Somehow weeks are flying by...
I just discovered that I kept notes in a drafted post, things I wanted to blog about - over 4 weeks ago. *sigh*
Well there's nothing like a little game of catch up! Speaking of "catch up," - it segues nice for my first bullet point (bullet points are easiest, yes? keeps my train-wreck of a post otherwise organized!)
Item - so Benjamin was born at 7lb even, left the hospital at 6lb6oz. His weight gain at first, as an EBF (exclusive breast-fed) baby was rocky:
3 days PP (post-partum) and the day we discharged from hospital: 6lb6oz
5 days PP: 6lbs7.50z (+1.5 in 2 days)
13 days PP: 6lbs10.5oz (+3 in 8 days... not good)
And then it took off fabulously:
16 days PP: 6lbs14oz (+4 in 3 days)
23 days PP: 7lbs4oz (+6 in 7 days)
And then it stalled so horribly - his next appointment, two WEEKS LATER, he was only up 2 ounces...
We were just baaaarely above birthweight at this point, almost a month later... The pediatrician's first reaction was for me to give Ben a bottle of expressed breast milk and pump for that session to see if my supply was just crap. Well I got a great pump turnout - 4oz! - so it wasn't that. (I ultimately think it was/is something with his latch...)
So began my days as an EP'er (exclusive pumper - boy I'm going to have to update my glossary on the left menu bar...)
I've been EPing now for 6 weeks, during which baby boy has put on just 4oz shy of 3lbs!!
Because I've played the Supply Game for too long, freaking myself out that it was dwindling and stocking up on Fenugreek, Brewer's Yeast, Flax seed and oatmeal - all galactagogues, or milk-makers (I think I spelled that big word right...)
And then I get a great pump and I'm all, this milk cow ain't going outta business today!!
Not my actual freezer, but pretty damn close to what it looks like... 80+ ounces stashed!
Anyways - in the midst of all this, the ILs have been a royal pain-in-my-ass, especially FIL who fought with E when the weight gain first became an issue (like, a few hours after the doctor's appointment when we had already made the decision to switch to EPing so we knew how much milk Ben was getting.) and basically FIL yelled at us that we listened to some "dumb doctor" and had to wait over two weeks to be told he wasn't getting enough food, and as E put it - thought we were "starving him."
*Even now rehashing it weeks later, I get heated - so we'll just leave it at that... the IL's - they suck.
Item - at the same time as the EPing started, we brought Ben to Seaside Heights for the first time - to the Beach Boi! So he didn't actually dip his toes in the ocean yet... we'll see how the weather is for our last visit this season, Columbus Day weekend and the big Italian Festival!
Item - Had my first Girls Night a few weeks ago where Ben was left with Daddy Day Care.... (Girls Night was JUST what I needed, and we've scheduled our monthly get-togethers for the next few months, both with each other and with the husbands/DaddyDayCare - the next is this Saturday!!)
Well apparently Ben was having an awful fussy day, and "embarassed" E who was with his friends... and by "embarassed" I guess E meant that he was mortified that all his baby did was cry... Who would have thunk, a newborn crying, right?! (/end sarcasm)
But - he must have wore himself out (Ben, not E) because after we all got home and went to bed, he woke up and I looked at the clock and did a double take - he slept five hours that night!! (Of course, looking back it seems petty, when he averages 5 hour stretches every night now lol)
Item - the ILs would visit, and it's all about "he's still HUNGRY!" and "how many ounces are you feeding him NOW?" and "Well, when E was a baby he weight this much at 5 weeks, and this much at 9 weeks and THIS MUCH when he was Ben's age..."
The last one drove me BONKERS because 1 - he was formula fed and gained weight differently than a BF baby would. AND TWO - they overfed E's older sister SO MUCH as a baby that their pediatrician told them TO CUT BACK ON FEEDING HER - and god DAMN but doctors don't tell you to do THAT very often...
Anyways - the IL battle was exhausting, and one night I had a mini-melt down. I thankfully was due to pump so I could use that as an excuse to leave the room for 20 minutes and cry. Then of course I left pump pieces downstairs, so I had E run them up and he saw my meltdown and said he would speak to his family (FINALLY!) about leaving us the F*(# alone about what we decide to do with our child - how many ounces, when, where...
It's been going pretty well overall since then - except when E seemed to misinterpret my casual comment about looking into formula after a certain date that passed last week. And for a week his whole family thought I had switched to formula (I'm sure they all were like, FINALLY.) So one by one as I saw them all, they would ask "So how's the formula going?!" and I'd be all, whuck?! what formula?!
So when FIL mentioned it the other night, he asked incredulously, "He's still on just breast milk? Oh, just wait until he's on formula, he'll really start to pork up then..."
This - right after a 10 day stretch where he put on 1.25 POUNDS. First World Problems? No, First Baby Problems..
Item - Ben was breech -head up under my ribs in utero, which did a cute little number on the shape of his skull... Nothing drastic, nothing even tooooo noticeable to the naked eye - but enough that our pediatrician wanted us to see a neurologist to make sure Ben's skull plates hadn't prematurely fused (some big medical term I couldn't even begin to spell). Because if that was the case, his brain would run out of room to grow, so he'd need surgery (JUST FUN.)
Well we went and saw a neuro at NY Presbyterian (Columbia) and Ben's head is all fine and dandy... (Except for his big ears... but we love him anyway =)
Item - E went to Austin for a week on business, and I survived! Night feedings, day feedings, poop-splosions and shit-fits... Momma ruled the roost! (It was also during this week that Ben and I shlepped into NYC all alone for the neuro appt - I really nailed that one! Got there over an hour early... woops...)
Item - my maternity leave is officially over, and I've worked out a fabulous schedule with the owner and administrator where I work from home Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday and go into the office on Tuesdays and Wed/Thurs evening. So I basically have E's cousin babysit Ben on Tuesdays, and the rest either E or I am home.
I will eventually probably look into a nanny/mother's helper for the days I'm working from home - especially as Ben becomes even more alert during his awake times...
Item - Ben turned two months old (ahem two weeks ago...) and I can't believe how fast this third month is going either...
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He's starting to "converse" with us, and has been socially smiling (ESPECIALLY when he sees Mommy or Daddy peek over the crib-side in the morning!) for the last few weeks.
Item - so going forward, hopefully I can get at least weekly posts going - I do sit, quite bored, for 20 minutes at a time during the night listening to the whoosh-whoosh of the electric breast pump, I should be able to jot at least a few things into a post!
THERE. I think that's it... oh there were other things like being in my BFF's wedding, and Ben's first baby-sitting experience (with SIL and it was excellent) and his first overnight baby-sitting experience (with MIL - not so great...) - ok one last item...
ITEM = so MIL stayed at our house the night of BFF's wedding (we got a hotel room - and 6 hours of drunken sleep is even WORSE than 4 hr stretches of sober sleep...)
I left her 2 pages of written notes (mostly about his feeding and bottle prep - she was going to MICROWAVE the breast milk if I hadn't instructed her otherwise!)
Just a background tidbit - the most frequently he gets hungry is 2.5 hours...
So with that said, we called the morning after at 9:30 : he's getting a bottle, ok great - we'll be heading home soon.
We walk in at 11:15 -he's eating another bottle.. E tells me I stopped in my tracks when I saw that...
Seconds later, MIL sits him up to burp - he does this awful choking/wet sound, and throws up all over...
The Not-so-Great babysitting experience with Grandma... *sigh*
So our third wedding anniversary was yesterday, and we're taking a date night this Friday to celebrate. Grandma is watching Ben... And E had the balls to suggest that we leave Ben there for the night so we can really enjoy our anniversary... Aside from the fact that I still have to wake up to pump, the other thing I really want to do during an anniversary celebration is worry about MIL cramming bottles down Ben's throat when he makes the slightest peep.... ( /end sarcasm.)
Grandma! NOT ANOTHER BOTTLE!! I'm gonna hurl!
Ok, this has gone on long enough - did I mention I'm at work and supposed to be working for the last 1.5 hours I've spent writing this??
Til next week!!
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