Baby and Me

Update on Me

February 21, 2009 by Jessica

The past few weeks have really been great for me. The hardest part of becoming a mom and staying home all these weeks has been that I feel like I’ve been losing me. When friends call, I feel tied down and incapable of leaving to go out for a little while. Micah’s eating had been a huge consuming part of my life, and has left me a bit unsure about stepping away for too long. When I have friends on the phone, I have lost my ability to hold a conversation – I have nothing to discuss other than Micah. I can talk about poop, or sleeping, or breastfeeding, or how many ounces I can pump. I can tell you the last time I fed the baby, and how many outfits he has worn in any given day . . . but most of these things probably aren’t interesting to anyone other than me . . . or possibly Elliot. I don’t do anything else during the day, so it is quite difficult to find interesting topics to discuss. I have felt a bit starved for grownup interactions, and I miss doing my work and being able to go to meetings and schedule my calls. I definitely needed this time off, and I’m not ready to fully return to work, but I miss me.

So, the past few weeks I’ve tried to get a life. I joined a Baby & Me class at the JCC, which has been wonderful! It gets us out of the house once a week, and we interact with other mommies. I don’t feel quite so boring because I have lots of other mommies who don’t care if I talk diapers and pumping. I have been going to a breastfeeding support group (BEST) that gets me out of the house a second day and I usually go out to lunch after that as well. I am certain I will develop a nice playgroup for Micah from all of these activities. Next month, I am joining the OnesiesDC group – each week for 6 weeks, we will go to a different location for a baby-friendly activity – infant massage, a yoga class, a pottery class, a visit with a pediatrician, a photo session, etc. I am excited to learn what activities are out there for Micah and me!

Perhaps the best things that have happened are Micah finally nursing “normally” and sleeping through the night. Nursing normally allows me the freedom to just feed him – when he wants, when we are out, etc. I now have a stash of breast milk in the freezer, so I don’t have a panic about what to do if I have to (or want to) run out. It has been unbelievably freeing! Even better, Micah is now sleeping through the night. We put him down at 8:30 and he sleeps until 6:30 or so. What is amazing about that is I can go out after he is asleep! I can even miss the last feed and go out to dinner and have an evening out. On Wednesday, I left Elliot with a bottle of milk, nursed Micah at 7, then went out to dinner with a friend. It was so freeing to be able to just go out and do my thing for a few hours.

My mom and dad have been great about babysitting. On Sunday night, they came over and watched Micah for a few hours. Elliot & I were able to go out for dinner to celebrate a belated Valentine’s Day – our first “date night” since Micah was born. It was some time we needed to recharge our relationship. Of course, we spent the whole time talking about Micah, but at least we got out! Now that we officially have a bedtime routine and Micah is sleeping through the night, I think we are going to start having them babysit AND put Micah to bed so we can take a longer evening to ourselves. My mom actually asked if she could come and do this one night a week!

So, slowly but surely, I’m trying to find myself again. The new me . . . the one that is a mommy, and the one that has a life beyond being a mommy, too. The balance is so important to me – I really want to “have it all.” Wish me luck!

What a week!

February 6, 2009 by Jessica

Thought I’d start off sharing some additional pictures from our Florida trip . . . including our visit with his Great Aunt Ellen & Great Uncle Stu. Check out the first picture – when he does this I keep thinking someone has just shouted “stick ’em up” or “you’re under arrest!”

Okay . . . back to our regularly scheduled program. This has been a crazy week so far – a really good week, but definitely crazy. On Monday I went to my 6 week checkup. All is going well – I’ve healed nicely, but it seems I have a yeast infection on my nipples. No wonder breastfeeding has been so uncomfortable!! I was given a prescription for “Newman’s Nipple Cream” to try and fix everything.

Right after my appointment, I went to my first Baby & Me class! There were about 10 women in the class, and I think it seems like a really good group. We all just sat around to talk, then we went out to Panera afterwards to grab some lunch. It was nice for me to get out and about and feel like me again.

On Tuesday, I was worried that Micah might also have thrush since I had an infection, so I took him to the doctor. Turns out, he was just fine. We did get to weigh him again . . . and he weighed a whopping 8 lbs 10 ounces!!!! I talked to the doctor about whether Micah has reflux, and he thought it was a definite possibility. He gave us some different formula (which I didn’t think would matter since we hardly ever give him formula). We decided to table the discussion on Zantac because Micah had not been crying from the reflux. Naturally, we left the doctor’s office, and when we got home, Micah began to cry. And pretty much shrieked for over 8 hours. Nothing made him feel better. He was hiccuping, making choking and wheezing sounds, crying when he spit up . . . I was sure it was the reflux. I tried calling the doctor about 3 hours in, and he had left for the day. The other pediatrician wouldn’t prescribe Zantac since Micah was not her patient (seriously?) and when I pushed about what to do, she first told me to let him cry until the next day. I pushed some more, and she suggested children’s Maalox. I sent my Dad out to get it . . . only to learn that children’s Maalox only comes in pill form. I called the doctor back, and she said “Oops, I meant Mylanta.” I then sent Elliot out to look for Mylanta . . . and again, we learned it is not available in liquid. At 8:00 pm, I called the after-hours number . . . and got the same rotten doctor!! She finally gave in, and after giving me some attitude, she called in the Zantac. All I can say is it made a HUGE difference. Micah is doing really well on it!

On Wednesday, Micah was feeling so great that we went out ALL day. We went to the baby store to get gifts for a friend of mine who just had a baby (also named Micah), and then off to Target. After the errands, I went to the breastfeeding support group. Following the support group, two of us then went out for coffee. In the middle of all this, I got a call that one of my friends (whose grandmother had just died) was having Shiva that night. For those of you who do not know, Shiva is a Jewish custom to support the family members of a person who has recently died. Everyone goes to the house, brings food, and is there for a short prayer ceremony that enables them to mourn. The custom is designed to ensure that those in mourning do not have to mourn alone. Anyway, Elliot & I decided to go there, so I took Micah to my parents’ house on our way over. We made it home about 10:00 pm – I was out with Micah for 12 hours!!

Thursday was another adventure. I woke up in the morning and took Micah back to Target because I had mistakenly bought the wrong bottle. We then went to pick up Elliot, and we went to the bris for my friend’s baby Micah. We spent the afternoon there, then came home. Elliot & I decided we were long overdue for a date night, so my parents came over to babysit. We went out for a few hours to see a one-man comedy show – My Mother is Italian, My Father is Jewish, and I’m Still in Therapy – at the Bethesda Theatre. It was a lot of fun, and so nice to get out just the two of us.

Today we spent the day with Aunt Jen and cousins Paige and Peyton. It was another good day, although Micah seems to cry at the beginning of every car trip (which breaks my heart). I even had time to take a business call before we left! Micah has been so much more alert and awake this week. We’ve had time to play on the playmat (actually, both my babies were playing together):

and run some errands, too! I can’t believe how big Micah is getting. He is having some cranky periods now (very new for me) and he has some fussiness and hours when all he wants is for mommy to hold him. We’re working on getting the hang of the new routine.

Here are a few other fun pictures from this week:

And Micah wants to send out a big “hello” and a huge hug & kiss to his Poppy Ira and his Grammy . . . both of whom always make sure to read this blog and keep such close tabs on him! Thank you.

Sleep Schedules and Play Groups

January 6, 2009 by Jessica

Micah is eating well and definitely growing. I think he sounds a bit congested – not really shocking after the past week that Elliot and I have been so sick. We’ve had more than a few sick people around, unfortunately – I guess he was bound to get sick, too. The good news is that most nights, Micah seems to give us a 5 or 6 hour stretch between feedings – kind of surprising for such a small baby! now that we have him in the secure sleeper, he will even sleep in the bassinet, too. I have noticed that Micah rarely wakes up and cries because he is hungry. I’ve just been waking him for feedings throughout the day and letting him sleep at night, but I think he would sleep most of the day and skip eating. Not sure how this child could be related to me and Elliot!! I’ll have to ask the pediatrician next week if that is normal.

I’m finally starting to come back to the land of the living. I feel like most of my days revolve around feeding and diapers, and I feel like I should be *doing* more to stimulate both me and Micah. The weather isn’t nice, so daily walks are not on the table. I’m thinking about starting back with yoga maybe next week, and I want to get back into swimming for exercise – maybe start toning everything back up again. I also looked up the dates for a Baby & Me class at the community center – the next one starts on February 2, and I intend to register for it! Several of my friends with children have said they made several good friends in this same class and found a playgroup for their children, so I’m hoping it will bring us good luck as well.

I also found out that there is this mommy group that includes different weekly activities for 6 weeks – each week, the group meets in a new location for an activity. They offer a singing session, an infant massage session, a photo session, a fitness session, a meeting with a pediatrician, and a class at a children’s fitness place. It sounds like it might be fun to try! There is a session that starts next week (and the sessions are for babies 1 month to 1 year old), but I’m thinking that maybe I should wait and join the March course when Micah is older (especially since I haven’t even brought him out into public yet). I also checked into baby swimming lessons – but I can’t enroll him until he is 6 months old, so that will have to wait until summer time. I guess I’m looking forward to starting to do more.

I am also all set to attend my big conference at the end of the month. I’ll be doing 4 presentations and attending 2 all-day meetings. Elliot will be coming as well, and I signed him up to do a presentation. Hopefully it will bring in some work for both of us! We decided to bring my mom along for the trip to help take care of Micah, so it should be a fun trip to Orlando.