What's Up at 8 Weeks?

What are we up to these days?

Smiling...

...Stretching...

 ...Snoozing...

 ...Smooching...

...lots of general cuteness!

It's hard to believe that my teeny weeny beeeebee boy is 8 weeks old! He's sleeping very well - sometimes as long as 7 hours at a time overnight - and seems to have a good grasp on bedtime. He's always willing to lay down and go to sleep for the night around 10:30, even for Daddy (with a bottle of pumped milk)! As an aside, I will confess that I've felt very guilty the few times that he has gone to bed with a bottle :'( It really works out well - I get to enjoy a glass of wine, Daddy gets to enjoy partaking in the bedtime ritual, and baby boy takes no issue with this - yet I feel guilty nonetheless. I guess I must think that he secretly wishes he could nurse with Mommy at bedtime, but wants to be cooperative or doesn't want to hurt Daddy's feelings or something so he doesn't protest. Clearly this is silliness... I need to get over it and relish the fact that he feels so comfortable with his Daddy and is such an easy-going little guy! Maybe part of me wants him to only want Mommy at bedtime... yeah, that's probably it. Also silliness. I should be thrilled that he's so flexible! I'm sure it will come in handy! It's very possible that he will develop more of an attachment to a particular bedtime routine (like nursing, for example) as he becomes more aware of the routine - he's still a little young for that. I should just enjoy this while it lasts!

He seems to be outgrowing the digestive troubles that made him a little extra fussy after feedings, so we've been able to discontinue use of the Mylicon drops that we were giving him at just about every feeding. They're supposed to be safe enough to use up to 12 times a day, but I hate to give him any medication that he doesn't absolutely need so I'm thrilled to be done with that. 

His heinous diaper rash has also cleared up, thanks to the miracle of simple A&D ointment! We were using the old stand-by Desitin - thick, pasty white crap that gets on everything and never ever wipes off completely until bathtime! I'm obviously not the biggest fan, but it seemed necessary so I used it. It's a zinc oxide ointment and is supposed to repel moisture and create a barrier over the baby's skin to prevent further irritation to allow the skin to heal. When I noticed the breaking skin I figured that some A&D ointment - much like Neosporin, sans antibacterial ingredient - would help to heal the skin while the Desitin helped to protect it from further damage, so I was doubling up with both ointments. I noticed a marked improvement in the redness within two or three applications, so I stuck with that combo for a few days. It says right on the tube that A&D works both to heal and protect, so at some point I decided to try and see if we could drop the Desitin altogether since the A&D really should be able to handle the job that I had assumed would require something pastier like Desitin. Sure enough, that did it. I think that the A&D alone did a better job than doubling up! Maybe the Desitin itself was irritating his skin, or maybe the extra wiping I was having to do to clean up the paste at every changing was slowing the healing, but in any case, I'm an A&D convert. I've been using it regularly to prevent any reoccurances, and his cute lil tushy is looking healthy as ever!

Anyway, back to the sleeping... this is really a double-edged sword. I should be thrilled to have such a good little sleeper on my hands, but as these long stints are becoming more than just every-now-and-then occurances, I'm getting more and more paranoid about my cycle resuming. I know that it's terribly unlikely at this stage (particularly with my first baby), but I also know that if I'm serious about preventing another pregnancy, I can't rely on breastfeeding as long as he's going longer than 6 hours between feedings at night. Should I set an alarm and get him up to nurse? Or should I enjoy my sleep and start charting again? I really don't want to end up in an "Irish twins" kind of situation! I'm getting excited to resume my medical studies in the Fall (though not at all excited to have to put Eli into some sort of daycare... but that's another issue for another post!), and I would really prefer not to have a wrench thrown into that. I'm committed to becoming a doctor, and I really want to get this training chapter over with so that I can move on with my career. Plus my husband would go through the roof. Or jump off of it. ANYWAY, I'm leaning toward starting up the charting again, because I really like sleep. And who am I to disturb a sleeping baby?! I was just hoping to be able to rely on breastfeeding for a while. Oh well. Boo.

In other news... the big move is upon us! This time next week, we'll be in our new home unpacking to Christmas tunes :-) We're SURROUNDED by boxes...

...but the packing is almost complete thanks to a kick-start from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law last week. I did A LOT of work during the week and Ben and I packed like fiends this past weekend. My mom is coming to help wrap things up (pun intended!) this Thursday and Friday, and then on Saturday morning our massive crew of 15 or so friends and family will arrive to make quick work of this big job. We're so blessed to have so many willing volunteers! I bet they'll have the truck loaded by the time I get back from dropping off the cats and the baby at the new house (with my mother-in-law). It's only a one-bedroom apartment! I certainly won't complain - the truck loading part sorta overwhelms me, and no one is going to let me do much anyway (apparently almost 9 weeks of c-section recovery isn't enough!). I guess next time I write, it'll be with photos of our new digs! Stay tuned...