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June 30, 2006

The Furthest Thing From My Mind

Warning: Do not read if you are squicked by icky adult conversation topics.

I'm very excited about my doctor's appointment coming up next Wednesday. Why am I excited? Because I get the thumbs up to exercise. Yes, that's right, to exercise. I am excited about getting to exercise again. I was ready to go a week after Dylan was born and I've been clawing at the walls to get out and get moving ever since.

However, when I mentioned how excited I was about my upcoming doctor's appointment to a friend, she replied (in a knowing tone) "Ahhh, riiiiiight... because this is the 'ok to have sex' appointment." Well, yeah, but sex isn't going to make my ass get any smaller... So when I laughed and said, "Yeah, but I was thinking that I get to exercise now," she replied, "Well, I guess that makes sense. I'm sure sex is the furthest thing from your mind right now."

Ok. Now, I realize that sleep deprivation can totally cause your libido to drop... but I don't think it's fair to say that sex is the furthest thing from my mind. There are plenty of things that are further from my mind than sex. So I decided to list some of them.

10 things that, on any given day, are further from my mind than sex

1. The quadratic equation
2. Newton's second law
3. The air speed velocity of an unladen swallow
4. Cobol (since I no longer am at work)
5. Taxes (since they're already paid)
6. The national deficit
7. Curling (as in the "sport")
8. The GNP of Sweeden
9. "Sex" (as in the So You Think You Can Dance contestant. Go ahead - google him.)
10. The Gettysburg Address

That being said, back to exercise. I'm joining (or thinking of joining, I still have to try it out) a StrollerFit class, where you go with your baby in a stroller and exercise. It seems cool. It's outside a few blocks from my house, so we can walk there and I don't have to worry about babysitting or anything else - Dylan will be right there with me. And it's geared towards new moms, so they're very conscious of the babies, and if the babies get fussy, then they walk with the strollers until they settle down, then they get back to exercising. I'm very excited. Also, eventually Darren will hook up the VCR in the bedroom so I can do pilates up there and maybe, if I can work it out schedule-wise, I can get back to running at some point. But the StrollerFit thing is an awesome idea.

Posted by Terri at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2006

Happy Six Weeks, Dylan!

I thought this was supposed to get easier...

Ok, ok - so it is slightly easier than it was five weeks ago. (It's still harder than it was in the hospital when I had room service and my "easy" button). The problem is, everyone tells you, "Six weeks - it will get easier." You expect a magic transformation in your baby at six weeks. Poof - he's sleeping through the night. Poof - he's interacting with you. Poof - he can calm himself much better. Poof - he does more than eat sleep and poop. That's not the case.

Over the past few weeks, he has been coming closer to these things. But it's not sudden. It's so gradual - like his growth - that I don't always notice it, being right on top of him all the time. But then someone comes in who hasn't seen him in a few weeks and says, "Oh my, he's getting BIG!" and I look at him and realize that yes, he is.

I remember a week after I had him, I went for my check-up and there was a woman there with a six week old. I couldn't believe how big the girl was. She seemed gigantic compared to my little one-week-old Dylan. Now that he's six weeks, I look at him and realize that he is just as big (if not bigger, since he's huge) as that girl, and I can't believe how far he's come.

And I made it through six weeks. I had lots of help. Darren has been invaluable. He is great with Dylan and I would have killed someone (likely myself) without his help and support. My mom has saved me a bunch of times, coming over when I needed a nap, and my sister has come over and held Dylan to give me a break and some much needed adult conversation. My brother spent his vacation here doing various household tasks and cooking dinner for us several nights. My sister-in-law has been there when I need to call someone with kids to ask questions like "Is the doctor telling the truth that 99.4 isn't really a fever?" And my mother-in-law babysat so I could go to my sister's High School graduation.

Sure, people give me unsolicited advice and some people don't understand the meaning of "No, I don't want to put him in that stupid frigging seat," but for the most part these past six weeks have really reminded me of why we moved back up here. Having family close by is a godsend.

And my friends have been great too - coming over with (much needed) coffee and cooking for us. I know hanging out with a new mom who can only talk about her son and a screaming baby may not be the most fun in the world, but everone has been gracious enough to listen to all my poop stories, complaints about lack of sleep and gushing over how very cute he is.

So thank you everyone!!! We've made it through the first six weeks!

People weren't kidding when they said I wouldn't have this summer "off."

Posted by Terri at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2006

I ♥ the car!

I ♥ the car. I ♥ my Snugli. (Dylan ♥ the car but is not sold on ths Snugli yet).

This morning was rough. Lots of screaming, not a whole lot of sleep for me. So, Dylan was awake and I had to go to the bank, so I strapped him into his carseat (more screaming), carried him out to the car (some fussing, but I think he was too thrown by the new surroundings to scream), and we drove to the bank. There was a small amount of fussing in the car on the way to the bank when we had to stop, but then he was out cold. So...I drove to the mall - we did a lap around the mall and then drove home. (We almost drove down to my work, but I didn't have my diaper bag and was afraid to go that far from home without diapers, formula, etc). Thank heavens for the car.

This afternoon, Dylan let me sleep for 2 hours, but then when he got up to eat, afterwards there was more screaming. I couldn't take it anymore. My arms were going to fall off. So, we broke out the Snugli again and I put him in it. He didn't like it at first, and then only when I was up and walking around, and then only when I was sitting and bouncing. Now he's sleeping, face-planted into my chest. I would say the Snugli is a success.

Now, if only we were allowed to go anywhere that wasn't drive-thru. I could use my mad carseat and Snugli skillz for good purpose.

Posted by Terri at 04:17 PM | Comments (2)

June 14, 2006

Terri's Questions About Parenthood

Do not read if you are offended by bodily functions.

  1. How is it that my child is equipped with phonedar, that as soon as I get on the phone something goes off in his head, causing him to go from zero to wailing in 2.2 seconds?

  2. What is it about a bath that causes the mother of all poop to happen 5 minutes after the bath, necessitating such a clean-up that both Mommy and Daddy have to get involved and usually resulting in a pee incident which soaks Mommy, Daddy, Dylan, his clothes and the changing table pad cover, negating whatever cleanliness resulted from the bath?

  3. How is it that having your head jammed in the crook of my arm is more appealing than sleeping in your nice comfy crib?

  4. What property of formula generates technicolor poop? I've seen formula - it's white. Where does the yellow, green and brown color come from?

  5. I've been with Darren for 10 wonderful years. What the heck did we talk about all that time when our conversations did not revolve around poop, pee, spitup, bathtime and sleep schedules?

  6. How did the word "toot" become an acceptable substitution for the word "fart"?

  7. What is with the cute little characters on the front of diapers? Seriously, the only people that see Elmo on the front of Dylan's diapers are Darren and me. Dylan can't bend his head like that yet. Wouldn't it be better to put something entertaining there for us, like cute sayings such as "Poop happens" or "Baby - The Ultimate in Birth Control?"
Oh well, I hear Dylan waking up - I'll have to finish my list later...

Posted by Terri at 01:28 PM | Comments (2)

June 13, 2006

Happy Mommy

Last night was amazing.

(Sad that now when I utter that sentence it is in reference to sleep).

Let me back up by saying yesterday was awful. Dylan wouldn't take a nap for more than 10 minutes, which means I didn't get to take a nap all day. I was exhausted; Darren was exhausted, because the night before there was not a whole lot of sleeping. And then a middle-of-the-night poop made for even less sleeping. And then Dylan peed all over his clothes while I tried to change the poop, so I had to change the clothes and the ensuing nakedness caused my sweet child to morph into a banshee, waking Darren up. So we were both tired.

But last night - *happy sigh* - Dylan ate around 9:30pm and then went to sleep. We were worried. We did the math and 4 hours after 9:30 is 1:30am - and then 4 more hours is 5:30 - which means 2 middle-of-the-night feedings. Not only that, but 4 hours is a hopefully estimate. Sometimes feedings come 3 or even 2 1/2 hours after each other. After an exhausting day, it was too much to face. But we swaddled him up tight - a suggestion made by Darren the night before to try and get him to sleep which seems to work really well - and hoped for the best.

Around 1:00 am he started fussing a lot. I looked over into his pack-n-play and saw he had fussed himself right out of his swaddle. I was sure I'd have to get up and feed him but, ever hopeful, I swaddled him back up and lay down, waiting for the crying to start. The next thing I knew, it was 3:15 am. It was just 15 minutes away from 6 hours since the last feeding. (The pediatrician said this was ok at night, just not to let him go more than 4 during the day). He was starting to fuss anyway, so I got a bottle, warmed it up, and we had our middle-of-the-night snack.

I was sure after having slept for 4 1/2 hours he wouldn't go back down, but he did, and slept through until 7:15, giving us another 3 hours of sleep. (Well, giving me another 3 hours of sleep - Darren had to get up for work at 6:30).

If every night could be like that, I would be able to cope with anything during the day. Now we just have to work on the last feeding before bed being closer to 11:00, so six hours will get us straight through the night. Is that asking too much from an almost-one-month-old? Maybe a little. But every once in a while it's a nice gift. (I thanked Dylan profusely when I got him up to eat at 3:30).

Posted by Terri at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2006

Tummy Time

Dylan has been pretty much holding his head up since birth. When I would burp him in the beginning, he would lift his head and turn it and look at me. Have I mentioned yet that my son is a genius?

Because of his gas, the pediatrician suggested we start tummy time for five minutes after ever feeding, to help with the gas. Of course, this also helps him strengthen his neck muscles and back muscles and hold his head up even more (making burping him more and more difficult). He also has rolled over from his tummy onto his back several times.

I don't have pictures of the rolling-over but here is one of him during tummy time holding up his head.

Posted by Terri at 11:24 AM | Comments (2)

June 10, 2006

Post Partum, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

It's amazing what a good night's rest will do for you. (I'm only imagining since I haven't had a good night's rest for, um, let's see - 3 weeks and 3 days...)

Things are getting easier. We're learning how to function on minimal sleep and we're getting really good at doing things one-handed. Not only are we able to care for little Dylan, but stuff is getting done around the house too. (Last night I even cooked dinner!) Today we managed to upolster the top of Dylan's toychest, buy frames for his hospital pictures, do some wash, and get our groceries delivered. I think Darren ran some errands too.

I still feel like I'm going through life in a daze right now and Darren zombies out of bed every morning to get to work, but it's starting to become more manageable. Except, of course, when Dylan decides to eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours through the night.

I don't have anything exciting, except we started tummy time (on the doctor's orders to help with gas) and sometimes Dylan can roll from his stomach on to his back. What a genius baby!

Posted by Terri at 05:51 PM | Comments (2)

June 09, 2006

Need Sleep

Good Lord, this is exhausting.

I'm single-finger typing because there's a fussy baby in my other arm. Three am feedings are quite a drag. Three am feedings when he doesn't fall back asleep are even more of a drag.

My son burps and farts like a pro. So very cute yet so very stinky.

They say babies sleep 16 hours a day. I don't believe them.

He's looking at me which means he's not sleeping which means I'm not sleeping.

Pumping breastmilk has pretty much gone out the window. When am I supposed to do it? When he's sleeping? Yeah right! I"d rather take a nap!

Why is it he can sleep in my arms but I put him down and he's wide awake?

I wish he wasn't so gassy. The little pain faces break your heart. Poor little guy.

This gets easier. Right?

Posted by Terri at 11:27 AM | Comments (1)