Well, not quite. C has "colic", and he has it bad. Now, colic really just means that the baby gets cranky and almost inconsolable for a certain period most days, worsening until age 6 weeks, and spontaneously resolves by ~3 months. By 3 weeks of age, poor C would start screaming around 9 pm all the way until 1 am. Then, when he did sleep at night, he would wake up every 1-2 hours. He would finally really sleep starting at 6 or 7 am,when it was time to get up and start the day. So frustrating!
So, I read the book Happiest Baby on the Block. The guy makes sense, and his theory on colic is as good as anyone elses. Plus, I already knew C loved to be held and hear my heartbeat, so his theory goes along with what I know for my child. The techniques are free and have no side effects, so we tried it. They have worked quite well. Not perfectly, but MUCH better.
The biggest thing I got from this book is swaddling. For some unknown reason, I always though swaddling was about keeping the baby warm. Since my babies didn't have any issues with that, I never really swaddled them at home. But this has been the key to getting C to sleep and stay asleep.
Now, we go to bed around 9 pm, sleep 3-4 hours between feedings, and are ready to start the day around 7 am. Yay!
That book was worth reading. :)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Born to be a Thumb Sucker
So C loves his thumbs. When he was born and placed on my chest, he cried and then stuck his thumb in his mouth.
Like most babies, C loves to suck. He will sometimes nurse for hours just because. So, I have offered him the pacifier. He's now starting to take it some, if he's in the mood, but will often spit it out so he can stick his thumb / hand in his mouth instead.
So now the question is, why do I fight the thumb sucking by offering the paci? Because when he's older, I can take away the pacifier whereas the thumb is permanently attached to him. Well, I suppose I could remove his thumbs, but I might get in trouble for that. LOL j/k
For now, he can still have his thumb once in awhile.
Like most babies, C loves to suck. He will sometimes nurse for hours just because. So, I have offered him the pacifier. He's now starting to take it some, if he's in the mood, but will often spit it out so he can stick his thumb / hand in his mouth instead.
So now the question is, why do I fight the thumb sucking by offering the paci? Because when he's older, I can take away the pacifier whereas the thumb is permanently attached to him. Well, I suppose I could remove his thumbs, but I might get in trouble for that. LOL j/k
For now, he can still have his thumb once in awhile.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Dear Santa
So, now that it's November, the Christmas catalogs are pouring in. R was looking through one this morning and kept finding things he wanted to ask Santa for for Christmas. So finally I told him to write down the things he saw so we could eventually send the list to Santa. He loved this idea, and scrambled to get paper and pencil.
The first item was a little grocery store playset. So he writes "gRoshRe", which is how it sounds.
The next item was a kitchen playset. So he writes "cichn".
I was pretty impressed, esp with grocery, since that's a fairly long word to sound out. Too bad the English language has so many exceptions to the rules, but I think knowing that he was spelling phonetically, I could figure out what he meant. :)
The first item was a little grocery store playset. So he writes "gRoshRe", which is how it sounds.
The next item was a kitchen playset. So he writes "cichn".
I was pretty impressed, esp with grocery, since that's a fairly long word to sound out. Too bad the English language has so many exceptions to the rules, but I think knowing that he was spelling phonetically, I could figure out what he meant. :)
Bathtime
This is something I was remembering today as I was bathing C.
Bathtime was such a stressful thing for me when R was a newborn. I thought since I had a baby bathtub (with sling for newborns), I had to use it. The first time, I thought I'd be smart and put it on the bathroom counter so I didn't have to bend over. I filled it up in the big bathtub, then carefully lifted it to the counter. Then I put baby in - oops, it overflowed all over the bathroom. LOL. Got to mop the floor after it was all done.
But the REALLY funny one was the next bath. Learning from my last mistake, I just kept the little bathtub inside the big bathtub and bent over. Then, R decides it's time to poop again. In the bath. So, okay, I'll just drain it out and fill it up again. I scoop him up and empty it into the big bathtub. But I don't want to just put new water - the bathtub is dirty and needs to be washed first (at least this was what I was thinking at the time). Time for plan c - we'll take a shower. So I get ready and jump in the shower with him. So not only do I have a wet, slippy newborn, but I'm wet and slippery too. Very scary. LOL.
Not sure why this was all such a crisis at the time, but it was. Now it's just funny. C gets a bath in the little pink basin from the hospital. MUCH easier. :) At least until he can hold his head up. :)
Bathtime was such a stressful thing for me when R was a newborn. I thought since I had a baby bathtub (with sling for newborns), I had to use it. The first time, I thought I'd be smart and put it on the bathroom counter so I didn't have to bend over. I filled it up in the big bathtub, then carefully lifted it to the counter. Then I put baby in - oops, it overflowed all over the bathroom. LOL. Got to mop the floor after it was all done.
But the REALLY funny one was the next bath. Learning from my last mistake, I just kept the little bathtub inside the big bathtub and bent over. Then, R decides it's time to poop again. In the bath. So, okay, I'll just drain it out and fill it up again. I scoop him up and empty it into the big bathtub. But I don't want to just put new water - the bathtub is dirty and needs to be washed first (at least this was what I was thinking at the time). Time for plan c - we'll take a shower. So I get ready and jump in the shower with him. So not only do I have a wet, slippy newborn, but I'm wet and slippery too. Very scary. LOL.
Not sure why this was all such a crisis at the time, but it was. Now it's just funny. C gets a bath in the little pink basin from the hospital. MUCH easier. :) At least until he can hold his head up. :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Week One
C has had a busy first week. He's a very strong baby, already lifting his head and looking around. One time, he was lying on my chest on his belly, and decided he was hungry. He then hiked his knees under his body, lifted up on his elbows, and hurled himself toward his milk supply, landing his mouth directly on his target. Pretty impressive!
C loves being cuddled and swaddled and warm. Just like he was in my belly. Sometimes he won't sleep unless I'm lying next to him. Not sure if it's me or just a warm body, but I'll pretend it's me. :)
He likes to nurse with his hand balled in a fist on his cheek - something his big brother did as well. He also gives lots of spontaneous smiles, esp after eating. Although last night he was sitting there, made this laughing noise, so I look down. He's got a great huge grin on this face, but when I start laughing, it quickly changes to a deep frown. Poor kid, I scared him. lol.
I knew he would get the hiccups two or three times per day while in my belly, but now he gets them at least six times per day! And he gets so mad about it too. It's usually right after eating, before he gets that good burp out. Weird.
C is also ticklish already. Especially on his feet and along his ribs. It's really quite cute, though sometimes it makes him smile and other times he gets upset.
He had his nights and days mixed up for awhile, but seems to be getting straightened out. His umbilical cord fell off on day 6. Today he stayed awake for a whole 3 hours just looking around. It was definitely naptime after that.
That about sums up week one. We have a check up next week, so I'm excited to see how much he weights at that point. :)
C loves being cuddled and swaddled and warm. Just like he was in my belly. Sometimes he won't sleep unless I'm lying next to him. Not sure if it's me or just a warm body, but I'll pretend it's me. :)
He likes to nurse with his hand balled in a fist on his cheek - something his big brother did as well. He also gives lots of spontaneous smiles, esp after eating. Although last night he was sitting there, made this laughing noise, so I look down. He's got a great huge grin on this face, but when I start laughing, it quickly changes to a deep frown. Poor kid, I scared him. lol.
I knew he would get the hiccups two or three times per day while in my belly, but now he gets them at least six times per day! And he gets so mad about it too. It's usually right after eating, before he gets that good burp out. Weird.
C is also ticklish already. Especially on his feet and along his ribs. It's really quite cute, though sometimes it makes him smile and other times he gets upset.
He had his nights and days mixed up for awhile, but seems to be getting straightened out. His umbilical cord fell off on day 6. Today he stayed awake for a whole 3 hours just looking around. It was definitely naptime after that.
That about sums up week one. We have a check up next week, so I'm excited to see how much he weights at that point. :)
Big Brother
R has been SO SWEET ever since C arrived. He came that night to see him, and the nurse sat him on the side of the warmer next to C. I told R he could talk to C, so he spontaneously started telling C a story about dinosaurs, which started with "Once upon a time" and ended with "The end" and lasted at least 3 minutes. So cute!
We had also been reading the story "God gave us you" prior to C being born. So the first night, after the dino story, R came to sit with me. He said, "Mommy, God gave us brother and now he's popped out of your belly?" I told him he was correct. R then looked off into the distance and said, "Thank you, God!" How sweet is that?!?
In the mornings, R wants to see "my baby" before going downstairs for breakfast, and wants to see C as soon as he gets home from school. R's favorite thing is to have C in the bouncy seat so R can play the music for him and turn the vibration on and off to entertain C. R's high for the day has frequently been that C popped out of my belly. I think he's happy to be able to cuddle with Mommy again.
R even drew a picture of C at school just two days after he was born. He then spelled C's name on top and only missed one letter. Very impressive!
This morning, as we were walking down the stairs, C was in my arms. R states that he was going to walk beside us in case C fell on the ground. I told him that was nice, but reassured R that I would not let C fall on the ground. R stated that he would still walk beside us and let me know if C ended up falling to the ground. Not sure why he was so concerned about C falling, but I appreciate his concern.
R has also become proficient at the steps of diaper changing. He likes to bring me the supplies, pull out a wipe, open the diaper, and then talk to C while I change the diaper. However, when it comes time to throw the dirty one away, R says, "I can't do that. That is disgusting! It would make my hands dirty." lol. Although speaking of dirty hands, I only had to tell R once that I would like him to wash his hands before touching C and now before he touches him he runs to the bathroom to wash his hands first. Yay!
C is a very lucky boy. He's got a great big brother, someone who is going to watch out for him. Hopefully C realizes that sooner in life than later, and the two boys grow to be great friends.
We had also been reading the story "God gave us you" prior to C being born. So the first night, after the dino story, R came to sit with me. He said, "Mommy, God gave us brother and now he's popped out of your belly?" I told him he was correct. R then looked off into the distance and said, "Thank you, God!" How sweet is that?!?
In the mornings, R wants to see "my baby" before going downstairs for breakfast, and wants to see C as soon as he gets home from school. R's favorite thing is to have C in the bouncy seat so R can play the music for him and turn the vibration on and off to entertain C. R's high for the day has frequently been that C popped out of my belly. I think he's happy to be able to cuddle with Mommy again.
R even drew a picture of C at school just two days after he was born. He then spelled C's name on top and only missed one letter. Very impressive!
This morning, as we were walking down the stairs, C was in my arms. R states that he was going to walk beside us in case C fell on the ground. I told him that was nice, but reassured R that I would not let C fall on the ground. R stated that he would still walk beside us and let me know if C ended up falling to the ground. Not sure why he was so concerned about C falling, but I appreciate his concern.
R has also become proficient at the steps of diaper changing. He likes to bring me the supplies, pull out a wipe, open the diaper, and then talk to C while I change the diaper. However, when it comes time to throw the dirty one away, R says, "I can't do that. That is disgusting! It would make my hands dirty." lol. Although speaking of dirty hands, I only had to tell R once that I would like him to wash his hands before touching C and now before he touches him he runs to the bathroom to wash his hands first. Yay!
C is a very lucky boy. He's got a great big brother, someone who is going to watch out for him. Hopefully C realizes that sooner in life than later, and the two boys grow to be great friends.
C's Birth Story
What a different delivery C had compared to R. Same outcome, but Mommy is much happier. Another uneventful pregnancy, but felt harder at the end. Of course, the due date (Daddy's birthday) came and went without C arriving. There were signs that labor might be soon, but never really got going despite all the walking, spicy food, etc.
At 40 4/7 WGA, I decide I can't take it anymore. So, since my cervix was slowly changing over the last 1-2 weeks, my doc agreed to induce me. We did low-dose pitocin overnight for about 6 hours, which caused regular contractions every 2-3 minutes, but they were so light I slept through them. In the morning, I got a break to shower and eat and walk before starting the increasing-dose pitocin. I had an excellent nurse who is in midwife school and brought extra care. I was able to move around as much as I wanted, and was encouraged to use my labor ball. Over the first 4-5 hours I went from 2/90%/-3 to 5/100%/-2 - yay! Good active labor was going on with still a relatively small amount of pitocin. My water broke at this point, and the contractions were getting really intense, lasting 60-90 seconds every 2-3 minutes.
It was finally epidural time, which hurt more than I remembered from the last time. But it worked great! I could wiggle my toes, but could not lift my thighs or move my hips. At that point, C was coming down OP (sunny side up), so my nurse positioned me in bed to encourage him to turn the right way. Just over two hours after the epidural, I was complete, and C had almost rotated completely. A couple of pushes, and he was crowning. Big head of dark hair! It was awesome watching in the mirror. He almost got stuck getting his head out, but I was determined to get him out.
Pushing lasted 20-30 minutes, and C was here at 6:01 pm! He came straight to my chest, where he was verified a boy, had his fingers and toes counted, and covered in kisses. Unlike R, who just kinda squeaked at first, C gave a hearty cry. The placenta didn't want to come out either, so I was VERY glad to have the epidural at that point. C latched on without difficulty and ate hungrily. He was then weighed and measured, coming in at 8 pounds even and 21 1/4 " long. A bit bigger than his brother, but not surprising numbers.
It was a beautiful delivery, and I couldn't have been happier. Hubby did a GREAT job supporting me throughout, including helping me curl up and push. I felt great afterward and was so happy to have C in my arms finally. He definitely wasn't as happy about being out, and has been a big cuddle bug ever since. And that's his story. :)
At 40 4/7 WGA, I decide I can't take it anymore. So, since my cervix was slowly changing over the last 1-2 weeks, my doc agreed to induce me. We did low-dose pitocin overnight for about 6 hours, which caused regular contractions every 2-3 minutes, but they were so light I slept through them. In the morning, I got a break to shower and eat and walk before starting the increasing-dose pitocin. I had an excellent nurse who is in midwife school and brought extra care. I was able to move around as much as I wanted, and was encouraged to use my labor ball. Over the first 4-5 hours I went from 2/90%/-3 to 5/100%/-2 - yay! Good active labor was going on with still a relatively small amount of pitocin. My water broke at this point, and the contractions were getting really intense, lasting 60-90 seconds every 2-3 minutes.
It was finally epidural time, which hurt more than I remembered from the last time. But it worked great! I could wiggle my toes, but could not lift my thighs or move my hips. At that point, C was coming down OP (sunny side up), so my nurse positioned me in bed to encourage him to turn the right way. Just over two hours after the epidural, I was complete, and C had almost rotated completely. A couple of pushes, and he was crowning. Big head of dark hair! It was awesome watching in the mirror. He almost got stuck getting his head out, but I was determined to get him out.
Pushing lasted 20-30 minutes, and C was here at 6:01 pm! He came straight to my chest, where he was verified a boy, had his fingers and toes counted, and covered in kisses. Unlike R, who just kinda squeaked at first, C gave a hearty cry. The placenta didn't want to come out either, so I was VERY glad to have the epidural at that point. C latched on without difficulty and ate hungrily. He was then weighed and measured, coming in at 8 pounds even and 21 1/4 " long. A bit bigger than his brother, but not surprising numbers.
It was a beautiful delivery, and I couldn't have been happier. Hubby did a GREAT job supporting me throughout, including helping me curl up and push. I felt great afterward and was so happy to have C in my arms finally. He definitely wasn't as happy about being out, and has been a big cuddle bug ever since. And that's his story. :)
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