Growing Like A Weed!

Today, we had Henry's 8 week check up.  Technically, Henry is not 8 weeks old...he is 7 weeks and 3 days old.  But, technically, Henry is in his 8th week of life, and I cannot believe it!  Time is a funny thing.  Sometimes, it moves sooooo slowly - like during the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy - and sometimes it goes sooooo quickly - like during the first 8 weeks of Henry's life.  I'm really trying to hold on to him being a baby because I know how fleeting this time is.  I also know what it's like to have a twelve year old and a ten year old and I am really not ready to do that again, yet!  

Anyway, Henry is growing and growing and growing.  He now weighs 12 pounds and 5 ounces (75th percentile) and is 22 1/2 inches long (50th percentile) and has a head circumference of 15 1/2 inches (80th percentile).  I guess he's going to have a giant head like Tyler!  Sometimes, it definitely looks like his head is the size of half of his body...it is huge!  I guess maybe that's why he's so smart ;) or at least alert.  Or maybe those extra 5 DAYS in the womb helped!  Either way we get comments all the time about how alert he looks.  I guess that when he is awake he does a good time of interacting with his environment.  He LOVES the owl on his play gym and really enjoys just staring at things.  Sometimes, I have no clue what he is looking at, but he's smiling and talking to it anyway.  Here's a picture of him sitting in his swing just staring at the little guys hanging from it.  I don't know exactly what they are, but he seemed to like them for 15 minutes.  Then he started talking to the battery box on the side - such a strange boy!

As I mentioned in my last post, Hannes has gone back to work.  We only have one car so I had to walk with Henry to his appointment today...and it was raining!  Normally, it's a pretty nice 15 minute walk.  We walk down the hill from our house through a path in the woods, across a bridge by the pond and then up the hill to the health center.  Although, in the rain, the walk is much less fun, and I don't own a rain coat or an umbrella!  I know...stupid!!!  I've lived in this cold, rainy country for a year and I still don't have either of those things...but I do talk about buying both on a regular basis.  We just never have and last year I walked to and from work pretty much daily until I was 7 months pregnant.  For a short period of time we had two cars and Hannes and I could each drive to work, but last month we found out the old Nissan was dead and was not allowed to be driven on Swedish roads any longer.  Technically, the car still worked and ran okay, but it didn't pass inspection and the repairs (for rust and other minor things) was more expensive than what the car was worth.  So, Hannes and his Dad got rid of it.  Now we're back to one car and I'm back to walking everywhere.  Luckily, I don't have too many pressing matters to attend to.

Now, here's an interesting fun fact.  When Tyler was about Henry's age we were at the doctor's and she wanted to check that his testicles had descended.  In the process, Tyler peed straight into his eye.  Today, at the doctor's Henry was getting his length measured and peed (not into his eye - he's not as cool as Tyler).  We cleaned it all up and wiped him off and then the doctor realized that she didn't write down his length and I had no clue what it was...I was cleaning pee off of my baby, not paying attention to what she was saying his length was.  So, we went to remeasure him and he peed again!  What is it with my boys?!

Boredom

Hannes went back to work last Friday, and even though it's only been a few days I find myself getting very bored while home alone.  The only places I can go to are places that are close enough to walk to, which leaves me a very limited selection.  There is a grocery store, a small shopping area, the lake and a few other little places.  Not anything too exciting.  And although I can leave the house it is kind of  a pain.  I have to carry the stroller downstairs by myself (while Henry stays in the house) and then I have to go alone and think about feeding schedules.  Most of the time it's easier to just stay at home.  Henry has been doing better with taking naps in his bed so I have time alone during the day...usually just twenty minutes here and there, but still.  I've been looking for things to do.  I just finished a large crochet project - it's a surprise so I can't tell you about it for a few more weeks - and I had a bunch of left over yarn.  I decided to crochet a hat for Henry.  I spent hours looking for a cute animal hat pattern.  I even crocheted two other hats and ripped them apart before I found this pattern.  I sent Hannes this picture to get his opinion.

He gave the thumbs up so I went ahead and made it.  Here's a couple of pictures before it was completely finished.  I think he likes it!

Here's a picture after it was completely finished.  What a smile!!

On a side note:  Hannes and I have been having quite the debate about what Henry will look like when he gets older.  Then I came across this picture on GAP's website.  I almost died!

I love those curly red locks!  After seeing this picture we started talking even more about Henry's hair.  Hannes has curly hair and I have combination hair - some is super curly, some is straight and some is wavy; it's lots of fun!  So, Henry has a chance to have some curly hair.  After seeing this I'm really hoping that he does!

And here's another little gem.  This happened today WHILE Henry was eating.  As in, still attached and actively nursing.  Babies are so much fun :)

Outtakes

Even though Henry is the cutest baby in the whole word; he doesn't always take the best pictures.  I thought it would be fun to share some of the more unflattering photos we have of him.  Sometimes we have to take a lot of shots to get that one really cute picture!

Sometimes, he can look a little like ET.

I finally have a picture of Henry and I...it only took 7 weeks!  Hannes is not good at being a photographer.  He just doesn't have the patience to find a good angle and he never tells me when he's about to take the picture!  I can't wait for Emily to get back home!

Breastfeeding Part Two

Although, I think the benefits of breastfeeding way outweigh the negatives, there are still some things that aren't the best.  I thought I should address those, too.

Timing

This may just be my child, but he likes to eat...a lot...all the time.  Sometimes it's more often than every two hours.  Some days he will eat every hour for six hours in a row.  Luckily, because of my overactive let down, it only takes him 5-10 minutes to eat instead of 10-20, but it's still time consuming.  I often feel like I just finished feeding him, burping him, changing his diaper and it's already time to do it all over again!  I'll look at the clock just to make sure it's really been two hours and usually it has.  Plus, there's the remembering which side he's on.  I only nurse on one side at a time, for now.  So, I have to alternate sides at every feeding.  I know there are apps and bra tags and other things you can use to help you remember, but then you have to remember that.  I'm not sure how much he's eating at every feeding and maybe formula fed babies can eat more and go longer between feedings, but then you have to wash all of those bottles!

Clothing

Nursing tops are ugly.  Plus, who wants to invest in some plain colored, cross front shirt that you will NEVER wear once you stop breastfeeding?  Not me.  I still have about 10 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose.  It doesn't seem like that much; especially because I tried really hard to gain a reasonable amount of weight during my pregnancy and in the end it was about 30 pounds.  I lost 20 pounds right away, but these 10 pounds are wanting to stick around.  I really shouldn't complain too much because the most exercise I've done in the last few weeks is walking around our neighborhood.  To get to the point, I have almost NO clothes that fit me!  I have one pair of stretchy jeans I can wear - with a major muffin top - one pair of shorts and a pair of khaki capris.  Being the genius I am I thought I could buy a few new dresses, because I could wear them now and after I lost the weight.  Then I remembered, duh! How are you supposed to nurse a baby in a dress?  You can't pull the top down and you definitely can't pull the dress up.  You also have to be careful with tops.  You can't just wear a t-shirt because when you pull it up to breastfeed your entire back and side will be showing.  You really have to think about your wardrobe and how easy, or hard, it will be to breastfeed.

Pooping

Anyone who has ever breastfed a baby knows exactly what I am talking about.  Breastfed babies have a very distinctive stool.  Mustardy, seedy with a just as distinctive smell.  I could remember the smell even before I had Henry, it is something that you never forget.  Since breast milk is thin and eaten so often, babies poop a lot!  Again, because of my overactive let down Henry is a gassy baby, and with his farts he usually poops - at least a little.  So, we go through a lot of poopy diapers in this house!  

Overall, I think the health benefits, for both Mom and baby, make up for the more inconvenient parts of breastfeeding.  I'm glad it was easier this time and I hope it stays that way!



*The day after writing this post.  This happened:

I just had to share it!  Yuck!

Breastfeeding

I knew I wanted to breastfeed.  I also knew it might be hard.  I nursed Emily for 8 months and Tyler for 6 months.  Not only is it the healthiest option for your baby, but it's also the  most convenient.  From birth, all Henry has wanted to do is suck/nurse/eat.  He eats every hour and a half to two hours all day every day.  Every once in a while he'll make it three hours without eating during the night, and once he even went four hours!  That means he's eating about 10-12 times a day.  I cannot imagine the dish pile if we were bottle feeding this chunker!  I know I would just be ordering more bottles and throwing them away instead of washing them.  There is no way I could keep up with that!  Plus, it's so much easier to travel and do things if you breastfeed.  You don't have to figure out how many bottles you need or try to find hot water when you're out.  You don't have to make room in your diaper bag for all of the bottles and formula.  When you breastfeed you just need to bring yourself.  Which causes its own problem...you have to go everywhere with your baby!  This is why I also knew I would be pumping.  Pumping can allow me to have an extra beer, or leave Henry for more than two hours, or let Hannes or the kids feed him.  Basically, I can have a little freedom!  We've only bottle fed him a few times.  Once when we were driving back from Denmark and we didn't feel like stopping I pumped in the car and fed him.  I don't pump everyday...but I mean to, it just doesn't happen.  However, we do have a nice little stash of milk in the freezer.  I really am going to try to get better at pumping every morning; especially because I plan on returning to work two days a week when Henry is six months old.

I can't say that breastfeeding was super easy for us, but it was much smoother this time than it was with Emily!  With Emily I had cracked, bleeding nipples.  I would bite my lip every time I fed her those first few weeks because it hurt so bad!  It was easier with Tyler and with Henry I only had a little soreness for a few days.  However, I have an overactive let down...which basically means when my milk lets down it just comes shooting out.  You can hear Henry gulping trying to swallow as fast as the milk is coming.  Which, of course, means he is swallowing a lot of air.  This makes for big burps and lots of spit up!

We use full size swaddling blankets as burp cloths.  However, they cannot contain the spit up!  Henry also has this knack for turning his head and throwing up down my shirt.  He's such a sweet little guy!  I plan on continuing to breastfeed him exclusively for the first six months (so no food or cereal or anything else).  Then, continue to breastfeed and introduce foods for the first year.  I think, that once he has teeth I will be pumping and bottle feeding...I don't need any nipple biting!  Although, Emily didn't have teeth until after her first birthday so that might not be a problem.  

Side note:  Tyler is already suffering from the middle child syndrome - aka I remember nothing about him!  I can't recall any specifics about his birth or breastfeeding or milestones...whoops!  I'm sure it will be the same with Henry one day, but luckily I've written it all down here ;)

Here's a cute little video Hannes took of Henry saying hi to Hannes' parents:

Denmark

Last weekend we decided to take Baby Henry for a little trip to Denmark.  Hannes' grandparents have a  summer house there and spend April to October in Denmark.  Hannes had vacation from work and soccer so the timing was perfect!  Henry had a great time meeting his gammal farmor and gammal farfar (old father's mother and old father's father - basically his great grandma and great grandpa).  He enjoyed the fresh air and his first time at the ocean.  So, basically he slept the entire trip!  Nonetheless, I think he had a good time.  I know I did!  The weather wasn't the best, but it's always nice to go some place and just relax.  We didn't have internet (for the most part...sometimes we could steal some from the neighbor) and I always enjoy having someone else cook for me AND do the dishes!  You can't beat that!

Henry had his 6 week check up today and our boy is still growing!  It's crazy how quickly they lose that newborn look.  He looks like a full size baby to me now!  He weighed in at nearly 11 pounds 6 ounces and was over 22 inches long.  I can't believe he's already gained 4 pounds!  I feel like one day I will turn around and he'll be walking and talking.  He has already found his voice and loves "talking" to us!  And sometimes to his friends, especially Mr. Owl.  There's nothing better than his smiles and talking in the morning.  It's almost like he's saying, "I love you, Mom.  Good morning."  He is the sweetest!  Everyone once in a while you hear him say things.  Hannes swears he said his name the other night.  I swear he can say hi and owl.

Newborns

So, we have had the joy of being Baby Henry's parents for five weeks now.  I still cannot believe what a sweet boy we have!  I cannot take my eyes off of him and have a hard time sharing him with other people.  No, I am not worried that you will drop my baby...I just want to hold him!  When I think back to the beginning of my pregnancy I cannot believe that I ever wanted a girl.  Little boys are the sweetest!

Everyone knows that newborns are time consuming and hard work, but until you have one "knowing" is not enough.  I've done this twice before and I thought I was prepared for the peeing/pooping on clothes and the spitting up and the constant feeding, but I was wrong!  During the first few weeks we would sometimes have 15 minute/3 outfit diaper changes.  Boys are especially difficult in the beginning.  You have to fold their diaper down to protect their umbilical cord stump, but then their pee just shoots out of their diaper.  Awesome!  Basically every time he peed we'd have to change his clothes and the waterproof pad he slept on, then of course he would spit up on his shirt - that would get changed, and then he would poop.  Fun!  At least he's really cute!

 We got really lucky and Henry loves to sleep!  He's never had a problem sleeping...actually he has a problem with being awake.  He is generally only awake for about an hour at a time and that includes the time he is feeding.  If I want to go to bed at 8 pm, I can, if I want to sleep until 2 pm, I can do that, too.  Granted, I do have to feed him every two hours, but I don't really have to be that awake for that.

Being his Mom is amazing and he makes me want to have more babies!  When he wakes up and looks at me and gives me his big toothless smiles my heart melts.  When he says "Ma"...trust me he does!  I just want to die!  He is the cutest thing ever!  (Sorry Emily and Tyler, but it's been a loooong time since you've had sweet, baby milk breath!)


I'm one month old!  Thanks for the bow-tie Aunt Jessie!