Finding the right formula/starting daycare/sleeping like a champ...and my RTW

Lots going on this week. Mr. Rece went to daycare this week, it has gone ok, he is having some difficulty napping there, as there is a lot going on there and all of the babies obviously don't nap at the same time. The first day he napped only 20 minutes - total. The second day he took a series of 30 min cat naps, and yesterday he slept for an hour once and an hour and a half once with another 30 min cat nap in there as well, so it is getting better. I am sure he will adjust. On the VERY bright side, last night he got enough sleep at daycare to be awake for us in the evening, although a bit cranky, he took his bottle at 9 and then he slept through the night until 6am when we gave him a bottle and he went to daycare again this morning. We couldn't believe it! Realizing it probably won't happen every night, it gives us hope ;-)

We are also working on finding the right formula. It is amazing to me that it is the only food the baby eats and his Dr. is so nonchelante about what we put him on. I was telling him that he has been on the Similac Sensitive for almost 3 weeks now and he can't seem to get in a good pattern where he is not constipated and hence gassy. I am constantly giving him prune or pear juice and sometimes Caro in his bottle so he will be able to go. So the dr. said I could try Soy, more or less he said oh yeah just give it too him see what happens and then if that doesn't work he said to go back to the Alimentium (ie the Cadillac). SO I of course did my own research both online and through friends and found that Good Start has broken down proteins that are easier to digest, it also has a slightly higher water content and so it can make it easier for him to go. Plus it is still milk based and is an easier transition at this point, and not as expensive (not even close) to the pricey hypoallergenic formulas. So we started on that last night, I plan to give it a couple of weeks, and if it doesn't help his tummy we will try the good start soy. Thanks to all who sent me the Similac Coupons - I used each and everyone! We will see if the goodstart works a little better for us.

Finally - I RTW tomorrow. I am excited in a lot of ways, as there are a lot of new and exciting things going on at work, and I miss a lot of the people I work with, I am thankful to be part of a great team. Having said that this week has been tough to spend entire days away from my guy. I am sure we will get into a good pattern. On the bright side, Jeremy's JV season ends next week, so he will slowly start to have more time (he will still help the Varsity for a couple of more weeks) and then he will be out of school in just over a month. So he and Mr. Rece will have their bonding time this summer. I am jealous though as Jeremy will really get to see all of the day to day developmental milestones happen this summer. Compared to the first 10 weeks of eat,sleep,poop and eat again ;-)

New pics - 10 weeks

Here are some updated shots, including one of Mr. Rece after his first day of daycare where he only slept 20 minutes....the pic is the one in his onesie after we have unswaddled him and we are trying to rouse him for a before bedtime baba... Also included are some pics of our roadtrip home to MI, Mr. Rece Snoozin in the car and trusty Mr. Star who got us through some of the tough times, he and Mr. Rece are BFF's ;-)

2 months

We took Rece to the Dr. this week for his 8 week visit.
When he was born he was 6 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches
he was 6lbs 7 oz when we brought him home from the hospital.

Here are his two month stats:

*11 lbs 3 oz
*23.5 inches long

-He smiles and coos, especially for his mama who has perfected the high pitched baby talk tone he likes the most.

- On Wed. of this week I put him on his tummy and he rolled himself over to his left onto his back - I just sat there with my mouth open. He hasn't done it again since.

-He holds his chest and head up for a long time each time when on his tummy

-He LOVES the musical star/smiley face on his baby Einstein activity mat - he will literally lie there and stare at it, doing bicycles with his legs for like an hour.

-He is finally beginning to sleep at night more, and at least for the last two weeks has developed a "pattern" - he goes to bed between 9-10 and wakes up for a bottle around 3-4 am. He goes back out, not as soundly, until 7-8am. (knock on wood!)

-He really only takes one long nap during the day about 3 hours - just after his early afternoon bottle. Sometimes he will drift off for 45 mins or so in the morning but that nap never lasts long.

-His reflux is still there but has turned from spitting up mucus stuff to swallowing the spit up. Which causes him to taste the food and drool like you wouldn't believe, so so so much slobber! Enough to make him wake himself up sometimes coughing and chocking on it. So he is on an acid reducer to hopefully reduce this for him, he was coughing enough he sounded horse when he cried :-(

-He has started to "fight" naps and going to bed, he is a challenge to relax but when he does he is usually out. I am not sure if we are waiting to long and he is overtired when we try or what? I put him down for naps during the day and daddy has had the touch getting him to sleep at night. We trade the middle of the night feeds so far.

-He seems to be adjusting well to being on the bottle, and overall just acts like he feels a lot better, luckily we can move him to the "sensitive" formula rather than the pricey hypoallergenic stuff!

-He starts daycare Monday the 27th for some partial days where I stay with him and begin to leave him for short periods, I return to work May 1. It will be sad and hard I am sure to leave him, but in many ways I am excited to get back to work. I really enjoy the social part of my job - talking to adults :-) I say that now but I will probably be a basket case when I have to leave him. We shall see.

A few quick pics

Here are a few from my mom's stay

Making the switch

After 8 weeks of trying it all, and then trying it all again, and after a lot of tears for both Mr. Rece and I, and after the advice of BOTH the pediatrician and the lactation consultant (believe it or not, I even stumped her...) we have moved on to a hypoallergenic (pricey, like the Cadillac of formula) formula. Oh and to bump me further in this direction, I woke up yesterday with the beginnings of Mastitis (from the block feeding I was doing to reduce my supply) and I have to go on antibiotics again! So no more! Even with all this and knowing that the formula could make him feel like a million bucks, and the fact that I really don't enjoy B-feeding that much, AND that I can't eat or drink anything I want...I still almost lost it in the grocery store when I had to purchase it. I can't explain it, its like "I have spent 8 weeks of my life obsessing over this, working so hard to make it work and now I am quitting!" - So I came home ate some onions and garlic on a still cheese-less pizza, and had a glass of wine, followed by a cup of coffee this morning and well...things are looking better :-) I am still pumping, A. because I have to, if I didn't I would be in serious pain (plus the infection) and B. just in case for some reason the liquid gold I am feeding my kid doesn't work and he reacts adversely, I can always go back. So in a few days if all is going well, I will start to wean my supply down and say goodbye to the B-feeding. I have his two month appt on Tues and I am also going to ask about trying to move him to just the "sensitive" and lactose free formula after sometime, when his belly has calmed down and he gets a few weeks older.

So - now for a plea to all my fellow blog readers out there, if you know any pediatricians who might give you a sample can or two of Similac Alimentium (my doc promised me some as well) please let me know, I will pay for you to ship it to me. (I mean this stuff is expensive, like a car payment every month - I am desperate ;-) OR if you won't be using Similac coupons anytime soon to buy formula, please go to www.similac.com and register, I believe they will send you four $5 off coupons for this formula, then if you are willing you can mail them to me! Click on "community" and then on the right hand side you can register. You only need your name, address and a babies name and date of birth, something within the last few months or upcoming within a few months, should trigger coupon sending. The coupons will be in your name, but I shouldn't have any trouble using them. HOPEFULLY, we will be able to move from the Alimentum to something more basic in a few weeks, but either way I will stick within the similac family at this point I am sure. I realize I am kind of working the system here but, I figure Similac wants to sell formula and the grocery store wants to let me buy it so a few extra coupons to make it more affordable shouldn't hurt! Anyway, if anyone wants to try, let me know and I will get you my addy. Thanks in adavance!!!

The gas monster is back...

I will never ever question my sweet sleepy baby again. On Friday afternoon last week and all since then the gas monster has returned and poor Mr. Rece is having himself a rough time. I haven't changed anything in my diet and overall b-feeding is going much better so I am not sure what it is other than his immature digestive system. Last night he was so gassy he literally screamed and tooted for 2+ hours straight and then we gave him a bath, got him read for bed, and miraculously he slept from his 9:45 feeding until 4:30! Which of course was great and much needed since he had had some rough nights prior. Its so sad, his little gas pains wake him up, and generally he looks so tense and uncomfortable when he is like this, I feel so bad for him. Luckily last night he must have got it all out prior to then so he actually slept. Thankfully, we have had a lot of great help over the last two weeks, Jeremy's parents were here two weekends ago and then my mom came and stayed with us from last Saturday on, she just left today. Jeremy has tomorrow off of school so we will have the long weekend all together. Hopefully by Monday the gas monster will have subsided again and I will have a better week flying solo with him next week. Pics from the last couple of weeks soon, I can't believe he will be 8 weeks on Saturday...

My sack of potatoes...

As I mentioned I had a sleepy head the last few days...great photo ops though...

6 week pics

Here are some from my mom and dad's last visit.

Growth Spurt?

Oh boy...well just when b-feeding seems to be getting in control and the gas seems to be improving a little. Now I have a new child...Rece wants to sleep - all the time all of the sudden. He is like a sack of potatoes for most of the day the last two days. It all started this weekend when out of the blue, he sacked out after a feeding a around 6pm. Usually he is not only awake at this time but cranky as all get out. I couldn't believe it but I chalked it up to him starting to feel better. Now the last two days he has been just so tired. He is nursing well and all is ok there, I am trying to engage him as much as possible during the daylight hours (especially after we had a rough night of sleep last night with several wakings for feedings, and some cranky time). I have been diligent since his birth to clearly differentiate day and night, and out of all of our difficulties I thought that was the one thing we had right, if he did go longer between feedings and sleep a little better it was at night... And now this. I don't know what to think. I can't imagine he just got his days and nights mixed up out of the blue, we haven't changed anything. I half thought about calling the pediatrician today and asking about it, it is that weird, but I feel like an idiot - "Hi Doc, my baby is sleeping to much.... oh and by the way the last time I was in I was complaining about how much his gas keeps him from sleeping..." Ugh! Anyway today I went out of my way to keep the house lit up and keep his room bright while he napped and we will see what happens. Has this happened with anyone else out there?!?!