I am not running right now. I thought I was ready, but turns out I'm not. Scheduling runs turned into a head game, actually, and I'm just enjoying life without running right now. So, let's talk about Brody and motherhood.
First, a picture.
This is his most recent picture and shows him trying to nap without a swaddle. Yeah, that only worked twice and has not worked since. I think he looks like Chad in this picture, which is a big deal because I have not seen Chad's features in Brody for most of the month of October. I think Brody looked just like my Dad for a while there.
- Brody is sleeping in his crib, which is the latest development in the Jones house. We moved him from the pack-n-play in the dining room to his nursery over the weekend. For those of you who have been to our house, especially since Brody's birth, you know how far the nursery is from our bedroom and how much of a move this is. Without a monitor, it is extremely difficult to hear him upstairs, and I would for sure not hear him cry in the middle of the night. The monitor can't be in our bedroom because I'm such a light sleeper, so we have found it best to put the speaker in the living room...it is loud enough for me to hear it in the middle of the night, but not too loud to keep me awake.
- Brody is huge. Officially dubbed a "bruiser" by the pediatrician, he weighed 12lb11.5oz at his 2 month check up on Oct 27. He weighs over 13 pounds as of today. Oddly enough, this is only in th 76% for weight, not in the 90-100%. So, bruiser, he is, but he isn't the biggest kid you've ever seen. He is in the 84% for both length and head circumference, though. :) Oh, and Brody was also declared "perfect" by the pediatrician, as well. I'm sure she has seen thousands of babies, so when she declares him "perfect", that is an expert's opinion, not just ours.
- We've been having a lot of issues with spit up. Brody spit up so much that it is causing a rash on his face going down his neck to the back of his head and back. Pretty much wherever spitup typically travels on a baby is marked by a pink crusty rash. He also spits up nasty curdled milk chunks (mostly digested milk) quite often, so I think maybe some of the digestive juices are to blame for the irritated skin. He spits up out of his mouth and nose and often chokes at the amount of fluid coming out of him. Really, it happens (-ed) all the time.
What did the ped say? She doesn't think it is true reflux or GERD. She thinks he is being over-fed, meaning he is really efficient at draining my breasts and is taking in way more milk than he can handle. She called him a "piggy pig" this week and has asked me to make some changes in how I feed him. Brody gets 5-6 minutes of nursing, followed by a good burping try and a 15 minute wait before he can nurse again. Basically, we're trying to slow him down and feel full so that he is no longer "eating with his eyes" instead of his belly...you know that phrase we use to describe our overloading of dinner plates at Thanksgiving or at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Needless to say, Brody gets really pissed off after only 5-6 minutes because he is used to sucking away for as long as he likes. So far it is helping.
We were also told to put him on his side or belly to sleep...ack! With the volumes he was spitting up, we were encouraged to put him in a position to better prevent the choking...apparently the risk from complications with his spit up and from SIDS at this point are about the same. Well, we tried the side sleeping (with all of the props and such that goes along with it) and will not continue that recommendation. Brody is a back sleeper and has been making himself (and us) miserable with his attempts to sleep on his side. He definitely does not like sleeping on his belly. Now that we have the spit-up reduced with the altered feeding times, we feel 100% comfortable leaving him on his back...he survived much worse spit-up on his back for two months. His head is slightly higher than his belly, so that also has improved things.
- What can Brody do now that he is a 10-week-old bruiser? He is supporting his head better and better these days, though he is still not as secure as he should be to start sitting in his Bumbo chair. He does really well over my shoulder at lifting up and looking around. He can push his chest up during tummy time, though he doesn't do it very often. He is awesome at tracking people and slow moving objects when they move across his path of vision. He coos and tries to 'talk' all the time, which we love to listen to. His smiles are also seen way more often than before and I think I caught a little giggle today :). Other than that, he's still a lump of a baby...sweet, but still eat, sleep, poop most of the time.
About motherhood...it is exhausting. I'm lucky to feed myself, get a shower, and take care of the baby all day, so if I can get out to the grocery, the bank, or the pharmacy, it is a great day. Chad is extremely busy at work, so six days out of the week, I'm running the Brody show mostly by myself. I have been battling post-partum depression, though now these days are much better than a few weeks ago. I did ask for help and feel better about myself now that I'm getting it. I needed to re-claim our little family life and routines and learn to set some boundaries with family members that are eager to help out. Now, if I can get through the holidays...:)
I'm also looking forward to taking more of the baby weight off. I'm down from 51 pounds over to only 17 pounds over. I know it will likely take the remaining 7 months of the "9 months on, 9 months off" people say to lose the next 17, and likely not all the way until I'm finished nursing Brody according to what everyone and the books say. Mostly it is exciting to see the number on the scale that I saw on our wedding day inching closer to reality...I will hit that number before I get back all the way down to pre-pregnancy weight. Oh, and to have some of my pajama pants fitting better, that is awesome, too!!
On a less self-absorbed note, I have been very thoughtful about circumstances that have been going on in different friends and family's lives. While I sometimes struggle with the adjustment to this new life with baby, I think of those who have struggles of their own. Friends and family who are grieving, who are dealing with sick family members, who are having financial issues, and who are just simply in difficult situations that they have no control over. We all try to make the best of the situation we're in, and luckily most of us are able to support one another through it all.
Thanks for reading and for caring.
