Thursday, June 30, 2011

More Summer Reading!

I know I mentioned a book review before, and here is another one.  Thanks to the BlogHer Book Club, I've gotten to read something that has me anxious for the series to continue.

So, if you like Twilight or the Sookie Stackhouse books, check out my review HERE and then go read this book!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The 1 Month Stats Are In!

Yesterday was our trip to the pediatrician.  Officially the 1 month visit.  Complete with immunization!

My little one has gained 3/4 of a pound and grown 3/4 of an inch.  This puts him at an even 9 pounds for weight and 21 inches in length, right in the 25th percentile.  If he keeps this up, and those hands stay that big, we are thinking that basketball may be the way to go....

Now, I have to go rescue daddy who slept wrong 2 nights ago and still is having issues with his neck.  He's being great about taking time with baby so I can get extra sleep, but he is in pain so I'm gonna let him off early.

Tomorrow we'll review the shot, how brave my little man was, and why we didn't drug him last night.

Friday, June 24, 2011

About the Cat....

Shadow has still not come to terms with what we brought home.

When I walked in from the hospital in May, it brought an end to the longest period of time that our cat has ever been left alone with strangers to feed him.

Needless to say he was very vocal, and incredibly anxious to be held and loved.

Something I couldn't do thanks to the c section.

And the little person I was holding instead of the furry cat.

It's been a long month, but I think we've reached a point where things aren't too bad.  The cat still won't really touch the little guy.  The closest to contact we've had is the cat sniffing his head.  Which for now is more than enough.

I'm just hoping that once our little one is crawling that this kitty will be nothing new.  That he'll be a part of everyday life so there is no temptation to try to touch him and follow him around in order to grab at his tail.

Course, if that isn't the case, it may be the incentive to crawl sooner in order to catch the furry thing....

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Feeding Time

My little angel face was born with a cleft lip and palate.  Technically, he has a double cleft in his palate, one on each side of his septum, resulting in a need for patience come feeding time.

I have to say that the medical team at the hospital was amazing.  He was only hours old when a nutritionist visited him, tested a few nipples out, and found one that accommodated his needs so he could latch on and eat.  We also were scheduled for a clinic they hold monthly to have him evaluated and review what steps would be taken to have everything corrected.

The down side to all this is that I wasn't able to breast feed.  It had been the goal, but I was okay with having to pump.  It wouldn't be a big deal - or so I thought.

I just did not have the urge to pump on a schedule.  Add to this the fact that there is no such thing as a breast pump for a large breasted woman, and we should just be happy I was able to get the colostrum pumped and in him before I was ready to chuck the whole apparatus out the living room window.

Seriously, how do they expect someone to do this?  I have a close friend who I remember saying once that she was afraid to breastfeed for fear of smothering the baby due to her large breast size.  I completely understand that fear, especially now.  These things get heavy when they are full!  Now try getting them in a position where you can pump milk from them....

It suddenly makes sense as to why cows have udders that hang down underneath them.  There is no need to try and manipulate them into a strange position for milking!

Back to the baby....

As of now, we've found a formula that doesn't bother him.  He has three of these special and expensive nipples to eat with.  And he is gaining weight and length at a rate that has me proud while also wanting to tell him to stop.

We don't have to go to the next clinic in July, but will in August to have him evaluated again.  My son will undergo surgery in September at some point to correct the cleft in his upper lip.  Then next Spring he will go back under the knife to have the palate corrected before it begins to impact his speech development.

And I thought having him immunized was going to be the roughest part of this first year....

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

What The Colonel Calls "Quality Time"

Tomorrow my son will be 4 weeks old.  And my incision is almost closed.

See, that is something we didn't know would be an issue when this whole c section thing was brought up.  Healing afterwards, especially for someone overweight and diabetic, could be a problem.

We came home from the hospital the Saturday after the baby was born, and had an appointment to see the Colonel that following Tuesday.  Monday, I noticed I was spotting/bleeding from my incision site.

You should know that I never looked at it.  Not even once.  My husband said that with the staples it reminded him of Frankenstein's neck, and that was enough to let me know that if I saw it I'd cry.

While in the hospital, the Colonel called to check on us and gave A his home number in case anything happened.  So when I said I was bleeding, A called the Colonel.  On Memorial Day.  At his home.  After dinner.

Turns out this was normal, I needed to take it easy, and rather than wait for our afternoon appointment he said to come to see him first thing.

And so began our daily visits to his office.  Again.

Apparently I had a defect of some kind in the center of the incision.  It basically resulted in a pocket that needed to be allowed to heal from the inside out in order to avoid that it would get infected as the skin closed on top of it.  To accomplish this, the staples were removed, and I was packed with saline soaked sterile gauze pads to keep the wound open.

That isn't the best part!

On top of this, the gauze needed to be changed daily.  Which was fine on weekdays, but on weekends?

And so A was given a lesson on basic wound treatment by the Colonel.  Which meant that each day I needed to lay still while holding open the incision area so he could remove gauze pads, dry the site, and then soak fresh gauze and repack the incision.

Last week we moved up to twice a day in order to get things moving a little.

Which, let's face it, isn't too bad once you get used to the routine.  I mean, at this point I should be healed in the next week, giving me a week before returning to work to be able to feel normal when wearing underwear.  And A has been a real trooper, with the Colonel thanking him for taking care of everything.

But when you throw in a newborn who doesn't understand why mommy and daddy may need to leave him to fuss if he happens to wake up in the middle of an incision session......

All I can say is it has been an interesting four weeks.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Almost 2 Weeks

My husband is still a little shocked by our son.

At a day shy of 2 weeks old, he is sleeping 4-6 hours at a time.  He awakens without screaming, just fussing because he is hungry.  With the cleft, feeding takes a little longer, and we are a little more watchful of burping regularly.  After food, a diaper change, and then quality time where we talk to him or just little him stretch out and look around him.

He's normally up for about 90 minutes, and then he fusses as he fights sleep, only to give in and begin the pattern again.

The only time we have had a mad little monster on our hands was a bought of gassiness.  Which just added to the vigilance on burping him regularly.

This was not what my husband expected.  He was really psyched for crying and screaming and no sleep.

Apparently the baby has disappointed him in this one.

Me?  I am getting plenty of sleep, A has taken back all housework, and when awake I spend my time inhaling my son's smell.

Which may be changing as of today.  Especially since someone lost his umbilical cord this morning.  And really could stand a real bath....

Monday, June 6, 2011

Reassurance in the Operating Room

Prior to the birth of my son, I have never had any procedure done that required any surgery at all.

Still have wisdom teeth, appendix, and tonsils.

I went in begin prepping and wasn't too nervous.  Believe it or not I was more worried about how A would deal with being in the room while everything was happening.  We were together during all the prep, and were separated for all of 10 minutes while I was walked into the actual OR and the spinal block was applied.

Once numb, they quickly settled me into position, erected the tent area so nothing could be seen, and then brought in A.

As he settled in beside my head I smiled up at him and told him I knew it was going to be okay.  Did he want to know how?

He smiled and said he did.

That's when I told him that the radio in the OR was playing The Scorpions "Rock You Like a Hurricane" when I first was brought into the room and set up.

He laughed and agreed it was a good sign.

Next thing we knew, we were parents.....

Friday, June 3, 2011

My Heart Melts

The night before we made our family a party of three there was a flurry of packing and last minute prepping.  Trash was taken out, all dishes done, bags packed, and crib ready to go for the return home.

During this, we were talking about different things and I suddenly realized I had never seen my husband holding a small child before.

So I asked if he has actually ever held a baby.

And he admitted no.  He had no idea what to do, what was going to happen, and was not sure what was going to happen.

The next morning, as I was taken to recovery, they asked him if he wanted to hold his son.  He honestly told the nurse he had never held a baby before and had no idea what to do.

A minute later I looked up and they had settled the baby in his arms and he was smiling at his son.

A week later and he races to get him when awakens so they can talk and spend time together.  He is changing diapers, making bottles, and rocking this tiny version of him to sleep

And every time I look at them together, my heart melts and I feel so blessed.  I have my little family, they love one another, and everything is finally as it should be....

Thursday, June 2, 2011

It's been a week..

And it still feels like I just met my son yesterday.

I wish I had a clever story to tell you about how everything went down.  But it was actually all pretty standard.

We walked in to see the Colonel on the 23rd and he greeted us with the paperwork for the c section.  He had us scheduled as his first surgery on the 25th, and already had our pre-op lab work scheduled for the 24th.

Hospital transportation was arranged, and next thing you know I'm on the table, A is in the room near my head, and they've started the procedure.

And when I heard him crying for the first time it was all I could do to not beg to be let up to hold him.



He hasn't left our side since then.  There was no need for a NICU visit, and other than to check weight and stats we lived in a hospital room together for 4 days.  Now we've been home since Saturday, and we have the most laid back little boy.  There is no crying, he sleeps well in his own crib, and eats like a champ.  At his 1 week check in with the pediatrician he was only down 2 ounces from his original birth weight.  Everyone is impressed with him.

And OMG does he have everyone wrapped around his finger.  Especially his granny.

We do have 1 challenge, and that will be correcting the cleft lip and palette he was born with.  It's a minor problem, has prevented actual breastfeeding, but hasn't stopped him from eating well at each feeding.  And everyone who has seen him thinks it's the cutest grin when he gives one.

Which is all the time.

So we are on to the next step in our lives together.  My husband has become an amazing father overnight, and our son fits right in with life here.

Now, it's time for another nap...