Arm and Hand. 7-28-12

I try to get Boop to sleep in her portable crib as much as possible. However when Boop is lying in bed, she likes to sleep like a referee with her arms out to her side and bent upwards at the elbows. She sleeps in the middle of the bed, and I sleep against the wall. The little futon isn’t very far off the ground; so if she should roll, she won’t go far.

Zebra hi-tops I bought Boop when I was pregnant.

I haven’t had to worry too much about Boop rolling though. She still struggles to roll over. Or at least that’s what I thought. In daycare, they put her to sleep on her side in the crib, and I guess that’s the way she prefers to sleep. I woke up one night to find her sleeping on her side away from me with her arms in front. I thought it was a fluke until I saw her doing it another night. So it looks like I need a new game plan with sleeping arrangements. I wonder when she’ll start to do other things like roll onto and off of her tummy.

Cool Pool. 7-28-12

After being so sick, I decided it was best to take Boop to the pediatrician to get checked out. She thought the symptoms (vomiting and such) could indicate another UTI. Apparently, UTIs are more likely with constipation because it makes it harder for her to urinate.

Boop seemed well enough to go onto the pool. We had planned to meet S and her little boy, H, there.  No other tummy problems since that night. So we headed on over.  She was a little groggy, but she was managing fine. I tried to keep Boop away from the other little ones just to be safe.

The pool was a bit cooler than Boop would have liked. She wasn’t as happy as I thought she would be. I let her ease in, as I didn’t want her to freak out. The splash pool wasn’t very deep; so she was able to sit in my lap. H did much better, but I think he swims in the river a bit. We stuck around for about an hour, and then I took Boop over to daycare. The more she goes to the pool, the more she will like it, I think.

Just when I thought she was doing better. 7-24-12

...she started having some trouble. I walked in yesterday to a flurry of activity. There were a lot of adults and one little Boop. She had just vomited all over one of the floaters, the rocking chair, and herself. I dared to look at her clothes in the bag they sent home. It was like nothing she had done before. Uh-oh, I'm thinking. But when I got home she seemed to be doing better.


Then, she started to strain to go to the bathroom. Gotta love those antibiotics, or was it the solid food, or was it ?? I helped her as best I could, and then she seemed to calm down. I decided that it would still be okay to go to the La Leche group meeting, and she was all smiles with the leader. She fell asleep on the ride home; so I lugged her car seat into the house with her still sleeping. Of course, she woke up not long after. BUT! But, she did sleep from 9pm-1:30am, a definite improvement.

So, I'm thinking that she's doing better.

This morning, I put her in one of the non-diaper service cloth diapers. Of course, that was the trick. She strained to go again and went a fair bit. Figures, a poopy diaper that I have to wash. Good, at least she got it out of her system! She'll feel better. So, I put on another non-diaper service cloth diaper. You know what happened. This was one of the biggest and stinkiest that I had seen. Again on a diaper that I have to wash, of course. Ugh, that was the daycare calling, another health issue for my Boop. Heaven help us!

Splitting Head. 7-23-12

Friday night was good. She slept for two sessions of 3 hours with a mix of nursing for an hour or two in between. That's the best she had done for a while. I woke feeling okay on Saturday. But, she would not take a nap. She fought and fought and fought. My helper was there working on things; so it was too hard to keep Boop settled. I finally got her to bed on Saturday. Another good night. She slept for a few longer sessions. I don't remember waking up so much. Sunday, she was a happy baby; much easier to deal with than Saturday. Saturday I nearly lost it, but I even got a nap in on Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, we watched the Andy Griffith marathon. I tried to keep her from watching much, but I just couldn't resist keeping it on. 

Last night, Sunday night, was another rough one. It was like I could time her. Every 1.5 hours she was waking up and wanting to nurse. So, she woke me up about 8 or 9 times. And so I'm wondering, 'What happens every 1.5 hours?' So, I'm looking at the stages of baby sleep. One piece of news is that babies have longer shallow sleep. So, it takes her about 20 min. to get to deep sleep. In other words, I should avoid trying to transfer her to bed after only being asleep for a few minutes. I kinda knew that, but I didn't realize it was 20 minutes. They return to shallow sleep after... 50-60 minutes. So, it wasn't what I was thinking. It wasn't her waking up from shallow sleep.

An adult sleep researcher probably immediately knew what 90 min. was. It's the adult sleep cycle. Counterintuitively, *I* may be waking Boop up. I'm not sure what to do with that information just yet. The problem is that I have a headache. I can't decide if it's just a standard run-of-the-mill tension headache or something else. It's only on my right side, which could mean ear infection or migraine or both. None is conducive to problem solving.

‘This too… 7-22-12

…shall pass’. A friend of mine from high school, M, writes the blog: “I’m Living the Good Life,” and her friend and her have decided to write about sayings that ring true to them on Sundays, ‘Sunday Sayings.’ While I won’t duplicate their efforts, the saying in the title of this blog post rings very true to me. Yesterday was a hard day. Boop was upset and screaming a fair bit. I was working with my helper on the house, and Boop missed her nap.

All sorts of craziness crossed my mind. ‘What was I thinking about trying to be a single mom?’ ‘I need to find a job back home now. I can’t manage her by myself.’ ‘Mom can’t manage her either. Maybe someone else can manage her.’ She had been screaming non-stop for I don’t know how long by the point of the last conclusion. Then, I thought, ‘Hm, if I can’t handle her like this, they may not be able to either. I don’t want anyone to hurt her.’ And I talked to Mom in the afternoon, “I don’t know what you’re going to do with her. It just doesn’t seem right. She shouldn’t cry like that. There must be something wrong with her. She seems like she’s hurting.” We couldn’t think of any babies that could be as unhappy as Boop when she gets started.

Taking Stock at Boop's Week 27. 7-26-12

Here's what's going on at Boop's week 27:

• Although we have the ear infection cleared up, it looks like Boop could potentially have another UTI. We're only on the prophylactic antibiotics now, but we should hear on Saturday if we need to move to treatment. I'm dreading another course, and I know she must be. She's had some other symptoms, like vomiting all over me and folks at daycare a few times. Not sure if that is viral or what.
• I'm having mixed success with TV watching. Some days are better than others. At least the TV is being turned off, but it may be too much with all of the other stress. Plus, the Andy Griffith marathons and then the Olympics coming up is not something I can pass up.
• Sleeping is still a mixed bag. She often manages to sleep for about 3-3.5 hours in her portable crib before waking. It takes me a bit of time to get her settled back down, but then she might get another 2-3 hour stretch in. I'm thankful for those nights.
• Fortunately, I'm managing to lose weight. I'm about 5 lbs from where I was pre-pregnancy, but I had gained about 5 lbs. then. Hopefully, I can continue to lose 10 lbs. Otherwise, I can't say much. My hair is fried, my skin is ashy, and my eyes look saggy. The skin/hair problems I can't do much about at this point <the meds are not good for nursing>, but I'll probably ask my primary care doc to check me for anemia.
• Winnie is still scratching and peeing on the floor. It's really getting to me. She's getting in the habit of roaming in the night and waking me and the baby up. It's a bit tricky for us to manage walks, and she doesn't really want to be out in the heat or the rain. I tried benadryl, which didn't last long that I could tell. I'll have to try it again.

Roller Derby Queen. 7-21-12

As I was sitting Boop down in daycare on my way out the door, Boop's teacher said something to the little boys about not messing with Boop's toys. Then, Boop's teacher looked up at me from the floor and said, "The big boys tried twice to take toys away from her yesterday, and she was not having it. She did not let go." I smiled and said, "She's probably got a few pounds on them. If they mess with her, she might try to clobber them!" Of course, Boop is smaller and less mobile then the boys, and I LOVE that she is standing her ground with the big boys--not taking any crap. I think I made some little joke about her building her strength by pulling on Mommy's hair. Whatever it is, it's working. As long as she's not being a bully, we're in good shape. Fortunately, she wasn't initiating the toy taking. There's a time and place for such acts of aggression--like the roller derby. I beam with a little bit of pride, imagining her all grown up, her long brown hair in pigtails, busting heads at the roller derby, maintaining her position at the front of the pack. My mom often said that I left the house looking like a clown. Well, Boop would be able to put my fashion sense to good use. They say you live through your children. Maybe that's what I was really meant to be, a roller derby queen. 

Too sweet to be a bully??