4 weeks

Sleep deprivation is really starting to catch up with us. Dave helps out with a shift a night because Nathan really isn't going down unless he's in our arms for the most part. Plus even if he's in his crib he's so noisy that I don't sleep well. Sleep deprivation is affecting Neil as well. He used to sleep so well and sleep through a lot but he doesn't sleep through Nathan crying. So we actually get Nathan a lot faster than we used to get Neil. Sometimes the babies if they aren't all out crying will settle back down. I still remember Neil fussing, fussing, fussing, passing gas, and settling down to sleep by himself. We haven't allowed Nathan to do that yet because we're afraid he'll wake up Neil.

Nathan doesn't soothe himself to sleep yet. It's early for that and I'm realizing I really don't remember what it was like with Neil. I thought he was sleeping longer periods and in his crib by this point but Dave doesn't think so. The only times Nathan has fallen asleep for me so far are mostly when I've nursed him and a few times as I've held him.

Nathan's first bottle

We still do the same bedtime routine with Nathan; change diaper, put on pajamas, swaddle, then nurse. Then one of us holds him to make sure he's sound asleep and tries to put him in the crib. Some nights it works; others it doesn't. He lasts an hour or two in the crib. I've tried putting him back in the crib but each subsequent time he lasts less. I still have the Rock N Play by my side of the bed, but I prefer the crib in another room where I hear maybe a little bit less of all the newborn sleep noises. Newborns grunt, sniff, etc. a LOT!

They say sleep when the baby sleeps but I'm such a light sleeper I have a hard time during the day as well. There's light. There's more noise from neighbors. I'm so pathetic myself when it comes to sleeping.

Neil also brought home another illness. He got some kind of stomach bug. This meant he needed a lot more attention and he missed 3 days of daycare. The first one we held him back because he had thrown up overnight. Then they sent him home because of diarrhea. We had some major issues and were told he can't go back to daycare until 24 hours have passed without vomiting/diarrhea. So that ended up being 3 days. We wouldn't have sent him the 2nd day but he seemed fine overnight and in the morning and hadn't thrown up since Sunday night in the middle of the night. Nathan also caught it, and so did Dave and I. It was harder to tell with Nathan how long it took to get him over it but we couldn't do anything for him and felt so bad!

I think I cheated but Nathan has rolled from front to back now. This is super early. But he did it 4 times in a row the day he turned 4 weeks. I say I cheated because he seems calmer during tummy time if I put his hands on either side of him so maybe that's allowing him to roll easier. But I had Dave watch and Dave agreed that he has rolled over.

This is a series of pictures as he rolled over one of the times. I ran out of memory on my phone so I couldn't take a video. And the middle picture is blurry.

I am 1 pound below pre-pregnancy weight! So now my goal is to get below my pre-pregnancy weight with Neil, which is another 2.5 pounds. Then it will just be eventually trying to get to my goal weight, which is actually 12 pounds down total from where I am now. But my body hasn't seemed in the past to like that weight very much. Even when I was running I stayed steady about 9 pounds over my goal weight. I also took some pictures of myself, I think I do have a stomach still but have been getting some compliments that it doesn't look like I've had a baby. I do not fit into my pre-pregnancy pants but I do fit into the bigger ones I bought and wore for a little bit at work after having Neil.

Not the greatest picture but I was trying to show a side profile. I think I angled too much though for this.
Plus the jeans might be holding me in a little bit.

BTW I am still doing monthly pictures but instead of doing a long monthly post, as long as I'm doing the weekly posts, I'm just going to make it some of the pictures we take plus some stats, for the monthly post.