Luke's First Month

Our little Luke is a sweet boy.  His eyes always seem to look deep into your soul when he stares at you.  He’s been cooing since he was in the NICU and has the sweetest voice.  He ‘sighs’ when he eats which melts my heart and gives a long sigh after his sneezing fits (about 3 sneezes at a time).  It seems each week Luke has changed quite a lot.  But his overall personality remains consistent so far; incredibly sweet and laid back most of the time and incredibly strong willed and stubborn at others! 

Luke was a very sleepy baby his first two weeks.  And when I say sleepy, I mean 18-20 hours a day sleepy.  I’d often wake him up because I just wanted to hold him and say hi; I missed my lil’ guy….  He made up for it his third week when we all had the tummy bug.  He was up all the time.  This was partly due to the fact that he had become very spoiled and didn’t want to sleep unless someone was holding him.  He didn’t nap well which was okay, but he didn’t sleep well at night anymore either!  Oh this was a rough week as we were all sick and beyond sleep deprived.  Then finally after about a week, poor little Luke was beyond tired.  He fought it and fought it one night and then finally caved in and passed out.  Ever since then he has been sleeping well; a great balance between awake time and sleep.  He is also much better about sleeping w/o being held, but still loves and prefers to snuggle! 

We haven’t started ‘sleep training’ him yet.  Actually our first step this past week has been to slowly start introducing a ‘first morning feeding’.  This naturally falls about 7:30 give or take 30 minutes, since this is when we eat breakfast.  I let the boys say hi to Luke in his bassinet and all the noise gets him stirring if he isn’t already.  Often all 3 boys will eat breakfast together at the table. 

Luke is a very slow nurser.  I’ve tried to train him, but with everything going on, it just doesn’t seem to be effective.  He eats much faster with the bottle though.  He also is very hard to burp most of the time, but you have to get the burp out of him or he’ll spit everything up.  I’ve had to literally burp him for 5 minutes to get it out.  They are always big burps too.  Luke hasn’t been too gassy until recently.  He’s fine during the day, but between 2 and 7am, he has so much totty gas it makes him toss and turn all night.  We are trying different gripe waters to see if they help.  He also seems to have a poopy diaper everytime I change him still.  He went from eating about 2-3oz for his first 1-3 weeks to about 4 to 4.5oz (sometimes 5 or 6) his 4^th week.  He’s still on 100% breast milk, but I see this will likely have to change since he is such a slow nurser.  I don’t have time to nurse him for 1.5 to 2 hours each feeding and/or pump every few hours.  I’ve prayed about it and feel at complete peace about God’s will.  I want to write a separate post about this topic later.

Luke is incredibly strong!  I knew in the womb he was going to be a strong boy, but that was an understatement.  The nurses in the NICU were shocked too.  He holds his head up, moves it all around, pushes up on his hands/arms, tries to stand when you burp him (actually you can’t bend him), he contorts his body when he’s mad and scoots, pushes forward and 180 when on his tummy.  This little guy knows he has to keep up with his two older brothers and is taking the practice serious!   He’ll be rolling around with them and I’m sure running too before we know it.

Just the past few days, Luke has taken on a whole new level of awareness.  He’s really enjoying the interaction with us and the boys.  He’s even tried to coo back to us at times when we are talking to him.  Random, but last night was the first time I gave him a bath and he didn’t cry one time through it or while I was dressing him!  I was singing and he was mesmerized.  Another random subject, but Luke hasn’t lost his hair yet.  He was born with very short hair all over; it actually looked like he had gotten a military hair cut already!  He has dark brown hair and his eyes have gotten a little lighter since he was born.  I’m thinking he won’t have dark brown eyes at this rate, so we just have to wait and see what God gave him!

I will for sure post more about our Luke soon, but I wanted to capture a few things about our precious son’s first month.  I am so thankful God has entrusted us with him and pray for him daily.  My biggest prayer for Luke is that he knows, loves and serves/follows God all the days of his life.  I pray as a mother I can help Luke discover who God made him to be and help him follow God’s path for his life.  Thank You Lord for our sweet ‘Baby’ Luke!  

The following pictures are from Luke's second week (before our family's tummy bug and potty training).  I will be posting some more updated pics soon as soon as I have time!

I want to also write a quick note about how wonderful it was to have family here to celebrate Luke's arrival with us!  My mom and sister were here his first week and were beyond helpful.  We couldn't have done it without them!  They took such amazing care of Gavin and Wyatt while I was in the hospital and recovering.  Gavin and Wyatt were so happy with them here and missed them greatly when they had to go back to El Paso.  I never had to worry about my sweet sons physically or emotionally because they were in such great hands.  They also helped with the house and meals which I am so thankful for!

My dad was here Luke's second week and was such an amazing help as well!  I am so thankful he was able to help and share this time with us!  He drove us to so many doctor's appointments that week since I couldn't drive.  What a gift!  I had my doctor appointment, Luke's blood drawing appt at the hospital which was beyond sad for Luke and Mama, and then Luke's pediatrician's appointment.  The boys just loved having Grandpa around.  I could tell they were in heaven with the testosterone from Daddy and Grandpa, hehe!

Also, Grandma Nadine has been here so much to help and love on our 3 boys!  She even came over to help us with the boys when we all had the tummy bug.  She ended up getting sick too :(  What a huge gift of help and love!  The boys just love Grandma and have so much fun with her.  They have enjoyed showing off their big boy under ware to her this week and laugh as we all do the potty dance together!

I'm so thankful for our family's help and love!  I am also thankful to all our friends who have brought meals to us and all the prayers!  What a gift!