Not-so-little man

After a two-month hiatus, I'm back! I'm still working on getting into the swing of life, but I thought I should take a minute to update you on Conner, who we affectionately call "little man." Well, we found out Monday at his two-month check-up how "little" he is. He weighed in at 12 lbs 14 oz and is 23-1/2 inches long. That's pretty impressive for only being 9 weeks old! Both his doctor and my doctor have complemented me on my milk supply's magic. :)

Overall, Conner is great. He's growing like he should and progressing at an appropriate pace. His smiles come more often these days and he's so alert and aware of us. It's so neat to see his changes every day!

On the down side, his head is a little flat on one side, but that can be worked out by us making sure he lays on the other side more often. Also, he has a herniated belly button. It's not pretty. For those of you who don't know what that is, here's the scoop: basically, the muscles in his abdomen didn't grow together like they should have, and his intestines are coming through the opening, making his belly button stick out. It's gotten much worse since our last trip to the doctor, and Dr. Grossberg referred us to a specialist during our trip Monday. Our appointment is scheduled for Jan. 27. Dr. G. said they usually don't do anything until the babies are 6 months old. It seems to bother us more than him, so we're not too worried about it right now.

Conner's sleeping habits are slowly getting better. The last two nights, he slept for 5-hour stints, as opposed to his 3- and 4-hour ones. His bedtime has also gotten earlier -- he gets really tired around 7 p.m., and he's usually down for good by 7:30 or 8. Our schedule is constantly changing!

I'm glad to be writing on here again and updating you on Conner. It was a tough first couple of months for me, both physically and mentally. Motherhood is a blessing, and I am so happy. I love seeing Conner's little smiles and hearing his little coos. He is really growing into a neat little person, and every day I am reminded what a miracle he is. At the same time, motherhood is a huge adjustment, bigger than I thought, I think. I struggled at the beginning with breast feeding and my emotions were haywire for a while. And it's a lot of work to figure out a schedule that will work around meals and naps. But I'm getting there -- we're getting there -- and every day gets easier.

Conner doesn't go back to see Dr. G. until March for his four-month check-up, but we'll update you on the appointment with the specialist. Supposedly, hernias are very common in babies, especially when they come into the world early like Conner did. And they can be fixed rather easily -- a small incision under where the belly button should be where they go in and stitch the muscles together. We'll let you know what we find out!