Oh how life changes! As I recall the first 11 weeks of Jackson's life, I think of all the ways our family has grown!
The first night was just awful! We decided that Jackson would sleep in our bedroom with me & Justin would sleep in the guest room (that way at least one of us would get some sleep & be alert the next day. Boy did that plan backfire on us! Anytime Jackson made a noise, I was up & at his little crib (you know, the one that my dollies used to sleep in). While Justin was in another room, our walls aren't thick enough to block out the sound of our infant. I think we could have been a few miles apart & we still could have heard Jackson! I didn't know what I was doing, Justin didn't know what to do, & Jackson didn't know where he was! What a group!
The first week we were afraid to put him down. He was so little! I remember the first time we changed his diaper (please don't pee on mommy!). The first time he did pee on Daddy! Oh that was funny! But Justin got the last laugh, because he might have gotten peed on, but I got pooped on! It didn't even occur to me to watch out for that! I had his legs lifted to take off his dirty diaper, when nature struck & it struck hard & quick! It was like I didn't know what was happening.
The first time we gave Jackson a bath, Justin was videoing it, but saw that I was having a challenging time. I had only seen the doll get a sponge bath by the professional! Jackson took it like a champ! But boy did he look confused the first time he was actually in the water & not on the frog holder upper thingie.
The first two weeks were very difficult! I remember how hard the feedings were. I worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat. What if I don't produce enough & have to buy formula. Not that there is anything wrong with formula, in fact we sometimes supplement his eating with a bottle. We just didn't want the extra expense. And don't even get me started on the nipple issues! Justin could tell when Jackson got a latch, as I would gasp in pain! It even hurt to wear a bra! Nipple pain is no joke! Burping him was difficult for me at first. I would pat his back for several minutes & nothing, but the second I laid him down, instant crying! As I would pick him up, out comes a burp! I now have a system that works better. After feeding him, I burp him for a bit. If nothing comes out, I lay him in his crib & wait outside the door for a minute or so. If he needs to burp, he will start fussing & I will go back in to pat him.
Night time feedings were really tough. There were nights I would have to calm myself down before I went in his nursery. Dude, just eat a full meal & learn to sleep though the night! In would even try to make deals with God! Dear Lord, if you let me get a few consecutive hours of sleep, I promise to watch my road rage, I will watch my bad words everyday, not just Sundays, just please let me get a bit more sleep! Of course God has his own ways of doing things!
The first several weeks Jackson would fall asleep while feeding. At first I assumed that meant he was finished. But then he would be awake & hungry an hour later. Then I tried different things like blowing on his face, opening his outfit & blowing in his tummy, we tried putting a wet wash cloth on his face. I red blogs about what to do. What the other mothers said is pretty much what happened to us. As soon as we finally found a system that worked (more or less) is when he out grew that part & started eating more. I found the trick was to change his diaper in-between switching breasts. Now I just have to change his diaper at the beginning of the feeding & he will feed through both sides.
I used to dread the nighttime feedings. I have always needed my sleep. In college an all nighter was never an option for me. In the military I traded duties so I wouldn't have to post guard duty in the middle of the night. Now I actually jump out of bed to go feed him & that is only partly due to the leaky boobs that have soaked the front of my shirt! It is now another few minutes I get to spend with my precious baby.
That is another thing people don't warn pregnant women about: the leaky boobs! I member the first time I could squeeze milk out. I told Justin to come here & see this! When he got there, I accidentally squirted a spray right on his face! When the milk gets so full, it can be quite painful. Men, when your wife says "don't touch my boobs" trust me & do as they say! Justin has learned his lesson! After you have a baby, they aren't sexual objects, they are your child's lunch box.
Also if you are one of the "lucky" few to actually feel your milk come in, be prepared for pins & needles sensation in your breasts! I pray that you won't get an infection like I did. I didn't known you could get a yeast infection in that part of you body. Talk about discomfort!
I won't even get into the recovery of the lady flower part of your body! Thank goodness for the wonderful hospital nurses who sent home lots of the witch hazel pads, & those wonderful ice pack pads! I would have paid serious money for those! And that is all I want to say about that.
The last thing I will discuss is getting back into shape. While I feel very lucky to have already lost my pregnancy weight, I was overweight to begin with. I have a lot of Christmas cookie, & cheese weight to lose from before.
The first time I tried to work out (I use that term lightly) I went for a walk around an indoor track & considered it successful that I completed 3/7th of a mile. I started to feel light headed, so I stopped. I am now walking 30 minutes a day (+ other activities around the house). I thought I was doing pretty good until my cousin who gave birth to twins a day after Jackson was born, posted that she had gone running for an hour! That just makes me want to eat another cookie!
As I am typing this, I can feel my milk coming in for the next feeding, so it is time to call it a night! Until next time...
The first night was just awful! We decided that Jackson would sleep in our bedroom with me & Justin would sleep in the guest room (that way at least one of us would get some sleep & be alert the next day. Boy did that plan backfire on us! Anytime Jackson made a noise, I was up & at his little crib (you know, the one that my dollies used to sleep in). While Justin was in another room, our walls aren't thick enough to block out the sound of our infant. I think we could have been a few miles apart & we still could have heard Jackson! I didn't know what I was doing, Justin didn't know what to do, & Jackson didn't know where he was! What a group!
The first week we were afraid to put him down. He was so little! I remember the first time we changed his diaper (please don't pee on mommy!). The first time he did pee on Daddy! Oh that was funny! But Justin got the last laugh, because he might have gotten peed on, but I got pooped on! It didn't even occur to me to watch out for that! I had his legs lifted to take off his dirty diaper, when nature struck & it struck hard & quick! It was like I didn't know what was happening.
The first time we gave Jackson a bath, Justin was videoing it, but saw that I was having a challenging time. I had only seen the doll get a sponge bath by the professional! Jackson took it like a champ! But boy did he look confused the first time he was actually in the water & not on the frog holder upper thingie.
The first two weeks were very difficult! I remember how hard the feedings were. I worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat. What if I don't produce enough & have to buy formula. Not that there is anything wrong with formula, in fact we sometimes supplement his eating with a bottle. We just didn't want the extra expense. And don't even get me started on the nipple issues! Justin could tell when Jackson got a latch, as I would gasp in pain! It even hurt to wear a bra! Nipple pain is no joke! Burping him was difficult for me at first. I would pat his back for several minutes & nothing, but the second I laid him down, instant crying! As I would pick him up, out comes a burp! I now have a system that works better. After feeding him, I burp him for a bit. If nothing comes out, I lay him in his crib & wait outside the door for a minute or so. If he needs to burp, he will start fussing & I will go back in to pat him.
Night time feedings were really tough. There were nights I would have to calm myself down before I went in his nursery. Dude, just eat a full meal & learn to sleep though the night! In would even try to make deals with God! Dear Lord, if you let me get a few consecutive hours of sleep, I promise to watch my road rage, I will watch my bad words everyday, not just Sundays, just please let me get a bit more sleep! Of course God has his own ways of doing things!
The first several weeks Jackson would fall asleep while feeding. At first I assumed that meant he was finished. But then he would be awake & hungry an hour later. Then I tried different things like blowing on his face, opening his outfit & blowing in his tummy, we tried putting a wet wash cloth on his face. I red blogs about what to do. What the other mothers said is pretty much what happened to us. As soon as we finally found a system that worked (more or less) is when he out grew that part & started eating more. I found the trick was to change his diaper in-between switching breasts. Now I just have to change his diaper at the beginning of the feeding & he will feed through both sides.
I used to dread the nighttime feedings. I have always needed my sleep. In college an all nighter was never an option for me. In the military I traded duties so I wouldn't have to post guard duty in the middle of the night. Now I actually jump out of bed to go feed him & that is only partly due to the leaky boobs that have soaked the front of my shirt! It is now another few minutes I get to spend with my precious baby.
That is another thing people don't warn pregnant women about: the leaky boobs! I member the first time I could squeeze milk out. I told Justin to come here & see this! When he got there, I accidentally squirted a spray right on his face! When the milk gets so full, it can be quite painful. Men, when your wife says "don't touch my boobs" trust me & do as they say! Justin has learned his lesson! After you have a baby, they aren't sexual objects, they are your child's lunch box.
Also if you are one of the "lucky" few to actually feel your milk come in, be prepared for pins & needles sensation in your breasts! I pray that you won't get an infection like I did. I didn't known you could get a yeast infection in that part of you body. Talk about discomfort!
I won't even get into the recovery of the lady flower part of your body! Thank goodness for the wonderful hospital nurses who sent home lots of the witch hazel pads, & those wonderful ice pack pads! I would have paid serious money for those! And that is all I want to say about that.
The last thing I will discuss is getting back into shape. While I feel very lucky to have already lost my pregnancy weight, I was overweight to begin with. I have a lot of Christmas cookie, & cheese weight to lose from before.
The first time I tried to work out (I use that term lightly) I went for a walk around an indoor track & considered it successful that I completed 3/7th of a mile. I started to feel light headed, so I stopped. I am now walking 30 minutes a day (+ other activities around the house). I thought I was doing pretty good until my cousin who gave birth to twins a day after Jackson was born, posted that she had gone running for an hour! That just makes me want to eat another cookie!
As I am typing this, I can feel my milk coming in for the next feeding, so it is time to call it a night! Until next time...
During our visit to the maternity ward we found a freezer full of frozen pads and couldn't figure out why....until it was our turn to be there. ha!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the exercise (and congrats on how far you have come). It has been an extremely tough road for me. I gained 70 lbs with Rachel and two years later I stil have another 30 to go. ugh! Since I had a C-section it was almost 6 months before it didn't hurt to exercise and by then I couldn't find time to fit it into my schedule. So, here I sit...fat. ugh.
Love you lots!