Taking the Scenic Route

Monday January 30, 2006

30th January 2006

Monday January 30, 2006

Quick Zora update

  • her eyebrows and eyelashes are growing in, but her hair is falling out in spots
  • her poop frequency went from 1-2 a day until last Wednesday, to a 4 day stretch, and now on day 2 of no poops.  She isn’t constipated and it is normal poop, but boy oh boy is it a lot when she does grace us with a poopy diaper.  lol.
  • if you put her on her stomach, she has the neck strength to lift her head and face the other direction, but still pretty bobble-head like. 
  • if she can get some leverage, she can flip herself over, although she seems pretty surprised by it.
  • she is smiling, but still mostly in her sleep or in that ‘twilight’ stage.
  • she goes from content to completely ticked off in an instant.  Oh, boy does she have a temper!
  • she is having problems with handling my let-down during that first nursing session in the morning.  I have learned to keep a diaper on her like a bib so that when she unlatches she doesn’t get soaked.  So weird for me…Zane never had a problem with that. 
  • she does not like being still.  Must always be touching somebody and in motion to some degree to be happy.  It is a good thing I am a natural wiggler because it would be stressful for somebody who actually sits still.  She will not sleep at all unless she is in somebody’s arms.  Even in bed I have to wiggle my leg or rock to have a chance of keeping her asleep.

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28th January 2006

Saturday January 28, 2006

My little fart machine

 

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25th January 2006

Wednesday January 25, 2006

Mom came by right after Zach went to school and we hung out until right before he got home.  Made for a short day for me.

Zane had a lot of fun.  We went to Exploration Place today and played around there for a while.  Zora was content in the sling the whole time.  When they closed, we went to get Zane’s hair cut.  I had given him a hideous haircut…aptly described as a “Romulan Mullet” (you can see it in the early pictures).  Ugh.  He sat pretty good for the first 80% of the cut, and she cut fast than I have ever seen anybody cut hair.  She was quite good and he came out with the best cut he has had.  After the cut we went to Brahms and had some burgers, fries, and malts and then Zane played on the play yard for a while longer.

It was a very good day.  Zane was really enjoying himself, and continued to be in a good mood when we got home.  We read some books, he danced around to music, and then played a video game with Zach for a while, then played some more on his own. 

 

At home, after a bath to get all the little hairs off of everything. (still mostly wet, but you get the idea)

The smile in his eyes is back. 

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24th January 2006

Tuesday January 24, 2006

Zora is 5lbs 11.6oz today.  She is averaging a 27 gram per day gain which is very good.  (20 grams per day is what they are hoping for).

Asleep on my lap (on the 19th)

 

One Month Old

 

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22nd January 2006

Sunday January 22, 2006

I think I finally have the sling figured out again.  Yesterday I finally got it to ‘feel right’ again and walked around the house for a while with the sling.  Haven’t attempted it in public yet, and I am going to have to get something that can be nursed in without pulling up my shirt besides the pajama top that I have if I want to go out a lot with it.  (ok, this is more of a want, simply because there will be a lot of extra material that will be overwhelming when she is this small) Zane was a bit older when I discovered the sling and didn’t need to nurse all the time at that stage, so it wasn’t as much of an issue.

I noticed that she doesn’t get the “Harlequin Effect” look as much.  (a phenomena where half of her face is red, the other half white after she is done nursing…according to the LC, this isn’t unheard of, especially in early babies).  It was sort of freaky looking while it lasted.  I still see it to some degree, but nothing like the striking look she had in the earliest weeks.

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19th January 2006

Thursday January 19, 2006

Not a lot going on around here, but I had my hands free for a moment, so I thought I would post. 

Life is going fairly well.  I am somewhat sleep deprived, but I expected to be at this point, so I am not surprised.  I am learning to sleep sitting up and keeping up my energy by catnapping throughout the day.  Every once in a while I will actually lay down and sometimes get an hour or so of sleep before Zora needs me, but that isn’t happening too often.  She isn’t happy when I try and lay down with her…I am not sure if it is the angle (being flat on her back) or because she isn’t strong enough to latch on well while both of us are laying down, but we are not to the point were we can co-sleep effectively yet.  I suspect that will come in time…I didn’t even go upstairs to the bedroom for a good 8 weeks after Zane was born, just slept in the recliner with him on my lap.  (I think I did actually start trying to co-sleep in bed at 5 weeks, but I am thinking that only lasted about a night or two before I was back in the hospital with my emergency gall bladder surgery) 

On a happy note, she seems like she is almost smiling and I am seeing the beginnings of laughing/happy look.  She is most likely to do it when I am getting ready to nurse her and she makes happy little noises when she is nursing too, which is just really adorable.  She is also spending more time in the ‘active alert’ state watching Zach or I making faces at her and talking to her.  Zane is still being gentle with her.  He will come across the room just to pat her head and give her a kiss.  He is also much more patient than I anticipated with waiting to get on my lap or sit next to me so I can read or color with him.  I am really proud of what a great big brother he is.

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17th January 2006

Tuesday January 17, 2006

Today was my first day with the kids by myself.  Zach started school today.  It actually went reasonably well, especially considering the start of the day.  First, none of us got good sleep last night.  Zora would not settle and I swear it felt like she fussed all night.  She kept us all awake to differing degrees (me the most, obviously, since I am the one actually dealing with her).  Tonight we have to figure out something different for sleeping.  I am not sure yet if it will be me and Zora in Zane’s bed, or the couch, or me attempting to sleep sitting up in my chair/loveseat.  I really wish we had a recliner…so much more comfortable to sleep sitting up with a baby on your lap.  My neck and shoulders hurt like heck today from cat naps sitting on the loveseat.  Zach and Zane have to get better sleep though…all of us cranky from lack of sleep is infinitely worse than just me feeling sleep deprived.

Zane also started the day by puking twice.  I think it was just sinus drainage that he coughed up and had no idea what to do with since there wasn’t a huge volume though.  He hasn’t had any other ’sick’ symptoms since then and is playing like normal, which further makes me believe it was just post-cold sinus drainage getting the better of him.

My ears are also popping all day and starting to hurt a bit.  I am hoping to make something spicy for supper because sometimes hot food can curb a throat/ear infection before it really takes hold.

Surprisingly, I am still in a good mood.  Probably because I still feel so much better than I did when I was pregnant that it isn’t phasing me too much.  lol.  Gosh, I knew I was sick when I was pregnant, but I don’t think I realized just how sick I was until I started feeling better.

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16th January 2006

Monday January 16, 2006

My Birthday (yesterday)

We went to Carrabba’s Italian Grill, my favorite restaurant

 

On my lap

 

Doing mazes with Grandpa

 

 

Zane crawled onto Uncle Steve’s lap (my “little” brother)

 

Home again

 

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16th January 2006

Monday January 16, 2006

Zane’s Birthday Celebration (last Sunday)

Opening Presents.  He got several sticker books, some playdough toys, Dora the Explorer slippers & some legos.

The cake (orange is his current favorite color)

Zane used to purse his lips the exact same way when he was done eating.  It was his signal that he was done and we should just leave him alone and let him sleep.  lol. 

 

Playing with play dough with Grandpa

Legos with Dad later that night

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13th January 2006

Friday January 13, 2006

Posted by MysticMama on MDC on the subject of CIO

OK. You asked for it. Is bleeding good for your veins? Crying is NOT good for their lungs. Babies don’t even NEED to cry at birth to clear their lungs. Many do, for that reason. Beyond the first few minutes at birth, crying does nothing but use up a lot of energy (read: Calories) that should be used in other avenues (read: brain development). Crying is THE Worst possible way to “develop” lungs. WHEn I cry and am crying hard, I will often have an asthma attack because my lungs/airways are becoming inflamed. Crying CLOSES the airways. It does not clear them. No matter what you do, babies/children do not reliably sleep through the night until they are four years old. Think about that. It’s not developmentally appropriate for them to sleep RELIABLY through the night until four. Plus, sleeping through the night is defined as five hours straight through. Heck, I don’t sleep reliably through the night. I check the clock, I use the bathroom, I get a drink. There’s so much unrealistic pressure on these children. Sigh. If a woman asks her partner for a hug, she hopes that he will respond in a compassionate way, without stopping to determine if she has had too many hugs already, or is trying to “manipulate” or “train” him. If he ignores her request or responds with annoyance, the relationship suffers. If he continues to respond in this way, the relationship may well end. Yet this same woman may not see the parallel when she ignores her crying toddler. Gary Ezzo popularized this “METhod”. HE made parents believe evil things about their babies. IF you have read babywise, or used it, I strongly urge you to stop. Babies have DIED From that method. www.ezzo.info is a good site with science to back me up. I wouldn’t let you cry… why would I let my precious baby cry? She can’t tell me what’s wrong any other way. SOon will come the day when she doesn’t want me to hold her, rock her, kiss her. Soon, she will be “too big” for such things. Eric’s parents went so far as to lock him in his room because he would have night terrors (from earlier bouts of letting him cry for hours), and he would try to leave the house. SO, the left him in there… locked in… no one around.. to scream for help. HE still has night terrors because of that awful start he got in life. Beware of using someone else’s training method to get your baby to sleep or get your baby on a predictable schedule. Most of these methods are variations of the tired old theme of letting baby cry it out. Before trying anyone else’s method, run it through your intuitive wisdom. Does this advice sound sensible? Does it fit your baby’s temperament? Does it feel right to you? Keep one thing in mind when you consider letting your child cry it out. If you were upset and could not speak to communicate your needs, and you were crying in the middle of the night, how would you feel if your spouse walked by your room and ignored your cries? You would continue to cry until you came to the realization that the person who means more to you than anyone else in the world was not going to help you. Then you would stop crying. You would stop crying not because your needs have changed or gone away; no, you stop crying because you feel defeated. It is no different for your child. But there is no doubt that repeated lack of responsiveness to a baby’s cries-even for only five minutes at a time-is potentially damaging to the baby’s mental health. Babies who are left to cry it out alone may fail to develop a basic sense of trust or an understanding of themselves as a causal agent, possibly leading to feelings of powerlessness, low self-esteem, and chronic anxiety later in life. The cry-it-out approach undermines the very basis of secure attachment, which requires prompt responsiveness and sensitive attunement during the first year after birth. The need for prompt response dwindles ONLY SLightly after that first year, as babies wants are no longer really their needs, however response is ALWAYS needed. Remember that cortisol is produced during all types of stressful events, and that high levels of cortisol seem to be associated with a number of effects, including low immune system functioning.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette…renNeedTou.html

THe whole article is great.. here is a brief exerpt
“Instead of letting infants cry, American parents should keep their babies close, console them when they cry, and bring them to bed with them, where they’ll feel safe, according to Michael L. Commons and Patrice M. Miller, researchers at the Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry.”

http://web.archive.org/web/20010305…y/aa040100b.htm
When the infant is in a state of helpless fear and panic the amygdala kicks in and sends messages to the brain to prepare the body for “flight or fight.” An infant can neither fight nor flee. If the panic isn’t subdued by intervention from a nurturing adult, the flood of chemicals and hormones may rage through the brain, specifically targeting the amygdala and hippocamus, for an unhealthy length of time.
Crying infants who are unattended have been known to cry desperately for an hour or more until the amygdala eventually shuts down. The infant in turn, learns after repeated episodes that it can not expect comfort and response to its cries, and it may decide its needs are unworthy of attention and nurturing–a decision which may ultimately affect the infant’s development self-worth.

http://www.babyreference.com/BondingMatters.htm

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp

http://www.naturalchild.com/advice/q09.html

http://www.elizabethbauchner.info/columns/throw.html

What exactly is “It”? WHat does the baby have to cry out? (article above)

http://www.christian-mommies.com/ag…aby-cry-it-out/

http://www.naturalchild.com/peggy_o…azy_mother.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl1.asp

http://www.findarticles.com/p/artic…158/ai_63692736

ARticle on controlled crying: even 5 minutes does harm
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia….ed%20Crying.pdf

http://www.naturalchild.org/researc…ng_infants.html

If I still know you, which I like to think I do, this will change your mind. Don’t worry about what you’ve done… just make it right from here on out. BTW, none of this relates to a kid of any age having a temper tantrum becuase… heaven forbid… you want to pee by yourself this one time. IT also doesn’t mean if you’ve had a screaming baby for an hour in your hands, and you put her down for 5 minutes to cool of so you don’t throw her out your kitchen windo, that is bad. IT just means there is no GOOD reason to cry, that there is always something causing the crying, and you can almost always figure it out and fix it. Babies were meant to be held. that’s why they can’t hold their heads up, sit, crawl, walk, etc. THEy need us. For all they know, there is a bear right around the corner. EVolution has brought us this far, and if grown ups didn’t respond to babies cries, we wouldn’t be here.

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