Chunky Monkey

Although it hasn't been mentioned a whole lot here, we have been struggling for several weeks to get Andrew back to his birth weight. For a while we were giving him an extra 2 oz of formula 3 times a day, to supplement what Lynn could provide, along with occasional pumping to increase milk supply. Still not enough, though I should mention that he was healthy in every other respect - just a little skinny.

At his one month visit (at 5 weeks old), the doctor said it was time to stop fooling around and start really forcing the calories into him. She recommended adding a scoop of formula (which would normally be mixed with 2 oz of water) to every 2 oz of breast milk and giving him 4 oz bottles of formula with 3 scoops instead of 2 oz bottles with 1 scoop. The result: Andrew's weight on January 18 was officially 8 lbs 9 oz (up from 7 lbs 14 oz on January 15). Hooray!! I weighed him unofficially on our bathroom scale last night, and he was close to 10 lbs. Double hooray!

Otherwise the whole family is doing well. Nick has returned to work, though he misses his family greatly. Both sets of parents have made an appearance for a couple days, and everyone agrees that photographs cannot capture just how beautiful this little boy is. And today is Ruggles' birthday, so happiness abounds!