Happy 2 Months, Clay!

Time has flown by and Clay is already 2 months old!  

At his 2 month well check he weighed 14 lbs 6 oz (93%) and was 24 1/2 in long (96%).  He also had his first round of vaccinations which resulted in some really sad cries.  Thankfully he got over it quickly!  

 Carson at 2months was 13lbs 8oz and are 24 inches long.

Connor at 2 months was 13lbs 4oz and 23 1/2 inches long.

Right now Clay's eyes are still blue and his hair that is coming in seems to be a lighter color than the other 2 boys.  By 2 months Connor and Carson's eyes were a lot darker (almost brown) so we may have a blonde hair blue eyed boy on our hands.  I guess we will know in a few months. :)

He is eating 5 ounce bottles every 3-4 hours.  We are still working on stretching out his night time.  He has been my slowest baby to sleep through the night, but as soon as he is finished eating he will instantly go back to sleep or just lay there quiet so I can't complain!  We moved him from the pack-n-play to his rock-n-play in our room at night time.  Once he sleeps a little bit longer I will move him full time to his crib.

He smiles so easily and seriously is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen.  We joke that he hasn't really made his presence known yet because he is so easy.   He doesn't seem to have a preference on much yet.  He is content whether being held, in his crib, car seat, bouncer, or rock-n-play.  Tummy time is good for a short period and he will let you know when he is over it.  He is holding his head up on his own better each day.  He loves kicking in his bouncer seat to turn on the lights and music.

This was also a big month for Clay with a trip to the pediatric cardiologist and ENT.  At his one month appointment, Clay's doctor heard a heart murmur and wanted us to investigate it further.  Thankfully it was an innocent one (musical murmur) and there is no treatment needed.  He will go back in 6 months to check his progress, but it looked like everything should be fine

Clay also was tongue-tied and it was severe enough that it needed to be addressed.  We found a great ENT that took care of it by clipping it and he seems to be doing great.  It was funny after the first couple of days to see him stick his tongue out which he had not really been able to do before.

This boy loves to kick and stretch!

Clay Michael you brighten up all of our days with your sweet smile and happy disposition.  We love you!

Happy 1 Month, Clay!

At his one month appointment Clay was 12 lbs and 22 1/2 in long.

We are loving this newborn stage.  He has been such an easy baby so far.  Right now he is eating 3-4 ounce about every 3 hours and then one little longer stretch at night.  He has only stretched it out about 5 hours so we are working hard to make it a little longer!  I'm not sure if he is just going to be a happy laid back kid or if it is just because he is our third, but adding Clay to our family has been pretty simple.  The only hard part has been getting use to waking up during the night again.  I honestly have yet to put him on a schedule with sleeping because he is almost always content no matter where he is or what he is doing.  Plus with 2 other kids our schedule is not always consistent every day. 

Clay loves bath time, his pacifier, and watching his brothers.  He still kicks his little feet around so fast like he did when I was pregnant with him.

For a long time he has been 'smiling' by accident, but he recently has started interacting more with the sweetest smiles.

Carson wanted to hold 2 babies for this picture. Ha!  That was the baby doll he carried around for months anticipating Clay's arrival.  He is such a sweet big brother.

We love you baby Clay!

2 Weeks

We went to the doctor for Clay's 2 week appointment today.  He weighed 9 lbs 4 oz (75%) and was 21 1/2 in long (85%).   They said he looked great!  

Happy One Week, Clay!

We are trying to soak up every second with this sweet baby.  It is hard to believe he has already been here a week!  It has been quite a whirlwind with Christmas and a little extra time in the NICU.  He seems to be doing great now and we are so thankful for a healthy baby boy.

At his one week well check he weighed 8 lbs 8 oz

and was 21 1/4 in long.

I love looking back at monthly pictures of the boys so I am determined to do the same with Clay.

Right now he still sleeps the majority of the day/night.  He is so quiet and hardly ever makes a peep.

If you look really closely at his heels in this picture you can see how beat up they are from all the needle pricks.  The nurses said he had great blood clotting mechanisms, but for drawing blood over and over it can make it a challenge.  We are so thankful that is done for now!

I have a feeling this will be a common sight during our monthly photo shoots.  Carson waited patiently right beside me until I told him it was his turn to hold Clay.  He is crazy about him!

Clay you are the perfect addition to our family!

Under the Lights

The day after Clay was born test results showed that his bilirubin levels were slightly raised.  The doctors believed this was due to our differing blood types.  They brought in the photo therapy lights for him to use in our room.  After half a day under the lights his levels were back down to where they needed to be. 

The hospital pediatrician had us come back up on Friday morning to test his levels again.  They were higher than when we left, but not quite in the high risk range.  They sent us home and told us to come back again on Saturday morning for another blood draw.

The nurses also encouraged us to put him in the sunlight as much as we could.  It was a cold cloudy day so we didn't have much opportunity.

We cranked up the heat and put him near a window with only a diaper, but Clay was not a big fan of this set up.

Laying on his tummy seemed like a better idea to him. :)

Saturday morning we took him back for another test which revealed his levels once again went up and he needed to be admitted to the NICU for more photo therapy.

For the first six hours he wasn't able to leave the lights even for feeding.  I was thrilled when they finally let us hold him for a bottle!

The nurses and doctors were so kind and gave us a room right across from him where Cole and I spent the night.  Clay stayed in the NICU for a little over 24 hours before we received the good news that he was free to go home.  

During this second hospital stay we were so thankful to have Nana and Poppa watch the big boys for us.  It was so nice for Cole and I both to be at the hospital with Clay and know our boys were having a wonderful time at home with their grandparents.