Noah News: Week 3

A little late, but I want to document all things leading up to Noah turning 3 weeks old. Moving forward I will put together a "Noah News" weekly to chronicle his first year. These will not be concise as I want to remember every little detail of my stinkler's early weeks of life!

• First, and most importantly, we weighed in on Tuesday at 7 lbs. 13.9 oz. For those keeping track that is ABOVE birth weight. WOO HOO!!! This was a big milestone for this family and we are happy to be on the weight gaining train. 



His hair is also growing...I love his little hair flair he gets!

• Noah is definitely happiest in the morning. He will just relax on his Boppy and take in his surroundings. He is usually super awake and just happy to be a baby.
• On the flip side, he gets a bit cranky come the early evening hours. It is nothing terrible and we can always get him calmed down with some swaying, swaddling, baby wearing, or a few other items in our bag of tricks. 



Happy Boppy time

• Back to his happy awake times...I often feel guilty for leaving him staring at his toys so I can squeeze in a shower or tooth brushing. I feel like I should be interacting with him whenever he is awake and happy so I am working on finding a me/Noah balance during these times. I love these moments but also feel like I have to seize them for my own personal sanity as well.
• I mentioned baby wearing above. So far we have tried the Moby Wrap and Ergo. The Ergo is great for outings as it is easy to throw on and very sturdy. The down side is that it is fairly bulky and cumbersome around the house. I have found that I prefer the Moby for house work/dog walks. Once you figure out how to get it wrapped and him in it is actually pretty easy and not as intimidating as it may look. 
• Bottles. We have introduced bottles with success. Noah is still on 100% breast milk but I have been able to pump to supplement his nursing sessions. He gets a few "toppers" of about 1 oz. during the day to help him keep putting on weight and he also gets one full bottle from Dad in the evening. So far he could care less what receptacle the milk comes from or the temperature...he just wants it!
• Pumping. Originally this was a bit of a thorn in my side...now I am addicted. I pump twice a day; once after his morning feeding (milk supply is highest in the AM) and once in the evening when Scott gives him his bottle. It is pretty much a contest with myself to see how much I can pump in a session and oh so gratifying when it is a lot!
• We have absolutely zero schedule but if I had to identify something it would look like this:
• 8:30am - wake up for morning feeding
• Feed, burp, change diaper, boppy time, pump, breakfast, coffee, shower



More happy Boppy time

• Sometime between 10:30 and 11 he eats again
• Feed, burp, change diaper, prepare for outing (dry hair if I haven't managed that during round 1)
• Outing
• So far we have been successful with one outing daily. We have run errands and gone to a class at DayOne. 
• 2ish - home from outing
• Feed, burp, change diaper, frantically try and get a little house work done before the fussies set in. This is often the feeding where I end up wearing him.
• Dog walk before it gets dark.
• The evening is pretty much a well choreographed routine
• Lots of feedings (throughout the day he eats every 2-3 hours and sometimes every 1.5...like I said, we have no schedule), prep dinner, sooth cranky baby, cook dinner, clean up from dinner, continue feedings/soothing, try to squeeze in a little TV time...you get the idea.
• Sometime between 9 and 11 he has his last feeding before we all retire for bedtime. He gets this feeding in our bed in a much more quiet/calm environment. We are trying to teach him the difference between night and day by throwing open every curtain when we wake up in the morning and not limiting noises and doing the exact opposite come bed time.
• Noah still sleeps in our room so the night routine is kinder to us all. He still wakes 1-2 times but is getting better about going right back to sleep after a feeding versus needing a lot of rocking/soothing.
• Repeat it all again the next day.
• At some point I would like to get him on an actual schedule so that we know when feedings are coming, map out some "real" play time, create a bath routine, etc... I think he is a bit young still so maybe in a few week.
• Tummy time. We have done tummy time a couple of times. As with most infants, Noah doesn't like it much. The good news is when we burp him it is essentially doing the same thing as he holds his head up and looks from side to side while we burp. He is actually really strong and the few true tummy time sessions have resulted in very few head crashes. 
• I feel great! I am actually going to take a Bar Method class next week and see how I feel. It will only be a half class as I haven't been cleared for ab work or full workouts yet but I am imagining it will feel tremendous to get moving again!

This week we got our professional pictures of Noah back. They are tremendous and I can't stop looking at them!! If you need a Bay Area baby photographer I highly recommend Nicole Hoxie. 

A few to swoon over :-)

This one is beyond words...that face melts me.

More soon, there have already been visitors and plenty of pictures taken for week 4!