Weight Gain, Heat, Daycare, Thrush

Have you all been dying of suspense, wondering what happened after my last post? Did Gwen gain any weight? Did I get over my fear of formula? Did Gwen in fact have a urinary tract infection?

Nah, you've probably all been enjoying your Canada Day weekends. At least I hope that's the case. And like us, you've probably been sweating to death.

So, the answers to the questions above can now be revealed thanks to a surprise visit from Lillian. I do very much wish she had called first, as she showed up with her scale and the results of the urine test about 20 minutes after I put Gwen down for the night. But such is life. The urine test turned up a bizarre bacteria that would not be expected to be found in urine. Neither Lillian nor the pediatrician she talked to had ever heard of it. They both suspected it was actually a contamination from Gwen's skin. They agreed that the course of action was to (wake Gwen up and) weigh her right away. If her weight was good, then fine, the bizarre bacteria could be ignored. If it wasn't, then she would have to go to the ER to get a catheter put in for a clean urine sample.

But her weigh in was good. Ten pounds, three-point-five ounces of good. (Hallelujah, we finally broke ten pounds!) That is a gain of 10.5 ounces in eleven days, well within the four-ounces-or-more-per-week rule. Yay.

Of course, the bad news is that this indicates we need to keep supplementing. I think a major part of my frustration with that is that if Gwen is getting a bottle, it should be from someone other than me, and I should be getting a break. Up till now, this has not often been the case. Of course, this weekend it has not been the case because Chris has been really busy doing a dozen other house- and baby-related jobs, like putting Gwen's crib together, installing a blackout blind in her room, stain-treating all her clothes, and so on.

The heat is making all of us a little cranky, too. I keep thinking of all those people who'd comment, upon hearing my due date of May 5th, how great it would be for me to *not* go through the summer pregnant. No one told me that the little heater-baby would still be glued to my body ten hours a day. Literally glued, nowadays, as our sweat gloms our skin together. Terribly uncomfortable. Last night I was sure Gwen was going to fry in her swaddle blanket, so we tried letting her sleep unswaddled. She didn't sleep, so neither did I. We worked hard all day at keeping her room cool enough so that she could sleep swaddled tonight - and there is a fan just outside her door keeping the air circulating. An air conditioner is looking awfully tempting, but it's such an environmentally unfriendly option that I'm just not ready to bite the bullet.

On another subject, we went out and toured a daycare today: Little Ferns. I thought it was a good place, lovely open layout and kind staff, with lots of nice wooden equipment and so on. We want to see some other places as well so we have a basis of comparison; the next one I'd like to see is Jolly Giant. I've been told that there is often no point on really "choosing" a daycare as really, only one of them will end up having a space for us, which is an awfully depressing concept and makes me think that I should be on every single waitlist in town. So, I'm working on that.

At long, long last, Gwen's thrush is nearly gone. I can still see spots on her behind, but really, only because I already know they are there. I'm going to keep using the cream I have until it's gone - which will probably be another week or so at the most - and then call it good. I will be immensely grateful to see that particular chapter of our lives end.