Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Non-stop feeding
Well, it's not really non-stop. It just feels like it. Elizabeth woke up at 3am, then again at 6am this morning, so I was tired before I'd even started. From six am she fed intermittently (40 min feed, 10-20 min chatting, 10 min feed, doze, 10 min feed etc) up until 10.05am. I start to imagine that she will never fall asleep again. I'm in my pyjamas, haven't had breakfast and the list of things to do grows. She is now asleep in her big cot, and I am tip-toeing around the house in a state of heightened anxiety. I've washed the dishes and put away the plates from yesterday's pancake making. The blinds are open. The post is opened. I've paid a bill online. I've sorted the washing and put the powder in the machine but can't make up a full load until I can get in the nursery, and I'm not going in at the moment. I'm beginning to learn where to tread to avoid creaking stairs... I've had a shower, done my make-up and hair and am about ready to go so that when Elizabeth does wake up we can feed, change and then go out, perhaps for a walk to post some letters... I can't seem to get on with normal tasks because it seems that 'any minute' she will wake up so it isn't worth starting anything. That is the joy of the internet. You can pick it up and put it down instantly, unlike almost anything else. I don't know what Mum's did before the internet. This morning I've been checking the status of our cooker which is being sold on e-bay to raise funds for our holiday. The auction ends this afternoon, along with some of my sports books - throwbacks to my younger years when I had hobbies of my own! I've paid a bill and checked our current account, and looked at the 0-3 month Bounty boards. I've been investigating swimming lessons for Elizabeth, although they seems to be a 'London thing'. Still she sleeps...
Tuesday, 20 February 2007
One small step...
Elizabeth had her injections last Thursday (15th February) and seem to fare worse this time around. She was fine immediately after the injections, but didn't sleep properly on Thursday or Friday night (in fact Friday night she was more like a newborn, waking every three hours).
She went to her first party on Friday 16th February - her little friend from the breast feeding support group was 1. It was interesting to see how I have become a 'Mummy' and look forward to activities such as this to share with Elizabeth. I also saw how the other half live, and immediately came home to check house prices in the area where the party was. We all took a drive out to the village on Sunday and decided that the rural life will definitely be for us, one day.
After being 'coldy' for much of the weekend Elizabeth seems a little bit more like her old self today. She wore her stripey dress (a present from when she was born) and if it wasn't for the big scratch on her right cheek she would have looked perfect. She enjoyed the support group this morning - we sat on the mat and she played with her little friends, and she also had some tummy time and people remarked on how strong she was. We came home and I converted the pram to a pushchair just to see - she's a bit lost in it at the moment, and having checked the message boards I don't think she'll be ready for it for about another 8 weeks. But, she might be ready for her big cot.
The Health Visitor came yesterday and I mentioned that Elizabeth was now waking early in the morning (typically 3 or 4am). She suggested moving her into the big cot. I bought the sheets and blanket yesterday, washed them, dried them, then set it up last night. We came home from the baby group, she fed briefly then I put her down in her big cot. She cried initially so I picked her up and calmed her down, then she went down with her eyes open and closed them the minute her head touched the mattress. I snugged her in with her new blanket and couldn't believe it - she was soundly asleep. What a massive achievement! Something that you want to shout from the rooftops but of course there is nobody here to share it with!
She went to her first party on Friday 16th February - her little friend from the breast feeding support group was 1. It was interesting to see how I have become a 'Mummy' and look forward to activities such as this to share with Elizabeth. I also saw how the other half live, and immediately came home to check house prices in the area where the party was. We all took a drive out to the village on Sunday and decided that the rural life will definitely be for us, one day.
After being 'coldy' for much of the weekend Elizabeth seems a little bit more like her old self today. She wore her stripey dress (a present from when she was born) and if it wasn't for the big scratch on her right cheek she would have looked perfect. She enjoyed the support group this morning - we sat on the mat and she played with her little friends, and she also had some tummy time and people remarked on how strong she was. We came home and I converted the pram to a pushchair just to see - she's a bit lost in it at the moment, and having checked the message boards I don't think she'll be ready for it for about another 8 weeks. But, she might be ready for her big cot.
The Health Visitor came yesterday and I mentioned that Elizabeth was now waking early in the morning (typically 3 or 4am). She suggested moving her into the big cot. I bought the sheets and blanket yesterday, washed them, dried them, then set it up last night. We came home from the baby group, she fed briefly then I put her down in her big cot. She cried initially so I picked her up and calmed her down, then she went down with her eyes open and closed them the minute her head touched the mattress. I snugged her in with her new blanket and couldn't believe it - she was soundly asleep. What a massive achievement! Something that you want to shout from the rooftops but of course there is nobody here to share it with!
Thursday, 8 February 2007
more lessons learned
Pushed myself to go on the breastfeeding support group's trip out to a local cafe, even though it meant getting up at 6am and stressing to get Elizabeth ready. I hadn't banked on the fact that I'd have to walk from the carpark to the cafe carrying the car seat with Elizabeth in it (downside of our pram system - too big to take into cafes really). When we got there I was presently surprised to see how alert Elizabeth was, looking around at all the goings on which made it all worthwhile. If it wasn't for this, and the nice chocolate muffin I managed to eat one-handedly, I'd have questioned whether it was worth the effort, particularly when I found myself kneeling on the floor of a very small toilet cubicle changing a very dirty nappy. It had leaked and Elizabeth's tights were promptly pulled off - but I didn't have any spare so she had to wear a sleepsuit for the rest of the morning! Mental note - take spares on future outings (thankfully I had a spare vest, sleepsuit and importantly nappy wrap).
She has been weighed - now 13lb. She's feeding so frequently so must be hungry - about every two hours at the moment, but still sleeping through the night. In fact, our attempts to bring her bed time forward have been successful - she slept from 8.50pm last night, so doing the bath earlier has worked.
Not much success trying new nappy folds, I don't think the 'poo catcher' or the 'bat fold' are up to much, both resulted in leaks at the leg. The kitefold resulted in quite a spectacular leak up the back this morning, so I'm standing by with a Jo-fold to try when Elizabeth wakes up.
She saw her first snow today, and because the nationwide blanket of snow had fallen I rang to cancel my 'talk about' appointment at the hospital where I was due to go through the finer details of my labour. I'll go next Wednesday instead.
I've just ordered the next size wrap for Elizabeth for when she's 20lb (ish). Chose another design to go with the ocean and wetland design - rainforest. Also ordered more sanitiser and calendula nappy change cream, after having searched high and low on the internet for a cheaper price opted to stick with the Nappylady.
She has been weighed - now 13lb. She's feeding so frequently so must be hungry - about every two hours at the moment, but still sleeping through the night. In fact, our attempts to bring her bed time forward have been successful - she slept from 8.50pm last night, so doing the bath earlier has worked.
Not much success trying new nappy folds, I don't think the 'poo catcher' or the 'bat fold' are up to much, both resulted in leaks at the leg. The kitefold resulted in quite a spectacular leak up the back this morning, so I'm standing by with a Jo-fold to try when Elizabeth wakes up.
She saw her first snow today, and because the nationwide blanket of snow had fallen I rang to cancel my 'talk about' appointment at the hospital where I was due to go through the finer details of my labour. I'll go next Wednesday instead.
I've just ordered the next size wrap for Elizabeth for when she's 20lb (ish). Chose another design to go with the ocean and wetland design - rainforest. Also ordered more sanitiser and calendula nappy change cream, after having searched high and low on the internet for a cheaper price opted to stick with the Nappylady.
Thursday, 1 February 2007
Nappy experimentation
After a hectic day yesterday (growth spurt?) I have magically got some time today. Elizabeth fed this morning at around 10.30am, then I noted the early signs of tiredness and wrapped her up and put her down in her cot. She was full of big smiles so I didn't think she'd settle, so I stayed with her for a few minutes and stroked her head. Very surprised that three hours later she is still asleep!
During this prolonged nap I cleaned the bathroom, had lunch, then started researching terry folds on the internet, as the other thing that has kept me busy over the last couple of days is some explosive nappies that have resulted in full-scale outfit changes. Thus far we've been using the kite fold because that is what my Mum used, but it isn't really satisfactory as it is too bulky, and leaves too much space around the legs which is where the leaks result from. I've grappled with the diagrams on the Nappylady website. A couple seem to be missing a vital instruction and I can't make sense of the picture so I've left those aside, but I've made up a few experimental folds and am now eagerly awaiting the lunch-time feed so that I can try a new one on Elizabeth!
During this prolonged nap I cleaned the bathroom, had lunch, then started researching terry folds on the internet, as the other thing that has kept me busy over the last couple of days is some explosive nappies that have resulted in full-scale outfit changes. Thus far we've been using the kite fold because that is what my Mum used, but it isn't really satisfactory as it is too bulky, and leaves too much space around the legs which is where the leaks result from. I've grappled with the diagrams on the Nappylady website. A couple seem to be missing a vital instruction and I can't make sense of the picture so I've left those aside, but I've made up a few experimental folds and am now eagerly awaiting the lunch-time feed so that I can try a new one on Elizabeth!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)