My plump preemie

Alex has officially gained 10 pounds since birth. He's now a beautiful 15 1/2 pound ball of mostly smiles. I love his chubby cheeks and fat rolls.

I'm very thankful for this baby. We had a rough start with this little guy (Preemie, Colic, Daytime insomnia, inability to fall asleep, terrible reflux, etc. etc.) I wouldn't go as far as to say things are easy, but they have gotten much easier. He sleeps at night and he smiles at me. Both those things help a LOT haha.

I know very well that both my babies are little miracles and although I hate c sections and ICUs, they are what saved my babies who may not have survived otherwise. I think of Mary giving birth to Jesus outside in a barn. I'm sure if they had to perform a "C section" back then that the moms probably didn't have high survival rates. Scary thought.

Anyways, I am every thankful for my little guys. Hard to think that they will someday outgrow me. Alex' biggest struggle right now is his reflux (which he is on medication for). It's a very frustrating condition. Besides going through burp clothes (and beach towels) by the handful, he's a terribly finicky nurser, and it's harder for him to keep food down. I'll admit that I don't even bother changing my clothes anymore when I get spit up on. It's just not worth it most of the time and I have so few clothes that actually fit right now anyways.

We had an appointment with the lactation nurse today. Because of all his spitting up and the fact that his weight gain has slowed down a bit, she suggested I feed him every 2 hours during the day now. And go back to pumping twice a day. And wake him up once at night to eat. Ick. If she knew how hard it is to get this boy to fall asleep- she wouldn't dream of waking him up! We'll see what new plan we devise. We may just add a few extra ounces to his "vitamin bottle*" at bedtime. I was just getting excited about sleeping and not having to pump during the night. --sigh-- Oh well. Right now he wakes up on his own around 5 am so I am not going to wake him. But...it's all worth it for this face:


Psalm 59:17 NLT
O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.


*Preemies are recommended to have an iron supplement because they are not born with the iron stores a term baby would gain those last weeks (or months). At 6 months or once they start solid foods it can usually be eliminated if desired. Since the vitamin tastes really bad, we've been mixing it in about an ounce or so of pumped milk.