It's a good day today. John is off the night shift as of this morning and was off today and doesn't go back until Saturday morning. It's nice to have him home all day to help out so I can get things done around the house and just to feel like I have some time off, even if I don't get around to going anywhere. I love my Boo Bear more than anything in the world, but feeling like a single parent 7 days a week is tough. I know it'll get better once she gets into a more concrete routine, and it's not like it's even that bad, but it's not really all that predictable which makes attempting to exercise at home, hard. So, with John being off for 3 days and then going on the day shift, it'll give me some time to feel normal.
A friend of mine from back home is coming up on Friday for the weekend so I'm REALLY looking forward to that. I haven't really had any time to do anything with friends without Eden and I think I'm ready to do that. Granted, it's not like it's going to be anything crazy since she doesn't get in until 1:30 and John has to work Saturday morning, so we can't go out at night, but to be able to get a pedicure, massage, do whatever we want without me worrying about if Eden's going to cry, or if she's too uncomfortable in the car seat, holding her if she does start to hate the car seat, etc. This has been 7 weeks in the making and I'm going to take full advantage of it. I've always just run out and run back, never gone more than an hour. Not this weekend! I think I'll feel a little guilty...but I think I'll get over it.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Bad Timing
Eden has been SO good for the past week or so at sleeping for 5 hour stretches at night which I am beyond thankful for...except last night, and now tonight and I blame my husband. I gotta blame someone don't I? He's put her in her swing close to 9pm before he leaves for work, which always puts her to sleep. Last night, I stopped the swing at 10 and then she woke up at 10:10, I fed her a bottle and then put her down for bed at midnight. Low and behold, she was up at 3:45am and then didn't go back down until 5am, and then was up again at 7am. I was less than thrilled.
Tonight, once again, he put her in her swing at 8:45 because she was falling asleep and he was getting ready to leave for work. I told him to just put her up in her bed and he says, "She probably won't sleep that long." It's now almost midnight. So now I struggle with the decision of whether or not to stop the swing and let her wake up, feed and change her and then put her back down to bed, or to just let her swing until she wakes up at God only knows what time while I just camp out on the couch until she wakes up on her own and then feed her and put her in bed. My fear is that she'll sleep until 4a.m or something crazy like that, which would be great, but is it good for her to sleep in there for that long?? I don't want her to get into the habit of sleeping in there for long periods in the evenings/nights and then not want to sleep in her bed.
Should this happen again tomorrow....I'm making him put her in her bed! I wish I could have gone to bed right when she feel asleep in the swing, but let's face it...there's crap that needs to be cleaned up from dinner and just things I want to do (making a phone call to a friend or just watching tv) to go to bed that early. Plus I'm afraid I'd be awake come 3 or 4a.m. which would make me less than happy.
I'm happy my Boo has a her long stretches of sleep figured out for nights...but not so happy these past two nights have just been bad timing.
Tonight, once again, he put her in her swing at 8:45 because she was falling asleep and he was getting ready to leave for work. I told him to just put her up in her bed and he says, "She probably won't sleep that long." It's now almost midnight. So now I struggle with the decision of whether or not to stop the swing and let her wake up, feed and change her and then put her back down to bed, or to just let her swing until she wakes up at God only knows what time while I just camp out on the couch until she wakes up on her own and then feed her and put her in bed. My fear is that she'll sleep until 4a.m or something crazy like that, which would be great, but is it good for her to sleep in there for that long?? I don't want her to get into the habit of sleeping in there for long periods in the evenings/nights and then not want to sleep in her bed.
Should this happen again tomorrow....I'm making him put her in her bed! I wish I could have gone to bed right when she feel asleep in the swing, but let's face it...there's crap that needs to be cleaned up from dinner and just things I want to do (making a phone call to a friend or just watching tv) to go to bed that early. Plus I'm afraid I'd be awake come 3 or 4a.m. which would make me less than happy.
I'm happy my Boo has a her long stretches of sleep figured out for nights...but not so happy these past two nights have just been bad timing.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Time Management
Good Lord, learning the art of time management as a parent sucks. It's even harder when you have a little one who isn't on an overly predictable schedule. There are so many times where I want to take a nap when she does, but those times always seem to come when it's time to eat a meal and I'm always going to choose to eat versus sleep. I did manage to workout for about a half hour today while she napped, and was hoping to be able to get showered. I did manage the shower, however it lasted a whole 5 minutes or less because she was waking up and I didn't want her screaming (yes, I am that mom that rarely lets her kid cry unless it's necessary like when I have to make a bottle, use the bathroom, etc.) So now I have disgusting sweaty hair which I figure I can hopefully just wash later when she sleeps again, maybe I should do that now instead of posting!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
One Month Old
My baby Boo Bear (this is what I've called her since day one. Not sure why, but that's just what came out when I saw her) is one month old today!! I don't know where the past month has gone, but it has flown. Things get a little easier every day despite the struggles we have from time to time, but that's to be expected.
We celebrated her one month birthday today by her taking a big nap late this afternoon (hoping this doesn't mess with her sleeping well tonight), me making some pina colada cupcakes, and putting a headband bow in her hair. We had a cute festive cloth diaper on her this morning before we dressed her for the day, but then when she pooped and daddy changed her, it got on some of the outside so that was the end of that festive diaper.
Here's some pictures of Eden on her one month birthday!
We celebrated her one month birthday today by her taking a big nap late this afternoon (hoping this doesn't mess with her sleeping well tonight), me making some pina colada cupcakes, and putting a headband bow in her hair. We had a cute festive cloth diaper on her this morning before we dressed her for the day, but then when she pooped and daddy changed her, it got on some of the outside so that was the end of that festive diaper.
Here's some pictures of Eden on her one month birthday!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Success!
It appears that the Gerber formula is a success for us!! I was starting to get worried because it had been almost 3 days since Eden has pooped and if she didn't go today, I was going to call yet again. But when E got up at 8 this morning, I changed her diaper and was happy to see just a little bit of poop. I go to change her and sure enough, I should have waited longer because as I'm changing her, she starts pooping more! I couldn't even be mad though because it was regular baby poop...no hard turds, no diarrhea, plan old stinky formula baby poop. I wish her poops would still be more breast milk poops, but at this point, as long as she poops at least once a day, I'll be happy. Looks like we'll be able to combo feed until I decide I've had enough, or my boobs say enough and stop producing. Either way, I'm happy with how things are and I'll be okay with whatever happens from here on out. Yay!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Finding What Works
We've been struggling lately here at the Nakel house with trying to find out what works in terms of supplementing formula along with breastfeeding. There are days where I simply can't nurse Eden ALL day long. It's exhausting and we've had days where she wants to nurse for almost an hour, takes a half hour off, and then wants to nurse again. My boobs simply can't handle that. Plus, in the event that I have a chance to get out of the house by myself, I hate being a slave to the clock of, "Oh I have to hurry up and get back to nurse E." Plus, when people visit, I'm not overly comfortable nursing her in front of people so it's a pain in the ass to go upstairs to feed her...not to mention, no one else can feed her so that's no help to me.
We tried using the little bottles of formula the hospital gave us when we brought her home. It was the Similac Advance ready made and we found out that it gave her horrible diarrhea. All those giant blow outs she was having was caused by that and it broke my heart to know that it was my fault by giving her that. I called the pediatrician and talked to the phone nurse and she suggested I try the Similac Almentium and left a can for us to pick up and try. So we tried that for a few days, but I started to notice that she was SO fussy. John kept saying that it was because a book we have on "Your Baby Week by Week" says something about babies getting fussy at this age, but I was convinced it was the formula. She was never fussing at night when I nurse her, just during the day/evening hours when she'd get a bottle or two.
Well, Mary was giving her a breast milk bottle today and the 2oz. it had just wasn't enough (she usually takes between 3-4 depending on the time of day she gets a bottle) so I made her another 2oz. bottle of the formula to finish her off. Sure as shit, as she was burping her from that, she was instantly fussy. That was all I needed to seal the deal that it was the formula making her fussy, so I made yet another call the the pediatrician phone nurse. This time, they suggested Gerber and said it was supposed to be better for babies who are also breastfed and said they'd leave me a can and cooler pack at the front to pick up.
I'm hoping that this will work for us because it's killing me to know I'm putting my child through hell, just to alleviate some of my inconvenience and stress. I have the utmost respect for the women who can exclusively breastfeed because I just can't do it all the time. I love nursing at night because it's easier for me. No heating up any bottles or messing with anything else, and since I'm the only person who ever gets up with her when it's just John and I, why not. But if this formula doesn't work, I don't know what I'll do!
We tried using the little bottles of formula the hospital gave us when we brought her home. It was the Similac Advance ready made and we found out that it gave her horrible diarrhea. All those giant blow outs she was having was caused by that and it broke my heart to know that it was my fault by giving her that. I called the pediatrician and talked to the phone nurse and she suggested I try the Similac Almentium and left a can for us to pick up and try. So we tried that for a few days, but I started to notice that she was SO fussy. John kept saying that it was because a book we have on "Your Baby Week by Week" says something about babies getting fussy at this age, but I was convinced it was the formula. She was never fussing at night when I nurse her, just during the day/evening hours when she'd get a bottle or two.
Well, Mary was giving her a breast milk bottle today and the 2oz. it had just wasn't enough (she usually takes between 3-4 depending on the time of day she gets a bottle) so I made her another 2oz. bottle of the formula to finish her off. Sure as shit, as she was burping her from that, she was instantly fussy. That was all I needed to seal the deal that it was the formula making her fussy, so I made yet another call the the pediatrician phone nurse. This time, they suggested Gerber and said it was supposed to be better for babies who are also breastfed and said they'd leave me a can and cooler pack at the front to pick up.
I'm hoping that this will work for us because it's killing me to know I'm putting my child through hell, just to alleviate some of my inconvenience and stress. I have the utmost respect for the women who can exclusively breastfeed because I just can't do it all the time. I love nursing at night because it's easier for me. No heating up any bottles or messing with anything else, and since I'm the only person who ever gets up with her when it's just John and I, why not. But if this formula doesn't work, I don't know what I'll do!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Gym Time
Grandma got Eden a little gym/activity mat the other day after we got pedicures and so far, she likes it in small doses. She's still pretty picky about whether she wants to be on her back, or in the swing, or in the bouncy seat. This morning she was awake and seeming pretty content, so I took it out of the package, put it together and put E on it. The whale seemed to be her favorite.
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