2 month update!

Showing off his gorgeous blue eyes!

Family Photo :)

Patrick and Nikki's Wedding

He hates his sunglasses!

Saturday was Hudson's '2 month birthday'! I can't believe how fast time is going and how quickly our little one is growing up. He has definitely turned from the newborn stage to the infant stage now. He is awake for longer periods during the daytime, smiles and giggles when we talk to him or when he's playing on his activity mat, is slowly getting into a daily and night time routine and is sleeping much better at night!

We are having so much fun with both Andy and I being on leave. I am sooo not excited or ready to go back to work :( I'm so glad that I'm able to take almost 4 months off though, so I won't be going back until July 7th!!

The last few weeks we have continued to stay busy. We've taken Hudson on several shopping trips, went to Bothell to see the Smith's and baby Hayden, visited with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson several times and even took Hudson to his first wedding (of many we have this summer!) last Saturday. My cousin Patrick got married Saturday at the home of his new wife's grandparents. It was a very quaint and intimate ceremony with just their close friends and family. It was nice to be able to celebrate with them and we are excited that they are also expecting their first child this coming November. So Hudson will have a 2nd cousin very close in age!

Today was Hudson's 2 month well baby visit at the pediatrician. They took his measurements and he's growing great! His stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 5.5 oz (15th percentile)

Height/Length: 23 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16 inches (60th percentile)

He also had to have 2 vaccines and the oral Rotavirus vaccine. I feel so bad seeing him get the shots but he did great and only cried for a minute. He was a little more sleepy and fussy today but overall no bad reaction from the shots which is a relief!

Hudson's First Hospital Visit

Friday afternoon we had another dr. appointment to check Hudson's weight. At our appointment a week before that he was up 2 oz. from his last check, which the dr. said was ok, he just wanted to check in a week to see if it continued to go up. When we got to our appointment and weighed him he had actually gone DOWN another 2 oz. and was weighing in at 5 lbs 8 oz. Our dr. was on vacation, so we met with a different dr. at the practice who decided that we needed to go to the hospital and get Hudson hooked up to an IV for fluids.

I was pretty shocked at this response to the weight loss. Since it wasn't much, I just thought they'd have us start supplementing with formula to help his weight gain since he seemed to be breastfeeding just fine, I figured the reason he wasn't gaining was due to a lack of milk supply from me.

So we took the dr's advice and headed straight to Good Sam. We arrived and they checked his vitals and got us all checked in to a room in the Pediatric's Unit. The on call pediatrician determined there was no reason to hook Hudson up to IV fluids since he wasn't dehydrated, he just needed to get more calories in. We were relieved to hear this!

They started us on a strict feeding schedule at the hospital with me breastfeeding, then supplementing with formula after. The first night went fine and Saturday morning we expected to hear we'd get to go home on Sunday and spend Hudson's first Easter at home with family as we had planned. Unfortunately this isn't what happened. We continued a 3 hour feeding schedule through Saturday and the daytime nurse, Tristan was very knowledgeable and helpful in working up building up my supply. She started me with a breastpump and I started pumping several times a day to determine how much milk I was actually producing. We realized I was only producing about half of what Hudson needed, hence the reason for his weight loss.

Saturday night they weighed Hudson again and he was up to 5 lbs 11 oz, we were so happy to hear he had gained 3 oz since the afternoon before! We knew all that we were doing was worth it and we were happy to get him healthier :) Sunday we followed the same feeding schedule and weighed him again Sunday night when he was up to 5 lbs 15 oz!! The nurse said they fully expected the dr. to let us go home the next morning since his weight was steadily rising.

Monday morning, we woke up and followed the feeding routine until about 9 when I met with a lactation consultant. She was awesome with setting up a plan and getting us ready for what to do when we went home. I was basically going to follow the same 3 hour feeding schedule and document all the feedings before checking back in with her in a few days. After meeting with her, they checked Hudson's vitals for the final time and the dr. came in, checked him out and released us from the hospital!! We were sooo glad to finally get to go back home and continue the feeding routine there (since we knew all along it was something that we could've just been doing at home).

Unfortunately my milk supply still isn't in enough that I don't need to supplement with formula, but the prescription and Fenugreek are definitely helping a little bit with my supply. I'm still hoping and praying that my supply increases enough that I can exclusively breastfeed, but in the mean time I know I'm doing the best I can to keep my boy healthy and happy!!

We went back to Hudson's regular pediatrician yesterday for another weight check. His weight is now up to 6 lbs 4.5 oz, so just over his birth weight!! The dr. was amazed that he had gained 12 oz in only 4 days. He talked to us about what we would continue to do at home with breastfeeding and supplementing and we are content to keep following this plan until something changes with me :)

First week and a half at home

The first week and a half has FLOWN by. I can't believe my baby will be 2 weeks old already on Monday! We've been adjusting to life as a family of 3 very well. It's nice to have Andy home for these first few months so we can learn how to parent together. He's been so good with helping me get things done around the house and helping take care of Hudson too.

We've been busy seeing the dr. a lot the last few weeks too. Hudson's first pediatrician appointment was 2 days after we were discharged from the hospital. At this appointment they weighed him, measured his length, checked his eyes/ears/mouth, etc. And talked to us about circumcision. His weight went down slightly from when we were discharged from the hospital, he was now at 5 lbs 11 oz. So the dr. wanted to see us back on Monday for another weight check and also for the circumcision to get it done with so we didn't have to come back for another appointment.

His dr. appointment on Monday went pretty good. He was weighed again and dropped another 2 oz. The dr. wasn't too concerned since he is still breastfeeding well and peeing/pooping regularly. He said some babies just take longer to start putting on weight. I don't think my milk has completely come in yet either which could be part of the problem. The dr. said this is also normal and can take up to few weeks for some women's supply to be established. After being weighed the dr. started prepping for the circumcision. Hudson's legs were strapped down to a little table and they used a local anesthetic to numb him. He did GREAT!! He was more fussy getting numbed and wiped down then during the entire procedure. It helped that the nurse was giving him sugar water on her finger :)

He's now healing well from the circumcision and we're still waiting for his little umbilical cord to fall off (it's soo close!) This weekend will be filled with more visitors and getting used to our new lives and schedules.

Here are a few pictures from our first week and a half at home: