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September 26, 2007
Failure to Thrive
After seeing all the new babies that were at Christin and Stephen's shower last weekend, it was really a reality check about how small Jonah is. There were several babies there that were younger and quite a bit bigger. I think Layla was the only one smaller than him, and that is just because she was only a week and a half old. Four week old Ellie had a couple pounds on him, and 7 week old Benjamin had at least 4 pounds. It was very disheartening.
I took Jonah to the doctor yesterday just for a weight check. He weighed 9 pounds 11 oz, which is only a gain of 5 ounces in two weeks. This is the first time he is off of his growth curve. That puts him below the 5th percentile. The doctor is concerned (as am I.) She wants me to pump for a week, and give him formula instead. Then I am supposed to bring him in again on Monday for another weight check. If he fails to gain (should be a minimum of 3.5 ounces) he will be labeled "failure to thrive" and we will be sent to a specialist to have some tests done. If he fails to gain that means there may be something causing him or not allowing his body to process all the nutrients he is getting. If he does gain well though, that just means that either I don't have enough milk, or just not very caloric milk.
After talking to my LLL leader and to several other learned people about it, I decided to continue nursing, but to offer more formula after each feeding (I had been only giving him about 6 ounces of formula total each day.) Now he is getting 16 to 20 ounces a day. It is very time consuming, and very frustrating.
Before Jonah was born I had very high expectations and hopes for being able to exclusively breastfeed him. I was determined to try everything possible to make it work. It seems that isn't going to happen though. I believe I have exhausted all my options for increasing milk supply and calorie content, but nothing is working. I also know from past experience how hard it is physically and emotionally to do both. I had really hoped to make it at least to 6 months with nursing, but now I don't know if I will.
I keep telling myself that it doesn't make me any less of a mother, or a bad mother, or inadequate...but it is very disappointing to say the least.
Posted by rachel at 10:30 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 20, 2007
My growing boys
Things around here have been busy. We've got tons of driving to do over the next few months. This weekend we're going to Monroe/Ruston for a shower for Christin and Stephen, and there will be a few more before Dec. 1st. This is the last trip Andrew is taking with us for a while though. I am not really looking forward to driving without him, but I am glad to have things to keep me busy. Andrew has been super busy with school, work, interviews, and he has moot court competition coming up real soon. During the week there are days that I only see him for 30 minutes during the day unless we go to the law school for lunch. I do try to get me and the boys up there at least twice a week, on the days that Andrew goes to work all evening.
We have also been busy with play group and story time. I like to get out of the house regularly and am trying to find free things to do. Story time is a little difficult with two, especially since Gabriel likes to get into everything and Jonah likes to be held and hates being stuck in his car seat. It's complicated to go to the library, but I think we'll keep trying. Play group is fun though. I have really enjoyed getting to know other moms in Waco from outside the church. It is hard to meet new people when you don't work, but play group makes it possible. I have really clicked with a few of the moms and Gabriel enjoys playing with the other kids. It's a LLL play group and as it turns out about 85% of the kids are boys. Interesting.
Last weekend we went to my parents house and joined Aunt Christin, Sophie, and Ava. The kids had a blast together.
And here are a few of the boys at home.
We just found out this week that we are going to IL for Christmas. We're really excited about seeing family and about family getting to meet the boys. Both of Andrew's Grandpas and his Aunt Carol are the only extended family from up there that have met Gabriel(and that was when he was 2 weeks old!), and of course no one has met Jonah yet. Even their Aunt Sarah and uncle Adam get to be there. It's going to be lots of fun. We'll have to wait and see how the flight goes though...any pointers?
Posted by rachel at 10:29 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 09, 2007
Diapering and other stuff
I have embarked on the world of cloth diapers! I am giving it a try with Jonah just to see what I think. I borrowed some diapers and diaper covers from LeeAnn before I make the commitment in full. I think it will be pretty easy to do with Jonah, I'll just have to be more aware of changing his diaper more often. I am also thinking of doing it with Gabriel, but I'm afraid his clothes wont fit anymore. I still have tons of 2T stuff that he hasn't worn yet, even stuff for the fall, and I really don't want to skip over those (besides that, I'm not ready to have a kiddo wearing 3T.) I still have to think about that for a while.
Jonah is doing well, he's up to 9 lb 6 oz as of Thursday. He is gaining slowly but surely, at about 1/2 and ounce a day, which is on the very low end of average. I am really trying not to force feed him to pack the weight on him. He is still so tiny and is almost 3 months old. He barely fits into his 0-3 month clothes, although now with the cloth diapers, things fit a little better. I don't want to rush through this time though because it is fun having a little guy. I just can't get use to how tiny he is. Lacey's baby was almost this size when he was born!
In other news, Andrew is staying extremely busy with school and work. I don't know how long he or I can keep this up. He is at school 8-4 most days, then comes home for a few minutes before going to work 3 days a week. It does make me enjoy the weekends with him, but before long he's going to be even busier with studying. He also has interviews for summer internships coming up very soon. We're really hoping he can get one in Waco, but it's not highly likely. He could be in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, Tyler, or Texarkana (to name a few.) I am not sure how it will work though because he does have a family....we don't know if they help with housing for the six week internship period. We're hoping he can get two of them since they do pay fairly well. It sure would be nice to have that money for next year since he wont be able to work at all in his third year, but will still be super busy with Practice Court.
We have a couple of trips coming up. This coming weekend we're going to Nac. to visit my family. The next weekend we're going to Ruston/Monroe for a shower for Christin. We are going to be doing a lot of traveling in the remaining months of 2007, especially me and the boys. Andrew wont be able to make all the trips we do, which may be good for his studying habits, but it will probably be hard without him. I've got to toughen up though!
Posted by rachel at 08:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 06, 2007
My turn to -ing
::Hearing – Gabriel singing "Daisy Daisy" from his bed::
::Looking - at pictures from college::
::Reading – The Baptized Body::
::Drinking – RC (yeah, I failed on one of my "I wills", but I couldn't just quit cold turkey)::
::Wanting – to see my husband more::
::Purchasing – diapers::
::Praying – for the Mannings (pre-term Labor, at 31 weeks)::
::Wishing - that Jonah would gain more weight::
::Worrying - about paying all the bills on time::
::Planning – to go see family soon::
::Thinking – I should do laundry::
::Wondering – what it would be like to be skinny::
Posted by rachel at 02:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 04, 2007
The Biggest Loser/Saver
After watching the Biggest Loser tonight, I realize that I have to make a commitment. I also realize that in order to stick to it, I have to put some things in writing. I am putting them here so that there are witnesses.
My eating and weight loss goals are as follows:
1. I will stop drinking cokes.
2. I will eat smaller portions at meal times.
3. I will only eat one healthy snack per day.
4. I well exercise at least 4 times a week.
5. I will lose 15 pounds by December 1st.
Likewise, my spending and saving goals:
1. I will not buy clothes unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
2. I will grocery shop weekly for meals...no extra snack foods!
3. I will stay away from Target as much as possible!
4. I will refrain from going "into town" daily, and keep driving to a minimum.
5. I will cut down on energy use by keeping the house a little warmer, and keeping lights off during the day.
Any other suggestions for saving money or losing weight?
Ready, Set, Go.
Posted by rachel at 10:45 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 02, 2007
California Spanking Law
A California Lawmaker is trying to get a bill passed that would make it a misdemeanor to spank a child under 3. What do you think about that?
Posted by rachel at 11:05 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Formula Free
After three days of only getting 1 oz of supplement, Jonah went formula free today! And he's happy to boot. I finally feel like the breast feeding is established (at least fairly well) and he is doing a good job at it. It still takes about 30 minutes for a feeding, but there is no bottle at the end. He has been alert and happy, he has even spit up a tiny bit (which makes me think he hit the overflow valve of sorts.) I am going to try to go weigh him at the post office sometime in the next couple of days so that I can have a better idea of how he's doing.
It may be a good thing that I don't have a baby scale at my house, I would be weighing him all the time. He's somewhere slightly above 9 pounds now, at 11 weeks. He's still small, but growing. I'm a happy mom.
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Gabriel has been singing a lot. His favorites are This Little Light of Mine, and Daisy Daisy. When he wants to sing the first he waves his finger around, and when he wants to sing the second, he sings "Daisy" with some other gibberish thrown in. It's very cute. I'll have to try to get it on video (and then figure out how to post videos.)
Posted by rachel at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack