There's no place like home...

It's so hard for me to believe we've been at home with our baby for over a week now.  It's even crazier for me to think that Rowan is 2 1/2 weeks old.  He's already grown and changed so much since he was born...hard to imagine what the next year (and beyond) will bring.




Meeting Uncle Jason

  

Meeting Aunt Beth



Rowan's been doing awesome since he's been home.  We went to the doctor exactly two weeks after he was born (one week from NICU discharge).  He 'passed' his check up with flying colors.  His head had grown from 13.75 inches to 14.5 inches...baby boy's got a growing brain!  His weight was WAY up too.  He was 6lb10oz at birth...6lb11oz at NICU discharge...and 7lb10oz at his 2 week check!  Explains why his cheeks are getting chubby and his hands are filling out.  Still waiting on those skinny little legs to get a little bit chunkier, but he's working on it. 

Play time with Daddy

Clearly, Rowan's been eating great.  We've got this nursing thing figured out pretty well which makes the night time feedings pretty easy.  He eats regularly-about 2-3 hours during the day and 3-4 hours at night.  He's a little bit of a chugger, so I think he gets some gas and indigestion from that (see next paragraph).  Hopefully he'll learn to slow down and just enjoy his meals instead of eating as fast as he can.  But, when the boy's hungry...he must. eat. now!

For the most part, Rowan's been sleeping great.  Last night was our first rough night because baby boy had an upset tummy.  He had pooped about 8 times yesterday (no I'm no exaggerating) and had some constant toots.  Not sure what made his tummy upset, but something was bothering him.  Ian was up with him most of the night holding him upright to help get that gas out.  He woke me up when it was time for Rowan to eat, and then I was able to go back to bed.  Here's hoping last night was a fluke and not the start of a new pattern for the little man.  



Sleeping baby headed out into the 'real world'

OTHER than last night though, Rowan's night time routine has been a dream for us.  He'll sleep for 3-4 hours at a time, wake up to eat, and then go right back to sleep.  Since he's gaining weight so well, the doctor said it's OK for us to let him go longer than 4 hours at night between feedings.  She doesn't want us going much more than 5 or 6 hours, but if he wants to sleep for 5 hours before eating again, she said that's OK.  I know it will be a while before Rowan is going that long, but each night I go to sleep hoping that he'll go just a little bit longer between night time feedings.  No luck in that department yet though.  I've been feeling pretty rested with my 3ish hour naps at night.  When I sleep, I sleep hard.  I'm also able to go right back to sleep after waking up to feed Rowan.  It's working out pretty well for us.

 

Trying out the swing



During the day, Rowan will be awake and alert for long stretches of time.  He'll keep his eyes wide open looking at anything and everything for about an hour or two AFTER eating.  We usually have to force him to go back to sleep, which he does without too much trouble.  He loves to look up at any toys-whether they're in his pack an play or his play mat.  He has a super strong neck...for a 2 week old.  We'll hold him on our chest for tummy time and he'll lift his head all the way up to look us straight in the eye.  Kids going to be outdoing me in the push up department in about a week me thinks... 

 



Church checking on Rowan



The dogs have adjusted well to him being around as well.  Bishop is very worried whenever Rowan makes a noise.  In the first few days, Bishop had to be right by my feet when I was nursing Rowan.  Church has been a little more indifferent, but she still checks on her baby a couple of times a day to make sure he's OK.  After a week, I think Bishop and Church are just a little disappointed that their sleep schedule is disturbed because of the baby.  That and I think they're feeling a little less loved than normal, but some puppy treats are making up for that =)