So a waaaaay overdue post with updates on our sweet P as well as some momma updates. Sorry its taken forever but my laptop got erased. Like completely wiped. Long story but I swear it wasn't my fault!! Fortunately, my hubby is an IT genius and was able to save most of my pictures and files and get my laptop up and running again. So here we go, a massive update on months 2-5.
Month 2
Month 2 was hard y'all. Porter was not eating well. I wrote a more in depth post about that (see it here) but it was so heartbreaking to see my baby so miserable while doing something most babies find comforting. As a result, he also really struggled with sleeping. The only way to get him to sleep was to hold him, bounce him, and shush him. Because he only liked to be held to sleep, I would hold him for all naps then at night Matt would hold him until 12 a.m. so I could get a couple hours of sleep. I'd feed him (so tough) and try my best to get him to sleep in his bassinet. He was waking up every 1-2 hours needing to be soothed back to sleep or fed. I was barely sleeping because each time he would fall asleep, I knew I'd be waking up again shortly. Fortunately, my mom came out for a week during Christmas which was wonderful and my dad came to visit shortly after. Having family (and an extra set of hands) is really helpful with a newborn. Being alone without any family or close friends nearby is hard enough as it is, but with a lil babe it is even harder. His feeding issues continued to get worse and worse and we started to do weekly weigh-ins at the pediatrician's office to monitor his weight gain. I stopped pumping and Porter was exclusively on formula. I went in to this more in my feeding post, but it was really hard for me to accept that I couldn't BF my son. Looking back I just want to give myself a hug and say "You got this mama. You are doing everything right and feeding your son the best you can. Don't be so hard on yourself!" I also had to add extra formula to his bottles to increase his calories. He continued to gain weight, but just not at the rate we would like to see. With Matt back at work and with the extreme sleep deprivation, the days were hard. Thankfully Porter is just the cutest thing and it is amazing how much joy he could bring me even at my lowest moments. I was completely neglecting myself though. Not eating enough, not eating well, not getting ready during the day, etc. I just felt yucky. Plus I was still recovering from childbirth so there was a lot going on. Tough stuff y'all.
Month 3
We met with a pediatric ENT and decided to have P's frenulum cut because he was tongue tied. I had no idea what this was until we went through it....I googled when they first mentioned tongue tie! I'm somewhat of an expert now so if you have questions, feel free to ask :) Fortunately, my mother in law was in town so she was with us when we had the procedure done. Thank goodness too because I was so emotional I had to step out of the room and ended up crying in the hallway while they did it. Matt was holding him and it took about 2 seconds but it just broke my heart to hear him crying. The recovery was quick and he was back to his normal self the next day. We slowly started to see his feeding improve. We also met with a feeding occupational therapist. She worked with me on some feeding exercises and strategies to help P learn how to suck properly. The thing that helped the most was singing to Porter while I fed him. It helped him learn to have a rhythm while he ate! Still doing weekly weigh-ins and P was continuing to gain weight but he remained in the low percentile for his age. As for me, I was slowly starting to feel like myself again. Porter was letting me put him down in his swing/bouncer so I could make breakfast, get ready, etc. Right at the 3 month mark I noticed my hair started falling out. Ugh. I totally thought I had avoided the whole postpartum hair loss thing, but no it actually doesn't happen until around 3 months. I didn't have bald spots or anything too bad but when I would wash or brush my hair, tons would come out. Such a bummer. I started taking biotin so I'm hoping that will help with the regrowth. (At month 5 it is not falling out nearly as much.) P's sleeping was improving, but still not great. I'd get 2-4 hour chunks of sleep.
Month 4
THE WONDER WEEKS. Y'all this app about saved my sanity. If you have a baby make sure you have the app. Essentially, you put in your child's due date and it maps out the weeks when your little one will be going through developmental leaps. During these leaps, they can be more cranky and cry more than usual. It was so helpful to know that it was normal for P to be fussier and it helped to know when it was going to end! In my experience, it has been right on track. This month was the breaking point on sleep deprivation. I know there are people out there who have newborns that sleep through the night from day one. A lot babies start to settle at 3 months and have the sleep thing more figured out. Then there are those sweet sweet babes who just need help learning to sleep. That was my boy. We moved him to his crib at around 3.5 months. We have a really solid bedtime routine and I would rock and sing him to sleep and carefully lay him down. He would wake up (without fail) after 30 minutes and I would rock and sing him back to sleep again. He would then sleep for a few hours (his long stretch) usually until midnight. I would feed him but after that he would wake up every 2 hours needing to be soothed back to sleep. It was so exhausting. All of the adrenaline from having a newborn is gone and I just felt like a total zombie, a "mombie" if you will. Matt and I would take turns rocking him back to sleep so Matt was on the struggle bus with me. At this point I went to a "sleep class" at our pediatrician's office. They had an awesome sleep consultant come and teach about baby sleep and sleep training. Sleep training is so hard (on the mamas) but it works. At four months Porter's eating greatly improved and he no longer needed any support, singing, exercises, etc. He would take full bottles happily! Praise the Lord!
Month 5
This was a huge month for Porter and for mama! We had ups and downs with the sleep training but overall it has changed our lives!!! Porter now goes down awake and falls asleep on his own. He still cries for a little bit some nights but its more that he is settling himself. He sleeps till around 4am when I feed him a little bottle and then he goes back down until anywhere from 6:30-8am. If you'd like a more detailed post about our experience with sleep training and the ups/downs let me know! Porter is now eating like a champ!! PTL!!!!! We also started introducing solids. Huge step! He is doing great with it too. Although he is still not sleeping through the night, we are still getting really good sleep. When he wakes to eat, the whole process takes maybe 20 minutes max so it's not bad at all. Also, the sleep consultant (Sarah Middleton Healy - she's awesome if you need someone!) told me that it is perfectly normal for babies to need to feed at night until they are 8-10 months. I had no idea! So now, Porter is eating and sleeping. It is a completely different experience. He is such a happy baby and we have so much fun with him! I absolutely LOVE staying home with him. I know that being a stay at home mom is not for everyone and I completely respect that. However, for me it is absolutely the greatest blessing and I have so much fun with my boy! Naps are a struggle but we're going to tackle that when he is 6 months ;) so for now I hold him for the first nap of the day to make sure it's a good one! And I don't mind one bit! I am feeling great too! I started working out with Fit4Mom doing their body back program which is awesome. It is so encouraging to workout with other moms. I'm cooking dinners again and eat well. I bought some new clothes since I feel like my style has changed a little since becoming a mama. More basic and comfortable pieces that I can jazz up with accessories and Lipsense. Feeling like myself again but even better because I have Porter. Its been a journey and I am thankful for every minute. Can't wait to see what next month brings!!
To those of you who read this whole thing, thank you! I know it is long and overdue. Hope to be better about posting now that my computer is up and running!
Month 4
THE WONDER WEEKS. Y'all this app about saved my sanity. If you have a baby make sure you have the app. Essentially, you put in your child's due date and it maps out the weeks when your little one will be going through developmental leaps. During these leaps, they can be more cranky and cry more than usual. It was so helpful to know that it was normal for P to be fussier and it helped to know when it was going to end! In my experience, it has been right on track. This month was the breaking point on sleep deprivation. I know there are people out there who have newborns that sleep through the night from day one. A lot babies start to settle at 3 months and have the sleep thing more figured out. Then there are those sweet sweet babes who just need help learning to sleep. That was my boy. We moved him to his crib at around 3.5 months. We have a really solid bedtime routine and I would rock and sing him to sleep and carefully lay him down. He would wake up (without fail) after 30 minutes and I would rock and sing him back to sleep again. He would then sleep for a few hours (his long stretch) usually until midnight. I would feed him but after that he would wake up every 2 hours needing to be soothed back to sleep. It was so exhausting. All of the adrenaline from having a newborn is gone and I just felt like a total zombie, a "mombie" if you will. Matt and I would take turns rocking him back to sleep so Matt was on the struggle bus with me. At this point I went to a "sleep class" at our pediatrician's office. They had an awesome sleep consultant come and teach about baby sleep and sleep training. Sleep training is so hard (on the mamas) but it works. At four months Porter's eating greatly improved and he no longer needed any support, singing, exercises, etc. He would take full bottles happily! Praise the Lord!
Month 5
This was a huge month for Porter and for mama! We had ups and downs with the sleep training but overall it has changed our lives!!! Porter now goes down awake and falls asleep on his own. He still cries for a little bit some nights but its more that he is settling himself. He sleeps till around 4am when I feed him a little bottle and then he goes back down until anywhere from 6:30-8am. If you'd like a more detailed post about our experience with sleep training and the ups/downs let me know! Porter is now eating like a champ!! PTL!!!!! We also started introducing solids. Huge step! He is doing great with it too. Although he is still not sleeping through the night, we are still getting really good sleep. When he wakes to eat, the whole process takes maybe 20 minutes max so it's not bad at all. Also, the sleep consultant (Sarah Middleton Healy - she's awesome if you need someone!) told me that it is perfectly normal for babies to need to feed at night until they are 8-10 months. I had no idea! So now, Porter is eating and sleeping. It is a completely different experience. He is such a happy baby and we have so much fun with him! I absolutely LOVE staying home with him. I know that being a stay at home mom is not for everyone and I completely respect that. However, for me it is absolutely the greatest blessing and I have so much fun with my boy! Naps are a struggle but we're going to tackle that when he is 6 months ;) so for now I hold him for the first nap of the day to make sure it's a good one! And I don't mind one bit! I am feeling great too! I started working out with Fit4Mom doing their body back program which is awesome. It is so encouraging to workout with other moms. I'm cooking dinners again and eat well. I bought some new clothes since I feel like my style has changed a little since becoming a mama. More basic and comfortable pieces that I can jazz up with accessories and Lipsense. Feeling like myself again but even better because I have Porter. Its been a journey and I am thankful for every minute. Can't wait to see what next month brings!!
To those of you who read this whole thing, thank you! I know it is long and overdue. Hope to be better about posting now that my computer is up and running!
