Target!

Ian has gained one ounce a day the past three days; he's finally right on target!! YAY! He now weighs 6lb 5.5oz! Hopefully this trend will continue and Ian will have gained one pound since his last weigh-in at the doctor's office (when he weighed 5lb 10.8oz). I know this is still less than "the norm," but if I tell the doctor about the retained placenta, hopefully he'll be satisfied with Ian's weight gain. Sometimes when he nurses he still only consumes one ounce, but this morning he consumed more than three ounces in one feed! I felt badly as I was working really hard to get him to nurse on the other side, but then when I weighed him I realized he had gotten plenty from just one side. Way to go, Ian! I have stopped giving him the syringe of milk to help him latch on. This means I need to come downstairs when I nurse him during the night as otherwise his screaming wakes Nadia up, but it's well worth it to start weaning him off these additional contraptions. Thankfully there are times when he latches on easily. He's been getting one bottle (2 oz) of EBM a day. He also is showing improvement in how long he will stay on without the shield. If he continues to gain one ounce a day, then I plan to go cold turkey with eliminating the shield later this week. I'd love to have him off the shield before his February 1st doctor appointment. I might use the SNS if it will help him get off the shield. I have more hope right now that we can get him off the shield and more importantly I have MUCH more hope that I can keep nursing him for many months to come. I can't tell you what a relief this is!!! How I wish I hadn't been carrying around his placenta for an extra 5+ weeks - all the stress that could have been avoided! Well it's water under the bridge now. I am going to take a break from weighing him for a few days.

Speaking of water, too much has fallen from the sky around here. I heard there was some flooding, but I didn't realize that some of it was really  close to our home. I should have stayed home today!!! Ian would have been happier if we hadn't gone to Target this morning. He didn't cry too mucj on the way there or while we were at the store, but he screamed the whole way home (about 15 minutes). He was hungry so I started nursing him as soon as we got home. I find any time I go to Walmart or Target I always end up spending more than I think I'll spend. I even stuck with my shopping list this time! I bought Nadia a new pair of shoes as she has outgrown her size 5 shoes. I already had purchased a pair of size 6 black patent shoes, but I didn't have anything for her to wear the other 6 days of the week. I would have purchased the same brown shoes she has been wearing, but they didn't have them in size 6. Most of the shoes available were sandals. I know stores always are "ahead of schedule," but for Pete's sake, it's only January! I saw bathing suits for sale, etc. Way too early in my opinion! I finally chose a pair of pink sparkly shoes (see the pic above). If they were cheaper, I'd buy more pairs of shoes to coordinate with her outfits, LOL. Even shoes are so much fun to buy for little girls!!! I also bought her 2 more sippy cups. We've switched to the hard spout kind because although the soft spouts were the only ones she could use for many months, those leak rather easily. Now that she can use the hard ones, I packed the soft ones away. I also bought her a bunch of simple peg puzzles (about 5-8 pieces per puzzle). I want to start working with her on the puzzles every day.

I carried Ian in the ultimate baby wrap and had Nadia in the front part of the shopping cart. That seems to be the way to go. There is a Starbucks inside the store, and many months ago I was given a $5 gift card to Starbucks by some of my students. I used it to get a cookie that I shared with Nadia and a cup of hot chocolate for myself (since I'm not a coffee drinker).  The cashier asked me if both of the children were mine. I wonder why she asked me that? I admit the question caught me off guard. The past 6 days I haven't been alone with the kids very much at all. We've been on our own all day today, and I think we've done just fine although Nadia still is watching more tv than I'd like her to watch.

19 Months Old!

Our little girl turned 19 months old today! She feels like a big girl after holding Ian. Nadia weighs almost 27 lbs (78th percentile). Paul worries that she's not eating enough, but obviously she's not starving. Eating has become MUCH more of a struggle than it used to be. Oh for the days when she'd eat whatever we served her without any struggles. Her favorite foods include pretzels, raisins, applesauce, cheese, grapes, and fruit snacks. She loves her milk, which she drinks cold in a sippy cup. Now we need to work on getting it put back into the real refrigerator rather than her refrigerator, LOL! A few staples of her diet include oatmeal, bananas, yogurt, and cinnamon raisin bagels. She eats those items almost every day. I long for the day when mealtime doesn't involve so many battles, especially considering we haven't even been giving her very many veggies lately (something else we need to work on). She wears 18 month clothing except for her pjs and dresses - many of which are size 24 month.

Nadia has come a long way over the past month in her adjustment to having a little brother. She rarely throws a temper tantrum over him, and she now says "hi" to him and says his name. Nadia loves to hold her brother. Of course she still has jealous moments. Her sadness when I am nursing Ian has led to her watching FAR more "Bob" (Veggie Tales) than she used to watch before Ian was born. I have been buying more "Bob" dvds on eBay so we don't have to watch the same ones so frequently. I used the ultimate baby wrap for the first time today. Ian wasn't crazy about the sling. Nadia liked it when she was this age. Ian does much better in the wrap. I want to start using it more so that my hands will be free a bigger portion of the day as I want to get back to spending more time playing with Nadia.

Over the past month, I've enjoyed watching Nadia blossom in terms of imaginary play, particularly with her dollhouse and kitchen. She enjoys serving pretend food to Mommy, Ian, Daddy, and her stuffed animals. She also has learned how to go forward on her stride-to-ride lion (after only going backwards for many months). Nadia has added quite a few new moves to her "dances" including spinning around in a circle. I need to get a video of it! She also has been learning how to do simple puzzles. Her favorite toy BY FAR is her stuffed doggie that Sarah gave her for Christmas. Some favorites haven't changed such as sitting on her daddy's basketball and climbing up on everything and anything.

Her vocabulary continues to grow at a rapid pace. She's also been a lot fussier lately. I think part of this is due to the transition from two naps to one nap, especially on the days (like today) when she wakes up at 5:15am. I am hoping that as her vocabulary continues to expand that she'll express herself more with words and less with fussing and crying. Many,  many words she says perfectly clearly (such as "apple," "ant,"  'book," "Bob," "cd," "Abbey," "back up," and "button"). Other words are only recognizable to those of us who spend a lot of time with her (such as "raisin" and "airplane"). There are also words that I think others would easily understand although she doesn't say them perfectly yet such as "please" (the "l" is omitted) and "thank you" (the "h" is omitted). I was contemplating recently how it seems that at most stages there are aspects which are really exciting and also some that are on the unpleasant side. There's nothing quite like having a 6 week old sleep on your chest. It's an amazing feeling. However, getting four or fewer hours of sleep a night is not very fun. Hearing Nadia say new words each day is a delight; I could do without all the fussiness! Although she's still getting up earlier than we'd like many days, putting Nadia in her crib couldn't be easier whether it's for a nap or at bedtime. I am very thankful she goes down so easily. Sometimes she plays in her crib before she goes to sleep, but it's very rare that she cries.

TWO Ounces!

Every time I've weighed Ian before and after nursing him, the scale has always shown that he's consumed either 1/2 ounce or 1 ounce. This morning it showed an increase of TWO ounces! YAY! I pumped after nursing him, and I pumped out 2 more ounces in 10 minutes. So there were at least four ounces available for him. I'd say my milk supply has increased. Also, he weighed in at 6lb 3.5oz today, which is an increase of 1 ounce from yesterday's weight and 2.5 ounces since Sunday morning. As encouraging as these results may be, he's still not gaining enough per week. Diane (at the larger hospital) said he should gain at least 4 ounces a week, and Kelly (at the smaller hospital) said he should be gaining 5-7 ounces a week. He'd have to gain 1.5 ounces today to reach the 4 ounce a week goal. I thought that by giving myself 2 weeks until Ian's next appointment it would take away the stress, but no matter how much he gains between now and Feb 1st, I doubt they'll be happy with his weight. Decisions, decisions, decisions....

There were two special dates this week in our family. January 20th was Ian's due date (Wed), and the 21st was my sister, Yvonne's, 35th birthday. I hope she had a very special day!!! Today Ian turned 6 weeks old.

Discouraged

I was really getting my hopes up that we had finally turned the corner with Ian's weight gain. I have been keeping him in more layers (sleep blankets and such) in the hopes that maybe part of the problem was that he wasn't warm enough and was burning too many calories trying to stay warm. Well I think I went a little too far with that as this afternoon his pjs were wet - from sweat. I also thought that he was spitting up too much, and my mom found a spot on his left side where the air bubbles usually are and so now it's really easy to burp him, and as a result he rarely spits up any more. I also had hoped that removing the placenta would lead to an increased milk supply, which would lead to increased weight gain. Unfortunately, when I weighed him yesterday and today not only did he not show a gain, but it showed that he wasn't even at the 6lb 3oz that he was when I weighed him on Wednesday morning. Today he weighed 6lb 2.5oz, and he weighed 6lb 1oz on Sunday so that's a gain of 1.5 ounces in 5 days.

I've weighed him three times today before and after he nursed, and each time he showed a gain of 1 ounce. The first time it was after nursing only on one side for 20 minutes so that encouraged me because last week he was showing a gain of 1/2 to 1 ounce each time after nursing about 45 minutes. This afternoon after he had nursed some on both sides he again showed a gain of one ounce. So he's getting more than last week, but he's still not getting as much as he should be getting. I had pumped earlier today and got 2 ounces. Paul's mom gave him that 2 ounces by bottle while I napped. If I can get 2 ounces in one pumping session, why can't he get that much from me when he nurses? I was encouraged last night that every time he nursed he latched on without me going through the hassle of squirting EBM in his mouth by syringe, but then this morning he did need that a couple of times. He has had plenty of poopy diapers today that is for SURE. I am not worried about him being dehydrated. He also has really long periods of time where he is alert. He seems fine in all regards except he's not gaining weight quickly enough.

I so badly wanted to nurse Ian for 12 months, but now I just don't know what to do. I want to do whatever is best for him. With caring for Nadia, it is impossible for me to pump enough that I could give him only my milk by bottle. I don't view that as an option. I know that my milk is what is best for him physically and of course it's also free (which formula certainly is not!) plus it's something I looked forward to experiencing for many, many years. Just thinking about this brings me to tears. I need to talk with Paul about it this weekend. He'll be 6 weeks old tomorrow, and he only weighs 1.5 ounces more than he did when he was born. How frustrating!!!!!!

He spent a total of 90 minutes in his crib last night (30 once and 60 another time). Paul held him in between feedings between 8pm and midnight so by 1:00am I had slept 4 hours which was better than the night before. I got 5 hours of sleep without Ian in my arms and also got a little more while he slept in my arms. This morning I was able to take two one-hour naps while Paul's parents were here. I am bidding on a nap nanny on eBay, and if we don't "win" this one tomorrow, I'm just going to buy one through a "buy it now" auction. I figure if it doesn't work (I sure hope it does!!!) I will resell it on eBay so there's not a great financial risk, and if he'll sleep in it, then it will be the best $100 I've ever spent!

I was doing more research on retained placenta. If it's discovered in the first 24 hours after giving birth, it's called primary postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). If it's discovered later than that, it's called secondary PPH and that happens in under just one percent of births. It is more common in premature births than those that go full term. I wish that I didn't continue to be in the very small minority. The fetal fibronectin test is 98% accurate (when showing a negative result - it's less accurate with positive results), and yet I was in that 2% where it was inaccurate with a negative result. With the secondary PPH I am in that special 1%. I'd rather be with the other 99%! The strange thing is that most of the articles I read were just talking about vaginal deliveries. It really is puzzling why they didn't get it all out when I had a c-section. In Asia and Africa, about 30% of maternal deaths are a result of PPH due to a retained placenta. The good news for me is that secondary PPH often results in a hysterectomy. I am glad to know in that instance I am in the "minority" who only need a blood transfusion plus D&C (or D&E) and medications (antibiotics, Methergine, etc.).

My parents left around 1pm yesterday. I told Paul that I didn't want to be home alone with both munchkins today. I suggested he take Nadia to Sarah's, but his parents volunteered to come up. They arrived about 9:30am and then around 2:30pm (after Nadia woke up from her nap) they took Nadia to the Treasure Castle Playland and then McDonald's. She had a blast! Next week I'll need to go back to caring for both kids myself, but most of my restrictions (no driving, lifting, etc.) were for 4-5 days so I am able to go back to my normal routine by Monday.

Trip to the ER, Part 2

As time passed, I became increasingly worried about Paul and Ian. I expected Paul would be back by the time I got out of surgery. He had been gone 2 hours by the time I was wheeled to my room, and we only live 15 minutes away from the hospital. By the time 3 hours had passed, I was in tears. Several times the nurse had tried calling his cell phone (and mine since he had both of ours), but he didn't answer the phone or return my calls (I left one voicemail around 1:30 on his phone). My pain level was also increasing because it had now been 8 hours since I had nursed Ian (or pumped). They were going to bring me ice but then found a hand pump for me to use. After I pumped (and dumped), I asked the nurse to call the ER to see if my husband had gone there due to being in a car accident. Since he had been gone almost 4 hours (when I expected the trip to take 1 hour) and wasn't answering the phones, I assumed he must have been in a car accident. I cried quite a bit during these two hours. I've never woken up from surgery and not had a family member present. I was very relieved when he walked into the room with Ian at 2:30am. I held Ian until 4am and then nursed him for the first time in 10 hours. When I pumped quite a bit spilled onto my gown. This proved to be a blessing in disguise as the nurse then gave me a nursing gown. I never used one of those before; they are very nice. It made me wonder why the other (bigger) hospital didn't have any.

I spent 16 hours with Ian in that private room in the L&D ward. Ian never came to my hospital room in December. Nadia spent about 5 minutes in my room during our stay in 2008. This was my first time to have a bassinet in my hospital room, not that Ian slept in it. We tried, but as usual he would only sleep in someone's arms. He slept in Paul's arms, my arms, and my mom's arms as my parents arrived at the hospital at about 9:30am. My dad just stayed a few minutes, and then he took Paul home. Paul's parents had picked Nadia up from the neighbor's house around 10pm the night before and stayed with her at our house. They returned to their home after my dad and Paul took over caring for Nadia. My mom stayed with Ian and I at the hospital and brought us home after I was discharged around 6pm on Tuesday night.

The first two times I walked to the bathroom in my room I almost passed out. The second time they used smelling salts on me. Not Fun! I had no idea how awful those smell and how badly they burn your nose!! The doctor thought I'd feel stronger after the blood transfusion; I think the reason I kept coming close to fainting and throwing up was my reaction to the anesthesia. For the next several hours I used a bedpan instead of attempting to go to the bathroom. After I ate breakfast, I was able to make it to the bathroom with the assistance of a nurse without feeling lightheaded. By lunch time I could go there by myself. The doctor said once I could do that I could be discharged; however at that point I hadn't received everything I was supposed to by iv. I had been given a shot in the ER to cause the uterus to contract to try to stop the bleeding. Then they had given me a pill every few hours that was for the same purpose, and they were also giving me antibiotics by iv. The doctor also gave me a prescription for 500mg of Keflex 4 times a day that Paul filled at the pharmacy on Tuesday night. I was told not to drive a car for 4-5 days and to gradually ease back into my regular routine.

During the 24 hours I was at the hospital, I only slept 2 hours - most of that was when I was under the anesthesia. First it was hard for me to fall asleep with the lights and sounds and the compression device that they had attached to both of my legs. Secondly, every time I did fall asleep a nurse would come in a few minutes later and wake me up to take my temperature or blood pressure or give me a pill. Also, I was trying to nurse Ian every 2 hours. I left the hospital feeling a million times better than I did when I went in. The bleeding had gone back to a very small amount, and the contractions had completely stopped. They said my body was trying very hard to expel the placenta. I was right when I said I felt like I was in labor again. I jokingly asked for an epidural when they were asking me how bad the pain was in the ER. I was very tired though. Two hours of sleep in a 24 hour period is NOT enough! Thankfully, my mom was very gracious and she stayed up most of the night holding Ian in between feedings so that I got 7 hours of sleep over the course of the night. I think that's the most sleep I've gotten in almost 6 weeks! Yesterday I didn't fare as well in terms of sleep. I got a 2 hour nap while Nadia was napping (my mom gave Ian a bottle so that I could nap), but I only got 2 hours of sleep last night without Ian (10pm-midnight he was in Paul's arms). Ian was wide awake from midnight to 3am, and then he slept with me in bed from 3-5am, and I did get some sleep during that time although I don't sleep well when he's in my arms. I did take a one hour nap this morning. We definitely need to find something (Moses basket, nap nanny, or ???) that will enable Ian to sleep somewhere besides someone's arms. As Paul says it is "unsustainable" for us to keep getting so little sleep at night.

My mom suggested that we ask to see a lactation specialist, and sure enough this hospital also had one. She came down and met with me twice yesterday afternoon. The second time she gave me a supplemental nursing system - a tubing system that can deliver formula or EBM while he is nursing. I plan to use that when I am ready to try to wean him off the shield. She said that we shouldn't go cold turkey with the shield until he is gaining 1 ounce a day on a regular basis. She also advised me not to allow him to nurse more than 40 minutes at a time. She said he should be gaining about 1 ounce a day, and she said I should see a big improvement in my milk supply because with part of the placenta still present, my body still thought I was pregnant and wouldn't produce prolactin.

Thankfully from Sunday morning to Wednesday morning he gained 2 ounces. I haven't weighed him yet today, but yesterday he weighed 6lb 3oz. PTL!!! On Monday morning the doctor's office had again called to schedule an appointment for Ian. The receptionist didn't specify how soon I needed to bring him in; so I suggested February 1st as I'll already be there for my postpartum appointment. It was a great relief to me to know the next weight check wouldn't take place for two weeks. That gives me more time to fatten him up! That's also only 11 days before he turns 2 months old; maybe we can make that his 2 month appointment and cancel the one scheduled for later in February. We shall see.

I am also hoping that maybe this is the reason I was still having heartburn. Time will tell. I had complained many times to Paul that my belly was very sore. After having Nadia I only had pain with the incision. This time I had pain there as well as up near my belly button. That pain has totally gone away. It seems that was from the placenta. The nurse whom I spoke with on Monday afternoon called me back on Wednesday morning to see if I wanted to come in for an appointment with Dr. Swanson. I told her what had happened since I had talked to her last. Ironically, Dr. Swanson was the OB who did my c-section; December 12th was the first time I had met him. I obviously never want to be treated by him again since he botched my c-section. The residents might have done the work, but he was ultimately responsible (and he was present).

My parents had planned to return on Wednesday, but due to my hospitalization, they are returning home today instead. It has been very helpful to have them here. My dad drove me to the grocery store and library yesterday, Ian has spent many, many hours in my mom's arms, my dad has spent many hours playing with Nadia, etc. My dad also did a few small projects around the house for me which has shortened Paul's to do list, and my mom did several loads of laundry. Ian has now met all of his grandparents. :-) I added 3 pictures to yesterday's post. The first one shows Nadia feeding herself macaroni and cheese with a fork. Way to go, Nadia! She was using a fork that my friend, Jeanie gave us. Thanks, Jeanie! :-)

Trip to the ER

On Monday Nadia fell asleep on the couch a few minutes before I was planning to take her up for her afternoon nap. I haven't been carrying her up the stairs, but because she was asleep, I carried her and Ian (at the same time) up the stairs. Ian plus Nadia equals 33 pounds. After I put her down, I laid down for a nap with Ian. After Nadia woke up, I nursed Ian while Nadia watched VeggieTales. When I got up from the couch I discovered that I was bleeding pretty heavily. Looking back, I think that carrying Nadia up the stairs is what started the bleeding, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Over the next hour I became very concerned I was bleeding harder than I've ever bled before. I called both of my sisters for advice and Paul before I called the doctor's office. The OB had left; so I spoke with the OB nurse. She thought that probably what I was experiencing was normal, but since I couldn't talk to a doctor, she suggested I call the OB resident on call at the hospital. The OB resident as well as her supervising doctor both thought that probably what I was experiencing was normal, but they said I could choose to go to my clinic the next day, go to their ER, or go to the ER at the hospital which is closer to our home. My inclination was that I needed to go to the ER, but they seemed to think what I was experiencing was normal so I was torn.

However as time passed the bleeding didn't let up and the cramping became so painful that it felt like I was in labor again. Paul suggested I call 911, but I decided instead to call the neighbor girls. They came over and watched Ian and Nadia so that I could lie down until Paul could get home. At 4:30 I asked him to come home, but it takes 90 minutes for him to get home from school. Shortly after he got home, we left Nadia with the neighbors, and Paul drove Ian and I to the ER at the smaller, closer hospital - the one where I had initially planned to deliver Ian until I found out they don't do VBACs. I had changed clothes (again) prior to leaving. Our trip took less than 15 minutes, but by the time we arrived at the emergency room I had soaked through to the point that when I sat down on the wheelchair in the ER, the large pad they put on the seat was immediately completely soaked in blood as were my clothes (from my my pants to my socks). I was taken back immediately - skipped the registration and triage. After they hooked me up to an iv in each arm and took my vitals, the ER doctor did an exam. She then called an OB to come in; while waiting for her to come, they did an ultrasound. The OB came in to my room with her winter coat and purse.

The OB confirmed the ER doctor's suspicion that there was a piece of Ian's placenta in my uterus near the cervix. The doctor said she needed to do a D&C. I asked what type of anesthesia, and when she said general, I asked if there was another option. She said she could just remove the piece of placenta (and not do a total D&C) if I could "grin and bear it" without anesthesia. I chose to go that option. I didn't find having that piece removed to be TOO painful, but then she was cleaning out my uterus with a sponge and I found that to be rather awful, but I don't usually do well with anesthesia so I figured a few minutes of pain was better than a few hours of vomiting and fainting (my usual response to general anesthesia - one time my reaction was so bad that my lung collapsed and I was in the intensive care on a ventilator). Unfortunately, the bleeding didn't stop. They did another ultrasound and found that there were other placenta fragments still in the uterus. One was up really high and was calcified. So they started the preparation for general anesthesia so the OB could do a D&E as well as give me a blood transfusion. I had several episodes of amost passing out so they also had me on oxygen at this point.

Around midnight I woke up in the recovery room and by 12:30 was wheeled into a room in the Labor and Delivery ward of the hospital. I found it rather ironic given January 20th (today) was Ian's due date. Paul had left with Ian as they were wheeling me to the operating room (about 10:30pm) so that he could get dinner for himself and clean socks and pants for me (the socks I wore to the hospital were thrown in the garbage). I had tried to pump prior to surgery (as I am used to nursing every 2 hours) but they only had size 24mm phlanges and I use a 27 on one side and a 30 on the other. Theirs were just too small for me to use. So Paul was also bringing back my phlanges. I was planning to pump as soon as I got back as I was in PAIN plus I had to pump and dump due to all the meds they gave me and then wait 2 hours before I could nurse Ian. They had given us bottles of formula in the ER since I was unable to nurse him at that point although I had brought the boppy and nipple shield and nursing cover so that I could nurse him there. Unfortunately Paul and I had a miscommunication. I thought he was coming right back. I figured he would be back in about one hour (we live 15 minutes away from the hospital). He figured I'd be in the OR and recovery room as long as I was for Nadia's c-section. In reality a D&E is a much quicker procedure (no incision or stitching to do).

To be continued. Ian finished nursing, and it's time for me to get some sleep.

TWO!

A few times Nadia has said the number 2 when I've been counting with her. Today when we were reading a counting book, I was asking her what the object was that we were counting (bear, balls, etc.) before I counted them. After I turned one page she said "two shoes." I was stunned as there were indeed 2 shoes on the page! I haven't read this book lately; so I don't think it was a case of memorization. At lunch I gave her two pretzels; when I asked her how many pretzels, she said "two!" I had to call Paul and tell him because he's been concerned about her development in math (I haven't been concerned At All since she's only 18 months old).

He's also been concerned because sometimes Nadia says "book" when she means "milk" even though other times she says "milk" perfectly clearly. I am not concerned because her vocabulary is very large. She is using two and three word combinations more and more. A couple of days ago when we were in her bedroom, she said "big doggie" and went over to her very large stuffed dog (bigger than her). I was impressed. It was a good way of distinguishing between that one and the little doggie that is by far her favorite toy these days (seen in one photo yesterday). She wants to hold this dog 24 hours a day. Tears have been shed because I won't let her hold the doggie while she's in her highchair. What a mean Mommy she has, LOL.

Last night I got 4 hours of sleep without Ian as Paul held him while watching tv while I slept from 8-10pm and Ian slept in the crib from 2am-4am. I got a little more sleep while holding Ian before Nadia got up at 6:05am (an improvement!). He spent more than 2 hours in the crib, but he was awake (and so was I as I kept putting his pacifier in his mouth). A friend suggested a Moses basket. Anyone had success with one. I found one as cheap as $25, but the reviews on that one weren't good At All. Many are $100 or more. I was leaning towards this one if I do buy one. If it helped Ian, Paul, and I get more sleep, it would be WELL worth $45. I know you used an Amby bed for your co-sleeper, Joy, but wow those are expensive, and I think if that would work for Ian then he'd last longer in his cradle swing. I'd love to hear of anyone who has used a Moses basket or anything else that might help a baby who only wants to sleep in someone's arms.

Paul watched both kids this morning so that I could have a 45 minute nap. It was the first time he watched both of them at the same time. Way to go, Paul! I also got to sleep a little (with Ian in my arms) during Nadia's nap (which lasted about 95 minutes). My parents are coming up tomorrow and going back on Wednesday so I should be able to take at least one nap both days. YAY! I have to admit that when I am up for long periods of time during the night (for example from 10pm to 2am last night) I feel like I am going to lose my mind, but these naps help so much!

Heartburn

I experienced heartburn for the first time in my life during the 5th week of Nadia's pregnancy. I didn't have any after giving birth until I was pregnant with Ian. I assumed it would go away after I had him, but that hasn't been true. It's not as severe as it was when I was pregnant (one pill a day versus 2 a day during both pregnancies), and it's no longer constant. Now it's just induced by certain foods; unfortunately many foods I like have "offending" ingredients such as chocolate or tomato sauce. Is there any chance this is still going to go away? Ian is 100% worth it, but I'd rather not have frequent heartburn the rest of my life, if possible.

Ian and Nadia have 10 first cousins (thus far) - 3 on Paul's side and 7 on mine. Brandi (age 15) came over with Grandma and PopPop today; this means 6 cousins have now met Ian. Our kids have 3 aunts and 4 uncles (not counting Great Aunts and Great Uncles); 4 of those 7 have met Ian. Ian has been held by his only Great Grandma and 3 of his 4 grandparents. My dad hopes to come up and meet him this week.

This morning I made it to Sunday School and church for the first time since Ian was born. I still didn't manage to make it there on time although I was only 5 minutes late today, which is an improvement. Before I became a parent, I was rarely late. I still haven't figured out how much time to allow to get the three of us ready. I started by nursing Ian at 6am and then fed Nadia while I ate breakfast. Next I took a shower and then got Nadia dressed. Then I gave Ian a bath, got him dressed (first time he's worn a suit atlhough I didn't have him wear the tie today), and then nursed him again before starting the process of bundling the three of us up because it's cold out. That whole process took 2 hours and 50 minutes. I guess if we had skipped the photo shoot I would have made it on time. Getting two kids to and from the car isn't an easy task either. I could use a third arm, and I only have 2 kids under the age of 2. I have no idea how others do it who have 3 under the age of 2! I recruited someone to help me when it was time to go home as it was pouring outside and I wanted to pull the car right up to the door before taking them outside.

One disadvantage of Nadia's new nap schedule is that she's been sleeping from about 12:30-3:00. So when we get in the car around noon after church, she konks out immediately which means it's hard for her to fall asleep when I put her down at 1pm after she's had lunch. It took her an hour to fall asleep whereas lately she's been falling asleep very quickly now that she's down to one nap a day. She is still getting up early even though she's down to one nap. I hope she starts sleeping in at least until 6am in the VERY near future. Paul and I had gotten used to taking a morning nap. We're having a much harder time dropping this nap than she is, LOL! Of course she's getting at least 10 hours of sleep at night whereas I'm getting about 4-5 hours a night. I normally get 8-9 hours a night. The first few weeks of Ian's life I seemed to be running on adrenaline, but after 5 weeks of not getting much sleep, I am one tired lady. I did get a nap this afternoon while Paul's parents were here. The ironic thing is that I am going to bed earlier than usual (sometimes as early as 7pm) and yet I'm still only managing to get about 4 hours of sleep a night on average. Last night Ian spent only one hour in the crib although that was an improvement since he spent no time in the crib the previous two nights. I am not sure what to do. I do not think letting him CIO is appropriate, but I do know that I must start getting more sleep.

He did sleep in this beanbag chair for a little bit today. Maybe I'll give this a try tonight. Nursing is still stressful. The doctor's office called back yesterday, and I did return their call. I let the receptionist know I really didn't want to take Ian  in this week. She said she'd send a message to the doctor. We shall see what the doctor says. Ian gained 1/2 ounce each day the past two days so today he finally was back to his birth weight of 6lb 1oz. YAY! I keep changing my mind about whether I am going to keep trying to nurse him or not. I only pumped once today, but I did get 2 ounces (and that was after nursing Ian). I think my supply must have increased.

There are many times though when it's still a big struggle to get  him started. It's very tricky for me to keep his fingers out of his mouth, keep the shield on, and squirt milk into his mouth by syringe all at the same time. I really do need a third hand!!! I lost it when I spilled 1/2 ounce of EBM during one such attempt. With Nadia nursing was only stressful for 4 weeks because by that point she was off the shield and also from 2 weeks to 4 weeks old she gained 1 full pound. It was two months before I became accustomed to the physical discomfort, but only one month of stress. This time the discomfort isn't really a problem, but the stress hasn't let up at all even though he's 5 weeks old. He's still on the shield (and doesn't seem anywhere near getting off of it) and although he's gaining weight, he's not gaining it quickly enough (he's been home almost 4 weeks and has gained only 8 ounces in that time span). It didn't use to be such a struggle for him to latch on. If at least that can get back to normal (what it was before we started supplementing with a bottle a few days ago), I could probably handle the stress. Of course getting more sleep would also be most helpful!

Five Weeks Old

Nadia got up at 5:15 yesterday morning, but we still stuck with the plan for her to only have one nap. Her afternoon nap at Sarah's lasted 2 1/2 hours. YAY! I was hoping that nap would become longer once it became her only nap. We're hoping her wake-up time will get back to being more consistent (and no earlier than 6am). I am very grateful that we had Nadia spend the day at Sarah's. Wow. Taking care of one newborn is MUCH easier than taking care of a newborn plus an 18 month old. I was able to take a couple of naps even with a schedule of nursing every two hours and pumping after each nursing session. I probably thought taking care of a newborn was exhausting when Nadia was one month old, but honestly that was easy compared to taking care of Ian plus Nadia. She was very excited to spend time with Abbey; it was a win-win situation and well worth $20 in my opinion. In the past I've only taken Nadia there when I've been headed to work, but I might ask Paul to take her there again sometime in the next few weeks before I go back to work. I go back to work one month from now (Feb 15). I wasn't supposed to go back until March 15, but Ian's early arrival has hastened my return to work.

I had to "prime the pump" using a syringe of EBM for most of the day, but now Ian is back to nursing fine without that. My attempts to go without the shield didn't work, and since I was so nervous he'd reject nursing altogether, I decided to postpone weaning him off of the shield. I was planning on going without a bottle for a few days, but around 11:30 pm last night I decided to give him one ounce of EBM by bottle. That didn't cause a problem so I think until I'm certain he's getting enough through nursing, I think we'll give him one bottle a day. I didn't call the doctor back yesterday. Paul's suggestion was that I wait until Monday morning to return their phone call, and hopefully Ian will have gained more weight before then, in which case maybe Dr. S won't find it necessary for me to bring him in for an appointment. That would be lovely if that's how it turned out.

Thursday night he managed to flip out of the boppy; I found him on his belly lying perpendicular behind the boppy (another little Houdini!). I decided no more boppy in the crib. So he hasn't slept in his crib since 2am Wednesday night. During the day he spends some time in the swing, but the last two nights he's been in my arms or Paul's arms the whole night. Every time we put him in the pack 'n play or crib, he cries, and I am not going to let him cry it out at this age especially with his weght issues (although Paul suggested it). I sure hope we can get him to sleep in a bed other than ours soon!!!

On Thursday I received 2 four-piece suits that I had purchased through eBay for Ian. These are for 0-7 lbs, and I think they might actually fit him (somewhat anyhow). I got the two suits for $14.99 total, which was a much better price than what I paid for the 0-3 month suits. It's time to schedule his first photo appointment at Sears. We took Nadia for the first time when she was 5 weeks old, which is how old Ian is now.

Improving

After 6 hours of no success, he did have a good nursing session at 9pm. The 12am feeding went even better - no screaming and it was on the right side (left is his favorite, which was also true with Nadia). The 3am feeding started out disastrous, but by squirting some EBM in his mouth with a syringe, we found success. Whew... I am feeling a lot more hopeful that through frequent pumping, drinking lots of water, and one more day of Fenugreek (the dosage is 3 capsules 3 times a day for 3 days so I've had 18 capsules so far) we can get things back on track over the next 3 days. Nadia will have fun at Sarah's tommorrow, and I am looking forward to being able to put 100% of my attention on nursing Ian. I still haven't decided if we'll also work on getting off the shield this weekend. I'd like to, but I would rather nurse with the shield than not nurse at all so I am not sure if that is a good idea right now or not.