...the dude (name I call Caleb most often)
...baby Hulk (for when he is really angry)
...slobber wookie (for when he is super drooly)
...smiley (self explanatory)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The flu, the baby, and me
This past Wednesday, I came home feeling tired, achy, and with a massive headache. BWB thought it sounded like the flu. Flu? This time of the year? Me? To satisfy his anxiousness, I took my temperature, 100.6. eep!
So while I waited at the clinic, BWB packed everything the dude needs. I called as soon as the lab results confirmed that it was indeed the flu. By the time I got home (15 minutes later, there were no dude, no BWB, no pack n' play). The house was so empty!
Tomorrow, Sunday, they are coming back. Thank goodness. I've missed my boys so much!
Here are some things I learned about this experience.
1. Though your baby can stay with you if you have the flu provided of course you wear a mask, do not breast feed (pump and someone else feed), and washing your hands often, if it is possible, send the baby away, especially if he is under 3 months. Because if he gets the flu or develop a fever, it is a definite hospital stay with a lot of invasive tests.
2. Whether he stays or goes, make sure you continue to pump and let someone else feed him that breast milk. It has antigens from fighting the flu which would protect him from this particular strain.
3. If you are on Tamiflu, he can drink your breast milk because not a lot of it will be in the breast milk and the benefits outweigh the risk. I don't know about Relenza.
4. If you do send your baby away, make sure you do not have a fever (without fever reducing medication like Motrin or Tylenol) for at least 24 hours before he can come back. (Save the breast milk you've been pumping while he's gone to feed him)
5. If you're taking Motrin and your fever has only declined a little, you can add Tylenol to the mix. They are different medications and work on the fever differently. I took the Motrin every 8 hours and in between there, at the four hour mark, I take a Tylenol. Of course, always consult your primary health care provider or pharmacist before starting any medication regiment.
5. The flu virus can live on a hard surface like table for 24 hours and on soft surfaces like towels for 30 minutes. Try not to touch anything the baby will touch/use and if you're anal like me, wipe everything down with Lysol with bleach and wash clothes/bedding in hot water.
I'm so thankful to the nurse practitioner at RediClinic, the nurse at my pediatrician, and the nurse at the local nurse line for all their help and information.
So while I waited at the clinic, BWB packed everything the dude needs. I called as soon as the lab results confirmed that it was indeed the flu. By the time I got home (15 minutes later, there were no dude, no BWB, no pack n' play). The house was so empty!
Tomorrow, Sunday, they are coming back. Thank goodness. I've missed my boys so much!
Here are some things I learned about this experience.
1. Though your baby can stay with you if you have the flu provided of course you wear a mask, do not breast feed (pump and someone else feed), and washing your hands often, if it is possible, send the baby away, especially if he is under 3 months. Because if he gets the flu or develop a fever, it is a definite hospital stay with a lot of invasive tests.
2. Whether he stays or goes, make sure you continue to pump and let someone else feed him that breast milk. It has antigens from fighting the flu which would protect him from this particular strain.
3. If you are on Tamiflu, he can drink your breast milk because not a lot of it will be in the breast milk and the benefits outweigh the risk. I don't know about Relenza.
4. If you do send your baby away, make sure you do not have a fever (without fever reducing medication like Motrin or Tylenol) for at least 24 hours before he can come back. (Save the breast milk you've been pumping while he's gone to feed him)
5. If you're taking Motrin and your fever has only declined a little, you can add Tylenol to the mix. They are different medications and work on the fever differently. I took the Motrin every 8 hours and in between there, at the four hour mark, I take a Tylenol. Of course, always consult your primary health care provider or pharmacist before starting any medication regiment.
5. The flu virus can live on a hard surface like table for 24 hours and on soft surfaces like towels for 30 minutes. Try not to touch anything the baby will touch/use and if you're anal like me, wipe everything down with Lysol with bleach and wash clothes/bedding in hot water.
I'm so thankful to the nurse practitioner at RediClinic, the nurse at my pediatrician, and the nurse at the local nurse line for all their help and information.
Hi ho hi ho...It's off to work I go
Many mothers face this dilemma, do I go back to work or do I become a stay at home mom (SAHM). I've never had to wrestle with that decision. For one, I love my job too much. Secondly, I miss having adult conversations. Or rather, adult conversations about something else besides babies. And three, I appreciate the dude so much more when I am with him. The first day certainly was hard. I had to put a picture of him as my background image. I even had to drive home for lunch so I could give him a hug and kiss.
I found that 8 hours being with him, talking to him, playing with him, I began to view him as this parasite almost. Someone who was sucking my time, energy, and the me that made me, me. I never resented having him, but I just couldn't be with him 24 hours a day. Luckily my awesome hubby would take the dude and I was able to go shopping (well window shopping), pick up take out, and talk to my girlfriends on the phone.
Now, I get to work on time because I want to get off work on time. I spend all night with him and when I put him down for bedtime, I don't think "the day has finally ended". I, instead, think, "I can't wait to see him again tomorrow".
I found that 8 hours being with him, talking to him, playing with him, I began to view him as this parasite almost. Someone who was sucking my time, energy, and the me that made me, me. I never resented having him, but I just couldn't be with him 24 hours a day. Luckily my awesome hubby would take the dude and I was able to go shopping (well window shopping), pick up take out, and talk to my girlfriends on the phone.
Now, I get to work on time because I want to get off work on time. I spend all night with him and when I put him down for bedtime, I don't think "the day has finally ended". I, instead, think, "I can't wait to see him again tomorrow".
I did mention I was anal right?
After the fiasco that were my c-section and hospital stay we took the dude home. The first few nights were...exhausting. He cried every hour. The breast feeding never worked out so I pump and he kicked the formula habit. We used the book "The Complete and Authoritative Guide: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child" by the American Academy of Pediatrics to guide us from sleeping to changing to bathing to feeding. I followed it to the letter. So after 3 days, he was eating 3 ounces every 3 hours, had the right number of wet and dirty diapers and hardly cried because all his needs were met on a regular cycle. Now of course I did try again to breastfeed him, but all it did was throw his schedule out of whack. And I ended up doing 3 times as much work (breast feed, pump, bottle feed with breast milk). After the 3rd week, I gave up breastfeeding entirely and exclusively pump. Hey, at least he's getting breast milk.
The book is quite thick so it was quite daunting to read all at once. I read just ahead of where he'd be. It keeps the info fresh in my mind and I'm not bogged down with too much info.
The book is quite thick so it was quite daunting to read all at once. I read just ahead of where he'd be. It keeps the info fresh in my mind and I'm not bogged down with too much info.
How to get your baby to breast feed...
...don't do what I did.
When we left off, Caleb, aka the dude, has just been brought into the world. But let's look at what you should do and what I did do.
Step 1: Don't have a c-section
The first 4 hours, they kept him in the nursery. Actually, not even the nursery, the pre-nursery. It is hospital policy to keep babies there to make sure they are alright. For women who have vaginal births, they get to hold their babies for an hour before the babies go into the pre-nursery. For women like me with c-sections, they take your babies right away because the doctors have to stitch you back up so you literally get 5 minutes to bond.
Step 2: Get an LC or doula for after birth
So 4 hours later, they bring him to me and I want to breast feed him so he would get the allimportant colostrum. Mind you, it is now close to 11 and the lactation consultant has gone for the day. But I thought, how hard could this be? Babies want to suck, I have boobs for the sucking. It should go great. Not so much. So after wrestling with him for 30 minutes, the nurse came to take him for his nightly stats. And because he was hungry while at the nursery, they fed him formula.
Step 3: Keep the baby with you at all times
I did not know this. You can have the baby stay in your room as long as they dont need to check his stats. It seems so logical now, but at the time and being on pain medication, I was oblivious. So the first night, he stayed in the nursery. The second night, I told the nurse who was taking him away for his stats that I would like for him to stay in the room with me after they were done with him. I fell asleep and when they called, my husband told them to keep him in the nursery. Again, they fed him formula
Step 4: No schedule, just feed him
They had been feeding formula every 3 hours so I thought I had to do the same with breastmilk. So after 2 hours of having to wait, he was so hungry and frantic, he would not take my breast because the flow is much slower than the bottles they've been using in the nursery. We finally had to give him another bottle. This went on for the next 3 days. Boob, 3 hours later, would not take boobs, gave bottle. He was ok for 2 hours. Sucked pacifier for an hour, tried boob, would not take, gave another bottle.
Step 5: Bring pump to hospital
I was so confident that my baby would breastfeed with no issues, I didn't bring or prepare the pump. So when he wouldn't take the boob, I had to give him formula. I was not producing milk at this point (just colostrum) so the breasts were not engorged, but if I had the pump, I would have pumped and fed him my milk instead of formula.
Well there you have it kids...learn from my mistakes
When we left off, Caleb, aka the dude, has just been brought into the world. But let's look at what you should do and what I did do.
Step 1: Don't have a c-section
The first 4 hours, they kept him in the nursery. Actually, not even the nursery, the pre-nursery. It is hospital policy to keep babies there to make sure they are alright. For women who have vaginal births, they get to hold their babies for an hour before the babies go into the pre-nursery. For women like me with c-sections, they take your babies right away because the doctors have to stitch you back up so you literally get 5 minutes to bond.
Step 2: Get an LC or doula for after birth
So 4 hours later, they bring him to me and I want to breast feed him so he would get the allimportant colostrum. Mind you, it is now close to 11 and the lactation consultant has gone for the day. But I thought, how hard could this be? Babies want to suck, I have boobs for the sucking. It should go great. Not so much. So after wrestling with him for 30 minutes, the nurse came to take him for his nightly stats. And because he was hungry while at the nursery, they fed him formula.
Step 3: Keep the baby with you at all times
I did not know this. You can have the baby stay in your room as long as they dont need to check his stats. It seems so logical now, but at the time and being on pain medication, I was oblivious. So the first night, he stayed in the nursery. The second night, I told the nurse who was taking him away for his stats that I would like for him to stay in the room with me after they were done with him. I fell asleep and when they called, my husband told them to keep him in the nursery. Again, they fed him formula
Step 4: No schedule, just feed him
They had been feeding formula every 3 hours so I thought I had to do the same with breastmilk. So after 2 hours of having to wait, he was so hungry and frantic, he would not take my breast because the flow is much slower than the bottles they've been using in the nursery. We finally had to give him another bottle. This went on for the next 3 days. Boob, 3 hours later, would not take boobs, gave bottle. He was ok for 2 hours. Sucked pacifier for an hour, tried boob, would not take, gave another bottle.
Step 5: Bring pump to hospital
I was so confident that my baby would breastfeed with no issues, I didn't bring or prepare the pump. So when he wouldn't take the boob, I had to give him formula. I was not producing milk at this point (just colostrum) so the breasts were not engorged, but if I had the pump, I would have pumped and fed him my milk instead of formula.
Well there you have it kids...learn from my mistakes
The transformation
Has it been that long? The last time I wrote, I was about to be induced and now "the dude" aka Caleb is about to turn 3 month. I can't say I've been busy because the dude is really a pretty easy baby. Now I precede easy with "pretty" because there were times I thought we had to return him. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The day he came
At 5:30 AM the phone rang (trust me, I was not asleep). It was the hospital. They have a bed available so I will be induced today. Yipee! The following are my emails to my friends as I waited for the arrival of the dude.
5:57
Just got the call from the hospital...they want me to come in...woohoo...
i'm taking bets to see how long i'll be in labor for...closest without going over will win babysitting time...hahaha...
i'm so nervous i feel like barfing
10:30
Been on petocin for about 1.5 hour. Dr will break water @ noon.
1:46
Ok. Doc just broke water. Apparently, I'm a gusher. Ew. So now I just
wait until I'm fully dilated. This is taking forever. I'm so bored.
3:04
Already had the epi. Can't feel a thing. Hehe.
3:29
It's the weirdest feeling to not be able to feel your legs. At this
rate, I prolly won't have the baby til tomorrow!
5:27
Well that was scary. The baby's heartrate dropped to 34 for a second.
Almost had to do an emergency c-section. Things are fine now. The
nurse thinks I might have to have a c-section. That'll teach me to
complain about being bored.
Because Caleb's cord was wrapped around his midsection, he was not able to descend into the birth canal and any attempt to moved him would put him into distress. The doctor's recommendation was to have a c-section. After having been at the hospital for 12 hours, I made peace with the fact that this kid was not coming out of my vagina and had the c-section. At 6:37, they pulled an 8lb 4oz screaming boy from me.
Next up...Breastfeeding fun...
The day he came
At 5:30 AM the phone rang (trust me, I was not asleep). It was the hospital. They have a bed available so I will be induced today. Yipee! The following are my emails to my friends as I waited for the arrival of the dude.
5:57
Just got the call from the hospital...they want me to come in...woohoo...
i'm taking bets to see how long i'll be in labor for...closest without going over will win babysitting time...hahaha...
i'm so nervous i feel like barfing
10:30
Been on petocin for about 1.5 hour. Dr will break water @ noon.
1:46
Ok. Doc just broke water. Apparently, I'm a gusher. Ew. So now I just
wait until I'm fully dilated. This is taking forever. I'm so bored.
3:04
Already had the epi. Can't feel a thing. Hehe.
3:29
It's the weirdest feeling to not be able to feel your legs. At this
rate, I prolly won't have the baby til tomorrow!
5:27
Well that was scary. The baby's heartrate dropped to 34 for a second.
Almost had to do an emergency c-section. Things are fine now. The
nurse thinks I might have to have a c-section. That'll teach me to
complain about being bored.
Because Caleb's cord was wrapped around his midsection, he was not able to descend into the birth canal and any attempt to moved him would put him into distress. The doctor's recommendation was to have a c-section. After having been at the hospital for 12 hours, I made peace with the fact that this kid was not coming out of my vagina and had the c-section. At 6:37, they pulled an 8lb 4oz screaming boy from me.
Next up...Breastfeeding fun...
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