Our first night out

Kevin and I had our first night out together this past Saturday night. We headed out to a family friend and coworkers wedding. While I was excited to get out of the house and have some alone time with Kevin part of me also just wanted to catch up on some much needed sleep. My parents were also invited to the wedding but they declined so that they could stay home and watch little Ryan. It's so great to have family around because we didn't worry about little Ryan at all while we were out.
The ceremony started at 6pm and was at a church near Northwest Highway and Douglas Avenue - their reception immediately followed at the Belo Mansion downtown. Sooo in true new mommy fashion what did I do on the way to the reception? I pumped. haha. It was quite funny as I sat in the back seat all covered up while Kevin drove us downtown - fun stuff I tell you. Anyhow, with that out of the way we had a great time at the reception. The wedding was beautiful and the food was great. Although I had enough milk stocked up for Ryan so that I could drink the night away if I pleased - it just didn't sound that enticing. Drinking just isn't as exciting when you know you have a little man to take care of when you get home. Anyhow, we had a great time and were back home by 10pm. On the way home we laughed about how old we have become as 10pm use to be the time things just started to get going. Oh how things have changed! But we love it and wouldn't want it any other way!

It's only August but...

I just got PBK's Halloween costume email and they are sooo cute! I can't wait to dress little Ryan up this year! I am loving the dinosaur or the bat costume. I wonder what daddy likes best! so fun!

Heck they even make dressing up like a skunk cute!!

Two weeks

So today Ryan is officially two weeks old! I hear six weeks is when it get easier :) Last night I got a three hour stretch in to start off the night - wohoo. Kevin stayed up with Ryan and brought him in about 12:45 for a feeding. After we were done and Ryan was sleeping I slipped him into his bassinet at 2am and he stayed there until 3:10.  His next feeding was suppose to be at 3:45 but I find a night we never really hit each feeding at the correct time. It makes it a little difficult because I never know what his schedule will be the next day but then again I shouldn't be trying to do anything - I should just sleep when he sleeps and I think that will be my plan next week. Anyhow, at 4:20 we were up and feeding again. The difference this time was that Ryan was wide awake afterwards. He had no interest in sleeping. The good news was is that he wasn't fussy - just wide awake. So I sang to him .... all the songs I know.... and then a bunch of stuff that I just made up. At about 6am he still was just hanging out so I decided we would try his swing. That worked for a little while and then he decided he was tired of that. At about 7:15 I was able to put him down to grab a quick little cat nap (35 min) before waking up to feed him again at 8am. So feeding is done and now Yia Yia T and Papau J are here to entertain him for a little while. Goodnight.

I found my flip camera and have been trying to charge it. Hopefully it will work and I can take some video of the little man today! I also will post some more pics.

One step forward and two steps back?

Well, yesterday morning I was so excited that Ryan was sleeping in his bassinet but I think I spoke too soon. I guess I should have waited for that to happen more than one night before getting excited about it! Last night was a little difficult. I am so lucky that my mom is here right now because she has been helping out with the last feeding of the evening which allows me to get a big chunk of sleep - but next week I won't be so lucky. 

So here is a recap of the night. After his 8pm feeding I pump and then head to bed - so in bed about 9:30ish. For the next feeding Kevin and mom give him a bottle of breast milk (11pm) and then Kevin has been heading to bed while Yia Yia T has been staying up and watching Ryan - evidently he is not a huge fan of sleeping from the 11pm - 2am time slot. Kevin and T have been having issues with the Dr. Brown's bottles - I guess the milk comes out way to fast and it ends up all over him and that also results in a lot of wasted breast milk. (I am going to have to assess their skills because mommy does not have this issue when I give him a bottle.) Anyhow, Ryan didn't make it until 2am because he was so hungry so T brought him in about 1:30 and I fed him. I got 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep which is AMAZING. It makes it so much easier to deal with the rest of the night. About 2:45am he was done and I tried to cuddle with him and then lay him down in the bassinet. He laid in there until 3:40 but wasn't sleeping very soundly - I just laid in bed and listened. I also heard some explosions going on in his pants but when I checked there was nothing there - so perhaps he is just gassy and that is why he won't settle . At 3:40 he was NOT happy - he started crying and fussing so the lights came on and we were searching for his pacifier - for the next 45 min I delt with him falling asleep and trying to put him in his bassinet and then waking up and fussing so I gave up and just left him sleep on my chest. At 4:30 he was suppose to be fed again but he was finally sleeping so I didn't wake him up....I hate making that decision but when they are finally sleeping you just really really don't want to wake them up. So he slept until about 6am on me - while I lightly snoozed - it's hard to sleep well when they are laying on you. So at 6am we woke up and he was an angry little man, most likely because he was super hungry. It took a little while to calm him down and let him feed but he finally did and things were good. We finished about 7:30 or so and I held him until I was able to transfer him into the basinet. Then I fell back asleep - well finally got to get some sleep. I guess Yia Yia T came and got him at 8:15 because he wasn't sleeping - well she said that Bob was peering down in his bassinet like he wanted to do something to him so she just took Ryan away. Back up at 9am to feed him. He seemed content and I put him back down in the bassinet but he is just not sleeping like he did yesterday. I wonder what the rest of the day will be like...

Oh well, overall I think I am pretty lucky because he does seem to have a lot more good nights than bad nights. I guess we will find out how tough things can really get when its just us next week. We are going to miss Yia Yia T. 

2 week check-up

Today we had Ryan's two week check-up. It's already going so fast!

Ryan's stats:

Height: 20.5 inches - 50%
Weight: 5lbs 10 oz - 3%
Head:  - 33.6 cm - 5%

The percentile classification is difficult to use because it compares Ryan to a full term 2 week baby instead of a premie at 2 weeks but one day he will catch up :)

12 days old - Progress!

So excited to post that last night was the first night Ryan slept in his bassinet the WHOLE night. Let me clarify, he did not sleep through the entire night (he is still to young for that) but when he did sleep he actually stayed in his bassinet without fussing! So excited! I tried a new little tactic and although it was successful I ended up with less sleep - but that is ok. After nursing him I let him lay on my chest and suck on his paci until he fell asleep. When he finally fell asleep I transferred him into his bassinet and turned on the little sound machine night light that he has. I ended up getting less sleep because I checked to make sure he was breathing so many times - I was in shock that he was actually sleeping the whole time in there! Also, the sound machine only lasts for 10 min so I would stay awake to hit the button once it went off a couple times. I am so excited that he didn't insist on sleeping in the bed again.  I was really worried that we had started a really bad habit. We had asked our pediatrician about him sleeping in the bed and she said he was still so young that it wouldn't be an issue, but then it seemed like he would only be calm when someone was holding him so we got a little scared. Yesterday was a big day for him - finally using the swing and sleeping alone! yay! Hopefully it wasn't a fluke!

Here I am right after breakfast this morning falling fast asleep:

Today I have my 2 week check up. I am excited to see how much I have grown!

11 days old

So I haven't posted in a while and I am sure it is obvious as to why - but I am going to try and get a little better about it. I have a little window of time in the mornings when Ryan will actually take a nap in his bassinet. I guess I can't count on that everyday though!

Here is a cute pic we just took with his new little lion that Yia Yia T got him.

It's later in the day and I am back again. We haven't done much today but I did get a shower and a little nap- which makes all the difference as far as I am concerned. It sounds odd to say that we haven't done much because as any new mom knows you are exhausted. The day also goes by so fast - I guess living your life in three hour segments causes that to happen. Every time I want to get something done I have to decide which break to do it in - usually I am to exhausted and decide to just rest instead. I have been wanting to get out again but getting out takes a lot of energy and instead of resting when you get home you have to nurse so I haven't had the gusto to get out. I know I will eventually get a little stir crazy but since the days go so fast it hasn't been an issue yet.

Ryan has been fairly consistent with his feeding every three hours however today we had one stretch where he went four hours. He ate at noon and was fussy again at 3pm for his next feeding but when he was calmed down he wasn't interested in eating - he just wanted to snooze for another hour!

Today was the first day for Ryan to use his new swing and actually enjoy it. I was so happy when we put him in there and he didn't start screaming! We have tried his bouncer and the swing previously and he was not interested in all so I was a little worried since all he really likes is to be held. Luckily he seemed to enjoy the swing today - now we just need to work on sleeping in the bassinet all night.

Ryan in his comfy swing:

Right now Ryan is asleep on my lap - so sweet. Daddy is on his way home and Yia Yai T just left to get us some dinner so things are pretty great. We are trying to start a nightly routine for Ryan - before his 8 or 9pm feeding we are giving him a bath, then he eats then hopefully goes to sleep nice and tired. Then mommy goes to bed too!