From here on out, I intend on updating Billy's blog once a week on the weekends. As you've noticed, I won't be sending out email updates as reminders that the blog is being updated. You'll just have to check in from time to time.
Antoinette is coming along nicely. She's had little trouble feeding the little guy and has battled some routine soreness. All in all, its back to the same old Antoinette where we practically need to tie her to a chair to make sure that she's not trying to do laundry, vacuum floors, or spit shine tile or something. Sometimes I think we need to keep a closer eye on her than we do the little guy. Antoinette is quickly learning that it is in her best interest to take advantage of the time her Mother is in town to catch up on as much sleep as possible, as well as to make sure she's sleeping when the baby is.
Billy has had plenty of new experiences since coming home. He spends about 95% of his time eating and sleeping and then maybe we get a little 5% window where we can play with him. As you can imagine, he is infatuated with his Mother and you'll often catch him just gazing into her eyes after a good feeding.
We've been experimenting with the little guy to see what he likes and what he doesn't. We found out that he doesn't fit in the vibrating seat just yet, but that he loves his swing. We rotated the swing around into a side to side cradle mode and its been pretty effective at putting him to sleep and keeping him that way. We also tested him out in the stroller for an afternoon walk, but we were afraid it might have been too warm outside for him, so we brought him back to the house. We'll test that out again tomorrow morning if the weather cooperates and the sun isn't quite so high in the sky. Temps are in the low 80's in the afternoon here.
Billy has also been introduced to Hunter, our Weimaraner, and the two of them seem to get along just fine. For all of the concern Antoinette had about their first meeting, Hunter basically gave him a sniff and went about his business. He perks up every now and then when he hears the baby crying and throws the occasional sniff and awkward glance at the baby in the swing, but for the most part, he's pretty indifferent to the baby's presence.
When it comes to Billy's development, he's been staring at his Mother and Father a lot, almost like he's trying to figure out who we are and why we're always around. His vision is limited to about 8-10 inches in front of his face, but that should improve over the coming weeks. He's begun to shed weight since birth, which is quite common. A baby can lose up to 10% of their birth weight in the first week or so of life, which is basically the baby losing excess water weight. For Billy, who weighed 6 lbs. and 13 oz. at birth (109 oz.), he can be expected to drop down to a bit over 6 lbs. before he begins to put the weight back on. As his Mother's milk comes in, he should begin to pack it back on, with most babies regaining their birth weight within two weeks.
Finally, his two major battle scars include his umbilical and his other one (a bit lower), both of which are healing on pace. The latter should be sufficiently healed within 3-5 days of birth, and the umbilical is expected to fall off within 7-10 days. Both are cared for with each diaper change. Speaking of which, the little guy is right on schedule with his digestive track, which is another good sign that all of the plumbing is working just fine.
On Monday, we visit the Pediatrician for the first time to make sure the little guy remains in good health and that he doesn't have jaundice. We are going to attempt to get him a little sunlight each day to help balance out those billirueben levels and prevent the little guy from turning a lighter shade of yellow.
Lastly, sorry the update is a little blurred...
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