1st 7 days of life:

Born weighing 9lbs 12oz
2 days later 9lbs 2oz

(sleep)

The very first night he slept in the co-sleeper in our bed and he did great. We were actually surprised. The second night and maybe the 4th night were really rough. He didn’t go to sleep until like 4am because he seemed to have gas or some kind of tummy problems. He cried and fussed like he was in pain. The other days he would sleep 4 hours the first stretch of time and then 2-3 hours at a time after that. The first stretch being 4 hours seemed really good too although he wouldn’t go to sleep until about midnight.

(breastfeeding)

We didn’t seem to start out very well with this. He had a hard time opening his mouth wide which is crucial for getting a good latch. He seemed to be a bit tongue tied but after talking to a lactation consultant we saw that his tongue can go past his lips meaning he’s okay.

(big brother, Jaidan)

Absolutely in love with this baby. Since Jonah was born so early in the morning (4:39am) Jaidan was woke up only for a few minutes to meet him and was pretty out of it. So when Jaidan woke up a few hours later he sat up, looked around and said “Is my baby here?” and his whole face lit up when he saw him laying next to me. Most precious memory ever of the day he was born. And since the baby is in the co-sleeper in our bed Jaidan has been moved to his bed. Luckily he has done very well too! I love Jaidan in our bed so I thought I would be more sad than I was (which is why we didn’t switch him before the baby came) but he is still in our room and it’s pushed up to our bed. (He is a big time roller) Plus we bought him a new blanket and pillow so he doesn’t mind at all. He falls asleep in our bed next to me and then Jared moves him into his bed and we put the baby’s bed in between us and we all go to sleep.

(Emotionally)

It took me until about day 3 before the hormones started messing with me and the crying began. I kept getting anxious if someone held him longer than about 5-10 minutes at a time. I love love love for people to come see us, but when they want to hold the baby I JUST birthed the entire time they are here it really frustrates me. People can look and hold for a few seconds and then be done. Next time I will have a no holding rule for at least the first couple of weeks. He doesn’t need to be passed around so much. I will also have a rule about no perfumes… you can imagine why. My mom was a huge help again and stayed a few nights with us.

((Extra))

There was actually a FB post looking for babies to model for a photo shoot workshop with our birth photographer & another photographer from OK. Even though it was all the way in Dallas I was beyond excited to go because we had not planned on doing newborn shoots professionally. It was a lot of fun and I’m so glad we went because we got some great shots for free. The age range was 5-14 days old and he made the cut off perfectly at 5 days old!!

Right at 7 days his cord stump fell off. I think it had gotten caught on something and kinda pulled it off so we have to still try and keep it dry.

1 week old:

12 days old: 10lbs 5oz

If Jared or someone else is holding him and he starts crying I will take him and he instantly calms down. It’s not even about nursing, he just settles with me. You know how much I’m loving that! He reminds me of a little old man too. Jaidan’s features were softer and Jonah is very boy looking. He still seems to be a good sleeper so far too, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

2 weeks old:

For the first time ever I got a clogged duct! I’m pretty sure it was a combination of him sleeping so long at night, not being a great nurser, my nursing tank being too tight and sleeping on my belly. (I was so excited I could do that again!) It was the most painful thing ever so I made it my main mission that day to unclog it. I nursed like crazy on the right side, pumped after he nursed, upped my vitamin C, & used the heating sock and massaged my boob. It luckily only lasted 24 hours!!

Why do babies fight their sleep?! He started that already! For like 3-4 hours before he goes to sleep he will be so irritable and obviously tired and he will grunt and fuss and not stay asleep. Some days are better than others but once he goes to sleep he sleeps all night. I get up about every 2-4 hours to nurse him.

3 weeks old:

24 days old: 11lbs 6oz

I’m down to 136lbs from 165! And my baby is losing his hair! Now he REALLY looks like a little old man!

4 weeks old:

30 days old: 11lbs 14oz

5 weeks old:

He’s smiling! He seems more relaxed. Great baby. Great sleeper.

6 weeks old:

6w2d old: 13lbs 1oz

We went on a birthday road trip vacation to California for 2 weeks & this was the first night at our hotel in AZ.

8 weeks old:

8w5d old: 14lbs 23 3/4″

I’m down to 128.6lbs

9 weeks old:

I almost feel bad when people ask how Jonah sleeps because he is an AMAZING SLEEPER. I feel bad because I know from experience that that’s not how all babies are. Jaidan was not a horrible sleeper but we definitely had our fair share of sleep deprivation in the early weeks with that boy. He was up every 2-3 hours for many weeks… months… and heck the kid nursed until he was 3 years old so until he was weaned completely I was up at least once a night with him. Yes a lot of it was for comfort but my baby wants comfort I will give it to him. (I’m not the type to turn parenting off at night time.) So I understand the pleading with God for just 3-5 hours of straight sleep. And I think I may have gotten that this time!

He goes to sleep anywhere from 8-10pm and he’s out for the night. He will stir a bit and move his head around a couple times in the night. Like maybe the first time around 2-4am. I will pick him up and nurse him and he goes right back to sleep. But it’s not that he even woke up because he doesn’t wake up! It’s just a few minutes of nursing and then he’s back out completely. He might do this again around 6-7 am and then doesn’t actually wake up until 9-9:30 in the morning. It’s SO crazy to me and at first I wondered if something is wrong with him but during the day he is super happy smiley and still naps. When Jaidan was a baby he would actually wake up crying, I would feed him, he’d blow out his diaper and Jared would change him. Nice setup we had there. Jared doesn’t get woke up once with this little guy because he doesn’t need a diaper change! (Because he doesn’t wake up!!)

10 weeks old:

10w2d old: 15lbs 9oz 25″

He’s not spitting up as much all the time. We sold the lil joeys cloth diapers! He could only wear them like the first 3 weeks anyway. I’m super thirsty at night and have been drinking 2 big glass-fulls! I must not be drinking enough during the day.

I started wearing the belly wrap for my ab separation. At my 6 week pp appt my midwife told me I have a 2 finger diastasis recti. I was pretty careful this pregnancy so I’m thinking it might be from Jaidan’s pregnancy. Either way I have to close it up so it doesn’t get worse!

11 weeks old:

He has outgrown the co-sleeper that goes in our bed. 🙁 I loved him right there. So he is now in the top part of the pack n play and we have it up against our bed. I would just have him in our bed but with Jaidan still getting in our bed in the middle of the night I wouldn’t want him to lay on him or hit him.

This was my first week back to work. I was SO nervous. My birthday was the day before my first day back… horrible idea by the way… and I didn’t even enjoy the day because I just wanted to spend it alone with my boys. It really wasn’t that bad though for 2 reasons. 1) Jared is keeping the baby 2.) I’m only working 20 hours a week. I feel absolutely BLESSED beyond words that I get to have ‘the best of both worlds’. Jared gets awesome daddy time with them while I’m working and then I also get to be here for almost everything. We’ve had to rearrange our schedules so that Jared works at night when I get home from work but I really wouldn’t have this any other way. 🙂

Until next time…