Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Saturday Night


Saturday night, we had a sitter for our 2 month old so we could go to the pub together. Several of our friends were going to be there that night. One friend, the lead singer in the band, was having surgery Monday and wouldn't be back for at least 3 weeks to play music. Another friend was celebrating a new job he had just gotten. So it was a special night to go out.

Several times during the week, Hubby had mentioned that he wanted to see me in a dress for the occasion. Now, while I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, that's not to say I'm the same shape anymore. Belly skin is still floppy and there is NOOOooooo muscle tone under that. BUT, if I wore my ballet tights, they might hide that because they're pretty tight at the top.

Aside rant on pantyhose: Why the heck do those things have to be so stinkin' tight at the top? Why must we all be so uncomfortable? I remember in High School - HIGH SCHOOL!! - when I was 5 ft 9 inches and a whoppin' 110 lbs - little Miss Auschwitz - and I thought those things were too tight at the waist. If they were too tight on me THEN, who exactly are these things made for?! I am by no means 110 lbs anymore, by the way, but am a much healthier weight with a few extra dimples.

So I put on my ballet tights. And I put on my extremely sexy red dress that usually....um.... causes a delay in our departure. Hubby comes out of the bathroom and I give him a "TADAAA" type pose. "Hmmm" he says, eyebrows way down and mouth to one side. "Could you wear a bra with that?" This is not a question that has ever come up with this dress before. "I could, but why?" "What if you lactate?" Certainly not a question that has ever come up with this dress before. "I could be prepared for that." Darling son, bouncing in his bouncy seat at my feet gives a small shriek then a whimper in his sleep. Instantly, I, of course, lactate. "DA&%#$!!" Hubby says, "can you even wash that dress?" "I have no idea! Hand me a tissue."

While standing there trying to hold my dress so I can't leak on it any more, it crosses my mind to ask Hubby if, basically, I've still got it. Then it crosses my mind that at this moment, he might say, "well, yeah" in a thoroughly unconvincing way. That might just completely ruin my good mood for an evening out. I decide not to ask. Then Hubby says "why don't we go for something less overtly sexual." Ouch. I manage to not let that really sink in and ruin my evening. "OK, what do you suggest?" "How about your tartan skirt and those great boots?" This is still a sexy outfit and does not look at all motherly. It's the Catholic schoolgirl type of sexy outfit that you might still wear to church. I have worn it to church minus the 3.5 inch heel boots. "Alright, that sounds good."

My friend comes over to watch our baby boy and brings her grown daughter too. I leave them far too many instructions, kiss my child, and go. We have a great time at the pub! I sit with my good friend we have fun. I had said that I would only stay until 11pm because my babysitting friend had to be at church at 8:30 in the morning. I knew I'd be zonked by then anyway. Sure enough, I had trouble making it to 11pm. I only made it to 11pm because our waiter didn't split our check and we made him re-do it.

During the previous several days, our little boy would start getting really upset about 90 minutes after I fed him. We thought it was gas and would treat it as such, with little success. Typically, I'm not willing to feed him more often than every 2 hours. One of my babysitting friends had on a sleeveless top. 90 minutes after they gave him a bottle, Quint tried to "suck Kathryn's arm off" and they determined that perhaps he was hungry. Duh! Mom and I had had on sweaters which he didn't try to nurse on during his "gas". So they found and defrosted some frozen breastmilk and fed him that. All of that. That makes 8 ounces he's eaten in the span of 2 hours. He didn't spit any up either. Wow. I guess he's only been hungry the last couple days when he's been pitching a fit after 90 minutes. My sitters thought he wouldn't be hungry again for quite some time. They fed him the second bottle at 11pm. He woke up wanting to eat again at 2am. And again at 6am. Expect a growth spurt any moment now.

Wonderfully cute things he's started doing lately: At the 4 or 5am feeding and diaper change, I can almost always get a series of smiles out of him. That's a great reward. Also, when I'm switching from one side to the other while nursing, he will point one finger at his mouth like "I still need more in here Mom!" Very cute, this pointing at his pie hole.

Yesterday it was chilly here and I was taking him out for errands. I put some pants over his onesie and set him back in his bouncy seat for a minute to finish getting ready. Then I noticed that he had a dunlap. As in his belly dun lapped over his belt. No 2 month old should have that. So I went through all his pants checking sizes. Apparently he's out of the 0-3 month size in pants now and is on to the 3-6 month pants.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Laundry woes and daycare reassurances

My sister had mentioned how annoying baby laundry could be, but I didn't get it. Until last night.

Usually with a load of whites, it consists of Hubby's undershirts, over shirts, socks, washrags, hankies, and towels. That's 6 items, and typically pretty tall stacks. Last night I had a whole load of whites and there were two of about 15 kinds of items, making a huge spread of tiny stacks. After folding and sorting it, I felt like I'd made a big mess. Two onesies, two sleepers, two bibs, two baby socks, two me socks, two undershirts, two over shirts, two towels, two hankies, two washrags, two baby blankets, and two burp rags. Annoying, but certainly not the worst thing in the world.

Today, I managed to go to the daycare for a couple hours and I feel much better about things. It crossed my mind while nursing him this morning that I could pop over there this morning. How odd for that thought to not be scary. So I finished nursing, brushed my teeth for everyone's safety, and went before I could think about it. It was a good visit and not really unpleasant. I stayed 2 hours, was told about all their regular procedures, met everyone, watched a lunchtime, and got to watch everything. The women were friendly and liked the babies. They were realistic about bumps (Isabella, you're alright, just get back up) and cuddled the bottle babies while feeding them. The biggest thing to me, was that the babies were all pretty darn happy. One little guy smiled at me whenever I caught his eye. Even when one baby was having a near meltdown because she was READY for her lunch would smile as soon as I spoke to her. The delay for her lunch was due to finishing cleaning up after another child's lunch and preparing her lunch. The same kind of delay I make Quint have when he wants to eat, but I need to go to the bathroom and gather a couple things before sitting down to nurse. None of the babies were neglected when they needed something. When a baby woke up grumpy, they tried to get them to sleep a bit longer. When they woke up happy, they would put them on the floor to play.

I was very reassured and only cried twice. They have no bouncy seat or swing, and my little guy dearly loves to sit in his vibrating seat. He'll have to get over it, which will not be fun for the staff.

Today I have been quite productive!
I ate leftovers!
I visited the daycare
I brushed my teeth (this doesn't always make the list)
I picked out pictures to print since the birth
I actually printed those pictures
I packed up maternity clothes to send to my sister
I blogged
I balanced the checkbook
I had a video visit with my sister in law
I talked to my mother for 30 minutes

My lower back has been a bit tight so I exercised it a bit today. A new goal of mine is to exercise each day. That sounds rather lofty until you hear my actual plan. I hope to exercise for at least 10 minutes a day. Oh yeah, I'm setting that bar HIGH! Crunches, squats, or toe touches. We'll see how that goes.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Pea Pod




For Halloween our little guy was a pea pod! Isn't he cute! He will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. He has started responding to us more and more. We usually get at least a smile a day. My face is a comfort to him, even when I just show up at his swing. When we stick out our tongue at him, he sticks his out at us. He is now interested in toys dangled in front of his face and will track them, left and right. He is now content to gurgle, coo, and wiggle in his crib in the morning if he isn't hungry or dirty.

He spent his first times in the church nursery this week. One hour on THursday for choir practice and the whole time for Sunday church. I managed to not bolt from the service at any point to go check on him, but that was mostly because we were singing special music during the communion at the very end of the service. Otherwise, I would have been outa there!

One day this week, I really need to go to the daycare and have us both hang out in the baby room. That will be just LOADS of fun. I need to take a box of tissues, I'm sure.