A Few Funny Pics

Here are a few funny photos of Noah lately.

We call this Noah's Squishy Squishy face. He makes this face and sticks his head out like a turtle when he's waking up from a nap.


Here's Noah napping... trying to drown out the sounds of the world by squishing his face. (He just missed covering his ear with his hand.)


This is Noah getting some Tummy-Time. He's not too sure if he likes it or wants to scream.


And finally, one cute photo of Noah... because I just can't help myself.

What Nobody Tells You Before You Bring Baby Home

Breastfeeding
*Breastfeeding is not an easy and natural thing.
*It takes work and time for both baby and mom to figure out how to make it work.
*Breastfeeding is a 2 parent job in the first week or two.
*It's more common that not that you will have sore nipples.
*Pumping is painful at first and can be quite disheartening before you milk comes in. You'll pump and pump and pump and all you'll get is a few drops of colostrum which you need an eye dropper to feed to baby.

Sleep
*Even though you know you'll get little sleep, in the beginning you'll get even less than you expect.
*Sleeping through the night does not mean 8-10 hours of sleep. It's more like 6 hours.
*Even though baby may sleep through the night, if you're breastfeeding you'll probably need to get up and pump in the middle of the night because your breasts are painfully full.

Time
*You can't imagine how much free time you had before you had a baby.
*You won't remember how you spent all you spare time before baby arrived.
*If you have a To Do List, finish it before baby arrives.
*You will wonder why you wasted so much time while you were pregnant.
*You have to adjust your expectations for everything that doesn't involve baby (e.g. cleaning the house, doing the dishes, cooking time consuming meals, making progress on projects, keeping up with hobbies, hanging out with friends).

Worry
*You could never have imagined you could worry so much.
*You'll worry about everything. Is he breathing? Is he getting enough to eat? Is he getting too much to eat? Is he sleeping too much? Shouldn't he sleep more? Has he had enough wet and dirty diapers? Is he sick? Does he have a fever? Is he cold? Is the house warm enough? Are the pets too jealous?

Poop
*You'll be excited about poop... initially you'll be excited each and every time there's a dirty diaper because it means your baby is getting enough to eat and the more poops there are the faster the jaundice will go away. Later you'll be excited when there's finally a dirty diaper after you've gone a few days without any.

Running Errands
*It takes an hour to get ready to run errands.
*Errands take twice as long as they used to...
*The first time you take baby on an errand and he cries you'll panic and decide to forgo it all and just go home.
*You'll be amazed that you can lug baby, car seat and purchases around a whole store without collapsing from fatigue.
*Baby may cry all the way to the store, all the way through the store and most of the way home, then fall asleep just as your pulling up to your house.

What Everyone Does Tell You Before You Have Baby...
"You could never imagine you could love something so much!"

And they're right. Holding your sweet little baby is like holding a piece of your heart in your arms.

A New Cry

In the last week, Noah's cry has changed from a newborn wail to a distinctly older baby "waa waa." This has been surprising and amusing to Mom and Dad. Noah is definitely trying to tell us what he does and does not like. He is starting to vary the pitch and intensity of his cry depending on his needs. He has a low slow cry when he's bored. In contrast to a higher pitch almost panicky cry when he's hungry. When he's tired he just fusses constantly until we figure it out or he wears himself out. We still haven't quite figured out his diaper cry, but we're definitely giving it our best effort. Ahhh... it will be nice when we can communicate with Noah by signing and talking. But that's a way off yet.

More Nursing Troubles

We headed back to the lactation consultant this week for a visit to discuss "smacking." We have finally weaned Noah off of the nipple shield. Noah took to nursing without the shield well and seemed to have a good latch; however, Noah began to make smacking noises while nursing which was causing Mom quite a bit of discomfort. We learned that Mom's milk comes very fast and Noah was lifting his tongue to the roof of his mouth to protect his airway so that he would not choke. Noah's a smart little guy! But unfortunately, this causes Mom pain so we had to learn a new way to nurse. Now when Noah nurses, we sit in a reclined position so that gravity won't force more milk down Noah's throat than he's able to handle. This new position seems to have helped with the smacking, for the most part. The lactation consultant also mentioned that nursing while lying down on the bed may be helpful. We'll just keep trying till we get it down.

During our appointment Noah was weighed before and after eating. He was 10lbs 1oz before eating and 10lbs 5oz after eating. He's a champion eater. He ate 4 ounces in about 8 minutes. We don't have to worry that he isn't getting enough to eat. In fact, the lactation consultant mentioned he might be getting overfed which is causing him to spit up more frequently and also hurts his reflux. Now we're paying more attention to when he stops eating for hunger and stopping him before he continues to eat to pacify himself. Hopefully all of these things, along with the Zantac, will help ease his reflux issue.

Noah's 2 month appointment is scheduled for the first week of February. We look forward to marking his progress at 2 months.

Baby and Me Class

Noah and I have been attending the Baby and Me class offered by Regions Hospital for new Mom's and their babies. The class is held every Monday in the month of January. We attended our third of four classes yesterday and enjoyed it very much. The class provides new mom's an opportunity to chat with one another about life with a baby. We talk about issues that have arisen, milestones, surprises and questions that we have. We've also discussed things to do with baby and places to go to ease the stir-crazy feelings from being locked in our houses. We also learned how to do infant massage and next week we will learn baby sign language.

I have found this class very helpful because it allows me to hear about the stresses other moms are facing and I find that I am not alone in my fears and feelings of guilt for not being able to follow all of the "rules". I felt really guilty that I allowed Noah to sleep on my chest once in a while when he would not sleep on his back in his bassinet. I allowed this out of desperation and the fear that I would fall asleep on my feet and drop him in the middle of this night. I have also heard about others' frustrations with lack of sleep and not understanding what our babies want when they cry. I'm looking forward to our next class because I can't wait to be able to communicate with Noah when he's ready. However, it will be our last class and I will miss this time spent with other moms. We'll have to look into ECFE classes pretty soon. Maybe we can find a class to attend in the evenings after I return to work at the end of February.