It's weird to do weekend updates. The only real difference between the weekday and weekend is that Eric is home too.
Friday night we decided to go out to dinner at Outback. I fed Grace at 5:30 p.m., which should have had her satisfied until around 8 or 8:30 p.m. We got to Outback at 7:00 p.m. and were told we had a 20 to 25 minute wait. Grace was sleeping peacefully in her carseat. The wait ended up being 50 minutes (maybe because we choose non-smoking rather than first available). Grace woke up right as we were being led to our seats, so I ended up holding her bottle with one hand and eating with the other, occasionally removing her from her carseat to be burped. It would have been fine if we got in when they told us, but oh well. It still didn't stress me out that much. The key to going places with the baby is practice. After that, we picked up a couple movies and when we got home watched Garden State. It was ok. I probably wouldn't see it again, but I've seen worse movies. Grace went to bed around 11:00 p.m.
Eric had to work in the morning, but he came home around noon. I then left to go to get my eyebrows waxed and hair done. My appt. wasn't until 1:15, so I stopped at Kohls and picked up a couple of clothing items in my new post-partum size. It was sad to move up a size, but at least I'll be more comfortable when I go back to work, until I lose the rest of this weight. I finished up my hair appt. at around 4:00 p.m. and went home. Grace was ready for a feeding, so we fed her and then decided to go to the mall. I had a Sears gift card, so I picked up a pair of jeans that fit and a couple more things for work. After that we just aimlessly wandered around the mall for a while. It was just nice to get out of the house. Grace got a bit fussy in the stroller, so I put her in the sling I remembered to bring with me. She settled right down and took a nice little nap. It was a nice workout for me too, walking around the mall for an hour or so with a 11 pound? weight strapped to me. We went home, got a pizza, and put Grace to bed at around 10:30 p.m.
Grace woke up at about 3:30 a.m. I got her back to bed just after 4:00 a.m. She started to fuss again around 6:30 a.m. Eric was downstairs on the couch, so I just brought her to bed with me. She fell back asleep and we slept until 8:00 a.m. when we had to get up and get ready for church. We went to church and when Grace started to fuss, I got up to take her out and change her diaper. One of the women from church took her from me and sent me back in to the service and she stayed out with her until church was over. After that we went home. Eric let me take a very nice afternoon nap and then he watched Grace when I went to the grocery store. Grace didn't nap much for her Dad, so she started getting really sleepy around 8:00 p.m. We watched The Terminal (great movie, by the way), but we paused it and I got her up for a bath and another bottle around 9:00 p.m. She was back asleep by 10:00, so we sent her to bed.
This morning, Grace woke up at 5:00 a.m. It was a mixed blessing. I love when she sleeps for 7 hours, but I wasn't planning on getting up until 6:00, so I was up early. After her bottle, I went ahead and showered and dried my hair. We're supposed to be practicing our morning routine for when I go back to work. I kept Grace up until about 7:00 a.m. and she was really sleepy. I put her back in her crib to sleep and headed to bed myself. That worked for about 20 minutes until she woke up again. I was tired, so rather than fight it, I brought her to bed with me. We both slept until about 10:00 this morning. So with a nice morning nap, I feel really good today.
Our routine when I go back to work will consist of Eric and I taking turns on the night shift. Then I'll get up at 6:00 a.m. to shower and get mostly ready (I won't get dressed until after I feed Grace). I'll wake Grace up at 6:30 for a bottle. Eric will get up at 7:00 a.m. I'll change Grace and have her and the diaper bag ready to leave with Eric at 7:30 a.m. Then I'll finish getting ready. We're practicing this week, so tonight is Eric's turn. Lucky for him, she's sleeping better. The overnight issue may not be a big deal for long. Babywise did say 7 to 9 weeks for overnight sleeping. We're at 7 weeks now and we've had 2 nights of 7 hour sleeps. She averages 5 to 6 hours most nights.
Ok, I need to do a load of laundry before the next bottle is due.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Doctor's Appointment - Postpartum
I had my postpartum checkup today. I took Grace with me and she was very well behaved. All the nurses and ladies in the front office oohed and aahed over her. Of course, because she's so darn cute. My weight was still disturbingly high (although neither or the nurse or doctor said anything about it). My blood pressure was fine. Dr. D did a bit of internal exam and said everything looked good and seems to have healed nicely.
She asked me if I wanted a prescription for birth control, which I accepted (I'm not quite ready for another one yet). I'll get to start the pill again whenever my first period arrives. She asked about breastfeeding, Grace's cleft palate, and if we had resumed "relations." All which I answered honestly.
She said Grace looks like her Dad, which seems to be a common comment. That and that she has a ton of hair.
The appointment was nice. Dr. D was actually more chatty than usual, so it was quite pleasant. I won't see her again until I'm due for my annual in June. So it's official. I'm cleared to go back to work and officially recovered from childbirth.
She asked me if I wanted a prescription for birth control, which I accepted (I'm not quite ready for another one yet). I'll get to start the pill again whenever my first period arrives. She asked about breastfeeding, Grace's cleft palate, and if we had resumed "relations." All which I answered honestly.
She said Grace looks like her Dad, which seems to be a common comment. That and that she has a ton of hair.
The appointment was nice. Dr. D was actually more chatty than usual, so it was quite pleasant. I won't see her again until I'm due for my annual in June. So it's official. I'm cleared to go back to work and officially recovered from childbirth.
Changes
I updated some information on my site. First of all, I changed the title of my blog from "My Journey To Motherhood" to "My Journey Through Motherhood." I figured, I'm a Mom now, so the journey to get here is over.
I also changed my profile picture to include the whole family. I am also in the process of downloading over 100 pictures we've taken of Grace into my Yahoo Photo account, link on the right.
On another note, the diet hasn't been going that great this week, but I'm not giving up. I've entered into a little friendly competition with my friends, so I have a little motivation to stay on track. I plan to try to update diet info on my other blog My Journey to Fitness, although I need to update all my stats, etc, since I haven't posted on it since 1 week before I found out I was pregnant.
I also changed my profile picture to include the whole family. I am also in the process of downloading over 100 pictures we've taken of Grace into my Yahoo Photo account, link on the right.
On another note, the diet hasn't been going that great this week, but I'm not giving up. I've entered into a little friendly competition with my friends, so I have a little motivation to stay on track. I plan to try to update diet info on my other blog My Journey to Fitness, although I need to update all my stats, etc, since I haven't posted on it since 1 week before I found out I was pregnant.
Monday, January 24, 2005
All Night?
Last night I put Grace in her crib at 10:30 p.m. (she actually fell asleep a bit before that, but moving her too soon could cause her to wake up). She woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. Does that count as sleeping through the night? Technically, it probably does. It's 7 hours and I suppose some people get up at 5:30 a.m. I'd like her to get one more hour in there, but if this becomes a regular thing, I'll be one happy Momma. You just can't understand the difference between sleeping for 4 hours, up for 2 and then 3 more hours and sleeping 7 hours in a row. She's just 6 weeks old. If this is a result of Babywise, I definately recommend it. We'll see if she keeps this up. If so, going back to work in 2 weeks may not be so bad.
I know I feel pretty good today!
I know I feel pretty good today!
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Dieting
Tomorrow I am going to start a diet. I'm actually pretty excited about it. I figure it's about time to get rid of the rest of this baby weight. I think the timing is pretty good. We have finished breastfeeding (or my version of it, i.e. pump and bottle feed), so I don't have to worry about what I'm eating affecting my supply or anything. I haven't had my checkup with the doctor yet, but I'll see her Thursday. Grace is officially 6 weeks old, so I think it's safe to resume exercising, etc.
Last week I planned out all of my meals and snacks for this week and a basic exercise schedule. Today I went and bought all my healthy food. I'm basically going to do the Body For Life (BFL) diet. I did it before we started trying to get pregnant and got into the best shape of my life (although all that hard work is gone now). The diet part should be fairly easy. I know how to do it and back when I did it before and was really motivated, I really stuck to it. The exercise part is the hard part. I have no idea how I will fit going to the gym into my schedule, especially when I go back to work. For now, I'm going to try to exercise at home. Eric bought me some Pilates videos for Christmas that I will do 3 days a week. He also bought me some weights and an exercise ball. I'm going to try to do some arm work with the weights and some other stuff with the ball the other 3 days. We'll see how it goes!
Anyway, here are my basic goals. I still have 10 pounds of baby weight to lose (I gained 2 back after we cut back on breastfeeding). I'd like to lose that by my birthday (March 1). I think if I lose at least 5, most of my clothes will fit again. Right now I can get things buttoned but my belly and love handles overflow. It's really not pretty. I still look about 4 months pregnant. If I lose 15, I could be really satisfied. Twenty pounds would get me into most of the clothes I bought during my first BFL success. Twenty-five would put me back where I was at my peak. Boy do I miss those arms and shoulders too, but I know I won't get those back until I can get serious at the gym. I'm talking an hour a day, six days a week.
Wish me luck! We'll see if I can lose those 25 pounds before it's time to start on baby #2!
Speaking of baby #1, we had another awesome night of sleep last night. Grace slept from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. until we woke her to get ready for church at 8:00 a.m. I think this Babywise thing is starting to work. We'll see if we get an all night sleep in the 7 to 9 week mark like the book says. That's only another 1 to 3 weeks. That would be a great go back to work present.
Last week I planned out all of my meals and snacks for this week and a basic exercise schedule. Today I went and bought all my healthy food. I'm basically going to do the Body For Life (BFL) diet. I did it before we started trying to get pregnant and got into the best shape of my life (although all that hard work is gone now). The diet part should be fairly easy. I know how to do it and back when I did it before and was really motivated, I really stuck to it. The exercise part is the hard part. I have no idea how I will fit going to the gym into my schedule, especially when I go back to work. For now, I'm going to try to exercise at home. Eric bought me some Pilates videos for Christmas that I will do 3 days a week. He also bought me some weights and an exercise ball. I'm going to try to do some arm work with the weights and some other stuff with the ball the other 3 days. We'll see how it goes!
Anyway, here are my basic goals. I still have 10 pounds of baby weight to lose (I gained 2 back after we cut back on breastfeeding). I'd like to lose that by my birthday (March 1). I think if I lose at least 5, most of my clothes will fit again. Right now I can get things buttoned but my belly and love handles overflow. It's really not pretty. I still look about 4 months pregnant. If I lose 15, I could be really satisfied. Twenty pounds would get me into most of the clothes I bought during my first BFL success. Twenty-five would put me back where I was at my peak. Boy do I miss those arms and shoulders too, but I know I won't get those back until I can get serious at the gym. I'm talking an hour a day, six days a week.
Wish me luck! We'll see if I can lose those 25 pounds before it's time to start on baby #2!
Speaking of baby #1, we had another awesome night of sleep last night. Grace slept from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. until we woke her to get ready for church at 8:00 a.m. I think this Babywise thing is starting to work. We'll see if we get an all night sleep in the 7 to 9 week mark like the book says. That's only another 1 to 3 weeks. That would be a great go back to work present.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Smile?
I think I may have seen the first "real" smile today. I've been getting sneak previews for the past week or so when she's drifting off to sleep or just finishing off a bottle, but today she was awake and looking at me and the corners of her mouth turned up. I was so excited I almost cried. Then I tried to kiss her little face off, but unfortunately, that did not result in more smiles. She looked a little annoyed.
On another note about our schedule. Yesterday I threw it out the window and we didn't have a great night. We couldn't get her to bed until 1:00 a.m. Today, we're back on and things seem to be going good. She's learning to fall asleep by herself. Her first nap only had about 15 minutes of crying before she fell asleep. The only downside is she doesn't seem to sleep well when she cries herself to sleep. She keeps waking up and fussing and then drifting back off. Baby steps. Well, this nap is over, so I need to go wake her for her bottle.
On another note about our schedule. Yesterday I threw it out the window and we didn't have a great night. We couldn't get her to bed until 1:00 a.m. Today, we're back on and things seem to be going good. She's learning to fall asleep by herself. Her first nap only had about 15 minutes of crying before she fell asleep. The only downside is she doesn't seem to sleep well when she cries herself to sleep. She keeps waking up and fussing and then drifting back off. Baby steps. Well, this nap is over, so I need to go wake her for her bottle.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Funny Stories and Pictures
I have a couple of funny stories that I didn't want to get lost in my memory banks forever, so I thought I'd capture them here.
Story #1. Sometime last week Grace was playing on her playmat in the living room.
She was happy as could be watching the animals, etc. I went into the kitchen to get dinner started. All of the sudden, Grace was screaming at the top of her lungs. I immediately ran to see what was wrong. She had made a fist and grabbed a handful of her hair and was pulling it as hard as she could. I helped her let go and then she stopped crying and went back to being happy. It was so cute. Someone was pulling her hair and it made her mad. She just couldn't figure out it was her!
Story #2. Again last week, I was in the kitchen and heard the dog upstairs. It's never a good sign when you hear him upstairs. I called for him and after a brief pause to stop whatever he was doing he came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. As soon as I saw him I cracked up. I almost dropped the baby I was laughing so hard. He must have been playing in the dirty clothes on the floor in the bedroom and some how he put on my bra. I swear this is what he looked like when he walked into the room.
And finally, some more pictures, just because they are cute.
The family ready to watch the Colts game on Sunday.
And just because she's so darn cute.
Well, she's awake and ready for a bottle, so that's all for now.
Story #1. Sometime last week Grace was playing on her playmat in the living room.
She was happy as could be watching the animals, etc. I went into the kitchen to get dinner started. All of the sudden, Grace was screaming at the top of her lungs. I immediately ran to see what was wrong. She had made a fist and grabbed a handful of her hair and was pulling it as hard as she could. I helped her let go and then she stopped crying and went back to being happy. It was so cute. Someone was pulling her hair and it made her mad. She just couldn't figure out it was her!
Story #2. Again last week, I was in the kitchen and heard the dog upstairs. It's never a good sign when you hear him upstairs. I called for him and after a brief pause to stop whatever he was doing he came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. As soon as I saw him I cracked up. I almost dropped the baby I was laughing so hard. He must have been playing in the dirty clothes on the floor in the bedroom and some how he put on my bra. I swear this is what he looked like when he walked into the room.
And finally, some more pictures, just because they are cute.
The family ready to watch the Colts game on Sunday.
And just because she's so darn cute.
Well, she's awake and ready for a bottle, so that's all for now.
Oh What A Night
The rest of yesterday went pretty well. We went to the grocery store after Grace's 5:00 p.m. bottle. She was so good. She was awake in her carseat while we shopped, but just looked around and didn't cry. She fell asleep when we got in line to check out, but it was "naptime" anyway, so I was fine with that. When we got home there was still about 20 minutes of "naptime" left, so I put her in her crib. She cried for those last 20 minutes, but then we went to get her and give her another bottle. After that bottle, we gave her a bath and let her hang out with Mom and Dad and had a little tummy time. She really likes being on her tummy. We gave her the final evening bottle at about 9:20 p.m. She snacked and dozed for an hour and then we put her to bed (already asleep) at 10:15 p.m. I got to bed before 11:00, so that was good.
She slept until 4:00 a.m. which was wonderful. That gave me 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Grace was sort of awake, though, so we had a tough time going back to bed. Finally, at 5:45 a.m. I decided to put her in her crib awake (although she was drowsy). I figured we planned on starting Babywise Day 2 at 6:30 a.m., so I would just let her cry those last 45 minutes. So, I left the CD player with lullabies on and put her down. When I went into the bedroom and turned on the monitor, there was no crying! It stayed that way too. She went to sleep on her own! Well, since the baby was sleeping and I was tired, we didn't get up at 6:30 to start our day. I just let her sleep and we got to sleep until 8:45 a.m.! It was heaven.
So, I'm still trying to do the schedule during the day, but I just haven't started at the right time yet. Do you blame me? It was either a 45 minute nap and waking the baby, or sleep for 3 hours and let her wake on her own. I would like a schedule, but right now sleep is still more important to me. Well, we've still got 15 more minutes of awake time and it looks like Grace is starting to fall asleep, so I better go. We'll see if she can put herself to sleep in her crib for this naptime.
She slept until 4:00 a.m. which was wonderful. That gave me 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Grace was sort of awake, though, so we had a tough time going back to bed. Finally, at 5:45 a.m. I decided to put her in her crib awake (although she was drowsy). I figured we planned on starting Babywise Day 2 at 6:30 a.m., so I would just let her cry those last 45 minutes. So, I left the CD player with lullabies on and put her down. When I went into the bedroom and turned on the monitor, there was no crying! It stayed that way too. She went to sleep on her own! Well, since the baby was sleeping and I was tired, we didn't get up at 6:30 to start our day. I just let her sleep and we got to sleep until 8:45 a.m.! It was heaven.
So, I'm still trying to do the schedule during the day, but I just haven't started at the right time yet. Do you blame me? It was either a 45 minute nap and waking the baby, or sleep for 3 hours and let her wake on her own. I would like a schedule, but right now sleep is still more important to me. Well, we've still got 15 more minutes of awake time and it looks like Grace is starting to fall asleep, so I better go. We'll see if she can put herself to sleep in her crib for this naptime.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Babywise - Day 1
We're doing ok on the Babywise schedule today. Not great, but we're trying.
First mistake was this morning. We're supposed to pick a time for the first feeding every day. Yesterday, I decided on 6:30 a.m. I thought that would be good for when I go back to work. I'll try to get up at 6:00 a.m. and shower, then get Grace up at 6:30 and feed her. Then I can change her clothes and get her diaper bag ready and have her ready to leave with Eric around 7:15 or 7:30 a.m. That will then give me time to finish getting ready and leave for work by 8:00 a.m. It's also close to when she's been waking up, so it sounded good. Anyway, last night was rough. Grace went to bed around 11:00 p.m. (so far so good). She got up at 3:00 a.m. (not too bad). However, maybe her naps from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. and 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. yesterday made her decide that it was time to stay up at 3 a.m. I got her back to bed at 5:50 a.m. When 6:30 a.m. rolled around, I just couldn't get up and get started. We slept until 8:15 a.m. and that was our first feeding today.
Next came our first "nap time." Three of the Babywise sleep rules are 1. Mom decides when naptime starts and 2. Mom decides when naptime ends. 3. Put baby to bed awake, so she can learn to go to sleep on her own. We tried naptime for an hour, but Grace didn't sleep. She cried the entire hour. I went in to check on her and pat her and let her know I was there every 10 minutes, but apparently my baby doesn't cry herself to sleep. After the hour, Mom decided naptime was over.
The feedings have been on schedule and going well, although the feeding after her first naptime made her want to sleep and we must have awake time after feeding before the next naptime. After her feeding, I put her in the carseat and went to McDonald's to get me some lunch. I came home and ate and she was awake the whole time. When I took her out of her carseat to hold her, she immediately fell asleep in my arms and since it was time for another nap, I just took her to her crib. She stayed asleep for 45 minutes and then woke up with a wet and poopy diaper. It was also about 3 hours since her last feeding, so we just stayed up and we did another feeding.
After that feeding, I put her in her bouncy seat for a few minutes and then went and got her swing. She liked the swing, but fairly quickly fell asleep in it. Again, it was "time" for a nap, so I just took her upstairs. She is currently napping now.
So, while we've been on track with times, I haven't put her in bed awake for 2 of her 3 "naptimes". Also, she's only slept for about 1 hour total today when she should be at about 3 1/2 to 4 hours by now. I'm hoping she'll get the hang of this sleep schedule in the next couple of days. I'm sleepy myself, and since she's not making any noises, I think I'll go try to catch a nap. We'll see how this sleeping thing goes at night. I may have to give in and rock her to sleep, because I can't stay up all night. I'll give it a try for an hour or so though. Wish me luck! I'll continue to update as we progress.
First mistake was this morning. We're supposed to pick a time for the first feeding every day. Yesterday, I decided on 6:30 a.m. I thought that would be good for when I go back to work. I'll try to get up at 6:00 a.m. and shower, then get Grace up at 6:30 and feed her. Then I can change her clothes and get her diaper bag ready and have her ready to leave with Eric around 7:15 or 7:30 a.m. That will then give me time to finish getting ready and leave for work by 8:00 a.m. It's also close to when she's been waking up, so it sounded good. Anyway, last night was rough. Grace went to bed around 11:00 p.m. (so far so good). She got up at 3:00 a.m. (not too bad). However, maybe her naps from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. and 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. yesterday made her decide that it was time to stay up at 3 a.m. I got her back to bed at 5:50 a.m. When 6:30 a.m. rolled around, I just couldn't get up and get started. We slept until 8:15 a.m. and that was our first feeding today.
Next came our first "nap time." Three of the Babywise sleep rules are 1. Mom decides when naptime starts and 2. Mom decides when naptime ends. 3. Put baby to bed awake, so she can learn to go to sleep on her own. We tried naptime for an hour, but Grace didn't sleep. She cried the entire hour. I went in to check on her and pat her and let her know I was there every 10 minutes, but apparently my baby doesn't cry herself to sleep. After the hour, Mom decided naptime was over.
The feedings have been on schedule and going well, although the feeding after her first naptime made her want to sleep and we must have awake time after feeding before the next naptime. After her feeding, I put her in the carseat and went to McDonald's to get me some lunch. I came home and ate and she was awake the whole time. When I took her out of her carseat to hold her, she immediately fell asleep in my arms and since it was time for another nap, I just took her to her crib. She stayed asleep for 45 minutes and then woke up with a wet and poopy diaper. It was also about 3 hours since her last feeding, so we just stayed up and we did another feeding.
After that feeding, I put her in her bouncy seat for a few minutes and then went and got her swing. She liked the swing, but fairly quickly fell asleep in it. Again, it was "time" for a nap, so I just took her upstairs. She is currently napping now.
So, while we've been on track with times, I haven't put her in bed awake for 2 of her 3 "naptimes". Also, she's only slept for about 1 hour total today when she should be at about 3 1/2 to 4 hours by now. I'm hoping she'll get the hang of this sleep schedule in the next couple of days. I'm sleepy myself, and since she's not making any noises, I think I'll go try to catch a nap. We'll see how this sleeping thing goes at night. I may have to give in and rock her to sleep, because I can't stay up all night. I'll give it a try for an hour or so though. Wish me luck! I'll continue to update as we progress.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Update
I wish I had more time to blog, because I feel like I'm missing alot, but there just isn't enough time in the day.
Things are going really well. I can't imagine that I will be back at work in just 3 weeks. Now I see why people don't want to go. Once you get some kind of routine down, it isn't so bad. I even feel fortunate that Grace just gets up once at night although it's usually for at least an hour or two. Ok, let me get to the point.
Weaning
This is going really well from both of our prospectives. At first Grace seemed to spit up more on the formula when we were using the premixed kind that they gave us at the hospital, but once we switched to the powder that we mix with water she did much better. It's not as thick as the pre-mixed and is closer to breast-milk consistency. I've been replacing a breastmilk bottle with a formula bottle every 4 days, so we're going slow. I figure I have enough breastmilk frozen to last until the end of the month with this schedule. I was still making too much milk to take my pump back last Thursday. It would have been too painful. Luckily, they do weekly rentals too, so I think I can take it back this week. I really cut back on pumping last week and this weekend. I shortened my time at the pump and am only pumping when I get engorged and really uncomfortable. I actually didn't pump at all yesterday, but then needed to this morning. I'm pretty sure I'll be in good shape by Thursday.
Scheduling
A friend suggested a book called "Babywise" that dealt with how to get your baby to sleep through the night. I picked it up this weekend and finished reading it today. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, as there are some pretty rigid principles regarding feeding and sleeping, but after reading it I'm going to give it a try. Basically, it uses a combination of demand feeding, but also a time schedule to regulate baby's patterns and help with sleep. We're actually pretty close on the feeding schedule already, so I don't think that part will be difficult. The harder part is the wake/sleep part. They have you put the baby to bed and naps while awake so they can put themselves to sleep and not rely on you. Also they have stricter nap and waketime schedules. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can get Grace on this schedule. According to them, 85-90% of babies following this program sleep through the night (7-8 hours) between 7 and 9 weeks. That sounds really nice to me.
GWO
This weekend was our quarterly GWO at my house. It was so good to see my friends although I felt a little bad that this trip wasn't full of plans. However, we usually have lots of plans and end up not doing them, so maybe this was better. Erica drove over on Friday afternoon. Danialle flew in Friday evening. Heather drove over Saturday morning and Samara hooked up with us Saturday afternoon. Friday night Erica, Eric and I went to Steak & Shake for dinner before Eric went to pick up Danialle. Other than that we just hung out at home and played with the baby. She went to bed at 9:30 p.m. She was up again at 1:30 a.m. and Danialle fed her while we chatted and watched TV until 3:15 a.m. Then Grace slept until about 7:30 a.m. Saturday we took Grace with us for the whole day. We had brunch at First Watch and then went to Babies R Us and the mall. Grace was an angel. She slept a good portion of the time and only fussed a little. Saturday evening we came home and dropped Grace off to spend the evening with Eric and us girls went to dinner at Champps. It was great to just visit and talk and laugh. I think we all needed it. When we got home we were all kind of pooped so we headed to bed around 11:00 p.m. Eric had agreed to do the nighttime duties. I was so excited at the prospect of a whole night's sleep. She got up at 3:45 a.m. and Eric got up with her. However, at 5:20 a.m. he decided he needed my help and I took over. I got her back to sleep by 6:00 a.m., but then she still wanted to get up at 7:30. We got up and layed on the couch until 8:30 and then she was up for the morning. Sunday was a lazy day at home. We sat around and talked. I took a nap around noon. Then in the early afternoon we went to pick up some fuel for my Smoresmaker and pick up some BW3's to eat while watching the football game. We did watch the game which had an outcome no one was happy about. After that we played dominos and later had smores and ordered a pizza. We again hit the hay around 11:00 a.m. Grace was again up at 3:45 a.m. and then we had to get up at 6:30 a.m this morning to take Danialle to the airport. It was nice having other people around to take the baby sometimes and of course to see all my girlfriends. Three more months and we'll do it again. I'm thinking this time I'll see if I can leave the baby at home for the whole weekend. I may need to discuss that with Eric.
Ok, well Grace is sleeping on me and it's almost 9:00 p.m. I don't know if I should wake her for a bath or see if I can put her to bed. Tomorrow we're starting the Babywise schedule and then these naps will be much more structured. None of this sleeping all evening and then staying up until midnight.
Things are going really well. I can't imagine that I will be back at work in just 3 weeks. Now I see why people don't want to go. Once you get some kind of routine down, it isn't so bad. I even feel fortunate that Grace just gets up once at night although it's usually for at least an hour or two. Ok, let me get to the point.
Weaning
This is going really well from both of our prospectives. At first Grace seemed to spit up more on the formula when we were using the premixed kind that they gave us at the hospital, but once we switched to the powder that we mix with water she did much better. It's not as thick as the pre-mixed and is closer to breast-milk consistency. I've been replacing a breastmilk bottle with a formula bottle every 4 days, so we're going slow. I figure I have enough breastmilk frozen to last until the end of the month with this schedule. I was still making too much milk to take my pump back last Thursday. It would have been too painful. Luckily, they do weekly rentals too, so I think I can take it back this week. I really cut back on pumping last week and this weekend. I shortened my time at the pump and am only pumping when I get engorged and really uncomfortable. I actually didn't pump at all yesterday, but then needed to this morning. I'm pretty sure I'll be in good shape by Thursday.
Scheduling
A friend suggested a book called "Babywise" that dealt with how to get your baby to sleep through the night. I picked it up this weekend and finished reading it today. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, as there are some pretty rigid principles regarding feeding and sleeping, but after reading it I'm going to give it a try. Basically, it uses a combination of demand feeding, but also a time schedule to regulate baby's patterns and help with sleep. We're actually pretty close on the feeding schedule already, so I don't think that part will be difficult. The harder part is the wake/sleep part. They have you put the baby to bed and naps while awake so they can put themselves to sleep and not rely on you. Also they have stricter nap and waketime schedules. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can get Grace on this schedule. According to them, 85-90% of babies following this program sleep through the night (7-8 hours) between 7 and 9 weeks. That sounds really nice to me.
GWO
This weekend was our quarterly GWO at my house. It was so good to see my friends although I felt a little bad that this trip wasn't full of plans. However, we usually have lots of plans and end up not doing them, so maybe this was better. Erica drove over on Friday afternoon. Danialle flew in Friday evening. Heather drove over Saturday morning and Samara hooked up with us Saturday afternoon. Friday night Erica, Eric and I went to Steak & Shake for dinner before Eric went to pick up Danialle. Other than that we just hung out at home and played with the baby. She went to bed at 9:30 p.m. She was up again at 1:30 a.m. and Danialle fed her while we chatted and watched TV until 3:15 a.m. Then Grace slept until about 7:30 a.m. Saturday we took Grace with us for the whole day. We had brunch at First Watch and then went to Babies R Us and the mall. Grace was an angel. She slept a good portion of the time and only fussed a little. Saturday evening we came home and dropped Grace off to spend the evening with Eric and us girls went to dinner at Champps. It was great to just visit and talk and laugh. I think we all needed it. When we got home we were all kind of pooped so we headed to bed around 11:00 p.m. Eric had agreed to do the nighttime duties. I was so excited at the prospect of a whole night's sleep. She got up at 3:45 a.m. and Eric got up with her. However, at 5:20 a.m. he decided he needed my help and I took over. I got her back to sleep by 6:00 a.m., but then she still wanted to get up at 7:30. We got up and layed on the couch until 8:30 and then she was up for the morning. Sunday was a lazy day at home. We sat around and talked. I took a nap around noon. Then in the early afternoon we went to pick up some fuel for my Smoresmaker and pick up some BW3's to eat while watching the football game. We did watch the game which had an outcome no one was happy about. After that we played dominos and later had smores and ordered a pizza. We again hit the hay around 11:00 a.m. Grace was again up at 3:45 a.m. and then we had to get up at 6:30 a.m this morning to take Danialle to the airport. It was nice having other people around to take the baby sometimes and of course to see all my girlfriends. Three more months and we'll do it again. I'm thinking this time I'll see if I can leave the baby at home for the whole weekend. I may need to discuss that with Eric.
Ok, well Grace is sleeping on me and it's almost 9:00 p.m. I don't know if I should wake her for a bath or see if I can put her to bed. Tomorrow we're starting the Babywise schedule and then these naps will be much more structured. None of this sleeping all evening and then staying up until midnight.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Children's Hospital
I owe an update on our visit to the Cleft Palate Clinic at Children's Hospital on Tuesday. It went very well and I'm very impressed by how this team will work together. We met with a the Director of the Clinic who is a plastic surgeon. He told us they will do the surgery when she's about a year old and he wants us to come back in September and then we will schedule surgery in November or December. Then we met with a Nurse Practioner who weighed, measured, and checked her out. Everyone we met with was so impressed with how will she eats and is growing. We discussed her special bottles and she gave us a number on how to get more. After that a Genetics Counselor came in to talk to us. She checked out Grace head to toe and to see if she had any other issues to go along with the cleft. She also asked Eric and I a ton of questions about our family background and any other problems within our parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. After all the info, she told us that the Cleft Palate is a multi-factor birth defect that can be caused by both genetic factors and environmental. Our chance of having a second child with a cleft is higher than most because of Grace, but is still only about 3%. Next we spoke to a Speech Therapist. Since Grace isn't speaking right now there isn't much she will do, but we may need to work with a therapist after surgery when she begins talking, so we can be sure that she speaks correctly. The speech therapist also discusses feeding problems, but since Grace eats and gains weight like a champ, there wasn't much to discuss. Next came a dentist. He checked out Grace's mouth and we were pleased to find that all of her dental structures are in place and look normal. Her cleft doesn't appear to affect any of the bone structure of her mouth, so we shouldn't need any major dental work or have any problems, unless something appears when her teeth start to come in. Lastly, we spoke to an ENT specialist (Ear, Nose, and Throat). His main concern was her ears and ear infections. Babies tend to get more ear infections than adults since the tube that drains fluid from behind the ear drum is more horizontal than it is in adults due to the shape of infants heads. There is a muscle that helps pull the tube down to drain fluid that connects in the center of the palate, so in babies with cleft palates, there is an even greater chance of poor drainage and resulting ear infections. He checked her ears and there is already some fluid build up. Unless she has a lot of ear infections before then, the plan will be to most likely have tubes put in her ears as a preventative measure at the same time as her cleft surgery. After the ENT, we made our appointment for September and went home. Overall diagnosis...the main feeding concern seems to be going well and they will take care of the rest of it in about a year.
Well, I have more to discuss regarding weaning and other things going on, but Grace seems to be waking up from her nap and I'm sure she'll be ready for her bottle.
Well, I have more to discuss regarding weaning and other things going on, but Grace seems to be waking up from her nap and I'm sure she'll be ready for her bottle.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Big Girl
Just a quick update.
My baby girl is getting so big! She weighed in at 10 pounds 7 ounces today. At least I know she's eating well. Everything else looked great at the doctor and we won't go back until her 2 month appointment where she gets her first set of immunizations.
The doctor wants us to take the weaning slowly. Tonight she's supposed to take formula at her before bed feeding and see how that goes for a couple of days and then we'll start substituting formula for some of the breast milk feedings. It may be a bit more difficult to dry my supply up. She didn't suggest stopping cold turkey. She wants me to slow my supply down, so I'm supposed to pump enough to stay comfortable, but not empty my breasts when I pump. I'm not sure that I can get things done by Thursday when the pump is due back, but we'll see. She suggested getting a manual pump, but I don't really want to spend the money for just this weaning process. It's only $20 or so, but I'm sure manual would take a whole lot more time, and for that, I'd almost rather pay another $45 for the electric pump and take my time. I may call my doctor and see if they have any suggestions. I really want to be completely done with all forms of pumping by Thursday. How bad can it really hurt?
The other good news for today? After we got back from the doctor, Grace layed down (in her crib) for a nap from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. I napped the whole time too and it was wonderful! She napped that long yesterday too, so I'm hoping we're developing a pattern. She went to bed last night around 9:00 p.m. and slept until 2:30 a.m. and then went back to sleep at 5:15 a.m. and slept until 7:45 a.m. and then we were up until after the doctors appointment. She's dozing again now, so I may see if I can get her up because I don't really want her sleeping all afternoon. I'd also like to see if we could move bedtime back until 10:00 or so and sleep until closer to 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. Supposedly formula takes longer to digest so she may sleep longer at night when we switch. We'll see how that goes tonight.
Ok, I'll try to update tomorrow after our meeting with the Cleft Palate doctors.
My baby girl is getting so big! She weighed in at 10 pounds 7 ounces today. At least I know she's eating well. Everything else looked great at the doctor and we won't go back until her 2 month appointment where she gets her first set of immunizations.
The doctor wants us to take the weaning slowly. Tonight she's supposed to take formula at her before bed feeding and see how that goes for a couple of days and then we'll start substituting formula for some of the breast milk feedings. It may be a bit more difficult to dry my supply up. She didn't suggest stopping cold turkey. She wants me to slow my supply down, so I'm supposed to pump enough to stay comfortable, but not empty my breasts when I pump. I'm not sure that I can get things done by Thursday when the pump is due back, but we'll see. She suggested getting a manual pump, but I don't really want to spend the money for just this weaning process. It's only $20 or so, but I'm sure manual would take a whole lot more time, and for that, I'd almost rather pay another $45 for the electric pump and take my time. I may call my doctor and see if they have any suggestions. I really want to be completely done with all forms of pumping by Thursday. How bad can it really hurt?
The other good news for today? After we got back from the doctor, Grace layed down (in her crib) for a nap from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. I napped the whole time too and it was wonderful! She napped that long yesterday too, so I'm hoping we're developing a pattern. She went to bed last night around 9:00 p.m. and slept until 2:30 a.m. and then went back to sleep at 5:15 a.m. and slept until 7:45 a.m. and then we were up until after the doctors appointment. She's dozing again now, so I may see if I can get her up because I don't really want her sleeping all afternoon. I'd also like to see if we could move bedtime back until 10:00 or so and sleep until closer to 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. Supposedly formula takes longer to digest so she may sleep longer at night when we switch. We'll see how that goes tonight.
Ok, I'll try to update tomorrow after our meeting with the Cleft Palate doctors.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
A Routine
Things are going ok here. I think we're starting to establish some sort of routine, although there are off days.
We had several good sleeping nights this week with sleeps of 5 hours or so, and then we also have had a couple of days of Grace refusing to go to bed until midnight or later and one day of getting up at 2:30 a.m. and staying up until 6:00 a.m. She's also decided the nap after the 7:00 a.m. feeding isn't necessary, although that's the one I miss the most.
Yesterday was tough. She only napped for about 2 hours total all day and then we tried to get her down for the night starting at 7:45 p.m. We thought we suceeded at 12:30 a.m., but didn't really until 1:30 a.m. Then she was up at 5:00 a.m.
We've got a busy week scheduled this week. Tomorrow (Monday) we have a doctor's appointment with the pediatrician. Tuesday we are meeting with the Cleft Palate team at Children's Hospital for our inital consult. Friday I have a dentist appointment and a lady from the church is coming to watch Grace for me. My Girls Weekend is also this weekend and my best friends will be coming in on Friday evening for the weekend. I'm hoping this means I'll get to leave the house and do some socializing. I think it will be easier with all the extra hands. Hopefully, the girls don't mind helping out with the baby (i.e. watching her while I shower, giving her a bottle, etc.) rather than just holding her while she sleeps. The breast pump is also due back this week unless I pay for another month, so we'll also be weaning this week. I have a great supply of frozen milk, but I am going to have to dry up this week. I'm hoping it isn't too painful. I'm a little sad about it, but hopefully we'll have a better experience with breastfeeding for the next baby.
On another note, I'm back into my pre-maternity clothes. Things are still a bit tight and I'm not crazy about the flab on my belly (or the residual stretch marks), but I have officially packed away the maternity clothes. I would be happy to get them out to lend to Erica, however, whenever she needs them! I still have 8 pounds to lose (to get to pre-pregnancy), but I haven't began dieting or exercising yet, so I'm pretty sure I can get that off once I can change the diet after breastfeeding is over and exercise after the doctor clears me.
I think I'm getting over the post-partum depression too. I only cried twice this week and now when I look at Grace I get that gooey mommy-love feeling. She just couldn't be any cuter and is really developing a personality. I even laugh when she cries sometimes, she's just so funny. I'm hoping we'll get a smile this week. I've seen a few when she's sleeping, so I know we're getting close. I can't wait until she smiles at me and means it.
I'm sure there is much more to discuss, but I just never have time to write when it comes up. I'll try to update after Tuesday's appointment. Then we should have a timeline on Grace's surgery and know a little more.
We had several good sleeping nights this week with sleeps of 5 hours or so, and then we also have had a couple of days of Grace refusing to go to bed until midnight or later and one day of getting up at 2:30 a.m. and staying up until 6:00 a.m. She's also decided the nap after the 7:00 a.m. feeding isn't necessary, although that's the one I miss the most.
Yesterday was tough. She only napped for about 2 hours total all day and then we tried to get her down for the night starting at 7:45 p.m. We thought we suceeded at 12:30 a.m., but didn't really until 1:30 a.m. Then she was up at 5:00 a.m.
We've got a busy week scheduled this week. Tomorrow (Monday) we have a doctor's appointment with the pediatrician. Tuesday we are meeting with the Cleft Palate team at Children's Hospital for our inital consult. Friday I have a dentist appointment and a lady from the church is coming to watch Grace for me. My Girls Weekend is also this weekend and my best friends will be coming in on Friday evening for the weekend. I'm hoping this means I'll get to leave the house and do some socializing. I think it will be easier with all the extra hands. Hopefully, the girls don't mind helping out with the baby (i.e. watching her while I shower, giving her a bottle, etc.) rather than just holding her while she sleeps. The breast pump is also due back this week unless I pay for another month, so we'll also be weaning this week. I have a great supply of frozen milk, but I am going to have to dry up this week. I'm hoping it isn't too painful. I'm a little sad about it, but hopefully we'll have a better experience with breastfeeding for the next baby.
On another note, I'm back into my pre-maternity clothes. Things are still a bit tight and I'm not crazy about the flab on my belly (or the residual stretch marks), but I have officially packed away the maternity clothes. I would be happy to get them out to lend to Erica, however, whenever she needs them! I still have 8 pounds to lose (to get to pre-pregnancy), but I haven't began dieting or exercising yet, so I'm pretty sure I can get that off once I can change the diet after breastfeeding is over and exercise after the doctor clears me.
I think I'm getting over the post-partum depression too. I only cried twice this week and now when I look at Grace I get that gooey mommy-love feeling. She just couldn't be any cuter and is really developing a personality. I even laugh when she cries sometimes, she's just so funny. I'm hoping we'll get a smile this week. I've seen a few when she's sleeping, so I know we're getting close. I can't wait until she smiles at me and means it.
I'm sure there is much more to discuss, but I just never have time to write when it comes up. I'll try to update after Tuesday's appointment. Then we should have a timeline on Grace's surgery and know a little more.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Happy New Year!
So I'm a day late, but this is still my first post of 2005.
I think this is going to be a good year. I think things are getting better with the baby. We have good days and bad days, but we're getting into more of a routine and I am starting to know how to anticipate her needs and therefore she's crying less. We also figured out that alot of her crying may be from gas, so we're trying to burp her more frequently while feeding and if she's really irritable, I'm giving her some baby gas drops to try to help.
New Year's Eve was nice, we didn't have any plans going in, but then around 7:00 p.m. Eric invited our neighbors April and Martin over. They brought over a couple of movies. We watched Dodgeball and Anchorman. They were both really funny in that purely stupid way. Grace was somewhat fussy through the evening, but I just fed her and rocked her and kept her from being too disruptive. She had what should have been her last bottle before bedtime at around 9:15 p.m. and then she stayed awake, and stayed awake, and stayed awake. We tried getting her to go to bed just before 11:00 p.m., but she'd wake up every time. She woke up at 11:55 p.m. so I got her just in time to see the ball drop and get kisses from both Mom and Dad. April and Martin stuck around until about 1:30 a.m., but Grace was still awake, so it wasn't keeping me up. Eric fell asleep around 2:00 a.m. I was exhausted, as I've also been battling a cold for the last couple of days, but finally at 2:30 a.m. Grace fell asleep for a while. She woke up again at 5:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Eric got up around 9:30 a.m. and let me go back to bed until 12:30 p.m. So that was nice.
New Years Day, Eric gave me some time off as he watched Grace all morning and then let me go to Wal-Mart by myself to do a little shopping without Grace. I came home around 4:30 p.m. and we had a nice evening. Grace took a bath around 9:30 p.m. and was in bed for the night by 10:30 p.m. I made it to bed around 11:30 p.m. and she didn't wake up until 4:30 a.m. That was awesome! She had a quick bottle and I pumped and was back in bed by 6:00 a.m. She then slept until 9:00 a.m. and Eric got up with her and I slept until 10:30 a.m. Today we went to BW3s for lunch and Grace was an angel. She's been good all afternoon too. We even had some good quality awake time where we played on the floor together.
I thought I should make a few New Year's resolutions.
1. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight by March 1 (only 9 more pounds!)
2. Start up Body-For-Life diet once we quit "breastfeeding" (approximately 1 more week)
3. Exercise at least 3 days per week beginning Febuary 1 (or after 6 week postpartum doctors appointment). Use home equipment or videos Eric bought me or when possible go back to gym.
4. By end of year, lose an additional 10 pounds to put me close to my post-BFL weight (140 pounds - goal)
5. Be a good Mom!
6. Be a good Wife
7. Be a good Friend.
8. Get involved in a bible study at church.
That's all I can think of for now. In the immediate future, I want to write my thank you notes for the baby gifts we've received by the end of the week. I also need to get my announcements out, but I don't have them yet and am still waiting on a picture to send out with them (I think my parents have a really cute one they need to e-mail me).
Ok, I think I'm going to look for some dinner while the baby's asleep. Have a great 2005!
I think this is going to be a good year. I think things are getting better with the baby. We have good days and bad days, but we're getting into more of a routine and I am starting to know how to anticipate her needs and therefore she's crying less. We also figured out that alot of her crying may be from gas, so we're trying to burp her more frequently while feeding and if she's really irritable, I'm giving her some baby gas drops to try to help.
New Year's Eve was nice, we didn't have any plans going in, but then around 7:00 p.m. Eric invited our neighbors April and Martin over. They brought over a couple of movies. We watched Dodgeball and Anchorman. They were both really funny in that purely stupid way. Grace was somewhat fussy through the evening, but I just fed her and rocked her and kept her from being too disruptive. She had what should have been her last bottle before bedtime at around 9:15 p.m. and then she stayed awake, and stayed awake, and stayed awake. We tried getting her to go to bed just before 11:00 p.m., but she'd wake up every time. She woke up at 11:55 p.m. so I got her just in time to see the ball drop and get kisses from both Mom and Dad. April and Martin stuck around until about 1:30 a.m., but Grace was still awake, so it wasn't keeping me up. Eric fell asleep around 2:00 a.m. I was exhausted, as I've also been battling a cold for the last couple of days, but finally at 2:30 a.m. Grace fell asleep for a while. She woke up again at 5:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Eric got up around 9:30 a.m. and let me go back to bed until 12:30 p.m. So that was nice.
New Years Day, Eric gave me some time off as he watched Grace all morning and then let me go to Wal-Mart by myself to do a little shopping without Grace. I came home around 4:30 p.m. and we had a nice evening. Grace took a bath around 9:30 p.m. and was in bed for the night by 10:30 p.m. I made it to bed around 11:30 p.m. and she didn't wake up until 4:30 a.m. That was awesome! She had a quick bottle and I pumped and was back in bed by 6:00 a.m. She then slept until 9:00 a.m. and Eric got up with her and I slept until 10:30 a.m. Today we went to BW3s for lunch and Grace was an angel. She's been good all afternoon too. We even had some good quality awake time where we played on the floor together.
I thought I should make a few New Year's resolutions.
1. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight by March 1 (only 9 more pounds!)
2. Start up Body-For-Life diet once we quit "breastfeeding" (approximately 1 more week)
3. Exercise at least 3 days per week beginning Febuary 1 (or after 6 week postpartum doctors appointment). Use home equipment or videos Eric bought me or when possible go back to gym.
4. By end of year, lose an additional 10 pounds to put me close to my post-BFL weight (140 pounds - goal)
5. Be a good Mom!
6. Be a good Wife
7. Be a good Friend.
8. Get involved in a bible study at church.
That's all I can think of for now. In the immediate future, I want to write my thank you notes for the baby gifts we've received by the end of the week. I also need to get my announcements out, but I don't have them yet and am still waiting on a picture to send out with them (I think my parents have a really cute one they need to e-mail me).
Ok, I think I'm going to look for some dinner while the baby's asleep. Have a great 2005!
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