One year stats and check up

Baby Keegan is big and healthy! He remains ahead on all of his motor milestones and all seems well on all fronts. He continues to love nurse Erica with all of his heart and squeaks and squeals with joy upon her entry into any space. I am so happy he is still so happy.

9 month stats and Dr appointment

Four Months Old

Four months have passed since Keegan was born, four months that have just absolutely flown by.  He is no longer my little baby (emphasized by meeting Janine and Austin's two week old baby Dean this week) he is getting so big.
Keegan weighs 19 pounds and 14.5 oz, he is 26 1/4 inches long, he is growing out of his six month sized clothing, he doesn't bobble his head, he can roll over from belly to back, he can roll from back to side, he can screech like a pterodactyl, he can squeal with joy, he can reach for and pick up a toy, he can hold on for dear life, he can make my heart melt with a smile and some dimples, he is precious and perfect and loved.
Time is going too fast- I am back to work full time now - I have five months until we get to be together more days in a week than not again. Keegan can push up on his arms, he can hold his head in line with his body- he is four months old and changing every single day.  I get so emotional when I realize how fast it all does go- I will be honest I don't love every single minute (how can you really love every minute when some of them involve being screamed at, pooped on, puked on or hit- really) but I do cherish every single day I am given with this boy who is lights up every room with his easy going personality and his joy.
Keegan isn't sleeping much these days- those glorious nights of 5 to 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep have passed- and he really hates his crib big so he and I are still sharing a bed- but I am so much less stressed about it than I was with his older brother.  I now realize what I couldn't possibly have known with my first child- it will all happen eventually. Someday he will sleep on his own, someday he will eat solids, someday he will soothe himself- but that someday is not today and probably isn't this month or maybe even next month and I am honestly okay with that.  I almost think on some level I will be sad when he sleeps on his own, when he isn't snuggled with his little body up against mine all night long (I will NOT however be sad to sleep more than 1 to 2 hours at a time though or to sleep in my amazing comfy bed upstairs again) because I know that once that passes it doesn't come back.

I Just Can't Win

With Grayson I thought I had suffered every bit of breastfeeding drama possible- low supply, cracked nipples, breast trauma, mastitis, crying and hungry baby, dairy sensitivity, and more..... I really thought we had gone through it all and survived- G is still nursing at 24 months and I thought we had figured it out.
Then Keegan was born and it all seemed to be going so very well- he latched well, was gaining weight, nursing frequently but then sleeping nice long stretches. At least for two weeks and two days- and then it all changed...
Then our sweet sleepy baby was replaced with a fiery, cranky, gassy baby with nasty green poop with little bits of blood in it... and then mommy cried- and then we went to our new pediatrician and then there was an answer!
Turns out I have too much milk- REALLY?!?! too much milk- who would EVER have thought that was possible. But because I have too much milk Keegan is really only getting the sugary foremilk and not the fatty hindmilk- so his tummy is upset from too much sugar, he always feels hungry, is gassy, has icky poop and in general feels crappy all because I have too much milk (I still am having a hard time wrapping my head around this.)
The plan is now to feed Keegan only from one side for a three to four hour stretch and try to get him to get all the milk out, use breast compressions to get the nice fatty stuff out of the deep part of the breast and pump the opposite side if I need to in order to try to avoid clogged ducts and mastitis. Hopefully this will get more fat in Keegan's diet meaning his belly will be less upset and he might actually sleep again someday which means I might sleep again someday :)
Hopefully the solution really is this simple, that all I have to do is switch breasts less frequently and within a few weeks my body will regulate so that we can go back to some sort of normal.
Wish us luck- darn boobs just can't seem to get this deal right.

Two week Dr Appointment

Keegan had his two week check up today. Dr Jen Thomas is our new pediatrician and so this was our first appointment with her as a family- and it went really well.
Keegan's physical exam was unremarkable- nothing of note as all is well :) He weighed in at exactly 11 pounds (!!!) far surpassing the goal of regaining his birthweight by two weeks of age.
Dr Jen helped us a bit with our latch too- on the left side right at the beginning of nursing I feel a bit of pain that lasts only about 5 seconds but it really hurts. Dr Jen showed us a few different ways to adjust Keegan's head and body position to try to decrease the odds of a bad latch or pain for me that could impact our nursing relationship.
Dr Jen also advised us to avoid giving Keegan anything other than breastmilk at this point (and for the next six months) - no gripe water, no vitamins (apparently if I take 4000-6000 IUs of Vitamin D a day enough of that will pass to him that he doesn't need supplementation himself), nothing.  Mom and Ryan had already dosed him with gripe water once and I have given him about 4 doses of Vitamin D- so we can't go back and undo those doses but we can avoid giving him anything else for the next 5.5 months.
His next appointment with Dr Jen is in two weeks, and then a month after that.