Hi everyone! Rescued this thread off of page 5. Thought I would give you an update now that our LO is a little over a month old.
Since I apparently have written a book, I went through and highlighted the topic of each paragraph so that busy moms can find what interests them because I know I would glaze over if I saw a huge post like this
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Despite the fact that I panicked a little during labor (I even asked quasar if we could "throw him back" like we would if we were fishing
), being a new mom has been a great experience.
The first week was a little rough. We had some
nursing / supply issues. Quasar and I were
taking shifts with him through the night. Despite that, neither one of us was sleeping enough. Then one night we were all tired right around bedtime and layed down "just for a nap" and ended up
sleeping through the night with Ray only getting up to nurse once. And that has pretty much been our routine since. He does awesome and sleeps 4-6hrs at a stretch at night. I think he is going to take after quasar in the sleep department.
Nursing provided quasar with even more challenges... sore nipples, mastitis / abscess (that I was bummed when it popped and drained pus and I missed it). Now she is trying to pump and save up some milk for when she goes back to work.
There was talk of
comfort nursing, pacifiers and nipple confusion earlier. We were very strict the first two weeks with not using a bottle and using that little sippy cup thing if we had to supplement. Well, one day after the sippy cup went horribly wrong, we tried the bottle to great relief. Quasar still hates bottles because he chugs and spits up, but there has been no nipple confusion. And a pacifier has been our best friend. On a whim I gave him one when I had to set him down to do something and he loved it! He really seems to enjoy it but he also really likes his boobies too. I know we have been fortunate, but just wanted to put out a positive story about lack of nipple confusion.
We have been
co-sleeping. I really didn't think we would, but it has turned out to be soooo easy to co-sleep and have quasar be able to nurse him in bed at night.
Cloth diapers have also worked out really well. There is another crunchy thing i thought I would never do and now I am obsessed!!
We also got lucky in the fact that Ray seems to be happy to wallow in his own urine and we don't have to change him at night. This bothers me a little but I feel better about it now that we are using the bum genius at night as it is stay dry and very absorbant. No problems with rashes either. We have been using the Northern Essence Diaper Rash stick each change and that is working great.
Oh, and one our big concerns....
The Animals!! They have been great! Our German Shepherd was very interested in him at first... but just in the sniff and lick a lot way... but has since become more relaxed around him and only really gets excited if he is crying a lot. All of the other dogs could care less. They will sniff him if he is in the bouncy seat but really they don't mind him at all. The chihuahua is fine as long as she still has her spot on Quasar's lap and has even tried to bury him under a blanket or robe a few times (cute!). My pomeranian, who has always been a little weird around children, has been a little leary of him when I try to show Ray to her... but she has actually ventured up to him a few times on her own now. The cats also could care less. No attempts to smother him or steal his breath as the old wives tales go. They have a few times tried to step on him or lay on him in total disregard of his personal space but we are always there to supervise and really those times are when they are trying to get to us and they aren't seeking the baby out to bother him. We thought the one cat was freaked out by him and wouldn't come out of our bedroom for 3 days. Turns out he was scared of the giant, freaky Stork helium balloon we attached tot he stairway bannister. Once he got over that, the cat situation was under control. We have even had time to pay attention to the animals. The Shepherd has been to the park a few times and the cat boxes seem to be getting scooped more often than before the baby was born.
Going back to work for me has been OK. It probably helps that I enjoy my work and there has been a lot of exciting management changes with some spectacular firings. I miss Ray and Quasar but am fine with working. Money makes the world go round after all. Quasar is still trying to figure out how much she wants to work when she goes back next month.
Parents: Quasar's family has been awesome!! My mom came to visit 5 days after he was born. My dad has yet to meet Ray. On the whole, they are much more relaxed about the whole situation. We might make it out there way for Memorial Day. I am kind of annoyed that they drove all the way out to Deleware to visit my loser brother this weekend and yet can't seem to be bothered with a day trip to hang with us. Oh well.
I guess that is it for now. I will stop boring you all.
Hope some others can chime in... I miss you all!!
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