Ben, you have passed the one month mark and what a first month it was! There was never a dull moment. You love to snuggle and are just the sweetest thing. I am enjoying you so much! I guess this time around I know how fast time will fly so I am trying to soak up those moments when it is just the two of us in the middle of the night because soon you will be running through the house with your big sister and waiting for daddy to get home so he can play ball with you. This is our special time so I don't want to rush it.
You have had a bit of a rough start to this world. You started off losing weight, getting jaundice (that you still have by the way), going to over 15 lab work and hospital appointments, not nursing well and just making me worry like crazy. I physically felt a million times better after your delivery than I did with MB so I feel fortunate that I was able to care for you and cart you all over town to your doctor visits. I now know all of the nurses, doctors, lab technicians and lactation consultants in a 25 mile radius and they all adore you too.
After three weeks, we were able to determine that your jandice is caused by something in my breast milk so we were no longer worried about your liver or gall bladder so that was a relief. At about four weeks, we were referred to a lactation speech therapist that has helped tremendously with breastfeeding. She gave us exercises to do with you to train your tongue how to nurse and to strengthen your jaw. Who knew such a thing existed? You are now a little porker and are eating like a pro! I wanted to give up nursing many times when I was in so much pain but I'm glad we stuck it out and are on the other side of things. At your one month apointment, you weighed in at 9 pounds, 10.8 ounces, 21.5 inches long and your head circumference is 15. You are in the 50% in all three areas, just perfect! Given your rough start, we couldn't be happier with your weight gain!
During your one month appointment, the pediatriciaon listened to your heart for an unusually long time and then even went to get another stethascope. She thought she heard a heart murmor and wanted us to see a pediatric cardiologist. We went first thing the next day and they did an EKG and echo tests. We found out that one of your valves on the left side of your heart isn't opening all the way. It is called pulmonary valve stenosis. The good news is that we do not need to do anything to correct it now and there is a chance that we never will. The doctors were confident that you are going to be fine and that if you are going to have something wrong with your heart, this is a good thing to have. I am handling it all pretty well even though I cried at his appointment. If it does get worse, they will put a balloon in the valve to help expand the opening and it is an outpatient procedure that is fairly common. They are going to keep a close eye on you this first year and if the condition does not change, you more than likely will never need the procedure. We are praying that the valve will fix itself and that you will be perfectly healthy from here on out!
You are a great sleeper although a bit of a night owl. I typically could get you down for the night a little after midnight and then you would sleep really well until the next morning and I would wake you up for feedings every three hours. Sometimes you would wake up on your own and it is so much easier getting out of bed when you are crying than when my alarm is going off. You are still sleeping in the cradle in our room but we may be moving you to your crib soon. You are a noisy sleeper and grunt and toot all night long. You now are going to bed about 10pm and you get up between 3am and 4am to eat and then you go back to bed until 7am. I can work with this schedule! You are a lot like your sister in this way, she loves to sleep too and is still a night owl.
We determined after a few weeks that you have reflux and you are taking Zantac twice a day. Your sister was a spitter too so we feel more prepared for the messiness this time around. Burp cloths are our friend and we always have one (if not two) on us at all times. Your fussiest time is around lunch and late afternoon/evening. I am getting better at figuring out how to console you which is a happy thing for all of the ears in this house. You like being outside and when you are really upset, I take you onto our deck and most times, you calm down right away. Thank goodness for the fall weather otherwise you would be outside by yourself!
You were not a fan of the sponge bath but you are loving your mini tub baths. You get so relaxed and rest your arms on the side of the tub. It looks like you are floating in a pool and don't have a care in the world. We have been giving you more baths these days because you start smelling a tad sour from all of the spit up. I can't get enough of your sweet smell after you have a bath and I breathe you in as much as I can before the spit up returns.
You are so expressive when you are sleeping and make the best faces. Your smile is so big and you must have the best dreams. You are starting to smile at us when we are talking to you and it makes our hearts so happy! You also can poke out your bottom lip when you are upset and it is the most pitiful thing I have ever seen.
You are totally the second child and we often will forget about you for several hours until you make a sound. You like to recline in your vibrating chair and either nap or just look around. You are pretty laid back and don't mind that big sis still has most of our attention these days. We have started doing some tummy time and your roll over from your stomach to your back almost every time. You don't like being on your stomach so you make all efforts to roll over as soon as you can.
Mary Beth adores you. Every time she wakes up, she says "see Ben" and she is always looking for you and wanting to know what you are doing. She has a hard time keeping her hands off of you, especially when you are sleeping. You are tough already and have endured many pokes and tight squeezes but the trade off is all of her kisses and hugs.
You are a good boy Ben and we can't imagine our family without you!
Here are some, okay a lot of pictures of your first month:
One of our first pictures together. It was love at first sight!
Your first bath, it was much needed.
A little swollen and not so sure about your life outside of the womb.
She wasn't so sure either at first.
Proud daddy.
Even prouder mama.
Snuggling in the hospital.
You love to be held!
Finally on our way home.
You had a concerned look on your face the entire drive home.
This expression is one of my favorites. Your eyes are still a little yellow from the jaundice.
A sly grin as you were drifting off to sleep.
The first few seconds of your tub bath at home.
Then, you realized what was going on and thought much better of it!
Looking around and checking things out.
Hey daddy!
You have some seriously long fingers and are filling out quite nicely.
Can I get some peace and quite around here? Notice the two bibs and two burp cloths in the picture. We finally have figured out the whole spit up thing!
He wants both of them mama! Just her kind of guy.
Sharing Baby Bop is true love.
Teddy Bear about to smother poor Ben. This is her favorite stuffed animal so she must have thought he really needed some love.
The moon and star turtle stopping by to say hello.
She read him one of her favorite Maisy books that is full of animals while he was getting some exercise.
Last but not least, baby rabbit coming over to visit. He is starting to get used to all of the attention.
