was all about.  He's been given some Zerobase to try and improve the eczema on his face but I'm yet to see any improvement.

Feeding: He's been wanting a little more milk during the day lately, possibly due to the reflux making him a little uncomfortable, but that's not a problem.  He drinks water quite well too with his meals.  He's doing really well with his solids and eats pretty much anything we give him, although some days he's pickier than others.

Sleep: We've had a couple of nights where he's gone down well and actually slept for a couple of hours before needing my intervention, although he's often fidgety.  However, on the flip side of that, he's been awake at 5:30 am a few mornings this week and we had one night where he was up for an hour or two at 1:30 am.  It's not been the worst week and naps have been quite good generally; he had a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning!  ALS is back in bed with us now that it's cooled down and his back is better which is nice.

Routine: We're trying hard to work with the 2, 3, 4 nap/bed routine which seems to be the only routine that even remotely works for us.  We're not sticking to it rigidly and it doesn't always work but it's a nice framework to work with. 

Likes/dislikes:  He's really enjoying his push walker at the moment.  He likes stealing people's food or eating anything he finds on the carpet!  He loves climbing as much as he can too.  He doesn't like being taken away from something or not being allowed to grab the cats.  He loves splashing around in the bath but bath time is getting hard to do by myself as he insists on trying to stand and it's hard to keep him from slipping over.

Firsts:  First steps with his push walker!     

Milestones:  His development is really flying at the moment.  This week he just decided to stand up with his push walker and toddle off with it - previously he'd not been interested and just wanted to reach through and play with the toys on the front.  I also opened the stairgate for him and he climbed the stairs from bottom to top, obviously under supervision.

Things we did: On Friday we had the doctor's appointment then walked into town to meet ALS after work (and had a McDonald's breakfast).  On Saturday we went to visit some friends where we used to live for their daughter's third birthday and also visited ALS' grandparents and my mum/grandparents.  On Sunday we went and met ALS' step-brother with his wife and our little nephew at the local park for a catch up.  I was always very excited that we were pregnant together and our little ones would grow up close but we barely see them unfortunately as they're very busy people.  On Monday it was our first swimming lesson of the term which OJ seemed to enjoy a lot more than the last few of the summer term, he's really getting into water play at the moment.  The last couple of days have just been about chilling at home, organising more of the house, going for little walks and general playing, although ALS' parents did come and visit today.

Me: The GP said there might have been a sign of infection in my urine but she thinks it was a contaminant.  I've got to go back in a few weeks to have my weight and urine rechecked so we can make a plan from there.  In terms of business I'm not having much luck applying for work with agencies as nobody is getting back to me!

44 weeks 1 day - 4 am wake up call got us feeling like this by half 5

44 weeks 1 day - quick nap before the doctors, for both of us.

44 weeks 1 day - he wasn't as unimpressed as he looks, honest!

44 weeks 1 day - finally asleep after a super long bout of hiccups, poor baby.

44 weeks 1 day - he started off in his cot and this is where he ended up, didn't feel like leaving any space for me!

44 weeks 2 days - trying to get a nice selfie is hard.

44 weeks 2 days - daddy's camera and photography skills are awesome, look how cute he is at our friend's daughter's birthday party!

44 weeks 2 days - nighttime snuggies to settle him back to sleep (I made ALS come with me because we'd been watching IT and I was scared to go upstairs alone haha).

44 week 3 days - daddy's camera again, at the park this time.

44 weeks 3 days - kid LOVES berries.

44 weeks 4 days - back to mummy's rubbish camera... that's not how you're meant to use a dummy!

44 weeks 6 days - trying to climb up our paperwork boxes.

44 weeks 6 days - tiny snuggles <3

Baby Update - 44 week update

Age:  44 weeks

Weight: It will be a while before he's weighed again.

Health: We've had a tough week with him being full of cold but he's finally starting to get back to his normal self, although I'm not convinced he's not teething AGAIN.  We're at the doctors tomorrow to discuss his reflux but I've been giving him a dose of Gaviscon before bed and it seems to have helped.  It doesn't bother him too much during the day other than the occasional bout of hiccups.  

Feeding: He's been eating really well, trying new foods and things that he'd previously refused and is even eating meat well now.  I was kind of hoping he wouldn't really enjoy meat so I didn't have to cook it haha!  He still likes plenty of milk before sleep (both naps and bedtime) but he rarely wants it during the day otherwise.

Sleep: With the cold he's had some really unsettled sleep, often waking up after half an hour of lying down and being too congested to sleep.  We've also had a few nights where he's been awake for a couple of hours in the very early hours.  Last night he slept 6pm-6:15am (obviously with a few wake ups for milk) after 1.5 sachets of Gaviscon so tonight I've given him the full dose of 2 sachets.  It was probably coincidence though!  He's struggled to nap because of the congestion so he's had lots of pushchair or sofa naps.  Today we managed 2 naps in bed and he went down easily both times, with the 2, 3, 4 method.  However, his second nap was only 45 minutes and he was awake earlier than I'd like so he was tired too early tonight.  I managed to drag him out until just before 6 and he woke up after half an hour but went back down.  He wakes up EVERY night 30-45 minutes after going to bed before, sometimes, sleeping longer stretches.  It's always that first sleep cycle that's an issue, which is the same with naps too, but less so if I'm there to shush him when he first stirs.  I'm not sure whether to just see if it improves or try and stay with him until he's woken up and settled again in the hope that he gets used to staying asleep longer.

Routine: Pffft.

Likes/dislikes:  He loves crawling off and being chased.  He also really likes watching us vacuum or mow the lawn!  He isn't a fan of new people at the moment, particularly men.  He's rather addicted to the TV and his dummy, both of which we started cutting out until he got poorly so will have to start again!

Firsts:  First proper cold.   

Milestones:  He's 10 months old now and it's 2 years since he was conceived!  He has started clapping this week and now claps at EVERYTHING.  He's starting to get better at "lift-the-flap" books and can open the flaps in all directions now, rather than just the ones that are like turning a page.  He's very confident cruising around and tries to climb anything he can get his leg up to.

Things we did: As we've both been full of cold we haven't done much of anything this week.  Yesterday my dad came to visit for the afternoon and today I had another meeting with the Princes Trust which OJ joined me at.  The highlight of the week was definitely spending Monday afternoon visiting show homes that we definitely can't afford... it's one of my favourite pastimes.  It also motivated us to get our house in order so we've done a lot of cleaning, clearing and de-cluttering!

Me: I've had a cold for almost a week and it has now turned into a cough.  I do a lot of walking at the moment but, other than that, I can't remember the last time I did any exercise - it was before I had the last cold which was about 6 weeks ago!  I'm working hard on my business plan and contacting companies, it's just time consuming waiting for them to get back to me before I can apply for the next one.

43 weeks 1 day - poorly boy having mummy snuggles in the morning.

43 weeks 1 day - sofa nap for my little snuffly babe.

43 weeks 1 day - refusing to sleep but very excited to be ripping up bits of toilet roll!

43 weeks 2 days - watching daddy mowing the lawn.

43 weeks 3 days - "helping" mummy with the washing!

44 weeks - 10 month growth photo which took 2 separate sets of photos, moving to the floor before he lunged off the sofa and a biscuity bribe to sit still!  I've posted some of my favourite outtakes below because they're just too cute.

He looks like he's backing away from a monster!

Throwing the ball to doggy!

Having a little chew on doggy.

The start of a series of 3, nothing untoward until you blink...

... and he gets closer.  Blink again...

...and this happens!  It's like something out of a horror movie but a super cute one.

"Haven't you finished taking photos yet?"

"Seriously... get a move on!"

Just look at that face <3

43 weeks 4 days - yet another sofa nap, lots of nap photos this week!

43 weeks 5 days - napping outside in the fresh air.

43 weeks 6 days - normally he hates nappy changes and won't lie still but an episode of Billy & Bambam had him entranced, because he was tired, so he stayed there for a good few minutes after I was done.

43 weeks 6 days - had to go for a walk to get him to sleep so that I could cut his nails before he took someone's eye out!

44 weeks - enjoying a nice walk and looking like a bit of a thug haha!

Baby Update - 42 weeks old

Age:  42 weeks, posted a day late because let's face it I'm just unreliable!

Weight: I wasn't going to get him weighed until his Health Visitor review next week but we ended up in A&E again at the weekend so they weighed him and he was around 8.2 kg (he wouldn't sit still enough for an entirely accurate reading) but that puts him at almost 18 lb exactly!  If that is accurate that means he's put on 1 lb 6 oz in just over 4 weeks which is AMAZING and the most he's ever put on in a month, despite the fact that weight gain usually slows down at this age.  He's definitely getting chunkier and growing taller too.

Health: The poor little man has really been through the ringer this week.  He woke up with a temperature pf 38.5 on Saturday and was really clingy, sleepy and cuddly (which is NOT like him at all).  He kept letting out little high pitched noises which sounded like he was in pain so we gave him some Calpol.  The Calpol took an hour to bring his temperature down to 37.5 but within 2 hours it was back up to 38.6 and he was really lethargic and breathing really fast.  I rang 111 for some advice and they arranged an appointment at the Urgent Care Centre just before 5pm.  When we saw the nurse his temperature was 39 and by the time we saw the doctor 10 minutes later it had gone up to 39.9!  They gave him some Calpol and left it half an hour to work but it only brought his temperature down to 38.6 which was concerning to them.  The doctor thought he might have some crackles on his chest so he offered us either a 2 week course of antibiotics or asked us to go to A&E.  I was pretty sure it wasn't a chest issue as he had no symptoms of a chest infection so we opted to go to A&E and they confirmed that his chest was fine but were concerned about his temperature.  They gave him some ibuprofen along with the Calpol and eventually it came down and he perked up so we were allowed home.  They expected him to get ill over the next 48 hours but he doesn't seem to have had an infection or virus.  However, on the Sunday and Monday nights he woke up screaming with what seemed like teething issues and settled with teething gel and Calpol.  Yesterday he started spitting up in a reflux-y manner again (7 times after dinner/milk).  We think it's all down to teething, although I'd be surprised if it had caused a temperature that high.  He seems to have a top molar coming through... poor kid really isn't getting a break from these teeth but at least we're getting them all out of the way early I guess. This afternoon he's seemed to be teething again and lay on me cuddling for around half an hour which is unheard of, normally I'm lucky if I get 2 seconds of cuddles!

Feeding: Food has been much the same, rather hit and miss.  He's wanted a bit more milk so I'm just following his lead.  He still eats well at breakfast and then usually eats well at dinner.  By 9 months they are meant to have snacks too but honestly I don't think he'd eat anything at mealtimes if I introduced snacks - lunch is usually the time he doesn't eat much at all and I'm guessing it's because he's not hungry, as it doesn't seem to matter what food he has.  I'm not at all concerned as he's putting plenty of weight on so I'm just going to continue to offer a healthy variety of foods, breastfeed on demand and let him guide me.

Sleep: I've done a LOT of reading about sleep this week.  We've decided to parent him to sleep rather than putting him down to sleep and are happy to continue to feed/rock him to sleep as long as necessary.  Unfortunately ALS works evenings so is rarely around to help which means feeding is the primary association and makes it hard for ALS to help out even when he is here.  We've moved the bedroom around AGAIN so the cot is against the wall, on the lowest setting with one side removed and our mattress is on the floor pushed up against it making one big bed.  ALS is now back in the bedroom and the weather has finally cooled down.  We had a couple of rough nights where it was hot again and ALS thought it might have been his presence but last night was a little better.  Today we've started following a new nap routine whereby he goes for a nap 2 hours after waking, then again 3 hours after waking from the first nap then bedtime 4 hours after waking from the second nap.  He was up at 6, napped from 8:15-10, napped from 1:15-2ish and then has gone down to bed happily at 6.  He doesn't normally go to bed until 7 but he's often tired earlier (last time we tried an earlier bedtime he was up at 3 am so we usually try to stretch him out until 7) so hopefully he won't be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow!  I'm hoping this works as I'd been trying to find a pattern in the times he slept rather than the length of waking, which hadn't worked as he gets up at a different time every morning and therefore naps at different times etc.

Routine: If the above plan works, which I'd like to be hopeful about but I know OJ has his own agenda normally, he will get up around 6, breakfast at 7, nap at 8, lunch at 11:30-12, nap at 1-2, dinner at 4:30 and bed at 6.  I'd rather him go to sleep at 7 and wake up at 7 if he's going to do 12 hours so I'll be taking advantage of the clocks going back in October to hopefully change his pattern naturally.  However, I'm not expecting him to sleep 12 hours at night, even with wakings, and I am fully expecting today to have been a one off with how easily he went down for his naps and bed.  I'm tempted to stop bathtimes before bed (every other night) and do them in the afternoon instead as he gets really frustrated getting dried and dressed when he's getting tired so it doesn't put him in a good state for bedtime.

Likes/dislikes:  He doesn't like nappy changes any more as they require being still but he does enjoy grabbing his bits whilst you try and change him!  He loves anything that's not meant to be a toy - plastic cups, TV remotes, baby wipes etc.  His current favourite food is peas.  He dislikes being still and is starting to not like strangers or anyone who isn't me, although ALS is still an acceptable substitute most of the time.

Firsts:  First proper soft play experience.  First time being poorly and snuggly all day.   

Milestones:  He's starting to really cruise around the furniture and stooping down to pick up toys.  He's learned how to put his stacking rings onto the stand and also how to drop a ball into a tube and find it underneath.  He's getting vocal at the moment and really sounds like he's trying to communicate, as if his babble actually has meaning, although nothing that sounds like words.  He's in size 4 nappies now as well.

Things we did: On Friday I took him for a long walk around the local park in the morning, but he slept the whole time.  On Saturday he was poorly so we watched the first 2 Jurassic Park movies and then spent most of the late afternoon/evening in Urgent Care and A&E.  On Sunday we went to see our friends at a powerlifting competition but I spent most of it outside walking around with OJ in the pushchair trying to get him to sleep and we left around lunchtime as OJ was clearly still feeling under the weather so we just chilled out for the rest of the day.  On Monday OJ and I went into town for a meeting about benefits to help with childcare.  On Wednesday my mum and grandparents came to visit and then today we took OJ to a soft play centre for an hour or so.

Me: I've been to the doctors this morning regarding the weight loss (I'm now 49.7 kg) and pain in my joints.  My little fingers have been getting stuck and I've been having to bend them manually and I'm also having a lot of neck pain radiating up into my head and down my arm.  I think the neck pain might actually be a trapped nerve as my arm feels weak and I'm struggling to hold OJ in it.  The GP has ordered some blood tests and if they come back normal she will want to investigate the weight loss further as it is quite concerning.  On the job front, I went to discuss benefits to help pay for childcare and ended up managing to get set up on a free course by the Princes Trust to help with starting up my own freelancing typing business so I'm getting on with that in my own time and have a mentor who is going to help me!  I'm feeling generally quite positive at the moment.  I've banned the TV from being on during the day so that OJ and I spent more quality time together (other than 20 minutes in a morning while I get some breakfast) and I'm also keeping my phone out of the way so I'm paying better attention.  Hopefully this will help our relationship, aid his development and maybe give me a better idea of what he wants when he's trying to communicate his needs. 

41 weeks 1 day - our local park is absolutely packed during the school holidays, but not at 9 o'clock in the morning!

41 weeks 2 days - we started the day by falling asleep on mummy whilst watching Jurassic Park.

41 weeks 2 days - then he had another nap on the sofa.

41 weeks 2 days - then he fell asleep on daddy while mummy was making lunch.

41 weeks 2 days - we managed to get a beautiful smile during the hour where the Calpol was working (taken on ALS' new phone, the camera is amazing).

41 weeks 2 days - he quickly went back to feeling rough and just flopped down and fell asleep like this...

41 weeks 2 days - ...so I took him off to bed for a proper nap.

41 weeks 2 days - finally he perked up in A&E after the medicines kicked in but he only wanted to play with the plastic cups, despite there being lots of toys.

41 weeks 2 days - finally at home in bed, fast asleep with his little bum in the air and his nappy sticking out because he was too upset to let me dress him properly when we left A&E.

41 weeks 4 days - waiting for daddy to meet us in the shopping centre and mesmerised by the sensory tubes.

41 weeks 4 days - new books from the library are always popular, especially "That's Not My..." books.

41 weeks 4 days - falling asleep while trying to climb over my legs!

41 weeks 4 days - woke up screaming with his teeth and wanted mummy snuggles.

41 weeks 5 days - that was after 1/4 of a raspberry, he looked a lot worse by the time he'd finished a handful of raspberries and blackberries!

41 weeks 5 days - where has my tiny baby gone?  He looks so grown up in his big boy PJs!

41 weeks 6 days - even the Hulk likes to read sometimes.

41 weeks 6 days - the Hulk also likes to eat his books.

42 weeks - climbing over my baby barricade, nothing is safe nowadays!

42 weeks - super early morning, then nap refusal led to me just plonking him in the pushchair in front of the TV until he fell asleep so I could nap too!

42 weeks - a selection of photos from soft play (again on ALS' new phone), I love the bottom right but I can't help but see how gaunt I look on the bottom left!