6 Weeks Old -- Picture time!

Joe's friend Mikaela offered to snap some pictures of Theo as a wee baby (6 weeks). Unfortunately he was feeling very attached to his pacifier that day.

One month favorites

 As per usual, I'm going to pretend that I am not in fact months behind blogging. Here were my thoughts on baby essentials in the first month:

1. Rock and play sleeper:  I received this at my baby shower from Joe’s stepmom. I’m glad I did, as I balked at the price and didn’t even register for it. Not because I couldn’t afford it but because I am fundamentally a cheap person. It took me like a month to buy a bottle of Tabasco sauce to keep at work because every time I saw it at the grocery store I was like, “Pfft, $5? I don’t really need it.” And then I would go to work and be like I WOULD KILL FOR HOT SAUCE.

Anyway, the first month my baby was a perpetually sleeping slug and this was great because it’s like a super portable bassinet. Theo sleeps great in it and I hear it is especially goods for babies with reflux. I still think it’s overpriced but it’s been incredibly useful. 

2.     Woombie: So swaddling is difficult to master but Theo seems calmer and sleeps better swaddled. Joe is reasonably good at it now but it was much easier for us to use cheater-swaddling methods like the Halo swaddle sack and this, the Woombie. Otherwise known as “the banana suit”, “the glow worm” and “the baby straight jacket”. I prefer the woombie because it’s stupid easy. You just shove your baby in it and zip it up. It has two zippers on it so you can zip it up from the bottom in order to change diapers without taking them out of it completely. Critical for middle of the night diaper changes, when you are holding your breath and trying so very hard to keep your sleeping baby asleep. GENIUS.

3.     Cloth diapers: I think these would make pretty terrible cloth diapers but they are fantastic burp cloths. They’re bigger, more durable and more absorbent any other burp clothes I’ve used. They’re not super cute but when your baby projectile vomits over his car seat, that is not your primary concern.

4.     Baby gowns:  It should be illegal to make any newborn clothes that have to be pulled over the head. Your baby hates it, you hate it, and you’re just going to have to change their outfit anyway. Also, you don't have the energy to put on a fancy-pants "real" outfit. Not going to lie, Theo has been in pajamas 99% of his life thus far. I especially like these gowns by Kicky Pants, they are super soft and easy to take on and off. Again, critical since your newborn will poop approximately every 72 seconds. And they’re cute so I don’t feel bad for putting him in them for the millionth time.

5. Lanolin: If you’re breastfeeding, get a tube of lanolin. I’ve had a fairly easy time          breastfeeding but the first couple of weeks are rough. Slather this on for the first couple of weeks and try to forget the fact that your enormous boobs are coated in sheep oil. 

One Month Old: Adventures in Nursing

Theo is now a month old, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? He’s starting to outgrow his newborn clothes, which makes me very sad. I had to stuff him into that onesie like a small sausage. Obviously he is not lacking in food. His three chins speak for themselves.

So! One-month update! I must say, Joe and I totally prepared for the worst in having a newborn. You hear all these terrible stories about how you have baby and then suddenly you’re up all night trying to unsuccessfully soothe a small banshee and then it all ends when you murder your significant other in the morning. Or something.

Which isn’t to say that it has been easy but Joe and I are adjusting pretty well. Theo and I have this breastfeeding thing down and I have fondly nicknamed him “The Hungry Barracuda” for the speed and voracity of his nursing.

Man, future teenaged son, I am really sorry about all this.

We did have a couple rough nights before my milk came where Theo was like WTF MOM, I’M FREAKIN’ HUNGRY.  That was probably my toughest night so far. At one point during the night I gave him a pacifier, even though the lactation consultant at my midwife’s office suggested that we wait to introduce one until breastfeeding was well established, which it clearly was not. However, it helped sooth Theo and my hormones were still at the point were I would burst into tears whenever I looked at him so I didn’t hesitate to keep popping that sucker in. Joe woke up sometime during this, noticed the pacifier, and sleepily said, “Should he have that? I thought we were going to wait to give him a pacifier.” And I was running on a lot less sleep than he was and I shot him a look that I hoped communicated something along the lines of, OH YEAH? I WILL MURDER YOUR FACE. Because that are the kind of things your brain says at 3 am with a fussy newborn.

Theo had lost more weight at his first check up than the pediatrician wanted so we met with a lactation consultant, who suggested I use a supplemental nursing system until my milk came in. The supplemental nursing system (SNS) works like this: you have a little syringe that you fill with formula, which drips down a tiny little tube. You breastfeed your baby normally and while they are attempting to nurse, you sneak the tube into their mouth so that even if they’re not getting much or any breast milk, they are still getting some nutrition from the formula. Also this way, you keep up the breastfeeding habit and avoid giving a bottle.

Pretty clever idea, but ultimately easier said than done. Luckily we only had to do the SNS for an evening and one night before my milk came in. We did much better during the day than we did overnight, where sneakily inserting a tiny clear tube into a nursing newborn’s mouth-- while sleep deprived-- felt like a mission best suited for James Bond. A few times we succeeded only in dripping formula all over his face. But overall we did manage to give him enough supplemental formula to keep him happy and the next morning I woke up looking like a fembot so all was good from there.

What’s that? You don’t remember what a fembot is because you had better things to do than watch Austin Powers? Whatever, fancy pants. This is a fembot:

Theo is a pretty good sleeper and usually goes right back to sleep after eating in the middle of the night so I don’t feel too sleep deprived usually. The biggest sign of sleep deprivation happened the other day when I was in the middle of drinking my morning tea and realized it was sweeter than usual. Upon further investigation, (as in, looking in the mug… my detective skills are unparalleled) I realized that I had forgotten to put a tea bag in. So I was essentially drinking hot sugared milk-water. Which is kind of delicious, actually.

Wish me luck in month two! He slept 6 hours last night, which was ahhhh-mazing. I’m hoping this is a trend. Please don’t smite me, parenting gods.