The Blackburn Family

Another week already! Time has never gone so fast. The days seem to fly even though I don’t do much other than feed, rock, bounce, change and clean. I have to admit by 6:00 I am ready to hand him over to Casey for a short break. Mom comes over a few days a week which also gives me a little break to get a few things done or run a couple errands.

There isn’t too much to report this week. Graham is growing like a weed and I really think he is pushing 12 pounds already. His disposable diapers are getting really small and we are moving to the bigger sizes in the cloth diapers. He also seems so long to me! I was looking at pictures this week because I am going to finally print some and I couldn’t believe how much bigger he is already. I got a little sad when I was looking at the pictures. Last year at this time I was recovering from my surgery! We have come a long way in a year.

We are still using the cloth diapers and I am really starting to like them. I could easily get addicted to them and if you let yourself go crazy you could spend a ton of money. I am liking the pockets that I purchased and I am not sure if I will return them or not, but they are expensive. I can see how they would be nicer and easier to use as he gets older, but I wonder how they will hold up over time. We are still using disposables at night, but I am planning to switch to cloth at some point. I need to do a bit more research and I think a pocket would be nice to have for nights. At the very least a wool or fleece cover would be nice to have for nights.

I will post a couple pictures tonight, but I have more to post eventually. I haven’t had time to do the editing yet. I will try to post the family pictures later this week when I get them fixed up a bit. My cousin Greg and his fiance came to visit us for an afternoon this week and we had a great time visiting with them. Graham loved them and both are naturals with babies. We are so excited to have some family in NC. This is the first time in my life I have had family in the same state (other than in-laws). I am sure we will be seeing them a lot and hopefully we will get more visitors now that there are more of us down here. I have some pictures from their visit that I need to add too.

Here he is at seven weeks. I need to try to get some new “poses” this week, but it is easiest to take the pictures when Casey is holding him so they all start to look the same. Taking pictures of babies that can’t sit up or really make faces is difficult! Then again all my animal pictures look the same too! I have some other ones, but they aren’t ready yet and I need to get to bed so I will do a mid-week post to add those.

Here is one of JD I took this week.

And not to be left out here are the bunnies cleaning Graham’s chair for him

This week I determined that Graham needs to be on the Zantec! At least for awhile. I am pretty sure he missed a dose one night because he spit up a lot and sure enough the next day we had lots of screaming after feeding and most of the day. The rest of the week as been much better. We still have lots of crying, but at least it isn’t that painful scream. We also discovered that he loves the exercise ball. Thanks to Christine for recommending it! It has been a huge hit so far, but now we have the problem of him falling asleep while bouncing and then he wakes up when we move him to his room. Graham does not like to sleep. I guess he is more like me than Casey when it comes to sleeping. He fights sleep and wakes up really easily. Of course the more tired he gets the more grumpy he gets and the harder he fights sleep. The good thing is when we do finally get him down at night he sleeps for about 4-5 hours and is usually easy to get back to sleep. Of course he goes back to his 2-3 hour feedings at that point, but at least I am getting a bit more sleep.

We have converted to using the cloth diapers during the day now. We still use disposables at night because I think he does feel more dry especially for that first long stretch of sleep. I am hoping to eventually switch to cloth at night too, but I am still experimenting and learning about this whole cloth thing. The hardest part is that most of his clothes don’t fit over his big diaper! I just have to dress him in bigger sizes or he wears a shirt and his diaper. I do sometimes put him in the disposable so he can wear a cute outfit. He still has problems with diaper rash and since I am using both types of diaper I am not sure which is causing the problem or maybe both. I need to make sure I am rinsing the cloth diapers really well because that can cause rash. The disposables have always caused his bottom to get irritated. The diaper sticks to him and I have to peel it off. Anyway we are using prefolds and covers for now. I ordered some fitted diapers that I get to try for one month and then I can return any that I don’t like minus 10%. At this point fitted diapers won’t really save us much money because each one costs $11-20 and you use them once and have to clean them. Prefolds are much cheaper and I can reuse the covers. When he gets a bit older and is going through less diapers a day I may use the fitteds more because they are easier. Of course by then I may love using prefolds and covers so much I won’t want to switch.

Not too much else going on with us lately. We like to go out on Friday nights for an hour or two and this week we went to Costco. How exciting, huh? It is just nice to get out for a bit. It is hard adjusting to our new life. At least for me. It has been just us for 7 years (together) and just me for 31! You get pretty used to your life and bringing in a baby sure changes it. I am sure it will get easier, just need to adjust and mourn my former life. I also hope to start exercising some soon. I think I will feel much better, but I don’t want to do too much since I am still getting limited sleep. I will start with some gentle yoga because I really miss yoga!

Here are a few pictures I took this weekend. Sorry, I love black and white. Color versions are on Flicker.

This is one I see a lot….

I got these socks at a consignment sale. I figured Grandpa and Uncle Zach would like them.

Our pet squirrel also entertained us some this week. He continues to hang out on the deck and we are pretty sure this was the same squirrel in the front yard. He has such a strange personality. He was digging an rolling in the dirt.

So far week five is off to a bit better start than week four. I am looking forward to the day that Graham can master his digestive system and realize his arms are not random objects out to get him. His arms are his nemesis. They wake him up and scare him on a regular basis. He startles very easy especially when he is on the verge of sleep. If I don’t wrap him extra tight he won’t sleep very long because those crazy arms start swinging around and wake him up. I have stopped eating dairy for the most part. The only dairy I have had the last few days is maybe a little butter in baked goods or my dinner last night (we went out again). I also started giving Graham Gripe Water and I am not sure which is making him happier, but we will continue with both for now. He still has his normal newborn breakdowns and likes to make a fuss about pooping, but at least he doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore. He doesn’t wake up from sleep screaming like his leg was cut off. No more arching his back in pain. He still spits up a fair amount, but it doesn’t seem to hurt him like before. We have also been going to the chiropractor. I sure hope he continues to feel better this week!

Our trips to the chiropractor have been an adventure. Gone are the days of things being simple. Get in the car, go to my appointment, maybe run a few errands and come home. Now I have to start packing up 30 minutes before I need to leave (giving myself a 15 minute cushion), get the diaper bag packed, my wallet and keys in the diaper bag, prep the car seat and of course get the little guy ready. Seems like it is always time to leave when he is getting hungry or sleeping. Last week I had to wake him up. Never wake a sleeping baby!! Ugh. I have only made that mistake a few times and only when it can’t be helped. He hates the car seat so he screams as soon as you put him in it. Mom went with me this week after the disaster that was the week before. She sat in the back with him and gave him his pacifier to keep him from crying. We get there and I go back to the room. He is crying so I get him out of the seat (this kid doesn’t have a nice soft newborn cry and never whimpers, he screams at the top of his lungs). He had a poop explosion, all over him, his outfit and the car seat. I scramble to get the diaper supplies out and realize I have no wipes! Great. I use a burp cloth to clean up the best I can, but he is still screaming and I am covered in poop. I have mom come back and she tries to help me. I wash my hands. The doctor comes in and adjusts me, Graham is still screaming for the most part. Then it is his turn. He does not like the chiropractor, but he did calm down after his adjustment. What a mess. We then have to come straight home. No more running errands, no more relaxed outings! Maybe one day we can go out without him screaming the whole time. He also screamed the whole time we were at the birth center the next day. Needless to say I am limiting my trips out with him until he learns to behave!!

Here is a picture from this weekend.

Check out this face!

Graham’s Nana, Aunt Valerie and cousins Ashlyn and Darby came to visit today. Here are a couple pictures of Ashlyn holding “Baby Graham”. She was so excited!

So the last two days we have had a little pet squirrel on our deck. He lays down and drinks the water on the deck and then hangs out on the railing. Here are a few pictures.

The month has flow by!! I can’t believe it has already been a month and I am packing up clothes that no longer fit. We continue to have problems with gas and now reflux so most of the time we do not have a happy baby. It really wears on you and he is making me think one kid is enough for us!! We went to the pediatrician on Friday after two very long hard days and got some medicine to help with the reflux. We have been giving him the Mylicon drops, but I probably don’t give it to him enough. I am trying the Gripe Water now in the hopes something will help him. I think we have entered our period of purple crying.

On a good note he is sleeping longer at night and I think the Miracle Blanket is the key. It is the only wrap that keeps his hands and arms contained. He scares himself and wakes himself if his hands aren’t wrapped and help down. The last two nights he has sleep 3-4 hours at a time! Too bad he is so unhappy during the day. Once he gets the gas/poop out he is usually much happier. I feel so bad that I can’t help him. At his appointment on Friday we found out he is 9 pounds 7 ounces! So despite the reflux and gas he is gaining weight like a champ. I wasn’t expecting him to grow so fast. The cloth diapers I got to try are already getting too small. I am really on the fence with the cloth. They really aren’t hard to use, but I feel like he is always so wet in them. I am sure it is no fun sitting in a wet diaper and the disposables are so good at making him feel dry. Probably too good because the disposables continue to irritate his bottom. So on one hand I don’t like the disposables because they dry out his bottom, yet I like that they keep him drier!! At this point he is so grumpy with the gas and reflux issues that I may just stick with disposable and perhaps try cloth again when he is a bit bigger and feeling better. He hates diaper changes and I feel like I have to change him so much more with the cloth.

Last weekend my Uncle Gary and his girlfriend Christine came to visit. We were so excited they came all the way from Pennsylvania to see us and to meet Graham. They were kind enough to get us a new swing which has become our favorite baby item. We could not live without that swing! Graham sleeps in it all night and I am not sure how we will get him “off” the swing, but we will just figure it out later. If it keeps him sleeping that is where he will sleep for now. It seems to comfort him. He loves moving. I have some pictures of them with Graham in his flickr album.

On Graham’s one month birthday Casey and I went out for a quick bite to eat and a trip to Wal-Mart. This was my third or fourth outing without Graham. I am apparently not one of those mom’s that doesn’t want to leave their baby! In fact I love getting out. Of course I only go out for an hour or so because I want to make sure to get back in time to feed him. I always miss him when I am gone and love seeing him when I get back, but I do cherish my time out. I am looking forward to being able to get out a bit more and exercising! I really miss exercising, especially yoga. I think doing some yoga will really help me!

Note that I have added the full birth story to the site. On the top bar you will see “Birth Story” so if you are interested in reading the full thing you can click there to read it.

Casey wanted me to post this picture he took of me last week. Note this is not safe co-sleeping.

I also wanted to post this picture. Apparently how you sleep is genetic. This is exactly how his daddy and his daddy’s daddy sleep! Head back, mouth open and tongue out (PaPa). He looks so much like Casey as a baby in this picture!

Here is our one month picture. Don’t forget to check out his album of flickr for more pictures.