Life as Mommy
Okay, so it's been a little more than the week I'd hoped for, but that's just how things go with a new born.
I have discovered that no matter how carefully I think I've timed my precious shower, it is inevitable that there will be a knock on the bathroom door 3 minutes into it followed by the announcement, "He's hungry."
And no matter how recently I've changed his diaper, the moment I start to fix myself a meal or put that first bite in my mouth, he'll need to be changed again.
So with things in such an order, you can see where posting might fall on the list of what to do when I have 5 seconds to myself. In fact, I'm not even free now. Ethan is hungry again and I am typing this with one hand. Still, I felt I could not let this go any longer.
Here are some of the things you might like to know:
(Thursday 11-03-05) Ethan's professional pictures came out fabulous! We have one of just him that is like something you might think came with the frame- it's that perfect! I'll see about posting these pics here soon.
The whole experience was quite an adventure. I made a point of keeping him as far from other people as possible to avoid germs, but immediately after our pictures were taken, Ethan needed to be changed and wanted to eat. So, while everyone else waited for the pictures to be developed, I headed to the back of the store with Ethan and my mom. After we changed him, my mom went back to join the others in the studio. Meanwhile, I got Ethan latched on, put on my breastfeeding coverall, and then strode oh-so-self-consciously back through the store to the studio with Ethan still eating. My breastfeeding coverall is like a large cream colored blanket with a little tie that goes around my neck to keep it in place and a netting "window" just below my neck for private viewing. It makes it possible for me to breastfeed with other people around and not worry about exposing things I don't want exposed. As modest as it is though, I have to admit I still feel strange when I use it- especially in public. But, I figure people are going to be happier with this option, than with the alternative- Ethan screaming for the remainder of the time I'm doing whatever needs doing.
Based on his eating habits, we believe Ethan hit his growth spurt exactly on cue- his 2 week bday. (Monday, 11-07-05) From what I hear, breastfed babies are supposed to hit these spurts at about 2, 4, and 6 weeks. In Ethan's case, it meant that he wanted to eat every hour for 1/2 an hour from about 1am until 11am Monday morning. When you factor in burping and a diaper change after each feeding, you can see why I got ZERO sleep during those hours. Not to mention that when he did sleep (for all of about 10 -15 min.) he made constant noises in his sleep which made it impossible for me to even doze. This was the same Monday that Luke spent his first half day back at work. Needless to say this was NOT my favorite day and I have never been so happy to welcome Luke home! I've read these growth spurts can last 1 to 2 days. For the next 24 hours or so, Ethan's eating was more frequent than his previous pace of every 2 hours, but it did NOT continue at the break neck speed of that night. Thank You, Lord!
Ethan's spit up increased significantly following his growth spurt and despite everything else pointing to him being just fine... I was worried. So, on Friday (11-11-05) we decided to weigh him. We don't own a baby scale, so we made due with ours. First, I weighed myself (delightfully discovering I'd lost even more weight!), and then I weighed myself again to be sure I got the same results. I did, so then Luke handed me Ethan and I got on the scale with him in my arms. I used obvious subtraction to figure out his weight. Then Luke did the same thing. His results were exactly the same as mine: Ethan now weighs 10.5lbs!!!! WOW!! That's half again as big as he was at birth and means that he had gained 2lbs 7oz in 11 days! I knew he was getting bigger but... WOW!!
During his first two baths, Ethan protested very loudly. However, when Luke and I gave Ethan a bath on _____, he hardly made a sound. In fact I think the noisiest part of the bath occured when Luke and I cried out because Ethan decided to invent his own "fountain" at the very end of the bath, and then follow it up with a little .... shall we call it "bath gel of another kind"??? Yummy.
He does seem to be growing accustomed to baths though. When my sister and mom volunteered to give him his bath yesterday (Saturday 11-12-05), he didn't make a sound the entire time. He just sat calmly and looked around him in the observant way he has.
In our nearly 3 weeks as parents, Luke and I have come up with a very short list of must have items which we thank God for EVERY DAY:
Our boppy- Ethan loves being propped up in this on the floor!
Our sling- Ethan loves being carried in this! And when he falls asleep, you can just lay it on the floor and fold over the ends to make a sort of Moses Basket! It keeps him snug and he'll sleep longer when he feels snug. It also blocks most of the light and Ethan is not a fan of light.
A good swaddling blanket- There's nothing Ethan loves more than being held tight.
Our Play and Go Turtle toy- It goes in a 4ft circle, plays music, and has colored shape buttons that light up. It's meant to help encourage the baby to learn to crawl by chasing the turtle and then to learn their shapes and colors by pushing the right button when prompted. However, on the bottom you can choose from 4 different modes and we love the Melody mode right now. Put that thing on the floor within Ethan's reach, push a button, and watch the complete fascination that transforms his cries into silence (most of the time).
Our little musical mouse- It hooks to the crib and plays a short bit of the Nutcracker song when you squeeze it. It's loud enough to get his attention when he's screaming and can't be knocked away by his flailing arms. This is good for temporary calming while I'm finishing up whatever I was doing when Ethan decided to begin demanding food.
Well, I missed taking his 2week bday picture for obvious reasons (assuming you read the bit about his growth spurt), but I did take his picture first thing the next morning. However that picture has not been uploaded yet, so I'll have to post it here some other time. (BTW this was typed in several separate sessions, so please forgive any disjointedness or typos.)
I have discovered that no matter how carefully I think I've timed my precious shower, it is inevitable that there will be a knock on the bathroom door 3 minutes into it followed by the announcement, "He's hungry."
And no matter how recently I've changed his diaper, the moment I start to fix myself a meal or put that first bite in my mouth, he'll need to be changed again.
So with things in such an order, you can see where posting might fall on the list of what to do when I have 5 seconds to myself. In fact, I'm not even free now. Ethan is hungry again and I am typing this with one hand. Still, I felt I could not let this go any longer.
Here are some of the things you might like to know:
(Thursday 11-03-05) Ethan's professional pictures came out fabulous! We have one of just him that is like something you might think came with the frame- it's that perfect! I'll see about posting these pics here soon.
The whole experience was quite an adventure. I made a point of keeping him as far from other people as possible to avoid germs, but immediately after our pictures were taken, Ethan needed to be changed and wanted to eat. So, while everyone else waited for the pictures to be developed, I headed to the back of the store with Ethan and my mom. After we changed him, my mom went back to join the others in the studio. Meanwhile, I got Ethan latched on, put on my breastfeeding coverall, and then strode oh-so-self-consciously back through the store to the studio with Ethan still eating. My breastfeeding coverall is like a large cream colored blanket with a little tie that goes around my neck to keep it in place and a netting "window" just below my neck for private viewing. It makes it possible for me to breastfeed with other people around and not worry about exposing things I don't want exposed. As modest as it is though, I have to admit I still feel strange when I use it- especially in public. But, I figure people are going to be happier with this option, than with the alternative- Ethan screaming for the remainder of the time I'm doing whatever needs doing.
Based on his eating habits, we believe Ethan hit his growth spurt exactly on cue- his 2 week bday. (Monday, 11-07-05) From what I hear, breastfed babies are supposed to hit these spurts at about 2, 4, and 6 weeks. In Ethan's case, it meant that he wanted to eat every hour for 1/2 an hour from about 1am until 11am Monday morning. When you factor in burping and a diaper change after each feeding, you can see why I got ZERO sleep during those hours. Not to mention that when he did sleep (for all of about 10 -15 min.) he made constant noises in his sleep which made it impossible for me to even doze. This was the same Monday that Luke spent his first half day back at work. Needless to say this was NOT my favorite day and I have never been so happy to welcome Luke home! I've read these growth spurts can last 1 to 2 days. For the next 24 hours or so, Ethan's eating was more frequent than his previous pace of every 2 hours, but it did NOT continue at the break neck speed of that night. Thank You, Lord!
Ethan's spit up increased significantly following his growth spurt and despite everything else pointing to him being just fine... I was worried. So, on Friday (11-11-05) we decided to weigh him. We don't own a baby scale, so we made due with ours. First, I weighed myself (delightfully discovering I'd lost even more weight!), and then I weighed myself again to be sure I got the same results. I did, so then Luke handed me Ethan and I got on the scale with him in my arms. I used obvious subtraction to figure out his weight. Then Luke did the same thing. His results were exactly the same as mine: Ethan now weighs 10.5lbs!!!! WOW!! That's half again as big as he was at birth and means that he had gained 2lbs 7oz in 11 days! I knew he was getting bigger but... WOW!!
During his first two baths, Ethan protested very loudly. However, when Luke and I gave Ethan a bath on _____, he hardly made a sound. In fact I think the noisiest part of the bath occured when Luke and I cried out because Ethan decided to invent his own "fountain" at the very end of the bath, and then follow it up with a little .... shall we call it "bath gel of another kind"??? Yummy.
He does seem to be growing accustomed to baths though. When my sister and mom volunteered to give him his bath yesterday (Saturday 11-12-05), he didn't make a sound the entire time. He just sat calmly and looked around him in the observant way he has.
In our nearly 3 weeks as parents, Luke and I have come up with a very short list of must have items which we thank God for EVERY DAY:
Our boppy- Ethan loves being propped up in this on the floor!
Our sling- Ethan loves being carried in this! And when he falls asleep, you can just lay it on the floor and fold over the ends to make a sort of Moses Basket! It keeps him snug and he'll sleep longer when he feels snug. It also blocks most of the light and Ethan is not a fan of light.
A good swaddling blanket- There's nothing Ethan loves more than being held tight.
Our Play and Go Turtle toy- It goes in a 4ft circle, plays music, and has colored shape buttons that light up. It's meant to help encourage the baby to learn to crawl by chasing the turtle and then to learn their shapes and colors by pushing the right button when prompted. However, on the bottom you can choose from 4 different modes and we love the Melody mode right now. Put that thing on the floor within Ethan's reach, push a button, and watch the complete fascination that transforms his cries into silence (most of the time).
Our little musical mouse- It hooks to the crib and plays a short bit of the Nutcracker song when you squeeze it. It's loud enough to get his attention when he's screaming and can't be knocked away by his flailing arms. This is good for temporary calming while I'm finishing up whatever I was doing when Ethan decided to begin demanding food.
Well, I missed taking his 2week bday picture for obvious reasons (assuming you read the bit about his growth spurt), but I did take his picture first thing the next morning. However that picture has not been uploaded yet, so I'll have to post it here some other time. (BTW this was typed in several separate sessions, so please forgive any disjointedness or typos.)
posted by KMD | 2:48 PM
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