Kellan One Month

My life has been completely flipped upside down and I couldn't be happier about it!  Being a mother of two is such a blessing and so far, not as difficult as others have made it out to be.  I know that Kellan is still a newborn and that it will become more difficult when he's up and moving around, but for right now I think we've got the hang of things (knock on wood!)

We were in the NICU with our little peanut for 12, very long days.  He did incredible and was off cpap in just two days and went straight to room air.  From there we just had to work on lowering his bilirubin levels and getting him to nurse for a sufficient amount of time.  Being a premie brings problems with energy levels.  He nursed really great but wasn't able to stay awake long enough to get enough nutrients.  They fed him via tube until he was able to nurse better and that took up the bulk of our time there.  When we finally came home I couldn't have been happier.  Callie absolutely adores her "brova," especially giving him kisses.  

The night we came home she ran to the couch to see the "baby" and immediately wanted to hold him and play with him.  Since he was still so small and fast asleep she thought he was another baby doll for her to play with.  His first sound or movement made her eyes nearly pop out of her head, she looked at us and gasped.  It took a little bit for us to explain to her that this was a REAL baby and not a toy.  Once we let her "hold" him everything got better.  She gave him gentle kisses and rubbed her sweet, chubby hand over his soft hair.  I couldn't hold back the tears, seeing my two, beautiful children together for the first time was truly a moment I'll never forget.  Since then she has been an incredible helper, and despite some moments of frustration with her begging for attention, she has been an angel.  We couldn't have asked for more!  

Kellan is now a month old and is growing like a weed!  We are so impressed with his growth and health and know that it is only because of God's grace and faithfulness that he is doing so well.  We continue to give praise to Him for so many answered prayers.  

 

A week and a half ago we went to get his newborn portraits taken and are so eager to get the pictures back!  Stay tuned for a post with those little morsels of cuteness...

Weight: 6 lbs 11 oz (he's really packing on the pounds, especially in his chubby chipmunk cheeks!)

Height: 18.5 inches

Head circumference: 33 inches 

Percentile: 1st in all 3 categories 

Eating schedule:  He is still eating for roughly 18-20 minutes every 3 hours.  We just started letting him sleep at night and he's had one or two times where he's gone 4 hours instead of 3 and for that I'm so thankful!  I'm still pumping at every nursing session but am starting to try every other because our garage freezer is already full and there isn't much room in the inside freezer either.  We already have over 1,000 oz of breast milk stored so I'm looking into donating some of it to a local milk bank. 

Sleep:  Kellan is such a good little sleeper.  When he's not up eating he's fast asleep or cuddling with momma. 

Favorite things:  We absolutely love his little baby noises.  Callie sounded a lot like a monster, but Kellan is definitely more of a sheep.  He will stretch and make a baaaa sound, it's the cutest thing!  When he's awake, my favorite thing is staring into his baby blues.  I never dreamed I'd have a child with anything but brown eyes, and as of right now, his are bright blue!  I'm hoping they turn a little more green so he can look even more like his daddy. :)  He very rarely cries and now that we can give him "real" baths is liking those a lot more.  I try to bathe him every 3 days, even though he needs it much more often than that.  He spits up after every feeding and sometimes the milk shoots through his little nose ( I feel SO bad when this happens), but the doctor said not to worry since he's gaining such great weight.  He loves having his hair washed or head rubbed (such a typical male) and is a great snuggler.  I'm totally smitten with him.

Milestones: Right now the only milestones are his growth.  Nothing too exciting yet, but I'm definitely not wanting to rush things!  Stay a newborn little man... 

Clothing/Diaper size: We just graduated from premie clothes and into newborn!  They're a little big but he's too long for the premies now.  Size premie diapers still, but once this current pack is gone we will go to newborn. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past two weeks at home:

 

"Hey, this is MY brother!"

 My beautiful 23 month old baby girl!

 Callie on top, Kellan on the bottom... So weird!!

 

Just a little size comparison 

 

Kellan's first band rehearsal!

 

First night in his own room (1 month old)

 

Life is so, so good!  To God be ALL of the glory!