Baby Update - 43 weeks old

Age:  43 weeks... a day late again, someone hates sleep.

Weight: He was due to be weighed this week at his Health Visitor review (which was cancelled for another 4 weeks) so I went and got him weight by myself.  He was 8.25 kg or 18 lb 3 oz.  He's almost reached the 25th centile!  His length was 71.5 cm and head circumference was 46.7 cm.

Health: We're still going through it!  His first molar has cut through - 9 teeth before he's 10 months old, crazy!  His reflux seemed to be really troubling him at night, including waking up to vomit, so we've been giving him Gaviscon before bed which seemed to help a bit.  He also has a cold now so he's struggling to sleep because he can't breathe properly.  We've been managing him as best we can but he's rather grumpy.  The Health Visitor who weighed him spotted the eczema on his cheeks and said we ought to see the doctor - I've been mentioning it to doctors and Health Visitors for months and they've always told me it's nothing to worry about!  We've managed to get an appointment next Friday for his reflux and eczema.

Feeding: He's been wanting a bit more milk, probably to soothe the discomfort from the reflux, but still eating solids relatively well.  He's eating more solids now than the last few weeks but that might be because I'm sticking to relatively safe foods - my meal plan has gone out of the window because it's rare I get any time when he's asleep to do anything and it ends up being taken up cleaning, eating, cooking, showering, sorting out stuff for my potential business or doing my blog.

Sleep: We've relatively stuck to the 6 pm bedtime, a little later if he's had a late nap and it's certainly not made things any worse.  Whatever time he goes to bed he seems to be up at 6, the last couple of nights he's not managed to get to sleep until around 9 pm and still been up (happily) at 6.  The Gaviscon did give me a bit of respite from his constant feeding for a night or so but then he got this stupid cold.  It's hard to judge because a lot of the time I deal with him without properly waking up or looking at the time.  Often on the nights I think have been the worst my Fitbit tells me I've barely moved in the night and nights like last night, where I thought I'd only fed him twice, I was apparently moving so much it thought I was awake for a solid 3 hours!  The Fitbit isn't very reliable for sleep because it doesn't have a heart monitor so it just goes on movement which means I could be moving but asleep or awake but lying still. 

Routine: We started to get in a reasonable routine for 2 days then the reflux started keeping him awake, then he got the cold so we're basically just trying to follow his lead and get him as much rest as possible for now.

Likes/dislikes:  He absolutely detests anything that involves keeping him still: nappy changes, getting dressed, wiping his hands/face, putting him in his car seat.  He loves being thrown around and tipped upsidedown.  

Firsts:  First molar.  First August bank holiday animal trip (it's a tradition of ours).     

Milestones:  He's trying hard to stand by himself and getting quite brave.  He's getting better and clambering over obstacles or moving things out of his way to get to where he wants to go.  He's cut his first molar this week too, probably when we had a couple of nights of screamy wake ups.  

Things we did: On Friday ALS' parents came to visit.  On Saturday morning we went swimming then we had some friends round for pizza and to watch movies (Sharknado 6 and Jurassic Games... classics).  On Monday, as it was Bank Holiday, we went to White Post Farm.  I loved it there as a kid and it was wonderful to take OJ.  ALS and I accidentally fell into a tradition of going to some sort of animal attraction on August bank holiday weekend from the first year we got together so it was nice to have our first one as a family of 3!  We've done lots of walking this week - on Tuesday morning we walked to get OJ weighed then in the afternoon went for another little walk, on Wednesday morning we walked to the hospital for my blood tests then walked to playgroup in the afternoon and this morning we walked to a cafe near town for my business meeting with the lady from the Princes Trust.

Me: I got my blood test results back today and they're all okay so I've got a phone consultation with the doctor next Friday.  I'm pretty sure I'm starting to catch OJ's cold which is annoying as hell.  I'm working hard on trying to get my business set up so that I can work from home and have been busy applying to agencies for freelancing and writing up my business plan.  Hopefully the Princes Trust are going to provide me with a small grant to get a foot pedal and the software that I need for the audio dictation.  I'm really keen to get cracking but when OJ refuses to sleep it's hard to get anything done!

42 weeks 1 day - 2 years ago we were knee deep in stims ready for egg collection and now we have this little squishy face!

42 weeks 1 day - still not feeling himself and wanting lots of snuggles.

42 weeks 1 day - bedtime and the third successful put down of the day after 2 good naps!

42 weeks 2 days - the kid LOVES berries.

42 weeks 3 days - leftover pizza from having our friends over, comparison to illustrate just how big Costco pizzas are.  18 inch five cheese pizza for £8.95.  WIN.

42 weeks 4 days - little man squealing his little head off in excitement at the animals!

42 weeks 4 days - "Hmmm... can I eat them?"

42 weeks 5 days - he loves breaking things (ripping up paper, snapping breadsticks etc.) but then he tried to eat the paper so we swiftly cleared it away.

42 weeks 5 days - kid loves a good pear!

42 weeks 6 days - wrapped up all snug on the walk to the hospital, thank goodness the weather has cooled down.

42 weeks 6 days - look at that cheeky grin!  He's the spitting image of baby me here, I can see why he gets mistaken for a girl, although I used to get mistaken for a boy.

42 weeks 6 days - napping on mummy which is a rarity these days, he started with the sneezes a few hours after this!

42 weeks 6 days - munching away!

42 weeks 6 days - finally asleep after 2 and a half hours of feeding, walking, rocking, singing my way through Andrew Lloyd Webber's back catalogue (with a few Disney songs too).  Gaviscon seemed to do the trick in the end.  I didn't realise he had a cold at this point, until he woke up all snotty 2 hours later.

43 weeks - still trying to steal my food but the poor little man is full of cold, so we watched Moana.

43 weeks - napping while mummy works on her business plan and drinks hot chocolate!

43 weeks - slept for 20 minutes then woke up screaming, he was drifting off on the sofa while I tidied up then daddy came home and he started flapping!

43 weeks - still awake, watching Blue Planet with mummy.

I came across this the other day and realised that I hadn't been sharing pictures of our faces and I decided it was too nice not to share.  This was 3rd July so OJ would have been just over 8 months.  He was asleep with me, ALS came to bed and OJ rolled over and snuggled up to his daddy.  It was such a beautiful moment and so nice to get a family photo of all 3 of us for once!

Baby Update - 28 weeks

Age:  28 weeks (and actually posted on time)!

Weight: He's due to be weighed again at his hospital appointment tomorrow but he seems to be growing by the day - I reckon he's around 16 lb now.

Health: He has really struggled with his reflux this week which I think is due to him putting weight on and growing out of his medicine so hopefully they'll increase the dose tomorrow when we see the Paediatrician.  Otherwise he's not having too many issues other than a lot of wind over night.  

Feeding: We're noticing that he likes orange food - his favourite vegetables are carrot, sweet potato and butternut squash, although he's rather fond of broccoli too.  I've started giving him proper meals this week instead of just little bits and bobs so he's had pasta with meatballs, fishcakes, chicken and potato wedges etc.  He seems to be a bit like a snake - he'll have a day where he eats loads of everything and then a day where he's not really bothered about food at all.  I'm amazed how well he's doing and every week he gets better and better at feeding himself, even his spoon skills are really coming on.

Sleep: With the weather being so hot he's been quite sleepy during the day which has somewhat impacted on his sleep at night, along with his wind being an issue.  Sleep is pretty average at the moment I'd say.

Routine: He had got himself into a good routine with naps but as mentioned above the heat has kind of messed him up a bit as he seems tireder than usual (although this could also be a growth spurt or his teeth).  We just let him lead the way most of the time.

Likes/dislikes:  He loves standing up and is happiest when he's on his feet, although he obviously has to be supported.  He really enjoys playing around with his food and especially seems to like throwing spoons at me!  He's gone back to screaming his head off in the car so we think it is definitely reflux related - either that or I jinxed it last week when I said he'd been much better.  It seems to come in waves and he'll be fine for a few minutes, then scream, then go back to smiling.

Firsts:  FIRST WORD - it was "mama" and I'm VERY excited about it.  Lots of first foods again and yesterday we had his first picnic at the park with my aunty, uncle and the children they childmind.  He had his first experience of eating in a restaurant too!

Milestones:  He said "mama", over and over again.  I'm very excited but daddy is a little peeved haha!  He's also started standing up when holding onto furniture.  He's not quite learned to pull himself up yet but I suspect that's mostly because we don't really have anything of an appropriate height for him to practice on and he's still not in a cot with bars.

Things we did: At the weekend we went for a meal for ALS' stepbrother's birthday which was lovely spending time with the family and being able to feed OJ off our plates too.  We've been for lots of nice walks and swimming of course.  Yesterday OJ and I met my aunty and uncle at the park with the children they look after and had a picnic.  

Me: I seem to be having a few anxiety issues this week and constantly worrying that I've upset people or that they've fallen out with me (not that I've voiced any of this to anyone).  I've got a deadlift competition on Saturday which I'm really regretting signing up for but I'm sure it'll be fine once I'm there.  ALS' cousin had a little boy this week and seeing the photos was an odd experience for me - for the first time it didn't make me broody but it made my heart ache with how much I missed my tiny baby.  I'm so proud of OJ and how well he's developing, but I miss his tiny squishy face and how happy he was to just snuggle all the time.  I'm definitely making my peace with just having the one baby for now though.  I was originally itching to get onto having a second within a year or two but now I'm happy to just enjoy OJ and put all my energy into him.  I think I'd feel guilty having to split my attention, plus it's really hard work and I don't know that I'd cope with another newborn until he's a bit older (maybe if I got one without reflux...).

27 weeks 1 day - loves a bit of broccoli!

27 weeks 2 days - bit of a telly addict.

27 weeks 2 days - refusing to sleep so watching anime with mummy and daddy whilst eating his sleeping bag.

27 weeks 3 days - making new friends whilst out for a meal (I stole this from our friend's Facebook).

27 weeks 3 days - look at him lying on his little pudgy arm!

27 weeks 4 days - raspberry carnage, they ended up EVERYWHERE!

27 weeks 4 days - lazy afternoon snuggles with mummy.

27 weeks 5 days - this is his "I've just woken up, leave me alone" face.

27 weeks 5 days - demolishing his pearsicle, this kid LOVES pear.

27 weeks 5 days - eating cauliflower and mesmerised by a tree blowing in the wind outside.

27 weeks 6 days - fell asleep just as we were about to head to the park.

27 weeks 6 days - standing up like a pro, closely watched by daddy.

27 weeks 6 days - boy after my own heart, straight for the Pringles tub... it was empty as I'd demolished them haha!

28 weeks - this is him right now, flat out next to me on the sofa.

Baby Update - 23 weeks

Age:  23 weeks

Weight: He ended up being weighed in A&E on Saturday night at 22+2 and was 6.36 kg (14 lb) so he's finally hit a stone and had put half a pound on in just under 2 weeks!  It's great to know that even whilst I've been on dairy he's continued his weight gain.

Health: I'm adding this as a new section because we keep running into problems and this is the easiest place for me to keep an accurate record of what's going on.  Last Friday our GP increased his ranitidine to the maximum dose for his weight and asked us to give it a week to see how he got on.  Unfortunately on Saturday night he has a really nasty choking episode, completely unprovoked, and ended up struggling with his breathing.  We called 111 who sent us to A&E - I cannot praise them enough as we were seen and dealt with in under 2 hours thanks to a dedicated Children's A&E at our local hospital.  They added Gaviscon in alongside his ranitidine and asked me to give it a few days to see the effect then come off dairy again.  Unfortunately we can't get him to take the Gaviscon so the GP advised us to leave it and just wait for the hospital appointment next month.  He's been super uncomfortable for about an hour before pooping and pooping every couple of hours, his skin has really flared up with the eczema spreading and he's congested, coughing and generally unhappy.  He's really uncomfortable on his back now too, to the point where even changing his nappy is hard because he's writhing around and gagging.  This seems to have coincided with an increase in my dairy intake over Easter so hopefully now I'm off dairy again (as of tomorrow) he will feel better.  Roll on 15th May because I'm sick of seeing him suffering all the time and we seem to be getting nowhere - I feel like the GP isn't taking me seriously because he is always happy when we see her - typical!

Feeding: He's coughing a lot during feeding and still wanting to feed very regularly, especially at night.  He definitely feeds for comfort too so hopefully when his reflux is better he won't need to feed so often.  He seems to really be ready for weaning so I'm excited to get started - for now I'm giving him a sippy cup with a little water in and a spoon to play with in his highchair whilst I eat my dinner - he ends up soaked but he really enjoys it!

Sleep: Sleep is shocking - he's rarely going more than 2 hours and by 3 am he's awake every hour.  Even if I put him in our bed he is fidgety and uncomfortable so neither of us sleep well.  He's waking up coughing or being sick at night, he's congested and snoring and just generally unsettled.  However, I have been getting him to nap longer than 30 minutes in the day by gently rousing him a little after 25 minutes to interrupt his sleep cycle and get him into a deeper sleep - a tip I picked up from the IVF/mummy community on Instagram!

Routine: Mostly just trying to get through the days/nights without losing my mind and counting the minutes til daddy comes home so we can parent together.  I often can't wait for daddy to take over so I can have a bath but in half an hour I'm missing my baby and head back, it's just nice to have the adult company too.

Likes/dislikes:  He's turning into a proper gigglebum and loves simple things like you blowing gently on his face, the anticipation is hilarious to him too!  He's hating nappy changes at the moment because he's so uncomfortable and obviously doesn't understand that the more he wriggles the longer it takes.

Firsts:  First time going to a playcentre and trying a Jumperoo - they aren't good for baby's walking development if you use them a lot but a few minutes on an odd occasion is fun.  First A&E trip which is a big one!

Milestones: He's finally moved into 3-6 month clothes in the last few days - although they're still a bit big! It's always great putting him in new cute outfits for the first time.

Things we did: We had a productive weekend doing stuff around the house and seeing some friends with their kids at a soft play centre.  I've been using the evenings to read up on weaning and plan the first couple of weeks.  Today we went out for lunch with my mum and grandparents too. At home we are working hard on sitting/rolling and doing lots of story/song time.

Me: I mostly just look like an extra from The Walking Dead and I'm pretty tired.  I have a really short fuse at the moment, maybe because I use all my patience dealing with OJ so I have none left for anyone else.  Thankfully ALS is wonderful, both as a father and husband, so I'm incredibly lucky!

22 weeks 1 day - flipped himself over on my lap and headed straight for daddy's Easter egg!

22 weeks 2 days - playing with his toys while we got some pictures up on the wall.

22 weeks 2 days - just after being discharged from A&E, waiting for his medicine.

22 weeks 3 days - could he look any more fed up?

22 weeks 4 days - replaced myself with cushions so I could get some food!

22 weeks 5 days - first 3-6 month outfit, how cute?!

22 weeks 5 days - I just love those little cheeks <3

22 weeks 5 days - a rare sight of him sleeping in his Moses basket!

22 weeks 5 days - everyone was sleeping (although the camera woke the cats) so I got a hot meal, miracles do happen.  NB. OJ woke up 3 mouthfuls in so I had to eat quickly but I'm still counting it as a win!

22 weeks 6 days - rocking his little Star Wars jumper!

23 weeks - little dungarees which lasted approximately 30 minutes before he pooped on them... this doesn't even look like him!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today I have celebrated my very first Mother's Day as an actual mother and I couldn't be more grateful.

However, it has been one hell of a challenging day. Due to a mix up with OJ's prescription and the GP surgery being shut over the weekend we are having to make his medication last longer than it should so he's just having a dose before bed instead of 3 doses a day. I'm not sure if it's coincidence or not but he's been really unsettled all day today.

He's been drooling constantly, had a lot of hiccups and wind, we've had no less than 8 poo explosions, he's been a lot more sick than normal and he's wanted to feed almost constantly. It sounds a bit like teething but I can't see any sign of sore gums. We were at a friend's house this evening and he was starting to get really fussy so we decided to head home (a 30 minute drive).

Almost as soon as we got him in the car he started screaming in what sounded like pain so we stopped in a nearby pub car park and I tried to feed him - for the first time ever he refused the boob. I've never seen him so distressed that a boob can't fix it! He isn't a fan of the car at the best of times so we knew we needed to calm him down. We bundled him up in blankets and walked around the car park with him holding him on his front, which normally helps with his reflux and wind, but he still seemed to be uncomfortable, whimpering rather than screaming.

We decided to pop him in his pram to see if a walk might send him to sleep and headed towards the nearest Tesco to see if we could get some Calpol - my logic was that, even if it was reflux making him uncomfortable, the Calpol might help with the pain. He screamed blue murder as soon as we put him down in the pram so ALS carried (holding him on his front) him the whole way and by the time we got there he had calmed down enough for ALS to turn him over onto his back and give him the Calpol. We finally got a little smile out of him so ALS kept him lay that way and carried him back to the car. Just before we got back he fell asleep and with the help of some white noise, very careful movement and ALS' finger being used as a pacified we managed to get him back in the car and he slept the rest of the way home. He woke up in a slightly better mood and after a nice relaxing bath and a hearty feed he's snuggled up asleep on my chest.

Parenting is tough, especially when you don't really know what's wrong or what to do but we stayed calm, worked as a team and figured out a plan. I'm incredibly proud of how we handled things tonight and, although it hasn't been the smoothest sailing, I've loved my first Mother's Day as a mummy.

Here's to all the wonderful mums out there and a special thought to those who are still waiting for their miracle!

Sometimes it's hard...

So far parenting has been pretty smooth sailing for us and we're incredibly grateful for that but the last 2 days have been incredibly challenging.

We've suspected OJ has reflux for a while now and we took him to the GP a couple of weeks ago. However, as he was gaining weight well and not too bothered by the reflux, they decided not to treat it. Over the last week or so it has become a far bigger problem in terms of keeping him awake at night and making it impossible to put him down on his back. I mentioned it to the Health Visitor, along with showing her a recording of the horrible sounds he makes when he's laid flat. She confirmed it sounded like reflux and told me to go back to the GP, especially as his weight gain is on the lower end of normal. We are also at the hospital on Monday to see about his tongue tie.

I couldn't get an appointment with the GP on Friday as it was lunchtime by the time the Health Visitor had left so we have to wait until Monday. It's now Sunday evening and we've had an incredibly testing couple of days as OJ has appeared to be in a lot of pain and discomfort, presumably with the reflux. He's been very hard to settle and we are even finding feeding difficult as he's clearly uncomfortable and fidgety. Fortunately ALS has been around with it being the weekend and he's been wonderfully supportive to both myself and OJ.

We are very lucky that it's taken us 6 weeks to experience a particularly bad day or two but I just thought I'd share that it's never all plain sailing.