My child - He is Expressive!

First off - how the HELL did it get to be October 30th already??? Holy crap! This month totally flew right by. I haven't even changed my blog background all month, haha!

Realizing that today was the 30th, I dug out this onesie I picked up for a mere four bucks back in June at Pottery Barn Kids. Gotta love a deal! It was a little big still, but not too bad. I figure, he wore it once, I wash it, and maybe get my four bucks back by reselling it on ebay or on consignment next year.

We've noticed that Sawyer totally wants to lift up his head and look around. Obviously, being not even two weeks old, he doesn't have the strength in his neck to do this, but man, is he trying! I've been letting him lie on my chest while I watch TV, and I noticed he was getting better at this, so out of curiosity, I laid a blanket down on the floor, laid the Boppy on top (and can I just say how freaking useful the Boppy is? LOVE IT!), and then laid the baby on the Boppy for his first venture into "Tummy Time".

I really didn't think babies could lift themselves up like this at this early age. He will push himself up on his arms, hold up his head, look around for a few seconds, then lay back down to gather his strength before trying it again. I'm amazed.

I tried it again this morning, but after lifting his head twice, he decided a nap sounded like more fun.

That's my boy!

He makes the best little faces when he's getting ready to go to sleep. We like to sit here and venture to wonder what smart ass things he may be thinking according to his expressions. We're exciting like that.

Of all his facial expressions though, the one we get treated to the most is the scowl. He has many variations, but they're all pretty dang hysterical. I caught this one right after my husband had just finished giving him a bottle. He fell asleep a few minutes later. Usually he's awake after a feeding, but since he only slept 20 minutes after the last feeding/waketime, I guess he was extra tired.

The visit with the lactation consultant went wonderfully. She said there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving the baby breastmilk out of a bottle. She said that in fact, in all those studies they did about breastmilk and IQ, all the babies were fed expressed breastmilk from bottles. She said that if I wanted to pursue actually getting him to latch, to let him just kinda use me as a human binky once a day. This way, he wouldn't be hungry and therefore frustrated that he wasn't getting anything right away. She also said to only try getting him to latch for about 5 minutes at a time. If he doesn't, no big deal, give him a bottle and try again later.

We talked about pumping, milk storage, how much I should be pumping (I may not have childbearing hips, but I am producing like the finest dairy cow!) and finally, thankfully, how much to feed the baby. In case you were wondering, the magic formula that she gave us was two and a half times the baby's body weight in ounces, divided by the number of feedings in a day.

She weighed Sawyer, and he was up TEN OUNCES from last Friday (which was only four days), up to 7 lbs, thirteen ounces. That means he has already passed his birthweight! My husband did the math (because you know, Miss M can't add) and since we feed the baby every three hours or so (which is eight feedings a day), he came to 2 1/2 - three ounces per feeding. That means we're right where we need to be!

At this point, I'm going to try the "once a day" thing to try and get him used to breastfeeding, but honestly, I'm okay with the bottle if the doctor is. I'm not breastfeeding because I want some sort of magical bond with my child - that will be there regardless, I'm sure. I'm doing it for practical reasons. First off - I'm cheap. I can't see paying for something that God is giving me for free, especially if I'm making a superior product here. Then you factor in all the benefits that breastmilk provides, and it's pretty much a no brainer for me.

Breast IS best, but it's the breastmilk that actually counts, not the physical reality of a boob in your child's mouth. That's all that really matters in the end.