Slave to a six week old

Yes it’s true! I’m a slave to a 6 week old! It’s 2:28 am and I’m standing in the dark in my living in my pj’s with my baby strapped into the baby bjorn which (as previously mentioned) is strapped to my body. I’m thumbing away on my apple itouch and swaying back and forth & side to side so she’ll go to sleep and in turn I’ll go to sleep. She got up at 12:45 am and my husband changed her and I fed her. She was fussy and didn’t seem ‘in the mood’ to sit still and take her bottle. After an hour she was still wide eyed and being held was apparently not on her agenda. I laid her in her crib and that lasted about ten minutes. Then I made another bottle and she didn’t want that. My husband finally got up and took her but… she didn’t want that. I thought maybe laying down beside me and not being held might do the trick. So, we got in bed. After ten seconds her eyes started to close! Yes!!! She was going to fall asleep and so was I! Wishful thinking! She quickly opened her eyes and started to cry. Maybe she has gas? So, out came the gripe water. And as a final solution… the back breaker! The baby bjorn was put on at an ungodly hour to ensure my daughter would go to sleep! Sure enough as I thumb away on the touch screen, she’s sleeping. Now I have to pee! Well, off I go to the bathroom baby et al! You can come too!

Here lies the next question-sit and fall asleep on the sofa or stay awake long enough to put her in her bassinet and crawl into bed, wait till round 4 where I tap my husband on the back and say ‘babe, your turn’!

Postpartum

First let me define post partum depression for you.  According to my go-to site (Wikipedia) Post partum depression is a form of clinical depression which can affect women  after childbirth.  It usually starts in the first few months, and may last up to several months or even a year. Symptoms include sadness, fatigue, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, reduced libido, crying episodes, anxiety, and irritability. It is sometimes assumed that postpartum depression is caused by a lack of vitamins, but studies tend to show that more likely causes are the significant changes in a woman’s hormones during pregnancy.

Now, a postpartum appointment happens 6 weeks after childbirth and according to babyweekly.com it is an appointment to make sure you are recovering well (physically and emotionally) after delivering your baby. Now, these are what is part of a standard postpartum checkup:  your doctor will perform a complete physical and ask you questions about your recovery and your baby; this is also a good time to ask your doctor any questions you have about your recovery, postpartum depression, breastfeeding,formula feeding or anything else that’s on your mind.  They will check your weight and blood pressure to make sure it is back to normal.  Next, your uterus and breasts will be checked to make sure they have returned to its normal size by six weeks postpartum, even though your stomach muscles may still feel slack. Your doctor will also feel your abdomen to check for tenderness and your breasts for lumps or abnormal nipple discharge. If you are breastfeeding, he or she will make sure you don’t have any clogged ducts or the beginnings of a breast infection (mastitis). Your doctor will check to be sure your perineum is healing if you had an episiotomy or tore during delivery. During the internal exam, he or she will also check to make sure any bruises, scratches, or tears to your cervix or vagina are healing properly. He or she will also feel your ovaries and check your vaginal muscle tone.  The topic of sex and contraception will be discussed as getting pregnant again is very easy after having your baby.  Your emotional health will be brought up – how you are feeling and adjusting,  how the baby is doing, and if you are experiencing any postpartum depression. This is a good time to bring up any questions or concerns you have that he or she hasn’t addressed.  As well, some lab tests may be done.  He or she may also perform a Pap smear at this visit.

Now, let me tell you what happened at my postpartum appointment! Nothing!!!

I went down to the hospital for my appointment, with my mother and daughter in tow!  I checked in and waited about 15 minutes before being called in.  Great right?  Pretty quick for a ObGyn!  So, I was weighed – I won’t divulge that info! My blood pressure was taken, back to my normal 100 over 70.  And the nurse asked how I was feeling, how I was adjusting, and about contraception.  Then, she gave me a hug and said “hope to see you soon!  Good luck with everything and take care.  The doctor will be in soon.”  Ok, we figured it was about 11:05am we should be out soon.  At 11:45am my daughter started to get very hungry.  I’m not breasfeeding and was hoping to be able to leave to go home and feed her but the nurse said I had to wait.  I then searched for hot water to warm up her bottle.  At 12:20pm (almost 2 hours in) my mom left to wait in the car to avoid getting a ticket.  At 12:25 – the doctor (as wonderful as she is) finally came in and asked me how I was feeling and adjusting and about contraception.  Then she gave me a hug and said “hope to see you soon!  Good luck with everything and take care. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you”.  Umm! Excuse me?! Where’s my internal?  Where’s my abdomen check? Where’s my breast check?  I sat here for 2 hours to have the same conversation twice – which only lasted 5 minutes – and to have my blood pressure checked?!?! I could have gone to the drugstore checked my blood pressure myself, called with the result and talked to you about how I was feeling!!! What a waste of time!

Thanks for letting me vent!

April Fool

I don’t have any pranks, tricks, or jokes – just couldn’t think of a good title!

I’m sitting at my computer quietly typing away as my baby sleeps in the baby bjorn strapped to my body.  I’m playing ocean sounds on youtube to keep her in a state of blissful sleep.  Apparently, babies go right into the REM cycle and for the first 25 minutes of sleep are easily woken.  As we have a dinner to get to in an hour, I’m trying to keep her sleeping for 30 minutes – this way she will have passed from the easily woken cycle (25 minutes) into the deep sleep cycle (another 25 minutes).  I have become a temporary slave to my daughter!

She really likes to be held, which is wonderful – but then I can’t do anything.  I know I shouldn’t always hold her but right now…as they say, you can’t spoil a newborn!  Having her in the baby bjorn allows her to ‘be held’/close to me, and keeps my hands free to get some “work” done (tidying up, emailing, ect) and then once she’s fast asleep I lie her down and then I lie down.  Next week, she’ll be 6 weeks and we’re going to start sleep training her.  I’m not quite sure what that is (the clear definition) but basically we’re going to put her down before she’s asleep and if she cries we’ll let her cry for 5 minutes or so, so she can start to develop the ability to self soothe.  Right now she sleeps in a bassinet in our room and we’ll keep it that way for a bit longer, but self soothing is important for her growth, development, and future ability to deal with life.  We won’t get into the psychology of child rearing here but there’s also the topic of delaying gratification.

Anyhoo, it is definitely hard hearing her cry when she’s upset as we can’t fix it.  But like any new parent, we run through the list – wet? hungry? bored? overstimulated? hot? cold? tired? overtired? gassy? Lately it’s been overtired.

I’m approaching my 30 minute mark so I’ll be going! Take care!

 

Twenty days old and growing!

Hello blogging world!   Let me first say, that we had a beautiful baby girl on February 24th weighing in at 6 pounds 7 ounces.  I had the epidural – and will definitely do it again!

Let me tell you about my adventure.  On February 22nd I went for my last ultrasound and they found that my amniotic fluid was low and they also saw a 6cm by 6cm mass outside my uterus near my liver.  So, my OBGYN said she wanted to induce on the 25th and they would deal with the mass after my delivery.  Because the mass was outside my uterus it posed no risk to the baby.  My husband and I were very excited!!! We were going to have a baby that week!  We didn’t have much time to make sure all our t’s were crossed and i’s dotted.  My official due date was for March 3rd (according to the doctor, March 1st according to me), so I was going to be a bit early and certainly wanted to be prepared! On the 23rd I got all my phone calls taken care of and errands done.  I finished and put away all the laundry and then stopped to have lunch.  About 30 minutes after eating, I felt very sick.  I started having excruciating pain in my abdomen that wasn’t stopping.  I knew it wasn’t labour because labour comes in waves.  I started throwing up and managed to call my husband at work and have him sent home.  My mom also called me while he was on his way but I was in agony and told her to call him – I just couldn’t concentrate on the pain and talking to her!  By the time my husband came home the pain had been going on for over an hour nonstop, and he & my mom wanted me to go to the hospital but I couldn’t walk because of the pain.  So…an ambulance took me down.  I’d never been in one before, and though it was a bit bumpy it was kind of cool!  Once we got to the hospital I was sent right up to labour and delivery where they proceeded to tell me I wasn’t in labour.  D’uh!  I told them  I knew that!  I had now been in constant excruciating pain for almost 3 hours!  By the 4th hour they gave me morphine – they said because I wasn’t in labour it was safe for me to take as it wouldn’t affect the baby.  By 10 pm, we were waiting to find out if I was going to have an ultrasound to see if the pain was associated with the mass.  I was comfortable as the morphine I had taken at 6pm was still working.  I told my husband and mom to go home and I would keep them posted.  Well,  at 11:30pm the pain came back with a vengeance but… it was coming in waves.  The nurse took a look at told me that I was 2 cm dilated and was in labour! Whoohoo!  She said I was feeling the pain because the morphine had worn off and did I was an epidural.  Yes please!

At 2am I texted my husband to tell him that we were going to have a baby that day (the 24th) and he came right back down (he wasn’t able to sleep anyway, as he was worried about me).  By 5:30 a.m. I was 7 cm and messaged my dad to tell him that we may have a baby by 9 a.m.  The doctor came in at 10 a.m. and noticed that the baby’s head was facing up and for a proper delivery babies heads need to face down.  So the doctor put her hand in and started to turn the baby’s head while I pushed!  An hour later it was time to start pushing her out and after 30 minutes out she came!  My husband was a great coach, my mom (who had arrived at 10:30 a.m.) watched the whole delivery, and because the hospital I was at is a teaching hospital I had 2 doctors, 2 nurses, and 2 interns in the small delivery room with me!  It was very busy!!!

They put the baby on my chest and then gave a quick bath and handed her to my husband while I tried to push out the placenta.  Well, after about 25 minutes I couldn’t push it out myself so I went off to the operating room where the doctor pulled with one hand and the nurse pushed down on stomach to ‘deliver’ it.  If you recall, I went into the hospital with agonizing abdominal pain so the nurse pushing felt like a jagged knife being driven into my stomach and tearing its way through.  It was awful!  After all that, I was placed in a recovery room where my dad, mom, and husband showed up with my beautiful daughter.  I sent my husband home to rest and I recovered.  On the 25th (Friday) I went and had an ultrasound and a CT scan to find this mass and see if it was causing my problems.  Well folks, the mass was gone!!!  No one knows what it was or where it went but it’s gone!  They figure that the pushing to get out the placenta could have broken down whatever it was.  We went home on the 26th and that is my story!

I feel like I’ve recovered and now we are learning about our daughter as she learns about us and herself.  It’s a real learning curve and it’s great to have the support of family, friends, and of course my husband!  I tell you, it’s weird to go from being an independent working woman to a stay at home mom with stay at home mom duties!  Now that I have a daughter I feel different, and am completely in love with my husband!  He’s changed too!  He feels the added sense of responsibility,  the love, the joy, and he races home just to see her!

 

Bottles, diapers, sleep training…what?!

So, it’s come to this.  Not only am I obsessed with my daughter but all I can think about is sleep!  At least I’m not alone!

My daughter is now 6 months – she’s my first!  She’s incredible.  The first couple of months I wasn’t sure at all what I was doing, but then the smiles  starting coming and then it just got better and better!  Now I can’t imagine going back to work…but I will be in January!  Ugh! I’ve been ‘keeping’ another blog which I started when I started knitting a few years ago.  When I got pregnant I slowly stopped knitting – hands hurt to much – and started writing about being pregnant and then about my daughter.  Well, I figured it was high time I started a new blog, along with the rest of the moms, to share with you the wonders of the biggest learning curve around – having a baby!

I’m posting some ‘old’ entries from my previous blog to bring this one up to ‘baby’ date and then we’ll just go on together.   Let’s see where my obsession takes me!