So Far, So Good

After 2 nights at home with Mason, we're starting to settle in.

Tuesday night was a bit on the rough side. Mason spent the majority of the daylight hours sleeping, which of course led to a wakeful night. As tired as Mandi and I were after getting only about 3 hours of sleep each, there was no time to pout. Mason's first appointment at the doctor's office was Wednesday morning at 8:30.

We didn't see a doctor this time, as it was really more of a weight check appointment than anything. The lactation specialist we saw gave him a quick once-over and was very helpful in addressing some of our concerns.

After dropping down from his birth weight of 7lb. 6oz. to 6lb. 11oz. on Saturday, Mason's bounced back like a champ and was up to 6lb. 14oz. yesterday morning. The expectation is that he reaches his birthweight by 14 days of life, meaning he's got to gain about 3/4 of an ounce each day. They weighed him again after a feeding and determined that he'd eaten almost an ounce and a third, which we're told was great for a 14 minute feeding. Go Mommy! With his zeal for eating, I forsee him easily regaining his birthweight by his 14 day appointment.

When we told the specialist about our rough night she immediately gave us a few suggestions regarding how to avoid those in the future. Without getting too specific, she basically just told us to aggrivate the hell out of him during the day so he'd be worn out at night time and ready to sleep. She told us to cluster feed him, keep him awake after feedings, and basically just wear his little butt out. I guess I didn't expect him to be treated so much like the other kids so soon! So that's what we did. We let him try out his vibrating bouncy seat and the swing, both of which he seemed to enjoy. He stayed alert quite a bit and ate well every time he was given the opportunity.

And wouldn't you know it, just as predicted he went to bed at 8:30 when the girls did and only woke up twice in the night to eat. Mandi and I each got about 7 hours of sleep, which is more than double what we got on the previous night. In fact, we slept so late that we had to really hustle to get Avery out the door to the bus! No worries, she made it on time and had a good breakfast too. Hopefully this pattern will continue and Mason won't be the insufferable sleeper that Lily was for so long. After his morning feedings today he sat for about an hour in the bouncy seat facing the windows, the curtains drawn back and the sun warming the room. He watched Mike & Mike in The Morning with me and listened to Lily tell him how much she loves him. She absolutely can not get enough of her baby brother. I love watching the way he responds to the sound of her voice when she talks to him. It's apparent to me that all that time she spent talking to him while he was in Mandi's belly paid off for both of them, as he quite obviously recognizes her loving tone.


It doesn't really fit here in the story, but when looking through pictures to add to this post I decided I had to add one of Mason's first bath at home. Mandi had him all set up in the sink in our bathroom . . he again loved having his hair washed but really didn't care for the body scrubbing. Oh well, he can't be perfect!

I'll do my best to keep the updates coming, but computer time has been lacking the last few days. I've been trying to make the most of the time I have when Mandi's feeding Mason in the middle of the night, but so far that's amounted to getting the girls' lunches packed and keeping the medicine and nursing journal. As for my birding reports, it's safe to say they might be few and far between for a week or so. I've heard reports of some of the wintering sparrows arriving in the area, but I've yet to see any for myself. No worries though, those things can wait.