I've noticed that get fairly frequent hits for "highly active infant" and I wanted to let those souls know that it does get easier, at least in my house.
As Charlie has gotten older we've learned more tricks to nip melt-downs in the bud and the lead-up to them is getting longer. Charlie's 2 big things are food and sleep. If he's having a hard time, first offer him a snack and then try to figure out how to get him to a quiet activity or, even better, to sleep.
On the issue of sleep, we now take a nice ride in the car everyday around 1:00. The big thing with the highly active infant as a toddler is getting him to hold still long enough to actually fall asleep. Since he is too large to swaddle and rocking for 30-45 minutes is out of the question with an infant in tow, strapping him into his car seat is the best solution we've found. At night, we've discovered that he needs wind-down time and he's finally old enough and has been consistently responded to long enough, that he will bounce around, sing, kick, and otherwise amuse himself in his crib. Periodically he'll give a holler and one of us will go up to fix his blanket and pat his back for a minute. After anywhere from 2 minutes to 1.5 hours, he will drift off. From what I can tell, there seems to be a trend among those tots that agree with Charlie on his views that sleep is a communist plot to be thwarted at every turn. The trend being that around 2, things start to fall in place and your child will suddenly start to sleep, if not through the night, then, at least, significantly more than they ever have before. Until then, when people say, "But you're getting some 6 hour stretches, right?" you can simply respond, "Sleep is for the weak." This isn't to say that 2 years of 2-8 wakings a night doesn't completely suck, it does, it REALLY does but, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Charlie is sleeping more now, than I think he's ever slept before.
The real treat is that that highly active infant, who couldn't turn off to save his life, took it all in. Charlie is a delightful toddler. He is inquisitive and highly verbal. The same drive that made him want to socialize at 2am also drives him to learn to talk. Charlie is easily 6 months ahead in his language development. That high socialization drive also means that he is sweet and relatively socially advanced- he has the rudiments of sharing and comments about how other feel. That incredible will that drove refusals to be molded into acceptance of naps and being put in the bouncy so I can pee for God's sake! is now focused on learning how the world works. The beginning was hellish but now I get to reap the rewards.
It gets better. It really does. Stick it out and there will come a day with sleep and speech and a smiling face.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Ooh, la, la!
Amy stopped by my blog a week or so ago and am I glad she did! I just got a chance to check out her blog in turn and found that she has a fabulous Etsy shop that makes lovely wooden and handmade toys. I haven't ordered one (yet) so I can't vouch for the quality but they sure look quite well made. I had been stumped for Megan's Christmas gift (the trouble of being a 2nd child) but I think my problem may have been solved. She would love this rattle/teether. The roller elephant is adorable as well but we would have to pry it out of Charlie's hands first. Give Little Alouette a look for some wooden lovelies.
Baby Weight
So, my children may be less than ideal sleepers but I do manage to drop that baby weight! I am now 2 pounds less than I was when I got pregnant with Charlie and am hoping to nurse my way down another 5-10 pounds. Of course, things are still in rather different spots than they used to be but at least I can be happy when I step on the scale.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
How To Go to the store in 39 simple steps
- Decide you are going to make felted dryer balls.
- Plan to go to craft store, leaving at 10.
- Begin preparing at 9:15.
- Start to change Charlie's diaper.
- Discover you are out of diapers downstairs and have to run up to get more.
- Start to change Charlie's diaper.
- Realize you forgot to wash your hands first and you have a cold sore.
- Wash hands.
- Wrestle toothpaste, hairbrush, sunblock, and fish food out of Charlie's hands as he helpfully cheers on your handwashing.
- Finally change Charlie's diaper.
- Charlie poops.
- Change Charlie's diaper.
- Change Megan's diaper.
- Run upstairs for Charlie's socks and shoes.
- Upon return smell something...change Megan's diaper only to discover a false alarm.
- Begin to wonder what the hell these children are eating.
- Put on Charlie's socks and shoes.
- Start to carry Charlie out to the car.
- DEFCON 1 is reached due to the girl not being on bus with friends and dog.
- Find girl hidden in corner, place in bus, sing round of Wheels on the Bus for good measure.
- Stop to put on my socks and shoes.
- Discover than none of my cute shoes go with outfit.
- Sigh over yet another frumpy day.
- Carry Charlie out to the car.
- Remind self to get Charlie's sacred red sippy cup.
- Get Megan.
- Put Megan in car.
- Give treats to dogs- watch Penny (45 pound, healthy dog) accidentally drop treat and Shirley (partially blind, deaf, arthritic, 25 pound dog) steal it from under Penny's nose.
- Sigh.
- Wonder what propensity for adopting neurotic dogs indicates.
- Give Penny new treat.
- Back out of driveway.
- Realize you forgot something and remember baby carrier.
- Back in, re-treat, drop, sigh, and away we go at a still respectable 10:05.
- Get half-way to craft store and realize forgot sacred red sippy cup.
- Careen over 2 lanes to catch exit to go back home at last second.
- Wonder if you will make it to craft store during this geological epoch.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
By the Numbers
2- number of dogs of dogs in the house barking at falling leaves, squirrels, and other such threatening things with deafening results
4- number of plants being neglected in my house
4- number of months Charlie has been working on his 2 year molars
0- number of molars that have broken through (Dear, God! Let them break through soon!)
1.5- number of bottles of children's motrin we have used in the last month (we are apparently raising a drug addict)
7- number of times Charlie was up between 3:30 and 4:30 last night (rough estimate- it may have been more)
1- number of stair gates trying to drive me to tears with their infernal latches
4 (am)- time my husband is leaving tomorrow for a business trip
3-6 (am)- roughest time of the night with children
4-6 (am)- time I would rather be dead than awake
2- episodes of Play With Me, Sesame we have watched so far this morning (thank you, Tivo)
1- number of feet I wish I lived from Starbucks
45- number of minutes Megan can sleep on her own if I'm lucky
30- length of Megan's morning nap
14- minimum number of hours of sleep a 4 month old needs
12ish- number of hours of sleep Megan gets
3- the number of times the "bad sleepers" of Megan's birth group are waking- Megan is such an overachiever
15- number of pieces of Bliss chocolate I forsee myself eating today
20- number of pieces of Bliss chocolate I forsee myself eating tomorrow
6- number of pieces in one seving of Bliss chocolate (Thank heavens I'm breastfeeding!)
ridiculous- current price of bag of Bliss chocolate at Kroger
4- number of plants being neglected in my house
4- number of months Charlie has been working on his 2 year molars
0- number of molars that have broken through (Dear, God! Let them break through soon!)
1.5- number of bottles of children's motrin we have used in the last month (we are apparently raising a drug addict)
7- number of times Charlie was up between 3:30 and 4:30 last night (rough estimate- it may have been more)
1- number of stair gates trying to drive me to tears with their infernal latches
4 (am)- time my husband is leaving tomorrow for a business trip
3-6 (am)- roughest time of the night with children
4-6 (am)- time I would rather be dead than awake
2- episodes of Play With Me, Sesame we have watched so far this morning (thank you, Tivo)
1- number of feet I wish I lived from Starbucks
45- number of minutes Megan can sleep on her own if I'm lucky
30- length of Megan's morning nap
14- minimum number of hours of sleep a 4 month old needs
12ish- number of hours of sleep Megan gets
3- the number of times the "bad sleepers" of Megan's birth group are waking- Megan is such an overachiever
15- number of pieces of Bliss chocolate I forsee myself eating today
20- number of pieces of Bliss chocolate I forsee myself eating tomorrow
6- number of pieces in one seving of Bliss chocolate (Thank heavens I'm breastfeeding!)
ridiculous- current price of bag of Bliss chocolate at Kroger
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Single Issue Voter
I have found that I am becoming a single issue voter. I always assumed that if I were to pick one issue, it would be reproductive choice (Yes, I am pro-choice but that doesn't mean I'm pro-abortion, it's so much more complex than that. See here) or at least related to women's rights. Instead, I am finding myself becoming increasingly focused on the environment.
I am noticing it most in the current election and the way I view the financial crisis. My grandparents came of age in the dust bowl...in Missouri and southern Illinois...in small farming communities. Really, it couldn't have gotten any worse. They came out of it ok. There were some years that weren't fun. My grandmother uses some odd recipe substitutions she learned during the hard times. Parts of it sucked. But, they're fine. At this point, they're actually quite well off. My dad was a carpenter and was our sole source of income through the recession in the early 80s and was a good hunk of it in the recession of the early 90s. I still get twitchy when I hear "recession." As with my grandparent's lives, sometimes it wasn't fun. Some parts of the recessions sucked. I have some strong feelings about financial security and how often you should go shopping for clothes (once in August for all your school needs and once in the late-spring to get your warm weather duds and all formal dresses should be bought at 80% off the season prior). At the same time, it was ok. We survived. With a reasonably amount of forethought and decent budgeting skills you can ride out a nasty financial time. It's not fun and some of it will suck but you will survive it. Further, our species will survive it.
I worry that we won't make it out of the current environmental crisis. There isn't the option to "ride out" hurricane after hurricane, followed by floods, extreme temperatures, droughts, and tornadoes. Nature is bigger than us and we've been trying it's patience for a while. In a way, I'm very glad for the financial problems. It seems to be spurring the idea that things MUST change. We can't be so dependent on energy we can't make ourselves. We need to start curbing our love of "stuff." We need to pay attention to what our resources are and how to harness them in a way that won't crash upon our heads. I am beginning to feel that time is running short. I keep being reminded (as I take a bubble bath) of seeing the question, "If you think it's bad when we're fighting over oil, imagine what it will be like when we're fighting over water."
I am noticing it most in the current election and the way I view the financial crisis. My grandparents came of age in the dust bowl...in Missouri and southern Illinois...in small farming communities. Really, it couldn't have gotten any worse. They came out of it ok. There were some years that weren't fun. My grandmother uses some odd recipe substitutions she learned during the hard times. Parts of it sucked. But, they're fine. At this point, they're actually quite well off. My dad was a carpenter and was our sole source of income through the recession in the early 80s and was a good hunk of it in the recession of the early 90s. I still get twitchy when I hear "recession." As with my grandparent's lives, sometimes it wasn't fun. Some parts of the recessions sucked. I have some strong feelings about financial security and how often you should go shopping for clothes (once in August for all your school needs and once in the late-spring to get your warm weather duds and all formal dresses should be bought at 80% off the season prior). At the same time, it was ok. We survived. With a reasonably amount of forethought and decent budgeting skills you can ride out a nasty financial time. It's not fun and some of it will suck but you will survive it. Further, our species will survive it.
I worry that we won't make it out of the current environmental crisis. There isn't the option to "ride out" hurricane after hurricane, followed by floods, extreme temperatures, droughts, and tornadoes. Nature is bigger than us and we've been trying it's patience for a while. In a way, I'm very glad for the financial problems. It seems to be spurring the idea that things MUST change. We can't be so dependent on energy we can't make ourselves. We need to start curbing our love of "stuff." We need to pay attention to what our resources are and how to harness them in a way that won't crash upon our heads. I am beginning to feel that time is running short. I keep being reminded (as I take a bubble bath) of seeing the question, "If you think it's bad when we're fighting over oil, imagine what it will be like when we're fighting over water."
Monday, October 06, 2008
Cloth Diapering A Newborn (rocks!)
Wee, bitty babies produce an incredible amount of extraneous matter, if you know what I mean. Their poop, it is explosive and runny. Their pee, it is constant. The trips to the store for diapers, they are many. One doesn't contain adequately. Several cause a rash. One doesn't fit right. And that one, the one that FINALLY works, is just so expensive! And, that expensive one, you went through 3 in 15 minutes because your daughter decided that only virgin landscapes are appropriate for her needs... twice.
Allow me to introduce you to the wonder of the wonder of the kissaluv/thirsties wonder duo. We used kissaluvs size 0 and a thirsties XS and experienced nary a leak or rash for a blissful 2.5 months. They fit Megan beautifully until she hit about 13 pounds. The only leaks I ever had were on the rare occasion that we used a disposable and, yes, they were the expensive kind. Should you have a wee, bitty one on the way get thee to diaperswappers for some fabo deals on used (but still quite nice) kissalus (I wasn't able to find much in the way of thirsties covers) or wander on over to Jillian's- she has them new and used- and get you some wonderous cloth. They are totally worth adding a little extra laundry to your life.
Allow me to introduce you to the wonder of the wonder of the kissaluv/thirsties wonder duo. We used kissaluvs size 0 and a thirsties XS and experienced nary a leak or rash for a blissful 2.5 months. They fit Megan beautifully until she hit about 13 pounds. The only leaks I ever had were on the rare occasion that we used a disposable and, yes, they were the expensive kind. Should you have a wee, bitty one on the way get thee to diaperswappers for some fabo deals on used (but still quite nice) kissalus (I wasn't able to find much in the way of thirsties covers) or wander on over to Jillian's- she has them new and used- and get you some wonderous cloth. They are totally worth adding a little extra laundry to your life.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Things I've Learned Since Breakfast
1. I will not be able to figure out how to resolve the mysterious wet-spot on Megan's sleeper- diaper changes haven't helped. Perhaps it's a new spot for drooling?
2. The Wheels On The Bus has verses. This means you will feel much more charitable towards it when on your 5th repetion of Twinkle, Twinkle.
3. Don't worry about that spit-up puddle you forgot to clean up. Your foot will helpfully remind you of it later.
4. Toddlers find it very helpful to pair a word with an action when mastering new vocabulary. In the case of the word "break," you will be glad you only paid a dollar for those toys.
5. The moment at which you simply can not hold it any longer will co-incide with the moment your infant is this close to asleep but will need to be rocked for an additional 15 minutes if you stop to attend to your potty emergency.
6. We need more chocolate.
2. The Wheels On The Bus has verses. This means you will feel much more charitable towards it when on your 5th repetion of Twinkle, Twinkle.
3. Don't worry about that spit-up puddle you forgot to clean up. Your foot will helpfully remind you of it later.
4. Toddlers find it very helpful to pair a word with an action when mastering new vocabulary. In the case of the word "break," you will be glad you only paid a dollar for those toys.
5. The moment at which you simply can not hold it any longer will co-incide with the moment your infant is this close to asleep but will need to be rocked for an additional 15 minutes if you stop to attend to your potty emergency.
6. We need more chocolate.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
4 is the loveliest number that you ever knew...
So, I have discovered that my magic number is 4. 4 hours of consecutive sleep is how much I need to stave off the horrid sub-cycling which causes me to have PMS-y cramps for days, iffy skin, mood swings and completely unpredictable hormone related supply dips. 4 hours of sleep is also how much I need to remain on an even emotional keel. Megan stopped doing her consistent 4 hour stretch a bit ago (3 weeks maybe?) and I have felt the effects. Some nights, I get to cobble together some decent sleep with my husband taking her on after about 4 or he might take her for shorter stretches at about 2. But, Charlie is working on his 2 year molars (will the teething ever end?!?) and has a nasty cold to boot so my husband is busy fielding cries from him. Megan sleeps with us reasonably well but can't settle even in the co-sleeper set-up next to our bed. I continue to have strong hopes that as soon as she gets the hang of rolling over, things will improve precipitously but, who knows when she will manage the rolling. She gets precious little practice time during the day as the floor isn't the safest place to be with a toddler for an older brother; even one who is gentle and careful to the utmost of his 2 year old abilities. While I haven't sunk into a full depression, everything is just a little bit harder. I am having trouble finding the creative sparks needed to make dinner, let along write posts or do my favorite crafts. Weathering the toddler tempests and baby related frustrations tests me more than I would like, culminating yesterday when I found myself with my butt in the rain, changing my hysterical toddler's diaper in the tiny space between his seat and the door, listening to my baby wind up to full hungry cry, and singing "Jesus Loves Me," to myself as my last bastion against curling in a ball and swearing. I am confident I will make it through. I made it through 8 dreamless months with Charlie, I can make it through this. I have the full support of my husband and a comprehensive knowledge of danger signs to watch for. I am unafraid of taking medication if I need it. But, what I need most are those 4 damn hours of sleep.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Yummy Fake-A-Dillas (among other things)
I seem to be having a hard time writing posts with regularity with the addition of a second child in my life- who would have thought! Anyway, we seem to have wandered nicely out of peak fussiness, through 2 weeks of "I think she might be close to sleeping through the night," only to wander into the quagmire of teething and motor milestones. Apparently my children believe in teething early and often. I keep telling myself that the fact that Megan naps at all is still better than Charlie did at this age but the dashing of the "My baby slept through the night at 3 months of age" hopes is rather sad. I do keep reminding myself that at no point during Megan's life have I wondered if I was actually alert enough to drive safely while I frequently had the thought during the first 8 months of Charlie's tenure.
Anyway, Megan is cute! We have coos and grins. She has recently started to figure out how to get things into her mouth and is currently working on trying to grab on to her tongue- we have decided to wait to break the fact that is actually in her mouth already for another day. She adores her brother and her brother generally likes her. Thus far, we have had almost nothing in the sibling rivalry department except for occasional anger that I sometimes have to pick up the baby too soon after giving cuddles for a bumped head.
Charlie continues to progress nicely. He will start a Mother's Day Out program 2 days a week next week and I think he'll really enjoy it. We got him this book bag which was both surprisingly affordable, considering the source, and looks quite sturdy. He will be two next weekend and I think the festivities may be even more low key than last year. It looks like it may be family only and grandparents only at that. At the same time, I was thinking about what would make for a really good day for Charlie and playing with other kids still isn't really on his radar. I think a day with construction truck plates, lot of bubble blowing, and an extended park visit will really do it for him. In other news, Charlie has started trying to jump, sings the ABC song with a reasonable level of accuracy, and enjoys yelling "Hey, Becky (my given name), come back!" up the stairs just as I have managed to lay his sister down in her cradle.
Finally, the Fake-a-Dilla recipe. This makes sort of quesidillas that are fantastic make ahead fare.
First, get chicken breasts when they are on sale. Put them in your crockpot on low with a few cans of Rotel (or salsa if that's what you have on hand) and cook them until you can shred them with a fork. Shred and place in small freezer bags in portions that you think look about right for your family. We use about 1/2 a pint size bag for 2 generous servings and a little leftover for the 2 of us.
Second, Kroger sells a handy pre-chopped, flash frozen bag of green and red peppers and onions (a fajita blend thing). Get a bunch of those, or something similar when they are on sale.
Third, buy shredded cheese when it's on sale and the same for tortilla.
Finally, pick up a few extra cans of Rotel or whatnot when it's on sale.
Stick all this stuff in your freezer (except the canned stuff).
When you are tired and hungry and need a quick dinner. Pull the veggies and meat out and dump them in a pan, saute on medium high, covered, until it's all mostly thawed and then throw in a can of Rotel. Heat up a second skillet and put in a tortilla. Cover the tortilla with a good handful of cheese and then put in a few spoonfuls of the meat/veggie mixture and fold in half. As soon as the cheese is melted you have a Fake-a-Dilla. I serve it with the Birdseye Steamfresh Mexican Rice. Yummy!
Anyway, Megan is cute! We have coos and grins. She has recently started to figure out how to get things into her mouth and is currently working on trying to grab on to her tongue- we have decided to wait to break the fact that is actually in her mouth already for another day. She adores her brother and her brother generally likes her. Thus far, we have had almost nothing in the sibling rivalry department except for occasional anger that I sometimes have to pick up the baby too soon after giving cuddles for a bumped head.
Charlie continues to progress nicely. He will start a Mother's Day Out program 2 days a week next week and I think he'll really enjoy it. We got him this book bag which was both surprisingly affordable, considering the source, and looks quite sturdy. He will be two next weekend and I think the festivities may be even more low key than last year. It looks like it may be family only and grandparents only at that. At the same time, I was thinking about what would make for a really good day for Charlie and playing with other kids still isn't really on his radar. I think a day with construction truck plates, lot of bubble blowing, and an extended park visit will really do it for him. In other news, Charlie has started trying to jump, sings the ABC song with a reasonable level of accuracy, and enjoys yelling "Hey, Becky (my given name), come back!" up the stairs just as I have managed to lay his sister down in her cradle.
Finally, the Fake-a-Dilla recipe. This makes sort of quesidillas that are fantastic make ahead fare.
First, get chicken breasts when they are on sale. Put them in your crockpot on low with a few cans of Rotel (or salsa if that's what you have on hand) and cook them until you can shred them with a fork. Shred and place in small freezer bags in portions that you think look about right for your family. We use about 1/2 a pint size bag for 2 generous servings and a little leftover for the 2 of us.
Second, Kroger sells a handy pre-chopped, flash frozen bag of green and red peppers and onions (a fajita blend thing). Get a bunch of those, or something similar when they are on sale.
Third, buy shredded cheese when it's on sale and the same for tortilla.
Finally, pick up a few extra cans of Rotel or whatnot when it's on sale.
Stick all this stuff in your freezer (except the canned stuff).
When you are tired and hungry and need a quick dinner. Pull the veggies and meat out and dump them in a pan, saute on medium high, covered, until it's all mostly thawed and then throw in a can of Rotel. Heat up a second skillet and put in a tortilla. Cover the tortilla with a good handful of cheese and then put in a few spoonfuls of the meat/veggie mixture and fold in half. As soon as the cheese is melted you have a Fake-a-Dilla. I serve it with the Birdseye Steamfresh Mexican Rice. Yummy!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Potty Training
Charlie has a hunk of diaper rash that is a completely raw patch. We've been battling diaper rash with varying success since his birth. So, I decided to bit the bullet and start us today. I may lose my mind by the end of the week.
To add to the fun, both Megan (I think) and Charlie are teething this week and their sleep shows it.
To add to the fun, both Megan (I think) and Charlie are teething this week and their sleep shows it.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Apples and Oranges
I am constantly amazed by how different my children are. I wasn't expecting them to be clones or anything but I thought that the similarities would extend to something beyond that neither of them is fond of going to sleep and hating their car seat.
Megan isn't wild about any pacifier but consents to find a nuk acceptable in a pinch. Charlie was surgically attached to his avent.
When in the car, Megan finds the dulcet tones of The Police to be her happy sound where Charlie was only soothed by Baby Einstein.
Megan likes a nice meal followed by some energetic kicking, a session of flirt with Mommy, and then some "me time" in the swing. Charlie was all holding, all the time.
Charlie was a Buffet fan whereas Megan likes a nice Billy Joel ballad to soothe her soul.
Charlie felt that my boobs would go home in an insulted huff if he didn't visit with them for a good 45 minutes every hour or 2. Megan is happy to neglect them for a good 2-3 hours and then only gives them a passing 5-15 minute nod.
Charlie's butt has a level of sensitivity matched only by the Bronte girls. Megan's butt seems to be as hardy as winter wheat.
Megan is currently a better sleeper than Charlie which is just beyond sad.
Megan isn't wild about any pacifier but consents to find a nuk acceptable in a pinch. Charlie was surgically attached to his avent.
When in the car, Megan finds the dulcet tones of The Police to be her happy sound where Charlie was only soothed by Baby Einstein.
Megan likes a nice meal followed by some energetic kicking, a session of flirt with Mommy, and then some "me time" in the swing. Charlie was all holding, all the time.
Charlie was a Buffet fan whereas Megan likes a nice Billy Joel ballad to soothe her soul.
Charlie felt that my boobs would go home in an insulted huff if he didn't visit with them for a good 45 minutes every hour or 2. Megan is happy to neglect them for a good 2-3 hours and then only gives them a passing 5-15 minute nod.
Charlie's butt has a level of sensitivity matched only by the Bronte girls. Megan's butt seems to be as hardy as winter wheat.
Megan is currently a better sleeper than Charlie which is just beyond sad.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Of Vampires and Werewolves
I started reading Twilight at Anne's suggestion. She was right, it is the ideal book to read while in the throes of early motherhood. It's absorbing enough to keep you awake during various feedings even while on codine! And, it's light enough that you can follow the basic plot points in your sleep deprived, codine happy state. However, it is so much more. It's actually literary crack...
The basic premise is that Bella falls in love with a vampire (Edward) who has a strong desire to devour her but by the power of twu love, he can resist. Over the next 2 books (the last one comes out this Saturday), they suffer separation of epic angst and Edward is forced to manfully defend his virginity. There aren't a ton of books that have managed to suck me in quite so wonderfully. Harry Potter, of course, managed quite nicely but before that there was the Outlander series. It lost some of it's hold when I found myself thinking "Damn, abducted by pirates again!" However, Outlander is ideal if you find yourself moving, without children, to a place you know no one, have no transportation and need to supervise movers, wait for cable guys, etc. It's now one of those series' that I will always read the next book but I can wait to get it from the library until it gets marked down at Books-a-Million.
Anyway, on to the point of the post. So, in the second book (New Moon), it comes out that Bella's soul mate- not true love, but soul mate- is a werewolf. Now, there are a good hunk of fans that hate Jacob (aforementioned soulmate). But, I found myself thinking that I would much rather a werewolf than a vampire. I found this to be the case in the Sookie Stackhouse books as well (another fabulous read- they are great bathtub books). I couldn't figure out why for some time until I realized that my preferences in supernatural partners seems to come down entirely to the issue of body temperature. I hate to be cold and the idea of cuddling up to a cold guy apparently goes against the grain for me. I would much rather have my own personal space heater. Unfortunately, in the third book (Eclipse) Jacob gets a little too Alpha Male stupid for me and I'm stuck realizing that my self-insertion is apparently screwed as I'm not out of male protagonists to long for but there we are.
The basic premise is that Bella falls in love with a vampire (Edward) who has a strong desire to devour her but by the power of twu love, he can resist. Over the next 2 books (the last one comes out this Saturday), they suffer separation of epic angst and Edward is forced to manfully defend his virginity. There aren't a ton of books that have managed to suck me in quite so wonderfully. Harry Potter, of course, managed quite nicely but before that there was the Outlander series. It lost some of it's hold when I found myself thinking "Damn, abducted by pirates again!" However, Outlander is ideal if you find yourself moving, without children, to a place you know no one, have no transportation and need to supervise movers, wait for cable guys, etc. It's now one of those series' that I will always read the next book but I can wait to get it from the library until it gets marked down at Books-a-Million.
Anyway, on to the point of the post. So, in the second book (New Moon), it comes out that Bella's soul mate- not true love, but soul mate- is a werewolf. Now, there are a good hunk of fans that hate Jacob (aforementioned soulmate). But, I found myself thinking that I would much rather a werewolf than a vampire. I found this to be the case in the Sookie Stackhouse books as well (another fabulous read- they are great bathtub books). I couldn't figure out why for some time until I realized that my preferences in supernatural partners seems to come down entirely to the issue of body temperature. I hate to be cold and the idea of cuddling up to a cold guy apparently goes against the grain for me. I would much rather have my own personal space heater. Unfortunately, in the third book (Eclipse) Jacob gets a little too Alpha Male stupid for me and I'm stuck realizing that my self-insertion is apparently screwed as I'm not out of male protagonists to long for but there we are.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
In Brief...
I apparently only birth children who don't like to fall asleep although Megan is willing to remain asleep once she achieves the state- hooray!
I hate dealing with pink eye more than I do thrush but only just barely.
Charlie has been watching ridiculous amounts of tv as of late but does seem to be picking up a bit of language. Sure to come in useful is "1, 2 cha, cha, cha," care of Bob the Builder.
Charlie now says "shhh," to his sister when she is fussing. Dr. Karp would be so proud.
Win free Bum Genius 3.0 diapers here.
While the death of naps doesn't actually equal the death of my blog it's taking a bit of time to figure out how to work it in. More to come soon about why I prefer werewolves to vampires.
I hate dealing with pink eye more than I do thrush but only just barely.
Charlie has been watching ridiculous amounts of tv as of late but does seem to be picking up a bit of language. Sure to come in useful is "1, 2 cha, cha, cha," care of Bob the Builder.
Charlie now says "shhh," to his sister when she is fussing. Dr. Karp would be so proud.
Win free Bum Genius 3.0 diapers here.
While the death of naps doesn't actually equal the death of my blog it's taking a bit of time to figure out how to work it in. More to come soon about why I prefer werewolves to vampires.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Divorce
An alarming number of mommy bloggers in my very small sphere are in the throes of divorce. It's freaked me out a tad. I told my husband that we couldn't get a divorce until everyone is sleeping through the night. Until then, he can keep a woman on the side, sleep in a separate room and develop a bizarre iPhone fixation as long as he still takes on some night duty. I seriously can't fathom how any of these women are managing. I nearly loose my mind when my husband leaves for a few days on a business trip. The thought of having to juggle all the household chores I do as well as his is mindboggling. Kudos to the strong mommies that are making it work.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Naps and the Women Who Love Them
We decided to drop Charlie's nap last week. It was, by far, the most stressful part of the day for all involved. Charlie clearly still needed the sleep but getting him to admit that was a feat beyond imagining. So, we now pile in the stroller at 1ish every day instead. Charlie generally sleeps for at least a little while. Megan is a crap shoot. Today she actually fell asleep in the car and then slept through the walk. Other days haven't gone so smoothly. While it's nice to get in some exercise for me, I'm really missing that nap. I really think divine intervention occurred near the end of my pregnancy. For the last month of my pregnancy and the first week or so that Megan was home, Charlie napped like a champ. He went down with little fuss and would sleep for 2 hours, sometimes even more, and then he would still sleep at night. It was nothing short of miraculous. We are putting him down an hour earlier and the extra time will be nice once Megan gets past the peak fussiness stage and starts developing some organized sleep. But, nap time was when I re-charged, wrote blog posts, checked e-mail, and otherwise got the down-time you desperately need when facing a day with Charlie. I loved my naps.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
4 Things
1. Sometimes motherhood sucks
2. Some days, my biggest parenting achievement will be not spanking my toddler
3. Never go to the grocery store with a newborn (cranky) and toddler (cheerful but energetic) who need you to go as efficiently as possible on senior discount day
4. Always be sure to keep 2 chocolate sources in the house at all costs
2. Some days, my biggest parenting achievement will be not spanking my toddler
3. Never go to the grocery store with a newborn (cranky) and toddler (cheerful but energetic) who need you to go as efficiently as possible on senior discount day
4. Always be sure to keep 2 chocolate sources in the house at all costs
Thursday, June 05, 2008
New Motherhood
So far, things are continuing to progress in a reasonable fashion. Last night was rocky. There is at least some possibility that Megan has colic which is a pain but if there is one thing I got good at during Charlie's early months, it was waiting out a crying baby. I can sing, pat, and bounce with the best of them and colic has the saving grace of generally ending by about 4 months. I'm still hopeful that it's a gas issue due to a rather overabundant supply and way too much lentil soup on my part but we'll see what happens over the next week. I know that by this time with Charlie, I had called my mother in hysterical tears to beg for help. A week of nights like last night might have that effect but I think we can struggle through for now. I suspect a large part of the problem was that she was too gassy to do her usual cluster feed before her long stretch so the cluster feed got moved to between midnight and 4 am- less than desirable for all involved. If she's anything like Charlie we'll be looking at least a day or so to get back on track, unless it's colic and then we're looking at another 3-4 months at which point we'll get to embark on teething!
I had forgotten how much of new motherhood involved being smelly. Between the hot flashes, spit up, and projectile poo, I'm not sure 2 showers a day is really adequate.
Charlie is becoming happier as his routine is coming back into play. The c-section took me out of commission for 2 weeks for all but the most sedentary of Charlie activities and the parade of relatives who came to help, threw him as well. Yesterday was our first solo morning and you could see his little body relax as we went about our usual morning routine of errands, lunch, and play time. The tantrums that had been at least an hourly occurrence eased back and I can only hope that the trend continues. He did get very distressed in the car when Megan was crying (she needed to go to sleep but hadn't quite managed yet) but calmed down as Megan did. I was heartened to see compassion on the part of my young toddler. Although, I do hope that we won't have many tandem crying sessions- that is the road to madness.
I had forgotten how much of new motherhood involved being smelly. Between the hot flashes, spit up, and projectile poo, I'm not sure 2 showers a day is really adequate.
Charlie is becoming happier as his routine is coming back into play. The c-section took me out of commission for 2 weeks for all but the most sedentary of Charlie activities and the parade of relatives who came to help, threw him as well. Yesterday was our first solo morning and you could see his little body relax as we went about our usual morning routine of errands, lunch, and play time. The tantrums that had been at least an hourly occurrence eased back and I can only hope that the trend continues. He did get very distressed in the car when Megan was crying (she needed to go to sleep but hadn't quite managed yet) but calmed down as Megan did. I was heartened to see compassion on the part of my young toddler. Although, I do hope that we won't have many tandem crying sessions- that is the road to madness.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Nursing Drama
So far, it seems that Megan really is a bit of a sleeper. I'm not willing to totally buy it until I'm completely off codine but she is currently about a million times easier to care for than I remember Charlie being.
She tends to nurse fairly quickly and efficiently during the day for 15 minutes or so and then goes to sleep for another 3 hours. In the late evening she will cluster feed for a good hour or hour and a half but then sleeps for 4-5 hours, nurses in a highly focused manner for 10-15 minutes and then goes back down for another 3-4 hours. This might be slightly less than accurate (re:codine) but is what my muzzy brain remembers. Last night and today have been a bit different but I think we may have hit the 7 day growth spurt. This nursing pattern is a bit on the unusual side for a newborn (and is vastly different from Charlie's clockwork 45 minute session starting every hour and a half around the clock) and caused a bit of drama at the hospital where they really don't like them to go much more than 2-3 hours at the outside. Megan has strong feelings about when she would like to sleep and when she would like to eat and does not appreciate attempts to mold her to your will. But, since she was making plenty of wet and poopies and appeared quite healthy and happy the nurses didn't really push it on the whole. I also got a lot of ground from having nursed Charlie for 14 months- including through my 1st trimester. The nurses seemed to feel that this was plenty sufficient to ensure my nursing competence. The pediatricians were a different story.
We had to use the on-call practice because our family physician doesn't do hospital rounds for newborns. We also did this with Charlie and liked the doctors reasonably well and since it's only for a few days it didn't seem like a big deal. This time was different. Starting with the 1st visit, less than 12 hours after Megan was born, I started getting told to consider supplementing because Megan was such a big baby. The first pediatrician made the argument that I wouldn't ever be able to get any rest because it would be such a struggle to feed her. Instead, we should make liberal use of the night nursery and allow for supplements from the start. There were so many things wrong with this argument, I was stunned. How did she ever expect my supply to catch up if I was supplementing from the start? In addition, there were simply no indicators that there even was a problem and, while 9 2, is on the larger size, considering that one woman can nurse multiples or tandem nurse siblings, the assumption that one newborn is beyond the capacity of a woman who never even fully lost her milk from her previous nursing stint, was just dumb. I was of the impression that most new parents understood that sleep deprivation is part and parcel of new parenthood.
Things continued to go downhill as she dropped weight every day. The hospital flagged 8 6 as being the point of concern (although it isn't actually the 10% mark) and she hit 8 5 on Tuesday morning. Since this was also the day of discharge, the pediatrician (a different one) decided that he needed to be as dour as possible, telling tales of readmission and droopy, dehydrated babies needing IVs. The dreaded supplements were brought up again (for the 3rd time). The thing is that while 8 5 was a fairly steep drop, it didn't appear that the pediatrician actually looked at any other health indicators. Megan routinely nursed to the point of falling off the nipple, falling asleep contentedly or having a brief and happy awake period. She showed no signs of the fussy or listless behavior that come with an infant who isn't getting enough milk. I showed signs that my milk was coming in that morning. Her poop was rapidly shifting from merconium. There were plenty of wet diapers. She showed no signs of jaundice and her blood sugar (checked several times of the first 36 hours as a matter of course for babies over 9 pounds) was wonderfully stable. The daily visits from the lactation consultants were brief and positive. As far as I can tell, the only thing the pedi looked at was weight. He didn't even bother to ask me about how nursing was going, my milk coming in, etc. He said he would send in the lactation consultant to talk to me about supplementing, helpfully adding that she didn't need to go directly to the bottle, instead we could look at finger feeding and cups. This still didn't really fix the issue of the best way to increase supply being to nurse more and, as she was apparently starving before my eyes, she should be more than happy to nurse, right? Of course, every time I had tried to increase her nursing frequency, I was met by hours of frustration and tears on both our parts but I figured we could work around that somehow.
After he left I just started sobbing (no mean feat for a woman who just had abdominal surgery). As far as I could tell my baby was happy and healthy with just my milk and supplementing was the last thing I wanted. I was already quite disappointed about not being able to deliver vaginally (more to come later but I'm not ready to "talk" about it yet). The idea that my body would fail again was quite upsetting. Particularly as I just didn't see it. Luckily, the lactation consultant was able to observe a nursing session right after she came in and agreed with me that Megan seemed completely fine and that my milk was already starting to come in. I was encourage to simply continue on the current course, go to our doctor for a weight check the next day and was told to write plenty on the evaluation form I was given that would go to the nursing supervisor. We took Megan to our doctor on Wednesday and she was actually down a few more ounces but our regular doctor wasn't at all concerned. Megan continued to look healthy and happy and her weight was far from being at a concerning level. She said we could bring Megan back early this week for another weight check if we wanted but she felt the 2 week appointment would be plenty soon enough for her.
I don't know why she wound up dropping so much weight. I have a few theories. She got rid of almost all of her merconium on the first day which had to account for a least a couple of ounces. I had a good hunk of water weight gain in the last week or so of my pregnancy and she may have gained with that as well. On a less logical note, I wonder if there was a reason that she did wind up so very unexpectedly big so that I would need a c-section. God does work in mysterious ways and all indicators flatly contradicted my growing a 9 pound baby. I am so beyond thankful that I somehow managed to have a relatively easy recovery that allowed me the option to go home on Tuesday. I shudder to think what would have happened if Megan had stayed in the care of those pediatricians another day, knowing she went down a few more ounces. I am also so thankful that I had a strong confidence in my ability to breastfeed as well as plenty of factual knowledge to back up my instincts. I really worry about the poor, first time mother who would be in a similar situation. The advice I was given would set her up for failure and oodles of unnecessary stress. I'm somewhat hopeful that the lactation consultants are now aware of an unfortunate tendency by this practice and will act to alleviate it's effects.
She tends to nurse fairly quickly and efficiently during the day for 15 minutes or so and then goes to sleep for another 3 hours. In the late evening she will cluster feed for a good hour or hour and a half but then sleeps for 4-5 hours, nurses in a highly focused manner for 10-15 minutes and then goes back down for another 3-4 hours. This might be slightly less than accurate (re:codine) but is what my muzzy brain remembers. Last night and today have been a bit different but I think we may have hit the 7 day growth spurt. This nursing pattern is a bit on the unusual side for a newborn (and is vastly different from Charlie's clockwork 45 minute session starting every hour and a half around the clock) and caused a bit of drama at the hospital where they really don't like them to go much more than 2-3 hours at the outside. Megan has strong feelings about when she would like to sleep and when she would like to eat and does not appreciate attempts to mold her to your will. But, since she was making plenty of wet and poopies and appeared quite healthy and happy the nurses didn't really push it on the whole. I also got a lot of ground from having nursed Charlie for 14 months- including through my 1st trimester. The nurses seemed to feel that this was plenty sufficient to ensure my nursing competence. The pediatricians were a different story.
We had to use the on-call practice because our family physician doesn't do hospital rounds for newborns. We also did this with Charlie and liked the doctors reasonably well and since it's only for a few days it didn't seem like a big deal. This time was different. Starting with the 1st visit, less than 12 hours after Megan was born, I started getting told to consider supplementing because Megan was such a big baby. The first pediatrician made the argument that I wouldn't ever be able to get any rest because it would be such a struggle to feed her. Instead, we should make liberal use of the night nursery and allow for supplements from the start. There were so many things wrong with this argument, I was stunned. How did she ever expect my supply to catch up if I was supplementing from the start? In addition, there were simply no indicators that there even was a problem and, while 9 2, is on the larger size, considering that one woman can nurse multiples or tandem nurse siblings, the assumption that one newborn is beyond the capacity of a woman who never even fully lost her milk from her previous nursing stint, was just dumb. I was of the impression that most new parents understood that sleep deprivation is part and parcel of new parenthood.
Things continued to go downhill as she dropped weight every day. The hospital flagged 8 6 as being the point of concern (although it isn't actually the 10% mark) and she hit 8 5 on Tuesday morning. Since this was also the day of discharge, the pediatrician (a different one) decided that he needed to be as dour as possible, telling tales of readmission and droopy, dehydrated babies needing IVs. The dreaded supplements were brought up again (for the 3rd time). The thing is that while 8 5 was a fairly steep drop, it didn't appear that the pediatrician actually looked at any other health indicators. Megan routinely nursed to the point of falling off the nipple, falling asleep contentedly or having a brief and happy awake period. She showed no signs of the fussy or listless behavior that come with an infant who isn't getting enough milk. I showed signs that my milk was coming in that morning. Her poop was rapidly shifting from merconium. There were plenty of wet diapers. She showed no signs of jaundice and her blood sugar (checked several times of the first 36 hours as a matter of course for babies over 9 pounds) was wonderfully stable. The daily visits from the lactation consultants were brief and positive. As far as I can tell, the only thing the pedi looked at was weight. He didn't even bother to ask me about how nursing was going, my milk coming in, etc. He said he would send in the lactation consultant to talk to me about supplementing, helpfully adding that she didn't need to go directly to the bottle, instead we could look at finger feeding and cups. This still didn't really fix the issue of the best way to increase supply being to nurse more and, as she was apparently starving before my eyes, she should be more than happy to nurse, right? Of course, every time I had tried to increase her nursing frequency, I was met by hours of frustration and tears on both our parts but I figured we could work around that somehow.
After he left I just started sobbing (no mean feat for a woman who just had abdominal surgery). As far as I could tell my baby was happy and healthy with just my milk and supplementing was the last thing I wanted. I was already quite disappointed about not being able to deliver vaginally (more to come later but I'm not ready to "talk" about it yet). The idea that my body would fail again was quite upsetting. Particularly as I just didn't see it. Luckily, the lactation consultant was able to observe a nursing session right after she came in and agreed with me that Megan seemed completely fine and that my milk was already starting to come in. I was encourage to simply continue on the current course, go to our doctor for a weight check the next day and was told to write plenty on the evaluation form I was given that would go to the nursing supervisor. We took Megan to our doctor on Wednesday and she was actually down a few more ounces but our regular doctor wasn't at all concerned. Megan continued to look healthy and happy and her weight was far from being at a concerning level. She said we could bring Megan back early this week for another weight check if we wanted but she felt the 2 week appointment would be plenty soon enough for her.
I don't know why she wound up dropping so much weight. I have a few theories. She got rid of almost all of her merconium on the first day which had to account for a least a couple of ounces. I had a good hunk of water weight gain in the last week or so of my pregnancy and she may have gained with that as well. On a less logical note, I wonder if there was a reason that she did wind up so very unexpectedly big so that I would need a c-section. God does work in mysterious ways and all indicators flatly contradicted my growing a 9 pound baby. I am so beyond thankful that I somehow managed to have a relatively easy recovery that allowed me the option to go home on Tuesday. I shudder to think what would have happened if Megan had stayed in the care of those pediatricians another day, knowing she went down a few more ounces. I am also so thankful that I had a strong confidence in my ability to breastfeed as well as plenty of factual knowledge to back up my instincts. I really worry about the poor, first time mother who would be in a similar situation. The advice I was given would set her up for failure and oodles of unnecessary stress. I'm somewhat hopeful that the lactation consultants are now aware of an unfortunate tendency by this practice and will act to alleviate it's effects.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Megan!
Megan Mac... arrived at 2:51 am on Sunday, May 18th. She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Labor was very, very long with many unexpected difficulties. I finally wound up with a c-section under full anesthesia (courtesy of my epidural's hot spots). More to come later. Mommy and baby are both doing well but are both very, very tired.
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