Tuesday, December 30, 2008

It's getting worse...

Tatum called me to tell me that she admitted her son to the hospital - and that we should watch out for dehydration with this virus...
My prayers go to her, Tom and of course baby Cade.
And Dax has just really started to puke...
this is not good.

It's official...

We have a sick baby. :(
This is his very first real illness...
we did pretty good - 9 months without a major bug!!
But he got it - a nice pukey/diarrhea, ear/sinus infecting, green-snot producing, fever having virus. He's been sick for at least 2 fever-charted days now (viruses take 7-10 days to get going).
Poor baby.
And today was supposed to be his 9 month "well-baby" checkup.
:(
He's finally sleeping on my lap right now - which makes a total of 4 hours in the last 24 that he's slept... which is two more hours than me, actually...
And with teething the last three weeks - we've both gotten, on average, 4 hours of sleep per night...
I was hallucinating last night...
This is a lot like when he was a brand new little guy.
But worse, only because I'd gotten used to having 6 hours of sleep or more a night before this...
:(
Muh.
I hope antibiotics for the infections will soothe him sooner rather than later... that still does nothing for the virus... we just have to wait.

Monday, December 22, 2008

For a chilly day like this...

Another recipe!
And this one's TASTY on a cold day like today...
AND, it happens to be a very healthy soup - lots of versions have been found on the internet saying that it has between 1 and 4 points per serving (1.5 cups = 1 serving, or thereabouts...) You can make it lean, or mean, however you like it. And below this, is a "bread bowl recipe"...
:)

1-Can Taco Soup
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Rotel
1 can of Chili Beans
1 can of Black beans
1 can of Kidney beans
1 can of corn (sometimes I use 2)
1 can of Chicken broth
1 pound of lean turkey (or beef)
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of Ranch dressing mix
1 diced onion/or 1/2 cup of frozen chopped onion (to suit your taste - I hate onions, so I avoid them as best I can... they make you gassy too...) ew.
(optional: 1 can of green chiles; 1 big can of sliced olives - olives will add "points" to your point value for the fat... but they're oh-so-tasy; grated cheese for topping; Tostitos/tortilla chips for grinding up and dipping into the soup )

Brown your meat with (onions and) taco seasoning.
In a large pot, dump all the other ingredients together (don't drain anything!), add the browned meat/onions, and the Ranch packet.
Poof! You're done!
If it's not soupy enough, use one of the cans to measure out and add a can of water.


Bread Bowls!
1 package of frozen bread dough loaves from the freezer section (they come in threes I think; just white bread dough loaves)
4.5-5.5" diameter Corningware ramekins (1 bowl per ramekin = 1/2 loaf of bread)
(optional smaller diameter Corningware ramekins - I think I have 2.5" ones - they use 1/3 of a loaf of bread - very good lunch size)

One loaf makes two large bowls - leave enough bread out to thaw and puff up a bit.

Preheat oven to 350.

Using flour and a cutting board, dust your cutting board, and slice one loaf in half. Roll one half in the flour to coat a bit, and roll into a ball.
Dust your ramekin with flour (you don't have to if you don't want to; I'm compelled to do it, though)
Plop one ball of dough in the ramekin - leaving the roundy end bit on the top side, and smush it down some.
Repeat for other loaves/ramekins.
Pop into the oven for about 10-15 minutes - or until the tops of the bread start to turn a golden color (less if you like it heavier, more if you like it breadier).
Pull bread out of the oven, and saw out the center in a cylindrical fashion - leaving it on the side for dipping.
Poof!
Bread bowls!
Yummmmm.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Favorite recipes!

Ok - this is the beginning of my favorite recipes that we use nearly every week in our house... The first one is my take on an oldie - "King Ranch Chicken"

Lisa's King Ranch Chicken with Pasta (feeds many)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can Rotel
1 can chicken broth
(supplemental - a small can of green chiles, chopped jalepenos)
1 big bag of grated cheese (I use the mexi-blend)
1 package of spaghetti
2-4 pounds of chicken - cooked and cubed
(supplemental - 2 cans of corn)

Ok - to begin with, you really can't have too much chicken for this. That's why I don't have an exact amount that you need. My mom used frozen chicken, already sliced in strips and grilled - that worked great. A friend of mine said she's going to cook this tonight using a rotisserie chicken - fantastic - whatever works for you.
And I cook the entire package of spaghetti, but I usually don't use all of it - I'll set aside some to mash up for my baby. And make sure your blender is at least 2.5 liters... or don't mix the can of chicken broth in with the other stuff in the blender - wait til you've blended the other stuff, and then hand mix it in.

Begin all of these things:
*Start cooking your chicken if you have to; dice it up.
*Start cooking your pasta; try to leave it just a little undercooked.
*Pre-heat your oven to 350.
*Combine the soups, rotel, chicken broth and a heaping handful of grated cheese in the blender. Blend it up. (supplemental - add a small can of green chiles, or jalepenos) If your sauce looks too thick, use the supplemental can of chicken broth or water, even, to make it a little more liquidy (but it should be fine).

    Now, slosh a little sauce into the bottom of your dish just to coat the dish.
    Toss the pasta in - cover the bottom with at least 1 inch of pasta - I usually get up to nearly 2 inches; don't worry if you don't use it all (I don't).

    Slosh half of your sauce over the pasta.

    Toss cheese on top - generously.

    Next, layer the chicken on.

    Slosh some more sauce on it; all of it, if you don't want corn...

    Spread cheese generously on top.

    Supplemental - pour two cans of corn on top, and slosh rest of sauce on, with another layer of cheese.


This will most likely bake over the sides of your dish if you used corn, so put a foil-lined pan underneath your dish...

Bake for 45min-1hour on 350!

Tada!

Hope you enjoy!!

Regression, cha cha cha!

The last week has been a nightmare... Dax has been waking up at night every two to three hours for at least 7 days. It was really bad in the beginning (he would wake up screaming, and nothing could calm him down - not even mommy!), and has gotten a little better - he only woke up twice last night and the night before...
A million things go through your mind when this happens...
Is he eating enough?
Is he sleeping enough during the day?
Did I eat something that's made him not well?
Is it teething?
Just a growth spurt?

He did grow two new teeth over the weekend, which I attribute this other regressive item to: he doesn't want any solid foods lately - taking us back to strictly breastfeeding for now... I tried to bring lunch back into the picture yesterday, and he just wasn't having it. He ate a few crunchy star things, though... (I know some people call those crap - and I'm sure there's nothing dietarily redeeming about them, but they get his fingers grabbing food and getting it to his mouth - so I really don't care)

But we're still waking up at night...
Now my other problem is this - the only thing that seems to calm him down is nursing... which gets us caught back up in the loop of waking up to nurse back to sleep, not because he's hungry...

And. He bit me yesterday. So hard, it drew blood (but I didn't know it yet). I pulled him off fast, and put him on the floor with his toys, and decided to pump the rest of the time, but when I pulled the pump off when I was finished, the milk was pink, and there was blood in the pump, and running down my stomach... sweet.
Gotta love that.
I rushed to the internet to see if blood would hurt him if he drank it, and apparently not, but it's still kind of gross...
anyway.

What do you do??
I guess you do what works - that's my new M.O.
I can't listen to anyone tell me he has to cry it out, when I know that he never cries, so it's important when he does. Especially when he's screaming. And choking. And vomiting because he's crying so hard.
I will say that I'm so tired, I'm mentally ready to let him cry it out... but it's so so sad. He's hurting, or something...

I think we just need to get out of the house more, but it's so hard, when it's freaking cold out... I probably should buy him a bunting thing, and take him out with a face mask on anyway... :) at least we'd both see something other than the inside of our house...
We went shopping yesterday after he bit me, and I brought a bottle of formula with us instead (I can't seem to keep breastmilk in stock around here), and he ate it when he got hungry enough... so looks like we might be substituting some meals with that... Weaning? maybe...

Anyhoo - just had to write this out before a month passed, and I forgot about this - I'll have to give some advice to my daughter-in-law one day, I imagine, and she might appreciate this...
:)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Friday, December 5, 2008

They call it "The Commando"

And Dax does it... right across the floor! He's crawling! Or more like dragging his lifeless bottom half with his arms... hehehe I'll have to post a video.
As I've said before, magic happens at my parents' house, and he started crawling Thanksgiving day while we were over there - and Cousin Molly got it on tape! In fact, I should post that, because it was pretty darn funny - it's mostly Molly, and then some Dax... hehehe
Coming Soon!
:)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ahhh... Summer

Remember summer...
Posted via Pixelpipe.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

More milestones!

It's so amazing how fast babies learn things...
Dax has exclaimed his first syllable already, and has added on to it (guess what his first two-syllable "word" was...?? yep - "mama"! first heard on the 5th) - along with Ba, he now says Ma, Da, Pa, Wa, and squeals really loud! :)
He also rolled over for the first time with Honey on the 7th! Honey thought he'd done it before, so she was wondering why he looked so surprised after he did it. hehehehe
And, I'm happy to announce his first bites of food were this morning! I've tried off and on to mix rice cereal with things, and we've tried various tastes of other things (we've mouthed mashed potatoes, licked popcorn and jelly, and reviewed hashbrowns-badly), but I tried rice cereal with some formula about a week ago, and he not only hated the taste, but he gagged, and violently threw it up all over the counter... poor baby. I tried cereal with soy milk that day, just because I had no thawed breast milk... to no avail (and about the same reception as the soy formula and rice cereal... I really can't blame him about the formula, too - that's some smelly stuff)
We're still awaiting the inevitable teeth... it seems like he's been teething for about two or three weeks now... But what do I know??

I think the thing with babies is that they change so fast, and as adults, we're just not used to that kind of switching up (or at least at this kind of pace, anyway) - but change is good - it means all kinds of things are happening. And we all evolve and change, even as old as I (feel) am now, I know I change too.
Night time has brought a lot of change lately - he'll wake up any time between 2 and 6, and if he woke up earlier, he'll get up one more time before 8... And not that he was really on any kind of sleep schedule before that, but it seemed like we were getting at least 7 hours straight for a couple of weeks there... Ah well. Change.
:)

Last night he woke up at 3 ish, and played and babbled in his crib for about 30 minutes, and then we had an hour long on-and-off cry session (because I was thinking that if I nursed him to sleep, he'd wake up every morning at 3 ish expecting to get nursed back to sleep... and the "nurse to sleep" thing - could become a habit forever, right??
Guh.
You never stop second guessing yourself.
But I have to go easy on this... he certainly won't want to nurse forever - he didn't want to sleep in our bed forever, and can't even stand the pack and play in our room anymore (he needs more space to stretch out now!). So I have to enjoy the moments I have with him while I have them.
:)
He's getting so big already.
:)

And with everything I don't know, or can't know, or guess wrong, he's still such a happy little guy. I'm so lucky.
:)

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Hi, I starve my kid. Nice to meet you...

Yeah. So. Took Dax to the doctor yesterday to check his ears - we thought he might have an ear infection. Poor kid. He's been swiping at his ears for the past few days on and off (none at all yesterday, but we kept the appointment anyway).
So I get him in there, and the first thing we do is weigh him.
He weighs no more, and no less than the last time we were in there, which was about 5 weeks ago!
I was proud.
And here's why.
I had discovered a brilliancy in some "helpful information" that I had passed on to a girlfriend of mine regarding breastfeeding (poor girl). I had rambled on about why you should only feed your kid from one breast at a time, because the hind milk is what keeps babies happy longer - why give them just fore-milk when you can give them the richness of fatty love??
So I had a flash of realization.
If my kid is so HUGE, and he's sleeping through the night.... you guessed it... Why don't I switch him from one breast to the other while I'm feeding him??
I came up with the "2% Diet Plan" for him - giving him only 10-15 minutes of one breast and then switching him to the other until he was done, and I'd pull him off after 30 minutes, if he hadn't finished before then.
30 minutes had to be enough, right?
Hrm.
The doctor came in to the room with us, and said something nice about how he was sitting up so well, and then jumped right to the page that had his weight.
"He only weigh 18 pound...? He weigh 18 pound at LAST appointment... that was... a month ago! Really... almost 6 weeks ago!"
(she says it like this though: "..at LAST aponty-ment... dat was amont-ago! almos 6 weeks!")
So I told her my grand scheme... and she made clicking noises with her mouth (Dax is making sounds very similar to this these days, only a lot cuter).
We talked about how he's not rolling over yet (and she made a crack about me carrying him everywhere - which I don't! I play a lot on the floor with him, nearly every time he wakes up from a nap we play on the floor!), and she checked his ears (and took a whole lot of ear wax out of them for me), and he sat up some more for her.
Then she says,"So, no. You needa give him the fool [full] breast - he need all da good HIend millk. Next time I see him, I want him to be 20 pound! You got a lot o-feeding to do!" and as she walked out the door, she played with Dax and made him giggle,"You leetle cutie, mommy not feeding you enough, you tell her you need da fool breast, huh? You want the good stuff!", and she closed the door.
So great.
I've been starving him.
You'd never guess it though, to look at him...
:)
hehehehe

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008

Whoah.

We had Dax's 4 month checkup today - not only did we finally get the pediatrician I've been hoping to have since I was 7 months pregnant, but she's freaking stupendous. I LOVE this doctor. I couldn't be more pleased.
When I mentioned that we waited a week between the last round of immunizations, she didn't blink twice, so when we had more immunizations today, she just asked if I would come in for the remainder of them next week - no need to make an appointment, just come in at our leisure! WOW. No lecture about the birth center, no lecture about why I'm stupid for worrying about the effects of immunization shots on a baby's brain, etc...
And not only that! The nurse was FINE with me nursing while he received his shot today - and he did GREAT! He screamed for a second, and then poof! he nabbed back onto me, and was JUST fine! The nurse even mentioned how amazed she was!

The last doctor we had (Dr. Smalley) - while perfectly Christian and prayerful - gave me a lecture about having a baby in a birth center, about why I'm stupid for worrying about the effects of too many shots on a baby's immune system (I don't care how MANY shots you give my baby - but I worry about the actual antigens introduced at one time - too many can make their tiny brains swell!). And yes - he said sweet, thoughtful prayers at the end of each meeting, but you know what? When you tell me I have no rational basis for the way I feel about getting too many immunizations at once, when you cannot look me in the eye for longer than a minute (because you're just not interested), and when your staff abuse me for trying alternate methods of calming my baby during an immunization shot, well... then... you've just lost a paying patient. For good. And not only one patient, but many - don't think I didn't tell the birth center - which initially gave the reference to this doctor - so any potential patients who hear about it...

Blah blah blah.
Done with all that anyway - we're on to bigger... and better...

And speaking of bigger!
Dax is weighing in at a whopping 18 pounds! and is measuring 26 inches long! He's a big big boy right now... His head circumference is absolutely average, though - so I imagine that by the time he reaches one year old - he'll be quite normal, with everything matching up well (his height, his weight, and his head!) :)

Milestones = giggling for the first time a few nights ago, nearly turning over (not quite yet), and grabbing himself. :) ha!
:)


By the way - the nurse today also said something about our cloth diapers - she wondered where we got them, and if they were adjustable - and of course they are. :)
They're pretty damn great, actually - and if I have to plug a diaper on here, shamelessly - well then - I have to. I LOVE BUMGENIUS DIAPERS!! :)
Someone asked at our "class" reunion at the birth center if we ever had blowouts with these diapers - and you know what?? Not ever. We have never had a blowout in these diapers - they keep everything in. That is, unless they're completely saturated (which they can be by the time morning comes around) - they really should be changed at least every 4 hours - but you obviously don't want to wake a sleeping baby to change his diaper... :)
Anyhoo - I digress...

It was a very good 4 month birthday day for a very big boy named Dax (and his mummy too)!
:)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Putting off the Inevitable...

So I talked to my mom last night - actually for very selfish reasons... We were asked to go to a movie opening this Friday night, and we needed a babysitter - I thought since the movie was going to be in South Arlington, that we might be able to use my parents as babysitters, and then possibly spend the night with them.
We spent the night with them the night of July 4th, since we were down in Burleson, and didn't really want to make the trek all the way back up to Flower Mound after firework bonanzas, not to mention that I hadn't seen my parents in about a month! And it turned out to be a really great idea - the best way to spend a good amount of quality time with my parents... Anooj got to go with Dad to Fry's after they poured over the Saturday morning newspaper sales advertisements, and Mom and I (and Dax) got to hang out while they were shopping for gadgets. It was very nice.
So I thought that would work again for this weekend...

And actually, I even called them initially because the All-stars game was on, but they were still in the first few minutes of the pre-show - but they were introducing huge names in baseball - Willie Mays! Reggie Jackson! Yoggi Bera! It was like the field of dreams out there - and so I had to make sure Dad was watching... but he wasn't! So it was good that I called.

THEN I remembered that I needed to ask them if they could watch Dax on Friday so we could hit an opening night movie at the movie grill in Arlington - The new Batman with Heath Ledger - who wouldn't want to see it?? My friend was pre-buying tickets too - so we knew we wouldn't be turned away at the door, and I'd ordered 4 (just in case another couple could come from Flower Mound too - turns out it's Melanie's Birthday, and she's doing her family-night thing with her family on Friday... ah well - I figured we could sell any tickets to turned-away movie goers from the probably-sold out showing).
Anyway, got to talking with Dad, and I asked if we could come down and spend the night - he asked mom, and they concurred that we could. Then I asked if they might like a little alone time with their Grandson so Anooj and I could hit a movie with some friends in Arlington - and they said we could! Rock on! So solid at the moment!
And then Dad put mom on the phone...
She told me that her treatment on Monday was rough - it took a lot longer than the previous treatments (because they've changed her medications now). She sounded pretty low. She told me that they were trying to get her to take a blood transfusion last week, but that she'd put them off, but she decided it was time...
Apparently, a blood transfusion is not unexpected during chemo - I didn't know that, and she didn't know that either... but it sounds like they're usually inevitable, and mom just kept putting it off. This week, though, she was feeling it. And she thought she'd like to go ahead and have that transfusion...
So she'd already scheduled it for Friday!
And these things take about 5 hours!
For whatever reason, she seemed to think she was going to be just fine to watch Dax (albeit with my Dad - but still!) after a freaking blood transfusion!
So we've decided to forgo the movie, and I'm going to come sit with her for some of the transfusion toward the end of it, and then Anooj and I are still going to spend the night with them.
:)

Monday, June 30, 2008

Growth spurts...

About a month ago, a friend of mine told me that I'd make a horrible stay at home mom... because I had told her I was hating the sleepless nights, being the only foodsource, etc... I told her I was having a hard time without sleep and I was feeling frustrated that Anooj wasn't helping me as well as I'd hoped he would (more on that later).
It's funny, because I realized that not many women tell you the whole truth about being a new mom. They hide all the details... But here's why. When you tell people that "being the only foodsource" is hard, then people (usually those who have never been the only foodsource before, but even those who have) either have bliss and flowery splendidness to share, or remind you of the stinking obvious...
Like this:
"You can pump, right? Surely you can pump and someone else can feed the baby for you, right?"
C'mon. Really? Like I hadn't thought of that! Like I don't have a freaking FREEZER full of milk for other people to help me!
But at 3 in the morning, you're going to hear the baby crying while a bottle gets warmed up, and your breasts will be leaking and huge all over the place, and you'll end up being the one to feed your baby anyway or he'll scream himself into a tizzy which is horrible for any parent to listen to (and you may as well feed him, because you'll have to just get up and pump if you don't feed your baby).

OR this:
"I just loved those nights alone with my baby, being up holding my baby and feeding her - I really miss those nights alone with her, how great they were, and I just miss them now!"
So basically, if I don't think this is happygoodtimes, then I must just be a freak!

Now don't get me wrong! Feeding a baby with your body is truly the most amazing thing a woman is capable of doing. It is absolutely great. Knowing that you make the most perfect food for your baby, to make him grow and even get chubby, and you don't have to heat it up on the stove first - well that's just cool. It really is. And watching your baby hold on to you as they LOVE what you made for them - it's just awesome.
That's not what I'm talking about.
At all.

I also mentioned that men are basically useless when it comes to anything baby related - they've never been brought up with the idealizations of parenthood like girls have. We have dollies and learn how to hold them, and be nice to them, we practice feeding them, changing their diapers and clothes... we watch other mothers, knowing that one day we could actually be a mother too. We have been trained and groomed for this.
Men haven't.
Men are completely dumb about baby stuff - until we instruct them what to do!
When I whined about Anooj not helping me as much, it was basically because I wanted him to read my mind - and jump in when I thought he should, but without me haveing to tell him that I needed him to.
My mother actually was the one who gave me good advice about this:
A man with a list of things to do, is a good man. A man with a wife who writes a good list (and explains things too!), is a great man. :)

So I guess I'm trying to use this blog to get my truth out there without getting any stupid remarks about the way that I feel - there are too many women who think this is all candy and roses, and I'll have to say that it's not. And I'm NOT saying I wouldn't do it again, or that I don't love the little man I've been feeding and changing for 3 months - because I would, and I do. This has been the worst best time of my life! It's a crazy, sleepless, spitup-filled burrito of cheesy goodness!

Of course, all of this comes on the eve of the 3rd month too - this is about the time that everything falls in place (albeit the sleep is still hit or miss). Your baby turns into a human, who smiles at you when you wipe his butt, and splashes and plays in the tubby, and it's amazing! All of the "Groundhog Day" days have finally fine-tuned your day into an efficient baby-house-man-keeping machine. It has gotten way better.

And I think I'd make a kick ass stay at home mom.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Day 3... Month 3!

I'm in training this week (and next) - full days of work in the office... And today is the third day in...
Dax is with Melanie and Justin during the day, and I'm pumping as often as possible to make sure I can feed him when we finally make it home...
This is hard.
Not only does pumping this often hurt like hell by the end of the day (though it hurts more not to), but the nights have not been sleepful... making the days that much harder to deal with.
Dax was up, and eating, nearly every hour last night, and I think it might be that his schedule (eating every 3 hours) was a little disrupted yesterday - he kept sleeping through his scheduled feedings (totally not Melanie's fault at all - who's gonna wake up a sleeping baby?? definitely not me)...

But - today is Dax's THREE MONTH birthday!!
Happy Birthday kiddo!


So, he might be going through a little growth spurt again, too...
Who knows, right?
They always say, it's right about the time that you think you have it all figured out with your baby, that something blows up and nothing works like it did before.
So there you go.

My eyes are drooping and I'm trying to deal with the rest of the day...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Aw. C'mon.

I love this kid.
:)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

It's Bathtime!! (and SLEEPtime!)

Ok - if you're still looking for the best tubby that will make it easier on you to give your baby a bath, then I have to tell you to look no further!
Dax has outgrown being able to lay in the sink as I bathe him on that yellow spongy thing... and I have tried many different tubby helpers... many of which either don't allow Dax to be in the water at all (which is really stupid, in my opinion... even as a newborn, I wanted him to be IN the water), or had stupid hot-water warning goodies like these (our bodies are a nice toasty 98.6 degrees. A bath full of water that's 50 degrees is not only going to eventually make your baby go into hypothermia, but it will REALLY piss him off!), or make it so painful on your back to bathe them in the actual tub, that you might as well just get in the tub with him (which is also not a bad idea, honestly).

But this! This tub is magnificent!
It's the Primo Euro Infant and Toddler Bath (mine's white, but you can get it in colors, apparently) - and it's BIG (not to mention, cheap!). My back was not aching when we finished our bath last night, and just when we thought that bathtime was not going to wear our baby out for bedtime (we had seriously just had that discussion about two hours before I purchased this tub, and which is really what we were hoping for - a little routine that included a nice warm tubby time to make him sleepy for bed), Dax had SO much fun squirming and splashing and kicking in this thing, he wore himself out and slept... well... like a baby! It was fan-freaking-tastic!

I'll have video up of this after tonight's bath (I bathed him alone last night, so I'll have daddy take video tonight), because it's just too cool not to post my naked baby having a ball in his bath.

Now, let me tell you more about this tub, and why I think it's so freaking great.
It has a butt holder support, for both toddlers and infants (it says not to bathe them together in this thing, though, so if you have a toddler and an infant, you'd bathe them alone, and two toddlers would probably render this thing moot).
The infant side has a nice sloped headrest and curved butt support - no more FREAKING out about keeping his head up and literally having to hold your baby the entire bath - you just have to make sure he's not going to twist around and get his head in the water... I, of course, did not follow the directions, which say to only add 3 inches of water in there (why on earth they think my baby couldn't drown in 3 inches of water, as opposed to 10 - he's equally likely to drown in 1, 2, 3, or 10 inches of water, if you don't understand this* - is beyond me, and makes for a very cold bath), and I filled the tub up to a ridge on the side... (I actually filled it ALL way up, held him in there, and let water out until he was not floating in the water, and the water wasn't up to his ears - very cool that you can do that.)
The toddler side also uses the butt support, but it faces the other direction - holding your baby there as he sits - when he can sit up. It also keeps him fairly well covered in the water, which is fantastic!
This butt support is what makes this so nice on your back! You DO need to attend to your baby* to make sure he doesn't slip into the water, but it's not as intensive as the other bath goodies.

Once you see the video, you'll realize why tubby time was fun, AND useful - and why we got a good 6 hours of sleep from Mr. Dax last night!
:)

Now, we've also tried this very cool duckie tubby but since Dax isn't sitting up by himself yet, it falls into the "kills your back" category for now... but it should be very good when he can sit up, and would also make a fun summer-time floaty in the pool*

*(with MUCH adult supervision, of course - you should never EVER leave your baby alone in or near water - see the note about 1-3 inches of water from the previous paragraphs... )


-------UPDATED-------
Bathtime video!





Thursday, June 5, 2008

It's official... now back to work!

I'm officially "back to work" now - it's been a whole week.
And it's been rough... but it's nice to be in the office now and then too.

My best friend Melanie took Dax on Tuesday and Wednesday so I could be present at a couple of meetings, and that was just an incredible thing that she did for me. I'm so blessed to have the kinds of friends I have now. I honestly always wondered if I'd have the kind of friends I'd need to raise a baby, by the time I decided to have one, and you know what? I have even better friends than that. It's pretty awesome.

It's hard balancing life with a baby... and with work. Not to mention the rest of life that keeps coming at me...
I'm amazed at the women who've done it before me.
Sh*t - I'm amazed at the women who've given birth before me - I'm empowered by that legacy. It's just mind boggling that women have done this FOREVER, and for whatever reason, the strength needed to do it, to birth a child, AND to raise it, has been basically glossed over...

I'm beginning to blather, but seriously. This is hardcore stuff.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Thas right, I got a buddy now!

Today we got a visit from one of my oldest friends, Erin, and her baby Rhys - nearly right off the plane from a trek "across the pond". We had a great time, and Rhys drooled on everything - I assume that means he had a good time too. :)
Rhys is also very good at the high-pitched squeal - very impressive. I think Dax will learn much from this little boy. :)

Here's some video from the day (note Dax busy sleeping in the background hehehe):


Thursday, May 22, 2008

On hold...

I'm on hold with Verizon, and have been for nearly an hour... which gives me time to think about the things that I haven't been writing about!

Dax is smiling a lot more lately. :)

We had his 8 week checkup at the midwife yesterday, and he's a whopping 13 pounds, 10 ounces! What's cool, too, is that my midwife told me I can't feed him too much. I can't hold him too much. And I should try to sleep with him more (which is what I've been doing, since discovering how to breastfeed lying down in bed with him - and feeling guilty about him wanting to feed to sleep, or cuddle with me to sleep, instead of wanting to be held by his daddy). She also said his "witching hour" (as I've been calling it) is really normal for breastfed babies - they'll "tank up" (or "cluster feed") before they go to sleep at night, feeding every hour or nearly constantly for several hours. I was starting to think Dax had colic - he was fussing and eating so much from 8 to midnight, sometimes 2am - which now I get it that he'd be staying up late because I wasn't feeding him as much as he needed to finally go to sleep for any longer duration than 2 hours! Go figure!

We had a nice long night of sleep after a big day at Honey and Popi's last Sunday - Honey mentioned putting a swaddle on him to hold his arms in, so he wouldn't feel like he was falling, or keep slapping his own face in his sleep (waking himself up suddenly and screamingly) - something we tried to do when he was new, and he wasn't having it - he had to have his arms out. But this time? It worked!! I used the arm-swaddle piece of a swaddle set (sleep sac and arm swaddler thing) - and just pinned in his arms, and I'll be darned if he didn't sleep for 7 freaking hours straight! I was like Snow White when I woke up that morning at 6 am - birds and forest creatures were flying around me - it was great!

And it hasn't happened again since.

Dax has a new "cry" for a new emotion now. He cries when he's tired - but he keeps himself up, like he doesn't want to miss anything! So now he cries when he's hungry, cries when he's gassy or has to poop, and now cries when he's sleepy and doesn't want to go to sleep.

I've already had a period (I know, TMI for some readers) - but that's pretty quick in the scheme of back-to-normal for moms; I got it about 6 weeks after Dax was born. And I now weigh less than I did when I started this crazy ride, too!

And Dax is finally using his cloth diapers! We finally got him in them on Mother's Day, and we haven't looked back. I've only got 24 of them, so I do laundry about every other day, and if I'm not paying attention, I have to do them two days in a row. If I had 12 more diapers, and a larger diaper pail, I could do them every third day... which would make it seem less "dramatic" to get the diapers done. So I'll have to buy them slowly to bulk up my stash (or sew my own too - I have some I just need to sew up, but I also have Dax's curtains to finish, more spit-rags to finish, and then I can think about those diapers).

What else?

Mom started chemo on Monday, and seems to be handling it pretty well. I think the anti-nausea medicine is a GODSEND. And that's what will get her through most of this, I think. We'll go down there on Sunday to see how she did after week one.

I feel like I'm finally getting a little more sleep, or at least I'm getting used to getting no sleep... :) So I'm starting to feel like a normal human again. Not bad - 2 months to "normal". :)

The book I won - From the Hips - is really a pretty cool book so far. It's just what it said it would be: "a comprehensive, open-mided, uncensored, totally hinest guide to pregnancy, birth, and becoming a parent." I highly recommend it for soon-to-be, or brand new mommies.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

My Mom vs. cancer

My Mom had a double mastectomy on April 30th.

Dax smiled at Mom as we left my parents' house the night before her surgery.

Mom went into recovery after nearly 6 hours of surgery with the oncologist, and the plastic surgeon. She lost both her breasts. The doctors said the surgery went well, and they were pleased... as "well" and "pleased" as losing two breasts can be, I guess.
Dad said Mom was feeling ok (pretty drugged up, to his entertainment), and I could probably come up to the hospital to see her the next day if I wanted (they didn't let me go to the hospital with the baby the day of the surgery - they didn't want him to contract some horrible flesh-eating flu virus or something - but apparently this hospital has all of 6 in-patient hospital rooms, with as many nurses and assistants to take care of the people in them - so it didn't seem to be so germ-infested as they had previously thought it might be). The next day, though, she was very tired, and she said for me to come up on Friday.

I went to visit on Friday, the 2nd - Mom mentioned that they might let her go home that day, but she and I agreed that she'd better stay there, if for nothing else than the "good drugs".

She went home on Saturday, and slept most of the day. My Aunt came into town that night, and helped Dad some. I had started getting a cold Friday, and felt pretty miserable, and didn't want to risk my Mom getting anything right now, so I didn't go down. I called on Sunday morning, and they were having breakfast on the patio (they have a beautiful view) - what a wonderful morning. I talked to everyone for a little bit, and said I'd come this week.

I called yesterday (Monday), hoping to go down there to see them, but Mom had an appointment in the Oncology department - something of an "Orientation" kind of thing, to make her feel more at ease about where she needed to be and where she should go for her chemotherapy sessions... She made morose jokes about asking people there where they got their wigs (so she would know to either GO there, or NOT go there to get hers).

Today, I'm waiting for Anooj to come home, so we can go down there and see her. My Aunt is still here, and she's so much fun. Mom again was making jokes, this time about watching what she ate for dinner tonight - since she'd just recently lost nearly 15 pounds, she wanted to be able to keep it off. Nice one, I have to admit. :)

Something's Amiss...

We've noticed recently that Dax seems to look a lot to the left, and that his eyes almost automatically move to the left when we pick him up, or dangle a toy in front of him. Picking him up won't avert his eyes either - he'll stare upwards and to the left at whatever's caught his eyes, and will even move his head around so that he can continue to stare at it.
I've been trying to get him to focus on toys in his hanging gym thing (to no noticeable effect), and have dangled something else in front of him, or tried to break his stare by putting my own face in front of his eyes... and nothing seems to work...
I told my mom about this last night, and she decided that it might be because he may not be hearing from his right ear...
Completely makes sense.
And she reminded me that I had to have my hearing checked many times until I was about 6 because I had horrible ear infections that impaired my hearing when I was a baby.

Needless to say, the hearing and sight tests will be top on our list of things to talk to the pediatrician about at our next appointment in about a week - he's 6 weeks old today!! :)

Anooj and I are getting over a nasty cold - nasty for us, actually - it's really not as bad as it could be, or as bad as some colds I've ever gotten have been... but it's been an extremely long time since I've been sick (I wasn't sick once while I was pregnant!), and blowing huge wads of green stuff out my nose has made my face a big red dried up mess. And now I'm coughing the gunk up too (my voice is all weird and shaky because it's caked up my throat, lungs and vocal cords so much)!
Of course, Anooj didn't realize that I was broken until he got it - and at that, I think he thought I didn't have what he had, so I surely couldn't understand how rotten he felt... Men.
I'm about a day or two ahead of him, so now he's listening to me, and I'm trying to keep him apprised of what he needs to be taking (my recommendations only go that far, though - he'll read the back of the box of medication for dosage amounts and times, instead of listening to me - which is fine. If the medication isn't working, he can yell at the box)

Dax has been having a bad day - for me. Anooj came home for lunch and he was a happy baby to hear Dad's voice. But he's been a little whiny and whimpery for me today, wanting to be held, not wanting to be held, wanting to eat, definitely not wanting to eat, pooping, gassing, boredom, overstimulation... Thank God for the vibrating bouncy chair (but note the furrowed brow, and arms barely relaxed from a startled Moro reflex).

Oh - I won another contest! Go figure! I won a book called "From the Hip", and I'll probably get through it pretty quick with the number of feedings we've been having with this latest growth spurt (which I would clock as having started last night - eating nearly every hour). I'll let you know how it reads.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Happy Earth Day!

I totally forgot that it was Earth Day today - I remember when I was in Junior High, celebrating my first Earth Day - I was smitten! I read long, convoluted informational articles over the loudspeaker during morning announcements, and made an award-winning Earth Day shirt for the contest... it was fabulous! And now I need news-channel reminders and Oprah to knock me back to Earth Day...
yeesh...

Priorities...

I'm writing this with Dax attached to my boob...
and I was just thinking about whether it was more important that I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or brush my teeth when he gets done and sleeps for 15 minutes... I've eaten some today, but I didn't brush my teeth yesterday...
forget about a shower (I usually brush my teeth in the shower)
it's funny though, because I shower, and then put junk in my hair to make it look like I haven't - to make it look like it does right now... thank God for deodorant and baby wipes, is all I have to say...

I think I'm going to try to cram in a sandwich and teeth... we'll see what happens...

Happy Birthday!!

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Dax Thomas!
:)

Monday, April 21, 2008

New Mommy Milestone!

I woke up yesterday, to Dax whimpering and beginning to cry at about 4:15am... so I brought him to bed with me for a snack.
Now, if you're breastfeeding, and it's early morning/late night, and you're tired, I think the number one way to do it is lying down on your side. I honestly hadn't tried it until about two days before this - and I have to say it's fantastic. Baby can find you, you're right there, and you can lay your head down... (I fell asleep the second time I did this, and woke to find Dax still attached and dreaming about eating, I presume - he was still working his mouth, but the sheets were wet underneath our little join)
So anyway. I think this position is great - and if you fall asleep, you fall asleep... no big deal.
But I was laying there in bed yesterday morning, and Dax had just finished eating (he pulls away, with a very full-looking, satisfied milk-face, pursed lips meaning he can eat no more), and I rolled him a bit more onto his back, and then snuggled him. We both slept for about three hours before he woke up again.
It was so lovely.

It was too lovely. Danger Will! I thought...
If it felt this good to snuggle with my baby in bed... chances were good I'd do it all the time... and then I'd have a toddler in bed with us, maybe even a teenager, if I wasn't careful!!

So it just so happened that yesterday I was feeling good (when I finally got out of bed around noon), and thought that I'd tidy up the baby's room (gifts had been slowly sifting in, and placed on the big chair and ottoman, laundry had been done, but hadn't been put away, etc...). Perfect time to test out his crib, right? :)
I laid him gently in his crib after I had fed him and diapered him, and he stayed asleep, through my bustling and rustling around in his room - that's so great, I thought!
I did this the entire day, including through the evening, and even through the night.
He went four hours between a feeding the first evening bedtime lay-down, and three hours the next! (see you later, two-hour feeding schedule!)

I woke up at 6 this morning to him wiggling and making his morning sounds (about to be crying-for-food sounds), and I realized how incredible the night had been - I got a few hours of sleep in a row! He slept well! The baby monitor had worked! The crib rocked!
But the realization hit me, as I heard my husband say - Wow! Only four weeks old, and he's already grown up!

So I snuggled him into bed with me for a morning feeding and nap.
:)


Wednesday, April 2, 2008

March 25, 2008: No retakes... this is it!

March 25, 2008
1:10 am

Man, I feel like I have to pee. These cramps must mean my bladder is fuuuuuulllll....
Now I've peed, but it's not getting any better...
These really, really HURT.
This must be it....! This MUST be it. Holy crap.
Yes - bloody show - check. Horrible painful cramps - check.
Good thing Anooj is already up (with his own stomach ailment - I hope we can get out of the house on time!)

2:30 am
Calls to friends and family - and we're on the way to the birth center!
I'm just sure we'll have a baby in a matter of hours, these contractions hurt so bad already...

5:15 am
Let's try the tub. Anything has to be better - a hot bath will HAVE to make this feel better...
Nope... no... now bring that trashcan back over here so I can puke up my last (who knew) meal of an extra long chili cheese coney with a blast from Sonic (I would recommend you NOT eat there any time during your last month of pregnancy - just don't do it - don't even be tempted to do it). This must mean I'm in transition! Way faster than I thought I would be - so that's fantastic!!

6:00 am
Hmm. Still no kid. No urge to push, even, and I want to die. These contractions are hurting so much, there's nothing I can do to make them feel remotely like "ocean waves" - those stupid natural childbirth books about imagery and breathing were all written by freaking men!

8:55 am
STILL no freaking kid - and I have to pee, but I can't even walk to the bathroom.
And now I have to throw up again - I'm shaking all over and sweating on the stupid plastic sheets under the real sheets on this bed...
I thought I was in transition last time - this is going to last forever - I'm going to be in labor and sick and puking and shaking and in SO much pain for freaking EVER!!

9:15 am
Made it to the bathroom - they said it might feel good to labor on the toilet, but it feels like ass - just like every other contraction, laying down, bouncing on the exercise ball, sitting on the floor, and walking - they all suck, and this sucks, and now I feel like pushing!

9:35 am
Made it back to the bed - but now I can only lay here on my side shaking uncontrollably every time I get that first really bad contraction (I get them in two's - one really hard one, one only slightly less hard to take - both with uncontrollable shaking to start them out - which freaks me out because I know the pain is coming....)
Oh wait - I think I can push now - I think I can - let's figure this out... which way would feel better... like this on my side? NO.
on my back? NO!
on all fours?? only slightly better than No.
on all fours with the exercise ball smashed up against the headboard, and me leaning on the ball and grabbing the headboard like it's about to save me from a ship going down in the sea?? ok.

10:00 am
I'm still pushing - PUSHING. I think I'm going to die!
I have to push three times for each contraction - I learned that it hurts to try to push only once per contraction and then try to stop... don't stop - keep pushing - KEEP pushing because it makes the pain a little more bearable!

11:00 am
A head is visible! (I didn't know this at the time, but there was a mirror under my bottom - so everyone could see what was happening up there - sweet.)
Do I want to touch the baby's head?? Are you kidding me?? NO! Just get this baby out!!

11:20 am
I don't think anyone saw it coming, but I wasn't about to stop pushing so everyone could get themselves all put together... This baby was coming out damn it! And did he! Poor baby was on the mattress before Anooj could get there, but he got it on camera. :)
And boy did I feel better!

Dax Thomas Thakker has arrived - and breathing alright, considering the trauma my body giving birth for the first time put on him. He had waited so long, he'd had to go to the bathroom, so he did... (I did too, so he shouldn't feel bad) His cord had been wrapped around him three and a half times - twice around his neck, and another one full time around his body like a vest and through his legs... there was cord everywhere when they finally got him unwrapped...

But here he is - all 7 pounds, 13 ounces of him (he was 20 3/4 inches long too!) - naked and still attached to me, and bopping his little head on my chest looking for a breast to nurse from. How freaking amazing. How utterly and unbelievably amazing...