So I've been M.I.A.

We are dealing with a bit of an... issue over here.  And no, it isn't the fact that my husband is proudly showing my son the Victoria's Secret fashion show.  And making him dance to Katy Perry.

It's reflux.  Or gas.  Or intolerance to the formula.  Or all three.  Or two of those three.  The problem is we don't know what it is.  All we know is when Drew gets hungry we need to put in ear plugs, settle down for an hour, and prepare to have formula spit all over the place.

The doctors initial diagnosis was reflux, which I think definitely has some part in this.  But that medicine only worked for about two days and now we are back to screaming in the middle of being fed.  So we go back tomorrow.  Hopefully we can track this down, because it is wearing on all of us.  I feel for Drew- it must suck to be hungry and need to eat, only to know that something is going to really hurt when you do.

Here's a snippet of a day in my life:

Minutes 1- Notice Drew is stirring.  Begin frantically putting together a bottle before he gets to hysterics.
Minutes 4- Put bottle in the bottle warmer.  Longest 3.5 minutes EVER.
Minutes 7.5- Run around house looking for the burp rag.  Like socks in a dryer, those things. They disappear into thin air.  Usually decide to just get a new one. 
Minutes 9-10: Make sure I have everything I need for the next hour at my finger tips. 
Minute 11- Bottle is IN!  Drew seems happy.
Minute 15- Bottle is out.  Drew is decidedly not happy.  Try to burp him and get a good burp.  Cross fingers that was the problem.
Minute 16- That was not the problem.  Still crying.  I'm wondering why I haven't cut his fingernails yet as he slices and dices my face and neck.  Try to burp him again.
Minute 18- No luck on the burping.  Put the paci in to try to calm him down.
Minute 21- He finally noticed the paci is there and settles down.
Minute 22- Contemplate how long I should let him suck on the paci before I remove it and try to replace it with the bottle.
Minute 25- Commence "Bait and switch" mission.
Minute 27- It WORKED! Hallelujah!!
Minute 28- Wait, no it didn't.
Minute 29- Back to the paci.
Minute 31- Still crying.  Put him upright over my shoulder.
Minute 36- He's asleep.  And yet mostly unfed.  But quiet.
Minute 40- Try to get him to eat again.  He takes the bottle, but doesn't seem happy about it.
Minute 45- Still eating.  Yay.
Minute 50- Done.  Amazing.  Seems happy to be burped.
Minute 55- Not happy to be removed from shoulder.  Leave him there.
Minute 65- Drew is asleep.  Try to move him to crib/swing/bouncy chair.  Wait- bad plan.  Not happy about that.  Let him go back to sleep on my shoulder.
Minute 80- Seems to be really asleep now.  Move him into swing.  It WORKED!  Run to kitchen to put away breakfast dishes/wash a bottle/put away toaster. 
Minute 85- Drew is crying.  Go to swing and quiet him.  Replace paci.  Try to reason with him that if he didn't spit it out he would be much happier.
Minute 90- Asleep again.  Run to bedroom to make bed and pick up 3 bottles from last night.
Minute 93- He's awake.  Replace paci.  Wonder how I ever thought I wouldn't give him a paci.
Minute 94-180- Turn on computer to send emails.  While it's booting up, start dishwasher and wash bottles.  That reminds me of the load of whites that have been in the washing machine wet for 2 days.  Go to put those in dryer.  Find a load of forgotten towels in the dryer.  Remove towels and fold.  Take them upstairs and trip over all the other stuff I've left on the stairs to take upstairs the next time I go up.  Spend some time taking things upstairs.  Locate missing burp rag on floor of office.  Take downstairs.  Let the dog out. Remember that I turned my computer on to send emails.  Actually send an email or two.

Repeat every 3 hours.  In the middle of the night replace minutes 95-180 with "attempt to go to sleep as quickly as possible."

So all of that to say is I haven't yet posted the "Hey Drew, You Are One Month Old" post yet, even though its written, because I haven't found time to download the pictures from my brothers SLR that I seem to have appropriated.

(Rob, I have the BEST idea for a Christmas gift for me.... and I know you read this).

My goal is to post it before I write the two month post.  And also to be better about writing.

Special day in mommy-dom

(I realize this is Drew's one-month birthday.  I have a whole post about that waiting to go, just going to slip in some pictures.)

Around noon, Drew is crying and wants to be fed.  Easy enough, except I decide to get my first ever nose bleed and can't get it to stop.  So the boy just has to cry for a bit while I get that under control.

Then at the 3:00 feeding, he just spit up all over himself, my shirt, my hair, and the couch.

Maybe he can poop on me tonight and make it a perfect trifecta?

And since I talked about her a lot on this blog, Rachel Zoe is pregnant.

More to come.

The best part

The best part



Of having a baby

Is dressing him up



The Baby Whisperer

I didn't read ANY books about pregnancy or child rearing while I was pregnant.  I didn't have the desire early on, and I thought eventually I would have some strong desire to read the entire "Parenting" section of Barnes and Nobles, just like I had a strong desire to clean out every. last. inch. of my kitchen.  That never happened (well, the Barnes and Nobles part.  Rob did come home to find me laying on my side at 36 weeks pregnant trying to clean the very back of the bottom shelf under the stove).

Then Drew was born and no one was sleeping and I figured we had to do something.  Here was the problem.  Dinners were spent like this:

If I was slow on a bottle, I was met with this:

It wasn't a good way to live.

Then Candace suggested reading "The Baby Whisperer" and by golly, it WORKED.  Last night when he was crying after being fed and hanging out for a little while, I scooped him up and put in him his bed in a dark room and the kid went RIGHT TO SLEEP.  Rob and I celebrated with brownies with ice cream on top.

Moral of the story: Read one book.  It might save you 4 weeks of completely sleepless nights.

Drew's first Halloween

3 months ago I started getting the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue. Oh my word, that catalogue is TROUBLE.  In late August/Early September, they start advertising all of their adorable Halloween costumes.  Which got me thinking that I needed to buy a costume for the baby in case he came early.

I mentioned this plan to several people, and ALL of them looked at me like I was crazy.  They said if he DID come early, he would be too little for Halloween.  So I didn't buy anything.

And then he came October 18th.

Next time I am listening to me and me alone!

So mom went to Target and found the only newborn Halloween costume she could find two days before Halloween-- a monkey.  I have to say, my little monkey was PRECIOUS.

I am so glad he came 3 weeks early so I could dress him up! :)

Breastfeeding, a PSA

Normally I wouldn't post about such topics, but I know I have several friends who are currently pregnant who read this blog.  Plus, after you give birth and spend 3 days in the hospital, your body is no longer your own, so why not post about it on the internet?

I have seen a ton of baby items that use this statement:

(Experts Agree) Breastfeeding is Best.

I have to respectfully disagree with the experts.  FEEDING YOUR BABY is best.  Breastfeeding may be ideal, but you have to feed the baby.

I take the "Breastfeeding is Best" slogan really hard because breastfeeding (at least in it's natural form) didn't work for me.  I have tried- I really did.  I went to a breastfeeding class before he was born.  I read up on issues.  But when we went to the doctor 5 days after he was born, he had lost 14% of his body weight.  That is too much, and they told me I needed to start supplementing with formula.

Supplementing was a pretty easy adjustment to make on the fly, because I wanted my child to be happy and healthy and well fed.  But when I sat back and thought about it, I was frustrated.  I wanted to do what the experts said was "the best."  I wanted to be able to say "yes" to the doctors and nurses when they asked if we were breastfeeding.  But both Drew and I have some small problems that would make breastfeeding hard, and I'm only producing about 1/2 the milk he needs at each feeding.  My child literally couldn't survive with just breastmilk.

So now I pump and give him what I can, and supplement in formula.  And I'm trying not to beat myself up over the breastfeeding not working.  I was a formula-fed baby, and I turned out ok.  I'm doing every possible thing that I can to produce more milk and give him as much breastmilk as I can.

I still think breastfeeding is worth it and I hope that every mother would give it a try.  But each mom can only do what is best for her child, even if the experts don't agree.

When Drew Met Sophie

The hardest part about being in the hospital having Drew was being away from Sophie.  She gets incredibly anxious when we pack bags, and the morning he was born we both packed a bag and ran out of there pretty quick.  I have no doubt she was confused.  My parents stayed in the house while we were in the hospital and said she was just looking for us the whole time.

Anyway, I was very happy to leave that hospital and get home to her.

Mom photographed the homecoming.

I read somewhere that when you bring a new baby home, you should bring the dog gifts, so the dog associates the baby with presents.  So I did, but Sophie could have cared less.

Sophie is getting better and better with Drew every day.  The first night she came RUNNING into our room any time he made a peep.  The next night she came about 1/2 the time.  Now that she realizes he is going to cry basically all night, she stays right on her comfy (and relatively quiet) bed in the living room.  Smart dog.