1 Month Old

It's hard to believe that Shaun's almost a month old already! He has his one month appointment on Monday.

Last Monday we went to get his circumcision done. He barely cried at all. The freezing must have really helped. This morning when I opened up his diaper his plastibel had fallen off. His penis looks so short now! Lisa says that's normal and that it will grow.

The scheduling has been going very well for the most part. Shaun is a terrific eater and latches like a professional even though, really, it's only been 2 weeks since he figured it out. I've even fed him in out in public a couple of times: in Sears, at the Early Years Centre, and today in Boston Pizza. The only time I'm sort of struggling with him is at nap time when we're away from home. He can't settle himself unless he's in his crib. It'll just take some more practice. He's being a bit of a stinker tonight though. It'll sound like he's fast asleep for 5 minutes or so and then he'll start crying. Maybe it's gas. It's not a constant cry either, sort of off and on. What a pain! I have to go resettle him...

Later...

I have come to discover that Shaun has a really hard time releasing gas after he eats. Sometimes I'll spend 10 minutes burmping him and nothing comes out, like tonight. Then he won't settle for his nap, and again like tonight, as soon as I pick him up he burps. I don't understand it at all. It's very strange. I'd love to think that he doesn't burp because he doesn't need to but obviously he does. It's pretty frustrating. I put him down at 6:45PM tonight. Now it's 8:07 and he's still not asleep... crying off and on. I don't know what to do!

Craig's with Wayne at a football game. They left at 5:30AM and should be home any minute.
I have to go and see if I can coax this gas out of Shaun. This is crazy!

Later...

So now it's 8:20 and Shaun's sitting on my lap in the kitchen. He doesn't seem to have gas anymore but his hand is in his mouth and he's sucking like crazy. He must be hungry. He's starting to gain a bit more control over his hands... seems to favour his right one.

Oh! He smiled today for the first time! I was leaning over him and he gave me a great big grin. I cried! He's so cute!

On Becoming Babywise

I've been reading On Becoming Babywise for the last few days; learning how to get Shaun (and me) on a schedule. It's a great book. All the questions I've had about: how long to let him cry, what to do if he wakes early for a feeding, how long to have him feed from each breast; they've all been answered in this book. It's reassured me that what I'm doing is okay.
These are the times he eats: 9AM, 12PM, 3PM, 6PM, 9PM

All of these feedings follow the eat-play-sleep routine. Shaun will spend about 15 minutes eating and then about an hour of wake time. Then I put him down for a nap. Ninety percent of the time he doesn't even cry when I put him down.

The remaining 2 feedings are: 12 AM and about 4:30AM, depending on when he wakes up. For these feedings he doesn't get any wake time; I put him right back into bed once he's finished eating. The schedule seems to be falling into place rather easily. The next thing to do will happen in the next few weeks. I'll try to drop the 4:30AM feeding. Babywise says most babies drop the feeding on their own. Those that don't sometimes wake during the feeding time and cry for a short time. They put themselves to sleep in the end. I'll end up reading that section about dropping a feeding a million times, I'm sure.

We're going to Sheri and Pete's for a family dinner tonight. It'll be great to see everyone!

Breastfeeding Woes

Yikes! Being a mum is so much harder than I ever imagined but oh my word, it's so rewarding and I wouldn't go back to not having Shaun at all.
Up until last Friday breastfeeding had had it's ups and downs. Most people live "day to day"; I was living "feed to feed". My moods were fluctuating so much based solely on how Shaun was breastfeeding.
I think a lot of the nursing problems I brought on myself... I came into motherhood with the impression that breastfeeding was painless and natural for mommy and baby. Since Shaun had so much trouble latching, my nipples got cracked and raw. They hurt so terribly I'd be in so much pain I'd cry and my toes would curl and I'd get all tense. Shaun probably felt how tense I was and that prevented him from relaxing and latching well. By the time last Friday came I didn't even want to feed him anymore. I was in Wayne and Leah's bedroom with Craig and through tears admitted to him that I wanted something to happen to Shaun so I didn't have to feed him anymore. Craig took that as the sign to ask Lisa for her breastpump for that feeding. I pumped for 2 or 3 more feedings after that and I used the frozen breastmilk I had too. By the time the 1AM feeding rolled around, Shaun was hysterical and I was desperate. I stuck it out for almost 2 hours and Shaun finally figured it out. He latched and hasn't gone back since!
I walked to the mall today to buy Stesha's shower gift and to buy Melissa a gift too. My perineum is really sore now though. I'll have to take it easy tomorrow.
I've decided to be firm and strong and not only get Shaun on a schedule but let him cry it out too. He's been upstairs about an hour. He cried for 17 minutes at first and then it sounded like he fell asleep. I think, though, that the TV was too loud and there was a new mum using a high pitched voice like me. Shaun woke up and now he's been crying for almost 10 minutes again. I'm going to go up in a few minutes to do his feeding if he doesn't stop. Otherwise I'll go up in 30 minutes... maybe an hour. It's be 9 PM or 9:30 PM.

Shaun Anthony Martin's Here!!

Wow, what a trek we've been on these last 10 months or so.
Shaun, you finally arrived; albeit 8 days late but you're perfect and we couldn't be happier. I was supposed to be induced Sunday, August 28 but the hospital was too busy so we ended up being called in at midnight. Nothing was really happening though until Dr. Raby came in at around 8 AM. Originally I had hoped they would break my water when we arrived to try to avoid receiving the Pitocin but he was too high and there was a danger of a cord prolapse. So, finally, at 8 they broke my water. Up until then the nurse had been asking me how my pain was from 0 to 10. It was mostly 0 but closer to 8 AM it was around a 2 and I was still able to sleep through the contractions. Once my water broke though, holy cow! Did things ever get started! Within about 5 minutes I got out of bed and was rocking side to side and breathing heavily and deeply. I decided to try the birthing ball and spent at least a couple hours on there. I wanted to lean forward but it hurt so bad during the contractions so I tried leaning back, hanging onto the bed to hold myself up. But I got tired and would lean into Craig for support. His shirt smelled so good! I remember at one point he turned to walk away just as a contraction was coming and I pulled him back to my by his shirt. Eventually the Pitocin had to be decreased a bit because the contractions were coming too close together and I wasn't getting the chance to catch my breath in between.
It's strange, I remember all of this happening but my memory is sort of foggy; almost like a dream.
The nurse suggested a shot of Demerol at noon, right after I threw up all over Craig's shoes, to help take the edge off the contractions. I hadn't wanted any drugs originally but the contractions were becoming more than I could handle. Craig says once I got the shot and the doctor was leaving the room, only then did I say "ow". I guess I was in a lot of pain... When the Demerol came I was 5 cm and 10 minutes later when it had completely taken effect I was up to 9! But the Demerol had taken too long for me and I was begging for an epidural. Craig asked me so many times if I was sure that was what I wanted. It was great to have his support!
Once I was fully dilated, since I'd just received the epidural I was completely numb from my boobs down. It was a wierd feeling. By 4 PM I could feel enough to start pushing. It felt like I had to take a monster poop. I was allowed to push as I wanted and I counted in my head. It only took 45 minutes and felt like much less. When Shaun finally came out it was 4:55 PM and he was 10 pounds 4 ounces! Quite the porkchop!!

Shaun Anthony Martin
August 29, 2005
10 lbs, 4 oz