Wednesday, August 05, 2009

6 weeks

*Warning: Long Post Ahead!*

I didn't intend to be away from the blog for 4 weeks, but it seems that life has changed a great deal. Does anyone remember inverse proportions from school? It would seem that the amount of time that I now spend online is inversely proportional to the time I spend doing laundry.

(Note to self: get that wool soaker pad made for the bed. No one wants to wash their sheets every day.)

It's been a very busy 6 weeks.

To recap,

Week One: The MILKY WAY
My milk didn't really come in until early Friday morning. So, the kid went from a steady food delivery system on Sunday, to four, almost five days of crappy colostrum supplies for which he had to work HARD...

Getting ready to go home

:: Leaving the Hospital

When the public health nurse came to check him on Wednesday, (one day after he had been discharged from the hospital) he had gone from his birth weight 7lbs 13 oz, down to 6lbs 12oz. To be completely fair, his birth weight may have been "pumped up" a bit by the fact that I was on I.V. fluids for 12 hours before he was born. Regardless, his parental units were completely FREAKED OUT by the lack of milk and took him back to the hospital late that night, less than 36 hours after he had been discharged. The doctor assured us that everything would be fine and sent us home.

At his doctor's appointment the next morning, he weighed 6lbs 10oz (keep in mind - different scales). The doctor scheduled a check up for 5 days later and encouraged us to feed, feed, feed. When we got home, I called in the recruits: Lulubelle arrived with a breast pump and reassuring words of wisdom. JAK arrived too and shared her tales of breastfeeding.

Thursday night after he was born was our worst night. He wouldn't feed on one side, so I pumped what I could and we fed it to him with the dropper from his Vitamin D drops. I was in tears and Mr. Happy, meanwhile, was reading through every childcare book we had, trying to figure out what we could do. Let me tell you, at that point, there are no books that will help you. You need to remember that you have a magnet somewhere, in all the stuff they shoved at you in the hospital, with a breastfeeding help-line phone number. I didn't remember. Luckily, my milk was there with a vengeance the next time he woke up.

On Friday night, he was a different baby. He had lots to eat that day, and drank his fill at midnight that night. The next time we woke up, it was 4am and he was crying, "Feed me!" Mr. Happy and I almost had heart attacks after having slept for "so long" between feedings.

Thankfully, all has turned out well with the milk "delivery system" and at his next checkup, he had gained his birth weight back, plus an ounce. Phewf!

One night after the "milk truck" arrived, I got up around 2am to go to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and sent the following text to Angela (who lives on the opposite side of the country, and who I knew was working late):

"Milk came in. Look like tired, old stripper with wonky boob job."


Week Two: DAWNING REALIZATION

How do parents do this with more than one child? How do single parents do this? How do teenage moms do this without support?

Do I look fat in these shorts?

:: "Do I look fat in these shorts?"

Also: Pippin visits. Pippin the dog who is never any problem at all. Pippin the dog who knows the drill. Pippin the dog who loves hanging out with his Auntie and Uncle. Pippin spent the week gagging and threw up in the house and outside. We spent the week telling him to "Stop eating grass" and ended up taking him to the vet for a shot of anti-nausea medication.

The week ended with a visit from my BFF, Becca, her hubby and her wee girl. It was soooo great to see them. We hadn't seen their daughter since she was only a few weeks old. She's such a cutie!


Week Three: GETTING USED TO EACH OTHER

Getting in some knitting time

:: Naps and Knitting

I spent the beginning of this week with a fever and the chills. We spent the rest of the week hanging out at home and doing our best to behave. The fever, as it turns out, was most likely "Breast Milk Fever", perhaps as a result of a mild case of mastitis. Not fun. I don't recommend it.

Daddy kisses.

:: I kees you back, Dad.

Week four: ROAD TRIP!
It seemed like as good a time as any to hit the road, so we headed out with the Mogrunt in tow.

So much luggage

:: For such a little guy, he sure has a lot of luggage!

He had some very special people to meet:

Meeting Great Grammy

:: His Great-Grandmother, the mother and wife of the two men for whom the Mogrunt is named.

Uncle Steve

:: His Uncle Steve. The Uncle who is threatening us with "Junior Dragsters" and the like.

Love this girl

:: My BFF from high school, Leslie. Love her, miss her, wish she lived closer!


and he had some places to go...

First visit to Lake Utopia

:: Lake Utopia, where his mom spent her summers water-skiing.

grand lake and the massey-ferguson

:: and Grand Lake, where his dad spent his summers wind surfing.

Week Five: HOME

It was a great trip, but if the truth be told, it was great to get home. We've settled in to more of a routine, with bedtime baths being the highlight of the day.

sheepy towel

:: Bath time with his Lamby towel from Auntie Kerry.

Week Six: SMILES

I made it out to knitting a couple of times. I've even managed to DO some knitting. You know, when I'm not trying to make this little face smile:

Smiles!



I'll try to post some knitting content when I have a chance. HA! Hopefully it'll be before the Mogrunt's first birthday! This post actually took me three days to compose!

8 comments:

  1. breastfeeding is not for sissies. it can be VERY HARD work. congratulations on not giving up!
    love the photo at grand lake. you'll have to let me know if mogrunt has any more luck throwing all the rocks back in than my boys (and their dad and uncles!) did. but that is for the next few summers...

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  2. heh heh I liked that text message - shared it with everyone at work...
    Yah I don't like mastisissisiisis ( I can't spell) either......

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  3. Glad to see an update. Little cutie you've got there :) And I don't know how other people do it with two either. Twins? The very thought is nightmarish. And knitting content? What's that? ;)

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  4. Tiffanie9:30 a.m.

    Have been reading your blog for a while. since i saw henry on another site somewhere. have really enjoyed seeing your projects and usually check in once in a while. just wanted to say a few things. Oh my gosh what a cutie pie he is. you are very lucky. i know we dont see the crying and things behind scenes in these pics but he looks like a very good baby. when i see his pics they make me want to smile. no knitting needed right now just lots of baby pics and happy parents. sending lots of joyful wishes your way. tjhmullis at ravelry.

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  5. How cute is he?! What a great time you have had together so far.

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  6. Aw best post ever! It is so easy to forget how hard the first few weeks are...especially breastfeeding! I didn't get the dreaded M until our last week in Japan (Jake was 17 months old) and mine was a mild one day/night case too (thank goodness because it was HORRIBLE). Baby boy is super gorgeous - I think they come that way to we don't totally throw the towel in!! And don't worry about knitting content - baby, baby and more baby please! Ha!

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  7. And I would like to add what an absolutely charming and perfect date he was for Jeannine's wedding! Grown adults don't behave that well!!

    Keeses and smooochies,

    T.

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