Baby Update - 2 weeks

Age:  2 weeks

Weight: 5 lb 6.8 oz, he was weighed today.

Feeding:  Feeding is basically all consuming at the moment.  Finley's weight gain has been very slow - since leaving the hospital he gained 10 g in 3 days then nothing for 2 days.  He then gained 40 g in 2 days and another 20 g in the last two days.  He's still quite a way off his birth weight but we seem to slowly be going in the right direction.  He is breastfeeding two-hourly pretty much and also having three bottles of expressed milk a day - after the nursery run, lunchtime and before bed.  We've got some size 0 teats which is helping him to take the bottles but even breastfeeding has its challenges as sometimes my letdown is too forceful and he gets upset after a couple of minutes.  We are working hard at getting him to put weight on but I'm desperate to drop at least one bottle, maybe two, as finding time to express is such hard work.  Night feeds are a bit of a challenge on my part as I'm finding it hard to stay awake but he's waking for them at least, having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and his jaundice seems to be settling.  He's been vomiting after feeds maybe 50% of the time, usually if he ends up lying down flat afterwards.  I'm hoping this isn't the start of reflux or dairy allergy but whatever happens we can handle it. 

Sleep: Sleep has been okay with Finley going a couple of hours between feeds and generally not really waking Oscar up.  He isn't hugely settled at night but nothing too bad so far and we are managing between us.  I've actually managed bedtimes by myself quite well so far, although I'm sure they will get harder once Finley is more awake!

Routine: We are slowly finding our routine with me taking Oscar to nursery in a morning then coming home and giving Finley a bottle followed by a pumping session.  Then we generally just chill for the morning, do some chores or take him to get weighed etc.  I pick Oscar up at lunchtime, sometimes leaving Finley with Ant if he's home, and then we spend the afternoon doing whatever we fancy and taking it in turns to have Finley/Oscar.  Once Ant goes to work in an evening we generally just chill and then I feed Finley while Oscar has his snack before taking them both upstairs.  Once Ant gets home he gives Finley a bottle while I pump again and then we take it in turns to get ready for bed.

Likes/dislikes:  As with Oscar, Finley is not a huge fan of lying on his back.  He loves being held upright and likes to look at the world.  He doesn't like getting changed but once his clothes are back on he's pretty happy.

Firsts: He met his grandparents for the first time at various points over the weekend which was nice.  He also had his first poop explosion all over me mid-change the second Ant left us alone for his first evening back at work.

Milestones: His umbilical cord fell off this morning so he will be able to have a bath soon!

Things we did:  On Friday my dad and stepmum popped over for an hour and then we took little man to the clinic to be weighed.  On Sunday we went to a street party for the jubilee for a couple of hours which was nice.  On Sunday Ant's parents visited and my mum and grandparents did too.  Once Oscar was back at nursery things settled down.  One morning Finley and I walked down to the retail park to buy some essentials and had a little stop at Costa for a strawberry lemonade.  One evening I took both boys down to the pharmacy on foot by myself (including a little stop for a boob picnic on the grass) which was interesting and exhausting!  Essentially there has just been a lot of pottering around and finding our feet as a family of four.

Me:  Emotionally I'm starting to feel a little more normal again.  I'm pretty exhausted and absolutely starving all the time - probably due to a combination of tiredness and breastfeeding - but otherwise doing okay.  I'm keen to get back to some exercise but I'll stick to walking until I've had the all clear from the GP at my postnatal check.

I'm starting to stress a little bit about getting everything ready for the house move in time, although we still don't really have a date, but I'm sure we will manage!

Snuggles with Daddy - this was one of Oscar's favourite places and is now Finley's too.

Sucking his thumb.

Looking absolutely teeny tiny in his newborn (up to 7.8 lb) cardigan.

Little pouty face - it's a hard life being a baby!

I just can't stop taking photos of him - he loves a good snuggle in a soft blanket.

Our first solo bedtime and Oscar wanted to read We're Going on a Bear Hunt to Finley <3

Finley's first Costa!

He's slowly starting to get more alert and we are seeing his eyes more and a few facial expressions.

Just like his big brother, he always rolls onto his side immediately when you put him down and is much more settled.

First trip to Aldi!

Baby Update - 1 week

Well I didn't expect to be writing this so soon (although I'm actually a few days late) but our little man made a surprising arrival at 35+6 weeks and we made it home from the hospital 5 days later.  My waters broke at 35+1 and I was going to do a full update in my 36 week pregnancy post but I never quite made it there.  I'll do a full update on the events preceding and following the birth but it was all quite traumatic and is going to take me a while to get my head around so, for now, here's our first baby update.

Age:  1 week

Weight: 5 lb 4 oz (on day 5), due to be weighed again tomorrow

Feeding:  I feel like feeding has consumed my entire life in the last week.  Finley took to the breast relatively quickly after being born, albeit in small sittings, but I had a really hard time with sore and bleeding nipples in the beginning and his latch wasn't great.  With him being premature he tires quite easily so often falls asleep very soon after starting to feed.  He was born at 5 lb 11 oz but when he was weighed on day 3 he was down to 5 lb 2 oz, which is a loss of 9.3%.  The hospital weren't happy with that and he also became jaundiced so I started pumping and giving him the odd bottle too.  By day 5 he had gone back up to 5 lb 4 oz which means the loss was only 7.4% so they were happy enough to let us go home.  However, due to the pumping and constant feeding, my milk has come in and I seem to have developed a bit of an oversupply.  My breasts are incredibly swollen and painful which, added to the nipple soreness, has made feeding really hard.  Fortunately things seem to be settling down a little bit now and we are gradually getting more comfortable and finding our stride with feeding.  We are only giving one bottle a day, sometimes none, as I'm trying to slow down my supply a bit to get some relief and he's due to be weighed again tomorrow so hopefully he has put some weight on.  It has been nice for Ant to be able to feed him although I'm constantly conscious that he's going to start rejecting the boob for the bottle, although at the moment the bottles seem to be a bit fast for him and he often vomits afterwards.

Sleep: Sleep has been very hit and miss.  We spent the first five days in the hospital so I was getting very little in the way of sleep between feeding Finley, observations, other babies on the ward and general hospital noise.  However, I was getting fed very well and managing to rest during the day and have little naps so I was actually coping quite well.  Since coming home I am much more tired as I'm physically a lot more active and obviously can't really sleep in the day as I have Oscar around too.  I've had a couple of little catnaps on the sofa with Finley on my chest while Ant entertains Oscar or he watches TV but night-time sleep isn't great.  So far Finley hasn't really disturbed Oscar at night which is helpful but he doesn't settle very well.  We have a new next-to-me crib so he's close to me but he fidgets out of his blankets, wants very regular feeds and also often settles then poops so wakes and needs changing.  Ant has been great as often I've not heard him when he's been just a bit unsettled so he's taken over. It's all a bit of a learning curve but in the day he's very settled between feeds and unfortunately I can't "sleep when the baby sleeps" with him being the second child.  All things considered though, we are doing okay.

Routine: Well, given that we spent a large portion of the week in the hospital and then came out just in time for the bank holidays, I think it is safe to say that we don't really have any sort of routine yet. I had got into a little bit of a routine at the hospital because there were fixed timings to focus on (meals, drug rounds etc) but I was mostly just staying up until the small hours then settling and dozing between feeds until around 8AM when breakfast was brought round.

Likes/dislikes:  It is a bit early for the little man to have any real likes or dislikes and with him being preemie he is generally quite calm and sleepy. He isn't keen on being undressed but Oscar was the same. He loves being snuggled or swaddled in a blanket. Generally though he has no real opinions about anything yet as he should still be in the womb.

Firsts: We've had a lot of the standard firsts this week - first feed, first cuddles, first nappy change etc. However we have also had some more unusual firsts that we didn't really experience with Oscar such as first blood tests and first bottle. He did also have his first trip to the park which he wasn't thoroughly impressed by!

Milestones: No major milestones in terms of development etc but we managed to establish breastfeeding, recover from jaundice, start putting weight on and get discharged from the hospital which was quite the journey.

Things we did:  We haven't really done much due to spending the first five days of Finley's life in a tiny cubicle on a hospital ward. After coming home we did take the boys to Markeaton for Oscar to have a bit of a runaround - we were utterly unprepared and then it rained so it was a fleeting visit!

Me:  My weight is down to 65.8 kg and physically I'm feeling quite good. I'm a little constipated and my core feels incredibly weak but otherwise I'm doing okay. Emotionally I've really struggled with the baby blues this week, especially in the last couple of days at home but hopefully that will settle down again soon.

Here's a few photos of our first week:

Just born, following some skin to skin and getting ready to go to the NICU to get his antibiotics.

Little man being weighed - he looks incredibly long here!

A close up when Daddy came to visit and got to hold Finley for the first time.

A photo from Aunty Amy who put Oscar to bed on his first night as a big brother.

The next day we got to see his eyes for the first time, it's only a tiny bit terrifying.

Phototherapy blanket, albeit only for an hour as his blood results turned out lower than expected.

Poor little monkey with his cannula in.

A teeny tiny baby burrito in the middle of the night keeping Mummy company while she was having a bad day wanting to go home and missing Oscar.

Actual phototherapy for about 18 hours with a dummy that's almost as big as his face.

Wide awake and waiting to be discharged.

On our way home from the hospital after five very long days!

Safely home and waiting for Daddy to fetch his big brother from nursery.

My boys meeting for the first time <3

Bonding right away over a shared blanket.

Looking super teeny tiny in his crib, so much so that we put him in it sideways.

Finley's first trip to the park, albeit a short one.

Pregnancy - 35 weeks

How far along?  35 weeks  

How big is baby?  The expectation this week would be around 2.4 kg (5.3 lb).  I actually had a scan yesterday at 34+6 due to my bump measuring smaller at the midwife appointment on Wednesday and baby was estimated to be about 2.34 kg (around 5 lb 2 oz) which is interesting because Oscar was estimated to be around 5 lb 13 when I was 34+5 however they did say his big head may skew the measurements.  The lady who scanned me yesterday said we are looking around 7-7.5 lb by due date which sounds about right.

Total weight gain/loss?  I was 71.5 kg on Wednesday and forgot to weigh myself this morning but was 72.4 kg tonight so I'm guessing somewhere around 72 kg maybe.  My weight gain is definitely slowing down but it's reassuring to know that baby is growing well.

Waist?  I totally blame Ant for my lack of waist measurements as he has my tape measure for work.

Stretchmarks?  So far so good.

Maternity clothes? Just about going to last me until I finish work I think but my dresses are getting quite short/tight.  I've ordered a few pairs of summer maternity PJs as the long-legged ones are just too hot right now but I can't sleep in my underwear because none of my pants are comfy either.

Sleep?  I've had good and bad nights.  It's been really hot in our bedroom for the last couple of days and baby also likes to party late at night plus the restless legs of course.

Best moment this week?  We went to a Wacky Warehouse with some friends and their children at the weekend - one couple we see regularly and then another friend and her 3.  Oscar only sees them once or twice a year but he was so excited and played beautifully, we barely saw him the entire time which is unheard of and neither of us had to go into the soft play with him!

Movement?  Plenty - baby is head down in my pelvis, feet up in the right side of my ribs and seems to be switching from having his back on the left side of my bump and right side, although the midwife on Wednesday seemed to feel he was back-to-back so he may be switching between that too.

Food cravings? Soup, cheese and part-baked rolls.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Little boy - he was very keen to show those bits off yesterday!

Labour signs?  Nothing yet fortunately.

Pregnancy symptoms?  Nothing new.

Belly button in or out?  In although starting to flatten out.

What I miss?  Having any sort of stamina.  I struggle to walk very far because I feel like my baby is going to fall out and because my feet start to hurt, particularly my heels.  I'm even struggling to sit on my birthing ball at work as it feels like it's too much effort on my legs.  I've never felt so weak and unfit and I'm finding it really hard.

What I am looking forward to?  Going to meet my new baby niece tomorrow and seeing my dad/stepmum and just generally being away for the weekend.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I'm back at the midwife on 1 June and then have a Consultant appointment and scan on 6 June.

Weekly wisdom?  Don't make plans or rely on people.  I found out this morning (via Instagram) that my friend who is our back-up childcare and back-up birthing partner has booked a holiday and doesn't come back until I'm over 39 weeks pregnant.  I don't know if she's not even considered it but it would have at least been nice to have a heads up.  Honestly, I'm so used to stress and disappointment by now that I'm just prepping myself to give birth on my own and to be honest it's the midwife I'm most interested in anyway!

Milestones?  Baby being over 5 lb?

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 34 weeks

How far along?  34 weeks  

How big is baby?  The expectation this week would be around 4.7 lb (2.1 kg).

Total weight gain/loss?  71.9 kg so an increase but a slightly smaller one, only 0.3 kg from two weeks ago.  Hopefully my weight is starting to plateau a little or I'll be heavier than Ant by the time this baby arrives.

Waist?  I really must measure now, just out of curiosity how big it can get.

Stretchmarks?  So far so good.

Maternity clothes? Still going although I'd really rather just be in my pyjamas to be honest.

Sleep?  A tiny bit better - restless legs every night but not for such a prolonged period.  I'm just knackered though regardless of how much I sleep. 

Best moment this week?  Starting to actually get things organised for the baby - I've made my little nappy station downstairs and started getting clothes washed.

Movement?  Lots and lots - it's starting to feel quite alien lately.  Some of the movements have been quite overwhelming and actually made me feel queasy but it's still lovely to feel.

Food cravings? Chocolate, cookies, pizza... anything I shouldn't have really.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Little boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing, still no Braxton Hicks or anything which is surprising but appreciated.

Pregnancy symptoms?  Basically all of them, like last week.

Belly button in or out?  In although starting to flatten out.

What I miss?  Not being incredible emotionally labile.  I just keep wanting to sit and cry at the moment - I haven't actually cried but I just keep feeling randomly really low.

What I am looking forward to?  Seeing my dad and step-mum at the weekend and hopefully meeting my new step-niece (if she ever shows up).

Upcoming appointments/scans? I see the midwife this week and then I have another scan and Consultant appointment on 6 June.

Weekly wisdom?  I don't think I have any wisdom this week - my brain is basically mush.

Milestones?  Nothing major this week, just getting closer and closer to full-term.

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 33 weeks

How far along?  33 weeks  

How big is baby?  The expectation this week would be around 4.2 lb (1.9 kg).

Total weight gain/loss?  71.3 kg so down a little bit which is expected as my appetite has taken a bit of a hit this week.

Waist?  Easily the biggest it has ever been.

Stretchmarks?  Not yet although I have been a bit lax with my tummy butter lately and I feel like I'm expanding every day.

Maternity clothes? Just about squeezing into them, really need some summer maternity PJs as I'm waking up sweating so often and also they'll be handy for breastfeeding when it's hot.

Sleep?  Not great at all this week - between the restless legs, Oscar being poorly and just general insomnia I am rather knackered.

Best moment this week?  Having a little family weekend away - I'm actually doing this late as we went away Friday-Saturday for Ant to do a Spartan Beast.  We all had a lovely time, Oscar was a superstar and Ant absolutely smashed his race.  I was rather emotional watching him cross the finish line as he finished quicker than expected and Oscar and I got there just in time - Oscar was so excited to see him overtaking someone too!

Movement?  Constant, it feels like he may be shifting from head down to transverse quite regularly as I'm getting some pretty strong kicks to my right side, sometimes he seems to be sitting behind my belly button and then other times there's kicks in my ribs.  Honestly no idea where he's currently positioned but hopefully the midwife will be able to let me know next week.

Food cravings? Nothing really, generally only want sweet stuff still though.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing but it's crazy to think it could realistically only be about a month away.  

Pregnancy symptoms?  Insomnia, restless legs, decreased appetite, snuffliness (combined with allergies), exhaustion, short temper, backache, sciatica, rib pain, decreased exercise tolerance, feet hurting - pretty much the lot.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Independence - I'm really having to accept at the moment that actually I need help, not with specific things but just that we have so much to do with the house etc, although we still have no idea when we will be moving, and I just can't physically do it all by myself as it has taken so long I'm now too big and cumbersome to do a lot.

What I am looking forward to?  Maternity leave - it cannot come soon enough at the moment but I have three really busy work weeks coming up.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I see the midwife on 18 May and then I have another scan and Consultant appointment on 6 June.

Weekly wisdom?  Accept that you can't do everything - I'm having a hard time this week accepting that I'm starting to struggle to have the energy to achieve everything I need to achieve and to accept that it's only going to get harder for the next couple of months.

Milestones?  I'm down to single figures in terms of working days!

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 32 weeks

How far along?  32 weeks  

How big is baby?  According to averages we would be looking around 3.7 lb (1.7 kg) and at the scan I had on Monday baby was measuring around 3 lb 11 (which is 1.69 kg) at 31+3 weeks, so pretty much right on track, though the scans can be about half a pound off.

Total weight gain/loss?  71.6 kg this week but I did weigh after breakfast so maybe not quite so much.

Waist?  Almost too big for my size 14 leggings..

Stretchmarks?  So far so good.

Maternity clothes?  Still going - I've definitely changed shape as baby is now head down and my bump has dropped a bit so it has made a little room I think.

Sleep?  I've had a few horrific nights with restless legs keeping me up until gone 3 AM and now Oscar is poorly with a temperature, sore throat and generally super lethargic and sad so that's not helped either.

Best moment this week?  Getting to see our healthy little baby on the scan, albeit the photo was a little terrifying!

Movement?  Plenty, it literally feels like he's swimming around in there.  I'm getting far more kicks higher up now he is head down but he is also definitely headbutting my bladder.

Food cravings? Nothing much and to be honest my appetite has been down a little bit for the last few days.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Still a boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing fortunately.  

Pregnancy symptoms?  All of them, absolutely all of them.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Decent quality sleep.

What I am looking forward to?  Going away for the weekend next weekend.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I see the midwife on 18 May and then I have another scan and Consultant appointment on 6 June.

Weekly wisdom?  Work hard to control the things you can and let go of the things you can't... something I'm trying hard to remember these days.

Milestones?  I don't think we have really hit any milestones this week.

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 31 weeks

How far along?  31 weeks  

How big is baby?  Around 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) apparently but I have a scan in a few days to get a more accurate view of our actual baby as opposed to just the averages.

Total weight gain/loss?  Another gain this week so I'm now 70.9 kg.  I've never been in the 70s before, barely spent any time in the 60s if I'm honest.  I'm about 19-20 lb up on my starting weight so goodness knows where I'll be at in another couple of months!

Waist?  Big?

Stretchmarks?  So far so good.

Maternity clothes?  Still squeezing in, definitely going to have to get some more PJs though as I'm not super comfy in these any more and also they're trousers and I think I could do with shorts given how warm our bedroom is getting already. 

Sleep?  Not too bad actually.  The restless legs are a bit up and down but a little "self-love" seems to settle me off to sleep in a way that I can ignore them on the nights where I'm getting desperate!

Best moment this week?  It's been a really challenging week but Oscar enjoying his Easter egg hunt was great and we had a really lovely walk in our wellies with me and Oscar squelching around in the mud to the point where he got stuck and when Ant lifted him out his wellies genuinely stayed there.  He was super cheerful and it was lovely.  

Movement?  So much movement I'm not 100% convinced that this baby isn't actually an octopus.  I think he's still lying sideways with his head to my right and feet on the left as I'm feeling more roll-type movements on the right and jabs on the left.  However, in the last couple of days there's been some really strong movements right up in my ribs so he may well have shifted around a bit, I'm curious to see where he's lying when I get to the scan on Monday.

Food cravings? Nothing specific but I'm really enjoying my Easter eggs.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Squishy baby boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing this far and I don't think I'm really having any Braxton Hicks earlier - I might have some really subtle ones but it could just be movement where he's pushing against the front of my abdomen.

Pregnancy symptoms?  Peeing constantly, pretty much every 20 minutes.  Restless legs, particularly on the right side where I also have sciatica.  My back has been really sore and I've had quite a lot of rib pain but honestly I'm doing okay.  I just feel very, very pregnant.  I'm starting to find it hard to reach my toes to fasten laces etc and I can't remember what my genitals look like - I'm wondering if I might start to really struggle in a few weeks.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Being able to do simple things like put my socks on or get up off the sofa without sounding like one of the Williams sisters.

What I am looking forward to?  Getting to see little squish on screen and finding out how big he's getting.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I have my scan and Consultant appointment on Monday.

Weekly wisdom?  Everything really does happen earlier in second pregnancies.  Compared to how I felt with Oscar I feel basically full-term already!

Milestones?  Getting into single figures - hopefully only 9 weeks to go maximum, but of course I could go overdue.

Bump Picture: