Porter: Three Weeks

Just a quick update on our boy who is three weeks old today! I think the Day in the Life post sums up the details pretty well, but I still feel the need to dedicate a whole post to this 'milestone' of week three.

(little birthmark on his calf! And long, adorable toes!)


Nursing: Porter will eat anywhere from every hour (in the evenings, cluster feeding has begun) up to every 4-5 hours during the day depending on his naps. I think he's pretty efficient with nursing because he doesn't seem to stay on a side for longer than about 5 minutes at a time, unless he falls asleep at the breast and then he will stay latched forever. Well, sometimes I think he is really efficient and other times I wonder if he isn't just really mad that the flow has stopped/slowed down and so he pulls off in defiance after five minutes.



I've definitely noticed that he will do that weird 'try to latch on but not really' thing when he wiggles his head all around with an open mouth, if he's not really hungry OR if he is super worked up and fussy. It's like he kind of wants to nurse but not really and he will get really mad if I keep him in nursing position after he is full/too mad at life. He's also had a few evenings when he obviously wants to nurse just for the sucking part of it but wants nothing to do with the milk when it goes into his mouth. I remember that trick from Cecelia's days, too. At least this baby will actually take a pacifier though!



Sometimes I think that he takes forever to latch on and messes around, popping on and off---but that only seems to be when he's not totally famished and just wants a snack instead. Maybe I should pay better attention to his latch and try to figure out a pattern, but when you are nursing 12-15 times in a 24 hour period it all kind of blends together. I'm guessing it's fine and he is just getting more particular about his latch.



I'm pumping almost every day now, getting 4-5 oz in about 5 minutes or so. Usually this pumping session happens fairly soon after a nursing session and then I end up nursing right after it, too. Never a good time to pump around here! #StillHateIt

Porter really didn't spit up this week, now that I think about it. Maybe my supply has regulated enough or something? Sometimes he will cough with a let down or pull off if it seems to be too much for him, but usually he keeps up pretty well if he is truly hungry. Haven't tried a bottle yet but I don't think he will protest it like Cecelia did. He might even like it a little bit too much right now, so I might wait to introduce it for a few more days. I'm feeling lazy with starting bottles much like I was feeling with beginning the pumping routine.



Sleeping: Again, kind of all over the board here, so I'm not sure how to report his norms in this post. In the past few days it seems like Porter will alternate days between sleeping quite a bit and then the next day he will be awake quite a bit (and not too happy about it). He prefers to sleep while being held, without a doubt, and even swing naps aren't the norm anymore. This might also have something to do with having a grandma and a great-grandma here who are more than willing to hold the baby at all times instead of placing him in the swing or...GASP...a flat surface to sleep. We'll get there, not too worried about it just yet.



Most days he will take at least one really solid nap for about 3 hours a stretch in the morning but sometimes he will do naps like that all day long. There is no schedule at all, really, so it's hard to even report on daytime sleep. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't! A lot of times we have to 'work' to get him to nap, which means walking around with him and holding him, or wearing him in a carrier.



He's still been sleeping well at night this week, with anywhere from 2-5 hour stretches--which is basically the same since the day we brought him home. I guess he is usually still up about twice in a night but sometimes it's more like three times, and his 'norm' is probably 3-4 hours at a time. Pretty good for being three weeks old, I think! The MamaRoo swing is still where he is sleeping at night and I have no desire to change that up anytime soon. I can't recall that any of the nights were rough for him to fall back to sleep once he was awake either---so that's good! It's one thing to have shorter little stretches of sleep but it's definitely another ball game when you also have a baby that wants to be awake for hours after those little snoozes. Very happy that this past week was better with falling back to sleep at night and that he continues to wake just twice (ish) most of the time.



Temperament: Pretty content but also pretty fussy, depending on the day. Actually, I think it's more of a fussy evening phase we are entering. About three nights last week he was really really unhappy beginning around 6pm and lasting until 9pm or even later. One night it was from 9-11pm, and it seems like he is just overstimulated from the day or having some GI issues that are uncomfortable for mister P. So basically, he's a typical newborn right now--one that is absolutely more awake than the weeks prior and he doesn't quite know what to do with this big world of ours. There have been a few times when he freaks out so hard (aside from the car seat, that's still a given) that he is practically gagging and it doesn't even sound like a human cry. Poor babe.

(Classic ATNR reflex is showing up now--love it!)


Things that sometimes help a very distressed Porter: tight swaddles, pacifier, walking around, and shhhhhhh-ing in his ear really loud. Nate also discovered that P loves Bon Iver and his nursery glider. He also loves to be worn in the Bjorn and likes the great outdoors. He likes to poop and burp and life is usually a lot better once one of those two things happen.





(attempted a four generations hands shot like we've done with the other two kids. Harder than I remember!)


Growth/Milestones: I feel like Porter is changing by the day, getting so big and so 'old' ...for a baby. I mean, seriously: I wake up and look at his face and it seems totally different than the day before. He's wearing all 0-3 month clothes now but I think a few of his NB sizes *could* fit if I forced it. Size 1 diapers are a lot better fitting than the newborns, too. It's just crazy how quickly they change. No wonder he's been fussy a lot and sleeping a lot. It's hard work growing so much! I weighed myself and then held Porter and weighed again (very technical), and it looks like he is about 10.5 pounds already. Big boy! He has a one month appointment coming up and we can get a real weight then.





His umbilical cord stump is STILL on, which is really gross but it's hanging by a thread at this point. Would really like to get that little belly wet in a bath soon! He's only had three baths at home so far and has hated them more and more each time. But they seem to knock him out with a good nap after so maybe I will try a bath next time he's fussy in the evening.



Comparisons: If I ever ask you, 'Why am I still blogging?' I want you to remind me that I would forget EVERYTHING about my kids without this blog. Because seriously? I just read Cecelia's three week post and was floored at how similar CC and Porter are with fussy evenings and sleeping 'schedules'. I guess Porter is not spitting up as much as CC and he's not quite as dramatic as my girl, but otherwise...very similar! Good to know that Cecelia was starting to get really fussy at 3 weeks especially in the evenings because PERSPECTIVE! She was bad back then and that phase did pass, just like it will for Porter. Thank you, blog, for that reminder!



I forgot about having my first round of mastitis with Truman at three weeks, too. Blech. It seems like he was not all that fussy in the evenings and nursing almost always helped soothe him if he was angry. Meh, not so much with Truman's brother;) I do remember that Truman's cord was still attached---these boys just like to hang onto that little piece of their pasts. And although I still think Porter looks like baby Truman, I think P is becoming his own little person, too.

Then I did this three week comparison and yep, still very similar:








I think that's all I can report with my 'quick update'. Oops!