Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The first few days...

The first few days home have been fun. A little tiring of course. But Monday morning I put Andra in my hotsling and emptied the dishwasher and did a load of laundry while she snoozed. I won't lie, even just that tired me out!

We're figuring out the sleeping thing. Andra is a champion sleeper right now, which I really hope doesn't change! I might be lucky, as my mom said I slept so much as a baby she was convinced something was wrong with me (I followed a brother who never slept) and called the doctor a couple times. The first two nights (and the two in the hospital) were rough, because I had her in her Moses basket right next to me (first in bed, then on the couch) and every noise woke me up (if I was ever asleep, which I question). I ended up the first night having her sleep on her back on my chest, the second night was about half that and half in her basket. I get to go to bed a littler earlier (10 maybe) for some real sleep while Fred hangs out with her until she needs to eat again, or until after she eats (we're supplementing with formula at night, at the pediatrician yesterday she was still losing weight and my milk might just be coming in now, so the ped said to do it, which made me feel good...I was never against it, but breastfeeding isn't so bad after all and I started to question everything!). Last night she was super fussy even after the formula, so I got up around 12:30 to switch with him so he could sleep. Eventually, after a few cycles of putting her in her basket and letting her cry for 5 minutes (to the dot, I tried not to pick her up too early, the doctor said 5 minutes and I took her literally!), I had the brilliant idea of putting her basket in the bathroom with the fan on. Worked perfectly the second time! So I found a room fan, put it in her room, turned it on near her crib, and then put her in the basket in the crib. And I slept in my own bed 2 doors down. The fan (and distance) drowned out the little coos and stuff, but had she cried I would've heard it all. As it was, she didn't wake up once til I got her up around 7! I hope this is the new routine...because I actually slept (minus 2 trips to check on her when I woke up). An added bonus was that my cat got to sleep with me again (always our routine) and spent the rest of the night on my pillow purring. So we're all happy today!

Ok, I'm also going to post pictures of my post-baby belly. I gotta say, I'm amazed it went away so quickly. Don't get me wrong, it's doughy, my belly button is still really stretched out, and I'm not sure I have ab muscles any more, but we'll work on that in a week or so.

Oh, and one more thing...we took Andra to a holiday party last night. I stuck her in the sling where she was well-protected (but I could open it up to give people a peek) and slept for the whole 2 and a half hours (we stayed longer than we should have, I was tired by the end!). And second best to showing her off was hearing people say how good I looked for having given birth 4 days prior! It fed my ego just a bit, which is nice after a few months of looking pregnant! (And it REALLY helped that I read on Michelle's blog a few hours before we left that Moana had also been out to some parties, made me feel like I wasn't too crazy for bringing Andra out so early...although, no one even tried to touch her, I LOVE the sling!).

9 comments:

Melissa said...

I HATE YOU >>> NOT REALLY
Just wish I looked like that.
LOL
You look terrific
Hey check your email. Check out the pics i took at this workshop, it was an engagement type shoot. I will explain it to you later, but for now look at the pics, they are like night and day...NOW we have to pick a day to come down to take pictures of Andra.. SOON I hope..
xoxox

Anonymous said...

I'm glad things are going well. You look GREAT for having just had a baby! It does take time to get your body back, but it looks like you're well on your way already. Enjoy breastfeeding...it can be challenging at first, but it's totally worth it.

Debs M-C said...

OMG! You look amazing. I'm going to stick pictures of you on my fridge.

I really need to post another bump picture soon. I've got loads on my camera as well.

N.D. said...

Seriously - did you really just give birth? YOU LOOK AMAZING!!! I have never seen anyone's belly after and always was curious. You look unbelievable Clare!! And I feel like you are so mobile, taking her out! I was picturing being bedridden for days!!! You're inspiring!!! and it sounds like everything is great. Congrats again!

Aron said...

you look AMAZING!!!! wow!

my friend's turn on the vacuum when their baby gets fussy and it immediately calms him down :)

sounds like you are doing great!!! so fun she already went to her first holiday party :)

Michelle Simmons said...

I've been meaning to comment on this blog for hours but every time I sit down to start, Moana decides she wants to eat AGAIN. Anyway, glad you guys are getting some sleep! Enjoy it while it lasts. You may find that she goes through spurts of sleeping non-stop for days, followed by tons of wake time that includes a heck of a lot of eating, farting, pooping, and screaming. That's what we're dealing with here anyway. I'm hoping her sleep cycle comes back tomorrow!

And it is cool when people look at you and say NO WAY you gave birth a couple days ago. Awesome!

BTW, I started using the vacuum yesterday to get Moana to calm down. I don't do this if its a hungry cry, but if I know she's fed and clean and she's fussing anyway, I'll turn on the vacuum. It's like magic.

X-Country2 said...

All that pregnancy working out has TOTALLY paid off. You look great! Way to get out there with your adorable new baby.

Laura said...

Way to go Clare! I too found that I couldn't sleep with the baby in our room, but it took me 2 weeks to figure that out. Ian wasn't gaining weight so we started supplementing with formula at about 1 week (my milk was crazy, but he fell asleep every time he nursed). I did a combo of breastfeeding, formula, and pumping for 6 weeks and then switched to all formula. I just didn't have strong enough feelings about breastfeeding to stick with it because even though my nipples were fine, I really disliked the sucking sensation--made me super annoyed/irritated (not physically, mentally).
Slings are the best thing ever--I always wear Ian at the grocery store--he sleeps the whole time. I also wore him in a moby wrap around the house very often that first month--nbow he's at the point where we'll entertain himself on the floor for up to 15 minutes while I get things done. I should break out the moby wrap again though.

H said...

You look fabulous! Not for having a baby 4 days prior, just period. For having just had a baby--- WOWZA!

And omg, I am jealous-- where are the dark, deep stretchmarks over your belly? ;)