OK, six weeks in, and I'm suffering from cabin fever. It's not that I can't take Kaia anywhere, it's that I don't really have anywhere to go. I mean, I can't spend any money and I don't really want to visit places crawling with flu bugs right now so... here I sit.
Today, I got up at 4 and went to bed a little after 5. I woke up again around 9 and went back to bed around 11. Got up at 12 and have been up since. Bottles washed? Check. Laundry put away? Check. Pumping on schedule? Until now, Check. I even cleaned out the guest room a little so that Cory could come home and take a nap in an ice cold, darkened room.
OH yeah, and I'm sick, so this is not a joyous household. Cory is sleep deprived, and when he gets sleep deprived, it just ain't good. Thus the Serenity Guest Room/Nap House.
The Little One has her days and nights mixed up I guess. One more day of weirdness and I'm calling the doctor. She was awake, give or take according to Daddy, 7.5 hours last night. He was letting me sleep (drug-induced, thank goodness for Bendaryl) since I'm sick. Anyway, she was wide awake through two feedings, til 5 a.m. She's also doing this weird thing now when we try to feed her where her tongue gets in the way of the nipple so feeding her has become a battle once again. If any of you moms have input on that, it would be great. She eventually gets it out of the way, so I don't think she's "tongue tied" but it's really tiring and frustrating. I'm afraid she is going to get too tired to eat again like she did in the beginning.
I had my six week post-partum check up yesterday. 17 pounds from my starting weight. Sigh. But everything is good and everything I'm feeling and experiencing is "normal" for this point of recovery. Including utter disgust about how I look right now. (I said "utter" not "udder" but either way...)
People keep asking me when I'm going back to work. I don't really want to. I don't really think I'd be good staying at home full-time, but I just really don't want to put her in daycare. :( Even though we know three different couples with new babies there, I still hate the thought of it. It's hard when neither one of us were daycare kids ourselves.
I feel horribly uninspired about this election. This could be, or already is, a monumental moment in history and I just am not into it. Last presidential election, we were all about it, even went to the democratic debates when the candidates were here. I haven't even logged on to Clinton or Obama's websites to see where they stand on things. I'm uneducated. Shame on me. Did anyone happen to see Dubyah dancing an idiot jig while he was waiting for McCain to show up at the white house?
I'm being long-winded because I'm bored. And don't want to go pump. OK, I'll stop now. Sorry C, no new pictures today.
6 comments:
I can send you some information about feeding since that's one of the things I work on as a speech-langauge pathologist. There are not very many children who are "tongue tied" to the point of not being able to feed appropriately. If she can get her tonge to her lips, then she's probably okay. You might try changing the feeding position and try to get her in a more upright position initially. It could also be the nipple on the bottle that is making it difficult for her. I longer nipple might help. What kind of bottles are using right now? I like Dr. Brown's and if she is colicy/gassy they are great for that. Just let me know about the information or anything else you want to know about speech and langauge development and if you are the slightest bit concerned you can always request a Sooner Start evaluation (early intervention services)or the OSU communication sciences and disorders clinic can probably do an evaluation, but I would start with Sooner Start because it is free.
Kelly
I'm hoping when I have a baby that one of us will be home until we are ready. I can see your fear.
As for the elections, it is all bull. Everyone is fake. You can't trust anyone. I know who I want but at this point, whoever is going to win is going to win and we will endure whatever "trouble" they cause like we have with dumbass.
I went nuts at home. I would take the kids almost anywhere just to get out of the house. I can't stand feeling trapped.
Is she nursing at all? Or is it all bottle? My friend Debbie (debra-price@utulsa.edu) is the guru on all of this. She is a wonderful person and shares your religious and political views- you would enjoy her. Her kids are grown but she is a great resource. She said that if Kaia is focused on eating only with a bottle nipple you should feed her with everything but a nipple- use your finger, etc. She said that sucking is an instinct and you need to stimulate that. I'm guessing you've been told/read this too. Don't know. All I know is that you are a super trooper.
The hardest thing with babies is getting their dinural rhythyms set (think I spelled that wrong but oh well). We have always tried to be as business as possible at night- we keep the lights turned off (yep, diaper changes with a night light) and don't coo or talk much. During the day we play. Lauren was a real night owl and it took several weeks to get her to understand day and night completely but it got better quickly. Rachel was awake from 7pm on but would drop off eventually. I think this is the "wake up" that you were anticipating. I think you just need to evaluate your interaction and know it will take time. But making night time business only is pretty important.
Wow, only 17 pounds off. Amazing. Considering how much stress you have had that is impressive. I understand the udderly part. I sort of woke up when Lauren was about 3 and realized I was only 5 pounds less than my delivery weight (egads!). Its been easier with #2 (back to pre-weight but still 10 pounds from pre-Lauren weight) but it takes time. Sleep deprivation and all the stress doesn't help.
As far as sending your girl to daycare, for me, sending the girls to someone else was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Ever. Lauren started daycare at 7 1/2 weeks and Rachel started at 9 weeks. I cried daily for the two weeks before they started. It broke my heart. But I knew that someone (possibly someone we know named Dave) was going to end up with his head bashed in or I was going to go off the deep end if I didn't go back to work (plus there was the whole thing about needing two incomes...). I think the real question is one of when. You will probably never be ready. Really. But when do you think she will be ready? With a preemie, I think you probably should wait a little longer, just to bolster her immune system. Could you go back half days initially? The first month Rachel was in daycare I was able to pick her up by 2:30 each day. The luxury of being a teacher is that I pick her up between 3:30 and 4:30 each day (the 4:30 days are days I go leave work as soon as possible and go to the gym before getting her).
I am a daycare product, by the way. Dave's mom stayed home. Our kids are well adjusted. But we make the hours we spend with them quality hours. I know plenty of people who stay at home with their kids but don't spend any real time with the kids. And I know plenty of well-adjusted daycare products. It is all about the parenting.
I have rambled enough- trying to avoid other work. Hang in there.
Melissa
I have a 14 day trial to World of Warcraft I can give you. That'll make the time fly by... of course the little one and hubby will get neglected along with all the chores that you've been keeping up with. Another side effect is you'll experience Kaia's problem with mixing day and night up.
Can I haz new pics today?
You guys should just set up a webcam and train it on Kaia, then charge a subcription to the website that hosts the feed. The money raked in from her aunt alone would pay for college.
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