Our family of four: week 3

Niall is now 3 weeks old.

He was weighed again at 17 days and we was both discharged by the midwife. The little chunk had put on 1 pound 1 1/2 oz in 5 days..thats 17 1/2 oz! He went from 7lb6 to 7lb1 all the way back upto 8lb8 1/2 in that time. My milk still isn't filling him despite all the mars bars etc so I am still combination feeding. I know at some point I will have to stop breastfeeding, but at the moment im too selfish. I love the closeness of it. My only regret with Rio is not breastfeeding, or even trying to for that matter. The thought of stopping at the moment brings me to tears every time. All I want to do is be able to feed my child. To fill him. The midwifes didn't seem concerned when I said I was still topping him up though. I guess the way they see it is some mummy milk is better than none, and so do I. My motto has been "he gets the goodness from me, and the fullness/sleepiness from the formula". I mainly now just use it as a comfort for him while the bottle is being made in the night, and to quench his thirst in between feeds in this hot weather. Its not ideal but its what works for us, and I guess that's all that truly matters.

He's at that peely stage, mainly on his forehead.

He is still in Next newborn and Mothercare tiny baby but I don't know how long for as we have made the switch to size 2 asda nappies (6-1lb).

The weather has been too hot for Rio, never mind a newborn but we have managed to slip a bit of outdoors family fun in (village fair etc).

Rio has been so helpful which has made my first week 'solo parenting', while Craig is at work an easy adjustment. I seem to be more organised now and get more done, which seems crazy but I think its down to the fact that you really do make the most of every spare minute. Even though those spare minutes should be spend napping ;) not making homemade lasagnes!

Speaking of naps, Niall has changed from feeding every 3 hours to every 2. I'm currently surviving on very little broken sleep.

Rio is currently back obsessed with reading stories together (which I love), and sticker books! And finally seems to be filling out weight wise.

Our family of four: Week 2

 

 

Little Niall is two weeks old. He's so much more alert now and that has come hand in hand with him feeding better. So much so that he put on 4oz in 2 days and if he gains again I will be 'discharged' by the midwifes on Sunday as he is now above his birth weight.

The health visitor was full of praises and apparently witnessed a 'real smile'. She was also full of praises for Rio as usual, he never fails to entertain..little chatter box.

His routine varies, sometimes he will wake every 2 hours in the night..others he can go as long as 4. I'm feeding on demand so we are just going with it. Speaking of feeding i'm currently still trying to make my milk more fatty by eating flapjacks and mars bars daily. But it seems to be working as he will now fall to sleep after a feed instead of still being starving, albeit for 40minutes but it is still an improvement. I'm then topping up with formula. So I guess you could say i'm 'combination feeding'..getting the goodness from my milk, and the contentment and fullness from the formula.

He's in Next newborn sleepsuits and Mothercare tiny baby outfits.

He's seemed to like his baths this week too, and cried when we took him out. Which isn't surprising as he still dislikes bum change. Especially if its a poopy one!

Rio has started coming out with the most funny and clever things this week, being a big brother has really made him grow up. And although I love how helpful he is trying to be, I have had to tell him a few times. Resulting in a terrible two tantrum..oh ohhh! I mentioned to the health visitor that I feel like I am getting on at him and not spending enough quality time but she said this is normal and will pass as we all get used to being a family of four now, instead of a family of three.

Him being two weeks old also means that Craig is back at work on Monday! You'll see how I got on solo parenting in next weeks update!

One week on..

Baby Niall is a week old. I don't even know how that happened. One minute he was being born and the next..

Its been such a great week. Hectic, messy, chaotic, but great. We're just trying to get into a 'family of four' routine so that we can actually get out the house, or get things done but at the moment we are just cherishing him..the rest will come later.

He's lost a bit of birth weight, which isn't surprising as i'm breastfeeding but we're keeping a diary of his feeding times and durations, and hoping that at the next weigh in he's not lost anymore/put some back on. So far he is 3.7% down on birth weight and they allow 10. They keep reassuring me a few oz really isn't a lot for a breastfed baby and even formula babies tend to lose this much or more at first. He's down 4oz now. He's quite a booby monster in the day, it doesn't satisfy him, so we think my milk needs fattening up so that he is getting more calories. He's got a lovely routine on the night though..12:30,3:30,6:30..so we really cant grumble.

He developed jaundice and spent the first 4 or so days fast asleep but that has gone now so we are finally seeing his eyes open more and him become more alert.

Rio is still being a doting big brother. I don't think there has been a day that he hasn't said "he's got loads of hair on" or "he's beautiful" about 10 times. He's so helpful and loves it when we let him hold him and have a cuddle. Its made him grow up so much overnight. And he suddenly feels sooo heavy when I lift him onto the trampoline, into the bath etc.

Every has always said "ooh boys always wee when you take their nappy off", but with Rio this was only the case once so we have had quite a shock with little Niall. Both me and Craig have been peed on..epically! So has the midwifes scales.

His head control is also amazing for one week old. In fact he was doing it from birth but my gosh..when he has skin to skin or tummy time on your chest he lifts his head off of you and turns it over to get back comfy etc. He likes to push off with his feet too. His head strength can be abit of a pain when he's too anxious to get on the boob though, I try to direct him for a latch and he totally dominates!! Haha.

This week also brought me my first time alone as a mum of two. It was daunting at first but I managed to get us all downstairs, fed, changed, the pots done and activities sorted to entertain Rio. Going to the toilet posed a bit of a threat but I soon mastered a "are you still sat there Rio" system haha, where I basically shouted every 2 seconds to listen to see if he was still sat on the sofa or had moved to try and get Niall out of his swing. Genius eh? ;)

Postpartum wise i've pretty much bounced back this time seems as though I didn't need stitches and it was another amazing birth. A week on I am back into my pre pregnancy super skinny jeans for which I have the breastfeeding to thank.

Niall's birth story

I went into labour with Rio at 39 weeks, so when that came and went this time around I kind of gave up with all the 'wives tales', and got prepared to either be overdue or induced. I'd been told at my last app that he was 'bigger' than Rio and my bump measurement was literally off our chart. An 8lb baby was mentioned and I literally thought.."thats why i'm having false starts..he cant come down..im too small!"

On the 2nd I had intense groin pain, that gradually radiated up into my bottom bump and then upwards like a constant contraction. I had a bath but it was still there, along with Braxton hicks every so often. As I was told to watch out for "constant pain", I rang triage and went in to get checked. Little One was back to back (which is what Rio was but instead of the constant back pain I was getting a constant bump pain). I was given a sweep which took me from 2cm to 2-3. The pains gradually got abit nippy throughout the day and I went on all fours to try and rotate my hips to encourage him to turn.

At 7:45pm I sat back from all fours to watch abit of corrie and got a contraction that lasted about 2 minutes, I was just thinking "gosh this ones going on for ages" when I felt something and then there was 'a flood'. I went to be checked out but went back home to try and snooze in between pains. No luck. I was talking to myself "in my head" to get me through the back pains until it got to about 2:30 and I got pressure with every pain. Well...anyone who has read Rio's birth story will know that I got this urge to push in bed with Rio too and hardly made it to the hospital in time. So off we went.

I was only 5cm and was given gas and air to help resist the urge to push for a while..she said "there will come a point when you cant resist anymore, then go with it". That came two contractions later so she took the gas & air off me, pulled my nighty high enough for skin to skin and said "lets meet your baby"..pushing was a lot more controlled this time so I didn't tear but it was still fairly fast at 17 minutes..the longest part was after the head was out..the last contraction seemed to take so long and Craig passed the time by telling me how much hair he had :) With the next push Niall was born, sideways..not quite back to back but not quite the usual way haha. Craig cut the cord again. And Niall latched for the first time :)

It was great to be able to go straight home too. It was the first time that id ever left Rio overnight, and I couldn't wait for him to meet his brother! Their births were so alike, with the back to back labour and urge to push in bed its scary!

Baby Niall - 03/07/2014 - 3:47am - 7lb4/6 depending on the midwife - 54 1/2cm
So a 'bigger baby' but more so in length!

He's here: A birth announcement!

Rio would like to introduce you all to his new little brother Niall.

Born 03/07/2014 3:47 am
54 1/2 cm
7lb4/7lb6 depending on which midwife did the conversion lol.
Natural labour with the urge to push in bed again..but i'll save that for my birth story!

Throughout pregnancy I had the common doubt at the back of my mind that comes with a second..the "how can I possibly love them as much as the first" doubt. But I can honestly say I have never felt so complete. Watching them together gives me butterflies and melts my heart! I love my little fam-a-lam!