Bo is 4 months!

 

Our sweet baby Bo is now 4 months old. Every day he changes and grows and we are starting to see little snippets of what his personality is going to be like. He is a sweetie. Bo loves to snuggle and be held. He (and I am not bragging here its just the truth) L-O-V-E-S his Mama! He only wants me to rock him to sleep and I’m pretty sure he would prefer it if I just held him ALL THE TIME. He has the best, big open-mouthed, smile and gets very happy, jumpy, giggly when someone he loves (Mama, Daddy, John Brooks) walks into his room. Here are some other facts about our little man at 4 months:

As of April 29th, Bo weighs 13 pounds 1 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. He has gained 3 pounds and 3.5 inches since his last check up! He is in 3 month clothes but can wear some 3-6 month clothes. People sometimes act as if he is small and maybe he is but the clothes fit and he has rolls so it kind of gets on my nerves when people say that. He has the most adorable cheeks and is getting little fat rolls on his thighs and wrists. I adore a chubby baby! Remarkably, he is rolling over from tummy to back and is starting to show signs that he may want to roll from back to belly pretty soon. He is smiling big and starting to laugh. He is starting to “play” with toys and feel things for texture rather than just staring into space. His one delay at this point is a “head lag” which means that he is still unable to hold his head steady when he is pulled from a flat position to a seated position. Due to the nature of his birth injuries, we are expecting Bo to have some delays/residual effects which is why we already have him working with both an Occupational and Physical Therapist.

In addition to his well-check, Bo also had follow-ups with Hematology and Neurology this month. The good news is that his coagulation labs are all normalizing which means he does not appear to have any underlying bleeding risks that will affect him throughout life. More good news is that the Phenobarbital levels are non-readable in his blood and he has not had any seizures so we are taking that as a sign that whatever blood was in his brain has reabsorbed into his body by now. The Neurologist that saw him said that he looks “80% better” from the previous appointment. The doctors/therapists all seem to say that though he will meet his milestones it will be on his own time frame, not necessarily at the time when he is “supposed to” meet them.

Eating: Bo is exclusively breast fed. It is fun to watch how excited he gets when he is about to eat! Sometimes when he is eating, he will stop, look up at me and smile as if to say “Ahhh this is great Mama”. We are hoping to start him on solids at 6 months but that time frame will have a lot to do with when his his head/neck strength/control improves. I am slowly adding dairy back into my diet. So far, he tolerates sour cream and small amounts of butter but still gets fussy when I eat shredded cheddar or a lot of dairy foods combined together (think casseroles). He feeds on demand so pretty much whenever he starts arching his back, screaming like a howler-monkey and trying to scratch my eyes out (seriously he whacks my face when he’s ready to eat…how early is too early to say No?) It usually averages out to about 7 times a day. Usually, 7 am, 8:30 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

Sleeping: Knock on wood and Thank the Lord, we have another good sleeper (so far, I hope I don’t jinx it by typing it out). Bo is usually asleep by 9:00 pm and wakes up around 7:00 am. I would love to say that he takes 3- 1 hour naps a day as well but I can’t say that because it would be a lie. To be honest, he really only naps well if I am holding him or he is in the Ergo or the car seat and we are moving. He has the most sensitive movement sense I’ve ever seen. He will be sound asleep and as soon as I lay him in the crib or the car stops in the pick up line at school he wakes up and starts screaming. He gets VERY ANGRY when his demands are not met and has been known to hold his breath, turn red in the face, and screech like a howler monkey. I still try to put him in his crib for naps but at least once a day I hold him for 45 minutes so that he can nap. Not the best system but its what works for now.

Play: Bo is finally starting to play! He is starting to pick things up, put teething rings on his arms and bat at toys on the floor. We spend much of our time playing on the floor and working on his motor skills as well as his head/neck control. He is able to lift up on his arms when he is on his belly now and is starting to straighten his arms as well. The occupational therapist put athletic tape on his back and his triceps to help his nerves/muscles learn how to work right. Sometimes I get sad when I think how hard this baby is having to work just to be normal but then I think how blessed we are that he is even here to work and that all of this work is going to make him even stronger than he already is! Oh and he ADORES John Brooks. He follows that kid with his eyes wherever he goes and he get so excited when John Brooks plays or talks to him.

All in all, Bo is making progress. We continue to work with him and we pray that it will be God’s will for him to be a healthy, wild little boy who can follow his older brother and get into the trouble that little boys seem to always find.

Bo 3 month Update

Bo turned 3 months old this past Saturday.

3 months is a bit of a milestone in my mind because in general babies start to come out of that helpless, floppy, need you all the time newborn stage and begin to show signs that they will be able to make it in this big loud world after all.

So far, Bo is meeting his milestones (Praise God). Bo recognizes our voices, is batting at toys, turns when he hears sounds and follows with his eyes. Bo has the sweetest smile that lights up his whole face. He has rolled from tummy to back once (but at least we know he can) and reaches for something to hold on to when he is tired (typically my hair just like older brother). Bo has not had any seizures since being taken off of the Phenobarbital in January. This is certainly a blessing.He is going to Occupational Therapy once a week in an effort to catch any delays he may have early. We also work with him at home with head and neck control as well as tummy time.

Bo is beginning to develop a routine to his day. He generally goes to sleep between 8:30-9:00 pm each evening. He wakes around 4:30-5 am to eat then goes back to sleep until around 7:30 am. Bo likes a pacifier (unlike JB who is a thumb-sucker) during the day but does not use it to sleep at night. He typically loses the pacifier after he falls asleep then wakes up mad because it is no longer where he thinks it should be.

Bo is exclusively breast fed. He generally eats every 2.5-3 hours during the day. He typically spends about 10 minutes eating per side with longer stretches at 7:30 am, 3:00 pm and 7:30 pm. He does take a bottle a couple of times a week when we go to church or if I am out with John Brooks and Ben has to feed him. Bo has a pretty sensitive digestive system. He swallows air pretty easily which makes him have gas which hurts him. He also has reflux at times so I have to keep him upright for at least 30 minutes after he eats. We also have to burp him really well. Bo still has the dairy sensitivity so I limit my intake. Bo now weighs 11 pounds 7 oz. He weighed 6 pounds 10 oz. at birth so he has almost doubled his birth-weight in 3 months!

 

Bo sleeps very well at night (knock on wood). He generally takes 3-4 short naps (30-45 minutes) during the day at home. Bo will sleep longer if we are in the car or if I wear him in the Ergo. Bo has not learned how to soothe himself yet. So he will just cry and cry until he is so worked up that he is sweating and panting. I am hoping that he will stretch out his home naps and learn to soothe himself in the near future.

Bo is starting to coo and find his voice. He loves for us to repeat his sounds back to him. Speaking of loves, Bo also LOVES his big brother John Brooks. I had no idea how quickly their bond would form and it is a big highlight for me to see how much they care for each other already. John Brooks has done well adjusting to a new baby. He has definitely had some issues with jealousy, specifically not having as much attention from Ben and me but he has never (thankfully) taken it out on Bo. We are working to give John Brooks blocks of undivided attention.

Bo loves to be held and snuggled. He does not like to nap in his crib and has a difficult time relaxing to take a nap which means a lot of snuggling with Mama. This makes getting chores done difficult but I'm trying to savor the moment because I know before long he won't want to snuggle or rock any more.

I cannot successfully articulate how blessed I feel and how grateful I am that Bo is healthy, happy and adjusting to life on the outside.

Cheese, I Miss You, Your Friend, P

Around 6 weeks of age we noticed that our newborn Bo would cry pretty much all the time. Part of this was being a newborn and going through what felt like a month long growth spurt but we noticed that his cries were more shrill and painful sounding after he ate. He was also pretty gassy and would arch his back and sometimes spit up. Bo hated to lay flat, would rarely nap unless attached to me and was generally an unpleasant person to be around. Life was fun.
Don’t misunderstand me, I was over the moon ecstatic to have a baby who was eating well and gaining weight and coming out of the barbituate-induced stupor he had lived in for the first 4 weeks of life but at the same time sometimes I needed to take a shower or brush my teeth or use the bathroom. These activities are pretty impossible when someone is screaming THE ENTIRE TIME.
We tried Mylicon drops and Gripe Water which helped but did not eliminate the painful cries until one day, March 5th to be exact (the day before my birthday) I noticed that we had been having a relatively peaceful day. Bo had eaten well and had napped afterward with minimal gas or painful cries. I started to think about what I had eaten recently and it dawned on me that it wasn’t so much what I was eating but what I had not eaten that may have made the difference…dairy.
I am a self-professed cheese addict. I like all the cheese all the time. I could (and did at times) eat cheese at every meal. I also enjoy ice cream, cream in my coffee, butter and chocolate. Well as luck would have it I had not had any of the foods of the milk variety since the afternoon of March 4 and low and behold I had a happy baby on my hands.
So I tested the theory.
On March 6 (my birthday) I indulged (as one does on THEIR BIRTHDAY) with cream in my coffee and butter on my toast. I lived to regret this decision as for my birthday Bo gave me an all day cry fest complete with over-tired painful shrieks and a refusal to nap. Bingo. My baby has a dairy sensitivity. Happy Birthday to ME!
Bo’s pediatrician does not believe that it is a full-blown milk-protein allergy (thank goodness) so he should become better able to handle dairy as his GI system matures. All I know is that when I eat cheese he cries and when I don’t eat cheese he naps so I have decided to not eat the cheese or drink the cream or eat the cream in iced form. I of course have shared my sacrifice with everyone because I crave pity but in all honesty I feel less bloated (sorry TMI) and have lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks which I have never done before in my life so this dairy-hiatus is not all bad.
Plus, I have a happy, healthy, growing, smiling baby and that makes it all worth it in the end.