Baby Docking Stations

It's amazing how many docking stations my newborn has. What's more amazing is that he is docked in each one at least once a day!

 The Boppy Pillow!
      This dock is great for hanging with me on the couch.  

                                                                                                  
                               

This is his favorite playtime dock.
He LOVES lying under the purple thing in the center.
It spins around and plays music.
Now that he's 2 months he reaches up for it
and the hanging things around him!
He will lay there for a solid 10 minutes smiling and cooing.
In baby time that is HOURS!!!

This is his Car Dock.
This dock is supposed to mimic a car ride.
It even makes car/street noises.
He will fall asleep in this in the morning.
Oddly enough only in the mornings?
I think when he gets bigger he will hang in it more often.

The Bumbo dock!
This thing is great.
Don't worry I don't put it on the edge of the table.
Really!  Who does that?
He is good at holding his head up...
But I still only let him hang in there for less than 5 minutes.

This is his dance party with daddy chair.
Dad turns on the dance beats
and Ollie flails his arms and legs to the beats.
It's really amazing!
He doesn't spend much time in this chair solo though.
I think it's too big and he feels left out in a field alone in it.
He does like the crab though.  It blinks and makes noises.

The Swing!

a.k.a The babysitter

This swing is my favorite! 

Ollie will go to sleep in it when all else fails. 

It's in the swing and sleeping in less than 5 minutes.

He also does not like swinging in the other direction.

Hands down he spends the most time docked here.

Anyone have a dock their baby loves?  

Observations at 2 months postpartum & 8 weeks of motherhood

Observations at 2 months postpartum & 8 weeks of motherhood

Why do we refer to our normal lives in months, but our babies in weeks? I actually prefer saying “he’s 2 months old.” over“he’s 8 weeks” because 8 seems like such a high number for my little baby! How in the hell have two months,8friggin-weeks, gone by already? I Just delivered my baby! Who the hell pressed fast forward on time? How in the hell is my maternity leave over? WTF!!! NOOOOO!! Slow down!

I say slow down, but I also find myself fantasizing about my son's first words, or first steps or even better, first poo poo in the 'potty instead of in mommy’s hand in the middle of the night! I need to just embrace every minute as best I can. I realize though that the first 6 weeks are such a blur of feedings and sleep deprivation. It goes by fast because there is just no sense of time nor is there any real quality time to be had in that craziness.

Anyways. Here goes my top 20 list…

1. 3 Cheers for being a mommy! I LOVE IT!
2. My son is absolutely fabulous! Perfect, wonderful, amazing, sweet, gifted, adorable…. Oh, I could list adjectives for him all day and not one bad one!
3. I have been peed on and crapped on so many times I don’t even care anymore.
4. The Hubs and I have found a happy common ground, FINALLY! We are starting to co-parent really well.
5. Now that there is a semi-routine going I am sleeping better. Or maybe just dealing with the short bursts of sleep better.
6. Now that my son can pull my hair… OUT OF MY HEAD! I need a haircut or a permanent ponytail. Porn stars don’t lose as much hair in a month as I do in a day!
7. I HAVE BREASTFED FOR TWO MONTHS!! That is so amazing to say! It is by far one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life.
8. Besides the flabby ass and boobs hanging down to my knees, I’d say I am fully recovered from pregnancy and my C-Section!
9. I need to do some serious ab/core exercises because leaning over the tub at bath time is really hard on my back. I even have a “bath time kneeling pad” I also try to engage my abs when leaning over the tub. Nothing helps. I usually let daddy do bath time due to the discomfort, which totally sucks!
10. My face is a broken out mess! I am not sure why, but it’s worse than pregnancy!
11. As if pregnancy didn’t make a big enough joke of my body and emotions, as a parting gift for every pound I lose, an effing stretch mark shows up in its place on my thighs. WHAT IS THAT SHIT?!
12. I am eating twice as much as I did during pregnancy… And LOSING WEIGHT! Hell yeah!
13. I try on my favorite pair of jeans every Sunday. I Think I am only 2-3 Sundays away from buttoning those puppies! And maybe only 4-6 weeks away from wearing them out of the house!
14. I drink SO much water and yet I am still so dehydrated all of the time! I even keep a slab of bottled water in the trunk of my car. I ALWAYS have water close by. I do not drink anything else.
15. I cannot believe I am still eating prenatal vitamins (for breastfeeding) and wearing maternity clothes! Next, to the insane gas and constipation, those are the other two things I hated the most during pregnancy!
16. Speaking of gas… The hubs cannot believe he survived my pregnancy gas only to have a son who blows his hand off his butt when he farts and on one occasion possibly came close to singing the hairs off daddy’s chest with his precursor to a blowout.
17. Now that Oliver can smile and coo, I find myself talking to him all day just begging for that super cute grin and heart-melting “Coooooohhhhh” I LOVE IT!!!
18. There is no feeling in the world that compares to the euphoria I feel when I take a deep breath, relax and hold my son close to my heart. He brings me so much peace and joy in the quiet moments. There just are no words to explain it.
19. I still find myself asking Ollie, “What’s wrong?” and begging him to go to sleep… Like I seriously expect a response or a positive result. Yet, when daddy does it I call him a ding-a-ling.
20. Did I already mention that MY SON IS AWESOME? Because HE IS!

Mommy Fail #3! The 5-hour nap!

The Mommy Fail of the week has got to be me letting Ollie take a 5-hour nap. Actually daddy was there, so he’s going down for this shit too!

I fed Ollie and immediately went out to run a few errands.  I came home with 15 minutes to spare before his routine three hour feeding time to find Ollie and daddy taking a nap.  When his feeding time came and went I woke up the hubs to find out how long they had been asleep. He said just about an hour so I laid down next to them to wait for Ollie to stir.  3 ½ hours later I woke up next to a still sleeping Ollie!

I jumped out of bed and flip flopped between kicking the hubs ass for letting me/us sleep for so long or wake up the boy.  I opted for the boy with a promise to deal with dad later.  Holy crap nearly five bloody hours of sleep during the day!  I cannot get 4-hours at night without one hell of a tired boy coupled with a massive feeding.  No surprise the minute I had him up he realized how hungry he was and turned the cry meter up to screeching mad!

Here is where the 5-hour nap gets trumped in dammit-ness… He was so hungry he was past ravenous!  He sucked down so much booby milk so fast he spit it back up all over me, the Brestfriend pillow and himself.  I wipe us up, reattach him and he does it AGAIN! ARG! So round three, I controlled his intake by repeatedly letting him eat for a few minutes and then burping him. Thankfully he didn’t chuck all over me again. 

I was really concerned that letting him sleep for so long was going to completely screw up our routine for the rest of the day and night.  Thankfully, so far no difference.  I kept him up through the next feeding and all seems back to normal. My sister thinks he is just a big growing boy and needed the sleep.   But, still!!  5 hours is the longest he has slept straight so far and he did it during the day!

I realize now that since he is sleeping so long I need to set an alarm if I am going to nap while he does. This will ensure we both don’t sleep all day.  God help me if I put us back on the newborn sleep schedule of sleep all day party all night…

Honestly I am not sorry he slept so long.  Surely the little guy needed it if he did. Of course moving forward I am going to set an alarm to wake him up for his normal feeding. If he is tired and wants to go back to sleep after eating then so be it.  Growing up to be my big strong guy is hard work!

I let my newborn cry it out… kind of…

(UPDATE: 7/27/2012,  IT IS NOT HELPFUL TO LET A NEWBORN CRY IT OUT (CIO)!  I spoke with my pediatrician and was told not to.  Newborn to 6 months cannot neurologically learn to self-sooth. The CIO method at such a young age is not going to work long term.  All that will happen when you let your newborn-6-month-old CIO, is they will become worn out from the crying and hysteria and pass out. It will not harm them so to speak, but it will not help them either.   Your best bet is to sooth them to sleep.  See my Post on Tips for getting a baby to sleep.) Continue reading for my experience letting my Newborn CIO before learning it was pointless! ; ) However, the following is a good start to teaching self-soothing...

After all of the great comments of sleep tips encouraging me to let my newborn “cry it out,” I decided the next opportunity I got I would give it a try, or should I say my best effort. I figured that so many courageous readers could not be wrong, and if they were, it would only take me ten minutes to figure it out!

Tonight was the night! Dad was off at the grocery store, all was quiet in the house… except for Ollie. He had a wonderful long nap in the late afternoon, so he was not quite ready to go down for the night, even though he was giving up all of the telltale signs of sleepiness. I decided when after a bath, feeding, rocking and cuddling he was still not fully asleep, I would give the “cry it out method” a try.

I laid him down in his crib, swaddled him tight, covered him with a light blanket, gave him his dummy/pacifier, a good “SHHHHHHH-ing” and one last “I love you” before walking out of his room. All was fine for the first few minutes, not a peep. Then came the low cry, the “I'm bored come back now” cry. I left him alone until a good cry came. I went into his room, let him know I was there, all was ok, put the dummy back in his mouth, and walked out. He was quiet again for a few minutes, then he started with a good cry, which progressed to a heart-breaking scream. At that moment I thought, do I run to the end of the driveway, or do I crack? I semi-cracked…. I went into his room, again, let him know I was there, again, rubbed him this time, SHHH-ed him until his eyes closed and waited a minute or so to make sure he stayed calm.

I was determined at the very least, no matter what, I was not going to pick him up. Luckily I survived that goal. Ollie went to sleep after my third trip into his room. Which just like everyone said took about 10 minutes total for him to fully pass out. I do feel pretty good about my first attempt at letting him put himself to sleep. I think my mix of letting him cry and soothing him from a slight distance was a perfect mix for the both of us. I am sure as he gets older, and I get stronger, I will be able to hold off on running to his side. But for now, I feel good about my parenting skills and proud of my big boy!

Mommy Fail #1

So, mommy fail #1...

Picture it, 4am I am just finished nursing Ollie and lay down on the changing table for a quick change. He's still passed out from being what the hubs calls "boobie drunk" from breastfeeding. I open his diaper and see that it's not that bad, still I take it off to change him anyway. I look down to get a diaper from the shelf and when I look up the pee stream starts spraying. He is peeing all over his little feet and socks. I let out a yelp that scares him awake and the stream goes from pointing down at his socks to spraying up into the air and falling down on my sock and the floor! REALLY? Shit! Just when I think it's over he lets out a projectile spray of poo that finishes off him and the changing table. Needles to say, both Ollie and I are wide awake and crying at this point. There are not enough wipes in my possession to fix this blowout.

I wrap up his butt with a used burp cloth and head to the bathroom. I get out his little blow up rubber ducky bathtub and fill it up. I wash him, pull him out of the tub and stick my pee covered foot in. Just at that point The Hubs walks in... I thought he was going to pee on my other foot laughing so hard. I was still pissed and upset, but his laughing became infectious. I think even Ollie was laughing, underneath his "I'm cold hurry up and dry me off mommy," screaming.

I know this is a Mommy Fail because I didn't have the diaper ready after I finished wiping him off. I usually hold a wipe over him until I make the diaper switch, but at 4 am I have no freaking clue what I'm doing, I am on auto pilot hoping for the best. Even still, Pee pee Tee Pee or not, I don't have a poo poo tee pee, so the fail was inevitable.

Moral of the story, I got hosed! Hosed hard by the 5 week old potty monster and it sucked! Learn from my foolishness, ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR THE EXPLOSION! Or have a 4am toe bath like me...

To Bathe or Not to Bathe a Newborn… Everyday!

Should you bathe your new born daily? My Pediatrician says, “No not everyday. Bathe your newborn every other day or every three, use Butt Paste regularly to fight off diaper rash.” He says the reasoning is that daily baths can be too drying on their skin. Most literature on newborn routines say, “bathe daily as part of your night time routine.” My sister says, “Heck yes!  Bathe that boy everyday!”  My girlfriend, a new mom says, “Heck No!  I don’t bathe my newborn everyday, her skin cannot handle it.” Over the last 7 weeks my opinion on this has changed multiple times. This is another classic example of trust your instinct, your baby's cues and possibly your nose too!

I am all for daily baths, but I am not for super dry flaky skin that can come as a result.  I also have to admit that right now I am still so tired from our already packed routine of feedings, diaper changes, play time and nap time, that missing a bath is really not going to upset either one of us.  No bath, no Harm no Foul.

As usual I think it all boils down to the baby and the mother's preference.  At first I followed the pediatricians recommendation and wouldn’t consider a daily bath.  I would wipe Ollie down at night around his neck and face.  I also use cotton balls to wipe off his eyes, one for each eye, everyday bath or not.

Now that Spring is here and the temperatures have spiked over night, daily baths have become the norm. Between the spit ups, the sweaty neck, the frequent dirty diapers and fear of a gnarly Cradle Cap. Of course I am using baby wash and shampoo and slathering on a great baby lotion after bath to stave off dry itchy skin.

Just like with everything else right now for me, a clueles first time mom, I am taking it one day at a time in regard to baths too.  If Ollie is funky, I bathe him.  I expect that the summer months will cause a regularly funky baby. The other great bonus of the daily bath is that Ollie seems to love them. It’s a Win-Win!  Ollie is happy and so is his booty!   

  

Please go to sleep. cont...

ahhh... he sleeps!  I finally got him to sleep around midnight.  He slept poorly the whole night through, but at least he still maintained his three-hour feeding schedule. He woke up for good at 8am still a little fussy. I made it my priority to make sure Ollie took good naps all day and stay well rested.  So, naturally, I sent daddy out for the day!

I know this is bad, and I am NOT recommending you try this at all, but Ollie sleeps VERY well on his stomach.  His first nap of the day was spent on his belly.  He slept soundly and happily for three full hours.  Poor guy was still so exhausted from his crazy day.  I laid next to him the whole time reading a book, so I could keep a very close eye on him.  I know it's dangerous to let him sleep on his belly, but dammit he LOVES it, and I watch him the whole time.

His next nap was spent on my chest then in his swing. Long story short, I kept him on his schedule, and his behavior and attitude showed that.  I easily put the happiest baby to bed tonight!

He is so big and so wonderful I forgot just how fragile he is. It really is still so necessary that I stay focused on his needs and keep overstimulation and super busy days down to a minimum.  It's one thing if he is fussy for fussy sake, it's another when it's my fault for his fussiness.

I thank all of you for your comments and emails on how to get him to sleep.  I do swaddle him every time I put him down.  He doesn't sleep well without his arms on lockdown.  Now, as for the letting him cry it out... UGH!  I'll try it. The comments from real moms who, "ran down to the end of the driveway,"  were so helpful in letting me know it must hurt you like it would me.  But, sometimes you have to do whats necessary. "Letting her cry the first few times was the hardest thing in the world for me to do, but I realized that she needed a way to release and wear herself out and that I also needed to be able to put her down for my own sanity as well. "  Those are the things I needed to hear.  Thank you.  


For now, order has been restored.  Lessons learned. A game plan laid out for, God forbid, next time.  As a first timer, I'd say that's good stuff!

Please go to sleep.

Dear Oliver. Please go to sleep honey. Mommy is about to loose her mind!


Today was a busy day for all three of us. So poor Ollie's nap time was a ride in the car, a ride in the stroller and then an hour or so in his swing. God help us all, this baby is so tired it's devastating.

I have been trying to get him to sleep for hours. My second feeding just passed and thankfully he seems to be falling asleep from this one... I'm barely breathing, moving or doing anything that might stir him. Oh it's so hard getting a baby to sleep sometimes!

Anybody out there have any tricks to help us first timers along? I need a miracle!! And some sleep too... I'll write the follow up to this in a few hours to let you all know if I lost my mind or if Ollie actually went to sleep. I seriously feel like he's going to stay up all night at this point!

MOMMY FAIL #2

I was in a huffing puffing tizzy today about getting Oliver down for his “scheduled” nap.  Daddy was as usual leaning over the crib playing with him. I was so annoyed and kept telling him to leave him alone so I could get him to sleep.  Dad on the other hand kept saying, "look at him he is not even tired!”  My usual reply when he says that, which is ALL of the time, “He is so tired! You just keep stimulating him."  Lucky for me Oliver usually has the tell tale red eyes so daddy cannot say anything back.  Well, today it was clear, Ollie was not tired, he was cooing and playing with daddy.  

I don’t want to be that mom that is controlling and over bearing because I think I know what is right for my son all of the time.  I don’t want to miss out on the fun times because I am to busy being a bitchy mom.  I know it’s awfully early to think I will be that mom from this one instance, But! I do need to realize that Oliver is going to be constantly changing and growing and evolving into who he is supposed to be.  I need to give him that room to grow and develop. As much as it pains me to say this, daddy was right today and took full advantage of Ollie being happy and alert.

Yesterday's post was about how great it is to have him on a semi routine. Which is still true, but I realized toady that, that routine is always going to be changing whether I like it or not.  Today it was clear he wanted to play more and sleep less.

I know I have said this a bunch of times so far, but I guess for me it is just not sinking in, I have to follow my son’s cues to really know what he needs and wants.  He wasn’t tired, yet I wanted to force him to be. Whoops!  Mommy Fail!  Lesson learned.

I get so worked up that Daddy always gets to play with Ollie, while I always get to worry about feedings, naps, baths, and keeping him healthy and happy.  I am starting to realize it's not daddy's fault that he gets to have all the fun, it's mine.  I need to relax and go with the flow more. Unfortunately I am a Type-A basket case so that is SO much easier said than done...

6 week old baby... makes all the difference!

I realized today at 6 weeks and 5 days that the dust of being a new mom has settled.  All three of us, Me, Dad and Baby Boy, and even the cat too have acclimated to our new lives.  We even have a semi-routine going!  I really think if someone would have told me in the beginning that the first 6 weeks we're going to be scary, difficult, exhausting and altogether a huge cloudy haze of confusion BUT not to worry because by the 6^th to 7^th week ALL will be better! I might have had a little less anxiety and fear of the unknown.  

So here I am telling you the new mom, It’s going to be nuts at first but don’t worry hold on tight and just wait for the 6^th week, all will be better then! 

Here is a list of all of the things that have changed for us, made our lives easier and brought parenting to a whole new, very rewarding, level!

1. By the 6^th week, a clear sleeping pattern will develop.  Not sleep through the night pattern, but a dependable one no less. For us Ollie sleeps two four hour stretches at night, is up from 8am-11am sometimes taking a short cat nap but mostly wanting to just lay awake and stare at stuff, nap for an hour or two after that, then late afternoon he will take a big 3 hour nap and then his two 4 hour sleeps at bedtime.
2. Feeding patterns are much more predictable. Ollie eats every three hours during the day, not one minute later, and then, of course, he stretches his two 4 hours feedings at night.
3. We bathe every other day at bedtime.  Our pediatrician said he is too young for baths every night right now.  We only deviate from the schedule when he blows out all over himself (and mommy’s toes).
4. He clearly knows who his parents are and even shows signs that he is happy to see us!
5. Oliver knows what clothes are and is patient with us when we dress him.  Before week 6 he would cry when he was naked and got annoyed when we would take too long. Now he lies there and puts up with our fumbling!
6. He is more self-sufficient.  We can lay him in his crib for a few minutes to wash our hands, find clothes, etc… he will just lie there staring at stuff happily. 
7. He follows us with his eyes, is acutely aware of his surroundings and appears to be happy and comfortable in his home.  Which makes me feel really good!
8. I am not jumping up to his sounds and gurgles anymore.  I know what each sound is and even wait for the cry before going to check on him.  The first few weeks of his life I basically slept in the nursery with him.
9. The cat doesn’t run and hide when the baby cries anymore.  I feel very comfortable with the coexisting between the two now.
10. The hubs and I are slowly but surely splitting the work and understanding each other’s boundaries.  This is a big one.  We struggled through the first 6 weeks.  Now we are co-parenting much better!
11. And most of all, that beautiful smile shows up to make your heart melt!

There are other things I am sure I am forgetting but the bottom line is that the first 6 weeks are difficult and confusing.  It really feels like over night I have calmed down, slept better and settled into parenting really well. I have also noticed that Oliver has settled in well and feels more comfortable too.  I would stare at him in his crib in the early days and wondered what he thought of his home and surroundings.  He started his life in my belly and then was yanked out and put into my world.  Trust me that is the other crazy thing, you will ponder and obsess over the strangest things once baby arrives. 

All I can say is that it is really nice to breathe again.  The 6^th week has been so easy compared to the weeks prior. If you are still in that confused haze, or about to start it, hold on tight and just wait until the 6^th week, all will be much better then!  

6 weeks old and he's all smiles!

I finally got my smile. Of course, I cried. My son's smile was and still is, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. It sent chills through my body. Unfortunately, I cannot say my husband nor I got the first big smile, the lactation lady did! After I wiped the tears away I had to laugh, he must know this is the Goddess who keeps the booby milk flowing out of mommy.

Truth be told she got the smile by making big stupid funny faces that all centered around her sticking her tongue out at him. He LOVED it! When he was done smiling we packed up went home and then I proceeded to try to recreate the stupid smile-inducing faces. No luck. But, I felt beyond stupid making the faces and I think he knew it. I really was not enjoying it at all, and he seemed to be bored by it all anyway. I'm just not a goofy face making kind of person I guess. I decided after that I would wait and get my smile from him when he wanted to give it to me, because I made him smile just being his mommy.

His first smile was last Thursday, Daddy got a few over the next few days being a goof, and I got my big gummy grin today. I got him for a feeding and did my usual, "Hi Baby Ollie! Mommy loves you!" and he looked up and smiled. OH MY GOD!! WOW! At that moment the world stopped, time stood still and my heart melted. Then I kissed his face with tears in my eyes. I love being a mommy, especially to my Oliver.

He doesn't smile all of the time yet though. I'm not even a little bummed about that because it makes every smile whether daddy gets it or me, so very special. Soon enough he will smile all the time, but for now I will bask in the glory of each one. For all of you out there still pregnant or still waiting for your smile, it's coming and when it does your world will become more beautiful than you have ever known.