Life with the Lin Family

Carter had his 2 month check up yesterday with his pediatrician. He weighs 10 pounds & 13 ounces now, but is definitely a little guy still. He is in the 10th percentile still which means 90% of babies his age are bigger than him. Jimmy said he was always smaller than his friends until he was out of high school and had a growth spurt. I prefer him to be on the smaller side, I don’t want him to grow too big too fast.

The other night Carter slept for 9 hours without a peep, I almost had a heart attack when I woke up and realized what time it was. His pediatrician said if he wants to sleep that is great, enjoy it and let him. It isn’t necessary to wake him for feedings any longer.  

I did refuse his first set of vaccinations yesterday despite the Doctor’s disapproval. I explained that until my husband and I were both comfortable and in complete agreeance I would not have him immunized. I do feel that immunizations are necessary for the well being of society as a whole. If all parents stopped immunizing their kids the risk of future outbreaks of old diseases would be high. However, I do not believe in injecting the fragile immune systems of infants with the junk that is found in the vaccinations. The United States is one of the only countries that encourages and even pressures parents to vaccinate their infants. The nurse was so friendly and sweet until I told her I didn’t want him vaccinated this visit. She practically stormed off to tell the Doctor on me. I walked past her on my way out and felt like I was doing the bad parent walk of shame. God forbid a parent excersize their right to make an educated decision for their own child. I’m sorry but I am not one to blindly hand over my child to the “doctor knows best” theory. Not that there are not many doctors who are the exception, but my pregnancy and delivery opened my eyes to the “business” side of medicine. Looking back I can now see too many times that doctors have used invasive and even unnecessary treatment where other alternatives should have been explored first. At the age of 26 my cesarean was the 7th surgery I have underwent. I have to be an advocate for my son’s health so that he has a better chance of a healthy future.    

This weekend we are taking Carter camping with the family and our friends. Thanks to Carter we get the luxury of Grandma and Grandpa’s RV. I am a little stressed about the effort it is going to take, but we both agree we want him to be “portable and flexible” so the best time to start is early :0) 

Every week I receive several text messages and e-mails from friends and family with the same famous question…”Are his eyes still blue?” For almost eight weeks now the answer remains yes. He may have almond eyes but he has Mommy’s eye color. The pediatrician says the chances are they will stay blue now so we are keeping our finger’s crossed. Here they are…

My Aunt Carol flew in from California on Thursday to meet Carter and stay for 5 days. We had a wonderful visit with her and she loved on Carter like crazy. As if my Mom didn’t spoil him enough he had 2 Grandmas for almost a week. Everywhere we took him my Aunt was stopped as she carried him. I have to say receiving a compliment about yourself doesn’t compare to someone telling you how beautiful your baby is. I let the Grandmas enjoy it and say thank you though :0).

Yesterday the three of us took Carter for his first professional pictures. He did awesome and the pictures came out ADOREABLE! Lord, I’m a braggy Mother huh? I can’t wait for them to come in so I can scan and post them for everyone. He was awake for 90% of it and then fell asleep at the end for some of my favorite snaps. The photographer was so pleased with them she asked me to sign a release so that they could use Carter’s pictures for their catalogue :0)

Carter will be 7 weeks old tomorrow! Here’s some pictures…

He is becoming much more animated and even smiles now. It melts my heart everytime. He is sleeping through the night now which is amazing! Well, pretty much through the night. Last night for example he ate at 10pm and went to sleep around 11pm and didn’t wake up until 5:30am. No complaints here, by 6:30 he had eaten and was back asleep until 10am.

I usually bring him into bed with me after his early morning feeding. My favorite times with him are cuddling with him in the morning once he wakes again. He rolls into my neck as close as he can and talks to me with grunts and coos. He reaches up to grab my face with both hands and pull me in closer. It is heaven.

We are definitely in a swing now and feeling alot more comfortable with eachother. We have a routine now which basically consists of me holding him and playing with him while he is awake. After he eats I have to keep him upright on my shoulder for 45 minutes so he doesn’t spit up. He falls asleep there and then I can lay him down on his belly on the ottoman so I can see him and still get a load of laundry done until he wakes up and we do it all over again until Daddy gets home and takes over so I can get dinner done. He definitely likes to be held and know that someone is close by.

I have cut all dairy from my diet and it has really helped with the reflux. He still spits up but it doesn’t seem to burn him as much and it is not as often as before. Apparantly alot of babies are allergic to the cow’s milk protein and have a hard time digesting it. Stinks for me because I LOVE milk, cheese and ice cream, but my Mom says this is just the start of one of many sacrifices I will make for my child. He is more than worth it!      

Just like every grown up every baby has certain things they like and don’t like. In the last 5 weeks I think Jimmy and I have learned pretty well what works for our son and what he likes and doesn’t like.

Carter’s personality is very easy going. He likes noise and sleeps best when there is alot of it. He has been very flexible in where and when he can sleep. Even right now he is sleeping unsupported across my chest while I type with both hands (benefits of a large chest). He doesn’t require much maintenance to sleep well.

His only routine is at night when he is changed, swaddled, fed, burped and is out by then and laid to sleep. He does grunt and tustle a few times in between feedings at night but not enough to wake him up, just enough to wake me to stick the pacifier in his mouth and put him back to silent sleep.

For the last few weeks Carter has been sleeping in the Pack N Play Aunt Laurie gave us right next to the bed. Well actually he sleeps in a bouncer that sits in the Pack N Play. This helps keeps him semi upright to help with the reflux. It took us about 2 weeks to figure out the nightime sleep situation. When he came home from the hospital the only way to get him to sleep between feedings was to let him sleep between us in bed. I KNOW, I KNOW! Believe me, I have always been the one to shake my finger at “family beds”, I saw many accidents and one infant fatality during my clinicals in the ER that made me extremely bias. However, the sleep deprivation was literally making me lose my mind and I knew I could not function and take care of him without some amount of sleep. Because I was SO exhausted I was afraid I would roll over on him so Jimmy made this…

He took a cardboard box and cut the end off of it, covered it with a pillow case and placed Carter’s ”Inclined to Sleep” foam mattress and wedge system in it. We placed it between us next to our heads and he slept great in it, more important so did we. I knew this was only a short term solution and I needed to get him out ASAP to avoid him sleeping in a crate between us at 15 :0) It took 3 nights to get him completely out of our bed for a full night.

His biggest problem in his ever so hard life right now is the reflux. I know it is painful for him because he fusses before it comes up and cries hard after like it has burned his throat. Especially at night when it comes out his nose occasionally as well. This always gives me a heart attack because he chokes on it for a little bit until I can suction it out with the nasal syringe. That is the worst noise in the world to wake up to. A couple ccs of cool water after seems to soothe the burn.

Carter is a complete cuddle bunny. His favorite thing is to be held as close as possible like a ball high on your chest so he can bury his head in your neck and be kissed on the head and face. This is in part thanks to my Mom who’s motto is “Eat the baby”! His first week home when she was staying with us she would sit and rock him for hours, kissing and cuddling him non-stop. I am so glad he had her to do this with him. At the time I was exhausted and baby blues were making it very hard for me to bond with him. I did bond with him in the hospital before the hormones set in. The second and third nights in the hospital he slept skin to skin on my chest for hours at a time. The nurses said the sound of my heartbeat and breathing were comforting to him along with the skin to skin contact.

When we took Carter to the pediatric cardiologist my mom held him as the Dr. listened to his heart. He had been crying from undressing him and when my Mom started to kiss his face the Dr. said his heart rate and breathing slowed which meant it soothed him. We know this is true becase anytime he cries all we have to do is bring our face close to his and he reaches to pull us in closer. A few kisses and a couple soothing “shhh”s and he is completely calm. He is just so precious and good for the heart.

His first Dr. visit was the Tuesday after he was born May 1st. He was slightly jaundice when he left the hospital so we needed to follow up. Jimmy and I were very anxious about our first trip out with him, but he did wonderful. His jaundice continued to increase for a couple days until it dropped by his next appt May 3rd. May 8th was his 2 week check which was ironically his due date. He had to have his heel poked again, but he nursed right through it and didn’t even make a peep. I was such a proud Mommy.

Carter’s first social outing was to Julie’s birthday party on May 12th. He did so good. We definitely went over prepared. He slept like an angel the whole time while the girls took turns eating him up.

On May 15th, I took Carter to the Pediatric Cardiologist to follow up on his Echogenic Inracardial Foci. The Dr. did an ultrasound and echocardiogram on is heart. The spots were still in the left ventricle of his heart, but the pediatrician was happy to tell us the valve was functioning beautifully and that there was no cause for concern. We will follow up at 1 year.

On May 19th, we took Carter our for his first outdoor public event to Uncle Tom’s lacrosse game. The whole family was on high alert with countless shade umbrellas and hand sanitizer :0) As usual he did so much better than any of us, just slept away.

Carter has been nursing beautifully since he was born, but he has been having alot of reflux since he was 2 weeks old. This was very frustrating and scary for me at first because I wasn’t sure what this meant for his nourishment. I took him in to see the pediatrician on May 22nd and his weight was 7lb 11oz. When she had us return on May 24th for a weight check he weighed 8 lb 4oz! So even though it seems like he is spitting up every drop he takes in he is obviously still getting more than enough nourishment.

The first couple weeks were very hard. I am so thankful that I have my Mom here in Idaho now. She came and stayed with us at night the first week and a half. Because of his jaundice he had to be woken to feed every 2 hours. It was  exhausting! Until you have a newborn you just have no idea what new moms go through. On top of the exhaustion I was sore from the surgery and dealing with “baby blues” from all the hormones. My Mom was so amazing. I truly could not have done it without her. 

Jimmy’s parents were Carter’s first out of state visitors. They came and stayed with us May 23rd-28th. We took him in his stroller to the outdoor Farmer’s Market in Downtown Boise while they were here. Once again he slept throught the whole thing.   

Now that the jaundice is gone nights are so much better. On average Carter is waking up once or twice a night usually between 2:30 and 3:30 and then again between 5:00 and 6:00. I have adjusted to his schedule and feel 100% better physically and emotionally.