One Month!

Elijah is one month old! I can’t believe how time has flown.

He had his one month Well Baby visit on Monday. He continues to be perfect

To recap his health, when Elijah was born his APGAR scores were 9 at 1 minute and 10 at 5 minutes. The exam was completely normal. As the day progressed he acted just like a newborn should act. His skin started to show a little bit of jaundice, so I was encouraged to feed him a bit more often. He was tired (as all newborns are) so this was a challenge. Monday evening (his second day of life) they did a screen for jaundice and he failed it, so they added a diagnostic test for jaundice that they performed with the standard heel prick for the Minnesota Newborn Screen. His biliruben levels were higher than normal, but not high enough to need to be treated with “bili lights.” Andy stayed with Elijah during these test and said that Eli did great!

The next morning they did another blood test and his levels were again high but still not high enough to need lights. Elijah also got another exam by the pediatrician and was proclaimed to be perfect. He saw an audiologist and passed his hearing test. Both of us were released from the hospital.

We had a pediatrician appointment the next day, and he was still a perfect newborn baby. She recommended we give him Vitamin D (liquid in a dropper), but it isn’t necessary. Another blood test for jaundice, another diagnose of “high, but not high enough to need treatment”. We came back the following day and they didn’t need to do a blood test, the doctor was able to just look at him and see that he was doing better. One more appointment, that Monday, and it was proclaimed that he cleared the jaundice.

His one month visit was Monday. He has a little hernia under his belly button, this isn’t a big deal and will heal on it’s own. The jaundice is completely gone. He has a yeast infection on his bottom. Andy and I thought it was a diaper rash and had been treating it with Desitin. Now that we know it’s yeast we’re using an anti-fungal and it’s getting better. My poor baby, it looks so painful!

Eli is healthy and doing everything he’s suppose to do. They weigh him at every visit, I love seeing these numbers! Since I’m exclusively breastfeeding him it’s very validating to see how much he’s grown .

Elijah’s stats when he was born:
Weight: 2.94 kg (6 lb 7.9 oz), 16th percentile
Length: 47 cm (18.5 inches), 14th percentile
Head Circumference: 33 cm (13 inches), 9th percentile

His one month stats:
Weight: 3.80 kg (8 lb 6 oz), 23rd percentile
Length: 51.90 cm (20.4 inches), 21st percentile
Head Circumference: 36.70 cm (14.4 inches), 26th percentile

Elijah is still wearing Newborn sized diapers. He’s wearing newborn and 0-3 month clothes. He loves breast milk and has never turned it down. He doesn’t like his vitamin D drops. He doesn’t like the bathtub but doesn’t mind being held under running water. He likes his bouncer seat but thinks the swing moves a little too fast. Car rides are very enjoyable. He puts up a fuss when we swaddle him, but then sleeps so well swaddled. He can move his head around when he’s upright, and can lift it a little bit when he’s on his tummy. He moves his hands all the time and has a good grasp reflex. I think he’s starting to move his hands with a bit of intent. He’s a strong and efficient eater. He has a tremendously strong suck. He really likes his pacifier, and it sometimes appears like he’s trying to use his hands to hold his pacifier in his mouth. He shows a little more interest in people’s faces than other things and he’s starting to track objects. And he smiled! I love that he smiled at me and I’m looking forward to many many more of those.