8 Week Update

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend. We had some good family time and good BBQ. It doesn't get better than that, right?  But I was acutely aware that the holiday was not just an excuse for a party--it's a solemn day to remember the sacrifice of so many heroic people and animals who serve our country.

Preston got to visit with a lot of Kevin's family that haven't seen him since he was born, so that was a nice treat. Everyone kept saying how tiny he is. We feel like he is soo much bigger! But I guess most just aren't used to seeing 8 week old babies, so it's shocking when you actually see one and realize how small babies are.

I think Preston may have gone through a growth spurt this weekend. He nursed for way longer than normal. He would nurse for like 40 minutes every 3 hours! And he was also way sleepy. He slept almost entire days it seemed, other than nursing. But even then he wouldn't wake to nurse and would sleep well beyond his normal feeding times. One night he slept for 7 hours--I woke up in a panic that something was wrong with him or I had slept through his cries to eat. I actually had to wake him as my boobs were giving me the signal they could not wait one second longer. So after seven hours of straight sleep I woke him to nurse, then we went straight back to bed and slept for another 4 hours before waking and nursing again. He never sleeps THAT well.

I think Preston and I may also have a case of Thrush. I'm having painful symptoms on one of my breasts and he has a very white tongue that can't be cleaned off and has been a fussy nurser for the past few days. I just noticed all of this a few days ago. I'm sure we'll get it cleared up in no time though. I got some calls into my OB and his Pedi today.

My new fav thing about motherhood: When Preston is nursing I loove watching his little feet and toes move and wiggle around as he is nice and relaxed and enjoying a good meal. For some reason I think it's so precious to watch his little feet all propped up on the Boppy, nice and relaxed softly movin' and a groovin'. I love all these small moments in time that will never be again. I want to soak them all in!

I don't know if it's because Preston is demanding more milk from my body, or if things normally change around 8 weeks, or if it's because I changed up my nursing/pumping routine, but it seems my milk supply may be a little low for the last week. My poor boobs feel as flat as they can be and when Preston nurses he is fussy and pulls off every few seconds and I don't hear a lot of swallowing--so I wonder how much is in there. This is one of the most difficult things about breastfeeding--how much are they getting?! But some of this could be attributed to thrush. So I'm going to make sure he eats every 3 hours during the day and make sure I'm getting in two good pumping sessions every day to keep my supply where it needs to be. I'm hoping this too will level out soon.

I realized this weekend I'm still up two pounds from pre-pregnancy weight. I weigh around 113#, but I feel like I weigh more. I have a nice ( not so nice) pooch of soft fat on my belly that will hang over a pair of pants if I choose the wrong pants.  I don't love it. I wonder if this typically goes away or if this is just part of the deal after pregnancy. I want to start working out to get rid of it, but I don't want to lose anymore weight anywhere else. Does anyone know the best way to do this? It seems cardio would slim me everywhere, but an ab workout would just strengthen the muscles below the fat...hmm...what to do, what to do..

Kevin and I were so productive this weekend. We both got a lot of things on our "lists" accomplished. Feels good! Thank you three day weekend! It is already getting so hot around here, which is not awesome, but at least it's no longer cold. I sure do hate winter! Things are pretty great around here. We're adjusted to having to live our lives in three hours increments but we're no longer feeling like we have to spend a lot of time couped up in the house because of this. We get out and do what we want or need to do for the most part, we're just a lot more conscious of time these days and his nursing schedule.

Preston is wonderful. He is so handsome. I can't believe he is already two months old! He goes in next week to start his first round of vaccines. Big appointment! We are still doing physical therapy and chiropractic adjustments, but I'm hopeful this will all come to an end fairly soon and we will just have to continue to watch his head shape. My prayer is that it will start to reshape itself once he can roll himself over to his belly, so he can more safely sleep on his stomach which won't keep his flat spot flat from continued pressure from laying on his back.

Oh, a first!  He sucked on his thumb for the first time this weekend. As one of my mother-in-laws who is a dental hygienest pointed out, this isn't great for a baby's mouth as a long-term habit, but it was sooo cute!!

Things are awesome these days. Of course, there are still really rough days, but that's to be expected. Love lovin' on our sweet family of three. Kevin and I have big plans for Mr. Preston every step of the way. We are not going to be parents of the time or of the culture. We are choosing to be different.  I can't wait to see them all play out in his life. :)

Look Who's 8 Weeks Old!

Mr. Preston is 8 weeks old! I am so blessed to have this little one and just love, love him!

( Actually he turned 8 weeks on May 26, 2012, a day earlier than noted in this pic)

Isn't he just precious?!

Odds and Ends of a Life with a Newborn

These days all of my thoughts are prolific, fragmented, and too numerous to count. Ya know, when you're brain never shuts off. For those who know me, I have always been one who has enjoyed (not!) a brain that never stops, but seeing as my life now revolves around a newborn and multiple session of nursing or rocking a baby that keep me tied to one spot for a while and not able to get and up and do whatever my lovely brain puts on the agenda---my brain is now ubber full and busy. Dreaming of all the things I want or need to accomplish. This hasn't worn off yet. I'm still waiting to get to the point people tell me I will get to. The point where I stop with the agenda and just let everything go. I'm hoping it will happen soon, as for someone with a Type A personality it's pure torture to have a mind like mind yet not be able to check things off the mental list. It drives me mad, I tell ya!

Oh to the point behind that entire paragraph...hahaha..this post, like my day-to-day menagerie of thoughts, it will be all over the place. ..

Things are great. I tell anyone who is considering giving up breastfeeding ..or giving away their newborn before six weeks has passed, I urge you to hang in there. Things in both departments get sooo much better in six weeks. In my opinion, nothing magical happens at the six weeks mark; however, instead, there is a gradual progression of normalcy that takes place. Looking back, I had days in the beginning when I had nooo idea how I was going to make it. How I was going to ever get the bf'ing thing down, how I was ever going to get sleep again..and the list goes on and on.

Don't get me wrong, there are still tons of things that still need to see some improvement. But I know everything is just as it should be. For heavens sake, Preston's only 7 weeks into life and I'm seven weeks new at being a mom. So on that note, we're doing wonderfully.

Preston and I are finally starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel as far as learning one another and things being a little more regimented--which is so dang awesome. He is sleeping, most nights, in two stretches, wakes up and feeds well, and goes back to sleep with relative ease. His daytime naps are still highly disorganized, so those are sporadic. He is pretty sensitive to becoming over-tired and he also fights his sleep pretty good.  But after reading a great book on infant sleep habits and the importance of sleep for little ones, I've really worked to promote sleep for him and I watch his sleepy cues closely. As a new mom, this is something I have had to learn.   And, I don't think their napping habits are supposed to organize more until they are around 12 weeks. Sorry, I'm giving the long version again...the point..we're doing so much better than we were a few weeks ago. Whooo hoo! The first 6 weeks of motherhood with one's first child is overwhelming in a lot of ways, at least for me. I now know why I was told by so many friends that it feels like a blur and you're in survival mode during that time. :)

 Kevin has crossed over into fatherhood beautifully. He admitted that it was not the natural transition we both thought it would have been for him. He needed a couple of weeks to really let the news of Preston's physical existence in our environment sink in before he was truly connected to our new life. Kevin and I have learned to work together and get a system going on how to tag team everything we need to get done. I think we're just now starting to see some real definition in this realm. It feels nice, too.

I have to mention our sweet dogs. They really have adjusted so amazing to having Preston around. I don't know if it had much to do with how we prepared them or it's just their good dispositions, probably a combo of both, but I'm really so proud of them. What a weight off of our shoulders. We were a little concerned about how ALL FOUR would adjust and how crazy things would be after adding Preston to the mix. But, honestly, it hasn't been too drastic of a change. They are interested in him, but not overly. They have shown no irritation at him being here and consuming all our time..the time that used to belong to them. I do feel so sorry for them. I try to be conscious of how much of my time they have lost and try to give them attention as much as I can, but it still makes me sad for me. But I'm so proud of our fur babies.

Lets see..random updates..

Within the last week Preston has stopped pooping multiple times a day and now only goes about once every 3-4 days. This is perfectly normal, however, I don't know that this new development is working for me. LOL  Every 3-4 days??..Do you know what this means...this is a biiig poop. Too big of a poop to be contained. So every few days Preston and I are covered, dripping, leaking...insert any other great descriptors you can think of..in poop. Last week I was at a friend's house visiting when he decided to bless me with one of his lovely poop creations. It was so bad my two friends were on their knees wiping poop from my crotch and I was then given a trash bag to lay Preston down on so I could strip him down and clean him up. It was quite the scene. These episodes become a little more precarious when I'm alone dealing with the clean up. I often stand stunned for a few seconds trying to devise a plan of action to limit poop exposure to our carpet and furniture.

Oh, funny story! TMI alert. You are about to get the visual of your life, too. I was feeding Preston right about the time dinner needed to be finished up. It seems to be some strange habit for me to walk around for a few minutes with the boob I just nursed on exposed...okay, okay, hanging out. I let things air out before I go stuffing things back in the bra. Don't judge me. So tonight was no exception. This has become such a habit it is no longer noticed by me or Kevin. We just go about our business while I have one lone boob hanging out at any given point in the day. Nice, I know. So tonight I passed off a fed Preston to Kevin so I could finish dinner. I promptly made my way into the kitchen and opened the oven to pull out the entree I was cooking. This action came to an abrupt halt when it felt like my nipple was on fire! Holy cow! I had just leaned into a very hot oven with a freshly nursed on nipple! For all of you bf'ing mom's you know this is no bueno. It felt like I had just seared off my nipple--extreme pain and then I noticed it started turning brown on the side that was exposed to the heat the most. Kevin heard me yell and promptly came in to say, "Why are you cooking with your boob hanging out?!" The only logical response, " My boobs are always hanging out!" Needless to say, I don't think this little episode is going to bode well for future nursing endeavors over the next few day. And I can say I have learned my lesson: nipples and the stove just don't belong together. Ouch!

All in all, things are great and we are enjoying our little man. We are loving getting to watch his personality come to life and change everyday. He is just the cutest, most precious little thing I have ever laid eyes on, I tell ya. I catch Kevin just kissing and kissing all over his face and telling him how handsome he is or how much he loves him all the time. Hahaha..and I do the exact same all day long. I guess it's easy to do this now as he's not old enough to throw temper tantrums, run away from us, or tell us he hates us, so we're making sure to get plenty of this in now!

Guess Who is Six and a Half Weeks Old?!

Just want to quickly update on today's activity. Mr. Man showed great improvement in his physical therapy session today! His neck muscles are already showing improved strength and he is also showing improved neck movement. The physical therapist said that given his age, he will improve rapidly. This is good news! He is such a trooper for his visits. She stretches and manipulates his muscles for a full 30 minutes and he just smiled and talked the entire time---with the help of some loud noise-makin' toys and lots of high pitched talking from us, of course. The plan is to continue doing what we're doing at home and go back again next week. The physical therapist commented on how alert  and into his environment he is. ( Karen, you will appreciate this..) Her exact words, "Man, we have a little smarty on our hands, I know it. Look how alert he is. He is really into learning about his surroundings." I know this is what every mom wants to hear, but, for the record, he really is one alert little dude. I don't know if this means squat about his intelligence--probably not--but it's still neat to see such a little guy be so engaged.

After the PT appt. we ran into his pediatrician's office since it's right next door to the PT's office just so I could throw him on the scale and see where he is in his weight gain. It's just so difficult with breastfeeding to know how much milk they are actually getting, so I like to periodically check his weight to make sure we're still good on the weight gain.

Today he is 6 weeks and 5 days and he weighs 9 pounds and 10 ounces. ( For the record, for all those awesome ladies who have 10 pound babies at delivery, I cannot imagine pushing the current Preston out of me! You ladies are my heroes!) He has gained exactly one pound, 16 ounces, in 12 days, which is the last time he was weighed at his one month check up. As you can see he is gaining over an ounce a day. It's kinda hard to believe, as I really don't produce a whole lot of milk and he doesn't nurse for very long at each feeding. ( Another side note, there is a marked difference in how much milk I can pump when I have been sure to drink at least 90 ounces of water a day. The water really does make a huge difference.) But obviously he is getting enough calories and fat. Again, I give all the glory to our amazing God. I give every single detail of my life to him..and as I have mentioned before, I prayed and prayed over our breastfeeding journey well before Preston arrived and I have continued to pray through all the bumps in the road along the way.  I know it is not easy for some women, and since breastfeeding is really important to me, I made sure to engaged the awesome power from above. He will enable us to do great things--however big or small. :)

On a side note, Mr. Man has decided that he hates napping during the day. He wants to either be up and awake, or he wants to be cuddled, or he wants to be fighting his obvious need for sleep. If he does nap during the day, it's only for about 30 minutes. Arg! I can't get much done in 30 minutes! But I have learned to do almost everything a whole lots faster! However, he is sleeping much better at night. He is typically doing a 6 hour stretch after his 9pm bottle with Kevin, then does a four hour stretch after his one middle of the night feeding. But then he is up nice and early every morning and has no intention of going back to sleep for hours. So the nap thing is our new work-in-progress. :) Otherwise, he is amazingly perfect and is growing and changing everyday. I can't believe how quickly these  things happen.

Happy Man!

Six Weeks Old!

Here are a few pics to keep everyone updated on our little man as he begins his 7th week.  He's chunckin' up a bit these days, and has a little belly and is a little under ten pounds. He has also gotten a lot more interactive and smiles and "talks" in response to music and lights, and, of course, all of our kisses--really. He really seems to like them.  We both just L.O.V.E this, of course! He is one happy little man. Every day we wonder how we can love him any more, yet everyday we find that we do!

Reading with Dad

Oops..this pic is a little out of order, but still cant forget my other baby's haircut! Isn't he handsome! Eli!

I loove his smiles!

One happy little man!

I just love these pics. This is how we bathe him. He is so much calmer with Kevin holding him and Kevin really enjoys this time with him. So Kevin just puts some shorts on and jumps in. ( Yes, he wears shorts guys!) Sweet baby and Daddy.

Good times! For some reason Kevin is cracking up laughing.

Cheap Baby Entertainment

Yea for cheap baby entertainment.

A few days ago Preston found the ceiling fan...and he won't take his eyes off of it! He is no longer interested in us vying for his attention, he is on love with our ceiling fans. When we go into a new room he turns his head and eyes all over the place searching for one. It's hilarious. He will just stare and stare and smile. This is the best, cheapest baby entertainment ever!

Love watching this boy grow and change everyday.

Baby Milestones

So our little Preston looks like he is moving right along on the baby milestones. When we went in for his one month check up the doctor had a gamut of question for me regarding Preston's development.

Does he track you with his eyes? Yes
Does he stare at lights and fans? Yes
Does he kick his arms and legs often? Yes
Does he respond to your voice? Yes
Is he cooing? Yes
Is he smiling? Yes
Does he lift his head up? Yes
Does he respond to loud sounds? Yes
Does he enjoy bath time? Yes
Is squirming all over the place? Yes
Does he try to roll over ( or at least moving in that direction with his movements?) Yes


My FAVORITE very new things...

He has started drooling ...a lot...but the cute thing, at least for now, he blows little spit bubbles. :)

He does seem to be starting to have reciprocal smiles. He will sometimes smile back at us when we smile at him or stimulate him. His favorite stimulus: when we kiss him on the lips..or often on his open mouth. He seems to really like this  ( maybe it's because we're constantly kissing this boy!) and will often give us a big ol' smile when we happily greet him with an excited voice or kiss him.  I just love, love this! He will also smile at a musical/ light toy.  He has only been doing this for the last week.

My most favorite new thing: Giggling. The sweeeeetest little giggle you have ever heard in your life!  I know this is still reflexive but when he drifts off to dreamy land, usually after a nice nursing session in the middle of the night, which means I get to enjoy these sweet moments all by myself, he lays in my arms with his eyes shut flashing me with a stream of big ol' grins and giggles. oh.my.goodness. It seriously doesn't get better than this, does it?! Even in my super sleepy 3am stupor I'm just melted by his sweet little gifts to me. I've come to believe that these sweet little gifts come to me in the middle of the night so I'll always know how worth it getting up at 3am really is.

He is a growing machine and just as perfect as can be. We are so in love with watching him grow and change daily.  I'm still in awe that God has given us such an amazing gift. Don't get me wrong, I did work to get this boy, and now I'm at the mercy of a 5 week old slave driver, but even still, I'm acutely aware of the amazing gift that this sweet little boy is to us. He represents faith and resilience in my life.

Quote of the day: " You have to learn to love your spouse, but you instantly love your babies."

First Physical Therapy Appointment

Today was Preston's ( and Mamma's) first physical therapy appointment. God sent down some more blessings today.

Preston did excellent for his assessment. It did not phase him one bit to be moved, prodded, stretched, and rolled all over the place. He was such a champ.

The physical therapist concluded that his torticollis is not severe, it's mild at this point. She was very happy that he is getting treatment as young as he is, as even mild torticollis becomes difficult to treat once the baby is a little older--when they have more control of their neck muscles. She concluded that his head tilts to the left about 10 degrees. He holds his head to his left and he has skull flattening on the back left of his skull. The PT said the torticollis is the primary issue which is causing the flattening of his skull, and the torticollis is caused by womb position.

So the plan is for him to have some form of 'tummy time' for 80% of every day. This can take shape by how he naps, how we play with him, how we hold him, and how we rock him to sleep. Basically, we have to completely take any pressure off the flattened part of his head. The PT is hopeful that with our diligence we can avoid a helmet for Mr. Preston in the future. She is really optimistic. As for the torticollis we have to do multiple stretches every day to work out his neck muscles.  We will go back and see the PT in one week to reassess his progress. She anticipates his progress will be fairly quick, given how young he is. But we'll for sure have multiple visits with her so she can track his progress. She said that if all goes well we should start to see a lot of improvement within the next few weeks.

We will have to find more time in the days to get all of his exercises done, but I'm sure it will be second nature soon enough.

Feelin' Sad

Today I have a heavy heart. A joyful heart, yet sad also. My mom stayed with us for the past three days while she was in town for my niece's birthday. My mom doesn't live close...at all.. so it's always so nice to have her stay with us so we can reconnect. I sure miss her so. I'm finding I'm really needing to lean on my mom now that I'm adjusting to being a mom myself.

Well...my mom left today. Ahh...I so did not want her to leave. She has such an incredibly giving heart and really pours into our lives. All she gives to us, whether that be her great cooking, her taking the time to make clean our house so we don't have to, her stocking our fridge full of our favorite foods, all she does for our puppy dogs, or all the great conversation we share---we just so appreciate her. We can completely be ourselves when she is here. We don't have to entertain her. We don't have to put on a show for her. We don't have to worry about carrying the conversation with her. She doesn't want to monopolize our time. She isn't selfish or demanding of us. She makes us feel like she is truly here for us. She is just so easy to be around. And when she is here she totally makes our lives easier. I'm so thankful I have the kind of mom I do.

What sets her apart? Why is her giving so touching? Because she is engaged in our lives. She knows us on a deep personal level..both of us. She works to learn what makes us both happy and to really understand who we are. What we like to do, what we're into, what's going on in our lives..she is genuinely into our lives all the time.

She headed back out of state today. It really broke my heart. I know she had to go, and I have no intention of making her feel guilty she couldn't stay longer...at all. I'm so thankful for the friendship I have in her. Mom/daughter relationships are special.

Preston's One Month Check Up

So Mr. Man had his one month, well, closer to five week, check-up yesterday. Overall, all went well.

Here are the high lights:

Nana (my mom) joined Preston and I at the appointment as she is in town for my niece's birthday this weekend. It sure is nice to have her here! I sure do miss my mom. I think a girl needs her mom around  when she becomes a mom herself.  She is waaay helpful when she is here! She helps us so much with the dogs and the house and the cooking and the shopping so we can easily do what we need to do for Preston. I so wish she lived closer.  She never seems to come visit and not leave our house totally cleaned! Quite the perk of a Nana visit, for sure.

OK, on to Preston's doc visit:

Preston weighed 8 pounds and 10.4 ounces as of yesterday, 5/4/12. Growing boy! He is in the 10-25th percentile for his weight at his age.

He measured 21.25" in length--so he has grown almost 2 inches in 5 weeks.  His head measured 14.25". He is in the 25-50th percentile for his length at his age.

We have taken him off of his reflux meds and will see how he does without them.

I found out his blood type is B positive, like his Dad.

I was planning on bringing up his misshapen head shape and the fact that he cocks his head to his left all the time. The head shape on its own would not have bothered me, as most newborns have odd shaped heads that have to even out over time, but since he also cocks his head to one side, I was suspicious of torticollis. But before I got a chance to bring these concerns to the docs attention, the doc brought them up to me, as he noticed them too. Long story short, he diagnosed him with torticollis of his neck muscles which is causing him to always carry his head to one side. This then causes him to always lay on his head in one spot, despite our efforts to rotate his head when he lays ( he always pops it back to his left), so the doc wants him to start seeing a physical therapist so they can work work on his neck muscles. They will also teach me exercises that I will have to do with him at home. If we don't get his neck muscles stretched out so he can carry his head up right, this will almost certainly cause a long term misshapen head which will necessitate a head shaping helmet for him in the future. We would like to avoid this, of course, as I've heard from friends that it can be a beast to get insurance to cover this expensive treatment.

I have a really great friend whose baby girl also has torticollis and also needed a helmet and she has been a great resource of info. for me. Since I already suspected this would be a diagnosis for Preston, I'm not finding it a huge deal. It was probably causes by him being in one position for months in the womb. Whether he was truly "stuck" or not, we will never know, but either way him staying in the same position for so long caused his neck muscles on one side to be "shorter" and tighter, thus resulting in his head cocking to one side.

So he'll work with a physical therapist a few times a week until all of this neck muscles are aligned and in shape. This is a perfect example of why I'm really fortunate to be a stay at home mamma! I can easily take care of all of Preston's needs. Very thankful. On a good note, I know Preston's doc is not a physical therapist, but he doesn't think his torticollis is severe. Good news. But it's still present enough that it will interfere with his head shape and neck muscle development and strengthening so he wants it addressed.

He did not get any vaccines at this appointment. He will start all of them at his 8 week well visit. Yeah for not having to see my little one stuck with needles just yet. I am already dreading having to see this!

Preston went to his first pool party this weekend! Some sweet friends from church were celebrating their son's first birthday. It was hoot and humid, but we did hang out for a bit and Preston did great. We were super late, of course, as Preston still dictates the schedule, but we made it and had a great time. It was good to see some sweet people we haven't seen in a while.

Me and Preston in the heat today enjoying some time with friends:

On a different note, Preston has been doing great! I think we are finally learning his 'soothing sweet spot' and have finally learned to execute the Five S's just right. We are also learning to be able to decipher his cues and cries better and know what he is needing. This has meant that he has just started having better nights. He has been sleeping about 4 hours between feedings in the night. Whoo hoo! Lets hope this is a trend. So proud of him!

Within the last few days Preston has also been cooing and "talking" a lot! He is very vocal and even smiles when you talk and smile at him. I don't know if these are "real" smiles that he knows he is doing in response to me talking to him or smiling at him, but it's still new. He is growing up already! He has almost grown out of some of his newborn size onesies, too! Well, he has gained 2.5 pounds in less than 5 weeks. We are still fully breast feeding. He is getting one bottle of pumped breast milk at night from Dad, which he has adjusted really well to.

On a final note, Preston loves and totally responds to the Miracle Blanket! This may be my new baby shower gift for all my friends from here on out. He loves the way it swaddles him--he always passes right out. Kevin and I are, I think, finally adjusted to the fact that our lives are really different and for right now revolve around working as a team to run our household and meet the needs of Preston. You can prepare and prepare all you want, but until the time comes that you have that newborn in your home and it's demanding so much of your time, you can't really be totally ready for it. You just have to adjust in the moment. So glad we finally have. Now that the first month has passed, I can say: IT WAS HARD! No wonder women have the "baby blues". You're entire life has completely changed. You are now a threesome and the dynamic between you and your husband has forever changed. You are painful and healing from giving birth. Your hoo ha doesn't look right...and you wonder when it will. There is no sex for a long time. Your hormones are all over the place.  You are emotional as all get out. You are exhausted mentally and emotionally. You are sleep deprived. And you're working your butt off caring for a newborn. Holy moly that's a a lot going on in a blink of an eye. I'm glad we made it through!

I think that's all I have to update. ...Probably not..I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff.

Here are some pics of Preston this week:

Me and my second man enjoying some fun time together while Dad is at work

He is always so alert!

Love this BEAUTIFUL BABY!!

Just chillin' out!

Yea For Green Tea!

So I'm thinking we are going to have a chilled out baby on our hands--or I hope so. I realize I have no frame of reference, but I think Preston has a mellow disposition--thank God he got that from his Dad (hopefully)  and did not get my high-strung nervous-nelly approach to life. I prayed for this! :)

BUT I'm also indulging in some wishful thinking too. After much research in early pregnancy, I decided to eat a lot of dark chocolate and drink a lot of decaff green tea when pregnant for their "calming" effects on the baby's developing brain. These two items are found to alter the neurological development of fetuses making them less fussy, happier, and calmer babies. We'll see..but I sure hope so!

So far, like I said, even though I'm sure he still has more 'waking up' to do, he is muuch more awake than he once was. He is slow to anger and is very patient and isn't readily demanding. He, of course, will anger and will demand, but only after a long while. But, in reality, what do I know. It may just be wishful thinking!

Preston was weighed again today and he gained about 10 oz in 9 days. This is again great! He is maintaining his 1 oz per day average---good job little man.. ( and mom!). Maybe we are figuring things out! He is 4 weeks and 4 days and he weighs 8 pounds and 4 ounces.

Today has been a good day. It was a smooth night which resulted in a smooth morning. I learned some great soothing tricks today--hoping to put them to work tonight so we can have a repeat of last night. Sleep is great! I got about 7 hours of sleep last night--even though it was broken up by three feedings--it is still a lot more than I have been getting.