Everett's second bath turned into quite the experience! We prepped everything before heading to the bathroom, sure to take his towel, washcloth, bath wash, lotion, diaper, wipes, etc. And we heated the room before bringing him in and stripping him naked (it's January in Michigan - it's cold!). After stripping him to his diaper, we removed the diaper to expose him to air and quickly replaced it, as we've been warned that a geyser may start after exposure to air. After some time, when we were sure he wasn't going to pee, we removed the diaper completely and placed him in the tub. Not a minute later, out came a loud fart... he poo'd in the bath! We got him cleaned up from that and tried again. A few minutes later, the geyser game, spraying everywhere. Strike 2. We finished up his bath, swaddled him in a towel and took him to his changing table to get dressed. We'd picked out his best outfit for that day because we were actually leaving the house for once. We got the onsie over his head just in time for vomit, and I mean massive amounts of vomit, to spew from his mouth and nose, all over him, his shiny new outfit, and everything else within vicinity. Strike 3... we quit!
I was pretty nervous for his next bath after that complete disaster. Fortunately, all we wound up with during bathtime #3 was another pee geyser. I'll take it. :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Mommy Lesson #4: He Might Just Need to Fuss
Once again, I am so proud of my little man! Two nights ago, after one of his nighttime feedings, he went back down and started fussing. I lay there quiet next to him, running through all the things that could be making him fuss. He'd just eaten, so he wasn't hungry. I'd just changed him, so he wasn't wet. I knew he wasn't cold, since he was wearing what he always wears to sleep. And I'd kept him upright for 20 minutes after eating, so it wasn't his belly. So I just laid there and let him do his thing for a minute, thinking he might just need to blow off a little energy. Tough as it was for those few minutes, that's all it was. Within just a few minutes, he settled himself down and passed out. Next thing I knew, my nursing alarm went off 2 hours later. I awoke and realized my little champ had fallen asleep on his own despite the brief fussing, and slept straight through to the next feeding. Wahoo!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Emergence of the Routine!
Everett is making great strides and growing up right before our eyes. At 8 days old, he's begun taking the lead on setting his schedule. Until now, feedings have consisted of me waking him every 3 hours to eat. Tonight, however, I saw the start of his own routine taking over mine. Every time during the nighttime feeding hours, he awoke on his own somewhere between 2.5 and 2.75 hours, ready to nurse. It's exciting to watch him coming into his own, and I am so proud of him for doing so well forming his routine!
Mommy Lesson #3: The Clock is Secondary
This is one of those things that you read in books but have to learn for yourself. Everett has been on a very predictable schedule since birth - wake him every 3 hours to eat. It wasn't that we set it strictly that way, it was that I literally had to wake him up every 3 hours to nurse because he'd never wake up before. That said, hunger cues were never present. So, I thought naively, the 3 hour routine would just continue, and it'd always be as easy as that.
Enter, Everett awakes at only 1.5 hours after his last feeding, and he's appearing to be quite hungry. He's turning his head and opening his mouth wide, all the while fussy as can be. At first, I questioned whether or not he really could be hungry. He'd just eaten a little over an house before! "Surely he couldn't be hungry," I thought. We'd done everything perfectly by the book and he shouldn't be hungry yet. So, we tried other things. Nothing worked. Eventually, I caved, feeling defeated, and he nursed for a solid 14 minutes. "Great," I thought, "now his entire routing is going to be ruined. He's only going to want to eat for a few minutes the next time, and we're going to get into a habit of small snacks frequently instead of full meals every 3 hours."
Boy was I wrong (again). An hour and a half later, he took an entire meal, as though he'd never eaten at all in between feedings. And, as it turns out, babies have growth spurts where they become more hungry. Lesson learned: I need to rely first on my baby's hunger cues and leave the clock as my secondary focus. If he's hungry, he needs to eat!
(Side note: at 10 days old, he's gained almost an entire pound! He's 7 lbs and was born at 6 lbs 1 oz. My champ eater!!)
Enter, Everett awakes at only 1.5 hours after his last feeding, and he's appearing to be quite hungry. He's turning his head and opening his mouth wide, all the while fussy as can be. At first, I questioned whether or not he really could be hungry. He'd just eaten a little over an house before! "Surely he couldn't be hungry," I thought. We'd done everything perfectly by the book and he shouldn't be hungry yet. So, we tried other things. Nothing worked. Eventually, I caved, feeling defeated, and he nursed for a solid 14 minutes. "Great," I thought, "now his entire routing is going to be ruined. He's only going to want to eat for a few minutes the next time, and we're going to get into a habit of small snacks frequently instead of full meals every 3 hours."
Boy was I wrong (again). An hour and a half later, he took an entire meal, as though he'd never eaten at all in between feedings. And, as it turns out, babies have growth spurts where they become more hungry. Lesson learned: I need to rely first on my baby's hunger cues and leave the clock as my secondary focus. If he's hungry, he needs to eat!
(Side note: at 10 days old, he's gained almost an entire pound! He's 7 lbs and was born at 6 lbs 1 oz. My champ eater!!)
Mommy Lesson #2: Tucking It
No one one ever told me you were supposed to aim his "thing" down before diapering. (We don't yet have a name for his "thing," so until then we'll continue calling it that. :)) For all the new moms of little boys out there, let this be your warning. Without doing that, I guarantee you that his pee will travel up his diaper onto his belly and all over you. I was the victim on several occasions before I finally learned. Don't make my mistake. :)
Mommy Lesson #1: Smacking
After my milk came in, Ev and I had an amazing nursing session. I actually wrote "amazing!" on my nursing notes it was so incredible. It just went beautifully, and I was so proud of both of us. The next time feeding rolled around, I got a little cocky about my milk being in (and Everett being such a champ eater), so I let him do a lot of smacking in the process. I'd read this wasn't good, but I thought, "what's the problem? He's getting milk, it's not an issue." Boy, was I wrong. An hour or so later, the little guy had become inconsolable. We tried everything to get him to settle down, but he wailed at the top of his lungs for hours without fail. We'd never seen him like this. Our little guy hadn't so much as fussed to this point, so we were pretty much freaking out. There is an incredible helpless feeling that arises when your little one feels miserable and you can do nothing - and to know that you caused his pain. I figured out very quickly that my letting him go the entire nursing session smacking was the reason for his misery, and I can tell you we will never allow smacking again! My bad behavior will not cause him pain again!
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Birth Story
Armed with the knowledge about labor indicators from our birth class, I found myself Tuesday morning (1/18/11) with my bloody show. Typically, this means labor will begin in 48 hours, so we waited anxiously, trying everything to keep our minds off the coming event. It was only then that I truly realized this baby was real. Until my bloody show arrived, I somehow had kept this baby all hypothetical. Now the reality set in and we were nervous!!
That night, we went to bed with no real further indicators that labor would begin soon, other than that my body had been clearing itself out all day. At midnight, I woke up and was sleepless, though I specifically rememeber thinking labor wouldn't start for at least another day or so. But at 1:00am on the dot, I heard a pop and felt what I could only describe as a kick far too hard to be a baby, and I immediately awoke Kyle. I wasn't sure what had happened but I feared something was wrong with the baby.
Nervous that something wasn't right, I got up to use the bathroom and found that the pop I'd heard (and felt) had been my water. We called our doula to let her know we'd be needing her sometime in the next day. Then we called the midwife to get permission to labor at home (they often want you to come in after water breaks). I got the permission, and within 15 minutes, my contractions had started... they were timing at only 3 minutes apart. So much for having time to ease into this thing! We called our doula back and she was at our house by 2:00am.
I labored everwhere around the house - in the tub, on the toilet, in bed, on the ball, and finally wound up laying on the hardwood floor. At that point (about 6:00am) , our doula asked if I was ready to head to the hospital. I'd just been waiting to hear that question for hours, (that means she thinks it's almost over!) so we headed out the door.
We got to the hospital and I was dilated to an 8. An 8! YAY! Immediately they wheeled me back to a labor room, forgoing all other tests. By the time we got to the room, I had about 2 more contractions before it was time to push. I pushed in every position I could think of - on the squat bar, leaning over the back of the bed, and sitting up. After an hour and a half of pushing, little Everett Isaiah, 6 lbs 1 0z, entered our world. He was immediately put on my chest for skin to skin time. After about 40 minutes of uninterupted skin to skin, I attempted nursing for the first time. Everett latched on perfectly and nursed for 40 minutes straight.
Everything in our birth went exactly to plan. No drugs, no interventions, just pure, raw, natural birth. We feel so incredibly blessed that we were able to have the birth story that we planned, with a healthy, thriving child as a result.
That night, we went to bed with no real further indicators that labor would begin soon, other than that my body had been clearing itself out all day. At midnight, I woke up and was sleepless, though I specifically rememeber thinking labor wouldn't start for at least another day or so. But at 1:00am on the dot, I heard a pop and felt what I could only describe as a kick far too hard to be a baby, and I immediately awoke Kyle. I wasn't sure what had happened but I feared something was wrong with the baby.
Nervous that something wasn't right, I got up to use the bathroom and found that the pop I'd heard (and felt) had been my water. We called our doula to let her know we'd be needing her sometime in the next day. Then we called the midwife to get permission to labor at home (they often want you to come in after water breaks). I got the permission, and within 15 minutes, my contractions had started... they were timing at only 3 minutes apart. So much for having time to ease into this thing! We called our doula back and she was at our house by 2:00am.
I labored everwhere around the house - in the tub, on the toilet, in bed, on the ball, and finally wound up laying on the hardwood floor. At that point (about 6:00am) , our doula asked if I was ready to head to the hospital. I'd just been waiting to hear that question for hours, (that means she thinks it's almost over!) so we headed out the door.
We got to the hospital and I was dilated to an 8. An 8! YAY! Immediately they wheeled me back to a labor room, forgoing all other tests. By the time we got to the room, I had about 2 more contractions before it was time to push. I pushed in every position I could think of - on the squat bar, leaning over the back of the bed, and sitting up. After an hour and a half of pushing, little Everett Isaiah, 6 lbs 1 0z, entered our world. He was immediately put on my chest for skin to skin time. After about 40 minutes of uninterupted skin to skin, I attempted nursing for the first time. Everett latched on perfectly and nursed for 40 minutes straight.
Everything in our birth went exactly to plan. No drugs, no interventions, just pure, raw, natural birth. We feel so incredibly blessed that we were able to have the birth story that we planned, with a healthy, thriving child as a result.
The Pursuit of Natural
I'll be honest. When my sister was pregnant with her first child 2.5 years ago and said she wanted to go natural, I thought she was nuts. They make epidurals for a reason, after all. Why would you want to put yourself through unncessary pain? A few years later, after having seen several friends attend a natural birth class (and successfully have babies without medication), I was intrigued in at least learning about it. Why not? I researched everything else when it came to baby - strollers, car seats, bouncers - why not the manner in which my baby is introduced to this world?
So we took the plunge, into an 8 week natural birthing class. After night 1, we were pretty much sold. Learning about the risks of epidurals and induction and what they lead to in mom and baby convinced us we wanted to go the way of natural. The more we learned, the more we realized our bodies are designed for this, and we should trust our bodies with the miracle of birth.
Every woman has the capacity for this. Are there situations where epidurals and cesareans are medically necessary? Yes. But is there cause for 1 in 3 deliveries in this country to be by cesearean? Absolutely not. And I was excited to experience childbirth the way it was intended - naturally. The more I learned, the more I viewed childbirth as a woman's right of passage, and I didn't want to miss out on that. I wanted to be fully in tune with my body and my baby in such a sacred event.
So we took the plunge, into an 8 week natural birthing class. After night 1, we were pretty much sold. Learning about the risks of epidurals and induction and what they lead to in mom and baby convinced us we wanted to go the way of natural. The more we learned, the more we realized our bodies are designed for this, and we should trust our bodies with the miracle of birth.
Every woman has the capacity for this. Are there situations where epidurals and cesareans are medically necessary? Yes. But is there cause for 1 in 3 deliveries in this country to be by cesearean? Absolutely not. And I was excited to experience childbirth the way it was intended - naturally. The more I learned, the more I viewed childbirth as a woman's right of passage, and I didn't want to miss out on that. I wanted to be fully in tune with my body and my baby in such a sacred event.
Back to the Blog
Well, now we've got a little one, and I've got a lot to say! After over a year of silence (or maybe 2?!), we're back and blogging about our new adventures with our little bundle of joy. I'm sure we'll have lots of funny stories and learning experiences to post about. I've already been pooped on and/or peed on about 10 different times (in his 10 days of life), so we're off to a good start! Check back here for photos and stories of life with our little guy. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)