Thursday, April 22, 2010

A day in the life...

I have to give Stay-at-home Moms props. When they say being a mother is a full time job, they really aren't kidding! Here's a sample of what my morning has been like so far, starting with going to bed last night.

10:00 PM: Swaddle the baby, put him in the bassinet next to our bed.
10:05 PM: Baby won't sleep in bassinet. Bring him over next to me into our bed so I can get some sleep.
12:30 AM: Wake up. Take baby over to chair. Attempt to nurse. Baby won't wake up to eat. Go back to bed.
3:00 AM: Baby wakes up - TIME TO EAT. Change diaper, then go back to chair, nurse for 30 or 40 minutes.
4:00 AM: Try to put baby to sleep in bassinet.
4:15 AM: Baby finally falls to sleep in bassinet.
5:40 AM: Alarm goes off to wake Branden up. We talk briefly. Baby wakes up.
5:45 AM: Branden gets baby back to sleep in bassinet.
5:50 AM: Baby wakes up. I scoop him up and bring him to sleep next to me.
7:00 AM: Baby wakes up. TIME TO EAT! Put contacts in, go to bathroom, then feed baby.
7:35 AM: Hook baby up in bouncy seat so I can take a shower.
7:50 AM: Showered and dressed. Bring baby downstairs.
7:55 AM: Change diaper in baby's room.
7:57 AM: Baby poops in new diaper.
7:58 AM: Change diaper. In middle of diaper change, baby pees all over changing table and wall, and also manages to get diaper mess on his stomach.
8:00 AM: Haul naked, screaming baby into bathroom, holding him away from me so I don't get covered in pee. Put baby in bath chair, put bath chair in shower. Go get baby shampoo and towel.
8:01 AM: Give baby a bath.
8:05 AM: Rinse screaming baby off (he doesn't like the bath). Wrap him in towel and calm him down.
8:07 AM: Grab diaper, onesie, and portable changing pad and change/dress baby on the couch, since changing table is still covered in pee.
8:10 AM: Put baby in swing. Grab cleaning supplies and wipe down changing pad (and wall).
8:15 AM: Gather breast pump parts. Bring computer to table to watch TV on computer.
8:17 AM: Start pumping.
8:27 AM: Finish pumping. Clean supplies.
8:30 AM: Put waffles in toaster oven.
8:35 AM: Finally sit down to eat breakfast, after being awake nearly two hours.
9:00 AM: Write blog about crazy morning.

And now, of course, the baby is happily sleeping in the swing, and I'm exhausted, but too alert to go to sleep. So I'll publish this blog, and then finish watching my show. Maybe after that I can take a nap? We'll see...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Ben's First Month

I can't believe it's been almost a month since Ben was born...and I haven't blogged once since my announcement post on the 14th! I figured since we're approaching the one month mark, I should write a little about how the first month has been. Let's see how much I can remember!

On March 13th, when Ben was a mere 3 days old, we went to my Mom's house for our big friends and family Shower/Party extravaganza! Technically, I wasn't supposed to leave the house (or even be out of bed) according to my midwife's orders, but we had a bunch of family in town to meet Ben, not to mention all the friends who were planning on attending the shower. So off we went! Here's Ben, dressed and ready to go:



The party was so much fun (if a little exhausting), and we were blessed with so many great gifts. And I finally finished the thank you notes today!

The first week and a half of Ben's life was all about...doctor's appointments! We started off a 1-day appt with the pediatrician (who we love - so glad we made a good choice there). Branden took Ben to that one alone. On Friday, March 12th, our midwife stopped by our loft for a home visit. Monday the 15th, Ben had another routine pedi appt (his one-week visit). He was looking pretty yellow at that point, so they did a blood test to check his bilirubin levels. Turns out, they were very high, so they sent over some phototherapy equipment to help his body break down the bilirubin.

Tuesday the 16th, a follow-up appt at the pedi's office...then over to Baylor to get a blood test done to see if the phototherapy was working (it was). Here's Branden and Ben, waiting to see the doctor...


Wednesday, another pedi appointment and another blood test at Baylor - the results there were great, he was basically in the clear at that point! But of course we weren't done with appointments yet, as we had a 10-day appointment at the Birth Center to go to still (which was actually an 8-day follow-up). That was an easy one - they just took his weight, asked how we were doing, and then put his footprints up on the wall (and in our baby book). I need to remember to get a picture of that when I go back for my 6-week check up!



Things went much more smoothly after that week. It took Ben a while to get his days and nights sorted out, but we're doing pretty well with that now. We were also fighting with getting him to sleep in the bassinet - he just wouldn't do it, no matter what we tried. So for a few nights, we were doing whatever we could just to get him to sleep at night - including one night when I slept in the recliner with him on my chest. I finally had an epiphany when I saw how well he took to swaddling during his newborn photo session. We had been given a SwaddleMe wrap as a gift, but I hadn't thought to use it on him at night. That turned out to be the key to getting him to sleep anywhere other than in our arms or next to us! He just needed to feel like he was being held.

The rest of the month has been filled with great visitors, a few trips to my mom's house, and many walks around downtown and trips to the grocery store. Ben absolutely loves being in the Baby Bjorn carrier, and he loves it best with Daddy.


On the 27th, we took a trip to downtown Fort Worth to have dinner with some friends and Branden's parents, who were in town for a dog show. We rode the TRE - here's Mommy and Ben, enjoying the ride:

Branden and I are starting to get the hang of this parenting thing. I know that many, many more challenges await us, and there will always be something new for us to figure out, so I don't want to sound overconfident. I'm merely pleased that things are going much more smoothly than they did those first couple of weeks!

I'll try to be a better blogger and update more frequently. But with an infant around, I make no promises! :)