I have mastitis. I can't believe it.
On Monday early afternoon as we were leaving Noah's doctor's appointment it felt like the bottom half of my right breast had a bunch of blocked milk ducts. The whole bottom half really hurt. That evening I kept nursing from that side and trying to massage the lumps. That's what I always do with my blocked ducts and it eventually works. But it wasn't working this time.
As the evening went on my breast was hurting more and more. Any sort of movement made me want to cry. And I started to not feel so great. My whole body was starting to ache and I was getting a headache. I took tylenol before bed, but it never did anything. Overnight I could barely sleep because I was so hot, my breast hurt so much, my body ached like crazy, my skin was starting to really hurt, and my headache was getting way worse.
When I got up yesterday I had a fever of 99.1. Usually my temp is around 95-97, so 99.1 is pretty high for me. I forced myself to shower and try and eat something, thinking it might make me feel better. Instead I got the chills.
I felt like I was going to die. I had to call my mom to come take me to the doctor and take care of Noah because I could barely hold him. Heck, I could barely walk. Luckily Noah slept until she got to my house, and my 9am my fever was at 100.5 - super high for me.
I went to the doctor, who confirmed the mastitis. I have antibiotics now. But the lumps haven't gone away yet, and the bottom half of that breast is bright red.
I keep trying to massage the lumps while he's nursing on that side but it's not working. It doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday though. Yesterday morning and afternoon I was crying and gasping with pain when he nursed on that side. It hurt SO much. But you have to keep nursing on the affected side otherwise it'll get worse.
Just my luck that I'd get mastitis. I always end up on the wrong side of the statistics! At least I don't feel like I have the worst flu of my life anymore. I just feel mildly crappy.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sleep at 5 Weeks
I've been meaning to post about this. Noah has been doing a slightly better job sleeping at nighttime than he was doing before. Up until about the 5 week mark he was eating every 2 hours at nighttime, with maybe one 3 hour stretch. Now he is more consistently going 3 or 3 1/2 hours between feedings, and occasionally making it to 4 hours right at the beginning of the night. I have actually had a night where I only got up twice to feed him (not including his bedtime feed and him waking me up at 6am to eat, because he basically stays awake when he gets up at 6am).
The stretches at the end of the night are still shorter though. It's always because when I put him on my left boob, the letdown is too strong so he always pops off to get a break. He promptly falls dead asleep and I can't get him back on. So he only gets about 3 or 4 minutes of milk, which makes him sleep for smaller amounts of time.
I'm considering only nursing on my right side at nighttime. The letdown on that side is more controlled. The only problem is the engorgement I'll experience if I go 9 or so hours without nursing on my left side. That alone would probably keep me awake.
The stretches at the end of the night are still shorter though. It's always because when I put him on my left boob, the letdown is too strong so he always pops off to get a break. He promptly falls dead asleep and I can't get him back on. So he only gets about 3 or 4 minutes of milk, which makes him sleep for smaller amounts of time.
I'm considering only nursing on my right side at nighttime. The letdown on that side is more controlled. The only problem is the engorgement I'll experience if I go 9 or so hours without nursing on my left side. That alone would probably keep me awake.
1 Month Appointment
Noah's 1 month appointment is really a 1 month and 8 days appointment. And at it he measured 23.5 inches and weighed... drum roll...
11 pounds 5 ounces!
What the heck! That was with a full belly and a sleeper and somewhat wet diaper on, so he probably is more like 11lbs. But STILL! At 4 weeks he weighed 10lbs 3 oz with a full belly, diaper, and sleeper on. 11 days later he'd gained a pound and 2 ounces!
I must be producing pure cream. My kid was 7lbs 7 oz at discharge. In 5 1/2 weeks he gained almost 4 pounds. Apparently he thinks he's in the second half of a pregnancy or something.
The good thing is that although he's in the 75th percentile for weight, he's in the 90th percentile for height. So he's taller than he is chubby. It's a good thing. His parents are both tall and lean. We don't want a short chubby kid;)
(I'm just joking, we will take whatever we get:)
11 pounds 5 ounces!
What the heck! That was with a full belly and a sleeper and somewhat wet diaper on, so he probably is more like 11lbs. But STILL! At 4 weeks he weighed 10lbs 3 oz with a full belly, diaper, and sleeper on. 11 days later he'd gained a pound and 2 ounces!
I must be producing pure cream. My kid was 7lbs 7 oz at discharge. In 5 1/2 weeks he gained almost 4 pounds. Apparently he thinks he's in the second half of a pregnancy or something.
The good thing is that although he's in the 75th percentile for weight, he's in the 90th percentile for height. So he's taller than he is chubby. It's a good thing. His parents are both tall and lean. We don't want a short chubby kid;)
(I'm just joking, we will take whatever we get:)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
One Month Old
(I started this post the day before Noah's one month birthday, but I'm 4 days late in finishing and posting it... of course)
At his one month birthday, this is what Noah is doing:
-He gives his mommy huge smiles! This started on his 3 week birthday, and everyone who sees them agrees that they are very real smiles.
-He takes way longer daytime naps if he's on his tummy. If he's not, he startles himself awake unless he's swaddled and in his swing.
-He holds his head up like a champion, but it comes smashing down when he's done. He doesn't have much control bringing it back down nicely.
-He bears weight on his legs for periods of about 5 seconds.
-If he can get his footing, he pushes really hard against whatever his feet are on like he's trying to jump up.
-He is very wiggly and vocal. He is rarely still or silent, even when he's sleeping.
-He's finally starting to enjoy his baths!
-He is the most adorable little rooter when he's hungry. He makes a really cute grinding sound as he tries to nurse on the air.
-He'll bob around on my shoulder, arm, or cheek looking for a nipple. It looks like he's bobbing for apples.
-When I'm holding his head and trying to put him on my nipple, my fingers being by his ears really confuses him and even though my nipple is right in front of his face, he'll turn his head away because he thinks my nipple is to his side. He looks really cute, because his one eye squints and his mouth goes all lopsided. I call him my little pirate when he does that.
-He grunts louder than any baby you'll ever hear. Seriously. People laugh their heads off listening to him.
-He gives off little shrieky cries during his REM sleep, and then goes back to being peaceful.
-He acts like he's constipated everytime he has to poop or fart. He squirms and grunts and gives himself an incredible pressure tan. It's funny, because his poops are so watery. I guess he just can't handle to feeling!
-He nurses well on my right side, but my left side has an incredibly forceful letdown that he can't handle (frankly, I wouldn't be able to either). It makes him choke and cough and start to cry. Poor little guy.
-I occasionally try to give him a soother. If he doesn't want it, he'll actually choke on it (and no, I'm not shoving it in his mouth:).
-He's a puker. We have about 35 burp cloths and we go through them in 2 days. And I put a bib on him almost everytime he nurses. We've had several explosive, slimy, mucousy pukes. These usually happen while he's actually in the act of nursing and it goes all over my boob. And his face.
-Noah is interested in staring at things other than faces. This started when he was 3 1/2 weeks old. He likes to look at his toys.
-It appears that Noah is going to be one of those babies who gets fussy because he's frustrated that he can't do more. He likes to be entertained, and I think we might have our hands full trying to keep him happy until he starts to crawl.
-Noah has no schedule. The longest he'll ever go between feeds is 3 hours, but that rarely happens. During the day he eats every hour or two, and I'm usually up every 2 hours during the night. I used to be up every hour or hour and a half during the second half of the night, but this past week I discovered that if I swaddle him durig the second half of the night, he can go 2 hours between feeds. I think this is because he spends more time in REM sleep during the second half, so he wakes himself up more easily. The swaddling helps prevent this.
-I've now lost 36 pounds... that's 20 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.
At his one month birthday, this is what Noah is doing:
-He gives his mommy huge smiles! This started on his 3 week birthday, and everyone who sees them agrees that they are very real smiles.
-He takes way longer daytime naps if he's on his tummy. If he's not, he startles himself awake unless he's swaddled and in his swing.
-He holds his head up like a champion, but it comes smashing down when he's done. He doesn't have much control bringing it back down nicely.
-He bears weight on his legs for periods of about 5 seconds.
-If he can get his footing, he pushes really hard against whatever his feet are on like he's trying to jump up.
-He is very wiggly and vocal. He is rarely still or silent, even when he's sleeping.
-He's finally starting to enjoy his baths!
-He is the most adorable little rooter when he's hungry. He makes a really cute grinding sound as he tries to nurse on the air.
-He'll bob around on my shoulder, arm, or cheek looking for a nipple. It looks like he's bobbing for apples.
-When I'm holding his head and trying to put him on my nipple, my fingers being by his ears really confuses him and even though my nipple is right in front of his face, he'll turn his head away because he thinks my nipple is to his side. He looks really cute, because his one eye squints and his mouth goes all lopsided. I call him my little pirate when he does that.
-He grunts louder than any baby you'll ever hear. Seriously. People laugh their heads off listening to him.
-He gives off little shrieky cries during his REM sleep, and then goes back to being peaceful.
-He acts like he's constipated everytime he has to poop or fart. He squirms and grunts and gives himself an incredible pressure tan. It's funny, because his poops are so watery. I guess he just can't handle to feeling!
-He nurses well on my right side, but my left side has an incredibly forceful letdown that he can't handle (frankly, I wouldn't be able to either). It makes him choke and cough and start to cry. Poor little guy.
-I occasionally try to give him a soother. If he doesn't want it, he'll actually choke on it (and no, I'm not shoving it in his mouth:).
-He's a puker. We have about 35 burp cloths and we go through them in 2 days. And I put a bib on him almost everytime he nurses. We've had several explosive, slimy, mucousy pukes. These usually happen while he's actually in the act of nursing and it goes all over my boob. And his face.
-Noah is interested in staring at things other than faces. This started when he was 3 1/2 weeks old. He likes to look at his toys.
-It appears that Noah is going to be one of those babies who gets fussy because he's frustrated that he can't do more. He likes to be entertained, and I think we might have our hands full trying to keep him happy until he starts to crawl.
-Noah has no schedule. The longest he'll ever go between feeds is 3 hours, but that rarely happens. During the day he eats every hour or two, and I'm usually up every 2 hours during the night. I used to be up every hour or hour and a half during the second half of the night, but this past week I discovered that if I swaddle him durig the second half of the night, he can go 2 hours between feeds. I think this is because he spends more time in REM sleep during the second half, so he wakes himself up more easily. The swaddling helps prevent this.
-I've now lost 36 pounds... that's 20 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Happy 4 Weeks Noah!
My little baby is already 4 weeks old. Wow. I can't believe how time with him has flown.
I went to a Well Baby weigh-in clinic today with my friend whose baby is 3 weeks older than Noah. He was 10 lbs and 23 inches long. That's up from 8lbs and 21.5 inches 2 weeks and 6 days ago (when he was 8 days old). Apparently I make great milk!
As happy as I am that my baby is super healthy and I'm able to provide everything he needs (not being able to nurse was one of my biggest fears), I really want him to slow down! He's growing so fast. However, most of his 0-3 month clothes are still huge on him.
Here's a few pictures of my little munchkin from today:
I went to a Well Baby weigh-in clinic today with my friend whose baby is 3 weeks older than Noah. He was 10 lbs and 23 inches long. That's up from 8lbs and 21.5 inches 2 weeks and 6 days ago (when he was 8 days old). Apparently I make great milk!
As happy as I am that my baby is super healthy and I'm able to provide everything he needs (not being able to nurse was one of my biggest fears), I really want him to slow down! He's growing so fast. However, most of his 0-3 month clothes are still huge on him.
Here's a few pictures of my little munchkin from today:
Almost caught a big smile:
Naked picture, of course:
He was upset at being posed, but I thought he looked so cute in the little outfit I couldn't resist:
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Amaze Myself
I didn't sleep the whole second half of the night because Noah was grunting SO loudly the entire time he was "sleeping." He was in his own room, but he was so loud I just could not sleep through it. So from 2am onward I just lied there awake. I was going nuts. I did manage to catch another half hour or 45 minutes this morning, mainly because I closed our door so just a crack was open. I had just fed him, and he was dry, so I figured that not a lot bad could happen in the half hour before my husband was due to get up for work. Besides, I was sure I would hear him if he actually started crying.
Despite this lack of sleep and the resulting grumpiness upon waking (I'm fine now, by the way), by 11:30 this morning this is everything I accomplished:
-I showered
-Blowdried my hair
-Put on makeup
-Washed and folded a load of laundry
-Vacuumed all my hardwood and ceramic floors
-Cleaned all the counters
-Cleaned the stove
-Cleaned the sinks
-Scrubbed the microwave
-Reorganized the dishwasher (things weren't fitting)
-Dusted the tables in the living room
-Cleaned off the kitchen table
-Bathed and changed Noah
-Cleaned up the bathroom
I find I'm really getting the hang of this stay at home mom thing. It's easy to get stuff done when you're at home with no baby. It gets more challenging when you factor a newborn into the picture. But I find I'm getting really good at sprinting around getting stuff done as soon as Noah is content for a second.
A lot of the time I have a hard time getting Noah to nap during the day, because he acts all awake and fussy. He'll fall asleep in your arms, but wake up a couple of minutes after you put him down. Today I really wanted to shower, so I just turned his mobile on while I hopped in the shower quick. While I was in the shower he started yelping, so when I got out I cuddled him. He didn't really seem comforted by my cuddles (how dare he), so I put him back down and made him just deal with life as I finished getting ready because there was really nothing wrong with him. He was fed and dry, and obviously holding him wasn't really helping. While I was finishing getting ready he eventually just fell asleep, so I think his yelps were "I'M TIRED! And I don't know how to deal with that!"
He woke up right after that and was hungry, so I fed him and then put him back down to sleep again. Then I started running around cleaning things. I get so much done during his little naps because I never know how long they'll be, so I go like the energizer bunny until he needs me.
It's a good thing I got all this done, because a couple of hours into it I remembered that I'm having a visitor today (in about half an hour). I'm glad that me, my son, and my house are all clean.
Despite this lack of sleep and the resulting grumpiness upon waking (I'm fine now, by the way), by 11:30 this morning this is everything I accomplished:
-I showered
-Blowdried my hair
-Put on makeup
-Washed and folded a load of laundry
-Vacuumed all my hardwood and ceramic floors
-Cleaned all the counters
-Cleaned the stove
-Cleaned the sinks
-Scrubbed the microwave
-Reorganized the dishwasher (things weren't fitting)
-Dusted the tables in the living room
-Cleaned off the kitchen table
-Bathed and changed Noah
-Cleaned up the bathroom
I find I'm really getting the hang of this stay at home mom thing. It's easy to get stuff done when you're at home with no baby. It gets more challenging when you factor a newborn into the picture. But I find I'm getting really good at sprinting around getting stuff done as soon as Noah is content for a second.
A lot of the time I have a hard time getting Noah to nap during the day, because he acts all awake and fussy. He'll fall asleep in your arms, but wake up a couple of minutes after you put him down. Today I really wanted to shower, so I just turned his mobile on while I hopped in the shower quick. While I was in the shower he started yelping, so when I got out I cuddled him. He didn't really seem comforted by my cuddles (how dare he), so I put him back down and made him just deal with life as I finished getting ready because there was really nothing wrong with him. He was fed and dry, and obviously holding him wasn't really helping. While I was finishing getting ready he eventually just fell asleep, so I think his yelps were "I'M TIRED! And I don't know how to deal with that!"
He woke up right after that and was hungry, so I fed him and then put him back down to sleep again. Then I started running around cleaning things. I get so much done during his little naps because I never know how long they'll be, so I go like the energizer bunny until he needs me.
It's a good thing I got all this done, because a couple of hours into it I remembered that I'm having a visitor today (in about half an hour). I'm glad that me, my son, and my house are all clean.
Monday, April 12, 2010
My Baby is Aware... and Smiling!
Noah is 3 weeks 4 days
I've noticed in the past couple of days that Noah has become more focused. He's always liked to look at mine and Justin's faces, but now he really studies us and reacts to what we do and say. When he was 3 weeks old he started to actually smile. I know they say it's not until like 5 weeks that babies smile, but everyone who sees him smile is like "Wow, he's actually smiling!"
The first episode was on his 3 week birthday. We were sitting on the couch cuddling, and he was staring at my face. I started talking and smiling at him and he gave me two big smiles that just took over his face. It melted my heart.
Since then he's been smiling at other people too. And he'll be entertained by people for longer than he used to be.
Also, today was the first day that I put him under his activity centres (we have two) and he actually paid attention to them and seemed to enjoy it. I tried one at the end of last week, but he didn't look at it at all and just got annoyed at lying on the floor. Today I tried again and he was actually entertained for a couple of minutes. Then my mom and I put together the other one and he was entertained by that one for at least 10 minutes! He was even looking excited about it!
It's amazing to watch him grow up so quickly. His neck is getting pretty strong. He holds it up very well, but then it crashed back down and he does a face plant. Justin can't wait until he has neck control (he says that right now he's like a bag of milk with a grapefruit attached by tissue paper). I am just fine with him the way he is! The sooner he has neck control, the sooner he isn't my newborn anymore! It makes me sad how he's already so different from that tiny thing that came out of me.
On another note, I felt like super-mom today. I got a load of laundry done, the entire upper floor vacuumed (including the couches and comforters... cat hair is so annoying), and the bathroom cleaned. Oh, and I put together Noah's exersaucer. He won't use it for a few months, but one of his activity centres is part of the exersaucer, so I had to open the box. My mom said I should just put it together, since it was out of the box. Man, that was a task! I didn't think it would be so complicated or take so long!
The amazing thing is that I got all this done even though Noah barely napped. And a big part of his nap was taken up by me showering and blowdrying my hair.
I also played with Noah and read him a couple of books.
I've noticed in the past couple of days that Noah has become more focused. He's always liked to look at mine and Justin's faces, but now he really studies us and reacts to what we do and say. When he was 3 weeks old he started to actually smile. I know they say it's not until like 5 weeks that babies smile, but everyone who sees him smile is like "Wow, he's actually smiling!"
The first episode was on his 3 week birthday. We were sitting on the couch cuddling, and he was staring at my face. I started talking and smiling at him and he gave me two big smiles that just took over his face. It melted my heart.
Since then he's been smiling at other people too. And he'll be entertained by people for longer than he used to be.
Also, today was the first day that I put him under his activity centres (we have two) and he actually paid attention to them and seemed to enjoy it. I tried one at the end of last week, but he didn't look at it at all and just got annoyed at lying on the floor. Today I tried again and he was actually entertained for a couple of minutes. Then my mom and I put together the other one and he was entertained by that one for at least 10 minutes! He was even looking excited about it!
On another note, I felt like super-mom today. I got a load of laundry done, the entire upper floor vacuumed (including the couches and comforters... cat hair is so annoying), and the bathroom cleaned. Oh, and I put together Noah's exersaucer. He won't use it for a few months, but one of his activity centres is part of the exersaucer, so I had to open the box. My mom said I should just put it together, since it was out of the box. Man, that was a task! I didn't think it would be so complicated or take so long!
The amazing thing is that I got all this done even though Noah barely napped. And a big part of his nap was taken up by me showering and blowdrying my hair.
I also played with Noah and read him a couple of books.
Side note:
I'm never on time with these things, but here's Noah on his 3 week birthday:
Friday, April 9, 2010
Good Bath
Noah is 3 weeks and 1 day
Noah and I had his first really good bath today. Actually, I really enjoyed his first two baths at home, where he just came in the bathtub with me. He seemed to really enjoy it too, because he was pretty much completely submerged. But I need my husband at home to do that kind of bath... it's too hard to get in and out of the tub with a wet slippery baby in my arms.
So after those first two baths we've just been doing the normal baby bathtub thing. Which he hates. He cries getting into the tub, he whimpers while he's in it, and he cries getting out and while he's getting dried off and dressed. This used to really stress me out, but I've realized that he'll live, and while I don't like hearing him cry, I don't panic over it anymore.
However, I still like to do everything possible to make my baby comfortable. I hate being wet and cold, why wouldn't he? So today I closed the bathroom doors and turned the heat up to 72 degrees. I also ran the hair dryer for awhile in there. Then I first washed his face and his hair while he was still dressed and wrapped in a blanket. Then I quickly undressed him, put him in the tub, and gave him a quick body bath. He cried a bit getting into the water, but he soon calmed down. Then, for the first time, he didn't cry at all getting out of the tub. It must have been because the bathroom was so warm I was almost sweating.
I put him in one of his smallest 0-3 month sleepers. It was so cute and he looked so adorable. Within half an hour he explosively puked all over it. It took 3 burp cloths to deal with all the puke. And I obviously had to change him. Grr.
Oh well. I do a load of laundry every single day now that we have Noah, so it's now clean and he can try to wear it again tomorrow!
Seriously though, load for load he makes way more laundry than Justin and I. I can't believe that something so tiny, that wears such tiny clothing, can create such enormous masses of laundry. It's completely ridiculous! Good thing I'm a stay-at-home Mom... not that I have a lot of time to do laundry at this point. But it would be far worse if I was a working Mom!
Noah and I had his first really good bath today. Actually, I really enjoyed his first two baths at home, where he just came in the bathtub with me. He seemed to really enjoy it too, because he was pretty much completely submerged. But I need my husband at home to do that kind of bath... it's too hard to get in and out of the tub with a wet slippery baby in my arms.
So after those first two baths we've just been doing the normal baby bathtub thing. Which he hates. He cries getting into the tub, he whimpers while he's in it, and he cries getting out and while he's getting dried off and dressed. This used to really stress me out, but I've realized that he'll live, and while I don't like hearing him cry, I don't panic over it anymore.
However, I still like to do everything possible to make my baby comfortable. I hate being wet and cold, why wouldn't he? So today I closed the bathroom doors and turned the heat up to 72 degrees. I also ran the hair dryer for awhile in there. Then I first washed his face and his hair while he was still dressed and wrapped in a blanket. Then I quickly undressed him, put him in the tub, and gave him a quick body bath. He cried a bit getting into the water, but he soon calmed down. Then, for the first time, he didn't cry at all getting out of the tub. It must have been because the bathroom was so warm I was almost sweating.
I put him in one of his smallest 0-3 month sleepers. It was so cute and he looked so adorable. Within half an hour he explosively puked all over it. It took 3 burp cloths to deal with all the puke. And I obviously had to change him. Grr.
Oh well. I do a load of laundry every single day now that we have Noah, so it's now clean and he can try to wear it again tomorrow!
Seriously though, load for load he makes way more laundry than Justin and I. I can't believe that something so tiny, that wears such tiny clothing, can create such enormous masses of laundry. It's completely ridiculous! Good thing I'm a stay-at-home Mom... not that I have a lot of time to do laundry at this point. But it would be far worse if I was a working Mom!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
2 Weeks 5 Days
Well, last night wasn't terrible, but the evening was ridiculous. Noah ate for an hour and a half before I was finally like "This is ridiculous! No more! You can't possibly still be hungry!" I sent Justin downstairs with him at 9pm and I went to sleep. At 10:30 I woke up and there was no Justin beside me and my bedroom door was still closed (we keep the doors open when Noah is in his crib). I was worried that Justin had fallen asleep and Noah was hungry and fussing beside him - this happened a few days ago - so I went downstairs to check it out.
Amazingly Noah was sleeping peacefully. Which made me far less guilty for cutting him off the boob at 9 - obviously he was okay with it since he was still sleeping at 10:30. I went back upstairs to sleep, until 11:30 when Justin brought me my fussy baby to eat.
So despite his growth spurt, Noah had a totally normal night. At this point, a normal night means he eats before I go to sleep, sleeps for a couple of hours, eats again, sleeps for about 2 1/2 hours, and then eats again around 2-3am. But that feed is always really half hearted, even though he's usually been fussing and grunting and sucking the air for at least half an hour before I feed him (I want him to be good and hungry). Every feed after that is half-hearted, which means I'm up every hour to an hour and a half, because my kid won't eat enough to keep himself full for any longer than that. It drives me a bit bonkers, but there's nothing we can do to wake him up enough to eat a decent meal!
Today Noah is having some fussy moments (and very short naps). He seems to have developed tummy problems. He's always squirming and seemingly in pain. There's a lot of pooping, farting, and burping going on. And he often doesn't stay asleep if he's fallen asleep on you and you try to put him down. He just wants to be held. And when he's awake he wants to be walked and talked to.
I can't get much done around the house when he's like this, obviously. So I'm just trying to remind myself that Noah is my job now, and it's okay if I'm not able to do anything but feed, change, snuggle, and comfort him. I feel like I'm not being productive when that's all I do all day, but like I said, this is my job now. This is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Today I have managed to shower, blowdry my hair (no makeup), brush my teeth, eat breakfast, eat lunch (which my dear husband had to make for me), and put a load of laundry from the washer into the dryer. Oh, and I put together some stuff I needed to send away for our Child Tax Credit and my maternity leave. I'd been procrastinating majorly with those things. So what if it's 12:30 and I haven't had a chance to unload the dishwasher or actually fold the laundry. The only reason I'm managing to write this blog is because Noah is asleep in the sleepy wrap... who knows how long this will last!
I want to post a couple of pictures, since it's been awhile. These are of Noah on his two week birthday - 5 days ago already!
Funny Face:) :
Monday, April 5, 2010
Early Growth Spurt
I think Noah is going through his 3 week growth spurt right now, even though he's 2 weeks 4 days. Today he has nursed EVERY HOUR since 7:30am. I'm not even exagerrating a little bit. Every hour on the half hour. 15 minutes nursing, 45 minutes off. Sometimes one boob, sometimes both, but everytime he completely drains the boob he's on. He rarely does that, but he's SO hungry today.
Hopefully it's not like this all night because I will lose my mind. It's fine during the daylight. I really don't mind the constant nursing during our awake hours. But I'll cry if it continues all night! I'll be so tired and lonely, since Justin can't stay awake with me at night (he's literally incapable of doing so). I'm not a fan of night time.
I think that Noah is just about out of his newborn clothes. It makes me so sad! I never even expected him to wear newborn clothes, but when he was born his newborn stuff was actually too big for him! Now he's about to grow out of it. I love his tiny newborn clothing. I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I pack it away.
Hopefully it's not like this all night because I will lose my mind. It's fine during the daylight. I really don't mind the constant nursing during our awake hours. But I'll cry if it continues all night! I'll be so tired and lonely, since Justin can't stay awake with me at night (he's literally incapable of doing so). I'm not a fan of night time.
I think that Noah is just about out of his newborn clothes. It makes me so sad! I never even expected him to wear newborn clothes, but when he was born his newborn stuff was actually too big for him! Now he's about to grow out of it. I love his tiny newborn clothing. I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I pack it away.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Updates
Little Noah is sleeping on my chest, so I wanted to get in a quick post to cover some things I forgot to cover this past week.
Tuesday was my 25th birthday. It was the best birthday of my life, because I had my wonderful son in my arms. Sure, I didn't get any presents because my presents were all early (one in February from Justin, one a couple of weeks ago from my parents), and I had only gotten 2 or 3 hours of sleep that night. It really didn't feel like a birthday. But it was still wonderful. I'll never forget my birthday last year - the worst birthday of my entire life because of infertility. What a difference our little miracle has made! Oh, and Justin gave me a birthday card that actually made me tear up (my exhaustion may have contributed to that:).
On Tuesday we were heading into town to go to my parents' for my birthday dinner. I needed to buy new nighttime nursing bras first, and needed to get to the chiropractor as well. We were all on track to leave at 3:30, which was the perfect amount of time to get to town, run the errands, and get to my parent's by 5.
Noah had other plans. At 3:30 he got fussy and wanted to eat again (even though he had just finished 20 minutes beforehand). I thought "Alright, we'll be about 10-15 minutes behind schedule. No problem."
He ate, and right after eating proceeded to throw up everything he had just ingested. It got all over my shirt, my pants, the bedspread, his sleeper, his neck, and all in his hair. So then he needed a bath and a change. We ended up leaving 35 minutes late. It was actually pretty hilarious. So this is why people with babies are always late!!!
Noah has become an incredible grunter. He is SO loud sometimes that my mom, who had four kids, was actually kind of shocked. It's not working out to have him in the bassinet beside the bed, because I'm not getting a wink of sleep. So on Tuesday night, for the last 2 hours at the end of the night, we tried putting him in his crib for the last couple of hours of the night. I got an hour of sleep, which was nice, but I hated being seperated from my baby by two closed doors (because of the cats). Plus I could still hear him through the monitor.
Wednesday night we put him in there for the last 4 hours at the end of the night. I still didn't get much sleep because I'm trying to figure out the monitor volume thing. Noah doesn't cry, and I don't ever want him to have to cry to be fed (I know it'll happen eventually, but he's just so young!). So it's really really hard to tell when his grunts mean, "I'm awake and hungry, Mom!" or when he's just grunting in his sleep. Once again, I hated being seperated from him by 2 closed doors.
Last night we locked the cats in the laundry room, so we kept our door and Noah's door open all night. I can see his crib from my bed. I can't really see him in it, but I can see the crib, and I can walk over there easily without worrying about letting cats into the room. So I actually got about 5 hours of sleep, total, last night!
This is a temporary solution though. The furnace didn't need to turn on last night because it's so warm out right now. But when it gets too warm and we need the air conditioner, the cats will meow like crazy everytime the furnace turns on. And the laundry room/furnace room is right under our bedroom - I can hear them perfectly. Unfortunately, because of our open-concept house, there is no way to lock them in another level of the house because we have no doorways to seperate different areas of the house. Baby gates are too small - the cats can hop right over them. I'm actually considering having someone make some sort of door. It will look really really strange, but it's worth it to me to be able to have our doors open between our rooms and not worry about the cats smothering my baby while he's sleeping in his crib. I hope this will work. In the meantime, I guess they'll be locked in the laundry room.
Yesterday was Noah's 2 week birthday. Ah! Time is going by too fast. 2 weeks is too old! Yesterday was the first day that he had a 3 hour long nap, and then was awake for a whole 3 hours at a time! 3 hours was a long time for this little baby to be awake all at once. He conked out after that, though.
My new thing to try and make him sleep longer at night is to only give him one boob. He always nurses on one side, then we burp and change him and I put him on the other side. But the past couple of nights I've tried putting him back on the same side again so he gets more of the hindmilk, which is more filling. I think it's working because he's gone a bit longer between feeds. My other boob gets a bit uncomfortable, but it's not too bad. My milk supply seems under control for now.
Noah's little nursing blisters are almost all peeled off his lips. But his belly button still has a fair amount of dried blood in it. I'm wondering when that will go away. His umbilical cord fell off an entire week ago! The blood gets all over his clothes - we're going through spray and wash like crazy!
Finally, in 14 days I lost 34 lbs. That's 18 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. People can't believe I just had a baby. Neither can I, for that matter.
Tuesday was my 25th birthday. It was the best birthday of my life, because I had my wonderful son in my arms. Sure, I didn't get any presents because my presents were all early (one in February from Justin, one a couple of weeks ago from my parents), and I had only gotten 2 or 3 hours of sleep that night. It really didn't feel like a birthday. But it was still wonderful. I'll never forget my birthday last year - the worst birthday of my entire life because of infertility. What a difference our little miracle has made! Oh, and Justin gave me a birthday card that actually made me tear up (my exhaustion may have contributed to that:).
On Tuesday we were heading into town to go to my parents' for my birthday dinner. I needed to buy new nighttime nursing bras first, and needed to get to the chiropractor as well. We were all on track to leave at 3:30, which was the perfect amount of time to get to town, run the errands, and get to my parent's by 5.
Noah had other plans. At 3:30 he got fussy and wanted to eat again (even though he had just finished 20 minutes beforehand). I thought "Alright, we'll be about 10-15 minutes behind schedule. No problem."
He ate, and right after eating proceeded to throw up everything he had just ingested. It got all over my shirt, my pants, the bedspread, his sleeper, his neck, and all in his hair. So then he needed a bath and a change. We ended up leaving 35 minutes late. It was actually pretty hilarious. So this is why people with babies are always late!!!
Noah has become an incredible grunter. He is SO loud sometimes that my mom, who had four kids, was actually kind of shocked. It's not working out to have him in the bassinet beside the bed, because I'm not getting a wink of sleep. So on Tuesday night, for the last 2 hours at the end of the night, we tried putting him in his crib for the last couple of hours of the night. I got an hour of sleep, which was nice, but I hated being seperated from my baby by two closed doors (because of the cats). Plus I could still hear him through the monitor.
Wednesday night we put him in there for the last 4 hours at the end of the night. I still didn't get much sleep because I'm trying to figure out the monitor volume thing. Noah doesn't cry, and I don't ever want him to have to cry to be fed (I know it'll happen eventually, but he's just so young!). So it's really really hard to tell when his grunts mean, "I'm awake and hungry, Mom!" or when he's just grunting in his sleep. Once again, I hated being seperated from him by 2 closed doors.
Last night we locked the cats in the laundry room, so we kept our door and Noah's door open all night. I can see his crib from my bed. I can't really see him in it, but I can see the crib, and I can walk over there easily without worrying about letting cats into the room. So I actually got about 5 hours of sleep, total, last night!
This is a temporary solution though. The furnace didn't need to turn on last night because it's so warm out right now. But when it gets too warm and we need the air conditioner, the cats will meow like crazy everytime the furnace turns on. And the laundry room/furnace room is right under our bedroom - I can hear them perfectly. Unfortunately, because of our open-concept house, there is no way to lock them in another level of the house because we have no doorways to seperate different areas of the house. Baby gates are too small - the cats can hop right over them. I'm actually considering having someone make some sort of door. It will look really really strange, but it's worth it to me to be able to have our doors open between our rooms and not worry about the cats smothering my baby while he's sleeping in his crib. I hope this will work. In the meantime, I guess they'll be locked in the laundry room.
Yesterday was Noah's 2 week birthday. Ah! Time is going by too fast. 2 weeks is too old! Yesterday was the first day that he had a 3 hour long nap, and then was awake for a whole 3 hours at a time! 3 hours was a long time for this little baby to be awake all at once. He conked out after that, though.
My new thing to try and make him sleep longer at night is to only give him one boob. He always nurses on one side, then we burp and change him and I put him on the other side. But the past couple of nights I've tried putting him back on the same side again so he gets more of the hindmilk, which is more filling. I think it's working because he's gone a bit longer between feeds. My other boob gets a bit uncomfortable, but it's not too bad. My milk supply seems under control for now.
Noah's little nursing blisters are almost all peeled off his lips. But his belly button still has a fair amount of dried blood in it. I'm wondering when that will go away. His umbilical cord fell off an entire week ago! The blood gets all over his clothes - we're going through spray and wash like crazy!
Finally, in 14 days I lost 34 lbs. That's 18 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. People can't believe I just had a baby. Neither can I, for that matter.
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