First Ball Game (Week 6)

This is kind of a choppy blog, just summing up the adventures of week six.

Kylan went to his first Brewer Game on 7/25. The Brewers played the Pirates. Unfortunately, Kylan watched a very bad first game. Pirates won 6-1. Some people thought we were nuts for taking him, but he didn't really cry at all, and really seemed to enjoy looking at the crowd and listening to everything. We will take him again soon.

So six weeks. Kylan smiles a lot now. I will try to get more pics of him smiling, but I haven't been very good at doing that so far. He is also cooing and making lots of noises. He is growing so fast! Speaking of growing fast, I took him to the doc on Tuesday. He weighs 12 lbs 2 oz. When we took him for his 2 week appointment he was in the 25 percentile for his weight. He has now jumped to the 75 percentile (4 weeks later). He has almost doubled his weight since we brought him home and he was less than 6 1/2 pounds. He has really packed on the weight. We hope he slows down so that he can fit in his car seat for a while longer!! So the weight gain of course has earned him new nicknames, but I will refrain from putting them in the blog.

Here's a funny story...So the other day I was walking Kylan and Bear and this man walks up to me and says "Oh, how old is he?" And I say "Six weeks." Then he said, "Not the baby, the dog." The he totally ignored Kylan and was petting and cooing over Bear--this was a first.

Have I mentioned yet that Kylan can pretty much stand on his own. He needs my hands for balance of course, but he can really support all his weight on his legs and loves to stand. I will hold onto his hands and he will stand. It really is amazing, I am not sure I have ever seen a baby with this much strength at this age.

Last bit of valuable info. Kylan's baptism is now scheduled for August 27th. Preach is out of town now on the 20th so it had to be pushed back. Well that's all for now, until next week...Oh wait you are probably asking about the watermelon picture. Well-the boy likes melons, what can I say. You can ask his father about the watermelon aftermath if you are curious.

The scary side of parenting...

So the other night we had a scare with Kylan.

Kylan was getting his bath. We have a baby bathtub and a foam insert that allows the baby to stay out of the water. Well, it appears that the foam insert has worn a bit and is not as sturdy as it used to be (warning to those who may have gotten the foam insert.) Well, we were just finishing up the bath and had flipped Kylan over so we could scrub his back. Normally Kylan will turn his head or lift it off the foam insert, but this time he did not. In fact, he put his face straight down onto the foam insert. The insert had taken on water like a sponge (something we did not realize.) Kylan then breathed in the water and began choking. Actually, he wasn't breathing. Rob held him over the sink and patted his back. It was scary. Eventually (what seemed like years, but was actually only seconds), Kylan grabbed his breath.

The incident was not over though. His breath sounds were very shallow and he turned ghastly white. At that point we called 911. He was trying to cry, but he could not get a good wail out. By the time the fire truck arrived, Kylan was doing much better. He was crying and clearly very scared (probably due to our reactions, not the circumstance.) The paramedics listened to his chest and said it sounded very clear. They then informed us that often when you take water in, your throat will actually close up in order to help protect your lungs, which is probably what happened to Kylan.

So all is good, but it was very scary. In fact I don't think I really got over it until the next morning. I was up all night just making sure he was okay.

I didn't really want to post this, but the fact is things like this happen to all new parents. And, I want to be able to share all these stories with Kylan when he is bigger. This is his personal diary afterall.

All the things you want to know about having a baby...

This blog entry I have been working on over the past 4 weeks or so. I will add sections to it as I learn new things....so don't be surprised to see updates to this entry.

This morning at 6 AM, I was doing the usual thing--changing Kylan's diaper....and he was doing the usual thing...crying at the top of his lungs (he hates diaper changes.) Then I woke up....to Kylan crying. You know you do too much of something when you begin dreaming about it. The scary thing is, I wonder how long he was actually crying before my brain finally registered to wake up. Also it shows how exhausted I was, even though I went to bed at 10:30. This blog I dedicate to all the moms-to-be, moms-I-am and to myself when we have our second child (I am sure I will need reminders.)

YOUR NEW SCHEDULE

So in the beginning you are told to expect your newborn to sleep 16 - 18 hours a day. With that in mind, you should be thinking "oh--then I will have plenty of time to sleep and to get whatever I need done." Okay, so here is the reality. So let's say you follow everyone's advice and sleep when the baby sleeps. So you are aiming for that 16 - 18 hours a day. First of all, realize that every two hours, junior is going to wake up to be fed (normally---do realize that some days junior will want to eat every hour---Kylan has been doing so the last several days. Growth spurt time!)..

So let's say baby wakes up at 2. Well first you have to change him which can take anywhere from 5 - 15 minutes (depending on how bad it is and if the baby decides to poo or pee during the change or if the baby poops on the floor -- remember the explosive pooh log entry, if you have to change clothing in the process, clean area around etc....). So let's assume it is a good change. Time is now 2:05. Time to feed. Baby may take up to 45 minutes to feed and will take a minimum of 20 minutes. But first you must prepare yourself and get comfy. Let's assume a 30 minute feeding with 5 minutes to prepare. Time is now 2:40. Did I menton that baby slept through 20 minutes of the feeding??? Yes these creatures can eat and sleep at the same time. Time to burp. If your lucky baby will burp immediately. If you're not you may be burping for 10 minutes. (Did I mention baby is still sleeping through this?) Let's assume 5 minute burp time. Baby has now been down 25 minutes and the time is 2:45.

Now comes the trickiest part. Transferring junior to their bed without waking them up. So you ever so slowly get up. Of course this motion has probably disturbed junior, so now you do a little jig around the room to get baby back to sleep. Then you do the careful and very slow motion of putting junior in the bed and ever so slowly removing your hands. Of course, junior will probably wake up once again and so then you spend time patting, jiggling, singing--whatever activity is required to get baby to fall asleep again. This can take anywhere from 5 min (good day) to 2 hours (bad day---and also notice this is the next feeding time!). Let's assume you have a pretty good day. Baby is in bed 15 minutes after burping. Time is now 3:00. Baby has been sleeping alright for about 40 minutes. Now you're turn to sleep.

You hop into bed and are either dealing with one of three scenarios, getting back up to get baby back to sleep, listening to the loud grunts/cries (see sleeping section) of your child, or wondering if your baby is alright since you do not hear the loud grunts/cries of your child. Let's assume situation 2. It now takes you 20 minutes to get to sleep (time is 3:20). By then baby has been asleep for 1 hour. So two hour feedings ...right?! 4:05 you are woken up to start all over again. In that two hour period of time you got 45 minutes of sleep. So if you tried to sleep with your baby for the 18 hours they sleep, you would actually get maybe 8 hours of sleep in 45 minute intervals...sounds refreshing!!! Ahhh...

So what are you doing for the remaining 6 hours??? Well, remember ......Trying to calm babies cries, play with baby, eat some food, take a shower if you are lucky and do those other personal maintenance things, laundry (babies go through alot of clothes between eating and pottying), clean house, and deal with phone calls and visitors (everyone is excited about the new baby.)

BABY'S SLEEP

So let's talk a little more about baby's sleeping habits. First of all, where is the baby going to sleep? You say" in the crib of course!" NOT!!!! Baby only wants to be next to you. Hopefully you can put baby in a bassinett next to your bed. However, Kylan did not want to be anywhere but in bed next to mom for a while. You have to remember that baby has been used to the sound of your heart, your warmth, and cramped quarters for a while. They can also smell you. So they know when you are not in the room with them. People are really worried these days about cosleeping, but the fact is--as a new parent you are such a light sleeper anyway, you are not going to roll over on your child (remember 45 minute sleep increments). Plus if you are breastfeeding, it makes middle of the night feedings less exhausting (it's like a 24 hour diner!)

Kylan sleeps in the pack n' play now in our room. He is not ready to sleep in his own room yet.

So have you heard the saying "sleeping like a baby" to refer to someone who is really sound asleep. Well that term does not make sense when referring to an infant. Kylan is a very loud sleeper. In fact it has taken some work for us to sleep through all his noises. He grunts, groans, cries and moans all night in his sleep. And he moves! In fact, he will often wake himself up by poking himself in the eye. This is why you should swaddle (if your baby likes it). Kylan is not a fan. He needs to have his hands free. Anyway back to baby noises. So I timed Kylan's noises once. Every four minutes he was making some sort of noise. Learn to sleep through this, and don't let "crying" fool you. Unless he has a consitant cry for at least 30 seconds, he is asleep.

BREASTFEEDING

If you formula feed, this section probably is not for you...If you are a boy and reading about this bothers you, then skip to the next section. But first read this....Breasts were originally made to feed babies. Get over it!

So first of all you have to love the companionship and closeness that comes with breastfeeding. Despite the negative things that I write in this, I would not choose to feed my child any other way. It is just too wonderful of an experience. However, once again, there are many things that you are not aware of when it comes to breastfeeding. First of all, they tell you "breastfeeding should not hurt." Well here is the truth "Breastfeeding should not hurt after you have been doing it for a week or so and the baby has broken them in." The fact is you are going to be sore. It just takes some time to get used to. I highly recommend lanolin for the first week or so, and then you probably won't really need it anymore. Also, if your pretty full of milk, when the baby first latches you are going to feel a pinch.

Also with breastfeeding I have noticed that I get a lot more sore throats. I have been told this is actually pretty common. Just be sure to drink pretty fluids.

So here is the part that I find amusing and also frustrating at the same time. I get engorged. Especially by the morning (something else that is very common.) Often Kylan will start and get things flowing and then he will pull off. Then I am spraying everywhere! And it is hard to get him back on. Nobody told me about the spraying. Every day I feel sticky due to regular milk leakage or spraying. And Kylan gets sticky as well. I don't know how people go to work and pump. There is too often that I have milk everywhere and need to change clothing. KUDOS to them! This is also where having a leather couch or glider would be good (easy clean-up).

Funny story for the women--my Father-in-law is really weirded out by my breast milk. I had pumped and left it for him when he babysat. He called his wife and asked her how soon she was going to be home, so she could feed him.

Anyway--I highly recommend pumping and freezing. It is then easy to feed baby in situations that would otherwise be difficult. Plus it only takes a few minutes to prepare the bottle. Otherwise, I have breastfed in "public" and do not feel this should be an issue. I have also yet to receive any dirty looks. I must also say that I do feed very discreetly (blanket over baby and me.) I am waiting to get a dirty look one of these days, I know it will happen. But honestly, I don't care. The baby has gotta eat!

Here is something else that is of note. Beware if you are going to be away from the baby for long periods of time. YOU WILL NEED TO PUMP. Otherwise you will make yourself miserable, as well as let every person in the world know that you are breastfeeding. I wear layers if I know I am not going to breastfeed on my regular schedule. There is a very good chance of leakage.

DIAPER CHANGES

One of the most common mom topics is diaper changes. That is because you have at least 1-2 diaper adventures a day. In the beginning beware of the meconium. That is the icky black tar stuff that comes out of babies. It is really sticky. Try to change the baby right away (especially if you have a boy--otherwise it will get stuck to his testicles.)

Anyway, with breastfed babies, I hear they poop a lot more often. Kylan goes 8-12 times a day. You always know when he goes too. It is very audible. I should say EVERYONE knows when he goes. The nice thing about breastfed babies is that their poo really does not smell. It isn't enjoyable, but it isn't horrible like I hear formula fed babies are. So that's the facts, now here is the adventures.

First if you have a boy or girl be sure to cover the wee wee area when changing. BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS can spray you, themselves, the room, etc. They have very good distance. Even if you cover the wee wee area, still expect to have problems. Kylan has the ability to go right when you remove the cover from the wee wee area to put the new diaper on. In this split second he can soak himself or the changing table or floor. Once again if you have a breastfed baby--the good thing is their pee is sterile. So even when they pee on their own faces (which Kylan has done alot), you don't need to worry (same with their poo).

Okay so poo. First it is explosive and liquidy if you have a breastfed baby. This is how we know to beware of Kylan's explosive poo. If he is crying when you are changing him and suddenly stops, beware--he is setting you up! It also seems that many babies will wait until they are being changed to poo. I don't know why. Perhaps they enjoy our screams and the disgusted faces we make. Anyway, I really don't want to go into this subject too much more except to say-you really have to experience this to understand. Stories do not do it justice.

Cloth Diapers--
So we have decided to save the earth and go the route of cloth diapers (that and save money). I have purchased mother-ease one size diapers. These diapers are awesome! They fit newborns through 35 lb babies through a series of snaps. As your baby grows you move out snaps. Unfortunately they are a little more difficult to use when your baby is not eating solid foods since their poo is more liquidy, but it is still definitetly worth it. I am also using liners, so that once the poo is solid it will be easy to dispose of and leave little to no mess in the diapers. I highly recommend Mother-Ease diapers if you go the cloth route. I have 26 and wash every 2-3 days. I purchase my liners at tinytush.com--the liners are flushable so it is really easy to clean-up. I also use just regular rubber pants instead of fancy covers. They can be hard to find, but you can purchase 6 for $4 -$5 at Walmart when they have them.

One more thing to add, I have yet to have a leakage problem with these cloth diapers. When I had Kylan in disposables he would leak at least 3 times a week and make a mess of his clothes. That liquid poo gets pushed out of the diaper and is really gross--and we were using name brand (Pampers, huggies...). So I also feel that cloth are more reliable as well.

BUTT WIPE RECIPE

To save money on butt wipes you can make your own! I bought a bunch of baby rags, about 28 or so (you can buy packs of 8 for $3 at Walmart) and I have them folded in half and placed in an empty Huggies baby wipes container. The solution is for every one cup of water you mix in 1 tablespoon of baby wash and 1 tablespoon of oil. The oil can be baby oil, but it is better if you use cooking oil since that is natural (baby oil is not). Plus vegetable oil more easily washes out of cloth diapers. Any way, so you boil the water and then add it to the baby wash and oil. Mix up and poor over the rags. You can then wash the rags with the cloth diapers to reuse them. If you don't want to reuse the rags or you need to take some on the road you can cut a roll of paper towels in half, and pour the butt wipe mixture over it. Drain the excess water and now you have disposable wipes. How cool!
TRAVELING WITH BABY

This has been our latest adventure. We packed twice as many baby clothes as days. Just in case he ruined one outfit per day. We also packed his bouncy chair. This chair has saved us more than once from a very grumpy baby. I also made sure to take a breast pump, some bottles, formula (just in case), LOTS OF DIAPERS --disposable is best when traveling, sunblock, blankets, burp cloths and Pak n' Play ( something every mom should have.) Kylan slept very well in his car seat on the 5 + hour journey. In fact we only had to make one stop to feed and change. The journey went very well and at this time, I don't think I have any additional advice.

5 weeks and counting...

Okay--so you have to agree that he is just adorable. These are his 5 week pics. Kylan does a pretty good job at holding his head up now. He gave his first social smile at 4 1/2 weeks. And shortly after that he had begun to make cooing noises (something more than cries, grunts, and farts! YEAH!) His hair is continuing to thin--he is going to be my little baldy....He also is dealing with infant acne. All very normal and common at this age. I think at this point Kylan probably weighs over 10 lbs. He still fits in his 0-3 month clothes, but they are getting much tighter. I still remember the first day we took him home at four days old. His outfit was so big on him. Now it fits just fine.

Rob and i have a lot of fun playing for Kylan. You will see what I mean in future posts. We figure that if Kylan can't do things on his own that we will help him. We figure it helps ease him into the real world a little better.

Things have been going well for all three of us. Rob has been getting more frustrated with the lack of interest in our house. I, however, am keeping my focus on Kylan that way I can't get too frustrated. Hopefully we will move soon. All in God's time.

Kylan's baptism is tentatively scheduled for August 20th. We wished we could do an earlier date, but this is just how it has worked out. Hopefully he will get over his fear of water by then, otherwise the congregation will be holding their ears. Our good friends Liz and Adam have agreed to be his godparents. He is so blessed to have them in his life. They are wonderful people and I know they will be good mentors to him. Alrighty..that's it for now..time to hit the sack--Kylan is already there...

I am one month old! Pics...

I am one month old!

Today Kylan is one month old...

Let's see, what updates do we have. Well--first of all Kylan is just as beautiful as ever. It is amazing how quickly he has changed in the past four weeks. Just scroll through the pics and see for yourself. He has gained a ton of weight and has grown in length. Still only sleeps 3 hours max at a time, but hopefully that will change soon.

Right now Kylan is very sensitive about his receding hairline. (See pic below and compare to earlier pics.) We have reassured him many times that this is a normal thing for babies, and that it will all come back in due time. However, he insists on wearing hats whenever we go anywhere.

I am amazed by the amount of perfect strangers that now come up to us and start conversations. In fact neighbors that I have walked by for two years without even a "hello" have now suddenly gotten the guts to come and talk to us. He is quite the conversation starter.

Other new changes--I have to log an extra 1 hour to "getting ready time" if I have to go somewhere with Kylan. You never know what is going to happen. It seems that lately, Kylan has figured out whenever I have just changed my clothes. This is the time he chooses to spit-up on me. And the funny part is--he rarely spits up--pretty much just when I have just changed to go somewhere. Then of course you have to add in extra time to change him--since he has most likely spit up on himself as well--or if not he has managed to leak something out of his diaper.

My life has definitely changed. Whether or not I get something done in the day, depends on if Kylan wills it. I can't imagine single parents having kids or even teens having kids. I am so happy when Rob gets home, just so I can shower or enjoy a nap without the worries of time constraint.

Anyway, my little boy is growing up very fast. He now seems to enjoy his baths more. He gazes into my eyes as he nurses and has a gleam in his eye when he is enjoying himself. He does smile a fair amount, but they aren't quite the social smile that babies have when they are purposeful. However, he will smile when I call his name and touch his cheek . Well that is all for now...but lots more pics for everyone to enjoy..

Okay this post will not let me put up pics--I don't know why...but look above for the pics...and here is commentary...

Kylan has grown lots, but still can't fit into daddy's pants.
Kylan in blue is sporting his receding hairline...

Sorry It's been a while since I have posted. I came down with a pretty bad cold and then--of course--shared a much milder version of it with Kylan-poor kid!

We are doing much better now. He was a trooper and is continuing to grow very quickly. Be sure to read the next post for Kylan updates.