Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Since you asked...
No, we haven't found the keys yet. I'm hoping that they didn't fall as a causality to sleep-deprived new parenthood but I'll be damned if we can figure out where they are!
Friday, May 29, 2009
My two new best friends
The swing
The bouncy chair
Scott was super skeptical of these items when we received them from my friend's sister-in-law but I convinced him to hang onto them until the baby arrived (at which point he was allowed to donate them if he didn't think that they were useful). Well, we've both seen the light and love these artificial baby-soothers. Yeah for technology!
Baby's first night at home
This picture is out of order on the blog
but I like it so I'm going to post it anyways.
My dad took this photo shortly after he and
my mom arrived at our place in Calgary.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Answer key
You decide that coffee and food are the most important priority. You quickly drink your now cold coffee and rummage through the fridge to find something to eat. You spy the leftover French Toast that your mom made on Monday morning. While it's reheating in the toaster, you quickly unload the dishwasher. You slam the toast back and move on to the banana bread that your sister made yesterday. Feeling sugared out, you eat the piece of fried chicken that your friend brought over last night. Since unloading the dishwasher created space to put the dirty dishes, you decide to load up the dishwasher and wipe the counters. The baby is still sleeping so you move her into the bathroom in her bouncy chair so that you can have a shower. You grab the outfit that you wore yesterday to wear again today - it took you 30 mins to find something that you felt comfortable in yesterday - why mess with a good thing today? You take a nice shower while the baby snoozes away. She continues to sleep while you get dressed, do your hair, and pack the diaper bag. You have everything organized for the trip to drop off the ROE and decide to wake her for a feeding. After feeding her, you double check that you have everything and go to get the truck keys. You look all over the house, you call your husband at work but you don't find the truck keys and hubby doesn't have a clue as to where they might be. Despite all your hard efforts and excellent organization, you don't get to go to the Service Canada office. Your baby starts crying and is fussy all afternoon. You think that it's probably because you didn't get to leave the house today. Oh the joys of motherhood! Better luck tomorrow...
Pop Quiz
It's your first day alone with the baby. She had a fussy night last night and you probably got about four hours of sleep. You need to buy buns for supper but most importantly, you need to get your ROE to the Service Canada office so that your EI claim can be processed. After fussing all morning, the baby has finally fallen asleep. You haven't drank the coffee that you made two hours ago and you haven't eaten anything yet. Your house is a total disaster and the kitchen is full of dirty dishes. Tidying the kitchen will help you feel that you have more control over the chaos in your life. Having a shower will make you feel clean and help you be ready to go out to do errands. Eating and drinking your coffee will keep you satiated. You have no idea how long the baby will sleep. What do you do with this "free time"? (besides writing blog posts...)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Some things I learned today
1. Even though the "BabyCentre Essential Guide to your Baby's First Year" recommends packing one extra outfit in your diaper bag (along with more diapers than you think that you could possibly need), maybe consider bringing three extra outfits. Lily got pee on her first outfit and poo on her second outfit but I didn't pack three outfits so she had to sit in a little bit of poo for the drive home. Guess that I'll know better for next time!
2. Graphic or print shirts do a wonderful job of hiding leaky boob stains.
3. Alternatively, always pack a hoodie to wear over your shirt when your milk leaks out all over the place and you still have more errands to do in your day. This rule applies even when it's 20 degrees outside!
4. While you are at it, you might as well pack another shirt for yourself. Just in case the above two rules don't help the situation...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
A Lily photo a day keeps the blues away...
Sleeping in the cradle
Cara's still trying to figure out her place with the new baby
Contemplating life after a good feed
The Chariot - the latest in accessories for the modern Dad
A bit bleary-eyed but we're doing ok
Another cute sleeping shot
The view of Lily that I see most often
Lily's second car ride and first trip to the mall (much to her Dad's horror!)
We may have a baby but not much else has changed in our life
3/4 of the Withers family
Freedom!
Lily and I made it out by ourselves today - what a huge success! We walked down to the local Safeway to pick up some stuff for supper. It's a 10 minute walk each way but go figure, it took us more than an hour. I've learned that "Lily time" now means that everything takes much longer than it used to. I had to stop to feed her and then needed to settle her a number of times while we were out. Regardless, it was SO nice to get outside and get some fresh air. Yeah for day 9!
Confession Time
Today I have two things to confess to:
1. I'm pretty sure that every other mother does this. Other fathers may do it too but I'm pretty sure that Scott isn't doing it (cause he's just not as much of a worrywart as me). When Lily is sleeping, I sometimes jiggle her awake to make sure that she's breathing. While I hate the idea of stirring her from her nice slumber, I just want to make sure that she's ok. I know that I'm being totally ridiculous and I assume that this obsession will pass but I do think that it's kinda funny that I'm so keen to have her fall asleep so that I can get some rest only to promptly have me wake her up (albeit very briefly) every 15 minutes or so!
2. We let Lily sleep in the bed with us. Our doctor had given us a big lecture about not doing that but it just doesn't feel right (at least at this point) to put her in the bassinet during the night. I do put her there during the day but night-time feedings are so much easier when I can just quickly roll over and nurse her. We are taking tons of precautions and are making sure that she's safe in the bed with us but I still feel somewhat guilty about it. Oh well, I suspect that this is just the first of many things that I will feel guilty about as a mother. However, this decision feels right for us so I'm just going to stick with it.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Forget breastfeeding while lying down, this is WAY better!
I've just figured out how to nurse while sitting on the ball at my computer. Now I just need to work on my one-handed typing skills...
Update on the "best thing ever"
Nursing while lying down worked great the first night but I've seemed to have totally lost the ability to do it on a regular basis. I'm going to call the La Lache League this week to have them come over and show me again. This girl needs to sleep and I want to regain my ability to do that and nurse at the same time!
Time warp
I've heard of the phenomena but now I'm fully appreciating for myself. The days with Lily are flying by but I'm getting sweet F' all done. I feed her every 2 or 3 hours, for anywhere between 15 minutes and 90 minutes. I put her down to sleep and sometimes have a nap. I wake up and do the whole process all over again. Team Brand has been here for the past five days and have allowed me to eat (although Lily always seems to want to nurse right when breakfast/lunch/supper is ready). However, 3/4 of them have left and I'll be on my own as of Thursday. I may stop eating after that as I'm not really sure how to make that happen amidst the nursing and napping. Hordes of women before me have figured it out so I'm sure that I will too.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Best thing ever!
I was somewhat dreading the home visit from public health as they have been known to be hard on new moms (especially if feeding isn't going well which totally isn't the case for us - thank god!). However, we had a very helpful nurse come by the house yesterday and she taught me the best piece of info that I have received so far from nursing staff - how to breastfeed while lying in bed (aka - how to feed your baby while you are asleep!). It takes a bit of getting used to as Lily does prefer nursing in the football hold rather than the cross-cradle position (look at me, throwing all these nursing terms around!) but we tried it a few times last night and it worked pretty well. Lily and I were both able to sleep more which makes life easier for everyone. I need to appreciate these small victories and this is an important one.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thoughts on motherhood
I have so many things running through my head and I'm dying to write them down. I'm going to do my best to keep this blog up and running but I'm quickly realizing how challenging that might be.
The thought of the day - I now realize how new moms get absolutely nothing done! I have both of my parents here helping out and while I had all sorts of goals for the day, I only managed to accomplish one of them - have a shower and get dressed. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.
Warning - Camping may cause labour...
As many of you know, Scott and I went to Golden this weekend to go mountain biking and camping. I know that most people thought that it was a crazy idea (given that I was 5 days overdue) but we figured that the baby HAD to arrive if we did something like that. Lo and behold, it worked!
My water broke in our tent in Golden at 11:45pm on Saturday night (May 16th) and after receiving the ok from the Golden hospital, we drove back to Canmore. After dropping the dog off at Steve and Bex’s, we popped into the Canmore hospital for a quick assessment at 4:00am and were told to go home as I was only one centimeter dilated and the baby’s head was still super high. The nurse figured that I would probably be in labour for a day or two. Much to everyone’s surprise (especially Bex and Steve as we were at their house while I was in the throws of hard labour), things progressed very quickly and we returned to the hospital at 9:00am to find out that I was fully dilated and needed to get to the LDR now as the baby’s head was RIGHT THERE and it was time to push. After a frantic phone call to my doctor (who reportedly drove 150km/hour to get to the hospital from Banff), a wonderful nurse guided us through the first part of the pushing stage. Our doctor arrived within 10 minutes and our amazing baby girl was born at 9:55am on May 17th. Scott got to help with the delivery and assisted our doctor to pull his daughter out and put her on my chest. She fed right away and has been the most fantastic baby ever since! (and also the cutest and smartest and greatest and wonderfulest…).
Lily Jade Withers weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 50 cms long at birth. I have attached some photos for your viewing pleasure. We are the most blissed out parents ever and can’t wait to show off our baby girl.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Prenatal class drop-outs
As excited as Scott is about our baby, he has been less than thrilled about attending prenatal classes. He made it through four of the six classes before bailing last week. This week, he swore that he would go but we ended up meeting a few friends for dinner and then a few friends became all of Scott's 'manfriends' and then a few beers turned into lots of beers and then it was a nightcap at one of those friend's houses (which turned into three glasses of wine) and before I knew it, it was 12am before we left Canmore to drive back to the city (our friend had offered to let us crash at his place but I was feeling a strong desire to be in my own bed so I drove us home). Needless to say, we missed the last class on baby care (how hard could it be?!) to hang out with our Canmore family. Maybe not the best decision, but it was really nice to see everyone again and I'm sure that I will appreciate the moments that we get to spend with our friends more than I would have appreciated learning about bathing a baby (besides, that's what the internet is for, right? Either that or my mom can show me everything she knows when she gets here shortly after the baby is born...). So, all that is to say that this lovely photo is of Scott and I, right before we left Greg's place to drive back to Calgary. Scott is showing his love for being the breadwinner and I'm showing off my 40 week plus 1 day baby belly.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Due date
Well, today is supposed to be the big day. It's the day that came up on the Baby Centre calendar when I tried to figure out our due date, right after I found out that we were pregnant. It's the day that the doctor gave me when I went in to confirm the pregnancy (cause doing four home pregnancy tests wasn't enough...) It's the date that the ultrasound techs gave us at our 12 week and 18 week ultrasound appointments. It's the day that we've been counting down to for the past nine months. It's the day that our baby is scheduled to be born.
Funny thing is, I don't think that the baby will be born today. I feel like I'm getting really close to having the baby but I don't think that it's going to be today. I just read that 75% of babies are born after their due date so it's not the least bit surprising that the baby isn't here yet. No matter what, I know that the baby will be here within the next two weeks and I can't wait!
Monday, May 11, 2009
"this part is really weird"
Ok, so I've been saying that for pretty much my whole pregnancy but this time, I really mean it! It is totally strange to be waiting for the baby's arrival - we are getting so excited to be parents and to meet our baby but we have absolutely no idea when s/he is going to get here. Labour could start in two hours, two days, or two weeks. (Luckily, I know that it won't be longer than two weeks because that would push me over the 42 week mark and I would likely need to be induced. However, I don't think that's going to happen because it does seem like the baby is going to come soon). We are pretty sure that the baby has dropped down and I've been having lots more cramping/Braxton-Hicks, especially at night. I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow so I should have a better idea of where things are at after that. It is crazy to think that the most exciting thing to ever happen to us will happen without a set time or date but regardless, I just want it to happen soon!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Our birth plan
We actually don't have one. I've seen people bring them into the hospital and they are always placed on the patient's hospital chart but I don't actually know how often they get referred to. Regardless of that, I refuse to have a really specific idea of how my labour and delivery is going to go. I have some thoughts about things that I want (the ability to move around and labour in different positions) and don't want (tons of medical interventions) but I am open to the idea that things could easily go sideways and/or differently than I expect. My preference would be to have a natural delivery but I'm totally ok with having an epidural, if it comes to that. I've heard so many ideas about what to do during delivery - some people are completely anti-epidural and some people are totally pro-epidural. When we were thinking of using a mid-wife/having a home birth, I heard all sorts of opinions about the pros/cons of that. I feel really comfortable with my decision to use the doctor that I have chosen - she firmly believes in natural childbirth and is very open to "alternative" delivery styles (kind of ironic considering that lying on your back to deliver your baby has totally become the norm as of late but is not even close to the way that women have been delivering babies for hundreds of years). I'm not going to pressure myself to behave a certain way in labour - I just plan to hope for the best and to use Scott and our doctor for the support that I need to get through the birthing process.
Upon reflection
As a social worker, I should know better but I'm always surprised by the clarity that can come to one's mind with a few days of reflection time and quiet headspace. Leaving my job in Banff last week was incredibly difficult for me and I was very emotional about it. It left me uncertain as to how I feel about my new and upcoming role as a mother and I was scared. After being off of work for a few days, I've come to realize that it's ok to take a break from work to take care of our baby. I have no idea if I will want to stay home with the baby for the whole year and/or how I will feel about returning to work once my mat leave is over but I do know that I'm mentally ready to just be a parent for the next while. It's ok that Scott is going to make more money than me over the next year - it's a good chance to see how that feels for both of us. Who knows, maybe he will really relish his role as breadwinner?! I can have another identity outside of my work life - I will fondly remember my time in Banff and I am proud of my accomplishments as a social worker but that doesn't have to be all that I am as a person. As for my qualms about what happens to the rest of me once I become a mother - I don't really have an answer for that yet but I can only hope that becoming a mother will add to who I am but not take away from the person that I have become after 33 years of being alive.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Identity crisis
If I'm not working as a social worker, how do I define who I am?
If I'm not the primary breadwinner, how do I measure my worth in our relationship?
If I'm a mother, what happens to the rest of who I am as a person?
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