Life has been pretty busy in the Gaunt household for the past two and a half weeks. It is amazing how much your life changes when you have a little guy added to the mix :), but we couldn't imagine our lives any other way. After baby Joseph arrived, Cory and I had a few days to bond with the baby before family arrived. It was a nice time for us to catch up on some sleep (not a whole lot, but some) and to spend family time with the bundle of joy. On Tuesday after the birth our first set of visitors came. My parents and my sister Tara and her boyfriend Drew. It was a lot of fun to have them here. They stayed for a week, helping us make dinners, get groceries, and keep me company as Cory had to go back to school. Later that week my wonderful friend Amanda Phillips flew in from Denver to spend Labor Day weekend with all of us. It was great to have here here too! Amanda was my maid of honor in our wedding over a year ago and we had not seen each other since then, so it was a nice reunion.
The following Tuesday my family all left and Cory's parents arrived with his brother Kyle. It was great to see them and spend time with them. We enjoyed good meals and just hanging out watching college football and Professional football (GO SEAHAWKS!!). They stayed until Sunday. It was sad to see them leave, but we know we will see them in a few months for Christmas.
We had a blast with both of our families and we know they just loved spending time with Joey. We missed seeing the family members who could not make it (My sister Nicole, and Cory's brother and sister-in-law, Kevin and Chrystal) not to mention all of Joeys cousins :). Now we have a few weeks with no visitors, so we are trying to get used to being by ourselves again. In a few weeks my good friend Shelly is planning on visiting. We are excited to see her and to have her over to meet Joey.
Yesterday Joey had a big doctors appointment. We had him circumsized and it was not a happy moment for the little guy. Man, I have not seen him cry like that and it took everything I had to not ball along with him (I held it to small tears). I decided to stay in the room just to be a support to him, but I could not watch. Afterwards they gave him to me to nurse, but Joey wanted nothing to do with eating....he was hysterical and I felt so helpless. Both Cory and I were trying to soothe him. The nurse said he shouldn't feel anything because he was numbed down there, but our Joey hates to be uncomfortable, so we can only imagine he felt some uncomfort down there. Cory and I took him home and I had to go to the doctor for a quick ultrasound to make sure everything was doing okay. Unfortunately this was a last minute appointment, so I was not prepared to leave Joey with any pumped breastmilk. Cory had to feed him his first bottle with formula. They both did well and when I got home Joey was fast asleep....thank goodness.
At our dr. appointment the Doctor was concerned Joey was not getting enough to eat. When he was born he weighed 9.6lbs, at his first appointment he was down to 8.14lbs....and then this week he was at 9.5lbs. The doctor told me a baby born at his size should be 10lbs and she wanted me to pump to make sure I was producing at least 4 oz. of milk. So I did that and found out I produced a little more than 4 oz. I had to feed him the breastmilk from a bottle. What I didn't think about was how the formula stays in the baby's system longer, so I should have waited a little longer before feeding him. I fed him about 3 oz. of the milk and then he vomited all of it EVERYWHERE!!! I was a complete mess. Thank goodness my friend Amy Savage was there to help me, but I felt so bad for Joey and was worried for him....but he seemed fine and relieved to get all that extra food out of him. I put him down and then woke him up later and fed him. He has been great since.
Other than yesterday, things have been going very well. Joey is a great baby and is very content once his basic needs are met. We love and adore this little boy and cannot wait for you all to meet him.
Aww...poor little guy. Clare cried so hard when she was given her first immunizations, I can't imagine how hard Joey must have been crying with the circumcision!! Yikes!!
ReplyDeleteHey, it's Kaleigh' friend, Janelle. I just wanted to give you a head's up. My lactation specialist said that if you give the baby a bottle try to make sure someone else gives it to him. (I know your doctor told you to do that this time). Bottles are easier for them, so sometimes if a mom gives a baby a bottle the baby will not want to nurse anymore. If someone else gives the bottle the baby will learn that he can only get milk from mom by nursing. What I do is just pump a couple of times a day after feeding Graesen then I freeze the milk for when I need it in the future. Every few days my husband or another family member will give him a bottle so that he learns to take one for when I go back to work. I would totally suggest seeing a lactation specialist. Most insurance companies will cover it, plus they will weigh Joey before and after a feeding so you know how many ounces he is getting. I thought I had nursing down, but then I started to lose my milk. I was so glad I went in, because there were a lot of things I learned to make breast feeding more successful. Now Graesen is growing like a weed and has never had to take formula (I was really worried he would). Sorry this is so long, I just wanted you to know. Both my sisters gave up breast feeding because their babies weren't gaining fast enough and they didn't know what resources were out there to help them.
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