Blog Post - 40 weeks old

Age:  40 weeks (posted a day late because our little munchkin refused to sleep last night... and fell off the mattress, oops!)

Weight: He is due to be weighed again next week but we're away - I think we're going to let him go 6 weeks instead of 4 now so it makes it closer to his month birthday so my pictures are more accurate, as there are no concerns with his weight now.

Health: He's had quite watery, itchy eyes over the last week but so have I.  Hopefully it's just a touch of hayfever, rather than any sort of infection.

Feeding: Breakfast is great - we alternate between Cheerios, Shreddies and Oatibix.  We soak them in almond milk and then either let him feed himself or do it with a spoon if we're in a rush.  We were using soy milk but there's some concern that it contributes to infertility in males so we've stopped that.  Otherwise, food is turning into a bit of a disaster; the only things I can guarantee he'll eat are baby snacks (carrot puffs, veggie straws etc.), banana and crackers.  Everything else is really hit and miss, more miss than hit.  I've been ill so I've not been able to work on it much so as of next week we will be back to a meal plan, with a safe food at each meal, and if he doesn't eat the rest then I won't be trying to find something he'll eat.  I'll simply end the meal and he can top up with milk if he needs to until he decides to get more adventurous again.

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty rubbish to be honest.  He's been waking up 10+ times a night some nights and the other night he started the day at 3 am!  Last night was slightly better, hopefully it was the cooler weather that helped as it's meant to stay cool for a week or two.  Now he's figured out how to sit up from lying down he immediately sits up when he wakes up and then can't/won't lie back down himself.  He's an incredibly restless sleeper and will fidget constantly even during naps.  Often he wakes up and it's like he's desperately trying to get comfortable.  Sometimes he manages to get himself back to sleep, sometimes he needs a bit of soothing and often he needs nursing.  I tend to nap with him when he has his morning nap to try and keep my energy levels up.  On the bright side, he is napping a lot better and tends to have 1-2 hours in a morning and 40 minutes-90 minutes in an afternoon.

Routine: Like last week we've been busy visiting nurseries so there's been very little in the way of routine.  He had got really good at going to bed at 7 every night without a battle but the nursery visits have led to some late naps so, between that and him sitting up if he's not completely drowsy, bedtimes have been anywhere between 7 and 9 this week.

Likes/dislikes:  He's really enjoying banging toys together at the moment and looking at books, especially "lift the flap" books.  He likes just emptying his toy box; he usually just chucks the toys out but actually looks at the books.  He loves his pop-up animal toy too!  He will spend far longer playing with toys such as blocks or shape sorters than he will with things that make noises etc. which makes me quite happy.  He's starting to become obsessed with the cats and can often be found making a beeline for their tails, which is getting quite difficult.  He doesn't enjoy being removed from places that he shouldn't be and is not a fan of having his hands and face wiped (but what baby is?).

Firsts:  I don't think we did anything particularly new this week.

Milestones:  He is fully in 6-9 month clothes, now it's cool enough to wear clothes again, although they're a little big.  I put him some pyjama bottoms on tonight, now it's cooled down and as soon as he started crawling they slid down and got caught over his feet!  He's figured out how to flip the switch on his pop up animal toy to make the sheep come out and is working on the others.  He's really confident with his crawling now and can easily get up on to his knees to reach for things higher up too.  He's starting to figure out how to move objects that are in his way rather than trying to go through them.  We moved him into his "big boy" car seat today too.

Things we did: On Saturday we went to one of the summer swim classes then had some friends over for dinner (they were the first people I've actually cooked for other than ourselves) and a movie.  They're going through fertility treatment themselves so we're trying to help as much as we can.  On Sunday we had a relatively lazy day, I went to the gym alone but came pretty much straight home as everything felt stupidly heavy.  On Monday I got ill, which explains a lot!  I've been pretty much just trying to survive for the last 4 days so we've done very little other than visiting nurseries and the things that need doing, such as food shopping.

Me: I'm feeling rather sorry for myself.  On Monday I had serious pains in my legs and a fever of 39.5 degrees, which calmed down by Tuesday and I just felt really lethargic and week.  Yesterday I got a sore throat and today I've woken up with a stinking cold - my throat hurts, I'm congested, my head hurts and I'm generally struggling.  Parenting is hard when you're ill!  I'm also down to 50 kg which is ridiculous, that's 8.5 kg below my pre-pregnancy weight.  I'm having a lot of pain in my little toes and little fingers, feeling like they're coming out of place.  I'm going to try and get in at the doctors tomorrow as I'm wondering if I'm maybe deficient in something.  Otherwise, I'm pretty happy.  We found our nursery and will be registering him next week - I'm genuinely happy about him going there and almost excited for him to start!

39 weeks 2 days - Saturday morning chills, not sure why his legs look so long!

39 weeks 2 days - comfy, kid?

39 weeks 4 days - selfie in the garden, taking advantage of the cooler weather!

39 weeks 4 days - I had plenty of toys out for him but he just wanted to play with the label on the tent!

39 weeks 4 days - chilling and watching telly before bed because mummy was feeling super poorly.

39 weeks 5 days - poorly mummy so I just barricaded him into one area of the living room and let him go wild emptying his toybox, the little angel entertained himself for well over an hour while I lay on the sofa next to him!

39 weeks 5 days - toys all over the living room but he has to crawl under the Moses basket to get to the ONE toy we didn't have out.

39 weeks 5 days - "Do baby led weaning," they said.  "It'll be fun," they said.  All of his favourite foods are sticky (Oatibix, peanut butter, almond butter, banana, cheese spread).

39 weeks 5 days - more garden time on mummy's new picnic blanket!

39 weeks 5 days - feeling the grass.

39 weeks 6 days - looking very proud of himself because he just pulled himself up... with mummy's hair!

39 weeks 6 days - moving into his big boy car seat, he looks like a toddler here and his expression is saying, "Goodness me mother, I could figure it out quicker myself."

39 weeks 6 days - forever trying to escape!

39 weeks 6 days - kid loves books.

40 weeks - big boy pyjamas, they say "Dream of outer space" so clearly he's staring into space dreamily!

Baby Update - 39 weeks old

Age:  39 weeks 

Weight: He won't be weighed again for a couple of weeks - we're away when he's due to be weighed so I might go for 6 weeks instead of 4 between weigh ins so it's closer to when he starts a new month.

Health: These teeth are really giving him some trouble at the moment and he's incredibly dribbly and chompy.  His eczema on his face has flared up and he's been snuffly and coughing too, probably all down to the teeth.

Feeding: Generally things are going well and he eats pretty much anything you give him (including curry last weekend that I did NOT enjoy myself).  Some days he'll reject food that he would normally eat but there's nothing really that he's repeatedly refused.  He's still having a lot of milk throughout the night, although we have had a few nights where he's gone up to 4 hours!

Sleep: Sleep has been both really good and really bad this week.  He's woking up screaming with his teeth a couple of times and we've had a couple of nights where he's fed hourly (or more).  However, we've also had a couple of nights where he's slept in 3-4 hour stints which is a big improvement so we're just trying to stick with it.  It doesn't help that we've been visiting nurseries all week so his naps have been really disrupted.  OJ and I are still on the mattress in the nursery and ALS is on the sofa bed because it's just too hot again for us all to sleep in one room, even when we aren't cosleeping.

Routine: Again, it's been all over the place due to visiting nurseries and will be the same again next week.  Hopefully after that we can get back to some sort of normality.

Likes/dislikes:  He LOVES bananas, he'd live solely on a diet of bananas if we let him.  He loves being on his feet and very much enjoys Billy & Bambam (which is a lifesaver in the car).  He likes making a noise too!  He dislikes the blender and isn't a fan of new people (particularly men) although he's been quite the charmer at the nurseries we've been to visit - I guess they just have that touch!

Firsts:  First curry.  First time looking around nurseries.

Milestones:  He's figured out how to put his shapes into the shape sorter (not the actual shape holes, it has just normal larger holes for practicing).  He doesn't have any words yet but shouts "mamamama" in varying tones to let you know if he's happy, upset, angry etc.

Things we did: On Friday ALS' brother came over so we all spent some time together chilling out.  We also visited a nursery and OJ handled it like a pro - he even stayed with the room leader playing while we looked around, when we got back he didn't even seem excited, just carried on playing!  At the weekend we went to visit our friends who have a baby a couple of weeks older than OJ and went to visit ALS' grandparents.  We also took OJ swimming and bought him a push walker, mostly as we realised we've not bought him any new toys in month so other than the standard (blocks, stacking rings, shape sorter, books) he doesn't have any toys that aren't just baby toys.  

Me: I'm trying to get some muscle and strength back so that next year I can cut down and lose fat without actually dropping my weight any lower.  I'm trying hard to plan my meals to ensure I get lots of protein but making sure I get plenty of calories in to sustain breastfeeding too.  We've visited a few nurseries now, a couple we loved and some we definitely did not and it's generally making me feel a lot better about going back to work.  I've finally got my hours sorted so I'll be working 7:30-3:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  ALS will drop OJ off at nursery/childminder around 8 and pick him up at lunchtime then will go back to work in the evening when I get home.  I always thought I'd want a childminder, given my background, but we're struggling to find anyone with capacity on the days we need and to be honest some of the nurseries have been spectacular.  We have a few more to visit next week then we will make a decision.  I'm also looking into setting up working from home doing freelance typing, starting before I go back to work if possible, to see if it's sustainable so that I can do my 3 months after my maternity leave ends then quit my job (I love it but the commuting/being so far away from OJ is just not practical).

38 weeks 1 day - getting adventurous and trying to escape (also looks like the sun is shining out of his butt)!

38 weeks 1 day - he always looks at his uncle upside down for some reason!

38 weeks 1 day - just chilling with the boys.

38 weeks 2 days - giving daddy kisses/eating daddy's face.

38 weeks 2 days - pair of telly addicts watching Sunday morning cartoons - no idea why he's wearing his trousers like a gangsta haha!

38 weeks 3 days - typically all he wanted to play with for the rest of the day was the box!

At least someone got some use out of the walker!

38 weeks 4 days - cheeky sideways smiles!

38 weeks 4 days - he likes to give kisses/eat your face... maybe we should stop nibbling his cheeks!

39 weeks - 9 month growth photo.  These are getting harder and I wondered about leaving it until tomorrow when ALS is around more so I could get a "picture perfect" one but this perfectly sums up our baby.  He's drooly, he has stubborn eczema on his cheeks, he's always in a vest or just a nappy at the moment because it's too hot for clothes, he's fidgety and inquisitive and we wouldn't have him any other way!

39 weeks - growth photo outtake!

Happy World Breastfeeding Week <3

Baby Update - 38 weeks old

Age:  38 weeks 

Weight: He won't be weighed again for a few weeks but he really seems to be filling out at the moment and looks more like a toddler and less like a baby every day.

Health: Not much to report really, other than the fact that he's teething again!  He has 2 more teeth coming at the bottom, either side of the middle 2.  He's been a bit sicky this week but I'm putting that down to all the extra saliva from the teething.  He seems to have a real hand preference - he will pick things up with his left hand but passes them to his right to do anything such as throwing or putting them in his mouth.  Apparently that can be a sign of physical problems as hand preference shouldn't develop until at least 18 months but I'm not overly concerned, I think he's just realised he's more dexterous with his right hand.

Feeding: His appetite for solid foods is definitely increasing and breakfast is easily his favourite meal of the day - we tend to alternate between Shreddies soaked in soy milk, Oatibix with soy milk and dry Cheerios and then give him some fruit afterwards and he wolfs it down every day.  His other meals can be a bit hit and miss but I'm hardly surprised considering we're still in this stupid heatwave and he's teething again.  He tends to prefer crunchy foods, like breadsticks, when he's teething or fruit smoothies (my alternative to giving him yoghurt).

Sleep: ALS has been back sleeping with us for the last 3 nights and every night we've had a period of 60-90 minutes where OJ has been wide awake but I'm putting this down to a bit of a developmental leap and his teeth so hopefully it'll calm down soon.  We've had a busy few days so his naps have been all over the place which hasn't helped.

Routine: We've been out and about a few days this week - shopping, lunch, a funeral - and OJ's naps have been all over the place.  Often he's fallen asleep in the car, woken up around 1:30 pm and then been awake until bedtime, with a lot of effort from us to keep him awake until at least 6:30 (he normally goes to bed at 7).

Likes/dislikes:  He likes throwing things (toys, food, anything he can get his hands on) and trying to get to things he shouldn't have (wires, remote controls, glasses full of drink, open doors).  He dislikes teething and being contained.

Firsts:  First actual crawling.  First time getting himself upright from lying down.  First time walking with one hand held.  

Milestones:  We've had SO many.  He's started crawling properly and is getting pretty quick now.  Today he figured out how to get himself back to sitting from lying down too so we really have no respite.  He doesn't spend any time in his cot really but today I popped him in there while I got dressed and immediately he stood himself up and looked really proud of himself.  Tonight he started taking steps with me just holding one of his hands instead of two.  Yesterday he was copying my grandad banging on the table and he's started splashing and trying to use his arms more at swimming, since the crawling started.  He's trying to build towers and put his stacking rings on the stand, although he's not actually managed yet.  He's developing every single day and it's amazing watching him grow.

Things we did: We spent a lot of time over the weekend working on crawling and playing on the floor with OJ.  Nana and Grandpapa came to visit on Saturday and on Sunday ALS an I took OJ swimming - for the first time in ages he really enjoyed it and was splashing around and really trying hard to swim.  It was my friend's mum's funeral on Tuesday so we spent most of the day with her and her family/friends.  Yesterday my mum and grandparents came over and we went out for dinner too.  For the last few days I've mostly just chased OJ round trying to prevent him from grabbing things he shouldn't have!

Me: I'm really enjoying being a mum at the moment - I love just getting down on the floor with OJ, reading to him, showing him how to do things and watching him learn for himself, singing nursery rhymes and just generally crawling around with him.  I'm generally quite stressed regarding work and money and all that jazz but I'm trying not to think about it and just enjoy spending time with OJ.

37 weeks 1 day - the only way he likes to eat cucumber!

37 weeks 2 days - giving Nana "kisses".

37 weeks 2 days - look at those little rolls <3

37 weeks 2 days - daddy was out in town so we sent him a goodnight picture.

37 weeks 3 days - he toppled over (whilst sitting still) and landed face first on a square from his shape sorter, poor little pudding! Now he's a proper little boy obviously!

37 weeks 3 days - happy pudding after swimming.

37 weeks 4 days - he absolutely loves his blocks.

37 weeks 4 days - dinnertime, he wolfed the whole lot down!

37 weeks 4 days - snuggling mummy's arm.

37 weeks 5 days - bathtime - he has all sorts of bath toys but only wants to play with the thermometer!

 

37 weeks 5 days - it doesn't matter how bad my day has been, this peaceful little face makes my heart so happy.

37 weeks 6 days - ready to go out for lunch but super sleepy, he never snuggles like this normally.

38 weeks - plenty of food on his tray but he was too busy trying to fish a tiny but out of his bib!

First time using my slow cooker - I made a chicken casserole and OJ absolutely demolished it!

Baby Update - 37 weeks old

Age:  37 weeks 

Weight: He was weighed 2 days ago at 36+5 and was 7.56 kg (16 lb 10 oz) so he's put on a good amount in the last 4 weeks.  I didn't think he felt like he'd put a lot on so that was a nice surprise.

Health: Things are pretty good at the moment.  His eczema is still bad on his cheeks but it doesn't seem to bother him too much, although he does rub his face a lot.  He's been off his medicine for a while and it doesn't seem to have had much impact.  He seems to have a bit of a struggle going to the toilet so I give him some prunes every couple of days and that seems to help a little.

Feeding: He is really hit and miss with his meals, sometimes he'll wolf down everything and other times he'll throw most of it.  It can be frustrating when he's refusing foods that he liked last week, especially as I don't like leaving him hungry but it's not the end of the world..  He's getting a lot of milk in overnight still so I'm not worried about his weight.  He's finally started drinking water during the day too so he doesn't breastfeed when he's thirsty so much any more.

Sleep: We've had a new routine for the last few days where ALS is sleeping on the sofabed so that OJ has plenty of space to roll around on the mattress next to me and we're not all disturbing each other.  It seemed to help for a day or two but now OJ is desperately trying to crawl and as soon as he stirs he starts rolling onto his front and fidgeting.  He doesn't sleep too badly until around 3 am but then it feels like he's constantly feeding until I give in and get up at 6 - I don't track feeds at this time of night, or even look at the clock, so I don't have an exact idea of how much he's awake as I'm mostly trying to stay asleep.

Routine: He's generally dropped down to 2 naps a day and has at least one long one, sometimes both.  Today he slept for 90 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon.  I try to make sure his last nap leaves him waking no later than 4 or bedtime is impossible.  He has milk around 6 when he wakes in a morning, then breakfast around 7:30, milk and a nap around 9/9:30, lunch around 11:30, milk and another nap around 1:30/2, dinner around 4/4:30 and then milk and bed at 7.  I make sure the TV is off from 6 and we have quiet playtime, read books and have a bath (every other day) to get him in the mood for bed.  Tonight I introduced a snack around 6 as he didn't eat much dinner but I'll play that by ear.  We're also trying to take his dummy off him, other than for sleeping and the car and to be honest it's going quite well - getting it off him for sleeping will be a whole different ball game though!

Likes/dislikes:  He loves bathtime and splashing around.  His favourite toys at the moment are balls, especially ones that rattle.  He loves tickles and riding in the trolley at the supermarket.  His favourite food at the moment is banana!  He doesn't like new people, especially if they're in our house and isn't a fan of loud/sudden noises.

Firsts:  First time helping himself to drink from a beaker.  First real attempt at crawling.

Milestones:  He's pretty much into 6-9 month clothes now, although still fits in some of his 3-6 month ones.  It's hard to tell as he's rarely in clothes with the weather being so hot!  He's really desperately trying to crawl.  He's getting around a lot more by rolling and very nearly crawled yesterday, he goes with his hands but ends up with his legs splayed behind him.  He's finally started taking sips of water and the other day I spotted him grab his beaker (I always leave one lying around) and start drinking by himself.  He's walking really well with his hands held now too.

Things we did: We had a nice chilled out day for ALS' birthday on Friday and his best friend (who's in the Navy) came over to stay for the night.  We then all went out for a meal for my birthday on Saturday.  There was 18 of us in total and about 12 came back to our house afterwards for cake, games and drinks.  It was very "adult" and the only clearing up I had to do on Sunday morning was the plates that we'd eaten cake from!  Grampy came to visit on Sunday and we had a very lazy day.  We had our last swimming session of the term on Monday and on Tuesday we went to get OJ weighed then I had a meeting at work to discuss my return.  Yesterday we went to Once Upon a Rhyme and when we've been at home we've been generally trying to encourage/teach crawling as he's getting so frustrated not being able to get where he wants to go!

Me: I've managed a few more workouts and feel physically a lot better.  However, mentally I'm really struggling with the idea of going back to work.  When I took the job I knew it was quite a commute but OJ was going to be nearby as he would be with my mum.  Obviously that's now not the case and to make it worth me working he needs to not be in childcare for the whole amount of hours I'm at work.  The plan is for him to go to childcare for a few hours in a morning, ALS to have him in the afternoon and then me have him in the evening when ALS goes back to work.  However, this means he'll be in childcare around 30 miles away from where I'm working so if anything happens it's a long way for me to get to him.  I'm also very aware that I'll be spending around 90 minutes a day commuting and it's all just stressing me out.  Hopefully once my hours are confirmed at the end of the week and we've found some childcare that we are happy with I'll chill out a bit because there's no way I can cope like this until November, last night I lay awake worrying and feeling sick until 1 am, which isn't ideal when OJ actually sleeps relatively well until then and then wakes up a lot!  I'm sure once I get into the swing of it I'll be fine but it's so far away I won't be able to function if I don't sort myself out, I keep telling myself it's too far ahead to worry about but my brain won't listen.  We can afford for me to stay at home but I've got to go back to work for at least 3 months or I'll have to give my maternity pay back... I'm not sure but I think that's around £4500 which is just impossible.  Ugh, enough of that, I'll figure something out one way or another.

I've taken far too few photos this week, but there have been a lot of videos (which I don't post on here) so it's not too bad!

36 weeks 1 day - Soy milk soaked Shreddies and prune puree makes for a messy breakfast, straight in the bath after... then another bath after tea contained strawberries and raspberries!

36 weeks 1 day - cheeky banana-eating face in Morrisons cafe.

36 weeks 2 days - OJ bought me some measuring cups for my birthday but he was a little reluctant to part with them!

36 weeks 2 days - exhausted from all the partying and socialising.

36 weeks 2 days - 12 people in our house but it was the neighbour's kids who woke him up!!

36 weeks 6 days - he's wearing his vest ironically!

37 weeks - daddy did breakfast while I got a bit more sleep so they had a living room picnic, I came downstairs just in time for banana!

It may look like the saddest bunch of birthday presents ever but I couldn't be happier with it!

Grampy brought presents for OJ from Costco, we'd seen these awesome bargains ourselves but resisted.  Julia Donaldson books are just wonderful - we've read them all in the last few days and Tyrannosaurus Drip is definitely my favourite!

This is what our living room looks like by bedtime and he's not even crawling yet!  However, 5 minutes is all it takes to clean up.  The blocks used to take forever to put away but I've got the hang of it now haha!