Parker at 1 Month

I can't believe that Parker is a month old already.  (Mom brain: I wrote this post yesterday which was actually his one month and then forgot to actually publish it.)  And his official due date isn't for 3 more days!  Our days in the special care nursery seem like they were so long ago.  I knew that it would feel like that even though at the time it felt like we would be there forever.  Time has flown since we got home.  This maternity leave thing isn't easy work.  Apparently it's not just a vacation.  My days really fly by.  That's what happens when you hardly have time for a shower and are incredibly sleep deprived.  But we're figuring this thing out, and I know that we won't be in this stage forever.

Weight: 5lbs 0.5oz

Hair: Still has a fair bit of it!  It's brown and has come in a bit darker on the top since he was born.  I really don't think it's going to turn red.

Clothes: We had a couple of friends give us some preemie clothes, which was awesome.  But he's actually outgrown some of the smaller fitting ones!  Soon newborns might not look so massive on him.

Diapers:  He has been in newborn Pampers Swaddlers since birth.  I did actually find some preemie diapers at target, but they only come in packages of 27.  That's like 2 and a half days worth and they were much too expensive for that!  So I'm sticking with the newborns that are slightly too big.  

Feeding: I'm still feeding Parker every 3 hours.  For awhile I was feeding him on demand and every 3 hours if he didn't demand it.  I was basically nursing exclusively and giving him a bottle or two a day.  Then I went to the midwife and he had only gained 2 ounces in a week.  So I switched to mostly bottle feeding so that I knew that he was eating enough.  I would breastfeed a couple times a day and then top up with a bottle if he needed it.  He has gained about 11 ounces this week now!  His bottles are exclusively breast milk though and I'm hoping I can keep up with that.  

He's still in preemie mode, so he's still fairly sleepy, and that's why the breastfeeding wasn't working for us.  He knows how to do it, but he falls asleep before he's eaten enough.  With a bottle I can force it on him a bit easier.  Hopefully soon we can go back to breastfeeding more since he has gained so much weight.  I'm also looking forward to the day when I can spread his feedings out a bit and maybe get sleep in more than 2 hour increments.  

I'm still pumping 8 times a day to keep supply up, especially since I'm not nursing as much.  So basically I'm a milk machine and feel like a Holstein.

Sleep:  He is still sleepy.  He generally sleeps pretty well between feedings.  I find that he's more awake in the evenings.  He sleeps well at night though, which is part of the reason why I want to spread out those feedings.  Right now he kind of has his nights and days figured out, and he eats more in the evening than he does in the middle of the night.  I would really like to keep it that way...

Likes: Being held skin to skin in an upright position.  He usually falls right to sleep!  Being held in general.  He really likes his baby wrap.

 He will never tell us if he's hungry if he's being held, he just sleeps.  Farting.  Well I don't know if he likes it but he does it a lot! Cuddling with dad in bed.  I have a no babies in the bed rule, but dad doesn't care about that rule.

Dislikes:   Baths, especially getting his hair washed.

Coming Up: We finally rescheduled my shower that was supposed to happen the day after he was born.  It's next Sunday.  I'm not sure yet if I'm going to bring Parker as I still get nervous about his immune system.  I might just have Ryan bring him to meet everyone at the end so that he doesn't get passed around too much.

He is finally getting circumcised this week.  I know that it seems late, but I always wanted to put it off for a bit so that I could establish breastfeeding first.  Then when I took him for the consult, the doctor wanted him to gain a bit of weight first.  


I sometimes get frustrated with the poor little guy when he doesn't eat well.  Sometimes he will eat 20mL and then I can't get the bottle back into his mouth.  But then he makes a funny face at me and all is forgiven.  It's a good thing we love these little critters that are ours so much because they make it all worth it.  Eventually the late night feedings and these struggles will be gone, and replaced with new struggles, and we will completely forget what it was like when we were in this stage.  I'm trying not to wish it away and I know that I have to enjoy it as much as I can.  They change so quickly at this age and I want to remember it all.  

Happy one month Parker.  We shouldn't have even met you yet but we are glad you're here!