7 Weeks - K's bday/Breastfeeding talk

At 7 weeks old, this boy is still spoiling us!  In bed by 9pm by choice and still sleeping 7 hours with one night time feeding and back to bed until 8 or 9am.  Usually, he takes (2) 20ish min cat naps in the morning and then a 3-4 hour nap around 1 or 2pm.  And repeat.  Nursing is still going great.  He must have had a growth spurt this week because he rarely made it the full 3 hours between feedings.  I'm not getting much more then 2 or 3 ounces if I pump after a feeding compared to the full 6 ounce bottle I was getting just a couple weeks ago so it appears he's upping his intake as well.  If he has a bottle it's usually between 4 and 5 ounces.

3-22-2013 - Loving being able to see Jase in the mirror while I'm driving.  If he's not sleeping he's intently
                    starring out the window.  2nd pic is gross I know, but that's our first MAJOR blowout.
                    Splattered all the way up his chest...how does that even happen??!??!?

3-23-2013 - Another night out for mom & dad for dad's birthday!  Thanks Aunt Amy for babysitting again! 

 

3-24-2013 - Happy 31st birthday Daddy!!!  We spent a lazy day just enjoying being home together. 

3-25-2013 - Kelly came to visit from STL!  She battled the crappy weather (they got 12 in of snow!!) and
                     bad traffic to meet Jase & have some MUCH needed girl talk with me!  Love that we have
                     stayed so close :)

totally blog worthy!

3-26-2013 - My view after a feeding - that boppy keeps getting smaller!

 

3-27-2013 - Henry was on spring break so he came and hung out with Jase & I for the morning.  Wish I
                    would have gotten a video of all the smiling and cooing Jase did while Henry was playing with
                    him.  Henry can't wait for him to be able to crawl and eat tiny bites of pizza lol 

We also had a talk about breast feeding....
Henry:  Can I feed him?
Me:  Uh, I'm not going to give him a bottle.
Henry:  How is he going to eat then?
Me:  (starting to sweat) Well, not all babies drink from a bottle.  You know how the kitties eat?
Henry:  Ya from a bowl.  (FAIL!)
Me:  No, I mean when the mama cat lays on her side and the kitties lay down by her and eat.
Henry:  (lifts up shirt and touches his nipple with a little smirk on his face) You mean from these??!??!
Me:  Yes (holding back laughter) Do you get it?
Henry:  (laughing hysterically)  Can you feel it?
Me:  Yes...weird right?
Henry:  Ya (more laughter) I wish I could see him eating under that thing (my hooter hider)
Me:  That's not really for a 7 year old to see...when you're older you'll understand more.
Henry:  Like when I'm 8?
Me:  Maybe a little older then that...like when you get married and your wife has babies.
Henry:  (very cute embarrassed smile) Ya ok

That must have been enough for him because he didn't say anything else about it when I fed him again later.  I think I handled it pretty well, but still glad that conversation is over.  Aunt Amy & Uncle Matt can field any questions he comes up with later lol

3-28-2013 - Jase & his favorite new friends video - Please excuse my finger!

Operation "get mama back into her own jeans" has commenced!  Jase & I got out and walked 2 miles this morning.  As you can see, Jase isn't very motivating so here's to hoping I keep it up.  Yay for baby carriers!!  And hurry up warm weather!!!

We do seem to have a mama's boy on our hands right now, but I'm sure that has a lot to do with me being home with him 24/7.  I'm not exactly complaining about that, but I do wish he didn't cry every time someone else tried to hold him :-/    

His 2 month well check is Monday, April 1st and I'm dying to get him weighed!  We are friends with the PA in our doctors office and had the chance to talk to her and another friend who is also in the medical field a little about the VCUG.  As much as I hate to admit it, they both advised us to go ahead with it.  Should have an update on that next week.

Have a great Easter weekend!

-Nicole

6 Weeks - Russell Shower

3-15-2013 - Must have been an uneventful Friday :-/


3-16-2013 - Saturday was mine & Kiel's first night out together since Jase was born.  Amy watched Jase and we went to the boat in Peoria and to Jonah's (YUM!!!) to eat for Hot Toddy's birthday.  Kiel & I aren't big gamblers, but it didn't really matter.  It just felt good to be out of the house doing "adult" things :)  He didn't seem to miss us...

     

3-17-2013 - My aunts on the Russell side threw us a shower on St Patrick's Day and it was great!  It's still amazing how much stuff you need for a baby...everyone was so generous and thoughtful!!  We got a lot of great stuff and really appreciate everyone coming to help us celebrate our man :) Jase barely made a peep the whole day and was completely exhausted when we got home.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! 

 

 

3-18-2013                        Jase is ALWAYS happy on the changing table

Lifting that head up like he's a toddler!

 More proof Jase is his father's child.  You know the thing that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth?  Well, Kiel's comes all the way out to the end of his tongue.  He refers to himself as being "tongue tied" and wouldn't you know...so is Jase.  It's kind of hard to tell because the pic is a little blurry, but the only time you can really tell on Jase is when he's REALLY crying so it's hard to get a good pic.  It never caused a problem for Kiel so we don't have any plans to do anything about it, he'll just look funny like Kiel when he tries to stick his tongue out lol  At least I'll always be able to tell he's mine ;)

 3-19-2013 - Jase & I went shopping...thank goodness for the mother's room at Babies R Us

 3-20-2013 - First day of Spring my foot!!!  Pretty sure the high was 27

3-21-2013 - I've taken a LOT of pics of Jase since his arrival, but this is officially my favorite.

-Nicole    

5 weeks

3-8-2013 - Jase's first trip to Earlville to see Grandma Farm....can't believe I didn't get any pics with her -
                  FAIL!  Pretty sure everyone was worn out lol

3-9-2013 - Milestone:  I'm pretty sure it was because of our big travel day, but JaseMan slept 9 hours 
                                     Monday night!!!
                  He needed a little help with his paci once or twice, but never actually woke up to eat or even
                  have his diaper changed for 9 straight hours.  #totalflukebuti'lltakeit

3-10-2013 - We have a colicky time :-/  From around 6:30-7:30 Jase is not at his finest.
 

3-11-2013 - Jase & I stopped into my work and set my first day back as April 22nd...neither one of us
                    really want to talk about it. 

Can't figure out how to turn this one ??

3-12-2013 - Milk.Coma.

3-13-2013 - Oops

3-14-2013 - Showing off his mad skills, holding up his bottle and his head like a big boy.  Just moments after
                    he was born, Jase picked his head up off my chest and looked up at me...it still amazes me how
                    strong he is at just shy of 6 weeks.

Seeing as how, I'll be going back to work in just a little over a month and Jase has a very strong preference for where he gets his milk...I decided it's time to start really pushing the bottle.  He's had one sporadically if we were out somewhere or if I was gone during feeding time and does well with it, but tends to be a little fussy after - probably gas.  Today he had 2 bottles just to see how it went and for some reason (this is the second time this has happened) when I don't actually nurse him for awhile I start to feel really achy and get flu like symptoms.  The first time it happened, was the day Kiel & I went car shopping.  I made the mistake of not pumping before we left so I was engorged bad the whole time we were gone.  I was light headed, achy, had the chills, and a really strong headache.  It wasn't until we got home and I ate dinner and was able to nurse him 2 or 3 times that I started to feel better.  By the next morning, it was like nothing was wrong.  I just brushed it off, but now that it happened again today when I didn't nurse him 2 feedings in a row (this time I pumped after he had his bottles), I'm a little concerned.  I ended up taking a nap when Jase did and felt a little better, but still just not myself.  I was actually getting a little tired of nursing and looking forward to not having to do it all the time, but I guess it's time to do some research on what happens when you stop nursing.  Ah the joys of motherhood...always worrying about something - right Suzy? ;)

Kiel took his first overtime call since Jase was born tonight so we're on our own.  Jase stuck to his normal routine of eating around 8:45pm and going to bed between 9 & 9:30 - the kid already lets me know he's ready to be swaddled and put in his crib.  I'm not complaining.  Hopefully Kiel will get an all nighter in tonight and can be off and home with us tomorrow.  Bring on the weekend!!

-Nicole 

1 Month New

March 1, 2013

We celebrated Jase's one month milestone by getting his kidneys checked for the first time since birth.  He proved, yet again, how good of a boy he is by not making a peep during the ultra sound and actually falling asleep while she checked him out.  I was such a proud mama :)

We got a call from Dr. Proehl's office on Tuesday, Jase's kidneys are a normal size...WOO HOO!  The nurse also told us he has what Dr called "mild bilateral pelvictasis" which refers to the thickness of his kidneys and affects the flow of urine.  Basically the walls of his kidneys are a little thick.  She assured me it was a mild case and nothing invasive would need to be done going forward.  At most, he could be high risk for UTI's...not ideal, but we can handle those.  They were giving us a referral to a urologist in Peoria who would call to set up an appt.  Not long after I got off the phone with the nurse, I received a call from Dr Rhea's office in Peoria.   I was pretty taken aback when she told me our next step would be a VCUG which requires a catheter to be inserted into his penis to inject dye into his kidneys so we can watch his urine flow.  I'm not sure if my mom instincts kicked in or what, but that was a HUGE red flag for me.  Why are we talking about inserting a catheter into my 1 month old son's penis when my doctor's office just told me his kidneys are a normal size and nothing invasive would need to be done?  Instead of setting up the appt to do the VCUG, I requested an appt to sit down with the urologist to discuss how necessary this procedure is.  Considering we didn't get scheduled for that until May 1st, I don't think it's a big emergency.  Jase has his 2 month check up with Dr. Proehl on April 1st and you can bet his sweet little butt we'll be discussing this.  I feel like, now that his kidneys are normal, we're just coming up with new things to check out on him.  Granted, Dr Proehl had to bring this to our attention since she saw it in his ultra sound pics, but I'm wondering if this is really necessary or if we're starting to run tests just to run tests.  It's not about money, Jase has great insurance, but I'm not willing to put him through all this crap unless it is 110% necessary to ensure his well being.  I'm 30 years old and was petrified to have a catheter when I gave birth and I had an epidural...why in the world would I put my child through that unnecessarily?  Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper when I got off the phone with Dr Rhea's office...will be sure to come back to this when I know more.

How did we get to March already?...my maternity leave is dwindling.

3-1-2013  - Milestone:  Turning 1 month 

                   Aunt Lindsey & I went out for dinner while daddy stayed home with Jase, but we had to cut
                   the night short when we got a call about an hour & a half later with nothing but screaming on the
                   other end.  Jase seems to have taken up a "witching hour" around 7pm every night and it's hard
                   to get him calmed down.  Not even mama's scent seemed to make things better.  Just one of
                   those phases babies go through I'm assuming.  Fingers crossed it's short lived...

  3-2-2013 - Mommy & daddy went car shopping so Jase spent the afternoon at Aunt Amy's.  Brought
                    home a 2011 GMC Acadia...LOVE IT!!!

  3-3-2013 - Jack is going to be such a great big brother (happening October 2013)!!
                    Milestone:  Jase slept in his crib for the first time!!  He set a record, sleeping 6
                    hours and leaving mom & dad feeling a little lonely without their boy next to them...but what a
                    relief that it went well!!

3-4-2013 - Since Lindsey was in town, we had the opportunity to get all the boys together at Jill's.
                  Considering the 3 of us went to school together, it would be pretty fun to see Jack, Owen,
                  Oliver, and Jase grow up and become friends.

3-5-2013 - FEED ME!!!

 3-6-2013 - The J man loves to sleep curled up on his stomach on my chest so during nap time we break
                   the rules and he gets a blanket too (don't worry I check on him regularly)...scandalous!
                   Lefty like daddy??!??!?
                   "Grandpa, you hold Jase, I hold his feet" - Bevin

Happy 7th Birthday Henry Douglas!!!!!!!

3-7-2013 - Grammy came over to babysit while mom got her hair done so of course we busted out the
                  Harley gear.  Thanks Grammy!!  Mama really needed a haircut, but I have to admit...it's still
                  hard to leave him even if it's only for a couple hours.

Always discretely flashing the peace sign

Sidenote:  I might have my mama's hairline & nose, but I got more then just daddy's flat feet :)
                Those eyes & chins are identical! 

 
The transition from pack-n-play in our room to his crib in his room went flawlessly.  He's consistantly gone to bed between 9:30 and 10pm each night this week and slept until 3:30 or 4am.  Since he's sleeping for a longer period of time, it takes a little more then 2 min to get him to fall back to sleep after a feeding, but once he's back to sleep he sleeps until 8 or 9am and then we're up for the day.  He obviously loves it because he isn't napping as well during the day if I keep him in the living room.  He nods in & out for 10 or 20 min at a time in his bouncy seat or on the floor, but if I put him in his crib for a nap he'll sleep for 2 or 3 hours.  Baby boy has preferences!!!

I got on the scale with him the other day and I think he's just under 12 lbs...I can't wait to get him weighed April 1st.  My favorite development this week is all the smiles we get!  It might still be gas, but he's really starting to smile when he's focusing on us when we talk to him.

Upcoming goals :
Narrow down & order newborn prints (seems impossible)
Figure out baptism

-Nicole