A Super Long Blog Post: The Update

Birthday Boy

Warren is five weeks old today! Yesterday he smiled at me for the first time, and of course it made me cry. He has two little dimples, and the cutest smile ever! He is now eating about 4oz per feeding, which is about every three hours. He is in the 8-14lbs diapers now, and he has only a couple of weeks left, I think, before he outgrows his newborn clothes. Last week he weighed 8lbs 6oz. His umbilical cord has not yet fallen off; it's holding on for dear life, I guess.

I was taking pics of Warren after he had eaten, which I guess was a bad idea because all of the moving around caused a reaction: ...I know it's gross, but it was such perfect timing, I just had to post it.

Warren's First Road Trip: 8hrs to Ponca City

Last Sunday, April 26th, I came up with the crazy last minute idea of taking Warren to Okla. to visit our families - and so I did! We left the next day (my mom's birthday!). It took us 8hrs total, but two of those hours were from us stopping to eat and stretch. (No, Roy didn't go with us; it was just Warren and me. Roy's semester at Baylor is not over yet, and he had papers to write.) Warren slept the whole time in the car both there and back! I couldn't have asked for an easier trip.

The only members of our family that had seen Warren were my mom and sister, so it was great to see everyone with him. Below are some pics from our trip:

At first, my dad thought Warren was too little to hold. He said several times, "He's not much bigger than a minute." But mom put Warren in his arms and dad melted. Warren liked it too! He always fell asleep within minutes when Grandpa had him! Grandpa also taught Warren "The Poop Song" - and Warren pooped on him!

My dad will be the only grandpa Warren will know because Roy's dad passed away several years ago. Grandpa Van would have loved him something awful, too, though, and it is sad for us that they will never meet. I am glad Warren carries his name.

Grammy thinks Warren is wonderful, of course. She calls him "Peanut." He spent lots of time sleeping on her, too.

My grandma with Warren.

Grandma Nina (Roy's mom) met Warren and came over nearly everyday on her lunch hour to see him.

Aunt Cristy (Roy's sis) taught me to pump Warren's legs to help him get rid of gas. Unfortunately, he cried much of the time we visited her, Keara, and Uncle Adam (I have no idea why I don't have a pic of Warren w/him. I KNOW I took one!) Keara (3) kept asking to hold Warren. She didn't seem to mind that he was crying.

Aunt Sumer (Roy's youngest sister) came over and held him for awhile. He was very alert at the time, but a little later started crying uncontrollably because he had been manhandled too much that day. Poor guy.

Saturday morning we went to see my sister and her family. Sarah just adored Warren and barely left his side. She sang "You Are My Sunshine" to him, and he just stared at her. It was super sweet.

John took a little longer to take an interest in his cousin Warren. I think it was because I had teased him about changing Warren's diaper. He really wanted to teach him how to build with Legos. LOL

Saturday evening Warren and I drove down to Tulsa/Broken Arrow and stayed the night with Grandma Brown who was totally gaga over Warren!

While at Grandma Brown's, Warren also got to meet his Great-Aunt Janice and her kids, except for Ashley (We missed you, Ashley.) They all just adored him, and I think he liked the attention, too.

Second Cousin Amber

Second Cousin Haley

Second Cousin Hope

Second Cousin Zach

While in Okla., Warren also met his Great-Grandma Garton, Great-Grandpa Boyles, Great-Aunt Donna and Second Cousin Madison, and his Uncle Steve. We are sad that he didn't get to meet his Uncle Gregg, but we'll be going back to Okla. mid-June, so he will then.

Cleo and Warren

Many people ask how Cleo is doing with Warren. She is doing well overall. It is funny because she always looks for him when we come home; she has to smell him in his carrier. When Warren is upstairs, and I bring Cleo up, she just has to smell him in his crib. Otherwise she mostly ignores him and has accepted him as another part of our family. She no longer hides under a blanket when Warren cries, so I guess she has made progress!

From Breast to Formula

Warren is now on formula only. The short of it is I just couldn't keep up with his eating needs. Mornings were great, and Warren would get what he needed, but by the afternoon, my body was just not producing enough milk, and Warren was wanting to eat every 30mins-1hr, and he was very fussy and often cried. I tried supplementing with formula, and it made a HUGE difference. So much so that we decided to put him on formula only. He was so satisfied and peaceful after having formula that I just couldn't keep that from him. He is doing great on it, and all of his jaundice cleared up within two days, as well as he started pooping on his own. He is even sleeping better. It is kind of sad to no longer be breastfeeding him, but it is really nice, too; I can eat and drink whatever I want, and it is much easier to go out now because I don't have to worry about his feeding times or whether or not there will be a place to nurse him.

A Twenty Dollar Hand Job

In the past I had posted about my pumping issues, which never improved. I only ever got about half an ounce to an ounce from each breast. So when I pumped 4oz, I just had to take a pic. Here's the story: I didn't bring my pump to Okla. because I had no plans to use it; however, when I decided to supplement with formula, I needed to pump, so I went to the store and bought a $20 hand pump. The crazy thing is it worked better than my $200 electric double breast pump!!! Ugh! Probably it was due to the fact that I was so full and it was morning time, but still, I found it fascinating that I could actually pump that much at one time.

When I decided to go formula only, I was not prepared for the pain and leakage that accompanied not nursing or pumping. It felt like there were rocks in my breasts, and they were so sore I couldn't even hold Warren close without cringing. Thankfully that only lasted about three days. Now my breasts are soft again, not leaking, and only a little sore. They are still bigger than my old "A" cup size, so for that I am glad! LOL

The Future

I can't believe 5 weeks have passed already. My 6wk checkup is next Tuesday, and I go back to work/school on the 13th. My mom is coming the 16th-23rd. Roy will watch the baby the rest of the time. He does so well with him, I really don't need to worry ... much. :) Roy's mom and grandma hope to come down in July, and then school starts up again in August. That's when Warren will start daycare. But for now, we are focusing on today and enjoying every moment we have with our precious son.