We certainly feel blessed to have Matthew in our family. Here is a bit about his first two months:
One thing that is interesting to me is how much Matthew looks like his ultrasound picture. I know he should since it was of him, but I'd never compared an ultrasound picture to the baby picture before. It's pretty neat! The similarities are more obvious when seeing the ultrasound and then seeing him, but here is a picture of Matthew during my 38 week ultrasound and one week later on his birthday:
One month check up (Feb 1)
weight: 7 lb 7 oz (4%)
length: 20.5 inches (10%)
head circumference: 14.5 inches (20%)
The doctor was pleased with how Matthew looks overall. His weight gain is looking good (he had stalled around 5 lb 6 oz in January and was in the 1st percentile, so 4% looks good:) ). He definitely has his daddy's head (he went from 10% to 20% in head circumference)--aka HUGE! When we made some comment about that, the doctor said how it is good that a lot of his growth is going to his head. I don't think she quite got that he might have a big head. Maybe she will when he's 95th percentile for head circumference and 5th percentile for weight. Ok, I doubt he'll ever be that mismatched, but he does seem to have U's head shape and will likely have a large noggin as well. The doctor asked if Matthew looked at people. This picture was taken the day of his one month check. How would you answer that question?
Two month check up (Mar 10):
weight: 10 lb 4 oz (9%)
height: 22.25 inches (12%)
head circumference: 15.5 inches (24%)
The doctor thinks he is doing great. With breech babies, there is a bit of concern that their hips might have issues, but his appear to be perfect. We decided to space the immunizations out a bit and so he just got a couple. He handled them pretty well--maybe a little fussiness, but no fever. We'll go back in a few weeks to get some of the ones we didn't do yet.
A bit about Matthew:
Eating: When he was first born, Matthew thought that his tongue and hands were both a very important part of the eating process. He’d lick and lick, desperate to get some food. It didn’t work out too well for him, though. He’d also move his hands all around often getting them in front of his face which made it difficult to eat. He’s definitely getting better in this area, although he’ll still occasionally do both of these things. I have to say that it is definitely different that I am his source of food (and he knows it). With the other kids, we'd just give them a bottle when they were hungry. With Matthew, he needs me to eat.
Tongue: Matthew likes his tongue.
A lot!
Besides licking to try to eat, he enjoys sticking it in and out.
And his tongue is quite long and pointy.
Kind of like a lizard.
"See my tongue?"
Arms and hands: Besides his hands trying to “help” with feeding, he moves his hands and arms around a lot.
I love all the expressive positions his hands will be in, especially right around his face.
He will suck his thumb and/or fingers at times, although he did this more in the first few weeks than now.
Little bundle: Because he was breech with his feet over his head (or the one wrapped around his hips—it changed positions), he would often tuck his legs up really tight.
When we’d swaddle him, his legs would often be up and so he would be so little!
When I was still on the operating table and Uriah brought Matthew over for me to see, I was amazed at how short he was.
It’s because his legs were swaddled up!
We did that a lot for the first few weeks since it is how he was most comfortable.
Noises: Matthew is quite a noisy little boy. He makes lots of little grunts and groans and squeaks. Often when he is eating he will make little contented sighs. He can be quite a noisy eater. I love listening to all of his sounds!!!
Faces: Matthew has a very expressive face. He will wrinkle up his little brow when he is concerned about something. He’ll also furrow his brow a lot. He will also squish up his face. My mom commented how he’d make these very expressive faces and then let out a little cry. Such intense expressions and such little cries! When I see Matthew make a concerned face, I try to assure him that things are ok.
Awake: Matthew has lots of awake time! He needs to sleep, but if he’s with someone or somewhere where there are interesting things to look at, he will stay awake! Sometimes he’ll stay awake even if we put him down for a nap. We’ll go over to check on him and there he is staring back at us. We will put him down, though, because he needs the quiet time. (I should note that many people—grandmas, mom, dad—discovered that he will just stay up and interact with them if they don’t put him down. And then he gets overtired. So you just need to put him down sometimes!)
Nose: One thing I love about babies is how their little noses won’t squish since that is their only way of breathing. It’s funny to push on it and not have it move. Well, in Matthew’s case, his nose actually will squish a little. I guess his nostrils are big enough that they can take a little squishing…. (I should note that I don’t squish them hard—I just push on the nose gently to feel how is doesn’t squish. And U had discovered this independently of me, meaning he does the same thing!)
Squirmy: This kind of goes along with some of the other things above.
Matthew is a squirmy little guy.
He’ll move his arms and legs around a lot.
Grandma A said how she knew some people preferred changing babies on their laps and she found that with Matthew, it was easier than changing him on a changing table—less squirms maybe?
January Happenings:
Weight Gain (or the lack thereof):
birth: 5 lb 12 oz
leaving hospital (Dec 31): 5 lb 3 oz
Jan 3rd: 5 lb 6 oz (up a couple ounces)
Jan 6th: 5 lb 6 oz (uh....started supplementing him after some feeds with formula or breast milk)
Jan 11th: 5 lb 7.5 oz (yes, the .5 oz is important! Obviously not good weight gain at all.)
At this point, we started supplementing him after every feeding. We also went to a lactation consultant who was hugely helpful! All these changes resulted in Matthew starting to wake up more for feedings on his own and helped my milk supply.
Jan 18th: 6 lb 4 oz (Go Matthew! Definitely grateful for the weight gain.)
During this time, I went to my ob for my incision check. When he heard about the weight gain issues, he suggested that we have Megan and Matthew hold hands and sing "Kumbaya" to help even out the weight gain (since Megan hasn't had any issues with weight gain....).
Matthew’s first bottle: Grandma A prepared it and I gave it to him. As soon as I gave it to him, he gulped and had this expression on his face like “Wo! Way too much!” and a whole bunch of stuff came out of his mouth. I told my mom that he needed a Level 1 nipple, not a Level 2 (which is what I figured she’d put on). She didn’t know what type she’d put on—she’d just grabbed what was available. When she looked at it, she told me it was a Level Y!!!! Yes, the bottle I gave him had a hole like a Y cut into it. No wonder he was so overwhelmed by it! We switched to a Level 1 which worked much better (although we’ve since switched to preemie nipples to get an even slower flow).
2nd PKU: When we went to do his 2nd PKU, I was prepared to have a screaming baby. I felt a little bad because he was sleeping and it was going to wake him up. However, there was no need for concern--Matthew slept through the whole thing! The phlebotomist commented how she was getting a perfect PKU card.
No movement: About 10 days after Matthew was born, I suddenly realized that I hadn't felt the baby move in awhile and kind of freaked out. I quickly realized why I hadn't felt him, but it was still enough to give me pause.
A few pictures of our little guy:
Matthew is a big cuddler. Love it!
Matthew having his first bath. He really liked it!
Grandma A came to help for a few weeks. It was great to have her here. She acted as the nanny, nurse, cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, photographer, etc.
February Happenings:
More Grandparents: Uriah's mom came to help us for a little over a week. She played the same roles as my mom and was hugely helpful. Uriah's dad came for a couple days as well.
Smiling: Matthew has really started smiling. He has such a cute smile. I love it when his little tongue is in the middle of a huge grin!
Cooing: Matthew now coos quite a bit. It is fun to listen to him tell us his stories. He is still pretty noisy in general. However, his noises are quiet compared to his sisters'.
Ear Canals: 2 out of 2 doctors agree that Matthew has small ear canals. Both his PCP and the doctor he saw when he had the ear infection commented on how small his ear canals are. This makes it a little difficult to see the ear drums and so there is a bit more poking and prodding than usual. Matthew does not like this!
Mirror: Matthew likes looking at us in the mirror. We have a changing station set up in our bathroom and often when we are changing him there, he will look in the mirror to look at us instead of looking directly at us.
Hair: Matthew was born with quite a bit of blond hair. Most of it fell out when he was about a month old except for a little on the bottom--about an inch or so all the way around. His hair on the top of his head has now started growing in so he has hair on the top and on the bottom of his head with this nice bald area in the middle.
Hammock: Matthew like sleeping in his "hammock." It is kind of like a bouncy seat except it has deep sides and is elevated so it is easier to get him in and out of it. He also enjoys laying in it and looking around.
Sleeping
Hanging out
Toys: Matthew enjoys looking at toys, especially the star on one of the floor gyms that we have. It lights up and plays music so it is especially appealing. He likes looking at lights in general.
Run a Race: Matthew moves his legs. A lot. If he is sitting somewhere, he is likely moving his legs up and down like he is running so we say that he is "running a race." I wonder what event he is preparing for:)
Cute picture of Matthew (although his running legs are hidden)
