Main Blog

Growth spurt

I think Nathan is going through a growth spurt. At least I hope that is the reason why he wants to nurse every hour or two for the last day. It is taxing on me. This makes his previous schedule of every nursing three hours look like a vacation. What a hog! Click on the photo above to see more from our album.

Nathan's first month

Nathan is no longer a newborn and just an infant now that he is a month old. I've uploaded alot more photos from his first month. Click on the photo above to see them.

I spend about 4-6 hours, in about half hour chunks, every day sitting quietly breastfeeding Nathan. In the beginning it was frustrating figuring out good postitions and getting him to latch on properly, but once we got it figured out, it got a bit boring. Since he can't hold his head up yet, both of my hands are occupied and I am glued to the seat for the duration.

Although I sometimes watch TV, I mostly pass the time listening to my iPod. I love downloading podcasts from NPR and old time radio shows. I've also been uploading books on CD that I borrowed from the library. And one neat trick is to listen to music and sing along to the baby - and he thinks I know all the words :) Thank goodness for my iPod.

Nathan's due date

Happy due date Nathan! He would have been 40 weeks gestation today.

Three weeks old

Nathan is three weeks old today. The pregnancy seems like a world away. Since coming home, Nathan has had sponge baths and a real bath in the kitchen sink, he's been to a restaurant, the local library, the grocery store, his grandparents house in Glendale, LMU, and walked by his future elemetary school. Breast feeding is going well. He definitely has periods of fussiness, usually for three to four hours in the late evening. He is often awake and alert for an hour or two midmorning. Otherwise his days go in about three hour cycles of diapper change, eat, sleep. His circumsicion has healed nicely and his umbilical cord stump fell off a few days ago.

As far as I'm concerned, I still get much less sleep than I used to, but with naps during the day, I'm usuallly able to function. One irritating problem is that I developed a pimply rash while in the hospital. It can itch alot and some of the areas have gotten infected from my scratching too much. I've seen a doctor about it and the diagnosis has gone from foliculitis, to hormonal changes, and back to bacterial infection. I am hesitant to take antibiotics or medication that will affect the baby, and I may just try to let my own immune system take care of it. I'm also not entirely comfortable starting a harsh treatment regimen without knowing the diagnosis for sure. I'm still trying to get my questions answered about how the rash and the proposed treatment might affect Nathan.

Nathan greatgrandparents

In addidtion to having a two parent household and both sets of grandparents who live within an hours drive, Nathan is blessed to have three living greatgrandparents - Gary's father's mother, Frankie, Gary's mother's mother Helen, and my mother's father, George.

You can see more pictures from the baby's visits with two of his greatgrandparents by clicking on the photos above.

I got some more photos from Nathan's bris from Gary's parents. Click on the photo to see more.

Learning Nathan

Click on the photo for more at home pictures.

We've been home with Nathan a little more than a week and Gary and I having a bit of a tough time figuring him out. Breast feeding can be quite a challenge. He eats about every two to three hours. At best, it takes us 40 minutes to get him fed and changed, at worst it can take two hours. This often means I have almost no time to do all the other things for myself like showering, eating, let alone sleeping. Last night was our best night so far - he fed at midnight, 3am, 6am and 9am and I got a total of about 6 hours of sleep. Whoopee! However, Gary and I have also managed to find the time to take him on a walk around the neighborhood and to give him a bath a couple times.

Of course, from what I've heard, all this is very normal for a newborn and we are doing just fine, all things considered. I try to be thankfull that he and I are healthy and our troubles are just the routine ones. I also tell myself that he will get bigger soon and these sleepless nights can't last forever.

Also, Tuesday we had a bris for Nathan - the Jewish ritual circumsicion. We had about 30 people at the house since it is one of the most important Jewish customs and most Jews feel obligated to attend. Although watching the actual procedure was pretty gross, it went smoothly and Nathan didn't fuss much at all. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped welcome Nathan into the community.

If you have photos from the bris, please send them to us, we were too busy to document the event much ourselves.