Ronan is 1 Month Old!

It's hard to believe it's already been one month since this perfect little boy was born, but here we are! It went by in a flash....but yet the long nights really made some days feel never ending! Ronan is doing so well, and we just love him to pieces....more and more each day - if that's even possible! He is such a sweet and observant little boy. His eyes are brighter and wider with each passing day and he seems to change by the minute! He has started cooing more and kicking his little legs like crazy and is continuously becoming more alert. I'm looking forward to seeing him reach all his milestones! Here is our gorgeous boy posing for his one month picture today, I just love this face so much!!



Our little man still has his days and nights turned around, and that makes for some very long nights for Mommy and Daddy. We finally have a bit of a routine going that seems to be working as well as it can for us right now; Rob will stay up with him during the week until about midnight or whatever time Ronan finishes one of his cluster feeds, and I take the night shift after that so Rob can sleep and not be a zombie at work. We had a record the other night....I was up with Ronan from midnight to 6 a.m. That was definitely a night I do not want to repeat! Little R has decided his nights are the time he is most hungry, therefore we have a lot of cluster feeding going on and very little sleep! I read babies tend to start sleeping more during the night at around 6 weeks old, so let's hope we only have a couple more weeks of these late night parties! He just loves his naps during the day though, as you can see below!



We've had our work cut out for us the last couple weeks in regards to the weight gaining issue (or lack thereof), but we feel we have uncovered the problem. First off, I swapped most of my nursing sessions for pumping so we could bottle feed and monitor how much milk he was consuming. Well, this alone really 'woke' him up, which is what the pediatrician said would happen. All the sudden he was more alert, sleeping a little less, and was definitely showing an increase in appetite. So it would appear that this little man was a bit of a lazy nurser. Then, we bought a baby scale to see if that increased appetite was showing on the scale. Sure enough, since last Tuesday he has gained 10 ounces! This is great news, and he is officially over his birth weight. Tomorrow is Ronan's 4 week doctor's appointment and I'm really hoping for positive feedback from his pediatrician. I'm not sure I can handle the stress if she still isn't happy with his weight gain. This has been a tough couple weeks for me emotionally, that's for sure. I am very proud that his weight has increased so much, as I have been working my you-know-what off to get him there.

In other news, I had my 4 week postpartum appointment with my OB today. Rob went with me so we could bring the little man and show him off. :) The check up went well; my incision is healing "beautifully" according to Dr. Smith and I had a quick check that indicated all is back to normal! I got the all clear to work out, hooray! However, she warned that exercise can affect my milk supply, so she suggested starting off small....and when she said small, she meant it. She suggested 15 minute walks about 3 times a week to start and if my milk is still fine, I can increase it from there. Boo. I really want to get back to the gym and get some endorphins going! Hopefully soon enough. I did forget to ask her if I can now take a bath. I could really use this to relax right about now. Guess I'll have to put in a call to them tomorrow!

Wish us luck at our appointment tomorrow and stay tuned for more Ronan updates! Weeks 5-8 should have some significant milestones....the one I cannot wait for the most? His first REAL smile! That moment is sure to melt my heart. Oh, and here is our first family of three Christmas photo! We sort of cheated and didn't take this actually on Christmas....we were so busy that we couldn't find the time until a couple days later, so we set up our tripod and got the first Christmas shot with our baby. Love it!