I can't believe it's already been over a month since my sweet baby was born. Born on December 19th, after less than five short hours of labor (I was lucky!), at 12:59pm. He weighed in at 6lbs 13oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.
Everyone kept telling me that caring for a newborn wasn't going to be easy, but it would be worth it (eventually). Right, they were! The first few weeks were rough. Wake up calls every two hours were taking their toll on me. The "baby blues" had their hold on me the first few weeks and would not let go! But around the time Austin was three weeks old and had started sleeping 4 hour streches, I began to feel better, and all the hard times were worth it!
His first few days were hard. I wanted to try breastfeeding, but I didn't know how hard it could be. In the beginning, he had trouble latching, and he wasn't getting enough to eat. He lost almost 10% of his birth weight, and his nurse recommended seeing a pediatrician a few days after we took him home. At four days old, he weighed 6lbs 2oz. A week later, he was back up to 6lbs 12oz! The doctor said that was great, since it usually can take up to 14 days to get a newborn back to birth weight.
Yesterday, we went back to the doctor for his one month checkup. He was 20 3/4 inches but only weighed 7lbs 2oz. This put him at about the 10th percentile for weight, and the doctor diagnosed him as failure to thrive. Failure to thrive sounds a lot scarier than it really is (even though, yes, if it goes to far could get pretty scary for a tiny baby). We recently had started supplementing Austin with formula because he always seemed so hungry even after just eating. The doctor recommended us to supplement after EVERY feeding now, and Austin does seem better satisfied and not as fussy. We go back on Tuesday to recheck his progress, and since he's been eating like a little pig, hopefully he will put on some pounds! I'm determined not to give up on breastfeeding, so I hope this breast milk/formula feeding will work.
In the past month, Austin has been more alert during the day, looking around and staring at different things. His favorite lately is staring at himself in the mirror while getting his diaper changed (Which helps him not to pitch fits. Being changed, diaper or clothes, is his least favorite thing in the world.) He's even started smiling some while awake (he smiles and laughs during his naps!). Austin also had an accidental flip over while playing on his tummy with Josh. He can move from his tummy to his side, but most of the time his arm gets in the way of him moving all the way to his back. However, the other day, he had made it to his side and somehow just fell over onto his back. He hasn't done that since, so we know he just fell over more than rolled over on his own.
I look foward to seeing how he continues to change over the next month. It's almost as if he changes every day and is beginning to look more and more like a little Josh.
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