Week 4 Baby Update

Apologies for the lack of updates for the past couple of weeks. To be honest we did not reallise it had been so long, the days are flying by and blurring into each other.

We're all doing as well as can be expected, Nibbler is munching, sleeping and pooping for all he's worth and over the past few weeks, some days are better than others depending upon how fussy he's feeling but things are improving definitely.

My parents turned up yesterday for a visit so we have spare babysitters / cleaners / janitors for a couple of weeks which is nice. They and Daniel seem to be very happy with each other.

Here's a short list of how the little monkey's changed since I last posted:
* He's definitely smiling at us now, the nurse said 6 weeks at the earliest but I believe my own eyes :)
* Definitely getting more co-ordinated with his movements. Before he would just grab what you put in his hands, now he will grab things himself randomly and tightly He has tried to remove some of my chest hair on more than one occasion.
* Making more noises, in addition to whimper and cry we now have gurble, burble and other general exclamations.
*Jacqui's getting some use out of the sling that our friends lent us, he reminds me of the resistance leader from total recall, but that's probably not fair on one of them.

I'm sure there are more updates than that and i'll add them later when i remember.

And now it's time for the gallery:









See what i mean? Total Recall Mars resistance bloke!

So how is young Daniel doing?

He's doing great really. He's regained his birth weight and then some, and he's getting his feeding schedule sorted out. He's giving us more sleep than before, obviously not enough but more nonetheless. Generally all forward progress.

One thing that does make us laugh (well it makes us laugh now, as new parents it made us concerned to begin with :), is th way the approaches meal times. Jacqui gets comfortable and brings him close to feed and he turns into a snuffling, growling feeding dervish. The poor little mite goes into a frenzy trying to get at the milk, Jacqui's got all this under control now but to start with it was like some kind of metaphor involving nipples and fast moving babies mouths.

He reminded Jacqui of Nibbler from Futurama, and I think that's so accurate, noises and everything. Pity it's not a video suitable for this blog :)

Nearly 11 days old, doesn't the time fly by

I am honestly shocked at how the time has flown by and all the days have blurred into one. It has been a truly exhausting week, firstly for Jacqui and not a walk in the park for me either. Sheesh breastfeeding is a tough thing to get right and when it seems okay the little blighter changes the rules for all kinds of reasons.

That's probably been the toughest part of the week for us, a real test of patience and endurance, and by some accounts we've had it easy! Through all of this Jacqui's been a star and kept it together really well, I hope Daniel appreciates the effort.

And how is the focus of all this work and attention, well he's fine. He had got back to his birth weight after a week and gained a whole ounce and the doctor pronounced himself happy after the one week check up. Last night was a good one for feeding and sleeping, he fed well and let us sleep for longer than before, what more could you want.

More pics soon, I'm building up a selection of unposed shots that have made me smile, that probably means I have slipped over into the role of obsessed parent already, meh whatever :)

First Bathtime

Wet

dry

and relax

Doom I name thee squidgy farts

More later it's 2am here ;)

New Tech Addition to the family

Last Monday our washing machine broke, yes just before baby landing. So we went straight out and ordered one, babies make washing you see. I chose three models online and we ended up going for this one. It's a LG WM2150 and as well as being pretty it cleans all bodily fluids and solids off clothes, THANKYOU SANITARY CYCLE.

It turns out the old one breaking was a real blessing in disguise, although we could have done without the cost. The new one is more efficient, cleans better and is easier on the clothes. And did I mention the Sanitary cycle? It removes poop from clothes!

Day 4 in the Big Miller Household

Wow, do you know something, babies change your life in every way possible, and sleep deprivation is a strange and worrying thing.

We have been home now since Saturday morning and I can honestly say I'm not sure where most of that time has gone. Yesterday from very early in the morning until 6 pm was the worst time soo far. He wasn't feeding properly and therefore needed feeding every hour, or permanently as it felt. Obviously this affected Jacqui much more than me and by the afternoon we were both quite stressed. Then we called in the cavalry in the form of Judy, one of Jacqui's friends from church. Judy's an ex nurse with several children and grandchildren and a practical approach to the whole thing.

She held the baby for us while we had our first proper meal since Friday, then gave Jacqui some tips for feeding and sleeping. She was with us for six hours and it was soo helpful, we both felt much better after her visit.

This then led on to our best night so far, regular feeds with 2-3 hours between when we got some proper sleep. This morning we're all doing better, still knackered of course, but more human.

Lastly thanks for all of the good wishes we have recieved, we do wish you were here but this internet thing is at least making it easier to keep you updated.