December 8, 2006

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I can't believe Jesse is a month old already! Holy cow where does the time go?? I was updating his and Jocelyn's baby books this week and saw that even Jocelyn was over 8.5lbs at 1 month, where as Jesse is under 7.5! Timothy and Morgan were both over 10 Ibs - yikes!! It's kind of nice having him so little - but it would also be nice if any of his clothes fit!! In any case, he smells so good so I just smell him all day.

I braved the cold today to take Jocelyn to play group and she did much better this time. I think part of the reason was we got there on time. She was tentative for a couple minutes but we were waiting outside the classroom for several minutes, so she got to be tentative there. It was pretty cute watching her do the parachute and run around and playing with everything. One of the other moms also has 4 kids and another has 7! The youngest of the 7 is a 7 week old that is the first baby that looked remotely Jesse's size.

So Jesse was still having green poo and I posted on my mommy board about it and someone asked if I was taking fenugreek, which I was, and said that if I already had an adequate supply then fenugreek could cause too much foremilk and hence the green poo. So I stopped taking it yesterday and today - yellow poo! yay! Funny how exciting poo can be. I also decided to stop giving him pumped breast milk at night because he doesn't sleep any longer than just nursing so I have a feeling he's eating the same either way and I might as well save what I pump for when I go back to work. I'm still tempted to give him formula instead to fatten him up a bit, but we'll wait for our next weigh-in and see. So far I've made it 1 month without it - a new record! A friend of mine is coming over this weekend with her 3 month old and he has weight gain issues too and so she has an electronic scale and weighs him before and after feedings to see how much he got. I'm curious as to how much Jesse gets so might give her scale a try since she's bringing it with her.

Morgan's class went to the annual Lion's Club Party on Thursday, where apparently he had very much fun! I can't tell if it's for everyone or just the special room, but the Lion's Club gives his teacher $16 for each kid to get them a present which they get to open at the party. They also get lunch and there's dancing and such. His teacher said he danced the whole time and loved it. This morning he asked for a party, so I guess he really did like it!

Timothy got some baseball cards from his advent calendar tonight and boy were they a hit! You'd think I'd gotten him a big brick of gold or something. And I have no idea what a good baseball card is so I had just grabbed a bunch of different kinds at the check out at Target. He was super thrilled!!

Same ol' same ol' with me and Josh. Josh is still rooming with Timothy since Jesse gets up at 3 or so and doesn't really go back to sleep for several hours so I watch TV then. I finished the last of my Hanukkah shopping, or at least I think I did, so that's it for me. Even got everything wrapped! 

December 5, 2006

It was close but we made it! Goal weight for today was 7lbs 4oz and he weighed in at 71bs 4.5oz - phew! So we don't have to go back for 2 weeks.

He's at least taking after the other boys in the head dept - I went to put his hat on him today and realized it's pretty snug.

December 3, 2006

Another eventful week in the ol' Lessard house.

Tuesday was Jesse's weigh-in, which I've already mentioned and we'll go again this Tuesday and hope for better results.

Wednesday I got showered and dressed and then kept feeding and feeding Jesse until he finally looked like he was going to sleep for more than a few minutes at which point I ran out to The Vitamin Shoppe and Target. And I mean RAN - at Target I basically rushed down the various aisles throwing stuff in the cart, figured I'd sort it out later. I had a list but ended up with way more than that of course, that's nothing new! I raced back home and managed to get here about 60 seconds before Jesse woke up. Phew! No precious pumped breast milk wasted!

Thursday I went to Timothy's school for his class magic show, which was everyone's parents, grandparents, and siblings crammed into the regular classroom with the class. A table up front that I couldn't see was where the tricks were performed. Luckily one of the outgoing dads was on a aisle seat and yelled "AMAZING!" at the end of each trick so that we all knew when to clap. I could see the kids, and hear some of them, but couldn't see the actual table (except for Timothy's trick for which I rearranged myself awkwardly in order to check it out - he was pretty smooth!). I didn't stay for the refreshments after as I was hoping to get home before Jesse woke up, but I didn't make it and he had already used the bottle I'd left - darn! But he was sleeping so I pumped as soon as I got home and managed to replace what he had eaten - yay!

Friday I finished wrapping all the gifts in my office (including what I had gotten at Target) and got the advent calendar set up.

Saturday mom and dad stopped in for a visit and brought lunch - we love it when people bring us food! The kids were glad to see them and Jesse managed to appear to be a normal baby as he napped for 2 hours - wow! Then he ate for the next 3 hours and napped again - not bad!

Today Mandy and family stopped in for a quick visit on their way back from NY which was very nice. The kids play so nicely - though I had to shoe them away at one point as they were just too darned happy. After they left we managed to get all 4 kids packed in the car and went to Tim and Amy's house for Ethan's first birthday party. And our kids didn't even break anything! yay!

Jesse is definitely looking longer to me but not so much bigger, so I am nervous about Tuesday. His feet have outgrown a couple pairs of socks and his preemie outfits are too short, but when I put the newborn diapers on him the tabs still touch in front. I started taking fenugreek to boost my supply, though my supply seems fine to me, but I figure a little extra won't hurt. I still pump one side each morning and then Josh gives him that in a bottle at night, which both of them seem to enjoy. He's hard not to enjoy though - very soft and cuddly, and he smells quite good.

I've got all the birth announcements addressed and ready to go and just haven't sent them yet. I guess the mailbox is just too far away and I have to motivate! I misplaced the boys' school pictures and can't find them anywhere - so for those of you to whom I said I would send those, I guess you'll have to wait until I can find them.

I guess that's about it from here - I'll update you all Tuesday after our weigh in. 

November 28, 2006

Well I took Jesse to the dr's today for a weight check since he still looks so little and he's only 7lbs even, so only 1 oz gain in a week, where as it should be at least 4 oz. I was so sad! I almost cried right there in the office but managed to hold it together.

The dr saw me right away even though I didn't have an appt, which was nice. He asked about wet and poopy diapers and sleeping/crying and latching/ sucking/swallowing but all that was fine. He checked him over for signs of dehydration or malnourishment but said he looks just great. I asked if I should start supplementing with formula, even though I really don't want to, but the dr said not to panic yet. Instead I'll bring him back in one more week and see if that turns out better and if not we can talk about supplementing at that point. So I guess meantime I just keep feeding him constantly and hope he starts gaining soon.

November 26, 2006

Before I give the weekend update - I keep forgetting to say that Jocelyn has taken to calling for Josh like I do - "JOSH! JOSH!" It's too funny.

Anyway, we had a fantastic weekend with the whole Rosenbaum clan. Joey did the cooking and Susan and Jonathan brought everything else, so we were quite stocked with food and I didn't have to lift a finger!

Jonathan wrestled with the kids after dinner on Friday which was too funny because at the beginning Jocelyn was just watching but not to be shown up she jumped right in and at one point had Jonathan in a head lock. Jesse sat this year out but I'm sure he'll be in the mix next year.

Saturday we basically hung out. I took a few minutes out of my day to trounce Jonathan and Timothy at Scrabble. After Shabbos Susan and Jonathan took Timothy to Build-a-Bear. They made a frog with superman pjs for Jesse - it is TOOOOOO CUTE! Of course all of last year's critters needed outfits while they were there (I swear the salespeople can smell grandparents a mile away - hee hee hee) so Steve got a Red Sox uniform and Cookie Monster got a Marine uniform and Jessie (Jocelyn's bear) got a princess dress that looks much like one that Jocelyn has. There were, of course, several other accessories.

Jocelyn concentrated on being the center of attention as much as she could. She danced, she jumped, she's such a girl!

Sunday was the annual picture shoot - my favorite!! I even showered and did Jocelyn's hair. I can't wait to see the pictures, I hope Susan sends a CD (hint hint!). From what I could tell on the viewfinder, they are even better than Passover, which is pretty amazing considering Jocelyn was less than cooperative. Jesse was much better and Susan got some good ones of me and Jesse that I'm looking forward to.

On the subject of Jesse, he's finally starting to look bigger to me and outgrew several of his preemie outfits. He's starting to get this eating thing down and I often have 30 whole minutes between feedings. Of course, the feeding itself takes about an hour, so it still feels like I'm feeding him all the time, but it's definitely improving. Today we ended up with some green poop, which I know means too much foremilk, but with all the excitement of the pictures he kept having to get on and off the breast and then I'd forget where I left off, so that must have done it. I'm sure that will resolve quickly. Last night he went close to 6 hours without eating (though woke and grunted a bit and at one point and I tried to feed him but he went back to sleep without eating), but then when he did get up to eat I had to change his whole outfit because, well, you can guess why. Needless to say that didn't thrill him and he pretty much woke up the whole house with the wailing (boy does he have some lungs on him!).

Jeremy and Jonathan and Timothy played a good game of football out on the front yard today. It was a close game - 36 to 30 I believe.

I guess that's about it. Not much on the agenda for this week. I need to get out to Target for a few things for the kids and a present for a birthday party Timothy got invited to as well as for Tim and Amy's son who turned 1 on Thanksgiving. I may also call the doctor and ask if I could just pop in for a weight check for Jesse just to make sure he's gaining properly. In theory I'm not supposed to be letting him sleep so much at night, but come on - it goes against my whole parenting premise to wake a sleeping baby! Plus, I don't want to. So I might just double check that it's not my imagination that he's getting bigger and if he's good, I'll continue to not wake him up.

Tomorrow is back to school for the boys - YAY! 

November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had such a great day! Jesse was kind enough to sleep from midnight until 5:30am - woo hoo! So that was a nice start to the day. Then he ate for an hour and let me shower and then he ate for another hour while I barked orders at Josh from the couch. I had laid out everyone’s clothes and made a pile of what we had to bring (forgetting, of course, my camera). Once Jesse was good and full we left and he managed to sleep the whole way up - yay!

At Elisabeth's we met Mandy, the girls, Elisabeth, Rob, and my mom and made gingerbread houses and decorated cookies. Well, mostly Timothy decorated while Morgan watched TV upstairs, Jocelyn ran around playing peek-a-boo, and Jesse ate (being ravenous from not eating in the car and all).

Then we went to Mandy's where Jeff had been slaving over a hot stove. Dad was there and Grammy, Bob, Kaye, and Andrey arrived shortly after (poor Stevie was under the weather). A most delicious meal!! Morgan made fast friends with Uncle Bob and pretty much climbed on him the whole time. Andrey was so cute - he played with everyone but was especially cute with Jocelyn. Then he came over when I was changing Jesse. "oh, is he a boy?" Andrey says to me. Yes, I answer. "Boys and girls have different private parts you know". Yes, I know, I said. And then he was off to play again too funny!

Joceiyn wrote on her face with a marker and used the chalk as lip stick and served tea to Kaye. Jesse ate. Morgan managed to pull apart most of a box of wipes. Jesse ate. Timothy had everyone playing some kind of grocery game and then quizzed Ruby with some kid trivia cards. Jesse ate. Once Jesse was good an full, we made what for us is a quick exit - in other words we made a loud and extended rush through the house gathering children and putting their shoes and coats on. Jesse cried while I used the bathroom on the way out but once in the car slept all the way home and is still sleeping! Jocelyn was asleep with her mouth open by the time we got to the highway. Morgan ate the bag of cut up turkey we had taken with us. We all listened to Alice's Restaurant and then Jeff Foxworthy (which I'm almost proud to say Timothy has memorized) and before we knew it we were home.

So not bad at all - we got 4 kids up and back with limited crying (Jocelyn's only meltdown was while we were eating, of course). Now that's something to be thankful for!

But on the subject of being thankful, I have even more than usual to be thankful for this year - 4 healthy kids that I'd happily take a bullet for is at the top of the list. A wonderful husband that I love even more today than the day I married him. A caring family including nieces and a nephew-to-be to keep get-togethers fun. A house big enough to hold us all and maternity leave over the holidays. And, of course, chocolate mousse pie and a sister that packs me leftovers.

Well Jesse's awake and ready to eat - hope you are all having a great holiday. 

November 21, 2006

Well he's tiny indeed - just 6 lbs 15 oz but doctor said that was close enough.

Dr. Friedman has a 3rd year med student - must be all the rage these days! So she was drilling me for a while. Actually, she started out explaining a bunch of stuff and eventually I cut her off and let her know this was my 4th and I knew the drill. Nicely of course! So she gave Jesse the full once over and asked me a million questions (including whether we had fire arms in the house) and tested all his reflexes and such. She was awkward at best and said ummm every third word, but I managed to smile through it, She asked what was on his face - I said baby acne. Shouldn't I have been the one to ask her?? (Later she told me that she is working at the hospital I delivered at - there's a shocker). She also asked how long I was planning to breastfeed and I said a year if we can and she said exclusively? So I said we usually start solids around 4-6 months. Again, shouldn't I be asking her that?? Anyway, she asked what my concerns were so I said his weight, his yellowness, and also I had a diaper area concern.

Then she went out and waited for the doctor and explained to him everything I had said (quite loudly I might add as I could hear it all from several doors away) and then they both came back in. I love our doctor - he's a family practitioner so he's the primary doctor for all of us. I mostly like him because he's laid back and doesn't freak out about stuff but is very thorough when there are actual concerns. Anyway, he was fine with his weight (Jesse nursed during most of the appt so he could see he was eating) and said he would guess his billirubin is down to 6 or 7 (not that that means much to me) and also looked in the diaper and said everything looks a-o-k. He did a couple of the reflex things again and said he has great tone, so that's good.

So he got a clean bill of health (and a script for thrush just in case) and we don't go back until January.