Has it been a month already?

Did you know that Ricky will be a month old tomorrow? Yes, you heard me right. Maybe to some other folks this has been a rather slow month, but for the new Mom and Dad, time has just flown by.

A few highlights of the past month include....

• Ricky was born! After a failed induction and major surgery of course.
• At 1 week we were admitted to the hospital so they could go on a wild goose chase for some random infection that didn't exist. I can't wait to get those bills.
• I have recovered pretty well from the cesarean, but my blood pressure has yet to go all the way back down to normal I have a follow up with the primary next week.
  
• We have been to the pediatrician SIX times. We also had a sonogram on his kidneys for which we have a follow up appointment with a urologist. Now I just have to find time to make it to the hospital to pick up the sonogram film between now and then.
  
• Pookie and I have tried about 4 different versions of baby shifts to maximize sleep. None of them seem to be working very well but this won't last forever so we will manage just fine.
• Ricky was born at 7 lbs, dropped to 6 lbs 2 ounces and is now at 8 lbs.
• Ricky had a nasty diaper rash thanks to every diaper being a poopy diaper. Who knew my life would revolve around poo? Calmoseptine was my savior! Thanks for the recommendation Jess.
  
• As a result of all the poo, we changed formula to Enfamil Gentlease. It smells nasty which means nastier smelling poo. Yay. Target makes a generic equivalent to this formula that is $11 less per can! I will try it out in a couple weeks.
• I have been to Babies R Us no less than 6 times.
  
• Ricky smiled at me and his Daddy today. Wow! And I mean a real smile. I was holding him, he was looking at me, I smiled and said Hi....he smiled back. It was sooooooooo cool. Talk about making you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It was like everything in the world disappeared for a moment.
  

So, all in all, a pretty good month. It is super busy with all the doctor's appointments and daycare provider interviews and phone calls to follow up on this and schedule that. He is going anywhere from 3 1/2 - 5 hours in between feedings (longer if he is in the car since he sleeps so well there...), but it is amazing how that time flies. No sooner than you make a sandwich and have a cup of coffee (which I'm totally out of coffee - how did I let that happen!!!), fold some clothes and type up a blog post or look at some pictures and he is awake. Time to start all over again.

As far as sleeping, there are times when he has his days and nights mixed up so he is wide awake at 3am, but that is getting better. We plan on trying out his nursery this weekend. Since Dad is on call for work and has a very busy week coming up (colleague is out with his wife and new baby coming this weekend), I am taking the night shift and letting Dad have the bedroom to get some quality sleep. I sleep pretty well on the couch at night and the baby is in the bassinet about 6 feet away. I also get in a few catnaps during the day and Dad gives me a break every evening from around 6-11pm so I have time to get in some good sleep. The move to the nursery will definitely be a change. Big bed, quiet room and so on. We were up there yesterday and I let him lay in the crib and just check out the room. He seemed to be pretty into it. He loves looking around at things. He stared at the mobile for about 30 minutes. Watching him see all of these things, it's like I am seeing everything again for the first time.

Of course, I wouldn't change a thing.