Sleeping Like a Baby

Logan and I have a lot of fun watching all the funny things Connor does and all the faces he makes while he is sleeping. He already is great entertainment! 

 ^Adorable little sleeper.

^Funny waking up faces. He really makes the kissy face every time! It cracks me up! 

^This afternoon, he kicked his way all the way out of his swaddle and his head off the couch. Don't worry we were watching him the whole time. You know we are good parents because we take pictures and then save our son. Last time we will have the "nest" facing out.

^He is a free spirit! He loves his hands out or by his head even though his flailing wakes himself up. 

First Bath

Connor had his first bath today! It went well enough. We mostly tried to make it as fast as we could and keep his pacifier in. He didn't love it and made some pretty funny faces but I think he did a good job. 

His favorite part was getting out. haha. As soon as I wrapped him up in his towel he was happy again.

My favorite part was that after we dried him off, his hair was all fluffy!

We also went on our first walk! Well, we only went over to Claire's house and he was asleep but it counts. I got him all cozy in his sling and enjoyed getting out of the house.

 After a long day it is nice to kick back and relax.

One Week

Connor Reese Dixon is now one week old! Life will definitely never be the same. Since he has been eating better, Connor has been a great baby! He mostly only cries when we change his diaper/clothes. I love that he sleeps for 3+ hours each nap. We have to wake him up to eat. Once a day so far, he will eat and then not sleep for an hour or two until he eats again. This is the only time he is a little fussy. 

I love his face expressions! He has so many. My fav is when he pops his eye brows up real high and looks straight at you all wide eyed. Below, is my favorite of his smiles. 

Connor sleeps amazingly downstairs (especially with the tv on). The only problem is that I don't sleep well with him. This is because I still wake at every sound and have to check on him to make sure he is breathing. The last two nights Logan and I just took turns sleeping on the couch and the other person upstairs in bed. I have now gotten so much more sleep! It is also great that Logan can help with feeding the baby while I sleep. We have brought the bassinet downstairs so that he can get used to it and then eventually we will bring it upstairs. Hopefully then, he will sleep just as well up there. It is great that Logan can help with feedings but with pumping I still have to get up every three hours. 

Speaking of pumping, it is going well. I actually pump double feedings each time. Connor eats about 1 oz, 8 times a day and I make 2 - 2 1/2 oz each pumping. Of course my breasts are also very tinder. 

He takes the bottle so well and loves to stare into the eyes of whomever is feeding him. I'm glad Logan gets some bonding time too.

When he is done eating he loves to curl up in the middle of our chests with his head always to his left. If you put him up on your shoulder, he will still find his way down until he is right in that spot. Then he gets burped and thats where he falls asleep.

Today we took our first trip out as a family (besides going to the hospital) to meet with some of Logan's co-workers so they could give us their baby present (diaper cake/little toys). It is fun showing off my sweet little baby! 

He really does have a lot of hair on the back of his head. It is pretty much the same color as Logan's. Its just that his skin is really pink that it looks more red in this pic.  

He is really squirmy and has a habit of grabbing his face and has given himself little scratches. So this week he also got his nails cut for the first time. It took forever but I hope it helps. We also keep him in mittens most of the time.

I bought this onesie just for my sisters. It was really really hard getting a pic of it with him squirming all the time. Amazingly I got a pic of his legs out because they are almost always tucked up by his tummy. 

Our schedule is watch how cute baby is when he is sleeping, waking him to change his diaper and take a bottle, and then we snuggle until he is asleep again. Some where in there we try to sleep and take a nap. Tomorrow, I think we will give him his first "cloth" bath. He still can't be submerged because of his circumcision and umbilical cord. 

So after coming home from the hospital that is pretty much what we have been doing this week. We love this little boy! 

Four Days Old

I can't stop staring! Seriously. I love this baby!! 

Our first night was pretty hard. All the progress we made on nursing stopped and went back two steps. Very frustrating for both of is but mostly sad because my baby is so hungry! My milk is starting to come in and my preemie is too small to latch. It breaks my heart! 

We had his first check up today (funny caz we only left the hospital yesterday) but I was really grateful because I got to talk to a pediatrician about Connor's nursing. He got weighed and has lost 12% of his body weight (5 lbs 2 oz now)! My poor baby! 

They said I need to bottle supplement his feeding until he at least gets back to his birth weight. So he is supposed to eat 1 oz each feeding. I'm pumping and then supposed to use formula to fill in what I don't produce. I can still introduce the breast so hopefully when he gets a little bigger we can nurse exclusively again but right now I just need to know he I getting what he needs. 

After we left, I was on a mission to feed my baby! I got some more bottles and formula on the way home and tried my pump for the first time. 

This was the first bottle I pumped. Very proud of this homemade meal. Since then, I've found I only pump about 1/2 to 3/4 oz right now but that's as much as he has eaten at each feeding. Hopefully he can start eating more and work up to a full ounce. 

Since then feeding has gone so much better! He is sleeping great and I'm hoping tonight will be better too. (Last night I only got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep.) It was nice to have Logan help me feed him and after Connor was so happy! 

We have to go back to the hospital tomorrow for another weight check up. Hoping he stops loosing weight and we can make some progress. 

I'm also getting a lot of the baby blues thanks to my hormones. I will be ok. I just need more sleep probably and the feeding thing has been stressing me out a bit. Good news is that my belly is shrinking, I'm healing well and my heartburn is completely gone. 

I also have the best supporter ever and love that Logan has been able to take baby leave to help me out. He helps me all day and night. He also helps me emotionally. I had a game plan for when baby came and knew not everything would go the way I wanted but he helps me to remember that that's ok. I didn't think we would have a preemie and that has brought in some extra issues but over all I have the most beautiful baby who is doing amazingly well overall for being so young. 

First Day Home

Brought our beautiful baby boy home this afternoon! His coming home outfit was way too big but we are so blessed he is so healthy!

When we left the hospital we officially named him Connor Reese Dixon :)

We have been finishing getting the house ready (I still thought I had a month!) and seeing what my little guy fits in. The onesie is the only preemie thing we own. His hat may fit in a few months though. 

Lots and lots of snuggles today! Below he has his foot in his mouth! Haha. That's a talent! Also kinda sad he would rather suck on that then my boob. 

I don't have my milk in yet so it just breaks my heart when I finish feeding him and hear his tummy rumble! He has been kinda frustrating for both of us. He gets so mad he can't stay latched and I feel bad I'm starving him. But then we will have a really good feeding and both of us feel better. We just need more practice. 

Tonight he did so well and nursed for almost a solid 20 minutes! Then I got him ready for bed but not before some more snuggles! Something I love about him so much are his little super high pitches whines. It makes me just never want to put him down!