Getting to Know Him

We are having such a great time getting to know our new little son. He is so sweet and innocent, and I absolutely love him more than I ever thought possible! Here's a few things we've learned about him so far.

-Little Tim LOVES sucking on his fingers. I will swaddle him SO tight, and within 5 minutes, his little fingers are back at his mouth.

-He is a VERY good sleeper, but not such a great eater. Unfortunately I don't think you can have both of those at this stage in the game. We have been getting 6 hour stretches of sleep at night, and I try and make him eat at least every 3 1/2 hours although he doesn't eat as well. He eats best on demand, but sometimes that can be 5 hours between feedings!

-He LOVES having his hair washed while swaddled in a towel. He never looks more content than when we're washing his hair. It melts my heart!

-He likes to poop in his towel while having his hair washed ;)

We took him in to be weighed today and unfortunately he has only gained 1 oz since Friday (he's now 5 lbs 14 oz). The doctor is concerned and we have to figure out a way to make sure he's eating enough. He said I don't have to feed him every 3 hours since he doesn't eat well when I make him eat. I'm going to meet with a consultant tomorrow and see if I can't figure out some better feeding techniques. His jaundice levels have also been right on the border of needing the lights, and they haven't been going down. That can make him more tired which may contribute to why he doesn't eat very much. Because he's so small, he sleeps a lot, too. So right now it's a guessing game as to why he's not eating as much as he needs, and it's pretty frustrating not knowing which part to focus on! We have to go weigh him again on Thursday, so hopefully he gains some weight by then!!

Hospital & New Pictures!

Timothy Willis Christensen

April 19, 2010

6 pounds 5 oz

19 inches

4:30 PM

Last picture of me pregnant!

April 22, 2010

Tim, Auntie Morgan, and Cousin Ila belly bump ;) I couldn't resist when I saw my sister's belly hanging out. I thought it was too cute!

Pictures!

18 Days Early! Woo Hoo!!

We're in the hospital! I'll post pictures and the story when there's more to tell!

Nursery Pictures and Pregnancy Update

His nursery is finally done! I do still want to stain the changing table, but that's all that's left if I ever get around to it. I finished the bumpers and will NEVER tackle that project again, but it was fun to do it for our first little one. He's pretty much set with everything he needs, so now it's just a waiting game for him!

Just a little stuffed animal and comfort blankie I made for him out of scraps the other night

His crib and all his blankets ;)

His changing table - I still need to stain the dresser....eventually.....

I LOVE his name sign I got made for him! You can check out the store blog HERE

His crib with his bumpers FINALLY finished!

I had the clock made at On the Avenue, too. We saw one with this saying on it in the store probably two years ago, and even Brock wanted to buy it then because we loved the saying so much. We didn't buy that one, but we kept the saying in mind and had this one made to match his room. I absolutely LOVE it, too!

The little teddy bear's name is Odie, and he was Brock's friend growing up ;)

I bought the shelf from Hobby Lobby, spray painted it, put some scrapbook paper in it, and added the stars. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I went to the doctor yesterday (I start going weekly now), and she asked if I have a family history of c-sections. I told her no and she said I should start reading up on them ;( So pretty much, what she ended up telling us is that I am "small" and he may have a hard time fitting through so I should be prepared for a possible c-section. The crappy part is that she also said I have a lot of muscle around my tailbone, and that combined with being small will put a lot of pressure on my tailbone. That's where I have arthritis, so she's worried that it's weakened already so it may break during pushing. So my biggest fear is that I will push for two hours, break my tailbone, and then have a c-section anyway. Recovering from all that does NOT sound fun, so hopefully they are all just concerns that will never come up!! It definitely made me a little more apprehensive about labor and delivery, but I still can't wait for him to get here, no matter how that happens!

Maternity Pictures

I've been waiting for spring to get some maternity pictures done before the little guy arrives. My friend Chelsea took these for me since we do picture trades and she'll need some maternity shots at the end of the summer. It was fun to do them, and hopefully I'll enjoy looking back on them someday!

Questions about Newborn Procedures

Ok, I know this is a VERY touchy subject, but I just wanted to get opinions from mothers on what they researched prior to their newborn receiving the Vitamin K shot and the Hep B vaccination. Here's a break down of what I've learned from my research.

Vitamin K Shot: Necessary to prevent hemorrhaging of the brain because babies are born with a vitamin K deficiency. Breast fed babies can receive enough Vitamin K from their mother's milk if they eat the colostrum at birth as well as continue to breast feed while the mother ensures she is eating a diet high in vitamin K for the first few weeks. The number one risk factor of this shot is significantly higher rates of childhood leukemia in children who receive it. The shot has much more than the daily recommended dose of Vitamin K. Here's one of the articles I read that doesn't seem to be to biased to either side (although it's hard to find articles that aren't biased one way or another!)

Vitamin K Shot

Hep B Vaccination at birth: Given to prevent Hep B in infants. Out of 100,000 people, 2.6 will have Hep B. These are people who are living lifestyles that are likely much different from our own. A child must have VERY close contact with one of these 2.6 people in order to possibly contract Hep B. According to the CDC, Hep B is spread by:

-sex partners of people infected with HBV,

- men who have sex with men,

- people who inject street drugs,

- people with more than one sex partner,

- people with chronic liver or kidney disease,

- people with jobs that expose them to human blood,

- household contacts of people infected with HBV,

- residents and staff in institutions for the

developmentally disabled,

- kidney dialysis patients

CDC Hep B Shot

Hep B Shot

What are your opinions? I am planning on waiting until our baby is 2 years old to vaccinate him. However, I am completely open to personal experiences, research, etc. It is VERY hard to find unbiased information from either spectrum so I'm always open to learning new things!! What I find the most interesting is the information given by the CDC... why aren't the same risk factors and facts given on their information sheet that are so easy to find elsewhere!?