Newborn Check-up

Zach is 2 weeks old tomorrow so this morning we had our first pediatric appointment with Dr. J. She was so excited to see the little man and glad he was doing so well. Zach's flexibility and reflexs were good and all his internal parts sounded great. On a little less positive side, he has a touch of jaundice and is only up to 6lbs. He was about 5lb 9oz when we left the hospital, so he should be closer to 6.5lbs by now. As a result, we have to do the same thing with him that we did with Isabella, supplement his breast milk with Neosure powder formula. That means each feeding we add Neosure to his bottle of milk. We have to take him back next Friday for a quick weight check to make sure he is packin' on the ounces as he should. She and I also had a quick conversation about Colic. Zach is a bit of a screamer. If he isn't eating or in a deep, deep sleep, he is cryin' at the top of his lungs. Needless to say it has caused many a sleepless nights for Chris and me. Since Colic normally starts at about this age and his crying is so sporadic, we agreed it wasn't Colic but just a matter of him being a few weeks early, needing attention, and adjusting to gaining weight and temperature. Hopefully using the Neosure and keeping him extra bundled will allow him to calm down a bit (so far it has worked this afternoon).

Isabella is doing fabulous as always! She has adjusted nicely over the last week to having a little brother around the house. Her looks of confusion have turned into curiosity - she loves touching Zach's toes. She even likes to rock him when we have him in the car seat carrier. Bella definitely has her moments of acting out, refusing to listen to the word "NO", as well as crying when you cannot pay attention to her, but overall she is doing great with the changes around here. I like to think part of it has to do with my ability to interact with her more. Now that I am feeling a little better I have been able to love and focus on her when I'm not taking care of Zach (instead of just laying in bed). Other than new baby, Bella started school today for the fall. All of her teachers from the spring were so impressed at how much she has grown physically and cognitively. I even got a "she's the best kid in the class" today; no standards set there! Chris and I always rave to each other about how smart we think she is, but we are supposed to be biased.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days:






Many blessings to all of you :)