Things I have learned

UPDATE THAT BLOG MORE MOMMY!!!!




Well, it has been a while since I posted- things are going pretty well. I am learning new things everyday both about being a mom, my baby, and baby stuff in general. Brooks started in his crib last night- it went well for both of us. We have the angelcare motion monitor and that made it bearable for me- otherwise I think I would have been neurotic.

Some tips I have for future mommies and things I have learned.

Lansinoh Lanolin cream is awesome- it has saved my nipples. It also STAINS! WTF!?!?!? I used shout and still nothing- why on earth with how advanced things are can they not come up with a soothing nipple cream that does not stain ( you know since we put it on our boobs then cover up). So be warned about that- always wear nursing pads when you put it on. I am pretty pissed about having ruined several things- including some new nursing shirts.

Soothies- the hospital's choice of pacifier. First I was not going to even use a paci- but then the boy would latch and unlatch, latch, unlatch, and scream- basically he was pissed he was getting milk and just needed to suck. So I used the soothie. I decided to stick with it b/c to me it looks more like a nipple than other pacis (although a little bit more National Geographic than mine). Anyway- if you buy soothies. MAKE SURE THE PACKAGE SAYS NEWBORN and not infant. Who knew there were two types, and when grabbing them who would have thought infant would be inappropriate. The newborn ones are soft rubber, the infant ones are about the consistency of a dog's Kong ball- completely hard and not flexible.

Stomach sleepers- Attention people who sleep on their stomach- if you think you can return to that once pregnancy is over, think again if you are BF'ing. I had a great pg, did not have much to complain about, but one thing I said I was looking forward to about not being pg was being comfy when I sleep. Well, my boobs won't have it- they are either too full, too sore, too something for me to lie on them, I have to arrange myself just right to even sort of be on my tum.

Leakage- When feeding the baby from one boob and you finish- you may think they leaked and wet themself. Not likely, it is more than likely it is your other boob spraying them.

Spraying- breastmilk is not just drip drip drip, it can actually shoot out

Babywearing- is the best. The baby loves it (and passes out most of the time) and it enables you to get lots done by being handsfree.


Simply things entertain babies- I swear the corner of our living room must hold some fantastic mystery with how Brooks zooms in on it
Who needs a fancy activity center when you can stare at your fist?

I will add more thoughts as I keep learning.

We are getting out and about more- Brooks went to his first beer garden on the 4th of July (it was so nice to have a drink in the gorgeous weather and then head home)


My baby is really growing- he was up to 8lb 12oz on Monday. Look at the difference

5 days old vs 21 days old




And here are some recent Brooks pics!











He seems to love bathtime!

You take the good, you take the bad

you take them both and there you have- the facts of life, the facts of life.

We have been having great days, and not so great days. Some days i am exhausted and cursing under my breath while bf'ing, others it seems like we have a bit of a routine and all fun. Regardless of the way the day is going- I cannot stop taking the time to stare at this little man and marvel that we made him. He is just so amazing and such miracle, and yes it is so very hard- but it is so very worth it. I love this little guy- he amazes me. He looks different every day, and each day is more and more alert- we have eye contact that lingers, more sounds, just everything.

Last weekend we had a photographer come to the house to do newborn shots. Well- no sneak peek on those yet (I am trying not to be impatient but am dying to see them). Brooks was a fusspot the whole time she was here. He was fine in our arms, but to put him down to get any alone shots, he just freaked out.

SOOO- I decided to try to recreate a photoshoot and take some "pro" shots of my own with my good camera. I think I did pretty damn good- check it out
Also- if you love the hat, hislovf made it and she sells them! (totally pimping you out lovfer b/c it is frigging adorable)














My favorite 3- I am definitely going to frame them in some sort of collage frame.

Newborns sleep, eat, & poop right?

Well not my guy- he is not a sleeper. He is a cheerful enough little guy, gets fussy and whatnot, but he is just so alert, all the time. I don't know what I am supposed to do with him. He seems to young to play with things- but I don't want to not stimulate him since he is so wide eyed and taking everything in. It is making sleep for me impossible, because he wants to be awake all the time. And when he does have a good chunk of a nap- it seems to be mid afternoon, when I can't sleep and just want to get things, like laundry, done. But at least he is a happy little man (knocking on some serious wood right now).

Chrysanth3mum- thank you thank you thank you for the double swaddle advice. I got him in the bassinet last night for his stretches, it was so nice to sleep in a bed instead of on the couch. I tried looking for a blog for you, but the ones your name linked to were old so I figured I would throw this in here :)

We are debating going straight to the crib. It makes the cosleeper I got as a gift a bit of a waste, however I am wondering the point of having him in the room. Transitioning him to the bassinet is a big enough problem- I wonder if we should not just go for the gold and put him in the crib. The whole idea behind the cosleeper was so that it would be easy to nurse and go right back to sleep and not have to get up. That is bogus- the kid needs his diaper changed whenever he gets up (I am not going to leave him soiled or wet), so if I have to get up and go into the nursery anyway to change him, the glider is in there to feed him, then why have him in our room (except for my own peace of mind). So I am internally debating that now- thoughts? opinions? experiences?

Speaking of the nursery- last I posted pics was just of the furniture. Here are some with all the goodies inside. Please ignore the short sheers- I bought the wrong length, and have no idea when I will get around to buying the longer length, and honestly just don't care right now LOL



Stepping into the room and looking right:




View from stading near the closet- first angled towards the right (window). Then angled towards the door. Organizing the hutch and bookshelf are on my to do list this week.











And Brooks. He is doing great- I have been a picture taking whore- but do have to upload some more, but here is a goodie :) I think you can see those cheeks filling out. We joke that I am makin cream, not milk, at the rate he is packing the pounds on. He gained 14 oz in 5 days- putting him at 8 lbs even. That means by the time he was 9 days old, he was already 3/4lb above his birth weight. That's my boy! grow Brooks grow :)

Happy One Week Birthday Baby Boy!!!

I cannot believe Brooks is a week old (a week and a day now that I finally got around to posting this). Time has flown and he has changed so much already. Eric and I spent the early part of the week home with him, and then my mom, aka "Nana", has been here since Tuesday night and is staying until Saturday morning. It has been such a help and a sanity saver. Tuesday during the day was my first significant time alone with Brooks and I won't lie, there were tears shed by all. I think I lost it at the point he projectile peed during a diaper change and it got all over his face (and let me say, he was crying at the time so his mouth was wide open). Breastfeeding is going better each day. We are mastering the latch (unless he is super hungry and it is the right boob's turn, weird huh?). I won't lie and have to admit- I am terrified of being alone next week with him, but we will figure it out :)

Daddy bought Brooks his first sports outfit. Boston Bruins of course- it is a little big, but adorable- and made his Daddy proud.




We went for our first strolls- we have taken the dog to the park to toss around a frisbee, made it to Starbucks where the baristas have been anticipating Brooks' arrival (and I have been anticipating a return to caffeinated drinks), and to the ice cream store.





Yet we still spent most of the time lounging around the house :)



And lastly- I cannot believe that a newborn is as expressive as this little boy is. The faces he makes crack me up... check it out :)

'What up homie?'


'hmmm, let me think about it'


'this lady is crazy'


'make me'


'arrrgh matey'


'this is the life'


and my favorite!
"stop taking pictures of me already Mom!"

wowzer- lots going on

I have soo much to post about!. First- a big thank you for all the well wishes and comments. I am hoping to catch up on my blog reading over the next day or so.

HAPPY FIRST FATHERS DAY ERIC!!!
If this picture does not melt your heart, I don't know what will.


Eric is already such a great dad. I actually have been feeling guilty about breastfeeding. Just this morning he asked me if I could pump so that he could take care of Brooks. I told him to just give it 2-3 weeks and then absolutely. While I was in the hospital, Eric went home a few times for the dog. One time he took the camera, went to Target or somewhere, and made me a photobook of the day of Brooks birth. I came home to a wrapped gift from my son, and just a beautiful, beautiful little album commemerating the day. How sweet is that? He also has already bought Brooks about 10 different outfits (he is responsible for the adorable hat in the other pictures) and a Halloween costume. His excitement and love for this kid slays me- it seriously does.

VISITS
Both families visited this weekend. My parents and sister & brother in law both came down for the afternoon Saturday- it was great. They were super generous bringing Brooks tons of boy clothes (yay for non neutral!) and tons of food so we could have leftovers for a while. Eric's parents & sister came Sunday. They also brought us tons of food- so we are set for a bit.
My SIL was the only annoying visitor. She kept calling Brooks it. Does it cry a lot, Does it sleep, etc. She also looked through the photo album eric made me and her one comment was 'wow- what a workout, you were sweating like a .... (sentence gets cut off here b/c she never finished it, my guess is one of my classic WTF dirty looks fell upon my face without realizing it)

We also had Eric's best friend over. It was really great because this guy and Eric have been friends since they were 4 years old. They were each others best men in their weddings, and Marc had a son 7 weeks to the day before Brooks was born. Hopefully the lifelong friendship continues in this generation.

BROOKS UPDATES AND RANDOM PICS
we had our first pediatrician appt Sunday. Brooks looked great- everything as it should be, and he gained 5 oz since Friday!. He lost 7 oz from birth weight, so at 4 days old was almost right back to it. This made me feel so much better because BF'ing has been hard mentally as well as physically (the is he getting enough question and such).

Sleeping- I don't expect to get sleep at all, but do have one major sleep concern. Brooks won't sleep in the bassinet or PNP. He will sleep on us or in his swing, but when I put him in one of those he wakes up. I don't know how to handle this- b/c doing the on us/swing thing probably isn't a good idea (the ped. said only the first couple of day), but he is too little to cry it out, so I have no clue how to get him down.

I have become a mamrazzi... this poor kid will think the camera is one of my appendages. But I don't care, he is too delicious for me not to. So here are a few pics of him
0-3 months clothing is not going to fit quite yet


The first meeting of hound and baby- it is going well with the dog!





BREASTFEEDING
is HARD. It is going ok, he is eating, and apparently eating well. My concerns are that I don't know what is a concern and what is par for the course in figuring it out.
My nipples hurt- there are about 10-15 seconds of agony when he latches, but then it feels better, but they hurt if rubbed up on. I think this is normal, but who knows.
LATCHING- is our biggest struggle. My breasts are big and I think that my handle on things is difficult- we are getting on there but it takes a bunch of tries each time. And sometimes he latches, then lets go, then latches, then lets go, and keeps it up (which stinks since the pain part is the first 15 seconds of a latch).
Timing- I was neurotically timing how long on each boob. 5 days in I am already in who cares mode and if he is on a solid 10-15 minutes I am ok with it. I also was trying to give him both at each feeding but now have been doing more of an alternation. I really have no clue what I am doing and am going to maybe have a lactation consultant appt next week.

AW'ing a few more pics

WELCOME BABY BOY!!!!

Happy Birthday Brooks Nicholas M. !!!




To say today was crazy was an understatement.
I actually heard my water break around midnight
Started contracting around 2am- but not really, it was just like severe menstrual cramps
Went to the OB at 9 am, was 3 cm and -1 station
Went home, contractions were getting worse but still bearable and like bad bad cramps but i could walk them out. Suddenly at 11ish they suddenly got unbearable and I felt ill. At 11:20 I vomited and told eric that is it, we are going to the hospital

We arrived at the hospital around noon. Got checked in and monitored, at 12:30 they checked me- I was 4 cm dilated. Suddenly I was in screaming agony, I even asked for an epidural. At 1 they checked me again and I was an 8- they rolled me into delivery, checked me again (this is 5 minutes later) and I was a 9.5. Anesthesiologist came in and I said at this point forget it.

Took a a few minutes to get set up- fortunately my dr. was on call so I got to deliver with her- YAY she was AMAZING and calmed me down (i cannot describe how hard and fast things were)
20-25 minutes of pushing and Brooks was here