Leon: 3 weeks
Mar. 25th, 2012 04:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julietThree weeks old yesterday, in fact! And generally delightful.
We registered him on Friday, and later on in the day also got discharged by the midwives as Leon is back over his birth weight and jaundice-free, and I am healing fine. We're now the responsibility of the health visitor instead (who has been round already & seems very nice.)
The usual question asked of parents of a baby is "how are you doing for sleep" -- not too badly, in fact. We're co-sleeping so although he's waking every 1.5-2 hrs in the night (with usually one 3-hr patch) to feed, it's minimally disturbing as I don't actually have to get up. (Thoughdoop does if a nappy change is required.) I haven't quite gotten the hang of feeding lying-down yet, but am working on it; even so, sitting up and then sliding back down again when he's done is much better than getting all the way out of bed would be. I'm also fortunate that I don't tend to struggle to get back to sleep after being woken up.
Feeding has been going reasonably well, but the last couple of days have been less good. I'm faintly suspicious of (mild, so far) thrush but it might also be bad positioning, possibly linked to a slightly over-generous supply. I've contacted a lactation consultant to get some support, anyway, as our local breastfeeding cafe were/are lovely but reckoned the other week that everything looked pretty good so if there is a positioning issue it's moderately subtle/not easily visible from outside. However, L is putting on weight & generally healthy, so that's all good, and I'm not experiencing anything bad enough to really cause me distress. I would just like to sort it out. Things are going well enough at least that I can cheerfully adopt the "if in doubt, feed him" attitude that several people have recommended is the best bet with a newborn.
Leon himself is changing on a daily basis which is both awesome and scary (they grow up so fast! ekt ekt). His eyes are starting to change colour now, and he's increasingly alert and aware of the world (at least during his alert patches, which admittedly take up much less time of any given day than his 'sleeping' or 'feeding' patches). This week he's become better at maintaining eye contact, and he can track slowly-moving objects now. Unfortunately he's also this week become simultaneously worse at going to sleep, and more grumpy when he gets tired, so we're developing various baby-soothing methods. Singing early Leonard Cohen (Suzanne and Sisters of Mercy, specifically) seems to go down well, as does the bouncy birth ball.
He is tremendously snuggly and spends much of his time cuddled up (asleep or otherwise) withdoop or me. We are big fans of assorted types of sling for this purpose as it means you can hold the baby *and* have two free hands at the same time! He's largely a very content small being, which is splendid & long may it last. Although he does have a slightly alarming tendency to occasionally scream for a few seconds in his sleep, without apparently waking up or seeming distressed afterwards. I have no idea what's going on there.
We've had visits from family (both sets of new grandparents, my sister & one of d's sisters) which have been lovely. We've ventured out to M & S's for pizza, and to the library (v important to get Leon a library card! before his birth certificate, even), and for a few walks along the river. But largely it's been three weeks of chilled-out hanging out at home.
I'm enjoying newborn parenting more than I expected to, being as I am not hugely a baby person in general. Obviously it is different when it's my baby ;) Mind you, tomorrowdoop returns to work so I have 3 daytimes a week flying solo and may feel very differently by the end of Wednesday. But I think part of what I'm enjoying is about limiting my own expectations of myself, and slowing down a bit. I've been banging on for years about trying to slow down, do less, experience less stress; and suddenly I find myself actually doing it. I spend a good 20% of my time just sitting and feeding, and I don't always bother to get out the Kindle, so it is often quite a meditative experience. Then there's the cuddling and the slinging and all this... Also I get to hang out with Leon, who is lovely and (to my biased eyes) fascinating. I am still getting some non-baby things done, but I'm limiting the to-do list quite sharply. It may begin to pall in due course, but for now, I'm enjoying the calm and the chance to have minimal (or, perhaps, realistic?) expectations of myself.
We registered him on Friday, and later on in the day also got discharged by the midwives as Leon is back over his birth weight and jaundice-free, and I am healing fine. We're now the responsibility of the health visitor instead (who has been round already & seems very nice.)
The usual question asked of parents of a baby is "how are you doing for sleep" -- not too badly, in fact. We're co-sleeping so although he's waking every 1.5-2 hrs in the night (with usually one 3-hr patch) to feed, it's minimally disturbing as I don't actually have to get up. (Though
doop does if a nappy change is required.) I haven't quite gotten the hang of feeding lying-down yet, but am working on it; even so, sitting up and then sliding back down again when he's done is much better than getting all the way out of bed would be. I'm also fortunate that I don't tend to struggle to get back to sleep after being woken up.Feeding has been going reasonably well, but the last couple of days have been less good. I'm faintly suspicious of (mild, so far) thrush but it might also be bad positioning, possibly linked to a slightly over-generous supply. I've contacted a lactation consultant to get some support, anyway, as our local breastfeeding cafe were/are lovely but reckoned the other week that everything looked pretty good so if there is a positioning issue it's moderately subtle/not easily visible from outside. However, L is putting on weight & generally healthy, so that's all good, and I'm not experiencing anything bad enough to really cause me distress. I would just like to sort it out. Things are going well enough at least that I can cheerfully adopt the "if in doubt, feed him" attitude that several people have recommended is the best bet with a newborn.
Leon himself is changing on a daily basis which is both awesome and scary (they grow up so fast! ekt ekt). His eyes are starting to change colour now, and he's increasingly alert and aware of the world (at least during his alert patches, which admittedly take up much less time of any given day than his 'sleeping' or 'feeding' patches). This week he's become better at maintaining eye contact, and he can track slowly-moving objects now. Unfortunately he's also this week become simultaneously worse at going to sleep, and more grumpy when he gets tired, so we're developing various baby-soothing methods. Singing early Leonard Cohen (Suzanne and Sisters of Mercy, specifically) seems to go down well, as does the bouncy birth ball.
He is tremendously snuggly and spends much of his time cuddled up (asleep or otherwise) with
doop or me. We are big fans of assorted types of sling for this purpose as it means you can hold the baby *and* have two free hands at the same time! He's largely a very content small being, which is splendid & long may it last. Although he does have a slightly alarming tendency to occasionally scream for a few seconds in his sleep, without apparently waking up or seeming distressed afterwards. I have no idea what's going on there.We've had visits from family (both sets of new grandparents, my sister & one of d's sisters) which have been lovely. We've ventured out to M & S's for pizza, and to the library (v important to get Leon a library card! before his birth certificate, even), and for a few walks along the river. But largely it's been three weeks of chilled-out hanging out at home.
I'm enjoying newborn parenting more than I expected to, being as I am not hugely a baby person in general. Obviously it is different when it's my baby ;) Mind you, tomorrow
doop returns to work so I have 3 daytimes a week flying solo and may feel very differently by the end of Wednesday. But I think part of what I'm enjoying is about limiting my own expectations of myself, and slowing down a bit. I've been banging on for years about trying to slow down, do less, experience less stress; and suddenly I find myself actually doing it. I spend a good 20% of my time just sitting and feeding, and I don't always bother to get out the Kindle, so it is often quite a meditative experience. Then there's the cuddling and the slinging and all this... Also I get to hang out with Leon, who is lovely and (to my biased eyes) fascinating. I am still getting some non-baby things done, but I'm limiting the to-do list quite sharply. It may begin to pall in due course, but for now, I'm enjoying the calm and the chance to have minimal (or, perhaps, realistic?) expectations of myself. 
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Date: 2012-03-26 11:34 am (UTC)Hope you're having a nice time just the two of you today!
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