Three months of Gideon

I definitely dropped the ball on giving an update on Gideon since he was born. I guess it's true when
they say the second child does get the short end of the stick!

One month was definitely a trial and error month. While I was waiting for my milk to come in, we supplemented a little bit because he lost 1 pound while in the hospital. During that time, he would spit up a lot, which wasn't unusual for c-section babies. Then there were those times where it seemed to be too much spit up to the point where it didn't seem normal. So I took it upon myself to try a dairy-free formula because I was thinking it was a possible allergy to the formula we were using. He seemed to keep the milk down better, but I didn't worry about it because I was able to breastfeed at this point.

Well, the spitting up started back again...I mean, projectile type spit up. Even though he was classified as a "happy spitter" there were times where it seemed as though he was irritable and in pain. I informed his doctor of my observations and we ended up testing his stool to see if there was an allergy/sensitivity that was causing Gideon to spit up. Sure enough...he has a dairy allergy. 

Normally I would opt to switch to formula because there is no way I could give up dairy. I mean...no milk chocolate, no ice cream, no cheese, not even certain barbecue sauces. Yes, I know there are alternatives, but do they really even taste good? On the other hand, I made a pact to myself that I was going to breastfeed Gids longer than I breastfed Norah, which would be longer than 5 months. Not too mention, formula expense is not in our budget right now, so I have to make the free milk, the good milk! In a future post, I'll share some of my favorite dairy-free products and provide a list of non-dairy free items. 

Since the transition to dairy-free, Gids would still spit up, but it's not as much and would be more from him being so full. He ate every 2 hours and would wake at least twice during the night. He is such a happy baby overall and he smiles all the time, which Norah didn't do until she was about 3 months old.

Two months came too fast! I feel like we just welcomed him home and at a blink of an eye, he decides to grow up. He has such a laid back personality and boy is he a little chunker! 13lbs and is over the 50 percentile for height and weight. He smiles and laughs at everything. He loves to cuddle and be close, which I don't mind at all! He sleeps through the night...talk about hallelujah! We purchased the Halo Bassinest from a couple off of Craigslist and I love it. I love how it swivels, so it can be right next to your bedside and that the one side pushes down, so you can have easy access to your baby. I recommend this to all mamas, especially those that have or going to have c-sections.

Then here comes three months! Total ladies man! If you call him handsome or cute, his smile would make you blush! He's so full of coos and cackles this month. He loves to watch Norah play and be all in his face. He likes the mamaroo, which he wasn't a big fan of when he was a baby. Too bad he won't be able to use it for too much longer. He still sleeps through the night, but may not go down until close to midnight. When I had Norah, I was implementing a bedtime routine closer to her two month birthday. I've started giving him his bath at night with his last feeding around 8:30pm- 9pm. Some times it works, other times it doesn't, but I will continue to implement this until he gets the hang of it.

Nursing throughout the whole pregnancy has been a breeze. My problem is just carving out time to pump! When I'm at home, I normally wouldn't pump because I would be EBF, but at work it can be a bit tricky because my days are so unpredictable. On average, Gids eats every 2-3 hours. Once he was about 2 months old, he skipped the overnight feeding. If I did have to supplement especially if I ate something with dairy, I used Nutramigen for his feedings.

Happy Quarter of a year Gids!