Concentration Face

Ladies and Gentleman, allow me to introduce you to Camden's "Concentration Face". I don't know if you realized how serious a jumperoo can be, but apparently it requires a good deal of hard work and concentration. It's a tough job being a baby!

Sigh

The problem with telling me that my baby has dropped to the 30th percentile for weight and that I might have a milk supply problem is that now I am always going to assume he is hungry. Prior to Camden's 4 month pediatrician appointment, he was eating about every 3 hours or so. Now I've reverted back to on-demand feeding, which means I'm back to over-analyzing his cues.

He just stuck his fingers in his mouth. He must be hungry.
He smacked his lips. He is starving.
His fist is in his mouth. I know he just ate an hour ago, but he must not have gotten enough.
He's never made that noise before. He's trying to tell me to feed him.

Yesterday, the poor kid either had a boob or a spoon shoved in his mouth all day long.

Now, I know all of the advantages of breastfeeding. I know a lot of pediatricians push it. I've seen the "Breast is Best" signs in the hospitals. But! I think moms that bottle-feed (whether they are feeding formula or breastmilk by bottle) have a huge advantage over moms that exclusively breastfeed: they know how much their baby is eating (or not eating). And when you've been told that your baby's weight increase has slowed down, that seems like a pretty important thing to know, right?

This isn't to say that I'm planning on switching to the bottle anytime soon. I'm not. But I do feel like I've been thrown a huge curveball just as Camden and I were getting into a groove. Such is life as a first-time mom!

Yummy Bananas

Top 3 Reasons why I Love Cam's Pediatrician

1. She gave me the green light to start solid foods. So fun! So far, he has tried rice cereal and bananas. He always looks confused when the spoon first enters his mouth, but then the lip smacking starts shortly thereafter.

2. She told me I need to eat more calories (okay, and drink more water too, but the eat more calories part is more fun). This is to boost my milk supply. I told her that I feel like all I do is snack all day long, but apparently, it's still not enough. That's all I needed to hear to encourage me to buy a box of chocolate chip cookies at the grocery store yesterday. And that box may or may not be half-gone already. I can neither confirm nor deny.

3. She told me to drink wine! I'm not kidding. This was our convo:

Dr: You're having a glass of wine at night, right?
Me: Um, no. I didn't think I was supposed to since I'm breastfeeding.
Dr: Oh, please! Have a glass of wine, have a margarita. We used to tell women it would help them with their let-down back in the day.

So, in summary, I should get my baby fat, get myself fat, and drink wine?

Well, okay...if she insists.

Now if this solid food stuff really does help his sleeping, love won't be a strong enough word to describe my feelings for this woman.

4 Months

First thing's first: Happy 4 month birthday to my sweet little guy.

At 4 months, Camden:

-Can roll from his tummy to his back
-Can roll from his back to his tummy
-Babbles constantly. He loves the sound of his own voice (takes after his Daddy...)
-Plays with his feet all day long. They are his favorite new toy.
-Adores his reflection in the mirror.
-Loves being outdoors and going for walks in his stroller.
-Is friendly and will smile at anyone.
-Loves little kids and especially his cousins.

Now, on to the not-so-fun part.

For the past month, Camden's sleep has been pretty awful. I mentioned it a few posts back when I started thinking about sleep training. Up until he was 3 months old, he was a pretty good sleeper. He slept in 5-6 hour stretches from the time he was 5 weeks old. Then his 3 month growth spurt hit and he started nursing every couple of hours at night, which obviously is normal for a breastfed baby going through a growth spurt. Only he never stopped the constant nursing after the growth spurt ended. In fact, it increased in frequency until he was nursing every hour and a half at night. Obviously, it was rough. You expect this kind of sleep deprivation with a 3 week old baby, but not with a 3 month old baby.

And so, I started thinking about sleep training again. Because I am pretty adamantly opposed to the cry it out method at this age, I decided to use the Baby Whisperer's "pick up/put down" method. I had it all planned out; I had a start date picked and I was going to use Matt and my mom as my reinforcements and support. But something was holding me back. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I should wait and talk to Camden's pediatrician at his 4 month appointment before starting sleep training.

I am so glad I made that decision. As soon as I started to describe to the pediatrician what had been happening with his sleep, she said, "It sounds like he's hungry and maybe your milk supply isn't enough for him anymore." This seemed to be confirmed when he was weighed and we discovered that he dropped from the 50th percentile in weight to the 30th percentile (he's still in the 90th percentile for height-- we've got a tall boy on our hands!).

Upon learning this news, I felt a few different things: relief that we finally (hopefully) know what's causing his disrupted sleep. I also felt a little sad that my milk supply is no longer enough for him. And I felt guilty too. There were plenty of nights when he woke up that I rocked him back to sleep instead of feeding him, reasoning that there was no way he could possibly be hungry. Well, he was. Thank goodness we didn't start sleep training.

So, the plan is to introduce solids and allow him to get his calories from sources other than breast milk. And I have to admit that it was a little bit fun to go grocery shopping for baby food after his appointment. We're all stocked up on rice cereal, bananas, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, and apple sauce. So far, the rice cereal has been a hit. We'll start the fruit tomorrow.

And that's where we are at 4 months. I can say that, despite the sleep deprivation, these past 4 months have easily been the best of my life. There's just nothing that compares to being a mom, and specifically being a mom to the most adorable little boy in the world.

Birthmark Saga, Part 2

Admittedly, I've been a pretty terrible blogger lately. There is so much going on right now, but I will have to save that for another post.

Remember the birthmark dilemma I mentioned a while back? To laser or not to laser? Well, we had our consultation appointment yesterday afternoon. After meeting with the financial counselor (amazingly, the treatment is covered by our insurance), and talking with the father of a 5-month-old little girl who was back for her second laser treatment, I started to feel more comfortable with the idea of having Camden's birthmark removed. So when we were told that he could have his first treatment yesterday, we decided to go ahead and do it.

First, the doctor "zapped" Matt and me so we could see what it felt like. At first, I was amazed. There was no pain at all. Then, a few seconds after the zap, the stinging started. It wasn't bad stinging by any means, but the pain tolerance of a 29-year-old woman and the pain tolerance of a 4-month-old baby are obviously not the same. And while Matt and I only were zapped one time, Camden's birthmark needed 14 zaps.

As they got Camden situated on Matt's lap to start the treatment, the tears started welling in my eyes and I knew I couldn't stay in the room. I was taken down the hall into a little storage area and literally held my hands over my ears and just cried. The whole procedure only took 30 seconds. Camden cried, of course, but I might've cried more than he did. Then I nursed him and he was out for the count.

The aftermath has been a little hard for me. I knew to expect ugly bruising, and I knew that the bruising wasn't painful. But it looks like it hurts and that makes me sad. Thankfully, the doctor doesn't think Camden's birthmark will need more than a couple more treatments (some birthmarks require up to 30 sessions!). And I do think this was the right decision, as much as it hurts me to see him hurt- even if it is only for 30 seconds!

As I told my mom when we were leaving the appointment yesterday (she was kind enough to drive me since Matt had to go back to work), being a parent is hard work. It's full of tough decisions. And yes, I do know this is only the beginning.

Tis the Season

With a name like Camden, he has no choice but to be excited for baseball season! Here's our chubby little Oriole (note the thighs) ready to cheer on his team:

The Many Emotions of Tummy Time

Pride. Happiness. Annoyance. Frustration. Disgust.

So many emotions are involved in Tummy Time, but it always ends the same way: in a Face Plant.

What a difference a week makes.

I'm amazed by how fast this little boy grows! It seems like he's changing every single day. Check out these pictures. The first picture was taken a little over a week ago. Camden was noticeably smaller and having some trouble holding his head up while sitting in his Bumbo. The second picture was taken just a few days ago. No problems sitting in the Bumbo anymore and he's quite a bit chunkier! It's crazy what a difference a week makes!