Audrey's Blog

Our new schedule & 4 ½ hours of sleep

As I get ready to do back to work, we have to work out a schedule that will allow both of us to get some sleep while the little man continues to work his way up to sleeping through the night. On the advice of our friends Bob & Erin - both of whom work as well - whose little girl, Kelly, is about 6 months old, we tried a shift schedule where Chris takes the late evening shift (until midnight) while I go to bed between 8 & 9 and then I take the late night/early morning shift from midnight on. We've done it for the last few nights, and it has worked really well! It's a little strange to get used to going to be so early, but luckily, I can function in the early morning fairly easily so it's good for me, and Chris is more of a late night guy so it works for him, too. Logan has been taking his last bottle around 11:00 and going down between 11:30 & midnight then sleeping until 4:00 or 4:30. That's a pretty consistent 4 ½ hours of sleep for him! He had been hovering around 3 hours until this week. Yea!!! The really nice part is that he goes back down pretty quickly after that 4am bottle for another 3 hours or so. Since I've gotten to bed so early, I just stay up and can get a ton done in those pre-dawn hours. This morning was laundry and kitchen cleaning. Not glamorous but necessary. I even got in a shower with little worry that he would wake up - what a relief!

The end result is that we both get around 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Not bad for parents of a not-quite-7-week-old, huh? Our next goal is to actually get that kind of sleep while getting to go to bed together. Call us dreamers, but we think it may be possible in the next couple of weeks! :-)

Logan’s 6 Week Update

Yesterday marked 6 weeks since Logan's arrival in our life. As I look back at the photos, it's amazing to see how much he's grown and developed in just relatively short period of time. He's more alert and seems to be recognizing us more and more each day. We've graduated from that random smile to a truly social smile which is absolutely stunning! The feeling of him looking me in the eye and smiling that adorable baby smile is incredible.

He's sleeping two 3-3 ½ hour stretches for us at night and is on a pretty consistent feeding 2 ½ - 3 hour schedule during the day. We have 2-3 sessions of tummy time with him on our chests for a few minutes at a time. Sometimes he digs it and sometimes he fusses, but the results are good. His little neck is getting stronger every day. I'm shocked sometimes how steady he can hold his head and for how long. Of course, it always ends up with big flop which has connected with my face more than once while I'm burping him (ouch!).

We're trying to take him for short outings to get him more used to his car seat and being out and about with us. It's also training for us on how to deal with a baby in public. We've taken short trips to Babies R Us and Target. I've even gotten brave and taken him to Tom Thumb by myself!

Sometimes, it's still a little overwhelming to think that we have a son, and I'm wondering when I'll get over that. My guess is not anytime soon! :-) In the meantime, we'll just keep looking forward to all of his wonderful milestones and enjoy our life as a family.

A Birthday Surprise

Yesterday marked my 33^rd birthday. <sigh> With the recent addition to our household, we hadn't exactly make any grand plans on how to mark the day. But, on Monday, Chris informed me that I was to get myself and the little man ready to leave the house promptly at 4pm on Tuesday. He wouldn't say anything other than that. For anyone who has never had to get out of the house with a 5 week old baby, let me tell you that it is a feet of planning to be ready to go at an exact time. If you have children, you understand! Well, I managed to meet my deadline. Logan had been fussy all day (turned out to be gas - poor guy!), so I was really wondering if it was all going to work. But, he decided to cooperate by eating right around 2:30 so that I could hop in the shower just after 3:00 (big thanks to my neighbors Kathy & Jayden who hung out with him so that I could get an uninterrupted time for a shower and to get ready). Chris got home around 3:30, and we were out the door just a few minutes after 4:00. Of course, I still had no idea where we were going. Chris was even prepared with a blindfold to keep the surprise going.

So, off we went. About 25 minutes later, we arrived at our destination - his brother's house! He had arranged for his brother, Pat, and sister-in-law, Michelle, and our nephews, Zach & Mason, to watch Logan so that we could have a quiet evening together to celebrate my birthday. What a great hubby!!!

I think my youngest nephew, Mason, must have been watching for us, because we didn't even get to the front porch and he had thrown the door open. Apparently, he was very excited to meet his new cousin and had been waiting for this all day. We chatted with Michelle and the boys for a few minutes before we took off for the rest of our evening.

Dinner was my choice, and I opted for good old fashion American junk food at one of my favorite eateries - Scotty P's. After several weeks of watching what I eat in an effort to get these pregnancy pounds off, I was in the mood to splurge. And, did I ever … chicken fingers (fried, NOT grilled and some of the best French fries ever made … yummy!). Then it was off to see The Dark Knight. (BTW, it was awesome in a very dark & demented sort of way!)

After the movie, we headed back to Pat & Michelle's to pick up Logan. He did great for them which I was really worried about. I was hoping that he wasn't as fussy and cranky for them as he was for me all day, but apparently it wasn't a problem. I'm guessing he wore himself out making my day difficult. :-) We hung out and visited for a while and then headed home. We fed the little man and then he gave me his present - almost 5 hours of sleep!

The obvious question is how did I do leaving him with someone else for the first time. Honestly, at the beginning of the night, it was a welcome break. And, Michelle was awesome! She texted me updates through the evening which helped tremendously. But, by 8:30, I was anxious to get back to him, and I was checking my checking the clock every few minutes.

It was a terrific evening orchestrated by the best husband in the world!

Logan’s One Month Checkup

The little man's one month check up went really well.  He's up to 10 lbs 9.7 oz & 22", and his head is 15.5".  He's hovering around 70% on the growth charts which is a far cry from the 19% he was just 2 ½ weeks ago (at 7 lbs 11 oz).  The pediatrician was quite happy with his almost 3 lb weight gain.  Everything else checked out with only one notable abnormality.  She detected a very slight heart murmur.  It's nothing to get worried about at this point.  Apparently, it's a fairly common thing that they usually grow out of.  She gave us a few things to watch for that would indicate a bigger problem, and we'll keep an ear on it over his next checkups.  Interesting note – Chris had a heart murmur almost all the way through college.  Now, no one can find it.  Go figure why/how these things happen or clear up.

Developmentally, he's right where he should be.  He's making movements to hold his head up, and we're seeing those occasional random smiles.  He's tracking us with his eyes and is responding to loud noises.  All good things.  Soon, we'll probably start to see social smiles and more alert time during the day.  Luckily, he seems to have night & day correct.  On a good night, he'll actually sleep for a good 3-4 hour stretch.  In the next few weeks, he'll probably start to extend that to 4-5 or maybe even 6 hours!  Woo Hoo!

He was remarkably calm during the entire visit - right up to the point that they gave him his Hep B shot which he obviously didn't appreciate.  But, after a couple minutes of cuddling, he calmed down.   I was very amused with the adorable, blue camo band aid he got.  It seemed picture worthy.

So, despite such a rocky start, he's become a happy, healthy baby.  Halleluiah!

Life with Logan

I know this seems like a strange thing to be worried about, but … I've been maintaining the story of our Life with Logan in a separate blog I started when I was pregnant, and it's been on my mind when the right time would be to transition those posts about Life with Logan to this blog. Well, as I was writing about his one month checkup it just seemed like a good time to make the transition. So, if you want to read about Logan's life prior to that, check out Life Before and After the "+". And, here goes with Life with Logan …

The Year of Acheron

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love to read. And when I find an author that amuses me, I tend to devour everything they've ever written. Considering that I can plow through an average paperback in less than 2 days I run out of reading material quickly which is a huge bummer. Of course, that hasn't been too much of an issue lately. The little man has put a little crimp in my reading habit, but I do still get to skim a few pages here and there.

One of my favorite series of books is Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series that Angie turned me on to. (Thanks, Girl!) After I got through everything she already had published, I was left to wait the long anticipated story of the leader of the Dark Hunters, Acheron. Well, yesterday was the day, and I admit that I splurged and bought the hard back (gasp!) - surprising because I'm usually too cheap to buy books new much less a hard back! I'm a diehard Half Price Books girl. When I put my paws on it, I was pleasantly surprised to see it is a lengthy novel - 728 pages! Maybe just maybe, it'll last me a whole week. :-)