Now that he is just over 2 months I feel things are settling down into some semblance of a routine, on more days than not. Nights aren't always as unpredictable and horrific as they used to be, we manage between 4 and 5 consecutive hours sleep at best and he slept for 7 straight hours the other night! Incredible! During the day he naps in the sling and at night he sleeps in his pram in our room on the floor (the basket bit detaches from the chassis - this will help transition to crib no doubt). We think the sense of space in the crib was a little too much for him and the size of our room was overwhelming. The pram has a hood that comes up so he feels more enclosed. With hindsight I think a Moses basket would have been more appropriate for this particular Little Man, but we weren't to know. HV wasn't convinced that the sling was appropriate after 4 weeks, but I think the sense of closeness it promotes is invaluable while developing our bond and means that he really does sleep during the day rather than snatching 20 minutes sleep between draining feeding sessions. I forgot the sling when I went to Mum's on Monday which was a complete nightmare until we improvised on out of 2 pashminas!
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| Improv sling-prov |
I have since been into town and bought 4 pashminas from the lady in Westfield with a view to making an additional sling. Now...when will I have the time to do that?!
Also whilst at Mum's I looked through some baby pictures of me. My GAHD! He rather looks like I did!
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| Isaac 8 weeks |
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| Sarah 5 months |
Breastfeeding is now going well; milk seems to be established. I've given up trying to express apart from at weekends when Simon can sling him. Seems that whatever I express only gets given to him a few days later. I'll get back on the case again, just not yet. It seems whenever I'm getting low about something Isaac related, I pick up a copy of Juno and find an article that reassures me and makes me feel a million times better. The latest edition has a brilliant article about breastfeeding. The author practises energy work and incorporates this into her breastfeeding strategy. I love the approach and it made me realise that I'd been quite selfish while feeding my boy. Since I've stopped watching things on the TV while feeding him I've noticed that he feeds better and is much happier. This might seem obvious to many, but I think I was being a little short sighted about the whole affair. Breastfeeding isn't just about filling a tummy, it's about building a relationship with your child and how can you do that it you aren't even paying attention? *Slaps forehead* It's easy to forget that he's only an ickle bebe and get worked up that there's so much you need to get done, but just can't. I'm getting used to the levels of dust with which we co-habit. I get so frustrated sometimes, especially at night when I'm tired and crying for sleep, or when we've planned something that we can't participate in fully because he's tired or hungry. I think having a mantra to repeat to myself helps enormously. It removes me from what's right in front of me, just long enough to get fresh perspective so that I can carry on with the same love that he deserves all the time. Kudos to Dad for suggesting the idea.
Having read about Ayurvedic eating for myself (being a Kapha sucks), I decided to see what I thought Isaac was. From what I can tell about him so far he seems to be Vata. Boo! I found this out about Vata babies from here:
"Babies and children with a predominance of Vata find it hard to gain weight. Their sleep is easily disturbed and they have a tendency towards wind and colic. They dislike the cold or being exposed to windy conditions. On the whole they have low, delicate appetites and love sweet, warm food. By nature they are daydreamers and enjoy watching trees blowing in the wind or clouds moving across the sky."
To a tee. He's underneath the bottom line on the weight gaining chart in my red book which I think the HVs are going to get excited about tomorrow when I get him weighed, BUT he has wet & dirty nappies and doesn't look emaciated at all. He feeds OK, seems fine to me. Isn't too windy any more as I wind him meticulously when he needs it (thanks to Dunstan Baby Language for word/cry understanding!) He does love to watch things and has a good nose whenever possible. I took him into town in the sling the other day and it was the first time he'd really experienced a bitter cold wind. He really didn't like it and kept burying his face into my chest. I think there's definitely something in it and will bear it in mind when weaning. Talking of which, we're booked onto an NCT weaning course in January.
I still haven't managed to go out. It isn't really possible while I'm not expressing and I frankly don't have the energy or the inclination. I had half a cider (all I was allowed by the landlady!), a glass of pink fizzy stuff & half a can of Carlsberg (spread out over about 7 hours) on Halloween and I felt bloody awful! Is this a new non-alcoholic Sarah? The odd glass of wine every now and then seems to be OK, but I can't even think about drinking lots.
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| Auntie Kate |
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| Auntie Anna |
Isaac has now met 2 out of 3 not-Godparents. Auntie Kate & Auntie Anna have both been to visit :-) We need a better name than not-Godparents. Any suggestions? The official title as used by registrars is Special Adults. Special Adults? Hmm. Not for us!
The days are literally flying by and I'm sure he'll be 6 months before I even know it. I'm trying to enjoy him being so little because it won't last forever, it's trying at times because I know it'll be easier when he does sleep for longer and my head doesn't feel like it's full of cotton wool. Then I'll be wishing he was small and cuddly again!
