He's Growing Up So Fast...

It's amazing how much Bryce has grown since birth. He gets another official weigh in tomorrow at my breast feeding class (Yes, I do go to the weekly meetings). Also, tomorrow officially marks his three week birthday, and I know for sure he has gotten longer, weighs more, and his little head has gotten bigger. His newborn onsies (finally) fit him perfectly. And now, instead of being frustrated that nothing fits him, I'm finding that I'm disappointed that it's only a matter of time until he'll outgrow the newborn clothes.

Although I'm actually kind of sad about how small he won't be, I'm also finding it very fun and exciting to see the little accomplishments he makes. For example, he can focus on my face. Sean and I get real close to him, and Bryce will actually study our faces. It's so fun to watch his eyes just study our eyes, nose and everything about our features. Bryce has also been trained (similar to Pavlov's dog) that mom means food. So literally, whenever I pick him up, he'll start turning his head and opening his mouth whether he's hungry or not. Tummy time is another of Bryce's favorites. Whenever Bryce isn't hungry, and thus not fussy, Sean will put him on his tummy and help him push up onto his hands. The doctor (and the web) says that learning how to do this will help him roll over and crawl faster. Bryce is really great at holding his head up for a few seconds-- we think he's so strong! Ha!

Let's address the other subject I brought up in the first paragraph-- breast feeding. Initially, I was very apprehensive in doing this, mainly because I really wasn't sure what to expect. I was never breast fed as a baby (okay, I was breast fed for a total of two weeks until my poor mom got frustrated) and Sean wasn't either, so clearly, my expectations of what to expect where limited. During the first couple of days in the hospital the nurses did a great job of helping him (and me) figure out the routine. Additionally, a lactation specialist came around to my room and gave me tips of when to start pumping, when to introduce a bottle, how many dirty diapers to count per day, etc. This specialist also has a free weekly class at the hospital where I delievered, so I decided that if this whole BF thing was going to work, I should attend at least one class. Let me just tell you how happy I was to do this-- there were almost 30 women in the class the first week I attended and their babies ranged in age from 7 days (my Bryce was the youngest) to 12 months. Tomorrow will now be the third time I'll attend the class, and Bryce will be 'weighed in' to make sure he's gaining enough weight each week. This is how the class works-- basically all the women get to know and talk to each other to gain 'best practices' if you will, and then the specialist comes around and individually answers our questions or helps us as needed. I think of this class as my support group because I don't think I would be as confident about BF if weren't for all these other women in the exact same boat as me. I have even managed to make a friend whose son is four days older than Bryce. It's nice to have someone to relate to as we are experiencing the exact same thing at the same time. The only downside is that I go back to work in November whereas she has until January.

I really think that for me BF is one of the most awesome and special things a new mom can experience. I think it has totally bonded Bryce and me. Also, I have started pumping, so tomorrow, Sean is officially allowed to feed him once a day with a bottle. He's pretty excited about the whole thing as am I, because it will give me a little break of Bryce's tough latch :) Stay tuned as I'll keep you all in the loop on how well Bryce actually takes a bottle! Hopefully it will be a success!!