One month old!

My tiny man is one whole month old! I missed updating on the actual day (in fact I feel rather ashamed to admit that I FORGOT on the actual day - only remembered on the 22nd that Samuel turned one month old the day before!), but there it is. He will be 5 weeks old on Tuesday (it's Sunday today) - I can't believe how fast the time is going!

I don't have much time to update as Samuel is starting to wake now that I'm typing, and seems like he is going to be very hungry and cross if I don't hurry up and feed him, lol! I wish I had kept up better over the past couple of weeks. A lot has happened that I wanted to keep a record of, but I just haven't had time.

Right after my last update (literally, immediately!), Samuel became really fussy, and it got progressively worse each day until he was basically spending the entire day crying and seeming uncomfortable, and no longer doing calm things like making eye contact or smiling at me :( He would not fuss or cry if he was sleeping or breastfeeding, but otherwise he was crying constantly. He would start the moment he let go of the breast, and he started to have only a handful of catnaps throughout the day (10-20 mins at a time). It became hard to handle a really really upset baby all day as well as the four other little ones, and I started to worry that he was becoming "colicky". Only Matthew out of my others was like that as a small baby, and it was sooooooo incredibly hard. Matthew's colic started in the same way and at exactly the same age I think, so I was not feeling too optimistic about it. I did not know how I was going to cope with several more months of it! The only thing was that his evening sleep still remained consistent and good - if I got him nursed and asleep between 7 and 8pm, he would stay asleep the rest of the evening, and would then nurse right back to sleep after a nappy change and a feed, for another 2-3 hours.

On the very worst day, he did not sleep well during the evening. In fact he was still awake at 10pm crying, having had no sleep yet that evening! Thinking of this being the new norm was soooo depressing, as I hated seeing him in pain, and that is how he seemed to be. I figured he needed to see a chiropractor like Heather had suggested when he was born, so I made an appointment for him (and me - OW my hips are SOOOOO sore still!!) with the same place I took Benjamin to when he was a baby - they specialise in babies, children, and mothers who are pregnant or newly postpartum. The appointment wasn't until Feb 1st, but at least it was made.

So at 10pm that evening I marched downstairs with him and handed him to Neil because I had tried everything to soothe him, breastfed him to bursting point and still he was crying and wouldn't sleep. My back and arms were hurting and I hoped Neil would have an idea. He sent me upstairs to rest and held Samuel in the kitchen to keep the crying noise as far away from the sleeping children as possible in our teeny house! I heard him crying on and off for a while and then he stopped. After it had been quiet for a bit, I went down to investigate, and found Samuel fast asleep in Neil's arms. Neil said he had prayed over Samuel and then he had gone to sleep! I was so glad that he was asleep, and so grateful that Neil had taken the initiative to pray over him! We put him to bed and he slept intil 2am, and next woke at 5.45 or 6am. When he got up for the day, he was a totally different baby! Absolutely zero fussing or crying all day long, other than if he was hungry and I was taking too long getting my bra open, hehe! He was calm and physically relaxed, and seemed contented. He made eye contact and cooed and smiled all day! :) He still had quite a few catnaps in the bouncy chair and woke if I tried to transfer him to the bedroom, but he did take one nice long 2hrs and 45 minutes nap in the afternoon. That was Tuesday, and he has been calm and happy ever since!!! Well, he was kind of fussy for the hour before bedtime this evening, but anyway, God is so faithful and I am SO relieved!!

Ahh I didn't get to finish this, so Samuel has now been changed and fed, and then changed into a different sleepsuit after bringing up milk on himself (and me!), and then nursed some more, and now he's dozing draped across my front while I type this with one hand! :) These precious days are so fleeting so I am enjoying it while I can. It is just about midnight now and another week starts tomorrow, and I'm tired, but he isn't asleep enough yet for me to put him down, otherwise he might wake up. Hopefully if I hold him for 5 or 10 more minutes he'll stay asleep when I put him down and I can go and brush my teeth. So I may as well continue typing for now! :)

Samuel still hasn't used his crib! He naps on my bed or in the bouncy chair, though he doesn't stay asleep so long in the chair. If he stays asleep when I put him on my bed, he always sleeps for the next 2.5 - 3 hours. He now has one such nap per day, as yet unpredictably. He won't stay asleep any other time that I try it, but once a day at some point, he will. Usually that's somewhere in the afternoon but one day this week he started a long nap at 10.30am. It was a day that Benjamin had been awke since 4.45am (those molars again!) and poor Benji was exhausted, so he nursed into a deep sleep only 15 minutes after Samuel did. They both slept for a record 3hrs and 15 minutes! Which was perfect, since their naps were staggered by 15 minutes, so I had chance to nurse and change Samuel in the 15 minutes before Benjamin woke up. I got housework done, read alouds and other quality time with the older three, and I even managed to cut Nathan's hair after they ate lunch! They all badly need a haircut so the other 3 are on my to-do list this week! I am also preparing to start school this week - we start back on Mon 31st, and Matthew starts school for the very first time! :) He's so excited! I hope I can pull it off, but I am also really looking forward to it. Neil's birthday is on Tuesday too!

Samuel is now sleeping 4-5 hours consistently in the evening, and usually goes from about 8pm to 1am, or 7pm to midnight, or something like that. I just put him down now and he has stayed asleep next to me, so I can finish the typing a little faster if it doesn't disturb him! Then I MUST go to bed!

He wakes a couple of times in the night after midnight I think, but maybe some nights only once?? I really don't know, it could be more than that, but we now have a dark room (I kept the lamp on to see by in the first few weeks) and sleep tummy-to-tummy, so I barely come round enough to get him latched on and then fall straight back to sleep. My hips have been slightly less painful in the last two days, but before that I had to change sides with Samuel halfway through the night because it became too painful to stay on that side (also better for Samuel's head I should think!). The last two nights I haven't had to, so I had unknowingly been offering Samuel the same breast all night, and boy was I lopsided in the morning, haha! The side I hadn't used was engorged. Ow. In the evening he sleeps in my bed, and I just climb in next to him part way through the evening and go on the internet via my laptop. He isn't disturbed by it at this age, but he will be soon. Some evenings I am downstairs till bedtime though. Then I just climb in beside my sweet tiny man and go to sleep! I LOVE it. Love it soooo much. He is just precious and I love being close to him. I have no desire whatsoever to put him in his own sleeping space. It's just GORGEOUS sharing my bed with him.

He is cooing so sweetly these days! I keep trying to catch it on camera (for a video clip) but EVERY time there's deafening bellowing in the background from another kiddie or else he stops and starts to fuss a bit instead of cooing, or someone comes and stands in front of the camera to make a silly face or ask me a question! Hopefully I'll get a good clip to share soon! He has Matthew's sweet husky little voice - only Matthew has had that type of voice so far. It's UNCANNY how many similarities there are between Samuel and Matthew. He SMELLS like Matthew did as a baby as well. Again, only Matthew smelled like that - he was quite a... strong-smelling baby, lol! Like a MAN smell, quite stinky sometimes! ;) Even right after a bath, it was like his sweat glands were all full of pheromones or something, and he was quite a sweaty baby in general. Arthur, Nathan and Benjamin weren't like that at all. Samuel is! He's also showing the start of cradle cap which all the boys have had (and Benjamin and NATHAN still do, even though they only ever have their hair washed with Dentinox!! What is up with that?! Nathan is THREE!!!), and his hairline is doing that receding thing now that his brain just had a growth spurt (so did his forehead therefore, hehe!), so it's becoming more visible. He has only had two baths (gasp! Yes, I'm a bad mother! ;) ) so far, but he has his hair washed with Dentinox. Hey ho.

His smile is so precious!! Big and broad and open and gummy, and he has a dimple in one cheek like I do (the same side too!). His face lights up when he smiles. I LOVE him so much!! He is beginning to get some newborn acne on his cheeks, poor little manny. He is otherwise doing great, and growing SO fast! He is now outgrowing all his 0-3 month sleepsuits and fits the smaller 3-6 month ones well. Craziness at just 4 weeks old!! He was 11lbs 1oz at three weeks old, and I guess he will next be weighed at his 6-8 week check. I have no idea what he weighs now but I'm guessing at around 12lbs? I am noticing my arm and shoulder hurting a LOT lately after holding him, so he must be gaining weight! He is tracking things with his eyes, and starting to watch his brothers around him (which they love!). He has smiled at Matthew and coos at him too, since Matthew is (as usual) the one who really puts in the time with little babies, sitting with them and being calm and interested in them. He was the same with Benjamin, and Benjamin warmed to him so much more than the others as a baby. Matthew has a real tender heart for little babies :)

I'm sure there's so much more that I wanted to write about, but for now I need to go to bed. I need to make an appointment for my 6-week postnatal check (just a week or so away!), and they'll send Samuel's in the post. Once he's had that check I will need to follow my tradition of finishing posting at this lovely blog, which is sad! I will try to update a couple of times at least before then, while I have the chance! I can't believe my new baby is almost at the end of the newborn stage already! :( I LOVE me a newborn!

I will be back though! ;) I have a couple of boys names at the ready for boy #6. Heather thinks the next baby will be born in June 2012, just in time for the Olympics! :) Matthew told me randomly the other day that he thought I would have another baby in October, but not this October. We shall see! I DO hope and pray that God will bless us with more babies yet! I hope it's not greedy of me, but I just love it so much, and don't want it to end!