Time flies blahblah blah you have all heard it but I still think it like 1000x a day! Pictured above is Claire and I reuniting last night after her first day with Patsy at her new day care. She seemed happy and playful and then slept like a champ. I missed her so much but we both got through it and I think we are both better for it, we will see how it all pans out.
I wanted to go ahead and do another installment of Being a mommy :)
Being a mommy - 12 days in
Being a mommy - 60 days in
First things first - being a mommy includes too many pictures
I wanted to go ahead and do another installment of Being a mommy :)
Being a mommy - 12 days in
Being a mommy - 60 days in
First things first - being a mommy includes too many pictures
Sleep
A tiny human goes through ups and downs just like a big human. Overall Claire loves to sleep! Loves it! During the day she has kind of ditched nap time for more play time and being held time which worked out for us, she did not mind doing chores with me and if I really needed a nap I could calm her down by swaddling her, putting on her mobile and laying her down in the crib. For about an hour I was able to nap with her or get a few things done around the house. Because she has been so active and alert during the day I was curious how her night time sleep would go. I am not really into any big type of bed time routine just yet but usually she gets cozy with Ryan around 9 and they read a book, I then nurse her and put her to bed. She still likes to be swaddled and I put the boppy around her feet so that she does not wiggle herself awake. She will sometimes wake up around 1 and then sleep until about 6. Lately though she can go for about 8 hours with no wake ups. It has been pretty splendid. Thankfully she just nurses and then goes right back to sleep. I don't want to get too excited about how its been going for the last month because I know things could change, especially now that I am back at work but so far so good. I am not as lucky as she is though, I cannot seem to sleep that long. I have been getting up around 3am to pump because I want to keep my supply up and that is helping me make sure we are good for day care. Last night I went to bed at 9:30 right after she did and I was able to sleep soundly until 3am, I then pumped and was unable to fall back to sleep so being the mean mommy I am [jk] I decided to wake her up and feed her since the lactation consultant said she should be eating more anyway and then this way I would be able to sleep a few more hours before waking up for the day. She nursed while sleeping and then I tucked her right back into her swaddle and off to bed I went. Ryan & I woke up at 6am for the day and I woke Claire up at 630am to nurse and get ready for her day. Our schedule seems to be working for us, even though this week I have been soooo tired with throwing work back into the mix but I am sure we will get our groove soon.
A tiny human goes through ups and downs just like a big human. Overall Claire loves to sleep! Loves it! During the day she has kind of ditched nap time for more play time and being held time which worked out for us, she did not mind doing chores with me and if I really needed a nap I could calm her down by swaddling her, putting on her mobile and laying her down in the crib. For about an hour I was able to nap with her or get a few things done around the house. Because she has been so active and alert during the day I was curious how her night time sleep would go. I am not really into any big type of bed time routine just yet but usually she gets cozy with Ryan around 9 and they read a book, I then nurse her and put her to bed. She still likes to be swaddled and I put the boppy around her feet so that she does not wiggle herself awake. She will sometimes wake up around 1 and then sleep until about 6. Lately though she can go for about 8 hours with no wake ups. It has been pretty splendid. Thankfully she just nurses and then goes right back to sleep. I don't want to get too excited about how its been going for the last month because I know things could change, especially now that I am back at work but so far so good. I am not as lucky as she is though, I cannot seem to sleep that long. I have been getting up around 3am to pump because I want to keep my supply up and that is helping me make sure we are good for day care. Last night I went to bed at 9:30 right after she did and I was able to sleep soundly until 3am, I then pumped and was unable to fall back to sleep so being the mean mommy I am [jk] I decided to wake her up and feed her since the lactation consultant said she should be eating more anyway and then this way I would be able to sleep a few more hours before waking up for the day. She nursed while sleeping and then I tucked her right back into her swaddle and off to bed I went. Ryan & I woke up at 6am for the day and I woke Claire up at 630am to nurse and get ready for her day. Our schedule seems to be working for us, even though this week I have been soooo tired with throwing work back into the mix but I am sure we will get our groove soon.
Breast feeding
We are doing so so so so so much better! I still have a few hiccups here and there but overall it is all good! Last week I went to the lactation consultant through the hospital for a weight check and for her to watch me nurse. Claire gained 3 ounces in 7 days and she kind of made me feel 'bad' about it. I don't know. Claire is happy and healthy and this woman made me feel like I eventually might need to start supplementing, I spoke to my pediatrician about it and she said Claire is fine and has already almost doubled her weight so I just need to keep up what I am doing. I made her bottles for day care a little bit more than what she usually eats so that way she is getting some more during the day when I cannot feed her on demand. Pumping is a whole new thing, to get my supply up I started pumping every hour for just a few minutes and I was able to freeze a lot from that and get my first day of day care bottles ready. That with the Milkies I am feeling good. Now that I am on my third day back at work I am trying to figure out how pumping is going to work. In a perfect world I will be able to pump every two hours but some days I just do not have someone else with me, so I will have to figure it out but so far so good, I have been able to get about 10 ounces during my work hours and then I just keep pumping once I get home too. This morning I had the idea to reach out to my breastfeeding support group and see if anyone had a Medela they aren't using anymore and I found a few ladies willing to give me their old ones!! This will be great because I can just leave one at each salon and at home, it will reduce my stress and all the stuff I have to lug around. I am happy.
We are doing so so so so so much better! I still have a few hiccups here and there but overall it is all good! Last week I went to the lactation consultant through the hospital for a weight check and for her to watch me nurse. Claire gained 3 ounces in 7 days and she kind of made me feel 'bad' about it. I don't know. Claire is happy and healthy and this woman made me feel like I eventually might need to start supplementing, I spoke to my pediatrician about it and she said Claire is fine and has already almost doubled her weight so I just need to keep up what I am doing. I made her bottles for day care a little bit more than what she usually eats so that way she is getting some more during the day when I cannot feed her on demand. Pumping is a whole new thing, to get my supply up I started pumping every hour for just a few minutes and I was able to freeze a lot from that and get my first day of day care bottles ready. That with the Milkies I am feeling good. Now that I am on my third day back at work I am trying to figure out how pumping is going to work. In a perfect world I will be able to pump every two hours but some days I just do not have someone else with me, so I will have to figure it out but so far so good, I have been able to get about 10 ounces during my work hours and then I just keep pumping once I get home too. This morning I had the idea to reach out to my breastfeeding support group and see if anyone had a Medela they aren't using anymore and I found a few ladies willing to give me their old ones!! This will be great because I can just leave one at each salon and at home, it will reduce my stress and all the stuff I have to lug around. I am happy.
My relationship with Ryan
As usual, he is awesome.
He is so in love with Claire and so in love with me that I cannot ask for anything more. I am hoping to plan a few more date nights very soon but for right now we are enjoying the three of us, with me going back to work I feel like I cannot get enough time with Claire and leaving her any more than I have to right now just does not sit well with me, so this weekend we have a picnic park date planned and I am so excited for it. I am lucky to have such an involved partner and someone I love and respect so much. We have both been working on helping each other with whatever is needed and I am trying to be less of a stress ball about things being clean haha they will eventually be done I just have to remember that.
Healing from her birth
I feel 100%, sometimes I can feel pains in my incision but I usually forget all about it. Plus, I have been working out a good amount, I think that is helping me feel better in many ways.
As usual, he is awesome.
He is so in love with Claire and so in love with me that I cannot ask for anything more. I am hoping to plan a few more date nights very soon but for right now we are enjoying the three of us, with me going back to work I feel like I cannot get enough time with Claire and leaving her any more than I have to right now just does not sit well with me, so this weekend we have a picnic park date planned and I am so excited for it. I am lucky to have such an involved partner and someone I love and respect so much. We have both been working on helping each other with whatever is needed and I am trying to be less of a stress ball about things being clean haha they will eventually be done I just have to remember that.
Healing from her birth
I feel 100%, sometimes I can feel pains in my incision but I usually forget all about it. Plus, I have been working out a good amount, I think that is helping me feel better in many ways.
Going back to work
I am three days in and today there were A LOT less tears.
Monday was my first day and my mom watched Claire and that really helped with my transition. The two of them just had the best day it sounded like. I went into work and I cried on the drive there but once I was at work I was right back in it. I thought of her all the time but I knew she was doing great with my mom and thankfully she sent many pictures. Once I got home it was wonderful to nurse her [4 times in 4 hours haha] it was so nice to feel connected with her again and we both slept really well that evening.
Tuesday was my first day at Costa Mesa and her actual first day at day care. Ryan took her because I had to get to work and that was the hardest. I cried and cried while nursing her, dressing her and even harder when I had to say goodbye to her. It was our first time using the car seat in Ryans car and he snapped a few pictures for me :)
I am three days in and today there were A LOT less tears.
Monday was my first day and my mom watched Claire and that really helped with my transition. The two of them just had the best day it sounded like. I went into work and I cried on the drive there but once I was at work I was right back in it. I thought of her all the time but I knew she was doing great with my mom and thankfully she sent many pictures. Once I got home it was wonderful to nurse her [4 times in 4 hours haha] it was so nice to feel connected with her again and we both slept really well that evening.
Tuesday was my first day at Costa Mesa and her actual first day at day care. Ryan took her because I had to get to work and that was the hardest. I cried and cried while nursing her, dressing her and even harder when I had to say goodbye to her. It was our first time using the car seat in Ryans car and he snapped a few pictures for me :)
Once she got home we played, she nursed, she slept and overall she was wonderful. I like the day care provider a lot, she bought her the cutest little jiggle seat so she can hang out in there when the older kids are reading and doing crafts.
Today it was my turn to drop her off, when I got there Patsy [the day care provider] was super nice and I was able to meet a few moms and their children. It was nice to see the kids being excited to go and the parents told me how long they had been using her as a provider and it really helped me feel better.
Today has been flying by but I am so excited to go pick her up and take her on a walk.
Today has been flying by but I am so excited to go pick her up and take her on a walk.
Hope you are having a wonderful day
xo
Nikol
xo
Nikol
