Almost 6 Weeks!

I can't believe I'm actually doing this post!

I can't believe our Jack is already 6 weeks old….well, technically he isn't really 6 weeks old yet, but he will be on Friday! 

My Little Man will be 6 weeks old on Valentine's Day! 

MAKE ME CRY!!!!!

He is totally my little snuggle man….in fact, I'm semi-reclining in the desk chair and he's sleeping on my chest.  

I thought I'd do an update on how he's doing and post some pictures that my girls took today.  I'll post like I'm writing to Jack, because I've seen that on other blogs and I always thought it was so great.

Okay, prepare to be blown away by Jack's sheer awesomeness and total gorgeousity!

I just created a new word!

Jack, I'm still in awe of you.  I'm still enchanted with your every breath and sigh. I still cannot believe that you're really here.  It doesn't matter to me how much time passes, I still marvel that you are ours.  This picture of you, the one up above, to me, is the essence of purity and beauty.  You were on Daddy's lap and we were so glad to have caught this moment on film.  You love your naps and you were sound asleep in this picture.  The blanket was made for you by some very dear friends who live in Idaho. 

You are steadily and surely getting bigger! At first, you weren't gaining hardly any weight at all.  At your 3 week check up with the midwife, you had only gained 2 ounces. I guess you were supposed to have gained much more than that, at least an ounce a day! Well, Mama was determined to fix that and to "fatten you up", so to speak.  The midwife recommended that we come in every week to monitor your weight gain and to see how nursing was going.  I took her seriously and got down to business, and by your next check up a week later, you had gained more than 6 ounces!! 

You're long and skinny still. Your feet are super long and thin and I love kissing your little teeny toes.  You love having socks on, which has been different for us because all of my other babies kicked their socks off as soon as they were put on! You're still too small for most of your clothes.  You are too small for 3-6 month clothes, but we still put them on you because they're long enough.  So, most of the onesies you wear are 0-3 months and the pants and jeans you're wearing are mostly 3-6 months because you're super long!

Our midwife wasn't there at your 4 week check up, but I called her today and she was so happy with your weight gain that we rescheduled our check up for next week!

You are nursed exclusively.  You nurse about every 2.5 to 3 hours.  At first, unbeknownst to me, you were latching on wrong and nursing wrong, and it was super painful! I thought it was so painful because you were just a hard sucker, but we learned that you weren't latching on right, thus the painful nursing and poor weight gain. You were only going for about an hour and a half between feedings!  So, our midwife's assistant helped me out and now, nursing is wonderful! You nurse on both sides mostly, for about 15-20 minutes a side.  I also had to start eating more calories and getting more water because I was not eating anything, and instead of making really rich, good milk, mine was basically skim milk! So I'm trying to get more fluids!! It seems to have 
helped because you're so much more satisfied and full!

You start getting tired about 20 minutes after a feeding.  You love to sleep on Mama, and you wake up about every 3 hours at night to eat.  You sleep a lot still, after every feeding you will sleep for at least an hour.  You love to snuggle with me and sleep! You aren't sleeping in your crib yet, partly because we don't have your bedding yet and partly because you love to sleep with me…and I'm not really ready to let you go in your crib yet!

You are having more awake time too.  You have stayed awake after a feeding for about an hour or so! You have a lot of facial expressions and I love them all! You turn your head toward my voice and you have a really strong neck and you love to hold your head up for a long time.  You can stand a bit on your legs, and you push with your legs when your legs are against my tummy. You're starting to use your arms with purpose and you look at your toes as though they fascinate you!

You smile all the time.  You love your sisters and your brother, and they all love to hold you.  You reserve most of your smiles for Mama though.  In fact, you are a total Mama's Boy, as we can tell right now by the fact that Daddy is holding you and you are totally hysterical.  You don't like to go a long time without Mama, and so I'm having to hurry with this post!

I love to kiss your little soft lips and your cheeks.  I love to look into your gray eyes and see the intelligence there.  Your cooing and gurgling so much now.  I get the feeling that you're going to have a lot to say and you won't be a silent baby!

These toes!! I am so in love with them.  To think that these precious little toes grew inside of me…it's really too wonderful for me to fathom! I always put socks on you because our house can be cold and you love your socks.  Someone gave me some socks that fit really well and don't ever slip off and we love them.  I could caress each line and dimple on your feet all day!

Your little hands fill me with joy! You are starting to use your arms with purpose now, and this evening while I was feeding you I noticed that it looked like you wanted to caress my skin with your hand.  That nearly made me cry! You have super long fingers and very thin hands.  I don't think you're going to be a chubby baby! Maybe you'll play the piano one day like your big sisters!

Jack, it has been a hard, grueling, wonderful, joyful, precious road I've been walking since you arrived.  I'll never forget that God granted us a miracle with you.  The fact that you're here and with us and in our arms is a wonder and a joy that I do not take for granted at all.  

I love you so much, my Little Man!  

Love Mama