Friday, April 30, 2010

First Week – Second Half

Well, both Wednesday and Thursday were great! Smug-Hub and Smug-Baby are getting more and more comfortable with each other. I have even noticed a difference in how they interact in the evenings when he gets home from work. He is more confident in his ability to make her happy and do stuff with her. In the past, if he needed to do something he would pass her on to me while he did it. Last night, he put her in the baby carrier and went out and watered the plants in the front yard while I cleaned up the kitchen.

She is such a joy! She sleeps well and eats well and grins all the time. We are so lucky to have been blessed with her, she is wonderful!

Mom made a comment that she would never have thought that I would end up living on a dirt road and being an earth mama. I guess that she meant that while I was growing up and in my young adult hood I was a city girl and for me to live on a dirt road was a departure, however, what I wanted and still do want is the convenience of living in the city – which we do. Everything in the whole city is no more than 15 minutes away and we have a bank, grocery store, dry cleaner, hospital and several restaurants within 5 minutes from us. I am still a city girl!

As for the earth mama bit, I am going to have to ask her about that. Yes, I am baby wearing and using cloth diapers, but those things are on the rise and a lot of people do both those things. What in my personality made her think that I would be “mainstream” and use a stroller or disposables?

Food for thought I guess…

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

First Part of the Week - First Week Back to Work

Monday went about as perfect as it could have gone. I worked 4 hours, getting started on my quarterly project and catching up on e-mails. Smug-Hub said that Smug-Baby was mostly fine, however, she would not take the bottle or the pacifier, but he was able to shower and get to work to meet me on time. I spent a lovely day with her, nursing mostly and we both took a nice nap. I was also able to fold a load of laundry, do a load of diapers, clean the kitchen, and make dinner.

I also went to visit my mom and sister who had just gotten back into town from our cousin’s wedding in Florida and picked up a few things at the grocery store. I also packed Smug-Hub’s lunch and my breakfast for Tuesday! I felt very productive and like super-woman! I can have it all!!

Tuesday was no so good for Smug-Baby and Smug-Hub; she cried a lot and still would not take the bottle or pacifier. He called me a couple of times for ideas and now wants to try the Sleepy Time wrap and Ring Sling as she really likes them. The thing is, he wants to sit and hold her watch TV or drink coffee, but she wants to be up and moving. She has little baby ADHD and loses interest in everything quickly. While I can put her in the wrap and do housework, laundry, wash dishes, go for a walk, whatever – he has more issues. Also, I can hook her up to a boob and watch TV, again, not an option for him J

Tuesday after work, I took her right home and she nursed and slept and nursed more and slept more and I just took it easy. Napping and watching TV while holding her. I was less productive, but there wasn’t much that needed to be done, so it was fine. When Smug-Hub got home we ate dinner and then he practiced with the wrap while I cleaned up the kitchen. Then I jumped in the shower with her as she had done a lot of spitting up and was starting to smell a bit sour! Then I got her to fall asleep right on schedule at 9:30, but when I went to the bedroom and tried to lay her down next to me, rather than on top of me (the normal routine), she woke up. She was wide awake and wanted to play.

She stayed up until almost midnight, but while she was playing it was so cool. She was cooing and talking and grinning and looking at us and it was so sweet!

It was less cute this morning at 4:30 when the alarm went off and I ended up oversleeping a bit. I got up at 4:51, which left me 9 minutes to get ready for work (thank God I packed the food and pump and stuff the night before)! I did it and was still able to let her nurse the full 25 minutes. I changed her diaper and nursed her until she fell back asleep. I have not talked to Smug-Hub this morning, so I don’t know how long she was able (or him) to sleep, but I hope they had a better morning.

Today after work, I need to get with my mom and show her how to use the wrap, sling and car seat, since she is going to be my extra help on Friday’s. See, I may have to work later than 10am on Friday’s to process checks and Mom is going to help out. Other than that I need to wash diapers, and spend the day holding, squeezing and loving my sweet baby girl!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Catching Up!

Sorry that it has taken me so long to get this posted. It appears that having a baby not only limits your time, but also pulls into sharp focus what you really want to spend your free time doing :)

We spent two weeks in the NICU. She improved every day and we relished each little milestone until she was finally able to come home. I like many of the nurses and staff who treated her, but there were a couple bitches and I think that I may still like to strangle one in particular who was horrible, but overall my daughter was given good care and she is fully recovered.

She is 9 weeks old and doing great! She is sweet and happy and sleeps a lot! She had no issues establishing nursing once we got home from the hospital and she is very easily consoled on the rare occasions she gets upset.

I have spent the last 7 weeks (since we have been home) loving her and holding her and spending all my time with her. I think that since I had to wait a week after her birth before I was able to hold her, I wanted to make up for lost time!

She has not had a pacifier since we left the hospital and while I am not opposed to a pacifier when needed, like in the car maybe, I am really averse to using one when I am available to cater to her every need.

We have been cloth diapering and using cloth wipes too and I love it! I am such a convert now, it is great! The Bun Genius which are my favorite, are so absorbent, that I do not need to change her overnight. The only time that she has pooped so much as to leak up the back, up the front or out the legs has been while in a disposable, so I am totally sold on cloth, not to mention, have you seen the price on disposable diapers lately!?!?!?! I wash them about twice a week and since she is still totally on breast milk, the washing machine can handle the waste. Once she starts solids, we will have to dump the solids into the toilet, but there are these disposable inserts that are biodegradable, like toilet paper that you can place in the diaper and just flip the whole thing into the pot and be done with it. Also, there is a sprayer that you can get and hook up to the toilet to spray off the solids too, so it should be just as easy to keep it up for the long hall!

I am also a solid convert to baby wearing. I have a couple of wraps, a sleepy time wrap and a ring sling and I really like both. I love having her close and she normally falls asleep quickly and sleeps longer and I am able to go for a walk or hike, do stuff around the house and everything! It’s great!!

I am back to work now, just part time, but it will bring in a little income and since my husband and I can stagger our schedules, he will care for her in the mornings while I work and we will meet in the parking lot and exchange her and cars and then he will work while I take her home and spend the rest of my day with her. While there is a part of me that is happy to be back at work (I did work hard to get my education and I have been with the company for a long time), the larger part of me is pissed that our society does not allow a family to live on one income, or that our company fails to pay my husband what he is worth, or that they don’t offer work from home options.

I am grateful that we are able to work this way, which allows us to raise our daughter ourselves and still make a decent living, and we have worked hard to arrange our life so that we don’t have any unnecessary expenses (except for the cable and cutting that would not allow me to stay home or we would be without it right now!!). I am happy that Smug-Baby will have special time just with her dad and they will create their own relationship that most fathers don’t get with their kids. This is really about as perfect a situation as I could ask for, but it does require me to be away from my baby for about 4 ½ hours a day, 22 ½ hours a week and I really don’t like it. I love spending my day looking into her sweet face and holding her soft little body. I love when she wakes up and looks up at me and grinning her toothless grin.

I should be able to blog a bit more regularly now that I am back to work, and I am sure that I have a lot to say, but mostly, I am just happy to have her whole, home, healthy and happy!!