Life with Rowan

Rowan is now sixteen days old, and already I can see that he is growing and changing. He is now 53.5cm (up 2.5cm from his birth length) and weighs 7lb 8oz (up from 7lb 2oz - or 3225g - at birth). Head circumference is 34cm, up 1cm. Not bad for two weeks and being nourished from my milk alone!

He is beginning to be more alert after feeds, and will sometimes be awake for 30-60min afterward, which means we can fit lots of cuddle time in before his sleeps. His eyes will try to focus and sometimes he goes a little cross-eyed. But Rowan is very much a serious soul so far, like his Dad.

We have been attempting to settle him into a predictable routine and so far, so good. He is a pretty good sleeper, and will sleep for 2-3 hours at a time - and when we time it correctly means a feed around 11pm or midnight, one between 2-3am and another between 6-7am (by which time the sun has started to come up and it doesn't feel like a 'night' feed, giving the illusion of less getting up at night).

However, that's not to say that every day/night has been easy, both hubby and I are learning to adjust to life with a baby, and the loss of personal time. Luckily for me, hubby has had time off work since Rowan was born, meaning that I've been able to nap during the day a little bit and we've shared nappy changes and comfort etc. Hubby has taken to parenthood like a duck to water, and it amazes me how much of a natural he seems (whereas I was worried about mishandling or dropping Rowan for the first few days; he was so tiny!).

My post-partum healing has been a bit up-and-down, after beginning to cramp and bleed more heavily after the first ten days. I'm being treated for a pelvic infection (and yes, that's as painful as it sounds!) and have been passing rather thick, tissue-y clots for the past 24 hours. I'm hoping that this leftover membrane is what my body has been trying hard to get rid of, as I'm feeling more comfortable this morning, and the blood flow appears to have slowed down for now *crosses fingers*. I'm trying to take it a bit easier too, as I think I've been doing a little too much, too soon.

Feeding is going well now, after a sluggish start. We're using a nipple shield on the left side as Rowan isn't keen on drawing the nipple in as yet, but is feeding like a champ this way. After working on positioning his head properly, he's getting a much better latch than he was originally (he used to detatch every minute or so, which had me concerned that he wasn't getting all the milk he needed). Having said that, my supply is much bigger on the right side, there's almost a full cup size difference between my breasts at the moment - I've been working at expressing to increase the supply on my left, but it hasn't made a huge difference so far. Still, given my whole supply it seems the perfect amount for him at present. :)

8 days old.



Wide-eyed and alert at 9 days old.



Rowan's first 'proper' outfit before his two week visit to the maternal health centre (and first visit at 'Nana's' house; my Mum)

Showing us his neck strength at 13 days old.

And lastly, what a difference 2.5 weeks can make! The picture on the left was taken at 38.5 weeks (about 5 days before the birth) and the one on the right was taken two days ago.