Violent Ink

Baby stuff that rocks my world

Another post I've intended to write up for a while -- here goes.

The No. 1 baby item that I am in love with right now is The Happiest Baby on the Block. Isaac has been a great night sleeper almost since we brought him home from the hospital, but he was getting fussy at times and keeping himself awake with all his flailing lately (still working on that thumb project). One of the mothers in the moms' group I recently crashed mentioned this book, and I bought it last Sunday. The author has a five-step process for getting babies to sleep, and the first step is swaddling. Isaac hasn't been a fan of being swaddled (as I had predicted), so when we've wrapped him in blankets, we've mostly let his arms go free, so I wasn't really buying into all of that. Then the other night, he was waking himself up nearly every hour and a half trying to get his hands in his mouth, and he was getting so mad that he was grinding his face into the sheet. Not good. The next night I figured, what the heck. Let's try it. So, despite his protests, I swaddled up his arms, and he freaked, but I launched right into the next steps, shushing, swinging, putting him on his side (on the Boppy on my lap) and letting him suck (this time on a pacifier, but bottle or boob work, too). He stopped fighting it, whimpered a couple of times, and then passed out. And slept for nearly nine hours! So I've been doing this nightly since then, and he has slept so well. When Judah got home (after being in North Carolina for almost two weeks), he had the bright idea of trying the swaddling at naptime, since Isaac was pretty much only sleeping on me during the day. He still doesn't take long naps, but he has taken a couple of naps in the past few days. Hallelujah!

Adiri Natural Nurser: Unfortunately, breastfeeding has not gone that smoothly with me and the little guy, though it's not his fault at all. He has a killer latch, but my supply hasn't ever really come in, despite my best efforts. We're still hanging in and nursing several times a day, but hardly any meal is just breastmilk. That's OK, though. You do what you can do, right? Anyway, we started supplementing with formula in the hospital on the second night because he had lost a ton of weight, and even with pumping, I wasn't producing more than a couple of drops of colostrum, and he was clearly starving. For the first several days, we were supplementing with a 20 mL syringe, and it was such a pain. Then my friend Kit brought over this bottle, and it saved the day. It's made to mimic the breast as much as possible -- the baby has to work almost as hard to get the milk out, so they don't get spoiled and start turning down the breast, and it's free of all those bad plastic chemicals. We have several now and love them. It's also supposed to help moms who have been exclusively breastfeeding and are trying unsuccessfully to get their babies to take a bottle, but that wasn't our situation, so I don't know how it works in that case. (By the way, the Adiris fit in the Skip Hop insulated bottle holders.)

Aden and Anais muslin blankets: We originally bought these for swaddling, but then we weren't swaddling Isaac. Still, we use them all the time -- they are great, especially for summer babies because they are made of breathable muslin. I've used them to create extra shade in the carseat or stroller, for burp cloths when I forget one, to wrap him up when he's got a chill, on the floor to create a play space (or great photo background), and they are large enough to be used as playpen sheets, too. Also, we've started using them again for their original purpose, swaddling, and their size makes it so easy. Plus, they are darned cute. They apparently make thicker blankets for cooler climates and towels and washcloths, too, but I haven't tried those out.

Trumpette Johnny Socks: I registered for these on a whim because I thought they were cute. I'd been ogling the Mary Jane ones for girls for ages but figured I wouldn't inflict those on Isaac. I got the Johnny socks as a gift, and not only are they super adorable since they look like hightop sneakers, but it also turned out that they fit and stayed on better than any other socks we have. Love!

Angelcare Movement Sensor with Baby Monitor: My friend Belle got this monitor for us because she found it so useful. It transmits the sound from the nursery, and it also has a sensor that goes under the mattress and sounds an alarm if Isaac doesn't move for too long. We've had the alarm go off a few times unnecessarily (though that's gotten better since we readjusted the sensitivity), but the peace of mind is really great. Thanks, Belle!

Fisher-Price Papasan Swing: My friend Chris got this swing as a hand-me-down and passed it on to me when her daughter Hannah got too big for it. Isaac doesn't always love it, but the days he is in the mood for it, it's a godsend because he will nap in it! Many days I have been able to bathe only because we have this swing.

Baby Bjorn Air Carrier: Kit also gave us this carrier, and I am so glad. I have another sling, but thus far, it hasn't worked out for us. Isaac doesn't like being in it unless he is already asleep, and it KILLS my back. This, however, has been a lifesaver and allowed me to do grocery shopping and Target shopping and take a couple of walks. I know we'll be using it for months to come, too.

Inglesina Zippy Bassinet: I kind of jumped the gun on our stroller purchase back in January, but that's OK. I think it's going to work out just fine once Isaac is old enough to fit into it. I did end up purchasing the bassinet attachment (on closeout!) just before he was born, and I'm so glad. Our original plan was to have our Pack N Play in our room, but we set it up on the middle floor instead because I could not move around very much when I first got home, and it was much better to have it on the same floor as the kitchen and a bathroom. So for the first couple of weeks, Isaac slept in the bassinet, which we kept right next to the bed. It was so nice to have him so close, especially since my movements were so limited at first. And though he hasn't slept in it much since then, I take him out on walks in it fairly regularly. I even took the bassinet to Emily's son Henry's birthday party so he could sleep in it. That didn't quite work out as planned, but he still chilled out in it quite a bit. Most of the time, though, we use the Graco SnugRide Stroller Frame with his carseat snapped into it, and that thing also ROCKS!

Swaddleaze Sleep Sacks: Judah bought two of these before Isaac was born, and we hadn't used them because they were still pretty big, but I tried them out the first night of swaddling a la Happiest Baby, and they are great.

Diaper Champ: I got this as a shower gift, too, and it rules. Keeps the smell down, easy to use, and takes regular old garbage bags.

Newborn gowns: For his first several weeks, on the suggestion of my friend Michelle, Isaac lived in these. Easy to get to the diaper, and they had foldover pockets on the sleeves to cover his hands and keep him from scratching himself. We had ones from the Gap, Carters and Circo, and they all worked just great.

Other random things: Of course, we love the Pack N Play. We've tried out a few kinds and are liking Pampers BabyDry diapers the best, along with Costco brand wipes. Gone back and forth on types of formula, but we're now sticking with Enfamil since it dissolves so much better (plus the pediatrician said it was a little better). We have a few kind of pacifiers at the moment, and my favorite is the Gumdrop. Isaac doesn't seem to care much, but I like that it's one piece, that it doesn't run into his nose like the Soothie and since it doesn't have a handle, he doesn't accidentally grab it out of his mouth as often. For distraction (and learning!), Isaac has been liking his TinyLove Mobile and Baby Einstein Activity Mat.

That's all I can remember right now, but I wanted to share. (And note: This isn't everything that we use and love, so if something you gave us isn't here, that doesn't mean it's not been wonderful and helpful!)

Oh, and ...

Since Isaac and I have been watching the Olympics like it's our full-time job:

(Poster image borrowed shamelessly from a Fark.com user/Original image from AP)

Thumb drive

Poor Isaac. He wants more than anything in the world to figure out how to suck his thumb, but he just can't get it down. (Think Ted Striker's "drinking problem" in Airplane -- hand goes toward face, but never makes it to mouth.)

And let me tell you, he is not happy about this. It frustrates him so much, and if we try to help him, he just gets madder. He's getting closer, though. I just hope he doesn't put his eye out in the process since the current attempts end with his fingers splayed across his entire face, and digging in when the thumb doesn't go where it's supposed to.

I didn't know an 8-week-old could get that worked up about learning! But we'll get there. It's just taken multiple attempts to get him asleep the past few days because when he kind of wakes up, he looks for his thumb and fails and gets angry.

This bites

I hate my teeth.

I can't remember whether I blogged about this originally, but I lost a filling at the end of the year. In January (after getting over a cold so I could breathe again), I went to my dentist, with a note from my doctor giving permission for me to be treated, but she wouldn't. She said because I was pregnant, she couldn't drill and do the filling, so she gave me a temporary filling. A few weeks later, that one fell out too. So I went back and she gave me a more permanent temporary filling (if that makes sense).

A couple of weeks ago, I went back, now no longer pregnant, to get updated X-rays, a cleaning, and assess all the damage.

Ugh.

I have cavities in all four quadrants of my mouth, so that's four appointments. Then it turned out that the tooth that she wouldn't fill now required a root canal. I had that on Saturday, which was not fun. Thursday, I was having the fillings in the teeth around the root canal tooth filled, and she removed the nerve from the root canal tooth without warning me, and I about had a nervous breakdown it hurt so bad (with no warning). At the end of the appointment, I was so frustrated that I needed a seemingly avoidable root canal and stressed out because of the unexpected pain during the nerve removal that I cried. I tried to pass it off as hormonal.

But that backfired because then she started telling me stories about how overwhelmed she got when her baby was first born, yadda yadda. I just mmm-hmmmmd, but internally I was thinking, I CRIED BECAUSE OF YOU, SO STOP BLAMING MY BABY.

Anyway, at least the root canal is done (other than the permanent crown). Now I just have three more appointments for fillings.

No more tears, though.

What to wear, baby?

For any expectant types out there, here are my recommendations for maternity clothes. I meant to write this up the last week of my pregnancy, but I had a busy schedule of walking around in circles and watching Bravo that prevented it.

• Isabella Olivier wrap shirt. Super-cute. Very flattering. Awesome color. But it was a pain in the ass to get on correctly, and if I wore it with pants, I had to basically unwrap it and rewrap it every time I went to the bathroom, which was totally not feasible since I went to the bathroom too many times a day. It worked OK with a skirt, though.
• Paige Denim maternity jeans. For me, a total waste of money. The waist was in the worst place -- it was too high to work as under-belly and too low to actually stay up on my belly. For some reason, after a while, whenever I walked, they would fall down a bit, so I was constantly hiking them up. Then they shrunk slightly in the wash (yes, my fault), and it was all over.
• Secret Fit Belly. By the end of my pregnancy, I had several pairs of pants and a skirt with the Secret Fit Belly, mostly from Motherhood Maternity. This was a godsend for me. Finally, pants would stay up, the belly didn't roll, etc. And it worked mid-pregnancy until the end (and afterward, too). Lots of the upscale stores offer this belly option, too. Totally worth it, in my opinion.
• Ruched-side shirts. One thing about the Isabella Olivier clothes is that they have a good philosophy: Wearing clothes that are closer to the body and show off the belly makes you look littler. The looser stuff just adds so much fabric that you look larger. I got several ruched-side shirts from Mimi Maternity, plus a great one from Michael Stars. These were the cornerstone of my wardrobe for a while.
• Toward the end of my pregnancy, I got two pairs of under-belly capri pants, and the bonus was that they were uber-wearable after the birth, too. I could still wear them, but I have reached that point where I want to be totally out of maternity clothes.
• Bella Bands. I bought of a couple of these and really liked them. In theory they were supposed to keep up pants that were too loose and cover up not-totally-closed pants that were getting too snug. They never really worked for me for the former, but they did for the latter, making sure that my closed-with-a-rubber-band pants were not visible to the public. Mostly I wore them to cover up maternity waistbands since even my maternity shirts seemed too short really early on, even though I am short-waisted. Also, I've worn them as tube tops at night before the birth and since to give my hormonal chest a little support without having to wear a full bra to sleep.

Isaac in motion

Here is the little one from earlier today trying to learn to smile. (Please, please ignore my annoying baby-talk voice. Like I don't already sound like I'm 7. Yeesh.):

And here he is at three weeks old with the hiccups but not that upset about it:

Beep beep

On Wednesday, Isaac and I went downtown to visit Judah's office and meet his adoring public. I had only driven downtown one other time since starting on leave, and it made me realize how little I actually miss my commute. Among the reasons:

• Picture this: Guy texting and driving and paying so little attention that he 1) swerves in front of a semi, which barely maneuvers out of his way and 2) doesn't notice, even after the semi's driver honks at him.
• Getting into the city, I see the following two signs within yards of each other: "Right lanes closed ahead." "Left lane closed 1500 feet." Um, so we're going to be hovering? Also, number of lanes that were closed when I drove by: zero.
• I'm passing a guy on the right because he's in the far-left lane going under the speed limit. I glance over at him for half a second while passing and when I return my gaze to my lane, a guy is cutting in front of me so close that I have to brake hard to keep from hitting him. I utter a couple of four-letter phrases, which he evidently notices because he responds by flipping me, the driver he has just almost run into, off.
• I had to go to the gas station. I had last filled my tank the day before Isaac was born, nearly six weeks before instead of the usual weekly.

Isaac at six weeks

(Note: I meant to do this as a "month one" post a la Dooce, but I didn't get around to it, and so much has happened in the past couple of weeks that I couldn't differentiate it right now. Anyway ...)

Dear Isaac,

How is it that six weeks have passed already? In that six weeks, you have become the center of our lives even more than I could possibly have understood until you got here.

When you arrived, all three of us were crying, you from being wrenched from your warm, dark environment that you didn't want to leave and your dad and I from utter wonder that you were finally with us.

Since then, we've tackled all kinds of challenges, from figuring out that whole eating thing (who'd have thought my ample bosom would totally stink at providing milk?) to building up those neck muscles to finding the best ways to get you to sleep. There were the five poopless days right after we brought you home that had us worried, but you've more than made up for that since then. And we're still working on getting you to nap in the Pack N Play when you would much rather sleep right on me.

But I feel like I've spent the most time just marveling at you. Your giant eyes of indeterminate color. Your rapidly balding head. Your little chin divot that is a perfect copy of your dad's. Your tiny fingers and toes. Your unbelievably strong little neck and your alert expression that you've been wearing since birth.

It's impossible, since until recently, you couldn't really see very far, but it seems like you've been looking at your surroundings and assessing them since you first greeted us. Just in the past few days, you've become interested enough in the hangings on your activity mat and your mobile and your swing to keep yourself occupied for a few minutes at a time.

In that same time period, your grip has gotten so strong, and you have been wielding it with a little more purpose. You seem to have recently discovered you have limbs and have taken to kicking your legs when you are just chilling out and swinging your arms around as much as possible. Lately, it's almost like you are throwing punches, which is not much appreciated when you do that when I'm feeding you, but we'll work on that later.

We can tell when you are finally asleep for real when you go into what your dad and I call your "surrender" position, arms thrown over your head and totally relaxed, your little fists open at last.

It's so funny because when I hold you on my lap, you seem like such a big boy, with your expressive face and giant eyes so close to me. But when we go to the mirror, or I see a photo of one of us holding you, you suddenly seem tiny again.

You might only be six weeks old, but you have already done so much. You were the center of attention at your bris, when you were only eight days old. We went to Ribfest on the Fourth of July, when you were but two weeks old. We visited my office (before the buyouts and layoffs) when you were three and a half weeks old. We had our friends Tyler and Michelle and their baby son Chase over when you were four weeks old. On Wednesday, we went to Judah's office to show you around. Friday, you went with me to a doctor's appointment, and today you were a total trouper at the first birthday part for our friend Henry, your first totally outdoors outing. Such a busy little boy!

After seeing 1-year-old Henry and 10-month-old Hannah at the party today and remembering when I saw them in January, when they were so much smaller, I know you are going to grow and change so much so fast. Just look at how much you have already changed in 42 days!

I'm just so glad you are here.

Love,

Mom