Sick Baby, Little Sleep

Everybody warned us that when Jesper started daycare, he would get sick - a lot. However, I think Josh and I have been a little surprised at how true that has been.

The second week Jesper was in school, I got a text that said "Jesper's eye is red" along with a picture of my little boy and his pink eye. After picking him up from daycare and a trip to the pediatrician, it was confirmed that Jesper did indeed have a case of pink eye. I asked the doctor if it was likely to travel from eye to eye and he said, "No, that's very rare."

Uh-oh.

So, we started the eye drops (Jesper was a trooper!) and Josh came home to babysit that afternoon while I worked from home to finish a proposal that was due to the client the next day. The next day, Friday, I worked from home while watching him (not something I want to do very often!! What a crazy day...) and got my proposal turned in.

Hanging out with Mom while home with pink eye

Pink eye, happy baby

He recovered nicely that weekend, only to have a little pink in his OTHER eye on Sunday night. To be safe, I started drops in the right eye. Unfortunately, he got sent home from daycare 5 min. after I dropped him off on Monday morning. It hadn't been 24 hours since we started drops in his other eye, so he was not ok'd to be there that day. So much for going to work... I stayed home with him and took a PTO day on Monday.

That Thursday, I get another text from one of his teachers, "Jesper's eye is pink again". Great. Josh picked him up and took him to the pediatrician, but this time they said that he did not have pink eye - it was just an irritated eye from his clogged tear ducts (they also said that it might have just been a clogged tear duct the week before, but they had given eye drops just in case).

Again?

Another week goes by. The next Friday (July 22), Jesper didn't eat well at daycare. He also didn't sleep well on Friday night. And when I picked him up from a nap on Saturday morning, he felt very warm. Uh-oh. After checking with my mom and sister about how to take his temperature (do I REALLY have to stick that THERE??), I discovered that my little man had his first fever. We took another trip to the pediatrician and they confirmed that there was a virus going around with the same symptoms (upset stomach, diarrhea, fever) and that we could expect it to last 4-5 days.

Keeping cool during his first fever

Super cute sick baby

So, sick baby = very little sleep. The illness only lasted through Sunday (which meant another PTO day for me on Monday), but Jesper's routine has been turned upside down. My good little sleeper who could do 6-8 hours at night was now only sleeping 1-2 hour stretches. Jesper is back to his happy little self, but Josh and I are dragging.

Any suggestions on how to get him back to his long stretches of sleep? After a week of getting only 4-5 hours of sleep a night, we'd be happy to try them! Here's hoping that this weekend brings some relief (or at least a nap or two!).

Video Catch-Up

I'm still playing catch-up a bit, but if pictures say a thousand words, videos must say millions. So here are some videos from Jesper over the past few months. Can you believe how much he's grown up already?!

April 17 - Josh and Jesper are hanging out before bedtime. He would just lay there and stare at us happily (no smiles yet, though!)

April 28 - Jesper and I were hanging out in the middle of the day.

May 9 - Jesper and his dad hanging out before bedtime. He's so little!!

May 17 - He had just started to notice his fists, and I was trying to catch it on video (not sure if I was successful, though). You'll also catch a little semi-smile for Sabi in the beginning. He started "officially" smiling a few days later.

May 18 - Jesper was finally strong enough to pull the toys on his bouncer (with a little assistance to get his hand on them). His mom was so proud. :)

June 20 - This is one of Jesper's first days in his bumbo chair. Because of the new perspective, he finally noticed the strange-looking things connected to his ankles. He would sit and stare at his foot and try to grab it. Papa Paul was visiting and hanging out with him, too.

July 10 - Giggles! He loves to play.

July 10 - Concentrating so hard. He likes sitting in his jumper.

July 15 - What a difference a week makes! Jesper is really starting to play with the toys, spinning them and hitting the music buttons.

Introducing Jesper Paul Carlson

Welcome to our blog! After sending out a lot of random emails with pictures and videos, I thought it would be easiest for our family and friends to keep up with us through a blog. It will also be a great record of our little Jesper's ages and stages.

We're three months late in getting started, however, so we have some catching up to do. :)

April 5-6, 2011
Jesper Paul Carlson was born on April 6, 2011 and was 8lbs 13oz and 22 inches long. I was in labor for 3 weeks + 6 hours (I consistently had braxton hicks contractions every day for 3 weeks with a lot of the pre-labor signs). Finally, on Tuesday, April 5, I had another round of what I thought were braxton hicks contractions that started at about 7:30pm.

After a shopping trip to Babies R Us, Dairy Queen blizzards, and an episode of NCIS, I told Josh I was having contractions again and we should maybe start timing them since they were fairly consistent. So at 9pm, Josh started tracking them on his iPhone app and I headed upstairs to check our hospital bag. The contractions were only 4 minutes apart and starting to hurt. Josh got our things together while I did my hair (there were going to be pictures, after all...). At 10pm, the contractions were only about 3 minutes apart and Josh was frantic, so we headed to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital and the nurse checked my progress. I was dilated to 4cm, but that was only slightly more than I had been at my last doctor's appointment. They told us to walk around for an hour to make sure I was truly in labor. At 12:15am, they checked me again and I had progressed to 5cm. They agreed to admit us and we headed to the labor and delivery room. At about 12:45am, the doctor broke my water and labor intensified quickly. Josh was fantastic during the entire event. I was having back labor, so he would give counter-pressure on my back during every contraction.

Since I was progressing rapidly, the doctor mentioned that if I wanted an epidural, now would be a good time to do it. I declined (but was wishing I hadn't shortly afterwards!!). By 1:30am I was ready to push. I told the nurse that I wanted to have our baby by 2:00am. Jesper was born at 2:08am.

There is nothing more special than having your brand-new baby handed to you. The first things I noticed about my special little boy was his chubby little back rolls, scrunched face, and soft little body. I will remember that moment forever.

Jesper - 1 Month
The first month with a new baby and new parents is an adventure. Josh and I learned rapidly every day how to adjust to life with a newborn. We battled a gas episode and jaundice in the hospital (motion was the only thing that calmed him for the gas and holding him was the only way we could get him to sleep with the light treatment). Learning to breastfeed was a challege (Jesper is slightly tonge-tied but a determined eater, so we eventually figured it out). During Jesper's first bath, he pooped and peed on both Josh and I and screamed the entire time (we realized quickly that we should have timed it AFTER he ate instead of before...). We had a terrible battle with diaper rash (diaper cream recipe: Desitin, lotrimin, neosporin, and hydra-cortizone cream). Friends and family brought meals and came to help (thank you!) and our standards for meals and house-cleaning dropped slightly.

Jesper - 2 Months
Just when you get to the point of exhaustion and start realizing how much work a newborn is, he smiles at you. Suddenly, every sleepless night, abdominal crunch, and extra load of laundry is totally and completely worth the effort. :) Jesper smiled at 6 weeks. He rolled over at 7 weeks and started cooing at 8 weeks. He could finally see further than just a few feet and started to watch his surroundings with more interest. We started letting him fall asleep on his own at about 7 weeks by rocking him until he was drowsy and laying him in his crib with good success.

At his two-month appointment, Jesper was 13lbs 15oz (95th percentile), 23.75 inches long (75-90th percentile) and his head circumference was 15.5in. (25-50th percentile). By 2 months, he was starting to outgrow his 3-month outfits and his size 1/2 Kirkland diapers.

Jesper - 3 Months
During my last month of maternity leave, we stopped swaddling him. I walked into his room for a middle of the night feeding and he had pulled the swaddle over his face. That was the end of that. He didn't sleep as soundly. He would take 30-45 minute naps during the day, although he was still sleeping the same amount (5-6 hour stretches) at night. The shorter naps were more work for me because I would have to put him down again 5 minutes after he woke up.

Jesper loves to "talk" with us and stand on our laps while we hold him. He is such a smiley baby! One of his favorite toys is the panda bear hanging from his car seat. He was finally able to pull the string himself in order to make it sing at the end of June. He's also becoming much stronger. He started sitting in his Bumbo seat at about 10 weeks and loves that he's able to see around him.