two-weeks-later

well today is baird's two week birthday and to say the last two weeks has been a whirlwind would definitely be an understatement. as i mentioned in the birth story, baird was diagnosed at the hospital as having borderline jaundice. his bilirubin level was right at a 7, which is just a little bit elevated, but definitely nothing to worry about. typically with a bilirubin level of a 7, the levels will decrease to normal after a couple of days assuming the baby gets enough colostrum during those first few days. my pediatrician went ahead and scheduled an appointment for monday morning so he could re-check the levels. when we went to his appointment on monday morning, not only did we find out he had lost an entire pound, but we also found out he had severe jaundice with a bilirubin level of 22. the normal level that they admit babies into the hospital is 20, but our pediatrician worked with the team at cooks to let us keep him at home. they delivered a "tanning bed" of sorts on monday afternoon and that is where he laid, 24/7 for 5 days straight. we took him to the doctor each morning to check his weight and his jaundice levels and, although his weight continued to go up, and his jaundice levels continued to go down, it wasn't until monday, the day before yesterday, that his levels were low enough for him to finally come off of the lights.

we did manage to get out of the house for a few hours on friday, going to granbury to visit the school where i teach and visiting his grandparents as well. the teachers i worked with loved meeting him and all of my kiddos went crazy when they saw him!! as much as i love being at home with my baby and hate the idea of going back to work and leaving him, seeing all of my students did make me realize how much i love my job. we spent the weekend at home with baird under the lights and then on monday morning after his doctor's appointment, we headed to granbury again, this time to show him off at my dad's dental office. we were able to eat lunch with my dad and cynthia and then we headed to weatherford to see his third set of grandparents, my mom and rodney. they, of course, loved seeing him as well. it is so obvious already how spoiled this little baby is going to be.

as far as his sleeping and eating goes, he pretty much sleeps for a couple of hours, wakes up and eats, and then sleeps for a couple of hours, over and over again with some poop and pee diapers scattered throughout the day. he is such a wonderful baby and really doesn't cry unless he has a dirty diaper or is hungry. the breast feeding has been quite a challenge but i think we are both finally getting the hang of it. because of the jaundice and his initial weight loss, my doctor has me supplementing with formula to make sure we got him healthy by his two-week appointment on wednesday. we initially were supplementing with an entire ounce after every feeding, and have weaned it down to a 1/2 ounce to an ounce every other feeding. on wednesday we will stop the supplementing and then recheck his weight at his one month appointment. in order to stimulate more milk production, i have also been pumping after every other feeding, about 5 times a day, and have already managed to package 5 feedings worth of milk in the freezer. my goal is to get one a day between now and when i go back to work to make for an easy transition. the first few weeks of breast feeding can be extremely stressful on a new mom, especially when the baby loses weight. my word of advice to any of you who have problems breast feeding in the beginning is to keep at it. you may have to supplement and you may even decide to bottle-feed, but knowing you tried everything is the best gift you can give yourself.

griffin went back to work on tuesday and, although it is a little lonely at times, baird sleeps all the time, i have had so much fun getting to know the little guy. today i took him to his two week appointment and the pediatrician said he was healthier than ever. he is back up to his birth weight, his jaundice levels look good still, and the doctor was super pleased with how quickly his health has progressed over the last 5 days. it looks like mommy and daddy are doing something right after all :)

although the past two weeks have been crazy, i finally feel like we are getting the hang of things around here. we love this baby more than anything in the whole world and are so excited to be his parents!!

here are a few pictures from the last two weeks...

patiently waiting

ooooeyyy gooey

love at first sight... pardon my hair :)

grandpa doc

grammy

aunt micah

aunt mallory

grandma coco

grandma coco and grandpa maurice

aunt lori

starving

aunt kally and uncle austin

baylor bear from the start

about to go home

loves his car seat

the jaundice lights

baird's first bath

meeting miss allie

grammy and aunt micah

loves his chuckie

during his first snowstorm

i asked bairds other grandma deda to email me the rest of the picturs but she hasnt yet. maybe when she reads this and sees that i have no pictures of her and baby baird, she will remember. love you momma :) 

love, 

maggie