Caleb's Second Week

In some ways its hard to believe Caleb is 17 days old now... and in other ways its hard to believe its only been 17 days. lol. He's changed so much already. Monday's follow up visit with Dr. Curran went great. Caleb was 8 lbs 4.5 oz, his jaundice was pretty much gone and the doc said his belly button and circumcision both looked great and said we didn't have to come back again until his 1 month check up. 

We did however wind up back in the doctors office on Friday morning. I noticed starting Tues/Weds that he had some little tiny white spots on his tongue. At first I just assumed I was seeing some dried milk flecks or something, but by Thursday afternoon his tongue was covered in white spots and starting to form patches and I was having a MASSIVE increase in pain when I was feeding him. So we took him in Friday morning, and the doctor confirmed what Mom and I were thinking - he has thrush. For those unfamiliar with common issues in babies- thrush is basically a yeast infection in his mouth, and therefore in my breasts as well. So we've now got medicine to fix it and he and I are both getting dosed 4 times a day and hopefully it will be all cleared up inside of a week. Upside - they checked his weight on Friday and he's now up to 8 lbs 7 oz so he's still gaining weight like he should. 

Honestly that trip to the doc's on Friday was totally worth the co-pay just to know that he was gaining weight like he's supposed to (I was SO paranoid), and to know that the pain really was legit and I hadn't turned into a wimp or something. 

In terms of feeding Caleb has gotten MUCH better at nursing. Most of the time he latches on great now, his only issue is that he's a bit of a lazy sucker. He's getting more efficient but he's still slow and has a tendency to fall asleep on the job, but heaven forbid I remove him before he's done just b/c he's asleep - if I do he wakes right up and screams.  

He loves his bouncy seat and his swing. Those actually constitute 2 of the 3 places he will sleep - the bouncy seat, the swing, and somebody's arms. So while I have these lovely places he's supposed to sleep - the bassinet, cradle, crib, etc - where he actually sleeps right now is with me, in the bouncy seat, or in the swing. And ya know what? I could care less as long as it buys me a couple hours of rest. 

Mom and Dad left this morning.... I bawled my eyes out. It has been so wonderful having them here. Mom was an amazing help, I honestly don't know how any body could survive their first weeks with a baby with out a Mom like mine. I am so amazingly grateful for my parents - for their love, their support, their advice and good counsel. They've taught me so much and they continue to teach me the things I need to know. My only hope is that one day I can be as good a parent to Caleb. I'm so grateful that they were willing to take the time off work and spend the money to travel and be here with me for the last couple weeks. I know that they were planning on going to Europe this year for their anniversary, but instead of celebrating their 31st anniversary in France, they spent it on a plane flying here so that they could be with me when I had Caleb the next day. My folks have never had a lot of the material stuff, but they have always given me their everything. Thank you Mommy and Daddy. I love you so much. 

Caleb had his first real bath yesterday. We'd done several sponge baths but you're not supposed to immerse the baby in water until the cord and circumcision totally heal. He was so cute, he really liked the warm water - he just sat there bright eyed and started wiggling and sticking his tongue out like he was trying to catch flies. He was totally cool with it until I used the rag to wash his face and he wasn't so into that part, but he liked being rinsed off with warm water. Adam got some cute pictures so hopefully I'll get those posted some time soon. So after his bath, I fed him and he went to sleep and stayed asleep for over FOUR HOURS!! It was such a beautiful thing. I slept so good. lol. And he smelled SO good after wards - I LOVE the smell of Johnson's Bedtime Bath. I think this nightly bath thing sounds like a good idea...