728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
Get Pregnancy Information
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Diaries › Eloise's › January 9, 2000

Eloise's Diary Entries

Diary Navigation:

January 9, 2000

Well, with another Christmas and New year behind us life is beginning to take on some semblance of normality again (if there is any such thing with a baby in your life!). It’s taken me a couple of weeks but I’m finally back on the computer – not a Y2K glitch in sight. Phew!

First things first… My bubby is becoming more and more gorgeous every single day! There, now I’ve got that out of the way, onto the festive season up-dates…

Christmas turned out great. Bubby was well-behaved despite the change in her routine, and she slept beautifully during the one-and-a-half hour drive and in the swanky porta-cot we bought for her (it has a bassinette attachment for newborns). Jai and I enjoyed having our sleeping space back so much that she’s now in the porta-cot every night now we’re back home and we have the divine luxury of a whole bed to sprawl out in – so much for my commitment to sharing our bed with her – it only lasted four weeks!!

But baby was a little spoiled over Christmas with all the rello’s nursing her to sleep every day. Now she rarely goes down without being nursed to sleep first. Still, it was great for Jai and I to have our hands free of baby for a while, and my mum cooked roast veges and we ate the left over turkey and ham for three days after Xmas. It was such a luxury to have our meals cooked and served to us every night, and Jai fell in love with disposable nappies – which we used the whole time we were away. Saved him hours of work scrubbing, soaking, washing, drying and folding cloth nappies every day.

Bubby gave us a wonderful Xmas present, too. She slept through the whole of Christmas dinner – even dessert and coffee – and it was the first time in weeks Jai and I had eaten together, and a hot meal at that!

So Pixie is six weeks old finally. Yes, we’ve reached the first milestone! And yes, things have improved -- I think – although you wouldn’t know it judging from today’s performance (Pixie hasn’t slept more than an hour or so since 8.30 this morning – it’s now 7.30 at night!) Hubby is currently walking the floor with bubby in the sling and I think she might be finally drifting off – which is a huge relief – I worry so much when she won’t sleep, and she usually gets irrational and grizzly and hard to manage. What do you do when your baby won’t sleep? This is our only real dilemma with parenthood at the moment, but thankfully, (touch wood), she still sleeps well at night.

Bubby is very alert for her tiny six weeks! She looks around the room, taking everything in. She follows Jai and I around with her eyes, and we bought her a mobile which hangs over the change table which she seems to love more and more every day. And she’s started smiling – a little. Tonight the mobile was the lucky recipient – she gooed at it and smiled as she watched the brightly coloured bugs move around. She usually has such a serious little expression – wide eyed and round mouthed, she often frowns. So seeing her wide mouthed, dimpled smile is quite a treat. When we were away at Christmas we converted a dressing table into a temporary change table for her and she was transfixed by her own reflection in the mirror. She loves watching herself and the world through a mirror.

And last night was a minor miracle. She went 8 ½ hours between feeds and slept for 7 ½ hours straight. She went down at 7.30 and didn’t rouse until 3 a.m. Jai and I are trying not to get too excited for fear it was a one-off event. It was such a luxury to have an evening to ourselves – Jai watched a whole movie (The Godfather) uninterrupted and I did some reading. Mind you we were on alert the whole time, expecting her to wake any minute.

Breastfeeding is getting easier – I think. I’m enjoying it more now, and sometimes I even look forward to it – despite still feeding every three hours during the day. Mind you, bubby had a bad patch last week where she’d scream before latching on and then pull off halfway through screaming and writhing, her little face looking heart-broken. I think my milk supply had increased and it was gushing down her throat, almost gagging her. And I’ve had two more sessions of blocked milk ducts since the previous one, and I even got a raging fever once and almost resorted to antibiotics before managing to clear the blockage with hot water and massage and long feeds. Since then I’ve bought a manual breast-pump (Avent Isis model), and it’s fantastic. I can express to clear any blockages and have breast-milk stored in the fridge in case I need to go out and hubby can feed the baby. Actually it was awesome to express into the bottle and actually see how much milk comes out of the boobs. Quite a lot, no wonder bubby’s putting on so much weight. She now weighs 8 pounds, 5 ounces, and is averaging a 260-gram weight-gain a week.

And bubby has a few more developments underway. She’s started sucking her hand when she accidentally finds it in range of her mouth. She loves it, making big, lip-smacking, slurping noises as she drools all over her little fist and long fingers. But she hasn’t got the hang of the dummy yet. It seems too big for her and she constantly sucks then pushes it out. Although I think she’d enjoy it, if she could get the hang of it. And she’s started vocalising. She squeaks like a mouse, makes hooting noises like an owl, and occasionally gurgles. I love it when she makes noises, I find the sound of her voice absolutely gorgeous. Do all parents melt at the sound of their own children’s voices?

But I tell you, life is certainly house-bound. We rarely venture out, it’s too much trouble. And when you consider she feeds every three hours during the day we’re lucky if we get two hours for an outing – and we’re usually more concerned with getting her to have a nap during that time than rushing out into the world with our over-laden bag of nappies, spare clothes, wipes, change mat, etc. etc. etc. It’s even ridiculously hard to get around to simple things like bathing her, or clipping her nails, or dressing her up, or a quick stroll around the block with the pram. Or vacuuming the floor – when is the noise of the vacuum cleaner ever welcome in a world where you’re constantly trying to keep a baby calm and settled and sleeping? And clipping her nails – when is she ever still and sedate enough to keep her hands still so I can safely clip her ever-growing, tiny nails? Only when she’s asleep and I’d dare not do it in case I wake her.

Oh well, we’re getting by and hubby and I often say to each other, “Isn’t she gorgeous?”, “I love her more and more each day,” or “She’s getting more beautiful every single day.” In the early weeks I remember someone saying to me, “I bet you can’t remember life without her.” At the time I could remember life without her, longingly. Now, six weeks into our shared life together, I wouldn’t want my life without her. I sometimes even miss her when she’s asleep, and I couldn’t get through a day without one of her cuddles. So there you go. I’d have to say that life with a newborn is 30% bafflement and frustration – tearing your hair out wondering what on earth you should do, but 70% joyful and awe inspiring - amazed at the constant growth and development of the strange little creature you’ve created.

On that note, I’ll sign off.

Happy new year to all,

Eloise



previous diarynext diary



 
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community.   Click here to start...