Author: The Notorious M.O.M.

I had one more “W” but I haven’t slept in days, so I’m a little dotty!
Finn had his one-month check up today at the pediatrician. After a few recent days of lots of spit up, sleeplessness, and rowliness after feedings, we asked the doc if there might be something wrong. She checked him out and he has a bit of acid reflux, which is irritating his throat and esophagus. At least we now know that there’s a reason for his discomfort, which we are (frustratingly) not able to do much about. We will give him zantac to help reduce his stomach acid, and try to keep him more upright after feedings to help gravity keep the food down. Hopefully within a few days his throat will be feeling better. I’ll also be trying to feed him a bit less than I have been, because he seems to have been taking in more than he could actually stomach.
That maybe why he–drumroll please–weighed in at 12 lbs 1 oz today! That’s a gain of almost 3 lbs in one month. He’s also up to 23 inches already! So he’s definitely growing and thriving, which we’re really happy about.
Many thanks to my wonderful, wise sister, who counseled a freaked-out and frayed me over the phone late last night and suggested that Finn might have reflux, based on her experience w/ her own son. She was right on the money and was a really welcome voice of calm reason when I called. Thank god for sisters who’ve been down the “new mom” road before.

Finn is getting bigger and more interesting by the day. He’s packing on the oz’s and he’s spending a lot more time awake than just a couple weeks ago. When he’s awake, he spends a lot of time looking around, tracking shapes and faces, and trying to figure out if those little hands that are waving around belong to him. Most of the time he is really calm, and seems to enjoy sitting on the front porch with me, watching the world go by.
Today I tried out a new sling so I could wear him on my chest and walk around hands-free. He really dug it–fell asleep and didn’t make a sound for about an hour as I walked down to the coffee shop and back. Being hands-free is really a luxury–it feels like I spend about 98% of my time holding him. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it really hampers my ability to do anything else (like eat lunch!).
We are visiting the pediatrician on Thursday for our 1-month checkup. I can’t wait to find out how much he weighs! He’s a thirsty kid and seems to be thriving, which makes us very happy.

John and I want to take a minute to explicitly thank all of our friends and family who have been so tremendously supportive in advance of and during our first week as parents.
We feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have pals who will bring us delicious chow, call to check in and see if there’s anything we need, how we’re coping, and offer helpful advice on breastfeeding and other mysteries of babydom. Not to mention all of you who’ve sent books, clothes, toys, and everything a little boy could need to get off on the good foot. We can’t say “thank you” too many times! We do hope that we are able to return the favor to all of you at some point. You all mean the world to us, and of course to little Finn, who has a lot of really fantastic grandparents, aunties and uncles to get to know as he grows up.

We are just back from the pediatrician’s office for a jaundice and general health check-up. Good news all around! Finn is pink, not yellow, and has gained 7 oz in the past 4 days. He’s now back up to 9 lbs 2 oz and is eating like a champ. His little belly button stump came off at the Dr.’s office and she cauterized the little bit that was left with silver nitrate so it will shrink up and the button will be an “innie” instead of an “outie.”
Barring any other unforseen issues, we’re in the clear until our 1-month check-up when we start immunizations.

John’s groovy cousin Alicia hipped us to the “Dunstan Baby Language” method for interpreting the different sounds and cries that all babies make to indicate whether they are hungry, uncomfortable, gassy, or tired. We picked up the DVD’s and watched them last night. Really fascinating stuff!
There are about 5 distinctive sounds/cries that babies make, and the one we can confidently say we’re hearing the most is “Neh!” which means “I’m hungry.” We’re also hearing quite a bit of “Eh!” when he gorges himself on milk and needs to burp a lot. It’s pretty exciting to be able to decipher a bit of what Finn is trying to tell us, and I’m sure we’ll be passing along the DVDs to our neighbors, who we just found are expecting in August.