1 month old

I cannot believe my baby is a month old already! It has been a crazy month and it seriously goes so fast! My little man is getting so big so fast, part of me is glad because we are getting more sleep but the other part of me is sad to see how fast this newborn phase is going by! So for journaling and memory purposes here is how the first month of Liam's life has been...

We brought Liam home on May 9th. We left the hospital as soon as we could, thinking we love to get home and into a routine as soon as possible. The night came and it was the worst night of our life! Our cute little man cried most of the night. He was begging for food about every 20minutes. I was exhausted and frustrated, so was Taylor! Finally I shut the door to Liam's room and sent Taylor to bed. No reason for us to both be exhausted and he had the auction the next day. My sister-in-law, Becca, told me how bad the first night was but you don't understand until you are experiencing it. I thought I was going to die! haha Taylor made me go to my mom's the next day for help because I was an emotional wreck! Those postpartum emotions are for real.

The next week was not much better. I was trying to feed Liam about every 30  minutes or so because he acted starving! Liam was super colicy and fussy. On Saturday Liam refused to eat anything! I called his pediatrician and they said to pump and feed him with a syringe. So I did, feeding a baby with a 1ml syringe is horrible! I did it because they scared me with instacare and other things if he didn't eat. I continued to try breast feeding and he seemed to be just as fussy and upset. Finally about two weeks after he was born I tried bottle feeding breast milk to Liam. He LOVED the bottle and I felt the biggest sense of relief! So we switch over to that! I stopped having emotional break downs and he was much happier because he didn't have to work so hard to get food. It was then that I realized he was starving because I was not producing enough milk! No wonder he was trying to eat every 30 minutes and was soooo fussy!

We fed him as much breast milk as we possibly could but had to supplement with formula as well. Beside the colic he also had reflux. With the mixing of formula and breast milk, the reflux seemed to get even worse. He was miserable! I felt so bad when he'd cry because you could tell he was in pain.  Finally I took him in to see the pediatrician and he put our little man on Zantac for reflux, he was 3 weeks old. Liam hates it but it made a huge difference as his little tummy got used to real food. I noticed an huge difference in the days to come. He wasn't throwing up as much, his tummy didn't seem to hurt as bad, and he was starting to sleep a couple hours at a time!

Even though he was fighting for food and throwing up a lot, he still gained 2 lbs by his 1 month appointment. The doctor asked if I was feeding him to much because I was doing both breast milk and formula. So for a while I monitored every drop that he ate, he is a big eater but still only ate the 20-24oz a day that he was supposed to. His fussiness was getting way better too! Between the Zantac and his Grip Water he was not crying and upset as much and was sleeping so much more! Taylor and I were so grateful because the first month was emotionally exhausting and we were finally turning a corner!

At one month old, I had been exclusively pumping breast milk and feeding him as much as I could, my breast milk started to diminish. I stopped pumping and went to straight formula. As much as I wish I didn't have to do straight formula it's made a huge difference for Liam. He still has his moments of fussiness and tummy problems but he is not needing his Zantac every 12hrs or his gripe water 5-6 times a day. He rarely takes any medicine and doesn't throw up much any more either.

Sleeping was an issue at first as well but then again he was starving! Now Liam is a champ! At about 1 month old he started sleeping 3-4 hours at a time and I loved it. Then all of a sudden it was 5-6 hours!  It is hilarious because the first night he slept 3-4 hours I checked on him several times because I was worried and at 6 hrs it was even worse! As a mom you get used to a schedule and when they start changing, I worried he was still breathing! haha the crazy things you go through as a new mother are endless! Liam slept for 7 hours last night! He was up from 4-5am and then went back to bed until 8am!

I am so sad to lose that newborn stage and to really see how big my little baby is getting. It truly goes by WAY to quickly. I love getting more sleep and I love even more that his colic is mostly gone. I love being a mom and really can't imagine life without my little guy.

Next adventure is Bear Lake, his first shots, and Lake Powell! I sure hope he loves the boat and water as much as we do!

Look at the difference!