Introducing… Elliot and Winston!

Born April 2012 and May 2015

Another post courtesy of Boppy

I’ve been getting some positive feedback on this blog, so I’ll try to keep posting. I’m glad everyone is enjoying our little misadventures. And while I do make fun of my little Elliot some, rest assured that I love him dearly and would do anything for him. It is just a matter of figuring out what that is sometimes… I had a realization the other day when Logan and I were at Market Square. He had Elliot in the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier and we were about to cross the street when a car came up and did not appear to be slowing down. It did, but I noticed afterwards that I was ready to jump in front of that car to keep my Elliot safe. Being a parent is an interesting experience…

Also, I would like to take this moment to put in a plug for the Boppy Pillow. When your four recorded feedings from yesterday afternoon/evening average 74 minutes apiece (seriously, my app recorded that!), it’s nice to have a hand free. I would never get anything done without it!

Yesterday evening Aunt Cathy and Tio Carlos came to visit Elliot. Unfortunately, when they arrived, he was feeding and when he was done he was fussy. I went to change him, but there was no need. So, I snuck him downstairs while Logan showed off the new entertainment center. The washer was running with the load of a thousand garments, so I sat Elliot on it. Would you know it? It actually worked. Elliot was suddenly in a presentable mood! I brought him back up to his great relatives, who proceeded to argue over who got to hold him. Elliot then peed on Aunt Cathy such that it made her look like she peed herself. I apologized and took him for a change, but Elliot and I shared a quick giggle at the changing table (Sorry Cathy! Thanks for being a good sport!)

When we returned Carlos asked me a question, part of which must have gotten lost in translation. I think he meant, “How are you handling being a mother?” but he said, “How are you at being a mother?” to which I replied, “Well, he’s not dead yet!”

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The evening was another fussy/nursey one. Logan tried the dryer thing again, which elicited a burp, and I ate the world’s fastest dinner to accommodate Elliot’s demanding feeding schedule. Then, he went to sleep at about 10:30 and only woke up for light feedings and diaper changes. The Huggies were an issue again. Overnight casualties: 4 baby pajamas, one Boppy cover, the fitted sheet, and my pajamas. I’ll never bother doing laundry again (unless Elliot needs to be soothed)!

In October 2011, I posted the following sonogram and comment on Facebook.

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“Another look at our future third player! Some interesting things about this ultrasound: The baby was moving its mouth the whole time, like it was talking to us! We have a future jabber mouth 😀 Also, it was 8AM and the baby put its hand up against its head like it wanted to go back to sleep. Not a morning baby? I suppose we will find out.”

Anyways, this morning at 8AM, Elliot would only wake to drink for about 6 minutes from my right boob. By 10AM, the left was getting so full and he wouldn’t wake up to help me out, so I had to pump so as to avoid getting engorged, again. When my milk first came in, I got extremely engorged but couldn’t feel it thanks to the awesome painkillers. Logan and I figured it out when Elliot couldn’t latch on to my rock hard boobs. Anyways, now I am mostly off the meds and would prefer to avoid super painful fullness. Of course, at 11AM Elliot finally decided he was hungry.

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Wussing out or wising up?

We had a couple of events planned for today and tomorrow: today my sister-in-law is receiving the department award for interior design and tomorrow my parents’ best friends’ daughter is getting married. I had every intention of going to these celebrations. I got my hair cut and bought a dress that hides my weird postpartum figure and I can breastfeed in (a costuming challenge for sure!) The only caveat was the drive. Both ceremonies were over 2 hours away, which is over four hours of drive time, which is (unless we got lucky and he slept) approximately 3 feedings and 5 diaper changes, which expands the drive time to more like 6-7 hours. And after the night before last, we know nothing is a guarantee with him. Plus, I would probably get there and spend the entire ceremony sitting outside and breast feeding. Oh well, BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO LINZY AND THE THOMPSONS!

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In other news, Logan had a successful court day (yay!) and I got my first morning of taking care of Elliot myself. I felt weird about leaving him sleeping in the bassinet while I showered and in the swing while I ate breakfast, but I suppose it was necessary. I played with him extra hard afterwards. I also got an app to track nursing and diapers, which I probably should have been doing from the beginning. Also, so far Baby Gas-X has been an amazing product!

Teresa came to visit Elliot and brought him some very cute clothes! She also took all those newborn diapers that we couldn’t use for one of her family members. Uncle Tom and Gabi also stopped by to see the baby and get their canoe. Now we are working on laundry between feedings.

Also, fun fact about Elliot: he hates dress-like pajamas. Every time we put him in them I end up having to hike them up to his diaper so he can move his legs freely. Aversion to cross dressing? I wonder how he will feel about kilts someday…

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The power of belch compels you!

Yesterday’s fussy day turned into a nearly inconsolable night. Elliot pretty much nursed or cried. It was reminiscent of last week when my milk had not yet come in. Logan and I tried everything we could think of to help him. We ran our normal protocol of check diaper, attempt burping, and nurse over and over again and even added check temperature (which was normal but got us both pooped on). We checked the internet for trouble shooting tips such as “make sure mom is well hydrated so she can produce lots of milk” and about a thousand tips and tricks to burp your baby. I must have downed about 2 liters of water in about 5 minutes. Anything to stop the crying and make Elliot happy again!

At around 2AM, Logan took yet another turn of “walk around the house with the howling demon spawn” while I tried to rest. Suddenly he called out from the nursery, “Kate! Come here quick!” I might have achieved an olympic qualifying time for races to the nursery. Turns out, Elliot had a huge burp with enough spit up to make Logan concerned about aspiration. After we suctioned and cleaned him up, Elliot was quiet and alert, with those calm big eyes examining the room. Our son was back!

I had been told that breastfed babies don’t get as gassy, so we were not worrying about the fact that most of the time after feeding Elliot did not burp with our 30 seconds of attempting. Turns out, we pretty much need to be trying to burp him any time he is not eating or sleeping. Lesson 3 of 5 bazillion learned.

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I would prefer it if he made this cry instead…

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First day with just mom and dad

Elliot is 10 days old today! He lost his umbilical cord yesterday and was well behaved enough for Logan, Gingy, and me to go get hair cuts! Gingy left last night with Grandpa and Logan and I have been flying solo for the first time since we left the hospital. After a rather traumatic bath, the rest of the night was about status quo. I think I got about 2-3hrs of sleep at the beginning and end of the night with a large gap in the middle filled with feedings and changes. Oh and Huggies “Snug and Dry” are anything but… Total damage, two pairs of pajamas. I think we are going to be Pampers people.

I saw Tilly sleeping by the linen closet while I was heading to another diaper change. She looked so sad and lonely, it broke my heart. We let her finish the night with us and she slept firmly between Logan’s legs the entire time he was there.

Today Elliot has been generally fussy and pretty much just wants to nurse. Logan and I have been practicing our burping skills (on Elliot) but it is more difficult than it looks. Slappy came by to help Logan move a few more things from the old apartment and I worked on ordering prints for the baby book and fixing my Apple products. A couple of my Steri-Strips fell off today, so hopefully I am finally starting to heal. I really want to drive!

I dressed Elliot up in one of his Bengal’s onesies for Slappy. Here’s a picture where he is not crying.

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Also, in case there is some confusion, here is a cast of characters for your reference.
Elliot – the baby (said with Gam Gam’s embellishment)
Kate – mom (me)
Logan – dad
Gingy – my mom
Grandpa – my dad
Slappy – Logan’s dad
Gam Gam – Logan’s mom
Tilly – our cat

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