His Plan, Not Ours: Owen is one month old!

This post is a little late coming, but I wanted to write up some information about Owen's first month so that you can know what he's been up to and I can look back to see when Owen accomplishes various milestones like his first smile, first steps, and first words.

I'm one month old now!

At one-month-old Owen was:

Weight: 10 pounds, 1 ounce

Height: 21.75 inches long

Owen gained about 21 ounces in one month, up from 8 pounds, 12.8 ounces when he was born and 8 pounds, 6 ounces at the hospital for his postpartum check-up a few days after he was born. He was back up to 8 pounds, 13 ounces a week after he was born.

Eating

Owen eats about every three to four hours. He takes in between three and five ounces depending on how long he has gone without eating. During the night he can go for longer and sometimes during the day if he is taking a really good nap. I generally wake him if he is sleeping for too long because otherwise he will wake up starving and eat too fast, which leads to spitting up.

He is 100 percent bottle fed at the moment, but is drinking 100 percent breast milk that I pump. He had to be supplemented with formula (per the nurse’s instructions) for the first week after he was born, but now my supply has gone up enough that I can keep up with his demand and store some extra breastmilk in the freezer. Although I am disappointed that breastfeeding isn’t working for us right now, I’m proud that I am able to provide him with breastmilk and it’s nice that Tim gets to bond with him by feeding him by bottle.

Sleep

Owen still sleeps a lot. He frequently naps during the day and is already sleeping really well at night. He typically falls asleep at about 8 or 9 with us in the living room. He then wakes around 10 or 11 to eat. We then transfer him to our bedroom when we go to sleep. He will then sleep until about 2 and wake up to eat and then wake again at 5 or 6 to eat. I then typically put him down again and we both nap until he wakes up again, at about 7:30 or 8.

He generally goes back to sleep during the night easily, but sometimes gives us a challenging night where he is wide awake in the middle of the night and stubbornly refuses to be put down. He is most fussy around midnight, which is when his Daddy takes the first nightly shift. I cover all the other times he wakes during the night and in the morning. When he is fussy, Owen generally just wants to be snuggled so sometimes we can bring him into our bed for a little while to get him to fall back asleep before we transfer him to his bouncer seat. We have a cradle for him, but at this point he prefers sleeping in the bouncer seat, which cradles him more and makes him feel more secure. He’s also less likely to startle himself awake. It has been a lifesaver.


My bouncer seat is so comfortable. It also vibrates and plays fun music.

Other Things I Want to Remember

Owen is in size 1 diapers. He can still fit into newborn diapers, but we have a lot more size ones that people bought for us so we’ve been using those. He also wears cloth diapers sometimes during the day. We are using Thirsties Duo diaper covers and cotton prefolds. They are super cute on Owen, but make his bottom look huge.

Owen is wearing a mixture of newborn and size 0-3 month clothing. The sleeves and pant legs of his 0-3 month clothing are too long for him so they have to be rolled up. He has big feet, so his small socks don’t fit very well anymore.

Owen still has plenty of hair and is getting sort-of a mullet in the back. His hair color has lightened in the last month and can look almost blond-ish in some places.

His eyes are still pretty dark blue-gray and it seems that the brown ring that was around his irises has faded. Right now, we’re guessing that his eyes will remain blue.

Owen loves his hands. He will put them in his mouth especially when he is hungry, and gets really frustrated if we swaddle him with his hands in or put baby mittens on him. He is a Houdini child because no matter how tight we swaddle him, he always manages to work his hands back out. He loves to wave his arms around and have his hands against his cheeks, but sometimes scratches himself or hits himself in the face because he doesn’t have complete control of them yet. This is also a problem when he’s sleeping because he will wake himself up with his startle reflex.

Owen has yet to smile voluntarily, but his involuntary smiles are really cute and we can’t wait for the real kind. He does make lots of other funny faces though and is quite expressive. In particular we enjoy his Elvis snarl look and his “Oh” mouth when he’s working on making something special in his diaper.

Owen isn’t really making any cooing noises yet, but is more of a grunter. His cries have lost the newborn whimper and are much stronger. We are learning to tell his different cries apart and can generally tell when he’s crying because he’s hungry and when he’s tired or has a wet diaper. We are learning the various ways that get him to stop crying, including swaddling, pacifiers, shushing, and rocking. Tim has recorded himself shushing on his computer and will sometimes play it on repeat to save our voices. Owen is also soothed by the sound of the shower. We have a Sleep Sheep, which plays several sounds to soothe a baby, but Owen doesn’t seem to be affected by it. Tim and I enjoy the ocean waves setting though and it helps muffle Owen’s snorty sleep noises so we can sleep better.

Owen enjoys his bouncer seat and swing, but only when he’s sleepy. They both make him go to sleep. He doesn’t like to sit in them when he is awake and will cry until I come get him out. He enjoys his activity mat occasionally. He will accidentally hit the toys hanging above him when he’s on it, but doesn’t realize that he is the one who made them move. He hates tummy time and we’re lucky if we can get him to do it for five minutes without him crying. If we do tummy time when he is tired, he just gives up and falls asleep on his stomach. He is getting stronger though and can lift his head up really well.

I hate tummy time!

Owen loves bath time. We alternate between bathing him in the baby tub and in our bathtub with us. He really relaxes in the bath and enjoys having the water poured over him.

Bath time makes me sleepy.

Bath time is my favorite. Especially when Daddy plays with me in the tub.

Owen is particularly entranced by ceiling fans and lights.

His best friend (other than Mommy and Daddy) is his musical elephant toy from Haley. Tim named him Ned. Anytime I change Owen’s clothes in his crib, I pull Ned’s cord to play the lullaby song and Owen immediately quiets down.

Owen has been pretty needy lately and hates to be put down especially if he is awake. At the same time though, some of his sweetest moments are when he is sleeping on my chest or staring quietly up at me while I talk to him or sing him silly songs.

Here are some pictures from Owen's one month old photo shoot.