Week two - newborn life

My tiny little newborn isn't so tiny anymore. His little legs are starting to unfold and he's changing every day. Here's his two week update...

Weight - Archie now weighs 9lb 15oz as of today, taking himself from the 75th centile up to the 91st. Impressive work in 2 weeks!! He's obviously going to be nice and chubby like his big brother was and I'm hoping it'll mean I'll lose my weight nice and quickly too. 

Appointments - The health visitor came out to us on Thursday and weighed Archie and checked all was okay. We don't see him again until 6 weeks now. We also saw the midwife to be officially discharged and for her to weigh Archie so that's the last time we'll see the midwives now which makes me a tiny bit sad. Why does the time go so quickly!?

Milestones - Archie had his first ever bath a week ago and absolutely loved it which is great. I was really prepared for him to scream the house down but he didn't and he was totally silent the second he was in the warm water.

Personality - He's still Mr Delicious and really easy as long as he's fed. He's doing amazingly with his sleep and is super alert in the day now, although he does still sleep for the majority of the time. He doesn't mind being put down on his play mat or in his swingy chair for around 10 minutes at a time and seems to enjoy tummy time too. Another hit this week is the Boba wrap which he settles in so well (again, only as long as he's had a nice big feed prior to going in!). I did a big food shop with him in it and he slept the entire time which I was so relieved about....I'd had visions of having to abandon a whole trolley full of food half way around the shop because of a tiny baby screaming blue murder!!

Feeding - Feeding is going well and although it's still slightly sore when he initially latches, it's nothing to how it was last week. I had a blocked duct this week though which was so beyond painful. I never had anything like that with Henry in the two years that I fed him so I really wasn't expecting it. I spent the entire evening sobbing as I tried to totally empty it and feed Archie from that side; total agony. With some heat and hand expression it seems to have gone though, thank goodness! 

Sleep - So good for such a little one. Except for one night which wasn't so good this week, he's woken up twice for a feed between around 10pm when I take him up to bed, and about 7am when he or Henry wakes up (and inevitably wakes the other one up). He's generally doing 3-3.5 hour stretches of sleep and then feeding for around half an hour before sleeping again. I really can't complain for a baby so little even though I am still pretty exhausted! He's napping lots during the day still but we've been trying to have a nice long nap altogether on an afternoon and for this we usually have to cosleep to get longer than an hour out of him. Henry adores having his baby brother with us at naptime everyday and it makes my heart happy to be able to lie with my beautiful little boys, one under each arm, for a few hours every afternoon. 

Days out - We've had a busy week with it being Henry's birthday so lots of days out this week. Mr B and I went for a nice quiet lunch followed by some shopping one lunchtime while Henry was at Marmar's, accompanied by little Archie of course! We've also been to Henry's Little Farmers class followed by a farm shop brunch, to a little play centre called Tiny Town, out for a pub tea with all the family and then Archie and I went for a super posh lunch for a friend's birthday to Six at the Baltic on Friday which was lovely too. We then had Henry's birthday party at the leisure centre yesterday which was the last of his birthday celebrations. Aside from all that we have also had plenty of time at home together for naps and snuggles. Daddy is back to work this week so I'm sure it'll be a lot quieter.

Family life - Henry is still loving his role as big brother and has been a total angel again all week. He's such a big helper, genuinely, and I'm so proud of how he's been these past few weeks. We did manage to escape one afternoon this week, just the two of us, for an hour while Archie slept at home which was so lovely. Nowhere exciting, just Aldi baby event and Morissons for clothes, but it was so nice having both hands free for Henry and being able to hold his hand and chat to him like always without worrying about holding a car seat or feeding Archie or whatever. I do miss our days 'just us', so an hour shopping with my biggest boy felt like a real treat. He spent the day yesterday saying to his brother, "Simba I'm so glad you are born" - just gorgeous. 

A week postpartum - I'm still feeling really good and minus the blocked duct issue this week, I have felt totally fine really. I've lost another 2lb meaning I have 9lb to go to be back to my Christmas weight. I'm loving losing weight whilst still eating cake because I'm hungry ALL the time and that's not to mention the thirst which hits me every now and again if I've forgotten to drink!! 

And that's it. Probably our last week with a tiny, fresh, curled up newborn baby. I'm trying to enjoy every second, ignoring the part of me that just desperately wants a bath in peace for half an hour and remembering that that will happen again but these newborn days will not. So for now I'm enjoying the cuddles during the night and the cluster feeding on an evening and trying to soak up every last second of my tiny little baby boy.