Six Months!

Where did the past 6 months go?

How is it my little guy, so slow to gain in the first two weeks of life all the powers that be fretted about a possible "FTT" (failure to thrive), suddenly 6 months old?

He rolls over. he sits up. And never seems to stop moving. When I had my 20 week ultrasound, the technician said she'd never seen a baby so active. Having spent the past 3+ years with our Happy Hurricane Angelina, we thought "no baby can be more active than her."

We were wrong. Lenaïc is in constant motion. He hasn't managed to crawl yet, but he kicks and squirms so much I have no doubt he'll find some way to move on his own soon.

He laughs. And laughs some more. And more. He pretty much never stops smiling.

And whom does he smile the most at?

Big sister Angelina.



At his 6 month appointment yesterday (really 6 months + 2 weeks):
18.6lbs (8.4kg) 75th%
26in (66cm) 50th%
All on mommy's milk

Is this the same baby?

That's what the pediatrician said when she saw his weight at his 4 month appointment. Yes, he's already 4 months old!

At 48 hours old he was jaundiced and still losing weight.







At 3 weeks old he'd only just regained his birth weight (hope is to regain by 2 weeks). The pediatrician was concerned and we had to go in for multiple weight checks in the first few weeks, and continue breastfeeding on demand. He seemed to catch up, despite some food sensitivity issues: he can't tolerate dairy proteins (even hidden dairy. Do you know how many foods contain dairy in some form? just about ALL!), soy, and it looks like eggs. If I have any of those, it goes into the breastmilk and he gets green mucousy poops, stuffy nose with trouble breathing well, and painful gas as well as a small rash. It takes a couple of weeks to clear it all from his system, but once it does, all is well and normal. Obviously, it's not hurting his weight gain.




As of 9 April 2010:
15.6lbs (7.1kg) 75th%
24 inches (61 cm) 10th%

We call him the "Happy Buddha."

(which also means he appears to have my body so far - short and stocky)

Worry No More: 2 Month Stats

Or at least now I can worry about something else.

Initially we were concerned about Lenaïc's weight gain since he'd dropped so much at birth and at 3 weeks or so was in the 3rd percentile (down from the 30th). I knew it was improving as he's growing out of all his clothes, but we finally had the official weigh in yesterday:

11lbs 12 oz (5.04kg)
23 inches (58.4cm)

That puts him in the 50th%. All on Mommy's Milk.

Also meant we had our two month shots. Four shots + one oral:
DTaP: Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine
Hib: Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine
IPV: Inactivated poliovirus vaccine
PCV: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
Rota: Rotavirus vaccine

Ouch. He calmed down pretty quickly though, and slept almost 6 hours last night. Unfortunately, I woke after 3 hours, as my internal (i.e. boob) clock has been set to his every 2-3 hour waking....

Boobs and Poops...feeding challenges, part Deux

So I considered myself an experienced breastfeeder. I nursed Angelina for 25 months. I just remember it being easy as pie. Latch her on and go.

So, of course I could breastfeed Lenaïc, no problem.

But I had forgotten about the Beginning.

It wasn't so easy, at least not to start. And 2nd time around turned out to be challenging too. He latched on immediately after birth (literally, came up from the water and latched on to my breast. Angelina said "Mommy, the baby likes your boobie!" We didn't even know "he" was a "he" at that point). So I was sure all would be great. Not so.

Once my milk came in, about 48 hours later, I was too engorged and he couldn't latch. I was also being lazy, he was sleeping long stretches and though I would wake him to feed him, was not doing it enough. So by the morning of day 3, when my midwife came for the newborn screen, she noticed he was jaundiced and had lost a lot of weight. She checked my breastfeeding, sure enough, he wasn't latching. So, orders were to use a nipple shield and wake him every 2 hours to feed, feed for 30 minutes (15 minutes each side). That leaves about 1 hour or less to do anything - like shower, go to the bathroom, eat, play with Angelina. Not easy! With Angelina, all that was easier because she was the only one. I could just sit there and nurse nurse nurse. It was harder this time. But that's what I had to do.

Worry about jaundice, worry about his weight, worry about the breastfeeding, worry about Angelina, throw in post-partum hormones. Not a good combo.

Fortunately, the jaundice was gone in about 24 hours, and diapers were good and poopy/wet. But not enough.

So off to the lactation center. I am so glad this place exists! The consultant worked with me on the latch (still recommended the nipple shield), and agreed with the schedule my midwife had set. We also discussed my goals for breastfeeding, and all sorts of little tricks to get him to eat better. I *knew* my supply was fine, fortunately (many are not so lucky). They have weighing rooms, so you can go in anytime they're open, weigh, nurse, weigh again to see how much the baby has taken. So, that's what I did. Every day at first, then 2x per week, and now once per week.

He was improving, so I was feeling better. Then the pediatrician noticed his weight drop: from 30th percentile at birth down to 3% at 4 weeks. Now I'm worried all over again.


Until yesterday. The goal is for them to gain 5-7 oz per week. As of yesterday's weighing, he gained 10 oz in the past week!

We're still using the nipple shields about 75% of the time. I keep trying to wean him off of them, and he does ok, then other times no luck. But at least he's gaining! Yeah for Mommy's Milk!

So Babies Actually SLEEP?

I was convinced babies didn't really sleep, at least not alone, unattached to mommy... See, Angelina never slept during the day unless she was ON me, attached in some way (to the boob, in the sling, laying on my chest). At night I could put her down, but only because I lay(lie?) right next to her, with her attached to me most of the night.

People talked about babies who Sleep Through The Night (STTN), or about how babies "sleep all the time." I just assumed that was a myth.

And then Lenaïc was born. Now, he doesn't STTN, and his days and nights are a bit mixed up still. But he does actually sleep when NOT attached to me. I can put him down, and he sleeps! Wow! I am in shock!

Of course, that doesn't mean any extra time for me, as a certain 3.5 yr old Hurricane is still running about the house, requiring mommy's attention....

What Happened to My Happy Hurricane?

Turns out, being a big sister is Not So Easy

So it seems Angelina's having some challenges after all. She is definitely a "spirited" child, requiring a lot of attention. However, her default is Happy. She has had her moments, but generally, her spiritedness makes us laugh more than cry. That is, until lately. My Happy Hurricane has become the fury of Katrina/Rita/Dolly/Gustav/Ike all rolled into one.

I didn't think this was related to the baby as it started a few weeks before he was born, but it seems now that's a big part of it. A month ago or so she just started being weepy a lot. No reason, she'd just cry - note, she rarely cried before, unless she was really hurt. She wasn't a whiner. But suddenly, everything made her weep. Then that advanced to tantrums. She's had them before, but not like this. Multiple times per day, lasting hours, with no obvious trigger.

And then the baby came. Now, keep in mind the weekend before he was born, she was helping Papa put together the bassinet and said "This is going to be the best baby ever!" and the next morning came running into the room, asking where the baby was. The day he was born she was part of the process, excited and mostly loving it all.
She was patient and calm and thrilled. No tantrums, no real difficult moments during labor, and it went late: it was after midnight when she finally went to sleep.

Then the real challenges started. Part of it was lack of sleep, but she's back to her usual sleep pattern now (except naps - she hasn't napped for us in over a year, but she did nap at daycare). She loves him, she dotes on him, but when it comes time for mommy to nurse - yikes! But it's not only then, the littlest things set her off. And then it's a vicious cycle. Our patience wears thin. We snap at her. She snaps back, and it escalates... We're working on our response, but how to change hers?

What's most frustrating, is she went from Happy Girl to Miserable Girl. It's so sad for me to see it, and not be able to fix it. I'm spending as much time with her as possible, one on one when possible, but with a nursing newborn, that's not so easy.






I'm just hoping it is only due to the baby's arrival, and will pass in time,and my Happy Hurricane will return.

I finally contributed some genes

After the little clone of her Papa, it's nice to see I can contribute some genes too!







Me at my baptism, almost 1 month old














Me at birth

Definitely my child! So far at least.....

How he came into the world

(copied from Facebook note)

It was Tuesday Dec 8 at 3PM that I posted the following on Facebook:
"Dear Baby: Please stay inside me until 1)we finish the sheetrock and primer, 2)your Papa finishes the massive amounts of work he has scheduled this week, 3) your mommy finishes the massive amounts of work scheduled this week, and 4) we buy a new washing machine and have it delivered and installed. Then you are free to come any time. Thank you."

Apparently I either knew something might be up, or this kid doesn't listen to me... About 2 hours later, signs of pre-labor appeared. Such signs could mean labor was hours, days or weeks away. I stayed home the next day, not feeling up to driving. By 10am, Dec 9, as the workmen of #1 were sheetrocking, labor signs became a bit more obvious. By 11AM, there was no doubt....I was trying to be discreet so as not to alarm the workers. As it turned out, I was about to tell them they needed to leave for the day when they said they were finishing up. Not done, just done for the day because everything was wet. So we didn't even make it through #1. They'll come back next week :).

Over the next 11 hours, we brought him into the world. :) And when I say "we", I mean Frédéric, Angelina, and I. They were both very helpful. And my midwives too. He was born in the water at 10:10pm, and I wouldn't change a thing! For anyone interested in more details of the birth, let me know and I'll email all the gory details.

As for Angelina, she was great! She had her moments, but for the most part, she loved being involved and wasn't at all scared. And being in the birthing tub with us was a blast for her. She helped massage my back and kept holding me when it hurt. She did leave the room towards the end saying "Mommy's upset" because apparently I was making some significant noises ("Holy cow that hurts!");). She came back in within seconds of the baby coming out and immediately went to him to touch him, covered in mucus and all....The look on her face of fascination and wonder as we welcomed him into the world was priceless.





So, I jinxed myself by asking the baby to wait. I also planned a Girls Night In at our house for Wednesday night. The other way to assure labor without inducing - give up your birth tub....I didn't have the tub yet because another client, already 8 days overdue, still had it. The midwife picked it up on her way to my house saying to her "I have a sure way to get you into labor, I'm taking the tub for another mom." Sure enough, about the time Lenaïc was born, the midwife received a call from the other mom saying her labor had started. Who needs pitocin, when Murphy's Law is at work?!

Announcing...

Or as Big Sister Angelina would say "Ta da!"

Lenaïc Martin Allegrini
born Dec 9, 09. 10:10PM (at 38 weeks exactly). 8lbs. 20" long. Healthy, happy, already nursing like a champ!












And Angelina playing in the birth tub while mommy was walking around trying to get my water to break

Allegrini #2

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, at 18 weeks. I'm just about 21 weeks now.
The little one stopped moving just long enough to snap a picture. He/she was VERY active.



And no, we don't know the gender. We're not going to find out. Frederic says it's like knowing what your Christmas present is 6 months in advance. You're still excited for it, but it doesn't have the same element of surprise. We didn't find out with Angelina, so I am pretty sure we can stand the suspense.


Fortunately, all is going well with this pregnancy, despite a shaky start. Looks like we'll have a wonderful Christmas Present!