Darren came home on Thursday night, late. We had a nice day on Friday and went out to dinner with Eric and Angela on Friday night. Then Darren left again first thing Saturday morning and I am by myself again through Friday night. This is going to be an extremely long week. Saturday and Sunday were tough. There was a lot of fussiness, and a little bit of sleep. I know this is normal, but I don't like handling it all by myself. I like the break that having Darren around gives me. I know he wants to be home too. The extra money from him being in NY is nice, but I'm really hoping we don't have to do it again next month. I'd rather have him home. I haven't been out of the house since I took him to the airport at 6am Saturday morning. I am going to take Natali out to walk around the mall today. We need to just go out for a while and its still too hot for me to want to walk around the neighborhood. I'd like to go today even though it might be busy with Labor Day because tomorrow we are supposed to be getting a tropical system moving through and they are predicting heavy rain and possible flooding.
I think the hardest part of being with Natali by myself is her unpredictable sleep patterns. If I knew when and how long she would be asleep for it would so much easier for me. I will put her down and try to start something and then I have a screaming baby 5 or 10 minutes later and a half finished task that sits there until who knows when. Other times I put her down thinking she will wake up soon, but she sleeps for 3 hours and the whole time she is asleep I'm afraid to start anything because she might wake up any minute. That is the most frustrating part for me. I am learning to deal with it though.How do you interact with an almost 4 week old? There has to be more than just feeding and diaper changes, right? She does spend a decent amount of time awake and I know those periods are going to get longer. There isn't much I can do with her right now though. I talk to her and do tummy time with her, and I shake rattles and infant toys in her face. I sing a whole range of different songs to her, put her hands on things with different textures, and read books. We are working through the poems in "Where The Sidewalk Ends" right now. I ordered a collection of Dr. Seuss that should arrive tomorrow. I'm just concerned there isn't more I should be doing with her?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Reflections of Motherhood
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taDqKWWPDAY&feature=player_embedded
Brought a tear to my man eye......
I can build a computer from bare pieces. I can bring a 67,000 pound jet with 65 lives on board to a safe landing in a pouring rainstorm with gusting winds. Heck I can even make websites. Kelli can crochet a beautiful blanket. She can also take a cigarette butt and through the science of DNA come up with a profile of the person that smoked it. She can also make some peanut butter balls that are sweet enough to give diabetes to anyone. Being a parent is new to us. Both Kelli and I have no idea what we are doing. We don't have the right answers to all the issues that come up. And that's perfectly fine.
I' was scared t0 death to pick up Natali right after she was born. I wheeled her into the room where my mother in law was waiting. Kelli was being "put all back together". The nurse said I could pick Natali up....I couldn't. I was petrified. I got over it of course.
There are rough waters ahead. We can't see them, but we know they are there. We will get through them....this is after all a journey......Our Journey to Parenthood.
Brought a tear to my man eye......
I can build a computer from bare pieces. I can bring a 67,000 pound jet with 65 lives on board to a safe landing in a pouring rainstorm with gusting winds. Heck I can even make websites. Kelli can crochet a beautiful blanket. She can also take a cigarette butt and through the science of DNA come up with a profile of the person that smoked it. She can also make some peanut butter balls that are sweet enough to give diabetes to anyone. Being a parent is new to us. Both Kelli and I have no idea what we are doing. We don't have the right answers to all the issues that come up. And that's perfectly fine.
I' was scared t0 death to pick up Natali right after she was born. I wheeled her into the room where my mother in law was waiting. Kelli was being "put all back together". The nurse said I could pick Natali up....I couldn't. I was petrified. I got over it of course.
There are rough waters ahead. We can't see them, but we know they are there. We will get through them....this is after all a journey......Our Journey to Parenthood.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Grocery shopping success
I took Natali grocery shopping yesterday by myself and it was a success. She falls asleep easily in her car seat, so she just slept through most of the trip. I did make it quicker than I normally do though, just in case. Otherwise, we didn't do much else yesterday.
Last night was a pretty good night too. Natali slept for 3 hour stretches, so I feel like I got enough sleep. This morning we had some problems with fussiness when I put her down for sleep. Every time her pacifier would fall out of her mouth she would wake up and get upset. It was really annoying. Then I read a bit about pacifiers. The advice I read said I shouldn't give a baby this young a pacifier to sleep because they can't put it back in their mouth when it falls out. Pacifiers for young babies should only be used after meals if you know they aren't still hungry and they just need to suck on something. Otherwise this bad habit will develop. If a baby falls asleep with a pacifier in their mouth it should be gently removed before putting them down. I hadn't considered this before, but I will try it. I would rather have her sleep well without a pacifier anyway. I'm also supposed to just let her be fussy in her bed and try to fall back asleep herself when she wakes up (unless she needs to be fed or changed). It's hard for me to do, but I will try. it's much easier to just pick her up and hold her until she falls asleep again. I read that causes a bad habit as well, and it will take much longer for her to start sleeping through the night. I certainly don't want that problem.
In other news, I think we are about ready for size 1 diapers. I just realized yesterday that her diapers are getting a bit small for her. I only have enough newborn diapers to last through tomorrow, so we will just switch to the larger diapers when those are done. It's amazing how quickly babies grow! In the first couple of days we had her home, Darren accidentally grabbed the bigger diapers and they were huge on her! Now they are still a bit big, but they fit her fine. I wonder how quickly she will grow out of her current clothes? I am sure it won't be long. Darren and I run an app on our Ipads to track how much we feed her and how often and how often we change diapers. We started doing it in the hospital because we kept getting asked this information and couldn't always remember. Now we like to have it to track eating trends, etc. Plus the pediatrician asked me that information at her appointment and I actually had an answer for him. It is interesting to look back and see how much more she seems to eat each week. It just keeps going up and formula is expensive! Oh well, she is happy and healthy and that's all that matters.
Last night was a pretty good night too. Natali slept for 3 hour stretches, so I feel like I got enough sleep. This morning we had some problems with fussiness when I put her down for sleep. Every time her pacifier would fall out of her mouth she would wake up and get upset. It was really annoying. Then I read a bit about pacifiers. The advice I read said I shouldn't give a baby this young a pacifier to sleep because they can't put it back in their mouth when it falls out. Pacifiers for young babies should only be used after meals if you know they aren't still hungry and they just need to suck on something. Otherwise this bad habit will develop. If a baby falls asleep with a pacifier in their mouth it should be gently removed before putting them down. I hadn't considered this before, but I will try it. I would rather have her sleep well without a pacifier anyway. I'm also supposed to just let her be fussy in her bed and try to fall back asleep herself when she wakes up (unless she needs to be fed or changed). It's hard for me to do, but I will try. it's much easier to just pick her up and hold her until she falls asleep again. I read that causes a bad habit as well, and it will take much longer for her to start sleeping through the night. I certainly don't want that problem.
In other news, I think we are about ready for size 1 diapers. I just realized yesterday that her diapers are getting a bit small for her. I only have enough newborn diapers to last through tomorrow, so we will just switch to the larger diapers when those are done. It's amazing how quickly babies grow! In the first couple of days we had her home, Darren accidentally grabbed the bigger diapers and they were huge on her! Now they are still a bit big, but they fit her fine. I wonder how quickly she will grow out of her current clothes? I am sure it won't be long. Darren and I run an app on our Ipads to track how much we feed her and how often and how often we change diapers. We started doing it in the hospital because we kept getting asked this information and couldn't always remember. Now we like to have it to track eating trends, etc. Plus the pediatrician asked me that information at her appointment and I actually had an answer for him. It is interesting to look back and see how much more she seems to eat each week. It just keeps going up and formula is expensive! Oh well, she is happy and healthy and that's all that matters.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
For all the single parents, I salute you!
First of all, our trip to Oregon was wonderful! I love my family, everyone single person in it, and it was so nice to have everyone all together again for the first time in several years. My grandparents have been married now for 60 years. They have 5 children (including my mom), 12 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren with 2 more on the way. It was a long week, but I am so glad we went! Natali was a perfect angel on the plane both ways and made it through several long car rides without a problem. There were some sick people around, and I think she caught a bit of that. It wasn't anything serious, she just seemed a bit congested for a couple of days and was slightly more fussy than usual. It really didn't affect her much though. I think the high elevation and dry air affected her the most. The poor baby had terribly dry skin. We kept putting lotion on her to make it better. I think we will stay closer to sea level for a while now, with the exception of being in airplanes. :-) Our next big adventure is going to be a trip to Disneyland in October, with a possible trip to Sacramento thrown in at the end of September. I am going to take full advantage of my maternity leave. We saved Natali's first plane tickets, and my mom bought her a baby flight logbook. The goal is to record all of her trips. I often wonder how many miles Darren and I have flown together. He could look it up, but it would take a while to calculate. I think it will be interesting for her to have such a record she can look back on when she is older.
We got back from our trip on Monday night at 10pm. Darren left for his temporary assignment in New York on Tuesday morning at 4:30am. He is going to be flying out of New York through the 15th. He can come home on his days off, but for most of the next couple of weeks I am essentially a single mother. Yesterday was the first day Natali and I have been by ourselves. She is an excellent baby, but it was still difficult to manage everything by myself. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and Natali had one as well. We made it through just fine, but it would have been so much easier with help. It has made me realize 2 things. First, Darren is a wonderful father and I am so thankful to have him. We are essentially 50/50 when it comes to splitting the parenting duties and it makes things go very smoothly most of the time. Second, for all the single parents out there, you rock! I can't imagine doing this all by myself day after day, especially if I were to have a more high maintenance baby. Millions of people do it every day though, and they seem to manage just fine. Every single parent deserves some recognition for all they do. It is an extremely tough job. I was supposed to go grocery shopping yesterday after the appointments, but I just couldn't do it. I have put it on the agenda for today instead. We are taking baby steps this week. I have a ton of stuff to do, but I am setting little goals each day and doing one thing at a time. Luckily I have nothing else to focus on right now. If I had to work and be this single parent with all the other stuff as well I think I would lose my mind. I REALLY miss Darren right now!
A quick note about Natali's doctor visit. She is doing wonderfully! The doctor says she looks great and she is up to 8 pounds, 9 ounces now. She was also measured at 21 inches, which is 2 inches longer than her measurement at birth. I asked the doctor how she grew 2 inches in just under 3 weeks, and he said she probably didn't. It's all a matter of who did the measuring since it's hard to get an accurate measurement on a baby until they can stand. We should be able to get a better idea of her growth now since the same person will be doing the measuring from now on. I'm just glad she seems a bit longer than we thought. Perhaps she will grow into those long feet she got from her daddy. Being a short girl with big feet may be a bit tough. :-)
We got back from our trip on Monday night at 10pm. Darren left for his temporary assignment in New York on Tuesday morning at 4:30am. He is going to be flying out of New York through the 15th. He can come home on his days off, but for most of the next couple of weeks I am essentially a single mother. Yesterday was the first day Natali and I have been by ourselves. She is an excellent baby, but it was still difficult to manage everything by myself. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and Natali had one as well. We made it through just fine, but it would have been so much easier with help. It has made me realize 2 things. First, Darren is a wonderful father and I am so thankful to have him. We are essentially 50/50 when it comes to splitting the parenting duties and it makes things go very smoothly most of the time. Second, for all the single parents out there, you rock! I can't imagine doing this all by myself day after day, especially if I were to have a more high maintenance baby. Millions of people do it every day though, and they seem to manage just fine. Every single parent deserves some recognition for all they do. It is an extremely tough job. I was supposed to go grocery shopping yesterday after the appointments, but I just couldn't do it. I have put it on the agenda for today instead. We are taking baby steps this week. I have a ton of stuff to do, but I am setting little goals each day and doing one thing at a time. Luckily I have nothing else to focus on right now. If I had to work and be this single parent with all the other stuff as well I think I would lose my mind. I REALLY miss Darren right now!
A quick note about Natali's doctor visit. She is doing wonderfully! The doctor says she looks great and she is up to 8 pounds, 9 ounces now. She was also measured at 21 inches, which is 2 inches longer than her measurement at birth. I asked the doctor how she grew 2 inches in just under 3 weeks, and he said she probably didn't. It's all a matter of who did the measuring since it's hard to get an accurate measurement on a baby until they can stand. We should be able to get a better idea of her growth now since the same person will be doing the measuring from now on. I'm just glad she seems a bit longer than we thought. Perhaps she will grow into those long feet she got from her daddy. Being a short girl with big feet may be a bit tough. :-)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Sick house
One of my nieces was sick yesterday. Cold symptoms. We kept Natali away and broke out the hand sanitizer. Today another niece and my father in law are sick. Ugh. Hoping Natali doesn't get sick as we wouldn't be able to fly if she is all clogged up.
Beyond that Natali is getting a little more fussy. Till the last few days she was taking in just 2 ounces at a time. Now she's taking 3-4 ounces per feeding. We start with 2 and wait. She gets very fussy....crazy fussy....and wants more right away. Beyond that she's doing well. Growth spurt?
Beyond that Natali is getting a little more fussy. Till the last few days she was taking in just 2 ounces at a time. Now she's taking 3-4 ounces per feeding. We start with 2 and wait. She gets very fussy....crazy fussy....and wants more right away. Beyond that she's doing well. Growth spurt?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
First family photo
We took a drive...long drive....to Crater Lake yesterday. Took our first "trademarked" photo.
Each time Kelli and I travel to a new city we take a photo with my arm out stretched. It started because...well there was often no one else to take the photo. Since then it's just a tradition.
Natali didn't dig all the sun, but she did fine. She is two weeks old today and still perfect. Very rarely fussy. Just happy to be alive. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful baby.
[nggallery id=8]
Each time Kelli and I travel to a new city we take a photo with my arm out stretched. It started because...well there was often no one else to take the photo. Since then it's just a tradition.
Natali didn't dig all the sun, but she did fine. She is two weeks old today and still perfect. Very rarely fussy. Just happy to be alive. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful baby.
[nggallery id=8]
Sunday, August 22, 2010
First Flight....okay
Our first flight with Natali was perfect.
I've taken notes on all the mistakes parents make when going through security. I preplanned the "simple" task of clearing TSA and went thru mental simulations multiple times. From start to finish we all cleared the TSA in under 90 seconds. Awesome!
Kelli had a "real" ticket. The plan was for Natali and me to non-rev and hopefully sit with Kelli. As a backup Natali would ride in Kelli's lap and I would ride in the cockpit jumpseat. Luckily that wasn't needed.
We checked both of our suitcases (since I work for an airline, no baggage fees!). I carried on a small bag with our electronics (1 Macbook Pro, 2 Ipads, 1 Kindle DX and a Zune). Kelli had a backpack with her purse, baby Bjorn and small amount of baby stuff. Kelli also carried the diaper bag.
The plane was fairly open. The gate agent was very nice and linked up Kelli and her "real" ticket with Natali and I who were non-reving. The agent then gave us a row to ourselves.
Kelli paid extra to board early. Natali and I were in the last group to board. This worked out great.
Our baby seat has two pieces. One piece (the base) to belt in and the seat clicks in. This makes it easy to have a base in each car.
Kelli boarded first and belted in the base. I came in, snapped in the car seat and pushed our bags under the seats. Done.
The car seat was a tight fit. We were in row 8. Natali was seated by the window. The poor guy in front couldn't lean back. It was a 4 hour flight. Thankfully he was nice and said he didn't want to lean back anyway.
Natali was perfect. Flying is in her genes. She didn't make a sound for 3 hours and 58 minutes. Two minutes to go she let out a 12 second cry. A pathetic one at that.
We waited for most of the plane to deboard before we stood up. It would take a few minutes for the ground crew to bring up the stroller base anyway. As passengers got off many commented on how quiet Natali was and that they had no idea a baby was on board. Nice!
Getting through the airport was fairly easy. I rented a car from the one of only two companies that was off-site. No big deal.
We are now at my inlaws house. Earlier in the week we bought a 'Pack N Play' from Amazon and had it shipped here. It was $69.99 with free two day shipping. Kelli and I LOVE Amazon and our Prime membership!!!!!!
I've taken notes on all the mistakes parents make when going through security. I preplanned the "simple" task of clearing TSA and went thru mental simulations multiple times. From start to finish we all cleared the TSA in under 90 seconds. Awesome!
Kelli had a "real" ticket. The plan was for Natali and me to non-rev and hopefully sit with Kelli. As a backup Natali would ride in Kelli's lap and I would ride in the cockpit jumpseat. Luckily that wasn't needed.
We checked both of our suitcases (since I work for an airline, no baggage fees!). I carried on a small bag with our electronics (1 Macbook Pro, 2 Ipads, 1 Kindle DX and a Zune). Kelli had a backpack with her purse, baby Bjorn and small amount of baby stuff. Kelli also carried the diaper bag.
The plane was fairly open. The gate agent was very nice and linked up Kelli and her "real" ticket with Natali and I who were non-reving. The agent then gave us a row to ourselves.
Kelli paid extra to board early. Natali and I were in the last group to board. This worked out great.
Our baby seat has two pieces. One piece (the base) to belt in and the seat clicks in. This makes it easy to have a base in each car.
Kelli boarded first and belted in the base. I came in, snapped in the car seat and pushed our bags under the seats. Done.
The car seat was a tight fit. We were in row 8. Natali was seated by the window. The poor guy in front couldn't lean back. It was a 4 hour flight. Thankfully he was nice and said he didn't want to lean back anyway.
Natali was perfect. Flying is in her genes. She didn't make a sound for 3 hours and 58 minutes. Two minutes to go she let out a 12 second cry. A pathetic one at that.
We waited for most of the plane to deboard before we stood up. It would take a few minutes for the ground crew to bring up the stroller base anyway. As passengers got off many commented on how quiet Natali was and that they had no idea a baby was on board. Nice!
Getting through the airport was fairly easy. I rented a car from the one of only two companies that was off-site. No big deal.
We are now at my inlaws house. Earlier in the week we bought a 'Pack N Play' from Amazon and had it shipped here. It was $69.99 with free two day shipping. Kelli and I LOVE Amazon and our Prime membership!!!!!!
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