I think it went pretty well. Little Man napped twice in his Baby K'tan carrier and when he was awake he was pretty much all smiles and coos. And he was absolutely mesmerized by my sister-in-law's ceiling fan. I think he could have stared at it for hours. Too bad we don't have one in our apartment. And I'm pretty sure talking our landlady into getting one—just to keep our baby occupied—is not an option.
I'm glad that Dude has a large family. His sister has two boys (ages 6 and 4) and lives only 6 miles away from us. His brother has a boy and three girls (boy: 6, girls: 4, 2 and 2 months), the youngest only 5 weeks younger than Little Man. So, hopefully, he'll have a good relationship with his cousins. It would be nice, considering Little Man will be the only cousin without a sibling. That being said, I don't have any real relationship with any of my five cousins. I get along with them OK, the rare instances that I see them, but I wouldn't say we're friends.
Part of that could be due to the fact that I'm several years older than my cousins. I'm 4 years older than my male cousin, and 6 years older than my eldest female cousin. Maybe the chasm once brought on by age is too wide? Though I find that somewhat silly now. I'm 39 and my one cousin is 33. When we were 9 and 3 it was a HUGE age difference. But now? Not so much. Alas, there were other issues that I won't go into and I think MY familial relationships will only be cursory.
So I truly hope that Little Man will be close with his cousins. I hope that my SIL's boys will tolerate him tagging along (since Dude is really close with Big Sis and we spend a lot of time togehter) and that when they're older, the age difference won't matter so much. If not... I hope Little Man is the type of person to make lasting friendships. I've made a few, though it took me until my 20s to do so.
I have great memories of Thanksgiving from my childhood. I'd organize plays (of the first Thanksgiving, though we were all Pilgrims and my Standard Poodle was the Indian) and we'd sing and entertain our parents. All orchestrated by me—the oldest and the ringleader. Little Man's cousins don't seem to do that (well one does) and they're more rambunctious. But I hope that he creates good memories too. And next year he'll be able to eat turkey!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Not So Little!
Little Man went for his 3 month well baby visit on Tuesday—and he's not so little! While I wasn't shocked, I was still in awe of his weight: 16 lb! He's the weight of a six-month-old! And he was in the 90th to 95th percentile for weight. However, his length was only 23.5 inches, which is the 25th to 50th percentile for height.
I'll say it again: I hope he grows into his feet, which are large.
My husband is 6'2" and slim. I'm hoping Little Man takes after his daddy in that respect. I'm 5'4" and average. That's going on pre-pregnancy weight. As of now, I'm carrying about 15 extra pounds. No. Scratch that. I'm carrying around 31 extra pounds—16 of them is my son!!!
But otherwise Little Man is healthy. The first week of December we're going to see a pediatric urologist for his Hydrocele and are going to Cranial Technologies to get a free assessment to determine if he needs a helmet or not for his (my guess) Brachycephaly with Plagiocephaly. I think his condition is somewhere between mild and moderate and want him to get a helmet if he needs one. It's not at all apparent from front-on photos. But if you see the back of Little Man's head, it's pretty flat.
So that's the most recent update. Sorry I've been MIA since last week, I had to send my MacBook Pro to the Apple Store to get a new optical drive. They always seem to die on me... and I don't even burn discs too often!
I'll say it again: I hope he grows into his feet, which are large.
My husband is 6'2" and slim. I'm hoping Little Man takes after his daddy in that respect. I'm 5'4" and average. That's going on pre-pregnancy weight. As of now, I'm carrying about 15 extra pounds. No. Scratch that. I'm carrying around 31 extra pounds—16 of them is my son!!!
But otherwise Little Man is healthy. The first week of December we're going to see a pediatric urologist for his Hydrocele and are going to Cranial Technologies to get a free assessment to determine if he needs a helmet or not for his (my guess) Brachycephaly with Plagiocephaly. I think his condition is somewhere between mild and moderate and want him to get a helmet if he needs one. It's not at all apparent from front-on photos. But if you see the back of Little Man's head, it's pretty flat.
So that's the most recent update. Sorry I've been MIA since last week, I had to send my MacBook Pro to the Apple Store to get a new optical drive. They always seem to die on me... and I don't even burn discs too often!
Friday, November 13, 2009
13 Weeks Old on Friday the 13th
That just amuses me somehow. And to mark a milestone—Little Man turns 3 months old tomorrow—I'm going to post my birth story that I wrote on my old blog. I wrote this in the hospital when my son was 1 day old.
Our son was born on Friday August 14th at 2:31 PM. We are completely in love.
Here's how it all happened:
On Thursday night I checked in at the hospital at 8 PM for my induction. I was there for a few hours, dealing with paperwork and getting settled (blood draws, pick line, etc.) before the nurse inserted the Cervidil. In case you don't know, Cervidil is something like a suppository that makes the cervix thin out and become receptive for labor. That was an overnight deal, so I was also given an Ambien so I could sleep. I honestly didn't get much sleep—kept waking up to pee—but I did a little.
Then it was Friday morning around 7 AM. The nurse checked my cervix and while it hadn't dilated past the 1 cm I was the night before (and at my prior office visits), I was 100% effaced and the baby was at -1 station.
The OB on call (and one I really like) came by at 8 or 8:30 AM and checked me, and started me on the lowest dose of Pitocin (oxytocin, to cause contractions) possible. She also broke my water—that was weird! I was doing OK through them until around 10 AM, when they were beginning to make me nauseous. I was checked and was dilated to 3 and I got my epidural. It was AWESOME! And I progressed quickly after that. I rested, half-slept, and my husband played around on my laptop. When I was next checked—close to noon?—I was dilated to 7 CM!
My husband called my mom (and his mom) to let them know it was moving MUCH faster than we thought. It ended up moving even faster when, at 12:45 PM I was fully dilated to 10 cm and felt urges to push (even with the epidural, but it wasn't too painful). Hubby called the parents again and said COME NOW!!! Then the doctor came in, the nurse had me "practice push" for about an hour. My OB had another induction patient was also close but I apparently won the "race" and was to deliver first.
About 2 PM or so, I was READY. Honestly, I only pushed for about a half hour with brief breaks of Oxygen (baby's heartrate dipped a bit, as did mine, but we both perked up with the oxygen mask). It was tough, I felt like I couldn't get enough air in at a few times, but overall not too terrible. Little Man was born at 2:31 PM to comments from my OB of "Whoa that's a HUGE head" and "That's a BIG baby!!!"
He weighed 9 lb even and was 20.5 inches long.
The one BAD part of it all... he was so big that he didn't quite fit and I tore VERY badly. Basically as bad as one CAN tear. I have 4th degree tears to my perineum and rectum. My OB basically had to completely repair my anus. It's pretty painful and will be a tough recovery. I'm on major stool softeners and pain meds. I hope that I won't have any complications from this. But the doctors and nurses are all, apparently, amazed by my pain tolerance and my attitude and how such a "small person" (thanks for saying I'm small, at 5'4") had such a LARGE baby.
I guess that explains the 40 lbs I gained! Nine of it was baby, and about nine or so was blood volume, amniotic fluid, uterus, placenta, etc. I'm not weighing myself for a while—I don't need to know—and I can't exercise or do any heavy lifting for six weeks. So I'm just going to take it easy and get well. And learn to breastfeed. My son and I are learning together but we'll get there. [Note: We didn't... I gave up when he was 3 days old. Oh well...]
So there you go... he's here. Little Man. We feel so blessed to have him.
Our son was born on Friday August 14th at 2:31 PM. We are completely in love.
Here's how it all happened:
On Thursday night I checked in at the hospital at 8 PM for my induction. I was there for a few hours, dealing with paperwork and getting settled (blood draws, pick line, etc.) before the nurse inserted the Cervidil. In case you don't know, Cervidil is something like a suppository that makes the cervix thin out and become receptive for labor. That was an overnight deal, so I was also given an Ambien so I could sleep. I honestly didn't get much sleep—kept waking up to pee—but I did a little.
Then it was Friday morning around 7 AM. The nurse checked my cervix and while it hadn't dilated past the 1 cm I was the night before (and at my prior office visits), I was 100% effaced and the baby was at -1 station.
The OB on call (and one I really like) came by at 8 or 8:30 AM and checked me, and started me on the lowest dose of Pitocin (oxytocin, to cause contractions) possible. She also broke my water—that was weird! I was doing OK through them until around 10 AM, when they were beginning to make me nauseous. I was checked and was dilated to 3 and I got my epidural. It was AWESOME! And I progressed quickly after that. I rested, half-slept, and my husband played around on my laptop. When I was next checked—close to noon?—I was dilated to 7 CM!
My husband called my mom (and his mom) to let them know it was moving MUCH faster than we thought. It ended up moving even faster when, at 12:45 PM I was fully dilated to 10 cm and felt urges to push (even with the epidural, but it wasn't too painful). Hubby called the parents again and said COME NOW!!! Then the doctor came in, the nurse had me "practice push" for about an hour. My OB had another induction patient was also close but I apparently won the "race" and was to deliver first.
About 2 PM or so, I was READY. Honestly, I only pushed for about a half hour with brief breaks of Oxygen (baby's heartrate dipped a bit, as did mine, but we both perked up with the oxygen mask). It was tough, I felt like I couldn't get enough air in at a few times, but overall not too terrible. Little Man was born at 2:31 PM to comments from my OB of "Whoa that's a HUGE head" and "That's a BIG baby!!!"
He weighed 9 lb even and was 20.5 inches long.
The one BAD part of it all... he was so big that he didn't quite fit and I tore VERY badly. Basically as bad as one CAN tear. I have 4th degree tears to my perineum and rectum. My OB basically had to completely repair my anus. It's pretty painful and will be a tough recovery. I'm on major stool softeners and pain meds. I hope that I won't have any complications from this. But the doctors and nurses are all, apparently, amazed by my pain tolerance and my attitude and how such a "small person" (thanks for saying I'm small, at 5'4") had such a LARGE baby.
I guess that explains the 40 lbs I gained! Nine of it was baby, and about nine or so was blood volume, amniotic fluid, uterus, placenta, etc. I'm not weighing myself for a while—I don't need to know—and I can't exercise or do any heavy lifting for six weeks. So I'm just going to take it easy and get well. And learn to breastfeed. My son and I are learning together but we'll get there. [Note: We didn't... I gave up when he was 3 days old. Oh well...]
So there you go... he's here. Little Man. We feel so blessed to have him.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Instinct
Instinct tells me that a) Little Man will need surgery on his scrotum for his Hydrocele and b) he'll likely need a DOC Band (helmet) for his positional plagiocephaly. I don't know why, but that's what my gut is telling me.
If he does need a helmet, I don't think our insurance will cover it. Though the place I'm taking Little Man for an assessment told me that they DO fight for patients' and often they will cover at least some of the cost. I'm hoping that, since Little Man also has a diagnosis of Torticollis, that UHC will cover something.
If not... well, I'd rather get us further in debt than NOT correct something that is correctable due to my son's young age (13 weeks tomorrow).
So I'm taking him to see a urologist and to Cranial Technologies for a free assessment in early December. He'll be close to 4 months old by then, but I'm told babies under 6 months show the best results. I'd go sooner, but Dude wants to go with me and he won't have a free day before then. But I don't feel that it's too much of a wait.
If he does need a helmet, I don't think our insurance will cover it. Though the place I'm taking Little Man for an assessment told me that they DO fight for patients' and often they will cover at least some of the cost. I'm hoping that, since Little Man also has a diagnosis of Torticollis, that UHC will cover something.
If not... well, I'd rather get us further in debt than NOT correct something that is correctable due to my son's young age (13 weeks tomorrow).
So I'm taking him to see a urologist and to Cranial Technologies for a free assessment in early December. He'll be close to 4 months old by then, but I'm told babies under 6 months show the best results. I'd go sooner, but Dude wants to go with me and he won't have a free day before then. But I don't feel that it's too much of a wait.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Little Man Napped in the Crib
For two hours this afternoon/evening. I can hardly believe it!
I tried to nap myself, but was unable to fall asleep. I hate when that happens—and it happens quite often. I think if I were able to fall asleep easier, I'd be more rested since Little Man does sleep in 4-5 hour stretches at night.
Now I just don't know if I should wake him up to feed him so he'll sleep tonight or if I should let him sleep so when Dude gets home from work we can eat our dinner in peace.
I'll probably let him sleep even if it means I'll be up all night (and with work tomorrow that will SUCK) because I'd like to eat dinner with both my hands. But figuring this stuff out is not easy. On my last post, Debbie said we analyze ourselves away from what is instinctive. My instincts say: Let Little Man sleep. So I will.
I tried to nap myself, but was unable to fall asleep. I hate when that happens—and it happens quite often. I think if I were able to fall asleep easier, I'd be more rested since Little Man does sleep in 4-5 hour stretches at night.
Now I just don't know if I should wake him up to feed him so he'll sleep tonight or if I should let him sleep so when Dude gets home from work we can eat our dinner in peace.
I'll probably let him sleep even if it means I'll be up all night (and with work tomorrow that will SUCK) because I'd like to eat dinner with both my hands. But figuring this stuff out is not easy. On my last post, Debbie said we analyze ourselves away from what is instinctive. My instincts say: Let Little Man sleep. So I will.
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