I feel like most people say they "can't believe" how quickly it flies by. I do not fall into that category. I feel like he's definitely been here for 10 weeks. Wells still just eats and sleeps most of the time, but he is so much more aware than he was a few weeks ago. He loves riding in the shopping cart, for example, and just looking around.
At 2 months...
Wells still loves to eat. He yells when he's hungry and the bottle isn't warming up fast enough.
Some nights he'll sleep in two or three 4-hour chunks. Some nights he's up every 90 minutes. Usually I try to have him asleep by 9pm and then can expect to be woken up by 1am. If I put him to bed earlier, he'll be up again before I have a chance to go to sleep and if I put him to bed later, sometimes I run the risk of him not falling asleep right away and then I'm exhausted and miserable. (And I say "I" but Scott is up with him most weeknights. I do the weekends.)
He's, I think, too long for his swing now for all-night sleeping, so we use mainly the bassinet and then the rock-and-play sometimes. The bouncer is for emergencies and he's definitely slept in the bouncer more than once at night by this point. He naps in all three of those places as well, and also in his crib. (Clearly, we have no set routine but we are also out of our routine with everything else in life, so it really doesn't matter, right?). He doesn't actually love the rock-and-play, but I know this is because he likes to look up at things like mobiles and the rock-and-play doesn't have one.
He found his fists a week or so ago and loves to suck on them. He's almost got his thumb, but not quite. He doesn't have a huge interest in his pacifiers but will take them happily if the mood catches him just right. I like to think that the wubanub is just more of a comfort toy at this point. It gives him something to bat around.
Wells is in size 1 diapers but he was in newborns for at least 6 weeks. He's wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes, but some 0-3 month ones still fit as well.
He's done with the swaddles because he kicks nonstop so that wasn't going to last forever. Instead, we put him in a footie and then a sleep sack at night, with his arms free.
He is in the 20th percentile for weight and is 11 pounds now. That's up from the 14th percentile at birth.
He still enjoys the Ergo and falls asleep almost immediately on our daily walks. Really glad that wasn't a waste of money. Since it works for us, I haven't bought any other carriers. Otherwise, I probably would've tried out a few different ones.
He's started crying/yelling when his diaper is wet. He doesn't always shriek in panic when we change his diaper now, because I think he's started to recognize what we're doing. He usually is smiling as soon as the dirty one comes off.
I hate taking Wells to the doctor. It's not even about the shots. I just hate it. We had a terrible breastfeeding experience at the hospital when he was born and I have this PTSD-esque feeling every time someone examines him, thinking they'll start telling me there's something wrong, as that's what they did when he didn't latch or do what they wanted him to do when it came to feeding.
I don't dislike the hospital or his doctor particularly, but I can't happily take him in there without feeling stress and anxiety about it.
Also, filling out the 2-month questionnaire... I've filled out so many of these forms as a teacher. It's subjective. I knew exactly what boxes I'd have to check on the ADHD forms in order for a pediatrician to diagnosis a kid with ADHD without the doctor ever stepping foot in the classroom to observe the kid. So I wonder if these forms even matter or if they're just meant to cause parents to worry or panic.
And, 2 months post-partum...
It was like a billion degrees last week...I couldn't stand to have my hair down.
I still have a few pounds to lose. I've been walking a lot and going to Pilates classes at the gym. Also, doing some mat workouts at home when I can't get to the gym. While tough HIIT-style workouts make me feel great when it comes to breaking a sweat, I've found that Pilates is actually more effective when it comes to toning muscles. So while I'd ideally fit both into my week, it's not always possible and I'm okay with easing slowly back into the gym-going lifestyle.
And, I don't know if it was the stressful/anxious time in the hospital concerning feeding or just fluctuation of hormones, but my appetite has all but disappeared in the last two months. I eat, but I struggle with craving things...I've discovered that going back to a gym and focusing on something (anything!) outside of just the baby has been the most helpful in trying to get back to what I felt like pre-pregnancy (where my day was happily dictated by what I could cook/bake/eat next).
The thing that made me feel the MOST like myself again was stopping with the pumping. I am, I'm convinced, a better person and a better caregiver if I'm not worried about pumping and trying to produce a supply of milk that just never really came for me. Wells will be better off if I'm a happier and less stressed-out individual.
Switching to formula was the best decision I feel we've made in recent years. The last thing I wanted to do when I got home from the hospital was "keep trying". We had bottles, we had formula, I hadn't eaten or slept in 3 days and WHY would I not attempt to care for us all by just feeding the baby however it was easiest for us to feed the baby??? Scott did 90% of the feeding in those first few days anyway. I pumped for 6 weeks but eventually knew that wouldn't sustain itself. My doctor told me that I more or less needed to pick between pumping or taking an estrogen supplement. Since I was only producing about 1/24th of what Wells needed, I took that as my sign to stop pumping and I'm so glad I did. He gets exactly what he needs and, since he never really nursed after we left the hospital, I'm not taking anything away from him. He is happy and I am happy.
Mostly, we're just happy he's healthy and I'm still amazed that he's ours.
