New Stuff: Elba is content for about 20 minutes underneath the activity arch (although I'm already sick of the annoying song it plays), he will sometimes stick his tongue out to mimic Mitch or I when we do it first (this is adorable), and lastly he is standing up like a big boy if he is leaning against Mitch's chest (this might just be a reflex, but it is still awesome).
We tried to let him cry it out for the first time. The book says that some infants as young as 6 weeks respond well, others 8 and yet sometimes 10. I can't say if it was successful or not really because we didn't quite stick to it. I went for a walk while Mitch let him cry; and it only took half an hour and he fell back asleep. Unfortunately, he was at it again after an hour or so. We let him CIO another half hour and then Mitch caved and picked him up. I can say that letting him cry got him to fall asleep quicker, on the bright side. Since he still hates his crib I don't think CIO is going to work right now. We are still letting him sleep wherever he falls asleep (that is generally either in the bouncy chair or on either of us. If you put him down in either his crib or the pack n play bassinet he usually only sleeps for an hour maximum. I think until he or we get better at crib sleeping expecting him to CIO will be fruitless. My co-worker swears we should just do it and stick to it a few nights and we will be golden. I don't know that either of us are ready to bear our child's cries that long yet.
I found the coolest website! www.bobohelper.com lets me log and track sleep (his, not mine because that would be depressing!), feedings, poops & pees and even has a breast pumping log. This not only satisfies my detail oriented need, but also when the pediatrician asks how much he sleeps, etc. I will have a vague idea instead of no clue. When I was reading my new savior book I realized that when they were talking about the average sleep time total per day I had no idea if Elba fell more into the colicky 12 hours or the good average 15 hours. Of course, I started logging after his peak 6 weeks and since then he has been a much better sleeper. He generally is sleeping 15 hours a day now (making a liar out of me). No really though, he has been so much better this last week. Not as much fussing; still some, but not nearly the amount of exhausting and frustrating hours spent trying to console him anymore.
In other depressing news, this is my first full time week back to work. I like getting out of the house and am relieved that Mitch is home, but I miss my boy during the day. I find myself wondering what they are doing at home; if he is being a good boy for Daddy, and if anything neat is going on.
Lastly, Mitch and I have started the hunt for a new place. I hate moving, but we desperately need more space now. This place was perfect for me when I moved in a year ago. How things have changed...ha! I wouldn't have thought in a million years last year that things would be as they are now. When life throws you a curve ball and whatnot!
Weight: 209
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Magic Fingers and trying Cry it Out
I forgot to log his one month check up info! We saw the pediatrician on Aug. 13th and he was already a whopping 10 lbs. 12 oz and 22 3/4 inches long. I guess he is following his growth curve - they flashed some graph with multiple curves on it at me that I didn't quite follow, but this was to reassure me that he is doing well.
There is also a funny story I wanted to write about. The last couple of weeks the vibrating bouncy chair has been the savior around 2-3am and generally where Elba spends his night sleeping. At the peak of his fussiness I would put him in the chair, prop a bottle or give him the pacifier and do dishes while the chair is on the kitchen counter. The bright light made him close his eyes and I think the water sound was soothing as well. I invested money in this strategy, purchasing rechargeable batteries because the thing would drain 4 AA's per night. One night, much to my dismay it wouldn't turn on. I kept putting the batteries in, thinking in my sleep deprived mindset maybe I was flubbing this simple task. Nope, because I could get the little sound machine to work but not the vibration thing. I gave up and started to manually shake and jostle the chair. I kept thinking, if only I had some sort of apparatus that would do this for me, something....MAGIC FINGERS!!!
So maybe 8 or so years ago I bought a very expensive bed in which the sales guy included these vibrating wands that you were supposed to put between the box spring and the mattress. I tried it at first, but really it was silly...not much of a massage at all. Cut to, it's 4AM the stupid bouncy chair doesn't work and I'm like an insane person searching through the stackable Rubbermaid totes that have old clothes, photo albums....and the magic fingers. I positioned one of the wands in the bottom fold of fabric, closed it up with some safety pins and gave it a go...PERFECT!
Tonight is the first night Mitch and I are going to let the boy cry it out. It is 12:14 and the boy has been screaming since midnight. It's all I can do not to cry myself...but if this works, I hear it is supposed to be great. The book says not all babies are ready at 6 weeks, some do better at 8. Lets see if my boy is ahead of the curve on this one too. Crossing my fingers and going outside for a walk.
There is also a funny story I wanted to write about. The last couple of weeks the vibrating bouncy chair has been the savior around 2-3am and generally where Elba spends his night sleeping. At the peak of his fussiness I would put him in the chair, prop a bottle or give him the pacifier and do dishes while the chair is on the kitchen counter. The bright light made him close his eyes and I think the water sound was soothing as well. I invested money in this strategy, purchasing rechargeable batteries because the thing would drain 4 AA's per night. One night, much to my dismay it wouldn't turn on. I kept putting the batteries in, thinking in my sleep deprived mindset maybe I was flubbing this simple task. Nope, because I could get the little sound machine to work but not the vibration thing. I gave up and started to manually shake and jostle the chair. I kept thinking, if only I had some sort of apparatus that would do this for me, something....MAGIC FINGERS!!!
So maybe 8 or so years ago I bought a very expensive bed in which the sales guy included these vibrating wands that you were supposed to put between the box spring and the mattress. I tried it at first, but really it was silly...not much of a massage at all. Cut to, it's 4AM the stupid bouncy chair doesn't work and I'm like an insane person searching through the stackable Rubbermaid totes that have old clothes, photo albums....and the magic fingers. I positioned one of the wands in the bottom fold of fabric, closed it up with some safety pins and gave it a go...PERFECT!
Tonight is the first night Mitch and I are going to let the boy cry it out. It is 12:14 and the boy has been screaming since midnight. It's all I can do not to cry myself...but if this works, I hear it is supposed to be great. The book says not all babies are ready at 6 weeks, some do better at 8. Lets see if my boy is ahead of the curve on this one too. Crossing my fingers and going outside for a walk.
A Plan, and my Period (SUPER!)
I'm beginning a sleep log, because as the book states colicky infants generally sleep a few hours less than other babies. I am going to document exactly what is going on so I have a better idea of how much sleep he is getting. I honestly have no idea how many hours total he sleeps, although I'm guessing it isn't as much as he should. This is likely mostly due to his short naps during the day too, which leads to the night fussiness. During the day when he is put down to sleep in the crib he will only stay sleeping for about 15-20 minutes (I think). Well see if I'm deluding myself of how much actual sleep he gets. Don't even get me started on how much sleep I actually get. Last night it was about 3-4 hours total, and that chock full of wakings. It really is quite incredible and I'm amazed at how well I'm able to function with so little sleep. Now that I'm back to work, rest when baby rests doesn't quite work. It is even harder at home because I'm expressing milk so even when he is asleep then I have 20-30 minutes of pumping to do before I can lay down. And remember, if he is 'napping' and not 'sleeping' that means that he is up and fussing before I'm done...you see the cycle and why I'm not sleeping?
I will say that he is doing better. I almost don't want to say that because I don't want to jinx it. He is still fussing, but at night falling back asleep quicker and without needing as long of a time of consoling.
Today at work I was very disappointed to find that I'd started my period already. I'm expressing milk so I thought I'd get a few months break. I had actually just stopped bleeding from the birthing process maybe a week ago, so this is pretty disappointing. I just looked up the normal range, and three to eight months is what one website states. I should call my doctor to make sure this is a real period and not something horrible. Now I have to deal with PMS too? Poor Mitch.
I will say that he is doing better. I almost don't want to say that because I don't want to jinx it. He is still fussing, but at night falling back asleep quicker and without needing as long of a time of consoling.
Today at work I was very disappointed to find that I'd started my period already. I'm expressing milk so I thought I'd get a few months break. I had actually just stopped bleeding from the birthing process maybe a week ago, so this is pretty disappointing. I just looked up the normal range, and three to eight months is what one website states. I should call my doctor to make sure this is a real period and not something horrible. Now I have to deal with PMS too? Poor Mitch.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
5 Weeks - Houston, we have SMILES and COLIC!
There is nothing more amazing than seeing my son smile up at me, even giving a small coo. My son has mastered the 'social smile'; that which is elicited after my own. At first, we thought it was still gas. Mitch had me convinced that I was wrong, but then he saw it too. And now it is a sure thing; his little angelic smile lights up his face, my spirit and makes me revert to baby talk to get more!
And now I'll write about the not so pleasant. My child is officially colicky. The good news is that armed with the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" I understand the predicament better, albeit there is still nothing I can do about it. I'm happy to know that the worst is likely over though, as he is reaching six weeks from the due date. I'm learning a lot about the difference between extreme colic, which is what we all think of; the incessant inconsolable crying for hours on end and another type of colic, generally ignored because it is constant fussing that would lead to crying if not for the dedicated consoling efforts of the parents. This second type is my child. Let me explain...
I think I haven't hit this topic before for two reasons. One, it is difficult to update the blog during these trying times (seriously, it was easier when I was hiking!) and I also didn't want to dwell on the negative. When Mitch and I first brought Elba home we congratulated ourselves on our perfect baby. He would wake to eat and pretty much go right back to sleep. This lasted I think a week or so I think. He became much more alert (quite to our surprise and excitement). It turns out this might not have been that much of a blessing, as now I see he probably wasn't getting as much sleep as he should. This started the night fussing. 10pm to 3am has generally been the fuss zone. I thought (and now I know a very common one) that maybe something I was doing was wrong; I cut out dairy completely as well as caffeine, we bought gas drops and experimented with the assorted soothing methods, including the bouncy chair, swing, rocker, noise machines, vacuum cleaner, running water, light on/off, quiet and daily activity noise, snugli holding, rocking, patting, driving, walking, EVERYTHING. What worked one minute or one day didn't then next or after about ten minutes. This would last hours...we were at a loss and very sleep deprived.
I never thought he was colicky because I know 'colic' means the whole crying/screaming bit and we were doing a good job of stopping it from getting that far. Elba would just be extremely agitated, get red faced, arch his back, etc. and just seem very unhappy and uncomfortable. I now know there is nothing that can be done, except for exactly what we are doing. There are many theories on what causes colic/fussiness but no for sure answers except that it occurs in 20% of infants, peaks at 6 weeks and is gone after 3 months. Aside from that, good luck...don't throw your baby out a window and do the best you can. Awesome. I never wanted to throw him out a window, but there were several late night sob sessions on my end.
When I was in Chicago for the three (?) nights, there was no crying/fussiness at night. This was right after stopping dairy, caffeine and getting the gas drops. I thought that was the solution. We were right back at it when I got home. I couldn't figure out what was different. I weaned myself back on some coffee (I had to, really) and sometimes it was all I could do to make a bowl of cereal and scarf it down, so with the addition of dairy again....nothing changed again.
At Elba's month check up we talked to the pediatrician about his night time fussiness and she suggested the above mentioned book. I downloaded it to the Kindle and I'm cramming when I can. But again, at this point there isn't much that we can do that we aren't already doing, except wait it out. It is good to have confirmation though that it isn't anything that I'm necessarily doing wrong.
Okay, its 11pm and he just started to fuss from sleep....I know where this is going...
Weight: 210
And now I'll write about the not so pleasant. My child is officially colicky. The good news is that armed with the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" I understand the predicament better, albeit there is still nothing I can do about it. I'm happy to know that the worst is likely over though, as he is reaching six weeks from the due date. I'm learning a lot about the difference between extreme colic, which is what we all think of; the incessant inconsolable crying for hours on end and another type of colic, generally ignored because it is constant fussing that would lead to crying if not for the dedicated consoling efforts of the parents. This second type is my child. Let me explain...
I think I haven't hit this topic before for two reasons. One, it is difficult to update the blog during these trying times (seriously, it was easier when I was hiking!) and I also didn't want to dwell on the negative. When Mitch and I first brought Elba home we congratulated ourselves on our perfect baby. He would wake to eat and pretty much go right back to sleep. This lasted I think a week or so I think. He became much more alert (quite to our surprise and excitement). It turns out this might not have been that much of a blessing, as now I see he probably wasn't getting as much sleep as he should. This started the night fussing. 10pm to 3am has generally been the fuss zone. I thought (and now I know a very common one) that maybe something I was doing was wrong; I cut out dairy completely as well as caffeine, we bought gas drops and experimented with the assorted soothing methods, including the bouncy chair, swing, rocker, noise machines, vacuum cleaner, running water, light on/off, quiet and daily activity noise, snugli holding, rocking, patting, driving, walking, EVERYTHING. What worked one minute or one day didn't then next or after about ten minutes. This would last hours...we were at a loss and very sleep deprived.
I never thought he was colicky because I know 'colic' means the whole crying/screaming bit and we were doing a good job of stopping it from getting that far. Elba would just be extremely agitated, get red faced, arch his back, etc. and just seem very unhappy and uncomfortable. I now know there is nothing that can be done, except for exactly what we are doing. There are many theories on what causes colic/fussiness but no for sure answers except that it occurs in 20% of infants, peaks at 6 weeks and is gone after 3 months. Aside from that, good luck...don't throw your baby out a window and do the best you can. Awesome. I never wanted to throw him out a window, but there were several late night sob sessions on my end.
When I was in Chicago for the three (?) nights, there was no crying/fussiness at night. This was right after stopping dairy, caffeine and getting the gas drops. I thought that was the solution. We were right back at it when I got home. I couldn't figure out what was different. I weaned myself back on some coffee (I had to, really) and sometimes it was all I could do to make a bowl of cereal and scarf it down, so with the addition of dairy again....nothing changed again.
At Elba's month check up we talked to the pediatrician about his night time fussiness and she suggested the above mentioned book. I downloaded it to the Kindle and I'm cramming when I can. But again, at this point there isn't much that we can do that we aren't already doing, except wait it out. It is good to have confirmation though that it isn't anything that I'm necessarily doing wrong.
Okay, its 11pm and he just started to fuss from sleep....I know where this is going...
Weight: 210
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Clogged Milk Duct - WARNING THIS IS GROSS!
I really only wanted to update once a week, because not only did I not want to get too carried away and not ramble on about my mundane and somewhat chaotic motherhood experience, but also sometimes even just getting my once a week update done can be difficult. However tonight I had an experience I must write about. In fact, I should be sleeping right now because it is 2:30am, the baby is sleeping and I should be doing the same; but I just unclogged my first blocked milk duct!
So, over the last day I've been noticing the rocks on the right side don't go away after milking. Tonight it became too much and I decided I'd figure this out. I knew it was a clogged milk duct. I did a hot compress, massage and pumped a gillion times no no avail. I took a hot shower, had a glass of wine (it is supposed to help you relax and make let down easier), and tried a heating pad. I Googled it and it says that you need to try nursing in a different position so baby is sucking differently. Well, this doesn't help me, as I'm pumping exclusively these days. Well, my bathroom sink and counter is covered in milk now as I had to manually express the milk. Holy cow (no, not me; although it felt that way) that is time consuming and painful - but, WHALAH! clogged milk duct is taken care of.
But really, maybe because I don't have a penis to have practiced with all of my life, but my aim is horrible. Those crazy streams of milk have a mind of their own too. Oh well, mission accomplished. Not particularly something I thought I'd be doing tonight, but as I always said on the trail (and it's so true now in this adventure too), it could be worse!
I should also mention that pictures are updated on the Picasa website and I've uploaded three videos on the YouTube account.
So, over the last day I've been noticing the rocks on the right side don't go away after milking. Tonight it became too much and I decided I'd figure this out. I knew it was a clogged milk duct. I did a hot compress, massage and pumped a gillion times no no avail. I took a hot shower, had a glass of wine (it is supposed to help you relax and make let down easier), and tried a heating pad. I Googled it and it says that you need to try nursing in a different position so baby is sucking differently. Well, this doesn't help me, as I'm pumping exclusively these days. Well, my bathroom sink and counter is covered in milk now as I had to manually express the milk. Holy cow (no, not me; although it felt that way) that is time consuming and painful - but, WHALAH! clogged milk duct is taken care of.
But really, maybe because I don't have a penis to have practiced with all of my life, but my aim is horrible. Those crazy streams of milk have a mind of their own too. Oh well, mission accomplished. Not particularly something I thought I'd be doing tonight, but as I always said on the trail (and it's so true now in this adventure too), it could be worse!
I should also mention that pictures are updated on the Picasa website and I've uploaded three videos on the YouTube account.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
4 Weeks - Broke my Back
Lots of stuff to talk about this past week. As my first day back to work (part time for a few weeks at first) has been getting closer, Mitch and I started to talk about what to do as far as child care for Elba during the day while I'm working. The long of the short is that Mitch is going to stay home with Elba during the day and decided to go to school at night for nursing. We are looking at the nursing program of several schools and likely that will impact our decision on where we go from here. I am so relieved and happy about this plan. Not only was I terrified at the thought of leaving Elba with a stranger so quickly, but also I'm so happy and excited that Mitch has decided what he wants to be when he grows up!
Speaking of our little bundle; he is teasing us with smiles! Sometimes I think it might be a real smile, but Mitch will insist that it is gas. I can't tell, but this is the right time for that milestone. Either way, it warms my heart and makes me laugh each time his big gummy mouth opens wide into a big smile.
So there was a day that I felt pretty motivated to feel accomplished in doing stuff for the day, so I went grocery shopping by myself with the boy in tow. I'd also cleaned the house during the day and made dinner when I got home. At the end of the day my knees and feet where aching...looks like I overdid it! I thought, "Okay, I'll take it easy." The very next day my back started to ache. My lower back, and each time I bent or tried to pick something up it would get a little worse. I thought, "Okay, I'll take it easy." The next morning I hurt from the moment I woke up. It was difficult to get out of bed. All day hurt as the pain spread through and up my back. That night was the worst. Every time I tried to bend and lift anything intense pain would shoot through my back. I called my doctor the next day to see if this was normal. Apparently it is common for new Mom's to strain their back as they don't their babies correctly (with their knees) and this gets compounded when you have weakened abdominal muscles from a C-section. What to do? Take a few days off of picking up anything and have a constant supply of pain killers coursing through me. That I can do. It has been two days and I'm feeling better, but still unable to bend at the waist and lift anything heavier than say ten pounds. Oh well, good excuse to have Mitch get up to get the baby for me. :)
Mitch and I had a bit of a meltdown this week too. Elba is not sleeping very well at night. His days and nights are still confused (we are working on this) and every night about 9:30-10:30 he starts getting fussy. Fussy is putting it lightly. That is when it starts, but it will last hours of nothing soothing him and despite our best efforts and attending all his needs he is not happy or content. One such night after several hours (I think around 2am) Mitch came out of the bedroom upset. I took him wrong or took exception to his attitude and we then got into it. This lead to him being angry at me as well. Without getting into all the details it was horrible and it took a few days for us to get over it and resolve our own issues with each other. This was really difficult and upsetting.
Weight - 115 (looks like it will be diet and exercise to keep up the loss at this point).
Speaking of our little bundle; he is teasing us with smiles! Sometimes I think it might be a real smile, but Mitch will insist that it is gas. I can't tell, but this is the right time for that milestone. Either way, it warms my heart and makes me laugh each time his big gummy mouth opens wide into a big smile.
So there was a day that I felt pretty motivated to feel accomplished in doing stuff for the day, so I went grocery shopping by myself with the boy in tow. I'd also cleaned the house during the day and made dinner when I got home. At the end of the day my knees and feet where aching...looks like I overdid it! I thought, "Okay, I'll take it easy." The very next day my back started to ache. My lower back, and each time I bent or tried to pick something up it would get a little worse. I thought, "Okay, I'll take it easy." The next morning I hurt from the moment I woke up. It was difficult to get out of bed. All day hurt as the pain spread through and up my back. That night was the worst. Every time I tried to bend and lift anything intense pain would shoot through my back. I called my doctor the next day to see if this was normal. Apparently it is common for new Mom's to strain their back as they don't their babies correctly (with their knees) and this gets compounded when you have weakened abdominal muscles from a C-section. What to do? Take a few days off of picking up anything and have a constant supply of pain killers coursing through me. That I can do. It has been two days and I'm feeling better, but still unable to bend at the waist and lift anything heavier than say ten pounds. Oh well, good excuse to have Mitch get up to get the baby for me. :)
Mitch and I had a bit of a meltdown this week too. Elba is not sleeping very well at night. His days and nights are still confused (we are working on this) and every night about 9:30-10:30 he starts getting fussy. Fussy is putting it lightly. That is when it starts, but it will last hours of nothing soothing him and despite our best efforts and attending all his needs he is not happy or content. One such night after several hours (I think around 2am) Mitch came out of the bedroom upset. I took him wrong or took exception to his attitude and we then got into it. This lead to him being angry at me as well. Without getting into all the details it was horrible and it took a few days for us to get over it and resolve our own issues with each other. This was really difficult and upsetting.
Weight - 115 (looks like it will be diet and exercise to keep up the loss at this point).
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
3 Weeks - Chicago
This past weekend I drove to Chicago to show off Elba to my family. 45 minutes into the trip I almost turned around and went back home when I stopped for gas and he wouldn't stop screaming. I wouldn't do this trip again alone. It was doable, but very stressful for both of us I'm sure. There were times that he would start screaming and there was nothing I could do. I tried to sing, rock the carrier one handed, put the pacifier in his mouth, even offered the bottle one handed and extremely unsafe driving practice! Any time the car stopped it was horrible. I learned from this and on the way home did everything in my power not to stop at all.
Last night I gave him his first real good bath. I'd given him a few sponge baths and even one in the sink with a towel laid down below him, but the umbilical cord was still a bit oozy so I didn't want to get his middle wet really. We got him good and clean in all his cracks last night!
I'm gonna keep this one short and work on posting updated pictures. Nothing else is really new or exciting. He is more alert, but no big milestones yet and the trip with family and friends was worth the stress. It was great to see everyone and let Elba soak up some attention while Mama got some needed rest!
Weight: 116.5
Last night I gave him his first real good bath. I'd given him a few sponge baths and even one in the sink with a towel laid down below him, but the umbilical cord was still a bit oozy so I didn't want to get his middle wet really. We got him good and clean in all his cracks last night!
I'm gonna keep this one short and work on posting updated pictures. Nothing else is really new or exciting. He is more alert, but no big milestones yet and the trip with family and friends was worth the stress. It was great to see everyone and let Elba soak up some attention while Mama got some needed rest!
Weight: 116.5
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