Harry & I - 3 Week Update

Wow what a mad few weeks it has been!! Harry is 3 weeks old today and it feels like we have been living in a baby bubble full of milk, cuddles and poop!! Having a newborn baby is massively overwhelming and bloody hard but it's also absolutely amazing and so so rewarding!

I am part way through writing my birth story but it's long and I don't remember everything properly so I'm taking my time as I don't want to miss anything out! So for now here is our 3 week update 

Height/weight: Harry was born weighing 7lb 14oz and dropped to 7lb 4oz a few days after. By day 10 he had put back on his birth weight and more and weighed 8lb 4oz!!! At his 2 week weigh in, he was weighing a whopping 8lb 9oz - he loves his milk!

Daily: We aren't in a particularly strict routine yet but we are starting to get into a sort of pattern of feeds every 3 hours and a bath before going to bed. Haribo still likes to take random amounts of milk so now and again we need to feed him more often and sometimes he can go a little longer than the 3 hours. We let him be our guide and we never wake him for a feed, I really don't think it is necessary!

When he wakes up for his morning bottle we will get up and go downstairs to start getting him used to the difference between daytime and night time. Harry will then usually have a morning nap until his next feed time.

I'm looking forward to being in a much more structured routine with our little man but for now I'm pretty happy with how we are getting on during the day time!

Bedtime: Bed time isn't Harry's favourite!! In fact we really struggled to get him to sleep in his Moses basket until around day 5 and he still isn't keen on it now. At first we had to swaddle him which is something I didn't think I would do, but it seemed to really help him settle and feel nice and safe! Now though he is perfectly happy to have his arms and legs free to wiggle about.

We have been trying to put him up to bed between 7 and 8 after his feed and bath with the baby monitor on. He has done really well moser evenings and will sleep for a good couple of hours. Other nights he refuses to settle from 7 until about 11 or 12pm which can really test our patience!

Obviously we aren't sleeping through the whole night yet but little H does do really well and wakes every 3 - 4 hours for a feed/nappy change and will go back to sleep afterwards quite quickly.

We have found that when he wakes for his 4am/5am feed it's pretty cold in our house and he will struggles to get himself back to sleep in his Moses so we have occasionally had to co sleep with him next to us.. I really do think it's due to warmth as he drops straight off once he is laid down on our warmer mattress, but this isn't an ideal situation obviously!

Eating: We decided to bottle feed Harry from the start of my pregnancy and it's something I don't regret at all.

He is now taking 3oz, sometimes 4oz of Aptamils First Milk.

We have used infacol since he was 3 days old as he struggled to bring up wind and we find it does help a little so he has it before every feed.

We have recently switched from Tommee Tippee bottles to Doctor Browns bottles which so far have been fantastic! They are specifically designed to help windy babies and since using them Harry's tummy doesn't seem to be causing him so much trouble 

Clothing: I am truly gutted as our little dude has outgrown pretty much all of his newborn clothes!! In fact a couple of things he didn't ever get to wear!! He is now wearing his 0-1 month clothes which are a tad big in the body, but I'm sure he will be outgrowing those too in the next couple of weeks!!

Milestones: A little early for any huge milestones but here are some things that have happened and that we get excited about!!

Harry's cord stump fell off at exactly 1 week old and he has the most perfect little belly button now!

He definitely recognises mummy and daddy now and spends a good half an hour at a time studying our faces and listening to us babble away at him!

He is so strong! Everyone comments on how much he wriggles about and holds his head up and he seems to gain more strength every day!

Postpartum Update:

A quick update on how I am doing.. I haven't weighed myself since giving birth as I don't think it's necessary until I am fully recovered - otherwise I will worry about it and start thinking I need to exercise when I really should be resting! ( plus I am totally going to indulge over Xmas!! )

I am so pleased though as my tummy has shrunk right back down so quickly and I got away with just a couple of little stretch marks on my back!

I did use a belly band after the birth for 2 weeks to help flatten my tummy and I really think it helped so I will be doing a whole post about that when I can!

I am starting to feel more like myself every day but I still think it will be a whole before my body is working normally and fully recovered from birth

I hope to be posting a lot more in the new year and I can't wait to share lots of stories about Harry's progress in the months to come!