Time is Flying

Well my little guy will be 3 weeks old tomorrow!





Here is how the last 3 weeks have been:





We've pretty much stayed home the entire time. At 100+ degrees outside I just don't want to drag him out in this - plus the first 2 weeks I was overwhelmed with nursing.





Zach has had 2 doctor appointments - his follow up a couple days after leaving the hospital and his 2 week check up. At his last check up he weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces - almost up a pound from his birth weight! I can really tell he is starting to fill out.





My mom came out during the days during our first week home and helped clean, cook and watched Zach while I took naps (very short naps....) - which was a huge help. She has even watched him once so I could run to Jefferson City and get baby stuff so I didn't have to drag him around with me....





Here are some randoms about him and things I've learned, done and still need to figure out!





*Nursing is HARD. The first two weeks were so trying and I almost quit several times. As a matter of fact at his 2 week check up I told the pediatrician I was quitting and she was very nice about it and gave me tips to help dry up my milk...but sometime between the appointment and that night I decided to try it for one more week...and that was this week, and it has gotten easier. He still eats every 1-3 hours, and eats for about 45 minutes which gives me anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours MAX to sleep, shower, eat, whatever I need to do......





*I've been pumping since my first week home - and we decided when he was not quite two weeks old to introduce the bottle. My thoughts behind it were that if he took to the bottle and wouldn't go back to breast feeding (because the "experts" recommend waiting until 4 weeks to introduce bottle) that I'd make a decision at that point whether to exculisevley pump or switch to formula. The little champ transitioned from bottle, to pacifier to nursing with no problems!! This has helped with my decision to keep nursing tremendously. It helps just knowing that if I'd need to go somewhere or want to take a long nap I could have someone give him a bottle.





*When we introduced the bottle we did so with cold milk. I was hoping he'd take the cold milk so that when we were out I wouldn't have to worry about a way to warm a bottle up - I did some research and everything I read said that cold milk is fine for babies, but some just won't take it since they are used to warm breast milk. Again, the little guy sucks cold milk down without a problem!!





*Diapers....I got three different types of diapers at my showers - Huggies, Pampers and Luvs. I also bought bulk in size 1 and 2's of Pampers from diapers.com before he was born. I've found that I hate Huggies. He ALWAYS leaks right through them or pees out of them. I haven't really decided between Pampers and Luvs, but I think I'm leaning toward liking Luv's the best....but I'll use the Pampers I've bought.





*Wipes - HATE Huggies wipes as well. They are really hard to pull apart. The brand I've found I like the best is Target's off brand, Up & Up - they're soft and tear apart really easy.





*I originally had a Playtex pump that my sister handed down to me and after I decided this week to continue nursing I went and bought a Medela pump. I've used it several times now and it seems to work well so far. I'm not sure if nursing is really all that much cheaper than formula, what most people think of when they consider nursing....I've purchased a pump ($300), storage bags ($10 for 50 bags - so far I've bought 3 sets, and as I continue nursing will have to buy more), nursing bras ($15-$25 a piece, I bought 3), nursing tank tops ($15 a piece, I bought 3), nursing cover ups ($20 for 2), nursing clip (to turn any blanket into cover up - $10). So we're looking at $500+ dollars. I don't know how much formula averages a month, but I have a feeling I need to nurse for several months to make it a monetary benefit.....





*I hate onsies or jumpers with more than 3 snaps - it makes changing diapers a pain when you have 15 buttons to snap up!





*Zach has a blocked tear duct in his left eye, so there is drainage that needs wiped out and it gets kind of matted after he sleeps. The doctor says in most cases it corrects itself. If by the time he is 1 it hasn't they do a minor surgery to fix it.





*Zach kind of has his days and nights mixed up. He sleeps his long periods during the day and is up more often wanting to eat at night. It's not a huge deal for now, because I can catch a couple of naps with him during the day - but I'm hoping it gets corrected before I go back to work! Otherwise I can see us giving him several bottles throughout the night - and by us, I mean Chris ; )





I think that's about it for now..............any suggestions, tips, hints on nursing (or any baby related things!!) are welcomed.