One Month Old Today!!

Happy One Month Birthday to Cameron!!

I can't believe it's been a month already, although Zack said last night that it feels like a whole lot longer than one month has passed since Cameron got here. We went for his check-up today and got a great report from the doctor. Cameron's stats are:

Weight- 10lbs 12oz, 75th percentile

Height- 22 and 3/4 inches, 95th percentile

Head- 37 cm

So, he's gained 2lbs 1oz and 1/4 inch in his first month! We're so proud of our little (big) guy. He still has thrush, but the doctor said it can take two weeks to clear up, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that we get rid of it this week. We also got the go ahead to give him the occasional bottle (I've been pumping breastmilk and am quite proud of the supply we have in our freezer!) and to let him sleep instead of waking him up to eat in the middle of the night.

Cameron has changed so much in the past month...he opens his eyes more and in the past week, he has started noticing his mobile. He also makes happy noises every once in awhile and I think I might have even caught a glimpse of a smile (even if it was gas). He can also hold his head up a bit and will turn it to look around.

We've learned a lot in the past month too, and when I try to think back to our life before Cameron, it's all kind of blurry. Having a baby is so consuming, and your life changes so quickly once the baby arrives! I'm proud that our family has made it through this month in one piece, and I must say, we're a whole lot stronger than we've ever been. I'm looking forward to what the next month has in store for us and watching our son grow and learn even more.

A Picture Update...

Streching out on daddy.


Bath time!


Holding Daddy's hands.

Father and son.

Fussy face!

Reading a book.

Almost 4 weeks old!

Ready for football season.

Tiny feet and toes.

Yawn!

This is my favorite one!

Sweet boy.

Finally some updates!!

I know it has been absolutely forever since I've updated, and again, I'm sorry...but Mr. Cameron takes up a lot of time and attention- and he deserves every second of it! Right now, he's napping in his swing, so I figured I'd take a minute to update everyone on how things are going.
We are definitely settling in to a routine. Cameron eats just about every three hours and still sleeps quite a bit in between eating and pooping! He is becoming more alert though and his neck muscles are getting stronger. He can hold his head up while laying on his belly for a minute or so at a time before his head just gets too heavy for him! He has also started to notice things, like faces and the mobile in his swing. It is fascinating to watch him look around- I wonder what he is thinking about all the time! He is continuing to do much better during the night. We put him to bed between 9 and 9:30 each night and he sleeps about 4 hours before he wakes up to eat. An hour later, he's back asleep and stays asleep until Zack gets up to go to work. He eats again and then falls back to sleep for another hour or two and then we get up to start our day (usually around 8 or so). I am so grateful that he is past getting his days and nights mixed up!
We had to go to the pediatrician on Friday...bad news is he has thrush, good news is he gained 6 ounces in 3 days, weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds and half ounce! We got a prescription for the thrush and the Dr. also put something on his cord to help it dry out. Well...it must have worked because it finally fell off yesterday, at 3 weeks, 5 days old. I just figured he wanted to keep it as long as possible as his way of holding on to being in my belly!! So, once his belly button dries up, we can graduate to a bath in his whale tub!
Speaking of baths, the funny story of the day- Yesterday we were giving him his sponge bath on the kitchen counter. We finished the bath and were lotioning him up. I picked him up so Zack could put lotion on his back and after Zack finished, I asked him to get the camera so we could take a bare butt picture of Cameron while I was holding him. Just about the time I finished that sentence, Cameron thought it would be the perfect time to poop! All over my hand, his towel, and the kitchen floor. It was hilarious!
Tomorrow, he'll be four weeks old and Friday he goes back to the pediatrician for his one month check up....one month already! People weren't kidding when they told us that time flies once he gets here. I don't know where the time went. I'm sure it will continue to fly by, so I'm going to end this post and go spend some time with our sleeping angel! Love to all!

Maybe we've turned the corner

Cameron has slept well the past two nights...yay! We've changed a couple of things, so I'm not sure exactly what is helping, but we'll keep doing exactly the same thing until it quits working. Here is what has worked...
Cameron gets his last meal around 9:45 or so. Then we change his diaper, swaddle him, turn on his noise machine (to a pretty loud volume), and put him in is crib to sleep. We watch him for a minute or so then leave the nursery, monitor in hand. He'll whimper for a few minutes, but both nights, he has fallen asleep and stayed asleep until 2:00 or so. Then he'll wake up to eat, burp, get his diaper changed, etc. and an hour later we swaddle and lay him back down in his crib. He'll then sleep until about 5:30 and we do the whole routine again and Zack leaves for work. Both mornings, Cameron has gone back to sleep again until 9:00 am! So, for the past two nights, I have gotten eight or so hours of sleep in three hour stretches! And, for the first time since Cameron has arrived, I felt like this is something we can manage and it felt "normal". It has been wonderful! I'm thinking the key is one or two things...
First- the sound machine. We have been able to leave it on all night at a pretty decent volume. It really seems to calm him and hearing it through the monitor helps me to sleep too. So far, it has absolutely lived up to it's repuation as a "baby crack machine" and is worth far more than the 25 dollars we paid for it.
Second- sleeping in his crib. Before Cameron got here, we had figured on him sleeping in his bassinet/PackNPlay in our room until around six weeks or so. But, the other night, he was so fussy, I took him out of the room and rocked him in the nursery so Zack could get some much needed rest. When he fell asleep, I just laid him down in his crib, since I didn't want to try him in the PackNPlay again to have him wake up shortly and disturb Zack. Miraculously, he stayed asleep in his crib! I couldn't believe it! That night, I slept on the floor in the nursery. Since he slept so well in his crib that night, we tried it again the following night with great success. Same thing last night! I think I actually sleep better with him in the nursery too. I'm not compelled to sit up in bed and peek in his bassinet every time I hear a peep. Our monitor has a great feature which makes it vibrate when Cameron makes a louder noise/cry. So, I've attached the monitor to my pajama top while I sleep, so I can be sure to feel it vibrate in case I don't wake up from hearing him alone which keeps me from worrying about him too much.
I hope I'm not jinxing myself by writing this...but we are so tickled to have had two great nights in a row, I just had to share. Please keep your fingers crossed that this is not a fluke or a coincidence and that Mr. Cameron is settling in to a decent routine!

It's a good thing he's cute...

cause sleep deprivation is a killer! Cameron is a super sleeper during the day and every other night or so, but after two nights of no more than an hour's worth of sleep at a time, I'm starting to wonder if I will ever get a good night's sleep again. I'm not expecting him to sleep through the night or anything, but is it too much to ask for him to fall asleep and stay asleep for more than an hour or two? We've tried swaddling, but his legs are so strong, it's hard to keep him wrapped up tight enough that I feel comfortable that he won't kick the blanket off in his sleep. We've also tried the sleep sheep which makes relaxong background noise, but it only lasts for 45 minutes and as soon as it shuts off, he's back awake. I am in the middle of reading The Happiest Baby on the Block which talks about the "calming reflex" in babies and how to activate it, but I'm so tired, I only get through a couple of pages before I fall asleep! Our next purchase will be the homedics sound spa relaxation machine which is also called the "baby crack machine" on a few forums I frequent. This white noise machine can run all night, so we are hoping that will help him fall and stay asleep! If that doesn't work, we'll keep looking for other tricks until we find the key... until then, any other advice on helping little Cameron fall (and stay) asleep for more than an hour at a time at night would be appreciated! Love to all!

Cameron picture post #1....

Hopefully this is the first of many picture posts of our little guy. I'm still new at blogging, so these are in reverse order with the most recent ones first (any pointers on getting them to appear in the order I post them instead of backwards would be appreciated!). I can't believe how much he has changed in the past 10 days. We fall more in love every day.



Sweet eyes!


Mama and son.



Papa and son.

Cameron and Dr. B.

Our little guy just a few hours old.

Our new family.

The good (well, great), the bad (really just not so good), and the ugly (but really funny)

So, this is the Hardy family one and a half weeks later...It was originally intended to be a one week later post, but, better late than never!

The Good (GREAT!):

*Cameron makes the most fabulous faces in the world. I could sit for hours and watch him wrinkle his forehead, squish his lips together, open his eyes, and close his eyes. It is totally mesmerizing to watch and I am just amazed at how perfect he is.

*Watching Cameron and Zack nap together has filled me with a more intense love than I could ever imagine feeling. No matter how tired or frustrated I am, seeing my baby boy sleep on my husband's chest gives me the peace and calm I need to trust that everything is right with the world.

*I have absolutely fallen in love with my husband all over again in a way I never thought possible. Zack is truly an amazing father. He is patient, loving, kind, and so involved in everything Cameron does. He has taken charge of diaper changing, burping, rocking, and soothing and I know he would feed him if he could. I am so proud that Cameron has such a wonderful role model to grow up with. But, not only is Zack an amazing father, he is an amazing husband. There have been quite a few rough times this past week, and Zack has stood by me in ways I never thought possible. Making the adjustment to being a mommy is difficult at times, and it is complicated by the hormones in my body trying to right themselves after nine months of going haywire. Zack has held me when I've cried, reassured me when I'm doubtful, and given me strength when I'm too tired to find any on my own.



The Bad(not necessarily bad, just not so great):

*I have forgotten what sleep is. Well, not sleep necessarily, but long periods of sleep when it is dark out- and I thought getting up to pee twice a night was rough...boy was I wrong. I haven't had to fight so hard to keep my eyes open since high school calculus. Cameron sleeps pretty good every other night which means that I don't sleep well on the off nights. On the nights he does sleep well (i.e. four hours between waking up hungry), I find myself sleeping lightly, or even waking up just to make sure my little man is still breathing and sleeping safe and sound.

*I know babies are expensive when you consider diapers, wipes, clothes, etc. but there are other expenses that while are totally worth it, were also totally unexpected. To keep Cameron safe at night, the American Assoc. of Pediatricians recommends a temperature of no warmer than 72 degrees. 72 degrees can feel pretty chilly, and our a/c runs quite frequently to keep it so cool. So, our power bill is on the rise, not to be outdone, however, by our water bill. Since Cameron came home, we have done no less than at least one load of baby laundry each day. Blankets, outfits, sheets, changing pad covers, etc. covered in pee, poop, blood, and spitup seem to be overflowing his hamper before lunchtime.

The Ugly (but oh so funny!)
*Cameron has amazing projectile powers. Since he's been here, we've witnessed projectile spit up, pee, and poop all a bit more closely than we would have wished. In the hospital, Cameron managed to spit up on Zack from his head to his toes! A few days ago, he managed to pee during a diaper change and impressively got urine all over the wall above his head. As I was cleaning him up from that, the projectile poo began. I tried to catch it in my hand (oh the things mothers do for their babies) but it managed to make it all over the wall and bookshelf behind him. Every day there is something new to laugh at and enjoy!

I didn't think it would be so difficult to find the time...

I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog since Cameron got here last Tuesday. I've fully intended to get some pictures up and share some of our first week experiences for the past few days, yet something always comes up. Feeding, diapering, crying, sleeping, crying, feeding, diapering, doctor's appointments, etc has kept me one busy momma this week. I'm hoping to add some new stuff soon, I have lots to share! Love to all!