Baby Talk

Our poor baby has got SOMETHING going on.

He definitely doesn't cry all the time but he is more fussy than your average newborn. We originally thought it could be a dairy intolerance because he had a couple of yellow/mucous poops. But then the poops turned green which, according to our midwife, is more of a sign of a fore milk/hind milk imbalance. He is also gassy from both ends which is also a symptom of the milk imbalance. I am cutting out dairy just in case but my money's on the latter.

I did some research on the topic today and the reasons for imbalance can be: not feeding long enough on one breast before switching to the other or over supply. Again, my money's on the latter because I've only been offering one breast per feeding since the beginning and he eats for a long time. The best solution I found during my research today was block feeding. You use one breast every time your baby wants to eat for a set amount of time (usually around 2-4 hours) then switch and do the same for the other breast. I started trying to use this method this afternoon so I hope we start to see an improvement soon. It is so frustrating to know that something my body is doing is causing him so much discomfort. I know that once my milk regulates itself things will probably get better for him but I'd really love to help him sooner since it can take up to 6 weeks for things to level out. My heart just breaks for him whenever he's crying from discomfort and I can hear his little tummy gurgling away :(.

Wouldn't your heart break for him too???

I follow the blog of The Fitnessista and conveniently enough, she became pregnant just about a week and a half before me.  It was definitely fun to follow her pregnancy journey while I experienced mine and now the same thing is happening with our newborn journey (she typically posts about health/fitness/food and her pregnancy/baby related posts are found under the "Family" tab on her website).  A couple of days ago, she posted this video on her blog:

David and I watched with avid interest and ever since have been trying to interpret Ayden's cries.  Sometimes we hear it and get it right... but most of the time, it all just sounds the same.  We are slowly getting to know or little man and what he likes/dislikes and what his cries mean.  It's all part of the journey.

Have any of you ever dealt with a fore milk/hind milk imbalance?  What did you do to remedy the evil problem?  

There's A New Chef In Town

Today was another great day. I wore Ayden for most of the morning so he wasn't as fussy and got more sleep. He was starting to stay awake for most of the day which newborns aren't really supposed to be doing. I think it is another side effect of whatever ailment is making him so fussy. My goal was to get him to sleep more today and I'm proud to say, "mission accomplished" :). As I wore him, I spent the morning getting caught up on laundry and putting together our grocery list for this week.

I used to do 100% of the meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking; but ever since the week after Ayden's birth, David has taken more of an interest in the kitchen. I must admit that I am LOVING it! Not only is a man who cooks super sexy ;), but it's one more thing we can do together. We meal planned together yesterday morning then went to the grocery together tonight, where we found this fabulous apple:

Haha, so we might be 13 years old at heart...

And then we came home and prepped/cooked a meal together. I hope it's something he continues to enjoy because teamwork makes everything easier and more enjoyable. I can just see us now: we'll be one of those old couples you see in the movies who are standing side by side, swaying to music as they wash and dry the dishes by hand together (haha, a girl can dream can't she??).

The chef at work

His assistants :)

Fatherhood really does suit David. It has already made him even more responsible and mature than he was before (which says a lot because he's always been a very mature and responsible guy). He is going to be such a great role model for our son and I hope that Ayden will one day be as wonderful to a woman as his daddy is to me. <3

~Sarah

Super Bowl Sunday

Ayden got to go to his first Super Bowl gathering tonight.

 It was his first outing (besides a couple of quick grocery runs). We did okay other than getting there an hour later than we had planned... He has gotten so fussy here recently that we weren't sure how it would go. Before he was born we always said we wouldn't let a baby stop us from having fun. We subscribe to the idea that a baby falls into your life, you don't mold your life around him or her (within reason of course). We just don't want to lose ourselves; so fussy baby or not we, were getting out of the house for the Super Bowl! Overall he did great. He was fussy whenever he was awake but luckily he slept for most of the time. It was my first time nursing with my nursing cover and I definitely wasn't as smooth with it as I would have liked. Aparantely even that is a skill that requires practice before it's mastered. Who knew??

Ayden continues to grow and change everyday! It truly is amazing how much growing and developing happens in the first year. He is spending so much time awake during the day and is sleeping in 3 hour increments at night. He's also been eating like a champ. He's working very hard on multiplying his chins. Can't you just see the concentration?!?

Daddy's Boy

Guess who's 2 weeks old today?!?  This guy!

Looking back on the past two weeks, it's almost all a blur.  The emotion, adjustment and exhaustion really take over sometimes and it seems that no matter how hard you try to savor every moment, it's almost impossible to remember it all with clarity.  I am so glad I have been blogging daily through all of this.  Even with how crazy it's been, it's been equally as wonderful!  They say that the first two weeks are the most difficult and we made it!  The best part of hitting the two week mark is that we get to start showing Ayden the world!  We can't wait :).

This morning, Ayden was spending some time awake so his David played guitar for him.  He just sat and listened.  It was so cute to see his eyes widen and start looking around when he heard the sound.  We could tell he really was taking it all in.  We hope he grows to love music as much as his daddy. After our music session he was still awake so I got out a book that a good friend of ours got for him for one of our baby showers and read a few stories out of it.  He fell asleep listening to the sound of my voice and then we snuggled for a while while I wrote some thank you cards. That's where the picture above came in :).  I just love when he falls asleep on my chest.

When he woke up from his nap, Ayden was wearing his fussy pants.  We're not sure if it's a dairy intolerance, a fore milk/hind milk imbalance that's making him gassy, his little red, irritated toosh, or what but he's been pretty fussy the past couple of days.  I had changed him and nursed him and walked him around holding him in all kinds of positions but nothing was working for me.  We had company coming in 20 minutes and I was still in my PJs with yesterday's make up on.  David brought his swing into the bathroom and suggested that we put him in it for a bit and see if he could calm himself in it while we got ready.  We waited 5 or 10 minutes, talking to him the whole time, and he didn't calm so David got him out, held him nice and tight while swaying back and forth and talking to him; the next thing we knew, he was as calm as could be.  Daddy has the magic touch.  It was a relief to me to know that someone else has the ability to calm him.  David truly is my partner in this and it's so nice to know that once I've tried everything I've got, there's someone I can pass the baton to for a little while.  I am so lucky to have such a wonderful and involved hubby!

Some of you might be interested in a belly button update.  Last night, after our first salt treatment, the granuloma darkened just like the article said it would.  Over night it bled a tiny bit, then this morning it shriveled up and fell off.  This is what it looked like before our treatment today:

Looking much better!

As you can see, there's still a little something inside but we think one last treatment might actually do the trick!  We'll see how it looks tomorrow but as of right now, I think we'll be canceling our silver nitrate cauterization appointment.  To think that we treated it ourselves with a couple of pinches of sea salt!  We are not against medicine but it's always nice to find a natural remedy when you can :).  

So on that note, I will leave you with my most embarrassing mommy brain moment yet...

When David comes back upstairs after eating his breakfast in the mornings he gets back in bed to snuggle me for a little while before finishing getting ready for work.  Yesterday morning when he came up he told me that he had used the last of the salsa on his eggs.  I wanted to add it to our grocery list (which is in my phone in a note titled "Groceries") before I forgot.  In my sleepy mommy stupor, I open said grocery list note and though I was thinking salsa, I proceeded to type "groceries" onto the grocery list...  It took me a second to notice but once I realized that I had essentially reminded myself to purchase groceries at the grocery store all I could do was laugh! Oh my, the first of many moments like that I'm sure! :)

What was your most embarrassing mommy brain moment??

Is it Really Still Winter??

Today was a great day.  The only things on my to do list were to take care of this little guy:

 and myself (I hadn't been drinking enough water or snacking enough).  Because I had set my standards pretty low for the day, I succeeded big time!  I even took a nap, straightened up, ran a load of dishes, took the dog for a walk and did a load of diaper laundry!  I felt so good at the end of the day because I was able to go above and beyond my original goals (the fact that I was well fed/hydrated surely didn't hurt).  I've found the ticket... start small and whatever else gets done is an added bonus!  

As I mentioned in yesterday's post we have an appointment set for Ayden's belly button on Monday morning.  In the meantime, our midwife sent us a link to a website that discussed treating umbilical granulomas with salt.  The process takes three days so we decided to give it a try over the weekend just in case we can treat it without using the harsh silver nitrate.  You put a pinch of salt on the granuloma:

Let it sit for 30 minutes, then wipe it clean with a cotton ball soaked in boiled water.  You do it twice a day for three days and it's supposedly supposed to shrink it away.  We'll see... If it doesn't work, we'll be at the pediatrician on Monday morning.

The weather was absolutely amazing today!  

Is it really February?!?  The dog is getting cabin fever as badly as I have so I checked the weather forecast to see if we could get out for a walk and I couldn't believe  what I saw:

The 10 day forecast looks just as good.  I can't believe it's supposed to be winter!  I was worried that having a January baby would keep me from getting out and about but if Mother Nature keeps this up, we'll be getting all kinds of fresh air!

Now, I shall leave you with some unbelievable cuteness:

~Sarah

View From the Top

I tried to get some housework done today but someone else had other plans for me... Ayden was awake for most of the day and was fussy for a lot of that time.

"Who me?  Fussy?  No..."

He seemed to want to eat every hour or so. Maybe he's gearing up for his first growth spirt?? We also think it may be possible that he has a dairy intolerance so I've started cutting it out of my diet to see if it cheers him up a bit.  He was content when I wore him in the Moby Wrap but I can only wear it in small doses because it makes my upper back a little tired. I'll have to build the strength for it. I love wearing him in it, though, because I get to have this view:

So sweet. He always falls asleep as soon as he's in :). Needless to say, I have some work to do when it comes to juggling being a mommy and housewife... Anyone have any tips??

In other news, we had our first worrisome moment as parents last night. Ayden's umbilical stump finally fell off (YAY!) but left something a little strange behind. I took this picture of it...

Yikes!

...and sent it to our midwife who then forwarded it to a pediatrician friend of hers. She said it is an umbilical granuloma. After consulting with our good friend Google, we were comforted to find out that it is not serious and is treatable. I called his pediatrician and we have an appointment scheduled on Monday during which they will confirm that it is in fact a granuloma, then cauterize it with silver nitrate. When my mom stopped by today and took a look, she said I had the same thing as a baby and my belly button turned out to be your run of the mill innie so that was comforting as well. Just a first of many worrisome moments as parents under our belts. I will definitely update as we get it treated.

~ Sarah

Party With the Pets

Before Ayden came along, we already had two furry children.  We have a calico cat named Polly and a Siberian Husky named Maverick.  They are both great pets and we really weren't concerned with how they would adjust to our new addition.  They've had experience with children (they both did great with the little girl I was babysitting, as well as our nephews and niece) and they are both pretty easy going animals.

When we brought Ayden home, I honestly thought Maverick would have a little bit more difficult time adjusting than Polly but I was wrong.  Maverick does sniff Ayden every now and then, and shows a lot of interest when he cries, but for the most part he just keeps living his life the way he always did and having a baby in the house really hasn't seemed to phase him much.

Notice the husky on Ayden's outfit ;)

Polly on the other hand has given Ayden the stink eye since she first laid eyes on him.  She was lying on our bed when I brought our little bundle in and she immediately looked at him like she was thinking, "What is that squirmy thing?  You must get it off my bed immediately!"  We got home on Monday and she spent an entire week avoiding all of us.  She looked frazzled and was shedding profusely (both due to stress).  I was surprised she was handling it so poorly as she is usually a very curious and easy going cat.  Yesterday, she apparently couldn't take it anymore and had to get some lovin'.   I had just finished nursing Ayden and had him lying on my chest when she climbed up on the nursing pillow and snuggled as close as she could while still avoiding the baby.

She's been willing to share my lap with him ever since.  I know that in a few months, Ayden is going to take notice of his pets and find them fascinating. I don't know what it is about animals, but children always seem to connect with them instantly. I can't wait to see the relationships that he develops with them. If he's anything like I was as a child, he will be a BIG animal lover!