Facebook

I have discovered Facebook. Oh my, what a time waster it is, and I think I will be wasting a lot of time on it in the next 11 months. It's kinda neat, being that you can get in touch with people that you haven't seen or spoken to in ages. On the other hand, it's a little annoying because you can be found by people that you haven't seen or spoken to in ages. But so far, so good.

Things on the home front are going well. We went to see the midwife yesterday and Maxim is gaining well. So that was good news. You'd never believe it with the amount of spitting up he did today. I'm surprised that there was any pee in his diaper. His spitting up is getting worse and Tanya is going to try and get us in to see a pediatrician. Especially since his spit up it starting to arc, and we don't want it to get projectile. It will be nice to have our worries put to rest. And maybe if we are really lucky they will be able to take Max on as a patient. We are still looking for one if anyone knows of one taking on patients.

We started the diaper service today. It's the same price as disposables, and our conscience will be lightened as we will not be filling the landfills with diapers. I can't believe the amount of garbage we have produced, just from diapers, in the past five weeks. And Max looks so cute with a bubble butt!

Today he has spent most of it sleeping, so I am afraid for tonight, especially since it's Marty's first night on. But we'll see how it goes. On another note, we bought a sling. I love it! And best of all, so does Max. He will crank for a few minutes when he gets in, but once I start moving around, he's out and snuggled and I can get some stuff done like brush my teeth and eat lunch. And it's very fashionable (see pic below). We bought it because he really wasn't getting into the snuggly, and I needed to be able to get some things done. Unfortunately Max isn't terrible fond of being put down during the day. The minute you try to put him down for a snooze he freaks. Yes I know, there are tons of people out there saying we will pay for this bad habit in the future, but right now we are doing what works for us. Once Marty is in school and home every night, we will start working on getting him to sleep in his crib.

He is the cutest, isn't he, even with a face covered in baby acne!

Skunk

Skunk? you say. Yes, skunk. Chili got skunked last night. It was 10pm, I was all ready to get into bed. Max was up in his crib. Marty was just about to head out the door to go to work and we let Chili out for his last business of the day. All of a sudden, then is a terrible stench permiating through the house. It smells of putrid burning rubber. We look outside and Chili is rubbing his face in the dirt (good thing our backyard is mostly dirt). We are trying to figure out what the smell is, Marty thought it was a stink bomb. On the back step there is little gloppy wet marks, and Chili stinks to the high heavens.

So, we figure skunk. Ack!! We don't have tomato juice. A couple of tomatoes in the fridge, but I didn't think that would work. I am still not allowed to be doing anything strenuous, so Marty has to call work to let them know he will be late because our dog got skunked and we have to give him a bath pronto (I am sure they appreciate the originality of his excuses, the last one was "My wife is puking and I have to bring her to hospital"). So Marty gives poor Chili a bath, which he hates. And we hope and pray that we got to the stink before it had time to settle into his fur, because nothing else could happen until Marty got home this morning at 9.

Surprise, surprise, the teatree oil dog soap seemed to do the trick. He doesn't smell at all. His face a little, but for the most part, we have not been cursed with the skunky dog smell, that can supposedly last for up to a year! I am guessing that the skunk was pretty far back in the yard and got spooked when Chili came out and Chili only got a little spray on his nose. Now we will have to be very careful when we let Chili out at night and make sure that there aren't any visitors in the backyard. I don't know what I would have done if I was on my own. Probably call Jenn and Jim and beg for help!

On the baby front, still very little sleep, lots of cranky gassy episodes and an enormous amount of spit up. We saw Tanya yesterday and she is a little concerned. He is gaining weight, which is good, but not as much as she would like. He is still a little on the low end of the scale. And she got to be an eye witness to his spit up as I had to nurse him in the office. She wants us to come in next week so that she can weight him again. If he is still spitting up blanket soaking amounts and is still on the low end of the weight gain, she is going to refer us to a pediatrician. Now we wait for the weight...

Sleep

Well it's nice to know that people are reading the blog. After my last entry, I got three phone calls, all to make sure that I was doing OK and that I hadn't gone off the deep end. Thanks everyone! Your support and encouragement is really invaluable. Just to let you know, I am doing better. The latching is going well and nursing seems to be working out.

The challenge at the moment... sleep. And not sleep for Marty and I (that we have already said good-bye to, somewhat voluntarily). Sleep for Max. He doesn't sleep at night. His night is from about 9pm-2am and then it's bright eyed and bushy tailed. Correction, all bright eyed and gassy. Max is up and uncomfortably squirming and cranking with gas pains from 2am to about 10am. We tried gripe water. Didn't do a thing. We tried Infacol, worked great for a few days, now it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Oval is the same as Infacol, so no need to try that. What's next? No seriously, what's next? People, if there was a time to call or email with advice, now if the time!! And any ideas on how to get Max to sleep a little more during the actual night time, send those ideas our way as well. Supposedly he is supposed to be getting 16-18 hours of sleep a day. Not happening. And the spitting up... he's like a pump. Instead of burping, he spits up. And it's not little dribbles, it's receiving blanket filling spews. I know it's supposed to only be a laundry problem as long as it's not projectile, but it's still very unnerving and worrisome. Advice on this issue would be welcome as well.

So there's the latest update. We see the midwife tomorrow, so hopefully we can get some advice from her on the sleeping and spitting. And our worries on his weight gain will be appeased once again. It's still something that gnaws at the back of our minds, especially since he spews so much. We'll let you know how he's doing, and maybe add a few new pictures. He'll be a month old tomorrow, you know!

Breast is best!... says who??

Over and over again, all we hear is that "Breast if best!" And I have bought into it, hook line and sinker. And where has that gotten me? Exhausted, raw nipples and very little flow. And I am still trying to breast feed.

We saw the lactation consultant again yesterday. I was still having a terrible latching problem, screaming and swearing every time Maxim latched on. Lana was great and was a tremendous help and we left there feeling empowered. We found out that I am making more milk and that we might be able to rely more solidly on nursing with fewer suppliments. And the latching problem was solved. Ahhh, peace of mind...

Then last night happens. We I am home alone without Lana there to guide me with the latching, it didn't go as well. And now Maxim fusses terribly and spits up constantly after every feeding. So my night consisted of me holding Maxim, trying to console him from about 3am to when Marty got home from work at 9am. Can anyone say tired? That is actually a huge under statement. And I am still supposed to be pumping. That didn't happen.

So, am I continuing to breast feed? Of course I am, because breast is best! and I will be a complete failure if I don't do this. Or at least that is what society seems to say now. Even the WHO says that women should exclusively breast feed for at least the first 6 months, and ultimately the first 2 years. I wasn't hoping to go that far, but 6 months would have been nice. I was really aiming for a year. I guess I need to realise that he would be fussing regardless of whether he was nursing or just taking a bottle. So giving up on the breast feeding wouldn't change the fact that he is a really gassy baby and will have a crampy tummy regardless of what he eats. I think this is mantra that is going to get me through the next little while.

It's incredibly frustrating not knowing how much he gets from nursing. How do we know he has gotten enough? Do we need to give him more? Do we supplement? The questions are unending. Everyone said that this was going to be hard, but I never imagined how hard it really was. Why do people have more than one?

Tags

I have been tagged twice now by my friend Karen. It's a blogger thing, which I am very new to, but as I plan to be a consistent blogger over the next year of my mat leave, I think I better get blogger savvy. So I am going to finally respond to the tags. You are supposed to tag other people, but as Karen is the only friend of mine that blogs, the tagging is unfortunately going to end with me on this loop. The tags move a little away from the Maxim focus of the blog, but only momentarily, and it will give readers a little insight into the brain and life of Julie. I have asked Marty to respond to the tags as well, since he is technically supposed to be the main contributor to this blog, but we'll see what he decides to do.

So Tag No. 1 - If I could only listen to 7 songs for the rest of my life, what would they be... Here is my list as of today. Ask me in a few weeks, and I am sure it will be different.

1. No One is to Blame - Howard Jones: this is a song from my teenage years that I completely loved and sang all the time. Danielle and I would actually sing it while we hiked during Pathfinder camps.
2. Fly Me to the Moon - Tony Bennet: this is Marty and my song. No other explanation needed.
3. Beautiful Boy - John Lennon: this song was not on my original list, but now with the arrival of Maxim, it just seems right.
4. Somebody - Depeche Mode: again a song from my teenage years. It's my favourite DM song.
5. Young Hearts Run Free - Kim Mazelle: It's on the Romeo and Juliette soundtrack. There is no way that I can listen to this song and not dance.
6. Hallelujah - Lenard Cohen: for those who know me, you might be surprised that I have a Lenard Cohen song on my list, as I really don't like him. But this song is so incredibly beautiful that even his droning voice is listenable. But any version of this song will do.
7. Killing Me Softly - The Fugees: this is a song from my rubgy years, and has some incredible memories along with it. And another song that I just have to dance to.

Tag No. 2 - Things about me

4 jobs I've had
1. Sweat shop worker (taking the t-shirts out of the oven after they were silk screened. I was 15)
2. McDonald's cashier
3. Office Clerk
4. Meteorology consultant

4 movies I can watch over and over again
1. Romeo and Juliette
2. Garden State
3. Notting Hill
4. Star Wars

4 places I have lived
1. St. Jean (Qc)
2. Brossard (Qc)
3. India
4. Ottawa

4 TV shows I love to watch (oh, there are so many to choose from!)
1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Scrubs
3. Charmed (yes, a very guilty pleasure)
4. Grey's Anatomy

4 places I have been on vacation
1. Mexico
2. Florida
3. Cuba
4. Europe

4 of my favourite dishes
1. Mom's spaghetti sauce
2. 5 p pasta (ask for the recipe if you want, it's a staple in our house)
3. #304 at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant
4. tuna cups (again, recipe to those who want)

4 websites I visit daily
1. Karen's blog
2. my email
3. Babycenter.ca
4. my banking website

4 places I'd rather be right now
1. sleeping
2. South of France
3. at a cottage, on a lake (any cottage, any lake will do)
4. snuggled on the couch with Marty and Max

I am now supposed to tag four other bloggers, but since Karen is the only other blogger I know, the tag ends here.

A beer a day... keeps the milk flowing?

16 days have gone by since Maxim entered our life and it seems both like he's been around for ever and that we have just begun and have no idea what we are doing.

After dealing with getting a flu (throwing up after major abdominal surgery is no picnic), and being forced to bed rest because of exhaustion, I am now tackling the next issue. These big milk bags don't work!

Yes, even though I have been blessed (or cursed, depends who you are) with rather sizable breasts, they don't seem to have much function. You'd think, ooooh, easy breast feeding. Should be enough to feed an entire play group. Well, size doesn't matter in this case.

We discovered that I wasn't making enough milk when Maxim dropped way too much weight and the midwives were concerned. We had to supplement, and I had to try pumping more. Even with pumping, not a whole lot was coming. Next step, lactation consultant. She was very supportive and helped with better latching (which is part of the problem) and suggested we rent a hospital grade mega pump (who can hear old Bessy moo?). So now the routine is I nurse for 10-15 minutes on each breast, feed him 2 ounces of supplement (formula or pumped milk) and then pump for 15 minutes. The whole process takes about an hour and I need to do it every two hours. Can you say sore nipples?

After all of this, I still don't seem to be producing a whole lot, though I have only been on the crazy schedule for 2 days. We had our appointment with Tanya today, and she suggested dark beer. Seems to work for a lot of people. See the smile on Julie's face? I love dark beer, and to be given the OK, no, encouraged, by my health care provider to have one a day to increase milk production, well no need to tell me twice. Good thing there were several LCBO's on the way home. And now tonight we are going to the doctor for the final step, drugs. There is a drug out there that is supposed to help. Last resort. If all fails, then I have to accept the fact that I can't produce milk. That is going to be the hardest part. So far every time I think about it I cry. But as I write this, there is only a little bit of welling up. Maybe I am starting to accept it. Stay tuned.