Sorry it's been so long since I updated. This month has turned out to be pretty busy for me, especially since the 19th when Maggie was born. I've had family visiting, and then Justin left for China, so I haven't gotten much internet time at all since I'm taking care of Sam all the time. I've made it through a week and a half as a 'single parent', and it's not going too bad. I won't write about everything that's been going on every day, but here's an update!
First the stats - Sam had his 2 month doctor appointment on 7/6 and he was 11 lb 1 oz and 22.5 inches long. He had to get four shots two in each leg, and it was very sad, but he only cried for a minute. He was a little fussy and sleepy for the next couple days after that, but recovered nicely.
WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO
On the 14th, Justin and I went out to see the Gabe Dixon band at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, and left Sam home with a babysitter. We had a really good time, and it was great to get out together. Maybe when he gets back from his business trip we can schedule monthly or bi-monthly nights for us to go out without the baby. It was really nice to just spend a little time together, and I know that it's important to keep that up throughout Sam's childhood so that we can stay close to each other and not forget about nurturing our marriage as well as our family and relationship with Sam.
On the 19th, Maggie was born. She is still in the Children's Hospital in Seattle, but is doing great. She will be 2 weeks old this Thursday. They started her eating from a bottle on Monday the 24th, one mL at a time (1/30 of an ounce). She's now up to eating 36 ounces at a time, and they're increasing it by 3 mL once or twice a day. The goal is to get her up to eating 60 mL at a time before she goes home from the hospital. She is very cute.
Also on the 19th, Dad, Helene and Lianna arrived from New Jersey to visit and meet Sam for the first time. We spent lots of time together and went to the Tacoma Farmer's Market, Point Defiance Zoo, and a Powow in Seattle on Saturday. On Friday night Lianna came and hung out with Kira, Sam and me at our apartment and we went swimming - including Sam! It was his first time in the pool. I bought him a little floatie that was only $2.50 at Target (what a deal!) figuring that if it didn't work it wouldn't be a big waste of money. It ended up working out really well! He can't be in it by himself, but it did a good job of supporting him so I only had to support him a little bit while spinning and pushing him around in the pool. Since he's still getting baths in his infant bathtub in the hammock until he can sit up, he's not used to being actually immersed in the water. He had a good time and smiled and cooed. For a lot of the time he seemed amazed and was just concentrating on what he was feeling, but we'll definitely be going swimming together more during the summer. I can't wait to show Justin when he gets back. Check out the photo album for some pictures. On Saturday, Dad, Helene, Kira and Lianna took Sam to the hotel with them around 6 pm and I didn't see him again until noon the next day! That's right, Sam had his first night away from home without Mom or Dad. I went to a movie with Brooke then came home and had 8 consecutive hours of sleep. I did have a little moment of being unsure on my way home from the movie, but it was forgotten as soon as my head hit the pillow, and sam was happy and had a good night without me.
Last week, Justin's Aunt Anna and Cousin Nicole and her kids were visiting from Arizona so I spent a couple of days hanging out with them, Stormy, and Justin's cousin Gayle and her daughter Misty, who had her baby the same day I did! Her daughter is named Gabriella and is very cute. I also spent a lot of time with Kira that week and visited Rob, Susan and Maggie a couple of times.
HOW WE'VE BEEN DOING
We have actually been doing pretty well! Justin left for his 3 week trip to China on the 19th. Yes, 3 weeks, you heard me right. Originally it was supposed to be 10 days, but it got longer and shorter, and this is where it ended up. I was very apprehensive about the whole thing, but it's been a week and a half, and I'm doing okay. I've been spending a lot of time with family - Justin's family, Dad & Helene, and Mom. Mom is here from Bellingham right now and is going to be here hanging out with me until Saturday so I can get a little break and get some things done, and then on Sunday I'll be heading up to Bellingham for Esme's baby shower and to spend a couple of nights up there.
In addition to his first time swimming, Sam has also just gotten over being sick for the first time. I noticed that he was hot when I picked him up last friday, took his temp and it was 99.1. I gave him Tylenol and his fever went up and down, but he was stuffy and mucousy for the next few days. On Sunday he had a 101.2 fever and was fussy all day - crying and sleeping in 30 - 60 min increments. I called the doctor on call from the pediatrician's office and they told me that since he's 3 months old he's past the newborn stage so if he hits 104 degrees OR has a fever for 6 days, then I should bring him in, but just giving him the tylenol, keeping him hydrated and monitored was the best and right thing to do. He is doing much better today and has been on his current normal schedule and smiling and happy during his awake time today, so we made it through our first fever even without Daddy around to help! Go us!
Sam is also drooling like crazy and has started chewing. He likes to chew on my fingers. I felt and looked in his mouth and can definitely feel something on his gums like there might already be a tooth trying to come through. I bought teething tablets and baby oragel to have on hand if we need it. Unfortunately since he's so little, most of the teeting rings etc are a little too big for his mouth. Plus I have to hold them for him since he can't really do it himself.
Sam's favorite thing to do now is just to grab things, like his blanket, and play around with them. He puts his blankets and bibs over his face and in his mouth, and is happy to ride in his stroller for a long time while just playing with a blanket. He really likes riding in his stroller, so we've been to zoos and he and I have been doing a lot of window shopping just so we can get out of the house and he can see new things and ride around outside.
BABY POOP TALK ALERT! Sam is doing a lot better with the constipation. I have not had to give him a suppository for 10 days, and he has pooped a normal amount - every other day or every day for the last 10 days. He has done it by himself, and it's not so hard anymore, so I am very happy about that. I think that since he's three months old now, he's kind of normalizing and getting used to life in the non-womb world.
THE BIGGEST NEWS
As some of you may know, on Friday the 21st it was NINETY SEVEN DEGREES in Seattle. That is WAY too hot, especially when you live in a 3rd floor condo with no circulation like I do. It was sweltering - it didn't cool down at night enough to cool down the condo for several days after that so the heat stayed in. The advantage to it being so hot was that that night, Sam slept from 10:30 until 9 the next morning, just waking up twice to eat. Since then, Sam has been sleeping during the night every night! (Knock on wood!) He was sleeping from 10 or 10:30 until 8 or 9 the next day, but since he got sick he's been sleeping from about midnight until 11 AM, just waking up 2 times to eat. It's WONDERFUL! It is really such a blessing that this happened when Justin is gone, because it was definitely the thing I was most concerned about with him leaving for so long since I tend to get so tired when it's 4:30 in the morning and Sam's still going strong. It's great to hopefully be seeing the beginning of a regular schedule for him, and makes it so much easier to do things during the day with him. The next hurdle is getting him to sleep in his crib. I bought a white noise machine, and we'll start trying this out in the next few days - to see if I can get him to nap and sleep for at least part of the night in his crib. Wish me luck!
I think that's a pretty good update for now. I can't promise regular updates for the next week and a half since Justin could possibly be in China until Friday the 11th. Once he gets back I will be less busy and should be able to update more often! Thanks for reading!
