Friday, May 30, 2008

Miscellania

I have three nursing bras and two nursing tank tops. Of all my hundreds of dollars worth of nursing gear, the nursing tank I bought from Bravado is my favourite. Since none of these pieces can be dried in the dryer, and since there was a strange laundry mishap yesterday, I lived without this beloved shirt from Monday until today, when it was finally dry and I got to put it back on. Ten minutes later, there was a diaper breach and a poo-tastrophe all over my favourite nursing tank. And the laundry for the day was already halfway through the cycle, so Lord knows when I'll get to wear it again.

And I didn't even get to wear the thing long enough to nurse in it.

Oh well, you've got to laugh ... right??

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Gwen weighed 9 lbs 5 oz at yesterday's appointment. That's a gain of 3 ounces in two days. Go, girl!

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Speaking of laughing, Lillian said that around the four-or-five-week mark is when she likes to discuss birth control with the new mom. Birth Control ... that's something to do with sex, isn't it? Ah yes, I vaguely remember it... Haaaa.

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I just finished doing a sleep log as advised by The No-Cry Sleep Solution. It turns out Gwen is getting too little sleep during the day - she should be having 3 naps totalling 6-7 hours and she only gets 2 naps (if I'm lucky!) totalling 4 hours. Also, here's how our nighttime looks:

8:30p asleep
10:15p awake, nursing
11:00p asleep in bed together
1:35a awake, nursing
2:00a done nursing
3:50a awake, nursing
3:57a done nursing
5:30a awake, nursing
5:45a done nursing
7:00a awake for the day
Asleep time: 9 hours
Number of awakenings: 4
Longest Sleep span: 2 hrs 35 min

And you know what? Compared to some nights, that one was not actually that bad. Scary!

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By the way, I learned from reading that book that at this age, "sleeping through the night" means sleeping 5 hours in a row. Which probably isn't what most people think of as "sleeping through the night," but it still sounds pretty freakin' heavenly at this point. And what kills me is, Gwen used to sleep for that long at a stretch. And she would often sleep for two four-hour stretches. Know why she doesn't anymore? Because we trained her out of it. How the hell do I fix that?

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Chris finally built me a clothesline! I am teh happy. Today is the third time I have used it. The first time I used it, I got home in the midst of a rainstorm and took all the clothes off the line. The second time I used it, it started hailing and I was nursing and couldn't even do anything about it for half an hour. (What the fuck, May?) I can't help but notice that the sunshine has become much less bright since I dared to put clothes out on the line for a third time this morning, but I am still hopeful. Or stupidly stubborn. Or both.

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Both yesterday and the day before, I went out alone with my baby. Yesterday was particularly great as I went downtown, took the sleeping Gwen out of her carseat and put her in the sling without waking her up, then wandered around downtown doing errands and enjoying the weather. I felt completely competent and ready to handle anything, with my sling on one shoulder and my diaper bag/purse on the other (isn't it weird how the right equipment makes or breaks your mood?). It's a far cry from the first few days after her birth when I was too afraid to carry her down the stairs for fear I'd fall and drop her.

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I am now the happy renter of an Ameda Egnell pump, which my incredibly awesome mother offered to pay for since I still haven't seen a penny from EI. I'm renting instead of buying right now for that reason, not because I am worried about my supply. When the damn cheque finally shows up (seriously! I applied 6 weeks ago! How is this acceptable? If I was single I would have been kicked out of my home by now, not to mention the impossibility of buying groceries and diapers!) I'll be buying the Medela Swing. The goal, as I said, is nothing to do with supply and everything to do with being somewhat desperate for a break. I have a mother in law who is chomping at the bit to spend some time with her granddaughter, and I'm too anxious to leave her even for a half an hour because I just can't predict when she's going to want to eat. If I can pump a couple of times a day, even enough to get a bottle or two a week, I'll be very very happy.

Ironically, I can't find any time to pump as I have a baby on me for 24 hours a day. Which is the reason I need a break to begin with. Hahhhh.

3 comments:

Amberism said...

Your night? Is awesome. Seriously. I'll trade you babies.

I don't feel like my nights are all that bad, though. Mostly because with Claire, I can nurse her 20-30 mins sometimes and be back in bed. With Callum it was ALWAYS 40 mins at a minimum. Even when he was 5 months old so Claire feels like a miracle baby to me. The longest she sleeps, ever, is 2.5 hours.

I found with Callum that the "sleep" they told me he should be having didn't actualy happen for a few weeks later. Guess it depends on the baby? Of course, the kid was hungry...

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean, Shawn calls me mother-utter, still at 9 months Ella is booby dependent but can thankfully go longer between breastfeeding, as for first foods like rice cereal and single fruit and veggies not interested at all she gags and looks like she's going to throw up.

Anonymous said...

I was known as the human pacifier at my house. Don't worry, it gets better.

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