Life with a baby: 3 month old update

The first month after baby L was born was a total blur. Everything was new so I was not only mentally exhausted from learning how to troubleshoot my child and learning how to breastfeed but I was also physically exhausted all the time from sleep deprivation from around the clock feedings. I was so tired but so in love with this incredibly tiny human my body created.

Baby L was such a strong little dude when he came out, he would lift his head up every time we were doing skin-to-skin time. I was amazed at how well he would keep his head up and for as long as he’d do it for but I was also terrified.

Breastfeeding came easy because he latched right away before we were transferred to our recovery room from Labor and Delivery. He latched aggressively like there was no tomorrow but he did it well because I didn’t feel the pain I was expecting to feel. He was so calm at the hospital and he barely cried. When he was awake he was just starring at us or staring at the lights. He did give my mom and I a big scare when he started chocking on fluid he was trying to expel. It sounded bad and a pretty good amount of fluid came out but when we called the nurse we were told it was nothing to worry about.

We were able to leave the hospital after 24 hours. The first day home was a little nerve wracking because you have this tiny human that is relying on you 24/7 and we had no idea what we were doing or if we were doing it right. On top of that we were on our own! No nurses around to ask for help or to help you calm your nerves in case you’re overthinking things a little too much. I was still scared he would start choking again or something else would happened. We didn’t have a nurse across the room to call to make sure he was ok so my anxiety was pretty high that day but despite all my anxiety and nerves, the night was good.

Both of our huskies were curious when we brought baby L home and wanted to lick him but our male husky, Ghost, would run out of the house or leave the room the minute baby L would start crying and would come back once he was quiet. Our husky female, Foxy, didn’t leave baby L’s side the minute we brought him home. Foxy has been baby L’s number one fan, I call her his nanny since all she does is hang around where baby L is even when he is crying. She would even wake up with me in the middle of the night and come lay in the nursery while I breastfed baby L.

Baby L was born 7 pounds 15 oz and 20 inches long but to me he looked so fragile! I was afraid to move his stiff little arms when I was trying to change his clothes. He hated getting dressed…still does! He would cry so loud during diaper changes from day one but I’m pretty sure it got worse at home because he got a diaper rash the day he came home from the hospital even after changing him right after he would get a wet diaper. We were so sleep deprived from being in active labor for days that we totally forgot babies need diaper rash cream specially in the first days because their poop is so acidic. Such a no brainer thing to do but we missed the mark on that one.

Looking back, were never told to apply diaper rash cream at the hospital and I never saw the nurses apply any either.  We left the hospital with a bunch of burp rags, diapers, wipes, pads, and baby blankets but we never got diaper rash cream. Ugh! I still feel such an idiot for forgetting something so simple that made my poor baby so uncomfortable. We tried so many diaper rash creams but majority didn’t help as much or as fast as A+D Ointment did. I know there is a “Treat” version of this diaper rash cream but we found that the original ointment to “prevent” diaper rash worked much faster for baby L than the “treat” version.

Since baby L got a pretty bad diaper rash that lasted almost a week, he cried a lot and this was extremely hard for me not only because it pained me to see him crying but because all he wanted to do was breastfeed. He sought out comfort in breastfeeding and my nipples were extra sensitive at this point since I was still adjusting to breastfeeding. He would latch very aggressively and sometimes he would not latch properly because he just wanted the nipple in his mouth one way or another. I’m thankful my sister taught me how to have him latch properly so it didn’t hurt. I mean this kid had an amazing latch so if he latched in the wrong spot for a few seconds, he would leave me sore for a whole day which made it hard to continue breastfeeding on that side. I tried three different nipple creams but this nipple cream saved my nipples when they needed it the most.

He was 1.5 weeks old when he celebrated his first holiday which was Father’s Day! Surprisingly he was not as fussy on this day as he usually was. Baby L would get so gassy that even after burping he would be very uncomfortable and would cry in almost all positions we had him in until he either passed gas or let out a huge burp. At one point I thought he was lactose intolerant so I cut all dairy from my diet but there was no change so we assumed he was a colicky baby and did our best to soothe him using the 5 magical S’s . He also started going through the witching hours around 2.5 weeks and those were rough evenings. M and I would have to sub every 30-40 minutes because baby L would not stop crying and it would get to the point were it was too much and one of us needed a break. We had this tiny baby that was trying to communicate his needs the only way he knew how to do it, but we didn’t understand his language just yet. It was difficult, frustrating and mentally draining but once it was over baby L was a little angel. He would get “milk drunk” and would give us the biggest smirks when he was staring deeply into our eyes or studying our faces.

At his second appointment, I was told to put baby L on a diet because I mentioned his poop was frothy and that he was so gassy and bloated most of the time, he hated tummy time. Baby L wasn’t over weight, at this point he was in the 55th percentile for his weight but I was told to only breastfeed him 10 minutes each side. I tried but it didn’t solve the poop issue and it made baby L pretty mad because he would still be hungry.  Mommy instinct kicked in and I decided not to listen to the pediatrician and just follow baby L’s lead. I let him ate for as long as he wanted and I had to get creative and pick the time of day he was the most comfortable to get some tummy time on the play mat. Majority of the tummy time we did was by placing him on our chest. By week 3 he was able to lift his head and look from one side to the other side and his poop was no longer frothy.

We celebrated Independence day with the family right before he turned one month old. We loved having family and friends around because baby L would be so calm around other people. People used to tell us how calm he was because he would just fall asleep on whoever was holding him but the minute company would leave, baby L would turn into the fussiest baby. It was puzzling for M and I.

The week before he turned two months old he started sleeping 6-8 hours at night but he would fight naps during the day. He was so much more alert and didn’t want to miss out on the fun so he became my little sleep warrior during the day. His naps would only last about 20 minutes and he was ready to continue exploring his surrounding. I’m so glad he slept well at this point because I don’t know how I would’ve survived the days if he didn’t sleep so well at night.

The day before he turned two months, he started to reach and swatted at his toys. I guess he wanted to squeeze in this developmental milestone before entering his two months.

I loved how many cuddles I got while he was this tiny. I wish I had more but it’s been amazing watching this little dude get bigger and experience life for the first time. I felt like the last week before he officially turned two months was the week he grew the most. I woke up one day and he looked different, his face was rounder and he felt heavier.