21 Week Update

So Mr. P is doing pretty well. He finally had his four month vaccines today--his appointment kept getting pushed out, so he's about a month behind, but that's perfectly okay with me. He weighed 15.2# today, 45th percentile,  25.25 inches in length, 45th percentile, and his head circumference was 16", 10th percentile. I think his head measures small because it's growing straight up and not out.  LOL

Things have been crazy with my thyroid since delivering him. I went hyper, then hypo, then I was told to stop my Synthroid about a month ago. I don't think this was a good decision on my doc's part, as within the last month my milk supply has substantially decreased after I stopped taking it! I had bloodwork done this week to check my levels since being off the meds, and sure enough, my TSH is higher than it's ever been at 3.11. No wonder I've been feeling so tired, depressed, and have been losing hair like no one's business. Lesson learned on my thyroid levels and breastfeeding...if there is a next time. Ya know, thyroid and breast milk production go hand in hand.  I have had a crying, still hungry baby because their isn't enough for him. This totally freaked me out and scared the crap out of me. Luckily, we have a deep freezer full of pumped breast milk, so when needed we can give him a bottle of breast milk to make up the difference. And I've had my thyroid levels rechecked and started back on  my Synthroid, started taking Fenugreek ( an herb to increase milk supply, which was recommended my his pediatrician and my lactation consultant), started pumping even more ( I didn't know it was possible--uhg--I hate pumping!), and I'm drinking a dark beer every evening with Kevin. The hops and barley in dark beer is said to increase milk supply in women. I think I can see a small increase in my supply since I've been doing these things for the last couple of days--praying it gets back to normal....quickly! Preston's weight gain has slowed to about 1/3 an ounce per day rather than his typical 1 ounce per day over the last three weeks due to him not wanting to nurse as well, him being really dis tractable when nursing, and my supply issues. The doc was totally not concerned and said to keep giving him frozen breast milk as needed and follow up with a reweigh in two weeks. He is still sitting perfectly in the middle of the growth curve and is growing proportionally.  I've had a few emotional freak out moments when Preston is crying and Kevin has to scurry and defrost a bottle for him asap. I've felt really, really guilty like my body is letting him down Plus, I really, really, really don't want to give up breastfeeding. I'll be crushed if it comes to that. But my lactation consultant seemed positive about being able to reinstate my supply if I do lots of things she recommends to help things along. I pretty much have to feed Preston non stop..or as much as he will take it, and wear him around in a sling with both of our shirts off so we're doing true skin-to-skin time, as this will stimulate my brain and send the hormonal signals for me to produce more milk. Pray, pray, pray! The other breastfeeding news, Mr. Preston no longer wants to nurse from my left side. I have nooo idea why. This started a little bit before his ear infection began, which I thought was the cause. But it's apparently not. His ears and everything all check out perfect. So I'm having to get really creative to get him to semi nurse from this side. Hope this is just a phase that ends soon. He's a smart little dude. I'm having to get into some really uncomfortable positions to get him to nurse from this side. :)

Okay, back to the check up from today. Mr. Preston looked fabulous. All checked out perfectly and he got two vaccines today: one with a needle and one liquid in the mouth. He handled the needle like a champ, too! So he's sportin' a cute little dude bandaid again. :) He has met all of the milestones for his age and is moving right along.

He is still scooting across the floor and working on his army crawl. He rolls both ways, but doesn't seem to have a lot of interest in doing it a whole lot. He is still not quite ready for sitting up. He still needs a lot of assistance. He is still a drool machine and everything goes in the mouth--everything! He also started balling up his hand into a fist and hitting himself in the face while he nurses. And he hits himself hard, too! He is getting more interested in watching us eat, and follows the fork to our mouths. We're not planning on introducing solids until after six months, as he is not quite ready just yet. He can't sit up in a high chair quite yet and he still needs to master some fine motor coordination with his hands. But we're in no rush. He is still as alert as ever. Every time I take him out strangers always comment on how alert and into his surroundings he is. People have been telling us this since he was a newborn. A couple of days ago someone told me this meant he was going to be into everything in sight once he is fully mobile. I say it means he's a genius. But the former is probably more likely, huh. :)

Preston is doing so much better with our sleep training. We are 1.5 weeks into it and we have a totally different sleeper. He still has some work to do, and things aren't perfect, but he has improved a 100% on his sleeping. He is taking three naps per day, and will sleep for 2 hours straight on two of them, and will finish off the day with a short catnap. He is also sometimes back to sleeping through the night or may wake once to nurse. I can def handle this! Plus nursing him at night is good for my supply. He is so much more well rested and is much happier during his wake times. I love it. We are working on weaning him from needing the pacifer to go to sleep and are putting him down in his crib drowsy, not fully alseep, so he can learn to self soothe and get himself to sleep. We still rock him and sing to him to get him to his drowsy state, which I love to do with him, but we're not spending tons of time trying to get him into a past- out state. He is still sleeping on his tummy, and sometimes rolls to his back and has trouble knowing that he can get himself back to his belly. Sleep training is really difficult to commit to and show follow through with, but it's totally worth it. When he is crying I still get really emotional and have to go outside and leave the monitor with Kevin. He can handle listening to him cry far better than I can. He's much less emotional about the entire thing. Whereas, it's been really, really hard on me...and Preston, I'm sure. :) But it feels like we're finally maybe starting to see some true consistent routine and schedule forming with his better and more predictable sleeping habits. Thank God! I hated the air mattress!

Please pray that my milk supply be fully reinstated and Preston continues to grow and be well.

Here are some photos of the man during the last couple of weeks. 21 weeks, I can't believe it!

 Play Date with our friend Kendall

 Enjoying some time in the exersaucer!

 Ahh, looks like someone is already smitten...

 Look, they're holding hands!

Preston says, " umm...is that my toy? I sure think it is."