Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Checking In

It's been a few weeks since my last post. I am doing much better now that I am no longer breast feeding/pumping. All is healed, and all though I loved that time with Kaya, Jimi and I just never got into a good place with breast feeding. He started his first few days of life in the NICU with IVs, and then bottle fed, so he only at best tolerated breast feeding, and pumping and bottle feeding just wasn't going to work long term for me.

Jimi is getting into somewhat of a routine. He eats about 6 oz every 3-4 hours and then at night he sleeps about 4-5 hour spurts so I'm only waking once around midnight or 1:00, then I'm up at 5:00 for the day for his next feeding, getting Kaya ready for school and out to the bus stop. I'm getting around 6-7 hours of sleep off and on each night, and I've gotten used to it.

Kaya loves Jimi so much, but she has had a bit of a hard time coming to terms that she is not the center of the universe. It could be a mixture of her age and the fact that we have a new family member, but she is getting in trouble (albeit small trouble) at school now, and we are going through at least 3 melt downs a week at home where she won't do as she is asked. She gets punished, then she breaks down because she got punished...fun times. She is a sweet, beautiful girl, and we are all getting through it. We know it is a big adjustment for her. She stayed home this morning from school with a rash, I already had an appt at the pediatrician for Jimi's check up so she went in with us. She had an allergic reaction to something, and is being put on steroids for 2 days and then claritin. She was soo not happy that I just dropped her off at school.

Joey has comfort issues with newborns. He feels really uncomfortable holding and entertaining an infant that can't quite hold himself up yet, and fusses a good part of the evening. So he takes on the household duties and Kaya, and I have Jimi duty. We did this same thing when we had Kaya, and by the time they get to be around 5 or 6 months, he pitches in with them, and things get back to normal. But in the mean time I'm pretty much solely responsible for Jimi, minus a few changes of diapers, and a few spurts of Joey watching a sleeping, easy baby. Don't get me wrong, he loves hanging with Jimi, but only if I am there as his security in case he starts crying...

I am doing ok. I am slightly dreading going back to work. I am ready to be part of the adult world again, but I have loved my time home and will really miss this newborn stage since we are positive Jimi is our last child. I have started weight watchers again, and have lost around 5 lbs so far, but I have about 30 more to go...yeesh! I just came back from taking Jimi to his checkup and I had to seriously fight the urge to stop at the McDonalds right around the corner...I was good and came home and had a carton of peach yogurt, all the while imagining I was eating an egg mcmuffin. I am trying to psych myself up to start going to a gym, but maybe that will come later.

So Jimi had his 2 month checkup today, he will be 10 weeks tomorrow. He is doing well, she told me to cut down on his feedings...how do you do that when the child is hungry all the time? She said it is not that he is hungry but that he wants to suck. Well, I've tried the pacifier and I hold out as long as I can, but when he cries and head buts you and roots until you give him a bottle, I call that hunger. I could cut back on the amount, but then instead of being hungry every 3-4 hours, it would be every 2 hours, and that is making backwards progress in my opinion. I will at least try to cut back an ounce each feeding and see how that does. He weighs in at 11 lbs, 4 oz and is 22 inches long. That is 50th percentile for weight and 25th for height. He also has demonstrated a tendency to hyper extend his head a lot, so she suggested an xray to rule out scoliosis, but she did a quick test while we were there because he was doing it at the time, and when she turned the light off, he returned his head to normal. Light on...hyper extended, off, normal. So she is really just doing an x ray to be cautious. He got several shots and is now sleeping them off.

As far as what is going on in the world...when did gas prices suddenly get this high? I will admit, I never pay attention to the price of gas...until a few weeks ago when Joey told me it cost $75 to fill up my van? Of course my gas lasts about 2 weeks, but still..sheesh! As far as the presidential race goes. I rarely get involved with politics, because for years I have said they are all crooks and I don't have any faith in any part of the process. But, I will say this... I believe that Obama and McCain are honest men...well, as honest as a politician can get. McCain is a moderate conservative that votes his conscious. I may not agree with every policy, but at least he doesn't always let his uber conservative counterparts sway his vote. Obama I believe is the same way, and I agree with more of his ideas and beliefs. Hillary is just evil incarnate. I have nothing else to say about her, I liked Bill, but not her. I will more then likely vote for Obama, unless he does something stupid like asking Clinton or another idiot as his running mate.

Ok, I think that is enough sharing for now. I will post pics later.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mothers Day

I made a list of things I wanted for Mothers Day. I want Kaya to clean her room, Joey to install new mini blinds in the kids rooms, clean the kitchen, and litter box. He also bought a baby swing for Jimi as a surprise to me yesterday after a particularly rough day where he was up nonstop from 7 am to 5 pm, 90% of the time crying. I got 2 dozen roses from my boss, who dropped them by yesterday so she could see Jimi again. Today we are going to Suzy's for dinner and a joint mom's Day/birthday party for Shannon.
***EDITED*** TOO MUCH INFO***
For the last month, I have been battling with a tear in my breast from feeding. It is very painful every time I have to feed him or pump, and is bleeds. I have tried several suggestions from a lactation consultant to heal it, and some cream from my obgyn, but nothing is helping. It keeps getting infected, so after much thought, and a lot of pain, I stopped breast feeding as of last night. I still have about 200 oz of milk frozen from being an "over producer" so for now he will be getting half stored milk, half formula. I just don't see why I need to make myself miserable just to breastfeed... of course now I'm swollen and in a whole other kind of pain, engorgement.

I have about 5 weeks before I go back to work, the time has already gone by so fast. I have mixed feelings with going back, I miss the mental stimulation and adult interaction, but I love being off work raising Jimi.

Oh well, I'm off to get my morning cup of coffee, now that I'm not breastfeeding anymore, I can have all the coffee I want.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Trip to the Portrait Studio






I just spent about 15 minutes blogging on the grueling 2 hours spent at Portrait Innovations with my kids yesterday. After proofreading my post, I decided to erase it because even though it was really tough handling both kids and their various tantrums, they are only going to be this age once, and I don't want to dwell on the bad parts of the day. So here are some pretty amazing shots of my 2 beautiful kids.


Friday, May 2, 2008

1 month checkup






































Jimi had his 1 month checkup on Monday. He now weighs a whopping 8 lbs 8 oz, and is 21.5 inches long. He is eating well and although his doctor thought he may have an inguinal hernia, after going to a pediatric surgeon on Wed, he is fine...he just has a hydrocele, which is a big word for built up fluid.







He is getting chubby cheeks and is fuzzy and cuddly and sweet and I am so in love with that little boy! He is still wobbly headed, doesn't like tummy time and has this cute little sideways smirk that makes me melt whenever I see it.







He was 6 weeks old yesterday and I have roughly 6 weeks left of maternity leave...eek! Why does that send me into panic mode? I'm sure by the time it gets closer I will be more then ready to join the adult world again...I do miss my fast paced job, just not the uber stress that goes along with it.