Pink Eye?

Poor little W has pink eye. How the hell does a 7 week old get pink eye? Yuck.
Here are some Memorial Day pics for your enjoyment from our trip to my Mom's house.
We hiked to some waterfalls. Here is W taking a break from the bjorn. Look at those cheeks!
Here is A with my mom and stepdad
Sorry, no pics of me until I lose 20 more pounds.

Thank Cthulhu for the people at Fisher Price

Because this thing, my friends, is a life saver for moms of babies who insist on being held 24/7.
I tried this thing out at a friend's house and W actually slept in it, which is amazing. So, after saying I wouldn't buy another expensive baby thing that doesn't get used I rushed out and bought it. I am typing away now because W is resting comfortably in it. I know Dr. Sears would disapprove of W being out of my arms for 15 minutes when I should have her in the sling and be simultaneously nursing her, working on a solution for world peace, and handing sandwiches out to the poor but I am totally over that.
Now if only they made one in adult size with a drink holder I would be set.
Off to the Doctor's office today...poor little W woke up with a suspiciously pink eye this morning. Wouldn't it be fun if A and W (heh, heh A&W) both had pink eye at the same time? Even more fun would be if I got it too.

Newborns are like Tyrannasauruses

They have vision that is stimulated by motion. So if you are a newborn's mom peeking into her crib to see if she is still asleep after a nap make no sudden movements otherwise you are screwed. Little W's eyes are like the eyes in a painting in a haunted house...her head doesn't move but her eyes follow me everywhere. If it weren't so cute it would be a little disturbing.

Sleep Training Vent

I have lurked on an April 2008 birth board for a few weeks now just to see how little W is comparing to other newborns from April. It is interesting to come to one of these boards as a veteran mommy instead of the bright eyed newbie I was when I found the May 2005 board that I still belong to for A.
The biggest posts for new moms is how to get their children to sleep through the night. I can totally understand why this would be important for everyone. Really, I do. A slept like crap until he was probably close to 4 months old, and even then he wouldn't nap during the day unless I was holding him or next to him until he was probably close to 6 months old. I spent a lot of time obsessing about sleep and how I could get A to sleep more.
What really irks me about people is when they decide to "sleep train" their newborns to try to get them to sleep through the night. "Sleep train" for these people is basically an excuse to use the Cry it Out (CIO) method. Now, the experts are calling it "self soothing." What about a newborn screaming her head off for 30 minutes is soothing, I might ask?
I really don't understand how people can do it with a newborn. The way these people talk its like they think that by crying their baby is trying to manipulate them some how. Like these (in some cases) 3 week old infants really know how to do that.
When I tried CIO with A it was terrible. He screamed for almost 30 minutes nonstop. When he finally stopped screaming I checked on him and he had passed out from exhaustion. What little hair he had was matted to his head with sweat. His face was still red and he had tear tracks down his cheeks that were still wet. He was still crying in his sleep. Little snuffling cries and whimpers that pierced my heart like an arrow every time he did it. I felt like a total shit and that is when I made the decision to let him call the shots and never to let him cry like that again. Eventually I stopped stressing about it and just resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be sleep deprived. I drank more coffee to not feel tired. All of a sudden I was much happier because I wasn't trying to force the issue. A was happier because he was running the show and I was less stressed. Yeah, it sucks being sleep deprived but it really is only temporary.
Sometimes a newborn will cry so hard that they puke on themselves. Really, that can't be good, especially when you are trying to establish a trusting relationship with them. All they want is to be with their mommies and to be held and comforted. Sometimes that is all I want too and I am 31 years old. I can't imagine being so small in such a big world and being expected to reconcile the fact that there are times when Mommy wants to hold you and then there are times when she doesn't or can't. Because they want Mommy all the time regardless.

Still here

Just slogging along through these first weeks. Everything kind of blends together when you have a newborn.
A is not a happy camper right now. I feel so bad because I can't dote on him like I did when it was just he and I. He spends a lot of time right now entertaining himself while I deal with W. And there is always something to be done with W. I had not forgotten how all consuming having a newborn was. I just didn't realize now much it would impact my relationship with A. Being around a three year old is hard enough without having to do it while sleep deprived and with a newborn hanging on your breast. I just hope I am not emotionally damaging A somehow. Sometimes I wish that I didn't worry so much about this kind of thing. I know my parents didn't.
I am trying to be patient with A but when he purposely does things to mess with his sister or to hurt me physically I just want to beat the snot out of him. Yesterday I took him to Target with me alone and we had a great time just like we used to. It made me want to cry because I miss those times. My husband just isn't really supportive of taking A to do fun things alone (like go to the park, etc.) so while W is less easy to transport A and I hang out around the house a lot. I know he gets bored and I try to do as much as I can to incorporate him in the process but it is different than it was before and I know he feels it.
W is getting so big. She weighs 12 pounds now! She started smiling last week and has been much more alert during the day. She wakes up about 3 times a night, which is developmentally appropriate. She is good at holding her head up and is starting to coo occasionally. I find myself constantly trying to remember what A was doing at this age because I keep thinking she should be doing things faster (why isn't she crawling yet?).
W's newborn and 0-3 month clothes are all packed away and she is sporting 3-6 month clothes. Her 0-3 month clothes barely have any wear at all. I need to find someone who has a small newborn baby girl who wants my castoffs. Since this is my last child there is no point in keeping anything that she grows out of now.
I gave away half of my maternity clothes yesterday. I felt weird doing it because some of them I had for 4 years. I was a little sad but only for a millisecond. I am reading to move on to a new phase of my life and start figuring out what I am going to do when I go back to the workforce.

Baby Farts

I am typing this while listening to the sound of poor little W farting her diaper off in the cosleeper next to me. What is it about my children that makes them have such bad gas? Poor little A suffered from tummy troubles for the first 3 months of his life. I tried everything to help him out...My.licon, gri.pe water, burping more frequently, feeding only from one breast, elimination diet, voodoo sacrifices to Cthulhu...you name it and I tried it. It always seemed like his gas would hit from 2 am to 4 am every morning. Sometimes it got so bad he would just scream with the pain of it. W is the same way now, except not as extreme.
Like clockwork 2am comes and my poor little pumpkin is writhing and squirming around. First, she starts to squeak a little while she draws her legs up. Next, tiny cries accompany her movements if the gas doesn't come out. Finally, she will start to full on cry until the gas is released or she falls asleep until the next episode wakes her up. This usually happens every five minutes or so until 4-6am which makes for very bad sleep for the both of us.
I wish there were some way for me to make it all better for her. But having gone through this before I know that the only cure is for her intestines to mature.
Which takes time. Just like everything in life, I guess. So things ought to be better for her and me in like 8 weeks.