8 Weeks With Drake

It's crazy how, even with two of us at home, we can't seem to get anything done! I haven't blogged in over two weeks and I've had the intention of doing it almost every day since my last post. Drake's in a stage where he has a lot more awake time and needs constant interaction while he's awake or, if he's sleeping, he is sleeping in our arms. We're going to work on napping in the crib after Christmas, before Derrick goes back to work, but it just means we don't get a lot done besides Drake and the necessities of keeping the house running.

Derrick has him out running errands right now and he made me promise not to do house work so...blog time! We've been taking turns getting out of the house with Drake so the other person can have some alone time. I'm meeting a friend for a walk this afternoon and Derrick is going to play some pickleball.

Anyways..enough excuses..on with the update!

Drake turned 8 weeks old yesterday! Here are his 6 week, 7 week, and 8 week pictures.

6 weeks

7 weeks

We really need to take these in the morning..the evening result in a picture like this. It's actually perfect though because I was thinking the other day how I want to capture his pout on camera...he knows how to turn on the pout face.

8 weeks

About 4 seconds before the pout.

8 weeks

Overall he is doing really well and growing like a weed! According to our home weight checks he's almost 13 pounds and he no longer just looks long and big...he's turning into a major chunk! I thought we would have more time in size one diapers but we're going to get through this box and then size up next time because we've already had a few blow outs.  His most commented on feature are his cheeks. He's storing something in there.

We've got our two month appointment on Thursday and that means shots. I am not looking forward to it at all but we do have some questions for the pediatrician so I'm happy to be going in for a visit. The shots are going to be worse for me than for him, I'm sure.

We had a rough couple days right after Thanksgiving on the breast feeding front. We're in a good place now but Derrick and I were both so frustrated and over the whole thing. I was in so much pain and I think Derrick was frustrated hearing me complain and talk about it so much and not being able to do anything about it. It peaked on a Friday night when I was freezing and shivering in bed with so many layers and blankets on. I had a temperature of 101 and a midnight call to the doctor confirmed that I had mastitis on my right side. She told me to breastfeed that side if possible (we'd been pumping because it was so painful) and to alternate motrin and tylenol until they could call in antibiotics. I got antibiotics on Saturday afternoon but by Monday I was still very sore and the lactation consultant was worried I had an abscess so we went into the doctor. Luckily, no abscess, but they talked me through how to get the lumps out and sent us home to work on it. It was still so painful for him to latch that I was basically in tears every time so Derrick and I made the decision to feed off the left and pump off the right for the foreseeable future. The mastitis is gone and I no longer have major anxiety every time it's time to feed. I'm really hoping we can get him back on right side to try again but we don't want to do it too early. I want the cracks to be completely healed so we're starting from square one. It just takes so much planning to have a bottle ready when we're out and about so I'd like the convenience of being able to pop him on but...we'll do what we have to do. Our mental states have been so much better the past week and a half. It's amazing what a thing breast feeding is. I think all new parents have their battles...we got lucky with a relatively chill baby but our battle has been breast feeding.

We started family dinners with Jack last week and he got to help with bath time. Drake totally skipped scream hour while Jack was over! I love seeing our families with him. They are all so excited about him and it's the best thing in the world.

We've been working on a daily routine with him and it seems to be working. We've been more lenient with it during the day and he pretty much sleeps and eats when he wants with Derrick and I keeping a loose eye on the clock but we try to time the last two feedings of the day to coordinate with a bedtime. He was going down at 9 and waking up around 2:30 and we're now trying to bump bedtime up to 8:00. The past couple nights he's gone down on the first try, which has been amazing, and last night he went down on the first try at bedtime and immediately after his 2:00 feeding and his 6 AM feeding. These are the moments I feel like we're actually doing it and getting it right! He still definitely has his moments and, this might just be luck, but it gives us hope!

We didn't decorate at all for Christmas but we do have a stocking ready for him and a couple small gifts. He's got a big pile from friends and family all ready...this dude is majorly loved. We're going to be heading back down I-40 for Christmas with stops in Winston and Hickory and then his Nana is coming to Morrisville for a few days after Christmas.

My post-partum check-up went well, besides the mastitis, and I was cleared for all activity. I haven't done a work-out yet but I need to get my butt in gear! Derrick's winter league team had a lady dropped so they are adding me to the roster and I'm signed up for an indoor team starting in January. Drake's already been to two winter league games and has handled it like a champ but this will be our first time with both of us playing and having him on the sidelines. He's going to have to get used to it! He's already been to most of our high school practices and just joined us at a scrimmage yesterday so he's well on his way to being a veteran.

Overall, life is good. My brain still feels a little mushy and I find myself zoning out on people sometimes but I think it's the lack of sleep and the fact that he's still very much a newborn. I've heard things get less foggy around 5 or 6 months so I apologize to anyone I've been a little vacant with! Derrick and I are completely in love with him and it's already hard to imagine life before him. He completely rules the house. This is Drake's world and we're all just living in it.

Drake's First Thanksgiving

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving with Drake by traveling down I-40 west to visit all the family. This was our first big trip with him so it was the first time packing for him and the first time staying overnight with him somewhere other than the hospital our first couple days. 

On Tuesday night, Jay was heading to Hickory and stopped by with the sweetest Thanksgiving outfit for Drake. Just look at those shoes! He also gave him some Thanksgiving pajamas that he wore every night and a cute hat that was too small for his big noggin. Our guy is turning out to be a tank. 

We started with a stop in Winston to have Thanksgiving lunch with the Marcey side of the family. Drake met his Great Grandpa for the first time and cuddled with the rest of the family for most of the morning and afternoon. Also...Derrick and I are tired as illustrated by the photo below.

Riley is going to be such a good babysitter. Drake basically melted on her for a nice afternoon nap.

Lunch was delicious and Drake handled the in-the-wild feedings and travel like a pro.  After lunch we loaded up and headed to Hickory for Thanksgiving dinner with the Williams's side.

Drake was basically the center of attention the entire evening.

 

On Friday, after sleeping off two Thanksgiving meals, we headed up the mountain for our annual tree hunt.  I was shocked Drake made it all the way up the mountain without a meltdown...we were pushing his feeding time but Uncle Jack was in the back seat with the pacifier so crises averted. He ate really well in the parking lot after getting to the tree farm and then we took the hayride up the mountain.

It was a gorgeous day and we ended up taking off our coats once we got up the mountain. Drake lives up to his nickname, Furnace, and keeps me warm when I'm baby wearing.

The farm had a lot of 15+ foot trees that weren't selling so they trimmed off the bottom branches to turn them into smaller trees. It was pretty funny walking around and seeing all of these trees looking like they were up on stilts. Jack was fighting hard for this one.

Jay ultimately found the winner though. The problem, we found, was cutting the trees like this created an optical illusion. Once we got tree home it was MUCH larger than it appeared at the farm. My parents had to move furniture around to accommodate it and apparently it just toppled over last night because it was too big for the tree stand.

I'm not sure if Derrick and I are going to get a tree this year. It seems like a lot of work for our current situation and Drake isn't able to appreciate it yet. I think we'll go all out next year. I reserve the right to change my mind but we'll see.

The tradition is lunch at Myra's after the tree hunt but Mom had to get back for work. Since Derrick and I drove separately with Drake, we kept the tradition alive and took Drake to his first Myra's stop.

A few other highlights of our trip- Grandma got to give Drake a bottle. We introduced bottles the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and he took them with no problem.

We got our first good glimpse at a future smile. We still haven't gotten a true awake smile but we're hoping this means it's close. Tell me it's close!

Crosby was with us even though her presence on this blog has been seriously minimized since Drake came along. She was great, much better than she's been at home actually.

We spent another day in Winston with family on our way back to Morrisville and Nana got her turn with the bottle.

Drake experienced his first tortilla chip.

Overall it was a great weekend and I think it tired Drake out for a couple of days. We're starting a new sleep routine with scheduled naps and feedings. It's apparently supposed to be challenging at first so that's what we're getting through right now but it's for a good cause!

Drake: 1 Month

Drake turned 1 month old the day before Thanksgiving. One whole month as parents...crazy!

We had his one month doctor's appointment that day and it went great. They are happy with his growth and weight gain. Speaking of weight gain, Drake is a big dude! He weighed 11.2 pounds at his one month appointment which means he's gained 3.5 pounds in a month...over a quarter of his body weight! He doesn't really seem that chunky to me. He is definitely filling out but I think he's just a long, big guy. I'm going to get major mom strength carrying him around.

We went on our first trip with him over Thanksgiving and it was great. He traveled like a pro and was the center of attention everywhere we went. I'll write a separate post for Thanksgiving with those pictures.

We've started a bedtime routine. He's too young to start sleep training but we've started a routine for him to get used to and we have been putting him down drowsy so he can practice putting himself to sleep. He's pretty good at it and only squawks for a few minutes before falling asleep. It can still take a while to get him drowsy enough to put down and he has woken up every 2-3 hours the past couple nights but we transitioned him from the rock-n-play to the pack-n-play and he doesn't seem to mind that at all which was a concern of mine.

We also introduced the bottle last week which he took like a champ. He took the first one we offered and has had no trouble switching between breastfeeding and bottle feeding. This is good because we made the decision to pump my right side for a few days and bottle feed those feedings to give my right side a chance to heal. It's still very painful and I needed a break after 5.5 weeks. Once it heals I'm hoping we can start back at square one with a good latch and forge ahead with no problems.

He's pretty much the best and Derrick and I are still very much enjoying parenthood. I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me a little bit but that's part of the deal with a baby. I wouldn't change it. We've both gotten better at multi-tasking. This is my current situation:

Three Weeks with Drake

Drake hit the 3 week old mark on Sunday and I think we're finally hitting our stride. Things are starting to get easier and we're feeling much more confident taking him out and about now. He is growing so much and, according to our at-home weight checks he is up 2 lbs from the day he came home from the hospital. He's starting to chunk up!

Feeding is getting much better...he is latching pretty quickly and, while it's not pain-free yet, it's more bearable. I've fed him out in the wild twice now. Once at Friendsgiving last Friday and once in the car at frisbee practice. I wore him in the carrier for frisbee practice and he slept for the first hour before it was time to eat. We've got practice again today so we're hoping he stays just as chill.

We're starting to get a lot more awake time and I love seeing those eyes! He has found the ceiling fan and seems to react a little bit to my voice and Derrick's voice. We started reading him Harry Potter before bed. We don't really have a bedtime routine yet but we do try to go upstairs by 9 and dim the lights for our last feeding. He tends to be fussy and awake sometime between 8 and 10 for about an hour but he still isn't much of a crier. Derrick and I just take shifts walking and bouncing him until he falls asleep.

One of the most nerve wrecking things that I've found is dressing him for the cold. He's a pretty hot baby so I don't want him too hot but it's cold outside and it's hard to figure out how to keep him comfortable. We have a lot of onesies and pant sets but I'm ordering a few warmer one piece outfits to rotate through this winter. Sizing is also hard but we're figuring it out.

I can't believe we're coming up on a month old! One week from tomorrow! We have a pediatrician appointment that morning and then we're taking our first road trip for Thanksgiving. I think he'll sleep most of the way down but we'll see how it goes!

Derrick and I are still smitten by this guy. It can be exhausting and a little overwhelming at times but we wouldn't change it!

Newborn Photoshoot

Last week we had Drake's newborn photos taken. We used Jamie Staggs with Jagg Photography. They shot a few of our friend's weddings and we used them for our family photoshoots that we gifted our moms for mother's day a few years ago. Jamie and her husband are so fun to work with and we love their images! I really wanted a lifestyle type shoot in our house and that's exactly what she delivered. She spent a couple hours with us when Drake was 9 days old. Here are some of my favorite images!

I love that crooked little foot!

Side eye :)

This is one of my absolute favorites. I love how tiny Drake is in Derrick's arms and Drake's yawns use his entire body.

Sweet Crosby. Poor girl is still figuring out the attention shift in the house. We're trying to give her as much love as possible while still making sure she's not too close or rough for Drake. She's getting better but it's been a process.

I'm so happy to have these moments captured. He's already growing and chunking up and it's only been a week since these photos. We are totally in love with this little dude and I want to make sure we remember these sleepy and exhausting days with him.