3 months!

Well this post has sure been a long time comin! 

Whenever I sit down to blog I realize, why am I not sleeping instead? And then I go and do just that. But oh my! So much to write about! 

I am SO happy to have Dylan at home with us. I don't miss that drive to the hospital one bit. But it's been an adjustment, for sure. I've never known such exhaustion and frustration, as well as happiness and joy. I spend my days fawning over Dylan and thinking he is the most adorable thing to grace this earth, but also wanting to crawl into a cave and hibernate the whole winter. Dylan has not been the easiest baby, nor is he the happiest baby. However, it's by no fault of his own in my opinion. I think he has a good temperament, but was dealt a crappy hand. 

 

 

I don't know if it's the gastroschisis that causes this, but he has thee hardest time pooping. He poops about twice a day, around 10 AM and maybe 2 PM. And then he goes the whole night without pooping again. By 4 AM he is awake and straining/crying/turning bright red trying to get it out with no success. So he'll go back to sleep for 20 minutes and wake up and do it all over. This lasts until like 8 AM. It is awful! Nobody sleeps and I feel so bad for the poor guy--AND for Taylor and I, let's be honest. The doctor says there really isn't much to be done about it because when it does come, it's soft and normal so we really can't give him a stool softener. It's not just at night that he strains though, it's also during the day. Sometimes it distracts him from eating and I wonder if he associates eating with GI pain and that's why he has meltdowns sometimes during a feeding. It is the saddest thing. Anyone else's baby had this problem? I feel like I'm on my last legs here! 

 

In the hospital, Dylan slept on the boppy for weeks to help with digestion. I think the transition to sleeping on his back has been a little bit hard for him. He has a hard time staying asleep on his back, but if he's propped up a little bit he does a ton better. Car seat, swing, boppy... he sleeps awesome. I'm too afraid of SIDS though to let him do this at night... sooo there's that.

 

Haha here is a picture of his belly. They say it takes awhile for his intestines to get all settled and arranged in there, so maybe that's part of his discomfort? At any rate, he has a pretty sweet Buddha belly. His scar is looking great I think and I still can't believe it's as small as it is, given the way he was born.

As of the 21st, he is 3 months old!! Wow! But since he was 6 weeks early, I have to adjust all his milestones. They tell me to treat him like he's a 7 week old at this point, and he is acting like a 7 week old. He still eats every 2-4 hours and does not even come CLOSE to sleeping through the night, even without the pooping problem. He eats around 10, 1, 4:30, and 7 AM. I mostly bottle feed him and add some formula to his milk so he gets extra calories-- he's had a rough time gaining weight. I wish we could just nurse, it would be so much easier and save so much time-- I seriously feel like all I do is pump, feed Dylan, clean it up, and do it all over again. But I'm so glad I can provide him with breastmilk and however it has to be done, I'll do it. Luckily I have a pretty great supply, so I only pump 5 times a day instead of 8. And I have TONS of milk in the freezer still, even after donating 150 oz to the milk bank. 

Finally getting some chub on his cheeks!

His stats as of 1 week ago are: 

Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz (no percentile yet still off the charts there)

Length: 21.25 in (.04 percentile) 

Head circumference: 14.75 in (1 percentile)

Last Friday he started grinning a bit here and there, but today it has really taken off. Whenever I pick him up from changing him/naps/etc. he gives me a big old grin and it is exactly what I needed to keep my sanity. He's also started cooing and making the most darling noises-- I love it. 

  I've been waiting to put him in this Halloween onesie for ages. And I noticed our changing pad is the perfect orange background.

He is such a sweet boy and I LOVE being his mom. It's been so fun/hard/rewarding and I wouldn't change it for anything. But seriously, send some good vibes over here so hopefully we'll all start getting more sleep at night.

In other events, Taylor is running the Haunted Half marathon this weekend as well as his dad, two sisters, and their husbands. It will be so fun! I ran it last year and it is beautiful. I love living down here so close to the beautiful mountains. And it's almost never windy. I do NOT miss that about Pocatello. 

Taylor and I happened upon another pair of BYU tickets, so we enjoyed another date night to the game against Nevada. It was pretty disappointing though... BYU has kinda fallen apart since Taysom got hurt. Date nights have become so much more exciting now that every night doesn't feel like date night. 

 

 

I'm so grateful for my sweet little family and both mine and Taylor's family. We are so blessed. 

Happy Thursday!