The Doubrava Diaries: Declan Grayson- 1 Month

WOW!

I can't believe it has been 1 month already. Time has really flown by. I am even 8 days late on this post. I have to say that our life is completely different now. I knew that it would be different, but I honestly had no idea it would be the way it is. I have to say I love this little man. He is a beautiful little boy. Right now, Declan has basically been sleeping, eating, and pooping! That is all that newborns do, right? ;)

Pictures: Declan got his first pictures taken by the wonderful Sarah Carter a week after he was born. I will post more later. The picture above is 1 of the many pictures!

Weight: Declan got weighed on his 4 week birthday and weighed in at 7 lbs 14 ounces, so by April 21, he was 8 pounds! Still a small little man. Declan is still wearing newborn diapers. We still have quite a few diapers left, so let's hope we can use most of them. Declan will be getting weighed again on Wednesday. Cox is wonderful at their Women's Center. They let you make an appointment with an RN to weigh your baby for FREE! This is wonderful for breastfeeding mommas. Grandpa Hutch and I like to make a lunch date out of it and go get Baby D weighed!

Clothes: Declan moved to 0-3 month clothes basically right on his 1 month birthday. I believe he could have been wearing them earlier except I kept squishing him in his newborns. Oops! I honestly had no idea because he stays in a ball most of the time. I finally realized that his little arms were no longer covered by his clothes! lol. He is now wearing clothes that fit. Declan is a very long boy. I hope that he grows tall like his daddy!

Food: Declan is definitely my little pig. He could eat ALL the time!! I was not able to nurse him for the first time until he was 2 days old(more on this later), so I was concerned that it would be difficult. Declan latched on right away and we have not had problems at all. This has been truly a blessing. He has been eating every 2-3 hours. No real good schedule yet, but we are getting there. I have not been producing a lot of milk, so Brian has started giving him a bottle of formula at night for his last feeding. Declan has no problem taking the formula at all. He truly is our little piglet. This gives me time to pump and also gives Daddy some quality time together.

Sleep: This has been quite difficult. We have had some rough nights in there. Momma has had her moments of crying with Declan because I have been so tired. Right when Declan turned 1 month old he started to sleep better. Also, when Daddy started giving him his formula bottle at night he has finally been sleeping longer. I will be talking to my doctor and lactation consultant this week about my milk supply. I truly don't think I am supplying my piglet enough. Anyway, once we started the bottle at his last feeding between 930-10, Declan has been sleeping until 1 or even 3! This has been wonderful for me. Declan then wakes up again around 6 or sometimes 8. We are honestly still trying to figure things out. I have thought about doing the Baby Wise method or Ferber method, but I believe I will wait until he is older. We tried having him cry twice and I could not handle it. I cried the whole time with Declan. I know that this method works for some people, but we will revisit this later.

Activity: Declan likes to basically stare at the lights, ceiling, and ceiling fan. He didn't really enjoy his activity mat until after he was 1 month old. He now loves it! Declan lasts about 30 minutes and he is done. He likes his swing if he isn't screaming and likes to be held, a lot! ;) We do tummy time, but he really doesn't enjoy it right now. He does like to lay on his tummy on daddy's chest and look at him. That counts as tummy time, right?? He is getting stronger all the time. It is crazy how fast they change. Declan now stretches himself out more. I can't believe how long he is. I really need to measure him to see how long he is now.

Personality: Declan doesn't have much of a personality yet, but I know it is coming. He likes to look at faces. He also likes to scream. More than we really like. It is typically because he is hungry or fighting taking his nap.