6 weeks and counting

Aaron turned 6 weeks on Tuesday. Mom was over that day and helped me make some turky chili for dinner and some muffins for a gathering I had on Wednesday (more on that later). She also helped remove much of Aaron's cradle cap using olive oil and a comb. He looks much better now and the baby acne on his face is clearing up, too.

Since his yeast infection diaper rash hadn't cleared up after 4 weeks of using a prescription anti-fungal, I called his pediatrician's office to see what we should do. They have an RN triage line where I left a message and an RN called me back later that afternoon. They were able to fit him in that evening, so I took him down to have his rash looked at. We saw a different doctor than the last two times, and she took one look at it and said it wasn't yeast, it was a contact something or other (I forget the term she used), and said it was from having acidic poop. She suggested I cut back on acidic foods and dairy products (since I'm lactose intolerant) and told me to use the white diaper creams on his bottom instead of the clear ones like Aquaphor. I guess the ones with zinc oxide provide a better barrier.

When we were at the pediatrician's office, they weighed Aaron. After getting on a scale at my parents' house over the weekend with and without Aaron, I expected him to be between 11 and 12 pounds. I was shocked to find out he weighed in at 12 lbs 7 oz! That is over a 3 pound gain in the last 4 weeks, the little porker. No wonder he didn't fit in the diapers for 8-12 lb babies.

On Wednesday, I had some other mothers and their kids over, more for the sake of the adults in my opinion, especially since Aaron is too young to socialize. There were 6 other moms here and a total of 8 children, including Aaron (who slept through most of it). It was good to talk to other moms of young children and seeing that our experiences with Aaron are pretty normal. It's also good to exchange ideas and advice with other moms.

With so many kids, it was a little chaotic, but I think they had a good time. I got out some of Aaron's toys he is too young for at the moment - like his wooden building blocks and his Fisher-Price Leaning Pots and Pans which the kids seemed to enjoy playing with. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but as I said, it was chaotic. You can see more photos from our gathering here. I think it is something I would definitely do again when Aaron is older and can interact more with the other kids.

Spring 2007 Bocce Invitational

On Sunday, we went to my parents' house for my Dad's semi-annual bocce ball tournament. All of his kids went in on a bocce ball set for him several years ago for either Father's Day or his birthday (I don't remember now) and it has been one of the best gifts we ever got for him. Dad is one of the hardest people to shop for, in part because he usually buys himself the latest gadget he wants before any of us have a chance. But he apparently didn't know how much he enjoyed bocce ball until we bought him this set. My parents have a nice long and flat front yard which is perfect for bocce. My dad installed wood rails around the court to keep the balls from escaping the yard (although they occassionally bounce out and we end up running after them).

A few years ago, Dad starting throwing regular bocce ball tournaments. I didn't think we'd make it this year, but we did (arriving late, of course). Thom got in a few rounds, but I mostly went to spend time with family and to let (force?) family members to hold Aaron for awhile. Several family members complied, and some even multi-tasked while holding him. He pretty much slept through the entire visit, leading some to wonder why we've called him fussy. He seems to like to sleep in people's arms - he doesn't sleep this well at home during the day.

My parents' friends Bonnie and Ray won the tournament this spring. Thom and I were on a winning team a couple of tournaments ago, but not this time. Maybe in a few years, Aaron will be playing bocce, too.

Check out more photos from the tournament here.

Five and a half weeks

This is Aaron after his 8:30am feeding today. He has been going pretty consistently about 3.5 hours between feedings the last couple of days (except Thursday when he was eating every 2 hours and was so fussy Thom was kind enough to come home earlier than usual to spell me). His stomach must be getting bigger. More importantly, his digestive track is also getting more efficient and he isn't having a bowel movement every time he eats, making diaper changes less of a hassle. (Sorry to embarrass you Aaron, but keep in mind that there are lots of details I'm not sharing for your sake - we'll tell you about those things when you are older.) I had read that breastfed babies will generally poop every time they eat for the first 30 days or so and then will start having fewer bowel movements, sometimes only one every few days. He is no where near that infrequent, but it is a big improvement as far as I am concerned.

Although we haven't had Aaron weighed since week 2, we can tell he is growing quickly because we will have to graduate to size 2 Pampers this week, which is a shame since we stocked up on size 1's from Amazon.com. Good thing we have pregnant friends that can benefit from our overstocking.

Speaking of such friends, Mark and Jill (another couple we know through Order Fusion) came by to meet Aaron last Sunday (after I had updated my blog with weekend visitors). They were coming up this way and called to stop by. They are expecting their first son or daughter July 9th and Jill looks great. They took turns holding Aaron and looked like they are ready for their own little one (although we understand they have a lot left to do to get ready).

Jill and our friend Jenny are due within 5 days of each other. It's strange - in our Order Fusion crowd, we will have 7 babies within 2 years of each other. Travis and Tara had their son Alex in Dec. 2005. Sandy and Shannon had Audrey last June. Mont and Jessica had Gabe last July. We had Aaron in April. Jenny and Chris and Mark and Jill are due in July and our friends Crystal and Eric are due in August. Maybe it is not such a big coincidence though, since our friendships stem not only from our husbands all working together 5 1/2 years ago, but from our similarity in age and our generation seems to be starting families in their mid-thirties.

On Wednesday, my friend Lili and her son Franco came to visit. Lili is the wife of Francisco, one of my coworkers. Francisco got to meet Aaron when I visited the office last week, but this was Lili's first time meeting Aaron. Franco will be one year old next month. He is almost ready to walk and wanted Lili to help him walk much of the time he was here. He is one of the happiest babies I've seen, with a smile almost always on his face.


We had a major milestone this past week. Aaron has taken a bottle (of breastmilk) 3 times. I pumped last Sunday so we could start to introduce a bottle, but Thom didn't get a chance to feed it to him Sunday since he was either outside doing yardwork or making dinner whenever Aaron was hungry. So on Monday when my mom was here, she offered to try. I sat in the dining room while she gave him the bottle. We made sure to do it when he wasn't overly hungry. It took him a few minutes to get going, but he drank nearly the entire 3 ounces and didn't feed again for 3 hours, so I'm guessing it was enough.


Thom gave him the next bottle after work one night last week. Aaron fussed a bit more than with my mom, but I think it was because he was too hungry. Although he nearly finished the bottle, he was still hungry and I ended up nursing him for another 8 minutes (which is often how long he will nurse even when he hasn't had a bottle). But Thom gave him another bottle today and although he only ate 2 1/2 ounces, he didn't need to nurse afterwards and he went 2 hours before his next feeding. I don't think we are to the point where I'd feel comfortable leaving the house with Thom to fend for himself, but we are making progress.

A couple of days ago, Aaron had spit up on himself and was crying and carrying on as I changed him into a clean pair of pajamas. As soon as I was finished dressing him, he calmed down and assumed the pose below. Thom grabbed the camera and took a few shots of him.

His baby acne is still fairly bad. His forehead is a lot better, but his cheeks are red and bumpy and the rash has spread to his neck and upper chest. Some days I think it is better, but other days I'm not sure. It doesn't make for the best photographs, but we still think he is pretty darn cute.

Weekend visitors

On Saturday our friends Shannon and Sandy and their daughter Audrey came to meet Aaron. Thom used to work with Shannon at Order Fusion. In fact many of our friends (Chris and Jenny, Travis and Tara, and Mont and Jessica from previous weekend visits) are from Order Fusion, a company that went out of business 6 years ago.

Audrey is coming up on her first birthday in June and is learning the word "baby" which her parents tried to get her to practice while she was here (to no avail). In fact, they told us she knew lots of words, but we didn't hear her say any of them.

While they were here, Sandy and Shannon took turns holding Aaron, who seems so much smaller than Audrey. Audrey wasn't very interested in Aaron, but at least she didn't seem jealous that her mommy and daddy were holding another baby. Maybe Audrey is getting ready for a baby brother or sister?

Audrey is crawling pretty good these days and is almost ready to walk on her own. She walked easily with help from either of her parents and even did well with only holding one hand. She enjoyed getting into our basket of toys we've had out for friends' kids since long before Aaron was born, especially enjoying a wind-up Peep chick toy that our friend Linda gave Thom. It was apparently shaped like a bottle of bubbles she has at home, because she kept shaking it and trying to take off its head.

She also enjoyed the beautiful tulips that my friend Ernie gave me earlier that day. Ernie is a friend from high school that I've know for probably 15 years. He came by to meet Aaron and brought gifts for each of us. I had woken up late and was still a little groggy when he came by and forgot to take pictures from his visit. But he gave me these lovely tulips and gave Aaron a baby mirror that we can hang in his crib or set up on the floor during tummy time.


On Sunday, our friends Bulent and Biriz came to see Aaron with their daughter Alara, who is just over 7 months old. Bulent works with me and had met Aaron briefly at the office last week when I went in for a visit. Alara was in a great mood and gave us lots of big smiles while she was here (something we hope to start seeing from Aaron in the next few weeks!). She enjoyed playing with Aaron's Link-A-Doos and rattle and his Wiggly Giggly ball that makes (giggling-like) noises when you roll it around.

Thom and I were a little tired this Sunday. I made the mistake of eating broccoli last night and Aaron was fussy all night long from gas. I slept down in his room, but didn't close the door to our bedroom, so he kept Thom up much of the night, too. No more broccoli for me, or anything else from the cabbage family. I had heard that foods like broccoli could cause gas for the breastfed babies, but then had read somewhere else that this was a myth. I wish I remembered where I read it, because I wouldn't put much stock in anything else from that source.

Changing Table poses

Some of Aaron's cutest moments are during diaper changes. We caught a series of classic poses during a recent diaper change. You can see them here.

Baby spreadsheets

When we were at the hospital, the nurses had us record Aaron's dirty diapers (did he have a bowel movement, or just pee) and his feedings (time and duration) on a white board in the room. So when we got home, I felt like I should continue this until we had breastfeeding well established. After writing it down on scratch paper for a day or two, I created spreadsheets which I print out and use to record the information.

We only recorded his diapers for a couple of days because it quickly became apparent that he was getting plenty to eat. Nearly every diaper was filled with both #1 and #2. We were changing at least 12 diapers a day.

I have continued to record his feedings, though, since it helps me determine when he will want to eat again and it also lets me see his pattern of eating over the last few days. For example, I can see that yesterday, he only ate 7 times, which is down from a peak of 12 in the first two weeks. However, today, he has already eaten 6 times, so he will probably end up with 8 or 9 feedings total today. Overall, though, he is eating less often, which is a relief to me.

One of my pregnant friends asked me to share the spreadsheets I created, so I have published them using Google Documents. (Blogger doesn't let me upload spreadsheets for download and using Google Documents seemed easier than trying to upload them to a web server somewhere.) It is the first time I have used this service, so this is kind of an experiment. I am hoping the spreadsheets cannot be edited online, but you should be able to right click on the spreadsheet and export to Excel. If you try it out, leave me a comment as to how it worked for you. I am including links to the published documents below.

Breastfeeding Log

Dirty Diapers

One Month Birthday

Yesterday was Aaron's one month birthday. I took this picture on April 16th, a day before he turned one month old. He had sacked out on the changing table (an unusual event since having his diaper changed tends to upset him) and I got this shot after transfering him to his bouncy seat.

I've been putting bibs on him after he eats lately since it helps avoid a wardrobe change if he spits up, which he has been doing more often starting about 2 weeks ago.

He has also been awake more often. Not much more often than before, but it is noticeable since he tends to be fussy when he is awake. Sometimes he just wants to be held and walked around, but even that doesn't always placate him and it is hard to know what he wants. It's still not to the point of being colic, so I can't really complain. (By the way, if any parents out there have any advice on what he wants during these episodes, please leave a comment at the end of this blog entry.)

Thank goodness for the bouncy seat in this picture! It is a hand-me-down from my sister. She says her kids never were into this seat, but this is where Aaron sleeps during the day. It has a vibration feature that he loves. In fact, he often wakes up and starts to fuss when the vibration shuts off automatcally after about 10 minutes, but if we just turn it back on, he goes back to sleep. We burned through a set of 3 C cell batteries in about a week. Thom had to order rechargeables online. They don't seem to make bouncy seats with AC adapters. Fortunately, he still sleeps OK at night in his crib (which doesn't vibrate).

On Tuesday, Aaron was 4 weeks old. There was a meeting at work on software licensing (one of my areas of expertise) and since I had been wanting to take him into the office this week anyway, I decided to go in on Tuesday. It was the first time we'd gone out by ourselves. Every other time he had been in the car, I've been in the back with him. But he has better neck control now and his head doesn't flop forward in the car seat anymore, so I decided it was time to start venturing out of the house when Thom is at work.

He did fine on the drive over and on the way back. He was fussy when we got to the office, so I fed him before the meeting. Unfortunately, he was still noisey while sitting in his stroller, so I missed most of the meeting. But most of my coworkers got to see him and it was good to see everyone and catch up a little on licensing issues. My boss even joked that I could start back to work now and just bring Aaron to the office with me. I think I'll wait another 6 weeks, though.

On Monday, my mother came over, giving me a chance to take a shower and get a nap while she made me some banana bread. I ate the entire loaf within two days.

On Wednesday, my friend Barbara came to visit. I know Barbara from some classes I've taken in Judaism at a local synagogue. She has been looking fowrad to meeting Aaron for some time and stopped by for a short visit. She held Aaron the entire time and he seemed to get along well with her.

We didn't have plans for the rest of the week, but Thom came home feeling sick on Wednesday and stayed home from work on Thursday, so we had his company. On Friday, he was feeling mostly better and he watched Aaron while I went to Trader Joe's to do the weekly grocery shopping. It was the third time I've gone out alone since Aaron was born and I definitely enjoy the freedom, even knowing I can only stay out 1-2 hours.

But within the next week, I plan to start pumping milk so Thom can give Aaron a bottle now and then, which will allow me to get out for longer stretches of time (and more importantly, it will allow me to get longer stretches of sleep). I'm crossing my fingers that Aaron will take the bottle without too much drama. So far he hasn't been too keen on taking a pacifier, which we started to introduce around 3 1/2 weeks. We've gotten him to suck on it about 3 times, but other times he just flat out refuses it. If you have any advice for introducing a bottle, please let me know!

First Mother's Day

Since our first Mother's Day was less than 4 weeks after Aaron's birth, I didn't know if Thom would have the wherewithal to get me a gift. But since he was surprisingly quiet on the topic in the days leading up to Mother's Day, I started so suspect he had gotten me something. Otherwise, he would have been asking me what I wanted or whether I was expecting anything at all.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a small gift wrapped box waiting for me in the morning. Thom told me it was something every mother should have. After feeding Aaron and getting a cup of coffee, I opened it to find a beautiful string of pearls and matching earrings. Although I wore them today, I know that when Aaron is a little older, I won't be able to wear the necklace when I'm holding him or he's liable to pull it off of me.

Before the end of the day, Thom got a picture of me in the back yard with Aaron next to the mystery tree that is growing like a weed at the edge of the lawn. We have decided that this will be the "measuring tree" where we will take pictures with Aaron periodically so he can look back and see how small the tree was when he was born.

Later this morning, we headed down to my brother and sister-in-law's house. Linnea was kind enough to host a wonderful Mother's Day brunch at their house with the help of my sister Lia. They had a great spread with ham, an incredible fruit salad, deviled eggs, a southwest quiche, a delicious pastry thing with turkey inside, and rhubarb pie.

Everyone took turns holding Aaron which was a nice break for us. He was actually awake for most of the visit. And I finally got a picture of Theresa with him.















Jim and his fiance Barb and her two kids were at Linnea's, too. Jim and Barb are getting married in our back yard this June. Everyone with a camera was trying to get their picture in the kitchen, which greatly troubled my brother. They wanted us to wait until June to take pictures at their wedding. Fortunately, I snapped this picture when they were laughing at us.

My niece Mattea gave me a Mother's Day card that she picked out herself. It was special for my first Mother's Day. She is very sweet and loves her new cousin Aaron. I got this picture of her with her dog Mocha and her soon to be cousins Conner and Elizabeth.

There are many more great pictures from our Mother's Day brunch in my Mother's Day web album. I will be adding some more photos from my dad's and sister's cameras when I get them. Theresa got some great pictures of Lia and Aaron, but I didn't get any with my camera.

Another busy week

Grandma and Grandpa came over on Wednesday this week to see Aaron. While Aaron was napping, the three of us ate lunch from Panera which Grandpa picked up, and then we played a board game based on the movie A Christmas Story. Although the game was not one we could recommend, I enjoyed the time with my parents doing something other than household chores or watching TV. When Aaron was awake, Grandpa and Grandma took turns holding him. He likes being held on the glider.

On Monday, my friend Michaela came to see Aaron while her two daughters were in school. Michaela and I have been friends since freshman year of high school when we had Spanish together. It's been almost 20 years now - I can hardly believe it. Aaron slept while she held him, giving me a chance to do some laundry and eat lunch.

On Tuesday, my friend Julie came to meet Aaron.

Julie is the one that made Aaron his beautiful jungle-themed quilt seen in my first blog. Julie brought lunch fixings which we ate while Aaron napped. Since I'm breastfeeding Aaron, I am hungry all the time so I really appreciate people bringing food when they come by. We keep the kitchen stocked with staples from Trader Joe's so it is nice to have something different.

Julie brought her "son" Jack with her in his new doggy stroller. It is as nice as the one we have for Aaron - complete with sun shade, cup holder, and a storage pocket in the back. Apparently there is a whole website devoted to pet strollers of all shapes, sizes and price ranges: http://www.justpetstrollers.com/. I had no idea there was such a big market for pet strollers, but they seem like a great product for small dogs like Jack.

On Thursday, our neighbor Renate came by to see Aaron. She and her husband Hans are part of a group of neighbors that we get together with for dinner periodically. Renate loves babies and was happy to hold Aaron for nearly her entire visit while we chatted about family and her upcoming European cruise. But before long, she had to leave to get ready for her Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) class.

Despite all the visitors, it doesn't really feel like we have been that busy. Since Aaron sleeps most of the time, I tend to get bored. Even though I am getting more sleep at night, I still don't have a lot of energy to do more than update this blog, keep up with the never ending laundry and eat frequently. So I relish time with visitors and look forward to getting out of the house with Aaron more, which I hope to start doing next week.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

This photo was taken after Aaron's first real bath since his cord fell off. It was the only shot I got where he doesn't look cranky.

Aaron goes to bed after his last feeding before midnight. The past few nights, he has been fussy in the hours leading up to this last feeding. Unfortunately, this is Thom's shift, so he bears the brunt of Aaron's fussiness (not that I don't get my share of fussiness at some point during the day).

The good news is that the last 3 nights, Aaron has been going at least 3 hours between feedings! And since he is sleeping between these feedings, I am getting as much as 2+ hours of sleep at a stretch. I'm also getting more total sleep since he has one fewer feedings between about 11pm and 6am. I'm starting to feel like a normal person during the day rather than a sleep deprived zombie. I'm crossing my fingers that this trend will continue.

Visitors!

(Over the weekend, I discovered Google's Picasa Web Albums service which allows me to store up to 1 GB of photos online. And as far as I can tell, unlike similar services from Snapfish, etc, people can view my web albums without having to sign up. So I have started setting up albums of photos to supplement what I post here on the blog. Click on the hyperlinks in the text below to see more photos from visits with our friends and family.)

Knowing that Thom would be starting back at work last week, I started to line up visitors so I wouldn't be spending long days home alone with Aaron. In another week or two, I'll be ready to take him places, but since the surgery, I'm still not ready to lift him in his car seat, which makes it hard to go anywhere with him on my own.

So last Thursday, my friend Jessica and her son Gabe came to visit in the afternoon. Aaron slept through most of their visit, but I got to catch up with Jessica and Gabe. We had such a good time, Jessica and Gabe are planning to return this Thursday and I suspect we will be making a habit of visiting each other in the months to come.

Saturday was a busy day. We were visited by our friends Travis and Tara, along with their son Alex and Travis' father Jack. In addition to playing with the pieces from our Go board (a Chinese board game), Alex showed a modicum of interest in baby Aaron.


Towards the end of their visit, my sister Theresa and her family arrived to meet Aaron. Although Theresa had met Aaron at the hospital, my brother-in-law Ernie had not, nor had any of the kids. Mattea was especially eager to see her newest cousin and spent much of her visit holding him on the couch. When he got too heavy for her to hold, Thom gave her a reprieve, but she didn't go far.

Later the same day, our friends (and soon to be first time parents themselves) Chris and Jenny stopped by for a visit. They took turns holding Aaron until he was ready for dinner. They also got to witness a diaper change. I'm not sure, but I think they were taking notes. Before they knew it, it was after 6pm and Jenny had to run and get ready for a rehearsal.

We look forward to meeting their new arrival who is scheduled for July 4th. Will it be a boy or a girl? My money is on a girl.


On Sunday, our friend Raoul and his daughters Rebecca and Jessica came to meet Aaron. Rebecca got to hold Aaron for awhile. Another 4 years and maybe we'll get her to babysit. Aaron slept through most of their visit, but did wake up hungry at one point, so they got to see his eyes before I had to feed him. That is more than some visitors have seen.

This coming week we have more visitors coming. Stay tuned for more pictures...

Two week checkup

On Wednesday, we took Aaron in for his 2 week checkup. He weighed in at 9 lbs and 4 oz! That is a gain of 15 oz in 8 days. I'm no longer worrying about his occasional 5 minute feedings when I can't wake him up to eat more. Apparently, he is getting enough to eat. He has also grown an inch since birth and is now 21" long.

The doctor confirmed that his circumcision was healing well, which was a relief. If you haven't seen a healing circumcision, it isn't pretty and we didn't know if what we saw was normal. We had him circumcised on Monday by a physician trained as a mohel. After doing some research and going back and forth on whether or not to circumcise him, we decided that if we did, we liked the idea of having a doctor who was also a mohel doing the procedure since we felt that a mohel would take a more holistic approach. Also, Aaron's pediatrician doesn't do them, so we needed to find someone else to do it.

The doctor we chose was the one who performed the bris for Aaron's pediatrician's son and came highly recommended by both her and a rabbi we know. Since he works at Kaiser, we had to pay out of pocket, but felt it was worth the cost to make sure it was done by someone with a lot of experience and well recommended. This doctor used Lidocaine to take the edge off and had us give Aaron infant Tylonol afterwards. It was still a traumatic experience for all involved (except maybe the doctor), and I am envious of my friends who did not have to be present during their son's circumcisions. Although it was probably good for Aaron to have his parents there to soothe him (and to breastfeed him immediately afterwards), it was one of the hardest things we've gone through so far. I hope we don't have any more sons because I'm not sure I could do it again.

We also learned a new word at the pediatrician's office: transluminate. Apparently, Aaron has some fluid on his right testicle called a hydrocele. First, the nurse practitioner and then later the doctor, turned off the exam room lights and lit up his testicle by pressing the little flashlight they used to look in his ears and nose against his scrotum. The whole thing glowed red and they kept saying "It transluminates well." This means that it is just fluid and not something worse. They said he could get a hernia in there, so they need to keep an eye on it. If it lasts past a year, they will need to correct it. I'm not sure what that means and I'm not sure I want to know. Chances are good that it will resolve itself within a few months.

I hope Aaron forgives me for blogging about this when he is older.

In addition to the weight gain, we can also see other changes in him just in the past week. He has more eye control and is starting to look up at me when he is eating. His arms, which we affectionately called "chicken wings" since they were constantly bent at the elbow (making dressing him a challenge) have started to unfold more. And he seems more alert during his waking hours.

Things Aaron still needs to learn:

• Diaper changes are not a form of torture
• You will not starve to death in the length of time it takes to have your diaper changed
• You cannot fit both a fist and a nipple in your mouth at the same time
• If you are hungry, a nipple works better than your fist

Getting into a rhythm

We are finally getting into a rhythm with Aaron, if not a regular schedule. He is eating every 2-3 hours, which means by the time I have fed him, changed his diaper (and frequently his clothes), I have about an hour and a half before it starts all over. He has about 2 periods of wakefulness during the day, generally late morning and evening, but other than that, he tends to sleep between feedinds/changings.

This is Aaron on his changing table in one of his classic poses he performs when he is sleepy during a changing. This is preferable to the screaming matches we get sometimes when he is hungry during a changing, rather than sleepy.

Sometime between 9-11pm, after feeding him, I will go to bed while Thom stays up with him. Aaron is usually sleeping, but he is a noisy sleeper, so by staying up, Thom allows me to turn off the baby monitor in the bedroom and get some good sleep. If Thom is too tired, he will come to bed with me, but will get up to check on Aaron if he is fussing before we think he should be ready to eat.

Once he is ready to eat again, around midnight-1am, Thom will get me up and I'll take the night shift. I can't get any continuous sleep anyway, so there is no point in also depriving Thom of a good night's rest. After I feed Aaron, I'll put him down in his crib and then climb into the guest bed in his room and get about an hour's sleep before his next feeding, usually interrupted by his grunts and groans in his sleep. We'll repeat this a few times until about 6am. After his dawn feeding, I will put him back in his crib, go back to our bedroom, turn the baby monitor on and crawl into bed. At this point, Thom is on duty if Aaron wakes up. I usually get close to two hours sleep at this point while Thom takes care of him before he needs to get ready for work.

During the day, if we are lucky, we'll have a visitor to break up the monotony. On Sunday, our friends Linda and Leo came over to watch Aaron so Thom and I could take a nap and get out in the yard together. We didn't go anywhere, but it was nice being able to do something together without having to listen for the baby. Aaron pretty much slept through their visit, but Linda and Leo took turns holding him in the glider.

Linda had a 3 week old Japanese Chin with her that had been rejected by its mother. She is involved in Japanese Chin rescue and frequently takes in foster dogs. The puppy slept for most of his visit here (with a stuffed pig), except when Linda woke him up for a feeding.

On Tuesday, Thom's first day back at work, Grandma came to visit Aaron and to keep me company during the day. I wasn't quite ready to be home alone with him all day, although I am getting more comfortable with him. Grandma held him in the glider for awhile and watched him while I took a nap and a shower. All in all, we did pretty well during Thom's first day back at work. By next week, I think I will be ready for a full day on my own. Fortunately Thom works from home on Fridays (and only half a day), so we are only going to be on our own 4 days a week, and most of those days I expect to have at least a visitor or two.

Thank you for smoking

Last Friday, we had an RN visit us at home as part of a local Welcome Home Baby program, which is part of California's First 5 program. Before being released from the hospital, they gave us a flier about the Welcome Home Baby program. I didn't give it much thought at the time, but after our first panic-filled day alone at home with Aaron, I called to schedule a home visit. A nurse was scheduled to come out within the week during a 3 hour window.

The Welcome Home Baby program is for first time parents and is funded by Prop 10, a tax on cigarettes. So if it weren't for the few remaining smokers in this state, we wouldn't have had this great opportunity to have someone come check up on us at home.

The RN, Alexis, arrived with a wheeled suitcase and a New Parent Kit. The kit contained some parenting books, a baby book, a DVD and a lot of resources for things like local breast feeding support groups and numbers for poison control. Alexis went over all the materials she left for us and answered all my questions I had been saving up for her visit (i.e. what if I can't get the baby to burp after a meal?) Then she took my blood pressure and temperature (both normal), then took Aaron's temperature, listened to his heart and finally weighed him (on a scale packed inside her wheeled suitcase). He had already gained back his birth weight in just 10 days!

Between the time I scheduled the in-home visit and the time Alexis came over (4 days), we had already figured out a lot on our own. But it was nice having someone knowledgeable about babies come out to the house to answer our questions.

One of the important things we got out of her visit was her suggestion to try swaddling him again, arms and all. We were having trouble with him waking up a lot at night and she said to try swaddling him in a blanket with some give (we'd been using flannel receiving blankets which were easy for him to wiggle out of). She said to try it for a week and see if he got used to it. I had a couple of receiving blankets that were a little stretchy, so I started swaddling him in those at night and he couldn't get his arms out!

I've also been using his Miracle Blanket (a gift from our friends Seth and Barb) which works OK if we wrap him up when he is mellowed out from a feeding. (I had found that if he was screaming bloody murder while wrapping him in it, he usually wouldn't calm down again, but as long as he is relatively calm going in, he'll stay snug and happy.)

So the good news is that Aaron is now sleeping between night time feedings. I don't expect him to sleep through the night at this point, but as long as he sleeps between feedings, I can get a reasonable amount of sleep. And during the day, that makes a huge difference.