He Slept!!!

From 11:30 p.m. until 3:30 a.m.!

And from 4:15 a.m. until 7:00 a.m.!

Mommy got about 5 hours of sleep! It would have been slightly more, but due to the cruel ironies of breastfeeding, I had to pump at 4:30 a.m. because my breasts were still quite full, even after feeding him (probably because he slept so long initially). And I didn't want to end up with mastitis again. I really REALLY don't want to end up with mastitis again.

But hey, Daddy and Aunt K and Nan and Andrew are out walking the dogs, I got to take a long hot shower, they're bringing me back Starbucks, and it's only 10:30 a.m.! We've got a whole day ahead of us -- the grocery store and maybe the mall if we're feeling adventurous. Hooray for small miracles :-D

One Month Old!

Andrew is one month old today! In some ways, it doesn't seem possible, and in others it seems like he's been around for longer than that (especially when he's up at 3:30 a.m. screaming). ;-)



He's starting to get a personality: especially in the mornings, we get lots of smiles when we sing to him after his first morning meal. He loves riding in his car seat (instant snooze-fest!), he likes his new swing and activity mat from Nan, and he LOVES being held -- ALL of the TIME. In fact, he very much dislikes being put down, on his back, at night. We went back to swaddling him last night, after not swaddling him for a week or so, and while he still woke up every 2 hours, there was considerably less screaming (unlike the 2 or 3 nights before).

We weighed him (unscientifically) the other day on Nan's scale -- the difference between his weight and "his-weight-plus-Dad's" was 10.8 lbs! And Mommy is back to only 4 lbs over her pre-pregnancy weight -- and Dad says that each boob must be at least 2 lbs heavier than before Andrew, so hallelujah, I think I've lost all of the baby weight!

He's slowly spacing out his daytime feedings to more like every 3 hours (instead of 2 hours). I do wish he would decide to do that at night!

This morning Daddy took Andrew and the border collies to the park for a walk while I caught up on some sleep (a half-hour feeding every 2 hours during the night -- you do the math...), then he dropped the dogs off and went to Starbucks (again with Andrew, who slept the whole time) and brought me back a latte and a scone! I felt very special and pampered. :-)

So...happy one-month birthday, my sweet boy!

Pumping in Style

MDad's mom very nicely gave us the Medela Pump In Style Advanced breast pump, and last night we got to try it out for the first time (after MDad sterilized everything in boiling water). Bearing in mind that the nice lady who taught the breastfeeding class I attended said that we should only expect "a few drops" the first few times we pumped, I got 1.5 oz! Not anywhere close to a whole feeding, but enough for Daddy to give bottle-feeding a try. Andrew took to it well, with only a minimum of fussing and confusion. I must give uber-thanks to my friend K and her husband C for the extremely helpful advice on bottles (yay, Avent!), nipples (yay, Avent Newborn -- although I think the flow is still much faster than the breast), Dad-feeding-baby (yay, skin-to-skin!), etc. -- it worked like a charm. Earlier tonight I managed to pump about 2.5 ounces, and I plan on pumping again after Andrew's next feeding, so I hope to get a good amount stored up for Dad to use. Maybe at 3:30 a.m., heh heh heh.

Any of you out there who plan on having a baby, breastfeeding, and pumping: be prepared for extreme distortion of your nipples in the breast pump! I lectured MDad before starting last night: "Don't laugh." I did this not because I expected his ridicule, but because I fully expected to start giggling myself. Which is exactly what I did. I never knew my body could contort that way, and so rhythmically! Moo! The things we do for our children...and frankly, after giving birth, all modesty is out the window anyway. I never expected to have dinner-table conversations about breast engorgement and vaginal bleeding with MDad's mom, but that's exactly what happened at our last visit. During pregnancy, your body is not your own, but little do you know that it's pretty much going to stay that way permanently.

We've been very busy out and about with Andrew the past few days. I took him to work on Tuesday, where he was fawned upon by dozens of women (and I got to eat a hot, full sit-down meal at the staff holiday luncheon). Yesterday we got out and did some errands and shopping for the greater part of the day, and today we actually went to the mall (keeping Andrew shielded from germs with his stroller visor, of course). It feels really good to get out of the house, especially since it gets dark at 4:00 p.m., it seems, so those daylight hours of activity are precious.

Andrew is loving his Sleep Sheep (and I apologize, because I can't remember if it was a gift from Auntie H or Auntie J, both of whom are high-school friends). Anyway, he's a big fan of ambient noise: the Sleep Sheep has ocean sounds, rain sounds, etc. Harvey Karp is right about loud shushing-type noises: they really do soothe newborns. However, Andrew is no longer interested in being swaddled at night. Last night we dressed him in a sleep sack for the first time, and he didn't seem to miss his arms being swaddled at all (he never did care for swaddled legs). Fine with me -- it was a big pain in the ass, after feeding him in the middle of the night, to get him re-swaddled, with no loose blanket ends, and without waking him up and pissing him off.

Double Whammy

Okay, taking care of a newborn is hard work. But taking care of a newborn when you're sick just plain SUCKS.

Last night we finally called my OB (at around 8 p.m.), since I'd been having chills, body aches, headaches, sweats, and fever (101+) every day starting mid- to late afternoon -- it really felt like I had the flu. Over the phone, my doc speculated that I'd developed an infection secondary to mastitis and called in a prescription for Cipro. It was either that or admit me to the ER and put me on a Cipro drip. Let me tell you, that was about the last place I wanted to be. They couldn't admit me to the maternity ward because I was sick. So it was nice that he was willing to call in the prescription.

I honestly don't know what I would do without MDad right now. He's been force-feeding me Advil for the fever, taking my temperature regularly, giving me cold compresses (brings back memories of the delivery room!), and making sure I take my Cipro on schedule. I love that he worries about me (a little too much, if you ask me). Today Andrew went about 12 hours without pooping, and MDad was worried about that, too. I can tell that I'm going to be the more laissez-faire parent (not that that's necessarily a good thing)!

We're really trying to get Andrew to move towards a more adult-centric sleep schedule, i.e. not being awake from midnight to 6 a.m. It's hard though -- have you ever tried to rouse a sleeping baby? God, I wish I could sleep that soundly. At noon.

I'm hemming and hawing about when to start pumping -- MurkyGrammy works in a hospital and bought us the Medela Pump in Style Advanced at a big discount. It sure would be great to let Daddy take over a feeding or two in the night, but of course all the breastfeeding lore cautions that "Your baby will immediately give up the breast in favor of the bottle if you start bottle-feeding too soon!!!!" Sigh.

We never got around to giving Andrew a bath last night, but tonight we will. It's really calmed him down the couple of times we've done it. Daddy is napping right now, and I'm thinking of cooking something special (but simple) for supper. I was very excited to get to the grocery store this afternoon, even though it took forever to shop since everyone and his brother was preparing for the next Nor'Easter. I made a point to explain to the couple of people I befriended in the deli line that no, in fact, I was not stocking up because of the storm, but rather because I'd had a baby a couple of weeks ago and the house was out of food. Let them think I'm a "trooper," braving the crusty cold parking lot and crowds in the supermarket only days after giving birth, rather than some wimpy "flatlander" who stocks up on 24-packs of paper towels when there's only a couple of inches of snow forecast!

Mnurrrrrghhhhhh....

No bones about it. Caring for a newborn is HARD WORK.

Our little guy likes to eat every 2 hours or so, around the clock, although in the past couple of days he's taken to having a longer snooze right after we put him to bed for the night: 3 - 3.5 hours at a stretch. Then we're up every 2 hours with diaper changes and feedings after that. He's becoming more of an efficient nurser, and no longer takes 20-25 minutes on each breast; rather, it's closer to 10-15 minutes. Still, I'm looking forward to his stomach becoming larger and more mature, so that he sleeps for longer stretches and with less gas and discomfort (it takes a good 5 minutes to burp him!). After burping him in the middle of the night, I typically rock him back to sleep for about 5 minutes -- it has the added benefit of helping me to get back to sleep, too! He sleeps particularly well after a bath, so tonight we'll probably bathe him again, even though he's not dirty.

Some more details: His umbilical cord stump fell off exactly 2 weeks after he was born (Wednesday, 12/12/07). Today the scab from his intravaginal monitor (which was screwed into his scalp during labor) finally fell off. He is now officially perfect.

He still doesn't do much besides sleep, eat, cry and poop. But, I swear he smiled at me today.

My recovery has been, for me, surprisingly slow. I mean, I knew it would take some time for my body to recoup, and I was very excited to see that I'd lost nearly 30 lbs soon after delivery, but I've had some very irritating episodes of feverishness, engorgement, headache, body aches and lots of trouble regulating my body temperature (chills and then feeling way too hot). My bleeding took longer than I'd expected it to slow down, and I think I'm dealing with the aftereffects of too much blood loss, and perhaps some dehydration. Am going to make more of an effort to drink water (and only water), but it's soooo hard when all I want is a nice cup of (caffeinated) tea after a long night of waking every couple of hours...

Our dogs are adjusting well to Andrew; when the baby cries, they typically come over and try to "lick it all better." Gotta love dogs.

Life with newborn

Things have been pretty calm, all told, here in MurkyFamilyLand. Andrew is a great eater and an even better sleeper. In fact, I've had to put us on a strict(ish) schedule of nursing every two hours, since at his two-day checkup he was down a pound from his birth weight. I want to make sure my milk supply is well-established: Apparently, if newborns consistently sleep through feedings it can have a devastating effect on your supply, since milk is produced as a direct response to the baby's demand. Sure, it must be great to have a newborn who sleeps for four hours at a stretch -- but not at the cost of serious breastfeeding problems later. So, needless to say, I'm up many times each night. Dad gets to do the diapers, though ;-)

Took this photo this morning during one of Andrew's "alert" periods:



I mean, really. How much cuter does it get?

Some facts about our 'Roo:
1. He hates having his diaper changed.
2. He loves being swaddled.
3. He loves being carried in the sling.
4. He has long blond peach fuzz on his earlobes (the nurses said it will fall out, but I think it's adorable).
5. He has the same birthday as Jon Stewart. He's a Sagittarius.
6. He still hasn't figured out that milk won't come out of his fist, no matter how hard he sucks.
7. He loves Dad's singing.
8. He has two grammies, an aunt, and hordes of other folks who just think he's the cat's meow!

Andrew's Birth Story

OK, I've got to start writing this down before the New Mom Fatigue and Fuzziness make me forget the details.

Because my fetal non-stress test on Tuesday morning (11/27) showed some "variables," and since I was already a day overdue, my OB decided to induce me. At 6:30 that night, I was given a misoprostol suppository, which was supposed to prepare my cervix (which at the time was not dilated at all, but was 50% effaced). I spent the night relatively comfortably, with increasing contractions, which we handled with Stadol, a lovely drug that makes you feel just a little drunk. I could still tell that I was having pains, but I was just one step removed from the pain (and a little bit silly at times). At this point I still wanted to try and go through labor without the epidural (heck, this Stadol stuff is pretty good, right?).

On Wednesday morning, my OB checked my cervix, which was about 80 percent effaced but still not dilated at all, despite the fact that my pains were getting worse. I had another dose of Stadol and kept working until around 1 p.m., when my OB told me I was 4 centimeters dilated; she then broke my waters. About an hour later is when I finally asked for the epidural. I honestly can't imagine how women go through labor without pain medication. The epidural block is probably the single most merciful medical advancement in history.

I labored pain-free (and even slept a little) between 2 p.m. and about 6 p.m., when my OB informed me that I was 10 centimeters and could start pushing. Daddy was great -- despite the fact that we hadn't planned on having him view everything happening "down there," he ended up holding my left leg back for each push, saw Andrew's head progress down the birth canal, gave me ice chips and cold compresses, and of course cut the umbilical cord. The look on his face as Andrew emerged was priceless: sheer joy and other overwhelming emotions. I'll never forget it.

I ended up with a small midline episiotomy, which is not hurting much at all. What actually has hurt the most has been the huge, horrible hemorrhoids that just multiplied in number and severity with each push. I haven't really been able to walk or move around well since Andrew was born, which has been really annoying when trying to take care of him. The uber-nice nurses gave me a donut pillow, a sitz bath, hemorrhoid cream, and Tucks pads, though. Today I've noticed an improvement.

Andrew weighed in at 8 lbs, 10 oz at birth. His head presented asynclitically, which means it tried to come out sideways. That just doesn't work, and explains why I was pushing for almost 2.5 hours but just couldn't get him that last few millimeters and had to have the episiotomy. Poor Andrew had a big purple bruise on that part of his head, since it had been banging against my pubic bone as he tried to descend. It's fading now, though.

Some other stats: He measured in at 19 inches, and his 1- and 5- minuted Apgar scores were 8 and 9, respectively.

Andrew's a champion nurser -- in fact, a bit too much of a champ. MDad's mom, who's a nurse, gave us some good tips; seems he might be using me as a human pacifier, and I should try and take him off the breast after 25-30 minutes (he's been falling asleep on the breast and taking up to an hour to feed). My mom has also been helping us not suck at being new parents; she gave us some helpful advice on swaddling this morning that allowed MDad to get some casserole- and cookie-making done in the kitchen while I got 3 hours of much needed rest upstairs.

About halfway through the pregnancy I blogged about the Slingezee sling and how I wanted to give babywearing a try. I've got to say, this is a great device. Andrew's been sleeping in it for almost 90 minutes! And a peaceful sleep it is. I just hope that tonight, when he can't be physically strapped to me, he sleeps as well in his bassinet. That didn't really happen last night. But hey, it's all a learning process, right?

I'll post more about the emotional aspects of becoming a mother when I have more time; he's looking like he might wake up right now. In the meantime, I will say that it's the most amazing experience I've ever had. I didn't know it was possible to love someone this much. And the scary thing is that it gets stronger every day.