Yesterday was exhausting. We had our photo session in the morning - yes! it actually happened! no one went into labour! - which took nearly three hours. Gwen was SOOOO good, I was amazed; there were no major meltdowns, though there were a lot of insecure and unhappy requests for comfort, which was absolutely fine. In all, I'm pretty sure we spent an hour of the three nursing.
We shot five rolls of film. Sixty pictures of the divine Miss Gwen. It's going to break my bank account to buy the prints.
Anyway, when we got home I started the major portion of my day's plan: a power-pumping day. This is recommended for increasing supply. I pumped every hour for 15 minutes, from 1pm to 10pm. (I missed one session at 6pm when Gwen nursed instead; other than that, Chris gave her a bottle.) I hadn't really predicted how tiring and somehow stressful this work would be, but it was. I tried to convince myself that I was doing this not to produce a lot of milk right now, but to scare my body into producing more in the future, but it was hard not to get hung up on the numbers. There were some sessions when I didn't get a single drop in 15 minutes. And my nipples were just killing me by the end of the day, too.
But if it works, and my supply becomes adequate ... well, isn't that the whole point?
To be honest, we are not supplementing Gwen all that much. For the most part, she isn't interested in the bottle. She maybe takes one or two a day; if she's been nursing for more than 15 or 20 minutes per side and seems fussy and frustrated, pulling off often, I judge that I'm empty and I give her a bottle. But this is the exception, not the rule, and she's acting much more pleasant in between feedings, so I'm optimistic that we don't have a serious problem. At last weigh-in she was 10 pounds 12 ounces - that's up 2 pounds since birth, which is still low, but she's gaining more rapidly now for sure. I'm going to keep weighing her twice a week when I go to Healthy Beginnings.
And when I get really frustrated and depressed about this myself, I remember that it's only three more months until she's on solids and the bulk of her nutrients will be coming from something outside my body, so the pressure will really be off and nursing will become less of a survival thing and more of a comfort and bonding thing.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Stroller Lust
I have stroller lust. I never thought it would happen to me.
I keep seeing all these gorgeous all-terrain strollers (or as I call them, off-roading strollers) at the Healthy Beginnings drop-in. And although I question the reasons for putting a kid into a stroller when you're just walking from the car to the building whose parking lot you're in, at which point you're going to take them out - it is okay to just carry babies, you know - seeing all these strollers has given me the stroller lust. I've got it bad.
The other reason for my lust is that I do a fair bit of walking. Last week Tricia and I walked on the Divers Lake trail, and the week before that we went to Colliery Dam. Bumpy trails both, and my stroller barely managed to stay bolted together. The walking is only going to increase as marathon training begins, and I don't want to be limited to only paved trails - Westwood Lake was my favourite training spot last time, and I'd like to have the option to do it again, though I think I'll skip the hills when I've got the stroller in tow.
This review at Baby Gaga lists the BOB Sport Utility Stroller as one of their top three, and from what I can see BOB does seem to be the brand to beat as far as jogging strollers go. MEC even sells this stroller (though, sadly, they are not stocked at the Victoria store).
Of course, if I buy this stroller then I'm going to have to get the sun shield and the handlebar console, too. Amounting to nearly $400 before taxes. Yikes! I'd be tempted to ask for this for my birthday or Christmas, but then again the marathon training starts long before that.
Decisions, decisions!
I keep seeing all these gorgeous all-terrain strollers (or as I call them, off-roading strollers) at the Healthy Beginnings drop-in. And although I question the reasons for putting a kid into a stroller when you're just walking from the car to the building whose parking lot you're in, at which point you're going to take them out - it is okay to just carry babies, you know - seeing all these strollers has given me the stroller lust. I've got it bad.
The other reason for my lust is that I do a fair bit of walking. Last week Tricia and I walked on the Divers Lake trail, and the week before that we went to Colliery Dam. Bumpy trails both, and my stroller barely managed to stay bolted together. The walking is only going to increase as marathon training begins, and I don't want to be limited to only paved trails - Westwood Lake was my favourite training spot last time, and I'd like to have the option to do it again, though I think I'll skip the hills when I've got the stroller in tow.
This review at Baby Gaga lists the BOB Sport Utility Stroller as one of their top three, and from what I can see BOB does seem to be the brand to beat as far as jogging strollers go. MEC even sells this stroller (though, sadly, they are not stocked at the Victoria store).
Of course, if I buy this stroller then I'm going to have to get the sun shield and the handlebar console, too. Amounting to nearly $400 before taxes. Yikes! I'd be tempted to ask for this for my birthday or Christmas, but then again the marathon training starts long before that.
Decisions, decisions!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Cravings
If ever my daughter comes to you in a fit of teenage angst and suggests that I, her mother, do not love her, please do me a favour and remind her of the time I gave up sugar for the health of her tiny bottom. Will you do that for me?
The thrush is nearly gone, by which I mean that if you hadn't seen her bum when the thrush was bad then you wouldn't be able to see the tiny remnants of the spots still haunting her. The spots faded dramatically for about two weeks and since then have not changed at all. So I'm not completely sure when to stop describing it as "nearly gone" and declare it "totally gone", and until that moment I remain sugar-free and slightly jittery.
It's been a good, and busy, week. Gwen and I had a great visit with Sally and her tiny dog Finnegan, wherein Sally and I got to discuss all sorts of intriguing subjects. Gwen and I also drove out to Horne Lake Campground the other night to visit briefly with Mike, Jenn, and the newly-shorn Zoe. This morning, Gwen stayed with her Grandma while Chris and I went out to Save That Child, a first aid course for parents. We learned a lot, and I was glad I'd made the decision to leave Gwen at home (though we were welcome to bring our babies, and every other couple did) because I wouldn't have been able to focus on what was being taught if my entire attention span was taken up by the practice of Making Gwen Not Scream. We have learned recently that Gwen ... she does not cry like other babies. No, hers is more of a sonic scream. There is no conversation within 50 feet of an unhappy Gwen. So if one needs to concentrate, converse, and learn, one should leave Gwen elsewhere.
Gwen is working hard on some new skills these days. She definitely recognizes me and often smiles in greeting, which is incredible. She can very nearly roll over (back to front), and is starting to reach out for toys or books or other things of interest, though she isn't yet good at grasping them. She is almost laughing. She can bring her hands together, and she tries quite hard to suck her thumb (she would succeed, too, if it weren't always wedged between her first two fingers).
Tomorrow is our third attempt to have our portraits taken; hopefully Gwen will have a good sleep and a good morning and be full of smiles and charm.
The thrush is nearly gone, by which I mean that if you hadn't seen her bum when the thrush was bad then you wouldn't be able to see the tiny remnants of the spots still haunting her. The spots faded dramatically for about two weeks and since then have not changed at all. So I'm not completely sure when to stop describing it as "nearly gone" and declare it "totally gone", and until that moment I remain sugar-free and slightly jittery.
It's been a good, and busy, week. Gwen and I had a great visit with Sally and her tiny dog Finnegan, wherein Sally and I got to discuss all sorts of intriguing subjects. Gwen and I also drove out to Horne Lake Campground the other night to visit briefly with Mike, Jenn, and the newly-shorn Zoe. This morning, Gwen stayed with her Grandma while Chris and I went out to Save That Child, a first aid course for parents. We learned a lot, and I was glad I'd made the decision to leave Gwen at home (though we were welcome to bring our babies, and every other couple did) because I wouldn't have been able to focus on what was being taught if my entire attention span was taken up by the practice of Making Gwen Not Scream. We have learned recently that Gwen ... she does not cry like other babies. No, hers is more of a sonic scream. There is no conversation within 50 feet of an unhappy Gwen. So if one needs to concentrate, converse, and learn, one should leave Gwen elsewhere.
Gwen is working hard on some new skills these days. She definitely recognizes me and often smiles in greeting, which is incredible. She can very nearly roll over (back to front), and is starting to reach out for toys or books or other things of interest, though she isn't yet good at grasping them. She is almost laughing. She can bring her hands together, and she tries quite hard to suck her thumb (she would succeed, too, if it weren't always wedged between her first two fingers).
Tomorrow is our third attempt to have our portraits taken; hopefully Gwen will have a good sleep and a good morning and be full of smiles and charm.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
It's not a tooth.
By the longest of long shots, yesterday's guest speaker at the Healthy Beginnings drop-in was a dental hygienist. So I made her look in Gwen's mouth to tell me what the weird white thing was.
To my IMMENSE relief, she did not tell me it was thrush.
No, it's an Epstein pearl. I had previously come across this term in my tooth-denying research, but discarded it as an option because every description I found said they were found on the roof of the mouth, not on the gums. But the hygienist said they could be anywhere in the mouth. And she did say it looked a whole damn lot like a tooth, to make us all feel better about being so very misled.
Short story, if you don't want to follow the link: painless, symptom-less, not to be worried about, and will go away on its own. My favourite weird Gwen glitch so far.
To my IMMENSE relief, she did not tell me it was thrush.
No, it's an Epstein pearl. I had previously come across this term in my tooth-denying research, but discarded it as an option because every description I found said they were found on the roof of the mouth, not on the gums. But the hygienist said they could be anywhere in the mouth. And she did say it looked a whole damn lot like a tooth, to make us all feel better about being so very misled.
Short story, if you don't want to follow the link: painless, symptom-less, not to be worried about, and will go away on its own. My favourite weird Gwen glitch so far.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Just Some Random Stuff
The downside to having a midwife as your photographer is that you can get dramatically upstaged at the last minute. Chris and I had our pregnancy portraits done with Lillian back in April, on what turned out to be one week before Gwen's birth. We've been trying to schedule the "after" shoot with Gwen since late May, and twice we've been bumped for a birth. Tonight, our second scheduled attempt, Lillian called us from the hospital at about the same time we were showing up at her house to find her not there.
All this by way of saying, in a very long-winded way, that we *still* don't know what that thing in her mouth is, because we didn't get to check in with Lillian this evening. But I did get the results of the urine culture, which were negative. Gwen does not have a bladder infection.
So if she doesn't have a bladder infection and she doesn't have a tooth, what's with the crying jags, eh?
To be honest, she's been much better these past few days. We've been vigilant about giving her Ovol every day as suggested by Best Friend and Honourary Uncle Mike, and it seems to be working.
Also, last night when we got home from the aquarium, she slept for ten hours.
(in a row!)
Freaked me out a little, actually. It was amazing.
The other wee bit of news is that Chris and I went out on Friday night to buy Gwen a mobile, a long-overdue purchase that we've been nattering about for months. I'm glad we didn't end up doing it before she was born, actually, because now we know what she likes. My sister had passed on to us a little teddy-bear wind-up mobile, which was all well and good, but it only lasted about a minute before you had to wind it up again. Meanwhile, we've learned that Gwen is completely fascinated with the ceiling fan in our bedroom. So what we wanted to get was a mobile that didn't necessarily play music, but that was battery-operated instead of windup, so it would spin for a loooooong time.
We ended up with this. If you follow that link you'll find all kinds of blather about cognitive development and spatial reasoning, including the following quote: The captivating visuals, the constantly changing movements and spatial variations, together with the rich musical stimulation, all make this mobile the obvious choice for parents who care about their baby's development and enjoyment. (The OBVIOUS choice! Heh.) For once, I'd like to see honesty in advertising for these products, because most parents of babies don't really give two hoots about all that stuff. What would sell a mobile at any price is the phrase "Will make your baby shut up for two blessed minutes so you can gobble breakfast in peace."
In any case, the mobile is cool.
All this by way of saying, in a very long-winded way, that we *still* don't know what that thing in her mouth is, because we didn't get to check in with Lillian this evening. But I did get the results of the urine culture, which were negative. Gwen does not have a bladder infection.
So if she doesn't have a bladder infection and she doesn't have a tooth, what's with the crying jags, eh?
To be honest, she's been much better these past few days. We've been vigilant about giving her Ovol every day as suggested by Best Friend and Honourary Uncle Mike, and it seems to be working.
Also, last night when we got home from the aquarium, she slept for ten hours.
(in a row!)
Freaked me out a little, actually. It was amazing.
The other wee bit of news is that Chris and I went out on Friday night to buy Gwen a mobile, a long-overdue purchase that we've been nattering about for months. I'm glad we didn't end up doing it before she was born, actually, because now we know what she likes. My sister had passed on to us a little teddy-bear wind-up mobile, which was all well and good, but it only lasted about a minute before you had to wind it up again. Meanwhile, we've learned that Gwen is completely fascinated with the ceiling fan in our bedroom. So what we wanted to get was a mobile that didn't necessarily play music, but that was battery-operated instead of windup, so it would spin for a loooooong time.
We ended up with this. If you follow that link you'll find all kinds of blather about cognitive development and spatial reasoning, including the following quote: The captivating visuals, the constantly changing movements and spatial variations, together with the rich musical stimulation, all make this mobile the obvious choice for parents who care about their baby's development and enjoyment. (The OBVIOUS choice! Heh.) For once, I'd like to see honesty in advertising for these products, because most parents of babies don't really give two hoots about all that stuff. What would sell a mobile at any price is the phrase "Will make your baby shut up for two blessed minutes so you can gobble breakfast in peace."
In any case, the mobile is cool.
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