22.4.15

Newborn - 3 Week Postpartum Update!

So I decided I'm going to do postpartum updates..Why not right? It only makes sense! I'll do a quick blurb about me [except todays might be a little longer since its my first update for the first 3 weeks...] and how I'm doing postpartum, and then I'll comment on the 6 topics below on how Hunter is doing! 
Today's post is going to be a mash of my 1, 2 and 3 weeks postpartum status, because come on... I'm never going to remember what happened and when... My brain is complete mush! I was shocked to hear the date the other day... I was like, a week behind in my world! haha! Anyway... and then it'll probably be weekly updates after that!
So I recovered from birth pretty well I must say! I did get some stitches, so that was pretty tender in the beginning, and I feel as though it gets worse before it gets better... Needless to say, lots of Advil and Tylenol were had. 
My milk came in full force on day 4 or 5 I believe. I know 3 days is the average, but I think it took a little longer for me because we were under so much stress at the hospital. We ended up staying for a few more days longer then we originally hoped... & it wasn't a pleasant stay. But, my milk finally came in, & that was so nice because I could tell that my baby was much more satisfied after feedings. We ended up having to "top up" with formula while we were in the hospital, and a couple days of being at home [we just quit giving it to him one day]. He originally wasn't getting enough from just the colostrum, and after a nurse fed him some formula one night, I could tell it was something that he needed until my milk came in. He had a couple bad days before we started giving him formula, and once we started topping him up, he was like a whole new baby! I felt so bad right off the bat because I felt like I was starving him! Then I was thankful, because he stopped screaming and slept.
I wish I had a scale. I have no idea what my weight is at. I'm quite curious! I won't be seeing anyone until 6 weeks postpartum, so 3 more weeks to go. I'm glad my nurse practitioner can see me for that. I quite missed her... and we all know how I feel about my OB. 
Since I am breastfeeding, I have that to thank for my belly shrinking as fast as it did. I'm still quite jiggly and shmushy... but I could tell my uterus shrunk rather quick....I noticed visibly and quite physically. I got a lot of contractions/cramping while nursing for the first week. It was an all too familiar feeling haha! Felt just like period cramps. 
Belly definitely has a slew of stretch marks. I definitely couldn't see them when I was pregnant, but theres a bunch of small ones on my lower belly. No big deal... but they're definitely noticeable now!
I've been going for walks almost everyday with Hunter. He likes walking, and I like to see him not crying! He's been quite fussy during the day the last few days, and it breaks my heart to see him cry like that sometimes. I think he just fights sleep for so long, then he get like, overtired.. and that's when shit hits the fan. So it's nice to break up one of those crying cycles with a walk! I can fit back into a pair of pre pregnancy jeans, so it must be helping momma too! 
41 weeks & 2 weeks postpartum



Height/Weight: Hunter was 53 cm tall and 9 lbs 6 oz when he was born. He then lost 8% of his body weight while we were in the hospital. 8 days after he was born, he was weighed again at our Mommy & Baby lactation appointment. He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz! The following Monday at his 2 week check up, 6 days later, he was weighed 10 lbs, 5 oz and grew 3 cm, putting him at 56 cm total! My nurse practitioner said "obviously breastfeeding is going really well for you two!".... So nice to hear! We have the option of going for a 1 month appointment, which would be next week, but I'm not sure if were going to make it or not. Otherwise his next check up is at 2 months I believe. 

Routine:
Nothing has really stuck so far.. Just as I start to get used to one routine, he starts another. 
While we were in the hospital, he was doing a good routine of every 3 hours - eat, burp, diaper, sleep, repeat. That was alright.. Plus he slept like 3-5 hour stretches at night, and still does.
Things have changed a few times since then... now were doing kind of a wake up around 9am, eat, burp, diaper, eat, burp, play, eat sleep. Repeat. He's been eating so much lately, and he's been extra fussy. Around the 2 week mark, he was rally fussy in the evening for a few hours. The last couple days he's been fussy all day, from about 1pm-9pm ish. So, lots of cluster feeding.


Sleeping: 
He started off sleeping in 3 hour intervals... except at night where he would stretch it out to about 4-5 hours straight
Since then, times have changed. He's been hitting all sorts of growth spurts and now his sleep is all over the place. He used to wake up around 9am and stay awake for a few hours, then take a couple more naps in the afternoon, then go to "bed" at about 9pm and wake every few hours to eat, burp, change diaper, and then right back to sleep. He's always been really good at night time. 
Now were at wake up around 7 or 8am... go back to sleep. Wake around 11, back to sleep. Then from about 1pm and on, it's his fussy time. He sleeps very short periods of time until 9pm or so. Takes multiple little naps that are nowhere near long enough, and put him in a rotten mood. He wakes up every couple hours in the night now, but is still pretty good with going back to sleep right away...... except for last night. He woke up at 2am.. and stayed awake until 5:30am.. then woke up somewhere between 6 and 630am. That was the first night that I didn't get a good nights sleep. 


Eating/Feeding:
I'm exclusively breastfeeding now. In the hospital, we were topping him up with an oz of formula, but I stopped that a couple days after getting home.
Again, he was nursing about every 3 hours in his first week. 
Now he nurses probably way more often then that because he tends to cluster feed. I do think he's pretty efficient though, when he's not cluster feeding. He'll drain a boob in like 10 minutes! 


Sizes:
He's started growing out of his newborn sleepers and onesies! I went to put him in the one he wore home from the hospital, and it was so small! I now have a stack of clothes he doesn't fit started already :( 
They grow too fast.
Speaking of newborn sizes... he definitely grew out of the NB diapers in a matter of maybe 2 days. They did fit him, but the size 1's just looked more comfortable. He's still in size 1's for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if we changed to size 2's soon. 


Milestones:
His umbilical cord fell off on day 10 I believe
Smiling. He loves when I give him kisses or make noises in his mouth.. it's so cute!
His neck and legs are really strong. He likes to stand or pulling himself up into a sitting position when he's laying down.