November was a busy month for Baby Benjamin!

Like most families, the holidays have been beyond hectic for us...and it's not even Christmas yet!  But I wanted to take a moment to share some photos and highlights from November, before I fall even farther behind.

Here are the most significant dates...

11/18 - Went to the doctor for vaccinations.  He's getting so aware of his surroundings that he started crying as soon as we reached the waiting room.  And he didn't really calm down until we left.  He was so glad to get home after the ordeal.  But sadly, he got a post-shot fever again that night (about 101-102).  As usual, the night nurse we called said it was no big deal.  So we spent the next 24 hours trying to keep his fever down...dressing him in diaper only and placing a damp cloth on his head.  He dealt with it so well, like he does everything, but it kills us to see him suffering in any way.  Sorry, Benjamin.  :(

11/24 - Benjamin got to spend Thanksgiving with Poppy (all the way from Arizona), Mimi and Nana!  
11/26 - Benjiboy ate his first solid food - rice cereal!  It wasn't his favorite, but he did great!

Other highlights...
- we put up forest-themed wall decals above his crib
- we put up Christmas lights inside and outside (which he loved)
- he keeps gaining in so many areas, including hand-eye coordination, comfort with tummy time, and communication!

Now, on to the best pics from November!

One of our new favorites of his cute face!

You talkin' to me?

Reflective Bean

It was so sad seeing Bean feverish after his vaccinations again.  We did our best to keep him cool.

As usual, his parents were the only ones freaking out.  He didn't even cry!

Visiting with Mimi!

With Mimi and Poppy...and trying to steal some pizza!

Look at this cute little puppy!

If angels ever "kick back," this is how they look doing it.

Benjamin is so much happier during tummy time now!

On the porch with Poppy on Thanksgiving Day!

Blue Bean!  He was checking out some indoor Christmas lights!

November 26th - he ate rice cereal for the first time and did great!

We had these wall decals for months and FINALLY put them up above his crib.

Thanksgiving Bean!

Bath Bean!

Another new favorite.  He's adorable.

He was looking at us upside down on the bed...so of course we couldn't resist another photo.

Benjamin loves to play with all his crib toys.  Especially the turtle mirror!

#8: Everything I've learned (so far) about changing diapers

POSITIVES:

1) The complete process of a change, as long as there isn't a particularly bad mess (huge poop, huge pee, sticky wipe job), is much quicker and easier than I feared.  Until we had Benjamin, I had never changed a single diaper, or even practiced on a doll.  

2) Modern, plastic diapers make everything SO much better.  You don't have to wash them, they're easy to put on, and the main brands even have moisture indicators so you know without opening whether it's full of pee.  You do usually still have to check for poop, though.  

3) Baby poop and pee are not nearly as gross as you think...as long as it's YOUR baby.  I had always thought babies (with all their burping, puking, peeing and pooping) were a little disgusting.  Even the cutest ones.  Of course, now that I have little Benjamin, I love everything about him.  Even when he's at his worst with bodily functions, I feel nothing but sympathy and care for him.

4) You have a ton of options for products.  If name brand diapers (Huggies and Pampers, mostly) don't work for you, try cloth or the more natural brands like Honest or 7th Generation.  If standard wipes don't work for you, try natural brands or even gauze.  


NEGATIVES:

1) Meconium is gross, and so difficult to wipe.  Thankfully, it passes after the first few days.

2) In your baby's first couple months, the pee and poop are constant.  While you try to complete a change, you'll often have more leaking/spraying out, and you have to start all over again.

3) As babies grow, they gain control over their bladder and bowels.  This sounds like a positive, and in many ways it is.  You certainly want your baby to develop properly.  But as they learn to hold the pee in for a few hours, and the poop in for even longer than that, the results can be extremely problematic when the presents finally do arrive.  I'm talking pee-soaked clothes and bedding, and poop that squeezes out the top of the diaper in the back.  The liquid simply can't be contained.  I'm already feeling impatient for potty training.

4) They often yell for a change at a bad time.  And I don't just mean the obvious, inconvenient times when you're trying to eat or shower or get some work done.  I mean when it's a bad time for THEM.  Specifically, right after they eat.  Putting them on their backs right after a meal means guaranteed spit-up.  So sometimes you have to wait and keep burping them while they fuss, until you deem it safe to switch out the diaper.

5) As I've documented in a previous post, diaper rash can be SO difficult to treat.


SOME RECOMMENDATIONS:

1) For diaper rash, we've had some success with the following combination: moistened gauze instead of wipes, 7th Generation diapers, and Boudreaux's butt paste as a moisture barrier.

2) If you like to put your baby in a full-body onesie, like we do, do NOT get ones with buttons.  Trust me, fumbling with buttons during a screaming mess is not fun.  Get zippered onesies whenever you can.

3) Keep everything ready to go on your changing table.  Our ideal setup is like this...an underpad (the ones typically used for incontinence) on top of the changing pad (it's always best to have extra protection against messes)...moistened stack of gauze at the ready (substitute wipes if you use those)...diapers stacked neatly on the shelf beneath the changing pad, pre-opened if you really want to be prepared...gloves and butt paste within reach.  

#7: The sleep deprivation struggle is real.

Everyone jokes about the lack of sleep for new parents.  You've probably seen the meme below, only with a different picture.  I made my own using a funny cell snap of Benjamin, and since the meme generator offered the option of a "scumbag hat," I threw that on him for good measure.

But, jokes aside, it's a real problem.  Especially early on, when your child sleeps only a couple hours before screaming for another round of changing and feeding.  Every round is a battle of its own, and sometimes your baby will decide to be fussy all the way through until the next feeding time, rather than sleeping at all.  Yep, it's awesome!

And that's not all.  One or both parents have to:
- do the baby's laundry, while still keeping up with your own
- do the baby's dishes (bottles), while still keeping up with your own
- go shopping for baby items, while still keeping up with your own groceries and errands
- (mother only) pump and/or breastfeed, to either stockpile or provide milk

As the blog title says, I'm a stay-at-home dad.  I teach online biology classes for a local college, and do freelance photography.  We are blessed that I have that option - to at least earn income from home, rather than having to quit an office job or anything like that.  But even my current obligations are virtually impossible to manage when I'm home alone during the week.  

I basically get about 1-2 hours of productivity during the day while my wife is at work; the remainder of my time is spent tending to Benjamin.  As he grows and becomes more alert, I'm delighted to spend time talking to him and showing him books and toys.  Of course, the downside is that he wants more and more stimulation during the day, so I truly don't get any time for my vocations.  When she gets home (from the hospital operating room where she puts in an incredibly intense 8 hours every weekday), she tries to take care of him for a little while so I can get a bit more work done.  And on the weekend, I'm trying to slowly get back into photography.

The nighttime is the most taxing part.  Although he finally seems to be sleeping for longer stretches, the first couple months involved a guaranteed 2-3 "awakenings" during our attempts to rest.  

Every night, you have three choices:
1) Parent A tends to him for 1-2 consecutive feedings, staying outside the bedroom with the monitor, so Parent B can sleep without interruption, then crashes for a little while.
2) Same as option 1, but reversed.
3) Both parents try to sleep in the bedroom all night, so while neither has to stay up all night, neither one gets a solid stretch of sleep.

We often end up going back and forth.  Parent A is so dead that Parent B makes a sacrifice on Monday night...only to get so tired that Parent B is the one in need of rescue on Tuesday night.

Weekends are marginally better, because at least we don't have the ordeal of preparing him for transport twice a day.  I guess I forgot to mention that I take her to work - mostly because her only parking for the hospital is a long distance away, and the walk is through a bad part of town.  I simply can't, in good conscience, leave her to that dangerous trek each day.  We loathe putting Benjamin through the trips, but we don't have a choice.

In spite of all this, neither of us would EVER express regret to be going through this.  Life is very difficult with a newborn child, but if you're anything like us, your baby is so beautiful and important that you would do anything to make it all work.

Product recommendation: Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers (Newborn Size)

Check out this Little Snuggler!

Hospitals are often a great reference point for the products you should use when caring for your baby at home.  But sometimes (usually?) they make decisions based on cost or other factors.  And one instance where we found a superior alternative was with Benjamin's diapers.

He started out with Pampers, but we found that Huggies are superior in sturdiness and softness.  You can feel the difference in quality very easily.  Plus, they helped diminish the inflammation associated with his chronic diaper rash.

My recommendation is to buy 88-packs like the one you'll see in this link to Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Huggies-Snugglers-Diapers-Newborn-Packaging/dp/B00HJKP6PI/

Do NOT buy the larger packs at places like Sam's Club.  We found out the hard way.  Although it was actually our parents who purchased us these value packs, those Huggies are (very disappointingly) thinner and flimsier!  If you've ever wondered whether "value packs" try to cheat you, the answer is yes.  The cheap Huggies might actually be worse than the Pampers we switched from.  So, make sure you get a regular box.

#5 There seems to be no foolproof treatment for diaper rash.

Benjamin during one of his poutful moments.  See how heartbreaking it is?

Since he was about 1 week old (he's now 10 weeks), poor little Benjamin has been battling diaper rash.  If you're unlucky enough to deal with this problem with your newborn, be ready for a wide variety of medical opinions, internet search results, prescriptions, and over-the-counter-treatments.  It can be a true roller coaster ride of frustration.

Every case is a little different, but ours certainly hasn't been fun, especially for our baby.  For the first few weeks, especially, he was noticeably uncomfortable.  The last thing a parent wants to see is a baby in pain.  And it was obvious that the rash was the cause, because we've always made sure to meet his other needs.  For quite a while, he would scream when wiped and whine much of the day, even while resting.  This improved (once we reached step 9 below), but he still isn't 100%.

Since the redness and swelling first appeared, this is a rundown of our attempts to clear his little butt of its plague:

1) Desitin, because we and the doctors and thought it was a standard yeast issue.  This had little effect.


2) We moved up to maximum strength Desitin (40% zinc oxide).  Unfortunately, this didn't help either.

https://www.amazon.com/Desitin-Diaper-Maximum-Strength-Original/dp/B000056JBU


3) Next on the list was the renowned Triple Paste (12.8% zinc oxide).  We often used Vaseline as well.  For a while, we believed this was working.  Some of the redness seemed to subside.  Sadly, this wasn't the cure, either.

https://www.amazon.com/Triple-Paste-Medicated-Ointment-16-Ounce/dp/B000GCL2B8/


4) After a while, we gave up on these creams.  Our little one had been through so much pain, for about a month at this point, and we figured it must be something other than yeast.  So we visited a clinic and specifically said, from the outset (often a key tactic if you want to get your opinion considered by the physician), that we thought it might be bacterial.  Both the resident and attending took a look and agreed that it might be perianal strep.  The prescription?  Mupirocin.  We left the office thinking we FINALLY had the solution.  Nope.  Within a couple weeks, it was clear that this also wasn't our cure.


5) In the meantime, we tried a couple other over-the-counter remedies...

A&D Ointment: https://www.amazon.com/A-D-Ointment-16-Ounce/dp/B00BH0PP5W/

and

Weleda Calendula cream: https://www.amazon.com/Weleda-Calendula-Diaper-Cream-2-8-Ounce/dp/B000V3MFUY/

It's important to note that I am in NO way knocking the efficacy of these medications or creams...it was just that we needed something to cut to the core of our problem.


6) During this time, we also shifted from newborn Pampers diapers (what he used in the hospital) to softer, less irritating, newborn-sized Huggies.  This had somewhat of a positive effect on his comfort level, by reducing a bit of the inflammation, but it obviously didn't fix everything.

https://www.amazon.com/Huggies-Snugglers-Diapers-Newborn-Packaging/dp/B00HJKP6PI/


7) One additional change we made was to use gauze rather than wipes.  Even in "sensitive" wipes, there are chemicals that can irritate an already-damaged butt.  So we've been ordering stacks of gauze from Amazon, and using 3-4 moistened pieces to wipe him gently during each diaper change.  In our experience, it seems to help quite a bit.  But again, he wasn't absolutely cured.


8) Around the beginning of July (about 5-6 weeks into the fight), we called in to Benjamin's primary care physician and she wrote a script for Nystatin.  So we were back to fighting fungal demons, real or imagined.  Did this finally slay our diaper dragon?  Nope.


9) On our 2-month visit to his doctor's office (7-8 weeks into the fight), we saw a nurse practitioner and got his vaccinations.  She also prescribed some new treatments:

Triamcinolone, a topical steroid for the inflammation.

"Silvadene" (silver sulfadiazine), a topical antibiotic cream.

So far, about ten days since we began this regimen, it seems to have been the most effective.  But that's largely because the steroid reduces the redness.  And if he goes more than 12 hours without some kind of cream, or light application of steroids (which aren't supposed to be used regularly after the first couple days), some redness returns.  He also has some peeling/maceration going on in the most severely affected areas.

TO RECAP....

That's 4 prescriptions, 6 OTC treatments, one diaper change and one wipe change.

Will we EVER fully eradicate his problems?  We pray every day for him.  While we're lucky to have this as the only chronic issue so far for a preemie baby, it's still been devastating and perplexing.

To be continued...

Product recommendation: "HelloBaby" Video Monitor

You'd want to see this face at all times, too.  Even when you have to be in a separate room.

Everyone needs a baby monitor.  They're useful when you want to:

- sleep

- eat

- shower

- do chores

- anything else you can imagine...

...with a baby safely in his or her own room.

Like most parents, cost was a significant consideration for us.  But we still wanted something that would be reliable and have some useful features.

This product has fit our needs perfectly:

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Baby-Temperature-Monitors-Hello/dp/B01FSOKDTU/

Here's what we like about it:

1) Costs only $86 (as of this post)

2) Video works absolutely great in light or darkness (switches automatically to night vision)

3) Video/audio only kick in when the camera/mic pick up a certain level of sound - which you can adjust

4) You can also adjust the volume you hear on your end.  So if you wish, you can have anything from no sound to deafening baby cries.

5) It tells you the temperature in the baby's room, and we've found it to be pretty accurate

6) Monitor battery charges fairly quickly, and can also be used while plugged in

7) You can connect up to 4 cameras total.  Extras are $40 each, and we haven't had a need for one.  It would be easy to unplug and move the one camera we have.  But if you're lazy, this is nice.

Benjamin as seen on the screen of our monitor.  He's resting comfortably in a sleep chair in his nursery.  The monitor is in night vision mode, with the volume on its lowest audible setting.  "VOX-Lo" means that the monitor won't be triggered to produce audio/visuals unless he makes a decent amount of noise.  This is the best setting when we both want rest, after having just set him down to sleep with a full belly and a freshly-changed diaper.

The only (minor) cons:

1) Camera must be plugged in, and its cord isn't the longest.

2) Its shape doesn't make it particularly easy to attach to anything, so you pretty much have to find a good flat surface that will still allow a clear view of your baby.

We've been able to work around those cons, and are very pleased.  Unless you have the budget to go all-out on a monitor, this is a fantastic option.

Product recommendation: Tommee Tippee pacifiers

Benjamin with his Tommee Tippee pacifier, 

and slightly creepy music emanating from his sleep chair.

As with many products, we've made some pacifier brand switches during our 2+ months caring for little Benjamin.  Initially, it seemed like the Philips AVENT "soothie" pacifiers were best - with the added bonus of looking cute with optional bear faces.

Trust me, it's pretty dang cute to see your baby with one of these: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=62420226

But over time, we found they were too heavy, and easily fell out of Benjamin's mouth.  And a baby who wants a pacifier and doesn't have it is a crying baby!

So far, his favorite is this one, from Tommee Tippee:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I0M8QTW/

They're light (and therefore stay in Benjamin's mouth).  He seems to love them.  And they're cute.  10/10.

Product recommendation: Medela Pump In Style Advanced

When it comes to breast pumps, Medela is the respected name and the one you'll find in most hospitals.  They're definitely the best around.

It's important to note that with my wife's solid health insurance plan (she works as an OR nurse, for our state's flagship hospital) the starter version of the Medela pump is covered for free.  You would have to pay for additional accessories, but the pump itself was free of charge for us.

So far, she's been very happy with it.  Here's a link to the model: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJJRVR4/