Wednesday, June 28, 2006

still here!

i've wanted to post but then things happen. things that are hungry and cry and then poop and then cry and then eat eat eat eat eat and then poop and then as soon as you put a new diaper on... more poop. don't believe me? look here! this is evie's trixie tracker site and it's awesome. we keep it up to the moment unless we are in our bedroom in the middle of the night, or out and about (we keep track though and adjust everything when we wake up/get home). so far it's been very helpful, can spot growth spurts or other trends that you might not realize as you are a parent of a newborn and to you it's all a blur of pooping and feeding and sleeping! some people will think we are anal, but if you are like me, you will think that this is the coolest thing ever. :) input!

and you thought this was a knitting blog! ha!

here's some stuff going through my head. i am not going to pretend that this is going to make sense to anyone but me, but here goes.

wow, this little sweater is adorable. (body = done! sleeves = started. hood to go...). i hope it's done by the 4th of july. i hope it still fits here because...

she has been going through a growth spurt for the past two-four days. all she has done for the past 36 hours is EAT AND EAT AND EAT (check the TT link above to see what i mean.)...

which means that for the past 36 hours i've been pretty much sitting around with at least one boob out. fun times. but we can't complain too much, she's not so bad at night. she has slept up to 5 and a half hours once! usually it's 3-4 hours and then we (usually) go back to sleep. i would say that i haven't been hugely sleep deprived at all. a little maybe, but i (please god don't strike me down or prove me wrong) thought it would be much worse.

and, i'm proud to say that i'm breastfeeding. it's going pretty well. some shaky days there in the hospital in the beginning before my milk came in (evie lost 9% of her birth weight, they don't like them to go under 7%, plus she was so little that it brought her down from 5lbs, 10 oz at birth, to 5lbs, 2.2oz...) and they supplemented her with formula a few times (which i was not happy about, but my poor baby was dehydrated!). once my milk came in i flooded the poor thing. the day they finally let me out of the hospital she had turned the corner and was at 5lbs, 2.9 oz, gaining not losing. yea! at her two week check up, they want them back at birth weight. she was 5lbs, 15 oz! yea for mommy milk! at least my body can do something, it seems to want to make up for the fact that poor evie had to come out 4 weeks early.

so, we eat and sleep and diaper and eat and sleep some more. my only complaint is that this adorable little booger doesn't like to sleep in her cosleeper (bassinet attached to our bed)... she passes out cold at the boobie, and the second i put her in her cosleeper, her little eyes are open and as alert as she has been in her whole freaking life. most nights the only way to keep her asleep is to holding her as we sleep. which means i don't move at all as i'm terrified that i'll smush her or roll over on her or worse. so 3-4 hours, of me lieing on my left side with my left arm curled around our little 6 pound booger. i sleep much better when she is in the cosleeper for this reason, but 90% of the time, she's in my arms... this also means that ron is usually downstairs on the couch. she makes so much noise when she's not sleeping that he can't sleep. and since he is back at work full time, he needs sleep. any suggestions as to how my baby can sleep while not being held, and i can actually sleep with my husband???

all that said, she's utterly adorable and we love her to pieces. i can't imagine her not being here. she has stolen our hearts. :) her little sounds, her adorable faces, her big wide eyes, her now chubby cheeks and her little yet big hands and feets. we love you evie!

big yawn!

watching tv with daddy

daddy you are so comfy!

talking with the mommy

and to imagine that we are supposed to be freaking out today, saying 'we aren't ready to have a baby tomorrow!'. and she's already been here for 25 days (26 tomorrow on her due date!). wow.

5 comments:

Knittymama said...

What a lovely girl! Way to go on the nursing. The beginning can be the toughest part, but looks like you made it through!

I hear you with the co-sleeper. I've yet to meet a baby that actually sleeps in one:-) Our guy is 3 months now and would not sleep in ours either (neither would our first boy). So he sleeps right by me with my arm around him. We both sleep great, and if he does wake up to nurse, I just nurse him lying down and we go back to sleep. I'd say just stick to what you're doing. It will begin to feel more natural and she'll eventually get less noisy so your hubby can get more sleep too :-)

If you're worrying about co-sleeping safely, check out these sites for some tips:
http://www.kellymom.com
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/t070600.asp

Also, Southwest Mpls La Leche League is an awesome group if you need local moms to talk to about any of this stuff.

It sounds to me like you're just following your instincts and doing a great job!! Before you know it, you guys will fall into a rhythm and it will all be second nature!

Oh, don't know if you read http://www.dogsstealyarn.com/ but she had a post today about the exact same thing (she just had a baby too)

Heidi said...

I know what you mean--esp the holding the baby all night. Thankfully we've gotten through that phase, but she still prefers to drift off at the boob and sleep as close to me as possible (we don't have a co-sleeper). Knittymama is right about things beginning to feel more natural after a while.

I'm in La Leche and I love it. Breastfeeding is the best!

And your pictures...so beautiful! She is adorable.

aija said...

So adorable! I really like the "trixie tracker" you linked to, I've never seen that :)

April said...

Congratulations! My son wouldn't sleep unless he was held. It was fine for a while, but he wouldn't nap without being held either, and eventually I needed a break. The Amby hammock was wonderful. There is someone who sells them in Edina - but is online. ambybaby.com I have no connections - but two friends have also purchased them and been very happy.

Kelly said...

What a beautiful girl. So sweet.