Two Weeks

Nathan had his two week check up today. He is 4lbs, 11oz as of today. And while I was pretty happy that he is steadily gaining back weight, the doctor was not as pleased because the benchmark for babies is to be back at their birth weight by 2 weeks old. He is 2oz shy of this weight. He is what they characterize a "slow gainer" which is another way of saying "not thriving as well as other babies his size/gestational age". Its disappointing because we have been working so hard to get his weight up. I feed him constantly throughout the day and at night I set my alarm so he eats regardless of whether he would wake for food. The issue is still that Nathan gets too tired and expends so much energy nursing that he just falls asleep before he is completely full.

So, the doctor has me now pumping milk, chilling it in the fridge, and syringing off the fat layer from the top of the milk to feed him in a medicine dropper 2-3 times a day. The idea is that the fat is the best part of the milk, which he needs, and the medicine dropper allows him to eat without having to suck, which expends calories and makes him too tired. Its alot of work, but, will be worth it if I see a payoff in the coming week and a half at his next weigh-in.

Other than the weight he is doing well, per the doctor checkup. He hasn't grown any in length, but, he did grow 0.6" in head circumference. He cant be a part of this family without a big head:)

He is such a cute little boy. We love him to pieces. He has a wonderful little personality on him. He already knows and loves his big brother's voices and will sit wide eyes listening to their noise as they play. Its hard to picture him running around with them, but, we know its just a matter of time to getting him on the right weight gaining track and growing.

Here are a couple new pictures. Check out Garren's hand size compared to Nathan's body size. It never stops amazing me how small he is.