Halloweenie and Better Days

I am determined that today will be a better day!

Alan and I got some *us time in this morning. I woke up with the baby at 4am and he got up at 5am so we had some time to talk and enjoy each others company before he had to get ready for work. Nice.

I am so thankful for coffee and my Keurig coffee maker. It makes the most delicious coffee ever and was seriously worth the $100 we spent on it. Best buy of the year in this household!

I am really looking forward to this weekend. Spending time with Miche and also a Halloween party. I may have a last minute costume change but I'm not sure yet. I've had a hard time finding something for Henry to wear so it'll be interesting to see what he goes as....

Sir Frowny Face in my Face

Today is one of those days where if you were considering having a child I'd have you come over and observe. So you would know what you're possibly in for. My poor sweet child is wicked, angry has flailing limbs and not to be messed with today. I know he's full, fed, clean, non-over stimulated, in other words there is nothing wrong with him. But he has been crying for over 4 hours now. It was the same yesterday. I am going to call the doctor in the morning and see if we can get in. It's really hard to watch your kiddo be so inconsolable and it's maddening to me. Of course when Alan gets home he's peaches and cream, but that won't be for hours.

Perhaps it's the formula I am using? We supplement breastfeeding with formula, so maybe one of them is irritating him. I also noticed his nose was a little stuffy, too.

On top of that “The Fat” (my cat Ginger) is driving me batty running around grooming herself compulsively, pulling her fur out and lick, lick, licking.

I've cried a lot today.

Tiny Treasures Tuesday V1

Henry, I have to tell you something.

You are part dinosaur. Pterodactyl or something. You make these screeching, scary, bigger than a bird type noises in your sleep while tensing up your little body and throwing your arms in the air like “heeeyyyy, party people in the house!”.

You're also what I like to call an “all business baby”. You're not messing around when your hungry, need a diaper change, want to be held, are bored, etc. It's all pretty clear to me when I listen to my intuition. That's the most amazing thing, too. All I do is look at you and then listen to my heart (as corny as that sounds) and I just know what to do to comfort you. Now, that's not to say you don't keep me on my toes – you certainly do. There are definitely times I have no idea what you want and nothing satisfies, like today. Those are the days that we sometimes cry together as I rock you in my arms.

The days go by so fast. Before I know it, it's 2pm and I haven't showered, brushed my teeth, ate, etc. I've only accomplished taking care of you and a cup of coffee or two. That's enough some days, don't ya think?

When your Daddy gets home I give him 10 minutes or so and pass you off to him. He'll feed you a bottle, talk to you about his day, show you flashcards and work on tummy time on the floor. It's lovely to see him love you so much and vice versa.

Every day is still so exciting and new. We're still in shock that you're ours forever and ever and we're in awe of everything you do – even if it's just a fart.

Say Goodmorning

This is how we get up in the morning


.

See, my husband and I work the getting up in the middle of the night thing like this: I have bedtime until 4am and he has 4am until 7am when he gets ready for work. Alan brings him to me in bed in a boppy with a bottle unless Henry is asleep in his crib (rare). So we nap on and off, most times getting up at 7:30-8am. The 4am-7am is the only real solid sleep I get every night. I do have faith it will improve though!

It's a Frivality Thing

One thing that you just HAD TO HAVE when you found out you were expecting? I'm talking about the item that no matter how many people tell you not to waste your time you still had to have it and you didn't care. Mine was the Diaper Genie. I even got mine give to me by Miche so as a bonus, I didn't even have to BUY my item.

The point is I'm quickly finding out that it's not all it's cracked up to be. It's mainly the cost of the refills that get me. Almost $5.00! So we're going to be doing something different.

My other had to have frivolous item was a Moses Basket. I also got a hand me down on that as well. I totally used that Moses Basket and Sir Henry slept in our room in it for the first week of his life.

The Sir

This is my baby boy who is now 3 weeks old and 9lbs. Sir Henry:

Please ignore the giant under eye circles. We're not sleeping well quite yet. :)

I'm Going There

So, for my first blog I'd like to talk about something many women struggle with: the decision to breastfeed. The information available to educate yourself on is immense. There are classes, books upon books, articles, websites, family members, friends, etc. Everyone has a different story, experience and advice to give you even if you do not want to hear it.

People will tell you horror stories or even try and guilt you into doing it. In the end you have to be strong and know that the decision you make is the right one for you and baby. Even if it is formula. Others have no right to judge your decision - AT ALL. In fact, if I had to do it all over again I would have never told anyone about my breastfeeding decisions. (keep that in mind, future mommy's). It's a conversation subject as dangerous as abortion or politics and I am NOT being a drama queen.

This is my experience: I really struggle with this decision. Every day. In my mind I KNEW it was the right thing to do but I wasn't all excited about having my baby suckling from me day and night. It makes me feel like I am Moo-Moo Milk'm Cow. I'm being honest when I say this and I mean not to offend anyone, but, it just felt wrong and icky to me. It's something I've had to work through every feeding. The hospital stay was horrible. It seemed like every person who walked through that door demanded to see my tits and see my boy latch on to them. It didn't help that my baby was born C-section, had a hard time latching on and that my milk didn't come in until day 6.

I've made it three weeks now and each feeding is different. Sometimes I don't mind and other times I feel sick over it. There are days I'm ready to throw in the towel and other days when I think "Hey, this isn't so bad at all". I also have pressure from my husband to keep it up for at least 6 months. I'm not sure that's realistic for me. This Tuesday when it's a month I will celebrate a small victory and perhaps set another goal of 2 more weeks and see how it goes. One of the main incentives (besides the health factor and $$ factor)is that I'll be flying with Henry in December and I am a freak show right now about germs and H1N1. I know that me breastfeeding until at least then will give him a boost.

Ladies and Gentleman, that's where I stand.

New Attempt

This is my attempt at a more family friendly mommy blog. I hope to update frequently with lots of pictures and updates on my son, Sir Henry.