Little Buddy: 37 weeks!

It's official, Little Buddy's gestational age is 37 weeks.  And it's incredibly crazy to think he's suppose to be in the womb for another 3 weeks or more, and he's already been outside of the womb for 3 weeks.  Where has the time gone?  It's strange to think I was even pregnant!

So they say that at 37 weeks, baby has reached full term.  And Little Buddy is suppose to be the size of a winter melon - what's a winter melon?  Because I have no idea!  So he is suppose to measure around 18.9 to 20.9 inches and weigh about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds, and he's suppose to be gaining 1/2 ounce each day.  

Let's just say that when LB was born at 33 weeks 6/7 (6 days out of 7 in a week - this is how his age was referred to in the NICU) he weighed 1.893 kg = 4 lbs 2 oz (18.7 percentile), his length was 42.0 cm = 16.5 inches (11.0 percentile) and his head circumference was 31.5 cm = 12.4 inches (56.9 percentile).  His head doesn't seem THAT big, but I suppose it is in comparison to those with the same gestational age.

And upon discharge, at 36 weeks 4/7, little buddy weighed 2.440 kg =  5 lbs 4 oz (15.5 percentile), his length was 45.0 cm = 17.7 inches (11.4 percentile) and his head circumference was 33.0 cm = 13 inches (46.2 percentile). Once again, the percentiles are based upon his gestational age, and it looks like his weight percentage has decreased along with his head circumference, which is probably a good thing!!  But his length percentile has increased just a bit!  

And it looks like he is still a little buddy!!  We are feeding him as much as we possibly can.  And he has his first Dr's. appointment today - so maybe things have changed since then and he will officially be 37 weeks today!  If I am honest, I am kind of nervous to pack him up in his car seat again considering HE IS SO SMALL.  Wish us luck. :)

UPDATE AFTER DR's. APPT...

Little buddy has grown ALOT in length!  Peter and I were shocked.  So he now weighs 5 lbs 7 1/2 oz.  He is 19 1/2 inches and his head is 34 cm.  So in 4 days he gained 3 1/2 ounces and grew nearly 2 inches.  And it looks like his head circumference is definitely slowing down in growth!  In regards to his percentiles for his gestational age - he is within the range for height, over a pound under the range for weight, and he's still probably in the mid range for his head circumference.

So let's see - some of the things Little buddy missed out on - practicing his inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping, and blinking skills.  And if I'm honest, I don't know if I have seen this child blink yet.  He is breathing, and he is sucking, but he still has trouble coordinating his sucking, swallowing, breathing reflex.  Sometimes he has all sorts of milk coming out the sides of his mouth which means he just hasn't fully swallowed it!  Poor guy.  He loves his milk and just wants to gulp it all down without fully swallowing it.  I think he is learning!!

I definitely have the urge to nest and I have all sorts of things on my to do list and I just can't be bothered with doing them to be honest.  Maybe it's because I'm just so tired or maybe it's because they are things that don't really need to be done, and I'd rather save my energy for other things!  

It has been such a blessing having LB in the house, and it has been fun to put all his new items to use, while also realizing the items I still want and/or need.  Makes it much easier to determine that with baby in the home, than with baby in the womb!  He loves his swaddle blankets and those velcro ones as well.  But he spits up alot, so it's good to have multiple swaddle blankets and velcro options along with burp clothes or random cloth napkins (yes, I have been using those as well!).  I mean what is a burp cloth anyways?  It's basically just a piece of fabric.  

And I have been using reusable wipes aka wash clothes that I get wet with a special watery solution that I made - will write more about this in another post.  And the little guy goes through ALOT of diapers - I am wanting to use cloth diapers when LB gets a bit bigger but have yet to obtain my collection of diapers, saving up some money for that purchase!  So right now we are using preemie disposables, and I think he goes through at least 8 diapers a day if not more.  We are going to have to buy another pack fairly soon.

Pretty sure he has grown out of all the preemie clothes we have for him, and he is a little too small for his newborn clothes.  But I have recently discovered that the newborn clothes we have for him do in fact vary in size.  He fits into some, while he swims in others.  So it's just a guessing game - and let's be honest, we don't change his clothes every day unless he has peed on himself or spit up all over his clothes.  Oh the joys of having a baby!!

We love having him home and Peter said I was going to be all kissy face (kissing him on his face ALL the time) when we got him home, but if I can speak honestly, I find my husband smothering him with kisses ALL the time.  It is truly the sweetest thing!

Okay, that's all for now folks.  I have so many posts pending...so stay tuned for more.  In the meantime, I am going to clean the house and possibly take a shower.  Gosh - it's so good to be home!

Blessings,

Malia, Peter and LB