4 Weeks Old

Well, we survived the first four weeks. Barely.

Marcus on his 4 week old bday.
 He was ticked that I set him down.

Everyone is happy to get their pic taken except Harvey ...

One of the newborn pics I took.

I love our little guy. Really, I do. But the last four weeks have been rough. Thankfully he only had to be on the bilirubin lights for 48 hours and we were over the jaundice. Unfortunately, Marcus also has severe Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which is basically really bad acid reflux.

So, when he was just a few hours old I asked a nurse at the hospital about a gagging sound he was making while I nursed him, worried he had acid reflux. She told me he probably just swallowed some amniotic fluid and that it would go away in a few days. I clung on to that because I didn't want to think that it was a bigger problem than that.

I tried and tried to get sibling pics.
It never really worked out as you can see ...
We have to stick with the more candid shots around here.

Well it never went away. It's only gotten worse. Poor little guy was only sleeping in 30 minute stretches, 24 hours a day, and I was going to lose my mind. I told Mitch I was going to run away. 

(Funny side story: one morning Marcus actually slept fairly decent so I decided to go for a walk outside before everyone woke up. I wrote Mitch a little note telling him I'd be right back and left it on his alarm clock since I figured he'd look there first. Marcus woke up crying soon after I left so Mitch stumbled in there to get him without seeing the note. Of course he wondered where I was and seriously thought that I really had run away. (I'm telling ya, it's been rough around here.) After a few minutes he saw the note and understood. I really worried him, poor hubby! But I am shocked he thought I'd actually run away; I never really would!))

This is what happens when you nurse in front of your observant 3 year old.

But I digress. So, I was in denial and couldn't admit that Marcus had something wrong with him. I was telling my mom how he didn't sleep and made these gagging sounds and several other symptoms and she said that perhaps he had acid reflux. (She would know since I had GERD and my brother had acid reflux.) I brushed it off at first, even though I've known since the day he was born that he had it, I was just hoping that the nurse was right and that it would just magically get better really fast. It didn't and I finally had to admit that something was wrong.

This pic is for our friends, the Burts, who live in MA and gave
Marcus this adorable outfit. Thanks guys!

We've since tried just about everything. I hold him upright for at least 30 minutes after he nurses (which sucks in the middle of the night when all I want to do is go to bed). I wear a baby sling and carry him around for hours every day, which makes him happy and kills my back. We give him a binky because it's supposed to help produce more saliva and reduce stomach acid. I have quit eating dairy, citrus fruits, chocolate, and anything spicy, fatty, tomato based or fried. It sucks, but I've almost lost all my baby weight because I'm always starving! Ha, ha. We tried having him sleep in his car seat, swing, and in the crib with the mattress angled and he hates them all. We finally broke down and bought a $75 Fisher Price Rock 'n Play sleeper and it has changed our lives! He LOVES it and sleeps so much better in it. (It's only been two days, but I'm really hoping it will continue.) At night he sleeps in it right next to our bed. When he starts to fuss I just put my hand on him and he calms right down. It's the sweetest thing. He's a total mamma's boy. I remember when I was young and would get sick and all I wanted was my mom to hold me. I think he feels the same way, poor little guy.

The lifesaver.

Last week I finally broke down and took him to the pediatrician and got him on Zantac. I really hate to medicate my tiny little baby, but he was having such bad reflux spells and even quite breathing a time or two. So scary. I'm not sure if the medication is working. Sometimes I think it is, other times it doesn't seem to do anything. We're in the process of working with our pediatrician to possibly switch him to Prevacid, though I'm hesitant to do that  too. I'm torn between him suffering and giving drugs to my newborn ... also, today his reflux has been so much better, and he's actually taking good naps, so I'm hoping he'll outgrow this sooner rather than later.

Layla thought he might want the cat toy to sleep with.
How thoughtful.

Anyways, when he's not in pain, he's actually the sweetest, most content little guy. Though I must say he has the stinkiest gas! He's such a boy. Mitch says he'll be the hit at scout camp. Ha, ha. That's why boys puzzle me ... why would stinky gas make you popular? Weird. Anyways, Marcus sure loves his sister! He smiles a lot when he can hear her talking. I know they say babies don't really smile until they are two to three months old, but I swear he smiles for her! She loves him too. She gets sad that he can't play with her yet, but pretty soon he'll be following her around and driving her nuts, so she should enjoy this time. Ha, ha. 

I am thankful that GERD is the worst thing wrong with him. It will go away and he'll be totally fine. I am really very thankful that it's nothing more serious. Also, I've learned a lot of patience and how to go with the flow the last few weeks. I never knew I was such a control freak until Marcus was born! Lately I've been going crazy because he's not on any type of schedule: I am constantly nursing him and it's rare that I am ready for the day before noon. And let's not even talk about housework or making dinner. I couldn't handle the unpredictability at first. But I've been learning to let go a little and it's been really good for me. Funny how trials make you grow and learn so much. Also, Mitch is a lifesaver and helps with all the things I can't get to.

Layla is adjusting really well. She's still her particular little self, but she also makes me laugh. Like the other night at dinner when she said her food was "fancy" and we finally figured out she meant spicy. Or the other night at bath time when I finished washing her hair and asked her to stand up and she said she couldn't because she was "taking a break for a minute." When I asked her what she was taking a break from she said from me washing her hair. Apparently it's exhausting.

Dancing and silly face.

Most of all, she is so sweet with her brother. She asks to hold him quite often now and is always laughing at every little movement he makes. It melts my heart to see the two of them together. I love my kiddos. Even on the hard days (or weeks!).

Father's Day

My most favorite picture ever.

I would not have survived the last four weeks without my husband, the father of our children. Layla loves him so much, and Marcus does too, even if he's too little to say it. I am so glad that Mitch passed his super strong genes onto our children because they are my three favorite people in the whole world.

To celebrate Mitch on Father's Day, Layla and I made him breakfast and gave him some new running attire. I also helped Layla complete the following questionnaire about Mitch:
My Daddy's name is ... Mitch

My Dad is "I don't know" years old. (32)

His hair is "black" and his eyes are "blue." (yep.)

My Dad's favorite food is ... popcorn (it is?)

Daddy's favorite color is ... blue (correct)

My Daddy likes to wear ... blue work clothes (this makes me laugh because every day Mitch wears khaki pants and a button up shirt to work. About 90% of his work shirts are actually blue.)

My Dad's job is ... to give money to us (well, kind of, ha, ha ... I was just pleased that all my lectures about how "Daddy works so hard to earn money to buy us food and pay for our house" have sunk in to her little brain!)

He loves to eat ... popcorn (he does like popcorn, but not as much as she makes it sound like.)

He's smart because he knows ... how to play upstairs (in the bonus room with her and all her toys. So smart, ha, ha!)

My Dad works hard at ... working (true.)

Daddy always tells me ... to go potty. (yep.)

I'm happy when Daddy ... gives me a hug and a kiss (so sweet!)

I love my Daddy because ... I do. (don't think she quite understood this one, but it's still sweet.)

Thanks for being such a great dad, Mitch. We love you!

Landscaping

Mitch is so close to having the yard finished! Yay! He has spent hours and hours out there. Unfortunately, he had to spend several unplanned hours because we had a sprinkler fitting burst— just hours after he planted the grass seed— and it completely filled up the trampoline hole with water. I'm not exaggerating. I'm using a lot of italics in the post for a reason, people. The trampoline hole, or swimming pool as we kept calling it, was totally full of water. It was awful. There were some tears shed and some cuss words cussed. Ha, ha. But seriously, how frustrating is that?!?

Trampoline hole (before the leak) and garden box.

Long story short, Mitch found the problem. It was a fitting he had added on to hook up the drip irrigation. It was just total bad luck that the fitting broke right after he planted the seed and not any time in the several weeks prior while he was running the sprinklers to make sure they were working. Talk about plain, rotten, bad luck. But, at least the water didn't go the other way and flood our basement! And the trampoline hole didn't get ruined, which is a huge blessing!

The pile of topsoil that drew all the neighbor kids to our house.
I was SO thankful that Layla didn't decide to bury herself in it too!

It's fixed and now we have to wait for the seed we ordered to be delivered so Mitch can replant that section of our back yard. And then he will finally be done. Well, that is, done until the grass grows in and we get around to planting trees and bushes ... also, I'm trying to talk Mitch into building a miniature golf course in our back yard. Wouldn't that be awesome? We went to a BBQ years ago at his coworker's house and they had one in their yard and I've wanted one ever since. Maybe in a year or two we can add one.

Anyways, a big thanks to my handy hubby. Our yard is going to be beautiful and Layla will have so much fun on the slide! Also, a big, big thanks to our friend, Dave, who spent two whole Saturdays helping Mitch with the yard, our friend, Kevin, who also spent a Saturday in the hot sun, and Katie's bf, Brandon, who slaved away with them one Saturday too. We are lucky to have such kind friends to help us!

Oh, and a quick story about the slide: when Mitch first installed it he told Layla to come try it out. She hit the turn in the slide and was going to fly off but Mitch caught her. The slide was way too fast. It really scared her. Several hours of hard work later, Mitch had added another step to lower the slide (even though the directions said you could have it higher, but obviously not because it was too fast) and it worked a lot better. But Layla was still scared of it. She wouldn't go down without holding someone's hand until after her little friend, Elsie, came over and went down the slide all by herself with no problems. Now Layla likes it and I don't have to worry about her flying off the slide of death.