2006 July 24 — slackermama . com

Yes, I know… It’s been a while again. But I would say I have the excuse to end all excuses, don’t I? At any rate, I’ve made many observations over the last couple of weeks and I’ve been stockpiling them to share with ya’ll. The material to post? I’ve got. The time and energy to post it? Not so much. We’re getting there.

I have freakish boobs right now. That may be more than you wanted to know, but I’m laying it out there anyhow. I think this could be why Liam is increasingly LESS interested in actually nursing. Because my boobs scare him, quite frankly. I’m sure that’s what it is. They scare ME and I don’t weigh less than a sack of flour. Unlike some people around here. And yes, I know that boobs get bigger when milk comes in and all. I’m not a TOTAL newbie here (though I’m amazed at how much you can actually forget in nearly seven years). But I don’t think my boobs were near this freakish last time. I think I would have remembered this.
Because of item #1, I got STUCK in an Avent Isis last week. Yes, you read that right. STUCK. You know that silicone “petal” insert in the pump? Yeah, I got STUCK behind that. Because when I say they are freakish, I mean they are FREAK. ISH. I literally had to take apart the pump to “free” myself. So now, when I need to use the Isis (I keep it in my diaper bag just in case I’m out and about during Pump Time), I just take out the silicone insert altogether.
Because of item #1 (again), I’ve found that I need the larger breastshields for my Medela pump. They come with the standard 24mm. Since I was HURTIN’, I got the 27mm shield at Babies R Us and it’s MUCH better. They make a 30mm, and I’m wondering if that might be even nicer. Unfortunately, our BRU doesn’t sell that size, otherwise I’d totally be trying it out RIGHT NOW. FREAK. ISH.
Coffee is the nectar of the gods. I’m pretty sure I would be dead right now if it weren’t for coffee.
I have no reason to complain, really. We have perhaps the easiest baby (so far). While he is eating a LOT and rather often, he’s easy to deal with at night. All he wants is some milk and then to go back to sleep. So far, no real awake/alert stretches in the middle of the night, which helps. So us bitching about being tired when we’ve only had to be up a couple times a night is really rather pathetic. I expect the next time we leave the house, other parents will throw rocks at us.
Speaking of the sleep thing, he’s totally got us manipulated. Yeah, he’s in bed with us. Yes, I know we got a co-sleeper. And it was a good idea. But we’d put him in there and he’d grunt and moan until I moved him a foot over to the left, right next to me. Then he’d sleep like… well, like a baby. We got those back/side positioners and he sleeps with that so he’s not moving around a lot, and I don’t move around a lot, so it’s working. He likes to be under the blanket with me though (in our fantasticaly air conditioned bedroom) so I just make sure the blanket isn’t covering any part of his face and we’re golden. Still, I feel so used. This kid isn’t even three weeks old yet and he’s totally got me played.
Please tell me we aren’t completely batshit for even thinking about putting this baby in a carseat for 4+ hours on a trip over the mountains? Because I’m really starting to wonder. Frankly, I’m a little scared.
Also, am thinking about bringing the baby with me for portions of BlogHer. He’s a quiet one and easy to take along. But I just don’t know. Still thinking on this one. Anyone have any recommendations on this? I’m totally at a loss.
The Bay Area is currently having probably the biggest, meanest, hottest heat wave in all of history right now. I’m assured it’ll be gone by the weekend, replaced by decent 80-degree temperatures, but if it’s not? I may have to kill myself. We’re staying at my parents house and they have NO AIR CONDITIONING. I wish I were joking. They do have a pool, however. So maybe I’ll end up sleeping in the pool. So yeah, pray for cooler temperatures for me please. Because if it stays around 110 or so, I think I may melt.
I’m not feeling so good about the future of breastfeeding in this house. As I mentioned before, Liam seems downright scared of my boobs anymore. I could keep on pumping, I suppose. It’s not what I had envisioned. I have an appointment with the Lactation Consultant tomorrow and hopefully she’ll have some good recommendations or advice for me. But I do worry that I’ve made it worse by not “pushing” the boob more. And heck, I probably have.
Some preemie outfits are most definitely NOT preemie. 0-3 month old, yes. Preemie, no. They’ll be short, but just as wide as regular newborn clothes so Liam STILL swims in them. There’s no winning here. Oh, and we’ve officially gone through FOUR packs of preemie diapers. FOUR people. That’s at least 30 diapers a pack. In less than three weeks. And part of one of those weeks was in the hospital so really we’re talking more like two weeks. This baby? POOPS ALOT.
I’m down at least 20 lbs. Might be more, since our scale is pretty jacked. I’ll find out at my postpartum appointment later on this week (I think it’s Wednesday?). 20 lbs isn’t so bad. And I fit into pre-pregnancy clothes pretty nicely so that’s a plus. If only those clothes had any degree of coolness, I might look decent at BlogHer. But I’m way overdue for a wardrobe update. The best thing I’ve heard all week is my son looking at me this morning as I was walking him down to the playground at school and saying, “You’re looking really thin now!” Shucks!
Friday night we had a kick-ass lightning storm. Haven’t seen one like it in YEARS and it was awesome. We were out running some errands on our end of town so we got to see a lot of it. Harry thought it was pretty cool until we were about five minutes from home and he started to sob and scream. I told Kile that it just “got real” to him all the sudden. For a while, it was almost like daytime though, the sky was so lit up with constant flashes and strikes. Awesome!