El ombligo se cayó

So the umbilical cord fell off today. I'm hoping she ends up with a cute bellybutton. I like mine and I know many who do not. One day I'll bet I get mine back when my pregnancy belly fat goes away. I should probably to some exercises if I wasn't so beat.

We just had a four-hour awake marathon. She's FINALLY asleep. So I must too or suffer the consequences! :)

Leaky boobs and gassy nights

I guess you haven't lived until you both: accidentally squirt your kid in the face with breastmilk and leak all over every shirt you have forgetting you have on a shield (with ventilating holes) and not an absorbant breast pad. Ah dios!

So the past two days have been interesting. About 4pm she starts to cry with the I Have Gas cry and goes on for at least an hour. And then is equally inconsolable for at least an hour or two after 1am. Needless to say I'm beyond exhausted as is Ismael. I had a headache so big I took two Tylenol. I couldn't see straight from the pain. And I don't usually get headaches.

And at some point the bed started to shake a little. I thought I was hallucinating this. I had felt it lightly a few days before, too. So when Ismael got ready for work, I told him about the bed and he said he's felt it too but never when the train comes or a truck goes by. Maybe ghosts? Strange whatever it is.

I'm guessing our girl is growing which is why she gets up more often and eats more. But the gas has me stumped. I'm not eating anything I can think of that would cause it. Although she does have two gassy parents. :)

Teaching mommy about schedules

So I was thinking that she was already set in her every-3-hour schedule. Wake up, eat, burp, change, go back to sleep. Easy peasy. Well, as of yesterday my one day of a 'perfect schedule' was dashed when she was giving me, what I thought was, hungry face and cry and we struggled for an hour and a half with her being fussy. Eventually, abuela perez stepped in and figured out that it was gas, not hungry face and cry. So she walked her around the apartment, burping her, and eventually calming her down. I couldn't walk around, so maybe the change of scenery that abuela was able to give her helped a little too?

Either way, today is similar. More gas. She's eating pretty fast and seems to insist on latching on so she makes these gulping noises, which I'm assuming means she's taking in air. So at least it's a little easier to recognize gas face from hungry face. Surprisingly very similar mount movements but it's the cry that's a little different. Hungry is desperate and urgent, gas/air is more whiney though similarly intense at times.

Carolina the Musical

Just like a puppet master, Carolina has us reacting to her every command. Or like a magician with her wand: now you! Clean my diaper! Now you, feed me. Now you, make me burp more. Now you! Try to swaddle me. I don't like it, when my hands aren't free. Go ahead. Just try it. I'll fight you. And I will win!

Imagine that all sung is a sweet staccato voice. She is hilarious.

We finally got the right bath time. After the 6am feeding, burp her a little. And when she is groggy but not asleep again, start the bath routine.

Bath tips from abuela:
1. Undress her but leave on the diaper.
2. Wrap her in a soft, dry towel.
3. Wash herhair at the sink with warm running water from the tap
4. Pat dry head
5. Fill up bath tub with warm water.
6. Take off towel and diaper and holding her so she is face down, quickly and purposely was her back and nether regions.
7. Turn her over and put in tub. Quickly wash her front side.
8. Make sure not soapy and hand over to get dried. We do it on the bed and a little massage through the towel
9. Lotion if necessary
9b. Quickly clean behind the ears and inside ear folds (NOT inside ear) with a damp Qtip
10. Diaper
11. Clothes
12. Swaddle

Usually now she's more awake and we walk he around to see outside and then soon after some gentle back rubbing and humming she is back to sleep.

As long as the water is warm enough and she's groggy enough we can get through all steps without crying. Phew!

Hooray for bath time tips from abuela.

Easy feeding and sleepy days

Today has been a set of easy feedings and mostly quiet naps. I begin to wonder how often this will happen so I will just be grateful for the day it is. Bathing her in the morning is definitely the way to go. She may end up being a 6am bather so that both Ismael and I are here before he leaves for work. Even though his parents are here and his mom has made today much easier for me so I don't have to stand or walk around too much, I'm still nervous that he's going back to work tomorrow. I didn't expect to feel this needy.

On the other hand, I never figured I could be this relaxed. Sometimes I catch myself feeling quite natural as a mom and other moments totally foreign.

I also never guessed I'd one day be married and when my husband came home he'd ask if she pooped and we are both proud that the answer is yes!

One week old

Today she is one week old. We were able to have both sets of grandparents/abuelos at our place since Ismael's parents arrived last night. She's been very cooperative for all the photos everyone wanted to take of her. She and I even had a little nap on my bed before my parents came over. I had sworn I'd never let my kid sleep in our bed. But pain from the stitches and exhaustion changed my mind. Plus she had just had a bath and was fed so she smelled awesome. Of course when I woke up my boobs had leaked on my shirt, which was awesome. And we had a quick conversation about how many poos she'd done today.

Our girl is an overachiever in the potty arena. And since she is still a little yellow, we are very proud of her diaper count. More poo means less yellow! Good girl!

My mother in law has been changing her today and putting on nice clothes. It's a good point that if we don't do it she will never wear most of the clothes. I guess it is also good since it's her one week "birthday".

Now is nap time for my little family. Looking forward to another night where she sleeps from 3-6am.

That's a really interesting thing about bring a new parent; measuring your days in three hour blocks and then the various minutes (feeding, number of diaper changes, color and consistency) that make up those hours. And when night comes, wondering where the time went. It's been the longest and shortest week of my life. I wonder what my kid thinks of it all...

Thursday, June 4

I can tell you that yesterday was actually a good day. Her jaundice is much much less and so she was awake more during the day and even stayed up for a while around 4pm to watch daddy play video games. He then took her for a little walk around the block. She graciously fell asleep and he couldn't have looked more proud when he walked through the door! Apparently people on the street told him that she was cute. Ha!

Anyway, she is feeding much better and we learned that a bath at 10pm is a bad idea. Better she sleep "dirty". Mommy and Daddy didn't time that one well and have learned their lesson.

There are few things as cute as seeing your husband with your infant child on his chest, passed out on the bed in the dawn light of a new day. Especially when you know you now have a good 12+ hours of breastfeeding battles ahead of you. I've been assured by some very wise friends that this gets better and so far each day is actually a bit easier in that regard. All new challenges await today!

Ok off to nap again.