Friday, August 17, 2007

Letter to Bean and Ramblings

Oh little Bean, you are already 4 weeks old. There are many days when I debate adding an "o" to the end of your pseudonym. Why? Because of the surprising, staccato bursts of sound which issue from both ends of your maturing digestive tract. Your other affectionate nickname is Vladimir, as in Vladimir "Pootin'". Yes, your parents are corny, may as well accept that now! Seriously, though you have got to be the gassiest baby I have ever the great fortune to know. And the sheer volume of solid waste that you manufacture on a daily basis? Impressive, my friend, especially for a breast fed baby. There is never any doubt of when you need to be changed, because we can hear you fill your diaper from across the room! I can't believe that I used to fret about your sisters weekly movements, only now to fret that there is nary a diaper change that you aren't at least a little dirty. You are the sweetest little man, though, so laid back. Every time you fuss, there is a solution. You can even fall asleep all on your own! This amazes me. You are also so serious, it takes a lot to get you to crack a smile; however, you are very chatty, cooing and squeaking all day long. I am treasuring this ever dwindling time with you, cuddling you when you sleep on my chest. Too soon you'll be "all grown-up," just like your big sister.



It's been a trying week in Whoo-ville. Last Friday I was practically in tears I felt so horrible, but I had no idea why...until I spiked a temp. Then the vague aching in my left breast took on a more significant role than an after-effect of overaggressive pumping. I had the fantastic luck of getting a rip-roaring case of mastitis. Fortunately for me, I could call in my own antibiotics. Unfortunately, I got really sick really fast. At one point my temp was up to 104.7, and Mr. Whoo was on the brink of forcibly carting me to the ER (I'd really have to be dying to go to the ER!) I knew I was on the correct meds, but when I was on my 24th hour of spiking temps, I must admit I had visions of MRSA dancing in my head. I defervesced sometime between Saturday and Sunday, and I'm still taking antibiotics. The illness took a lot out of me, and I was feeling pretty wiped out until yesterday, when the next great thing happened, we lost power.


Big deal, right? The loss of power in our particular section of the neighborhood occurs approximately every 15 days, and is out for 8-10 hours at a time. The frustrating part is that it is only our street. The other houses in our neighborhood, including the street over never lose power, so this puts us low on the priority list to have power restored. The first winter snowstorm that we had when we moved in resulted in power loss for 3-4 *days*, forcing us to move ourselves and (our then 18 month old) CindyLou into a hotel. When your power is out this long, you are forced to throw hundreds of dollars of food away, and spend your nights either sweltering or freezing cold, oh, and no cooking because the stove is electric as well. Throw in a 3 year old and a newborn and 10 hours of power loss in the middle of the night is just not ideal. We sweat our way through the night, CindyLou came into our bed because her nightlight was out, and Bean wouldn't nurse in the total dark, so we had a flashlight sitting upright on the bedside table, which woke up CindyLou, Bean was too hot to sleep on me, but wouldn't sleep in his bed, either. Mr. Whoo and CindyLou eventually moved to her room and Bean and I stripped the covers from the bed and rested, albeit fitfully, throughout the night. The following morning, poor Mr. Whoo had to go to work. I kept CindyLou home with me, which may have been insane, now that I look back...no sleep and keeping and active toddler entertained all day? Not the wisest of moves.

My hat is off to all of you stay at home mothers out there, especially those with multiple children. It was exhausting trying to keep up with all of the demands of both children. At one point, CindyLou decided that she wanted corn for lunch. Once I was able to detach Bean from the breast long enough to fix her lunch, I complied (I thought) with her request, and opened a can of corn. Oh no, it was meltdown time! You see, she wanted corn in a *line* (ie. corn on the cob) not a bowl! By the time I had her calmed down and eating the much maligned bowl of corn, the Bean had audibly filled his diaper, then CindyLou needed to go to the potty, then Bean needed to eat...so on and so forth. Mr. Whoo came home to CindyLou planted firmly in front of her portable DVD player with a movie, the house in utter disarray, and me catatonic on the couch with Bean sleeping on my lap. Mother of the year, I am not. That day did cement in my mind that I do not have what it takes (patience, aplomb, creativity, a will of iron, etc.) to stay home with kids. I think they would be miserable and I would be certifiable. This is a small thing to hold onto as my re-entry into the work fray draws ever closer. *sigh* I have more to post on that at a later date.

I believe that I have rambled long enough for now, my poor sleep deprived brain doesn't know when to stop the literary diarrhea. Maybe it is related to lack of adult interactions during the day? I'll spare you more painful minutiae for today. Thanks for all of your comments, I am reading and posting them when I can, and I appreciate everyone's advice!

15 comments:

ccinnkeeper said...

Wowie. You have had a rough week. I don't have kids because I know I don't have the patience they require even if I were working full time. Hat off to you!

Although our power doesn't go out as frequently as yours, we are running a business out of our home and can't afford to be completely without power. We finally installed a generator two years ago. What a relief! I recommend one, and in your case, like mine, it should kick on automatically so if the power goes out when you're not home you don't have to worry.

Good luck with everything!

Anonymous said...

You sound like a very loving mother. Remember that no one can love or care for your children like their own mother. There are always frustrating times, but a mother's love gets you through those. Your idea of "clean" gets a little less strict and you realize that schedules are more for the working world than for mothers, but the rewards are undescribable. God gave those children to YOU to raise because you were the best one for the job, not to farm out to someone else.

God bless.

Anonymous said...

Three weeks from EDD and I am realizing I forget every time how hard it all is with a newborn. I am homeschooling and have been casually getting things done bit by bit to try to get ready, knowing full well I won't be. Ugh, I need to think ahead to Sept 25th and know I'll be in the midst of toddler, preschooler, 2nd, 4th, and 5th grader with newborn (and hopefully not a mother in law). On top of that I will want the kids to keep going on lessons. I am such a dreamer.

Dawn

Anonymous said...

You've been tagged....
http://markontheworld.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/pieces-of-eight/

Anonymous said...

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There would be no need to reference your blog during this project so your licensure would be safe. I am simply interested in speaking to you as an expert in obstetrics and gynecology for these projects.

Please call me at 818-972-0067

Thank you.

CNH said...

I had the dreaded Boobie Disease this past weekend. Whoa doggies, I forgot how sick you can get so incredibly fast!

I stay home with 4 kids, and we home school. It just takes a shift of mindset! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Ack! Sub OB gave me a rough internal (I'm 38 weeks yesterday by EDD) and I have had back pain and contractions off and on all night. I am a grand multipara, so I know I can labor a long time, and that mucous plug this morning can mean nothing. I did loose the dang thing all at once with my first and he was born the next day. I am home alone with 5 kiddos, so this is very mean if she did strip membranes and it is working, I did not want interventions...just a cm check! I know baby is sunny side up, and I never have back pain but I couldn't sleep last night with back pain. I have long labor, but go from 4-10 within minutes and had the last two without a doctor at the hospital (one with no one...my 4th born) as they checked and I wasn't complete. I am one of "those" who doesn't try to push anymore but baby just slips out. So, now I am worried I'm in labor and am two weeks early. Not so bad if my EDD is right, not too bad if it's off a week as it's usually okay at 37 weeks. Baby's measuring smaller, so I was wanting another week or two if healhty. All NST's are good. Sorry to ramble, but the nesting urge didn't kick in and my home is a mess...and I'm not ready right this minute for a baby. I was just thinking I was getting closer to being about a week from delivery, not just a day or two. Maybe I'll be one of the "wives' tales" full moon baby moms.

Blessings to you and yours!
Dawn (jawndoe)

Anonymous said...

congrats on your little bean,

I too am not losing much weight even while breast feeding as I am SO hungry all the time. I could eat all day.

Get a baby pouch/sling. Once my little guy was a month I could put him in ours and he would sleep while I accomplished things. Now his four months and when wide awake likes his legs to dangle out.

We also had the funny GI tract. My little guy would wiggle. sqirm, wince, grunt and gurgle and then the tinest little fart would emerge and he would lay his head down exhausted. The he would promptly deposit curdeled milk everywhere-which the dogs seem to enjoy! He also had reflux but we were blessed to have zantac this time around unlike his 11 year old brother who screamed 10 hours a day. God bless the pediatric GI guy who figured that out.

what's the official ob/gyn kenobi stance on cosleeping? I have slept with both of my buggers-minus heavy blankets, pillows and with the bed against the wall, on the back-and it made those first few months bit easier. It's hard to get a straight answer as the research seems muddy but it works for us.

I too am amazed at stay at home moms.

medstudentitis said...

Hey,
It's been a while, how's motherhood x 2 going?

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the little beans arrival. I apologize for the delay I had a link problem and lost you for a bit! He's beautiful btw.

Angela Hammond said...

Hi there,
I hope you are going ok and that Bean is behaving while you get back to work. It's so tough leaving them isn't it? Best wishes to you.

Anonymous said...

I had my baby 9/13/2007 and she's healthy! She was OP and my nurse had me pushing at 9 cm...flat back. Guess what? Dips on monitor...slow rise. Thank God for my OB who let me do what I was begging to do...get up! She flipped to head facing my bottom and was born in her bag of fluid with nurse catching though OB was 4 steps away from the door. We grand multi's can be unpredictable!

Dawn

Anonymous said...

Hope you're doing okay...you must be very busy now back to work and with two children. Blessings! I don't know if I posted that I had baby Jillian, she's completely healthy. She was OP so the nurse had me pushing (at 9 cm) for one hour and a half. Thank God for the OB, he came in and finally did a check finding me complete but baby OP. He let me get up (nurse had me on my back having dips in the heartrate). After he let me squat and do other positions baby came out in about 10 minutes. This was my third nurse caught baby (because baby was high even though I was complete...). She was born in the bag of waters too. I didn't have an epidural, and this was by far my worst delivery...lots of pain and pushing early without an urge until the last two pushes. Just glad my baby turned and I didn't get a section! Best thing is baby is healthy.

Blessings to you!
Dawn

dr. whoo? said...

ccinnkeeper~ We are definitely looking into a generator, especially for the winter snow months!

anon~ Ummmm, thanks, I think? For me, being a working mother, as hard as it is, is the only way for me. I feel as though my work is a lot more than just a job, and I am still the one raising my children...not "farming them out" as you say. It would be such a wonderful thing if all women could support one another in their chosen paths, rather than, no matter how veiled, attempt to tear them down.

markie~ Hi and welcome! I will check out your site and get to that tag :)

cnh~ Hope that you had a fast recovery, mastitis is the worst. As for the 4 kids and the home schooling? My hat, as I said, is off to you! Wow. I'm impressed. :)


anon9/11~ Yes, the sling is a godsend. We use the baby bijorn and the Bean absolutely loves it. It allows me to get a lot more done, too. I hear you on being hungry on the time. I am a bottomless pit. Part of it may be the progesterone only pill I am on for birth control, too. Are you taking that?

Your "funny GI tract" description is *spot on!* That is exactly what Bean does, minus the puking. He does that a whole heck of a lot less than his sister, who had serious reflux

As for the "official" position on co-sleeping. Medically speaking, I follow the "proceed with extreme caution" approach, risks of SIDs, so forth and so on. Personally, um, well, Bean sleeps with us for now, dreamfeeding 1-2 times a night. We are planning to transition him to the crib at 3 months (eek that is next week!) but if that ends up meaning less sleep for me? He may come right back into bed with me. It is working for us, for now, too.

medstudentitis~ Hello! Life is hectic but good! Bean is 11 weeks, 11 pounds 13 ounces, and 23 inches long. He is perfect in every way. Cindy Lou adores him, and she is getting smarter and more beautiful every day. Life is good.

kissashark~ Hi and thank you so much! Hopefully I'll post more frequently in order to be "link-worthy!"

angela ~ Thank you, things are going well. The Bean is the sweetest, most laid back baby around, everyone in his room fights over who gets to take care of him, so I'd say he's adjusting to daycare far better than his mommy is to having him there!

scott~ Hee. Glad I could give you a laugh! I wish I could take credit for the name, but someone else took it upon themselves to call me that once. It stuck!

Dawn! I am so excited for you! Thank you so much for all of the updates, because I was thinking of you. Sorry to hear about your rough delivery, but I am so glad that the baby is perfect and happy and healthy. Congratulations and many blessings to you!

To those of you that left your email addys, I will try to write you this weekend. Thank you for the great comments.

dr. whoo? said...

anon~ I know it is late, but if you are still interested in talking for an internet project, please email me at drwhoo555 at yahoo dot com. Thanks!