General Updates

Wow, It's been a MONTH! And MAN has it been a month...

I realized I've not posted any pics of our new girl, nor have I told our story in full. If you don't know me enough to have emailed me direct, you likely missed the details. Sigh.

SO, here's my attempt to relay where we are today, and in another post I'll recap Miss M's Birth story.

Today Miss M very clearly stopped fussing because she saw and heard me! YAY! She stopped, turned her head, and looked right in my eyes. She looked pleased, although she didn't smile. Kinda makes my heart warm just thinking about it.

I've been able to breastfeed, after a fashion. I'm only putting her on to feed every so often, which makes me happy... don't want to do that job full time. Unfortunately, it also means my milk supply isn't huge, which means she's not getting enough to eat that way. So, I let her get what she can, then I give her a bottle. This plan seems to be making us both happy, so I'm going with it.

I'm having to pay some pretty close attention to a slightly-flat spot on M's head. She CAN sleep the other direction (no torticolis) but she doesn't prefer to. Right now I'm just repositioning her head after she goes to sleep. She's started switching it back lately though, so I'm going to have to talk to the Dr about what I can do to keep her head turned.

Last night I took M for her sleep study. It appears she has the same type of breathing issue that her brother Jim had at birth. It is either A) immature nervous system, so that breathing isn't regulated correctly during sleep or B) reflux induced sleep disturbance accompanied by a decrease in blood-oxygen levels. I am giving 2 options because they don't know exactly what caused Jim's issues, and we won't find out for a couple of days what has caused M's. Likely we won't ever know really, but they'll treat her conservitavly until we get a positive sleep study. This is the same we did with Jim. Sigh.

I'm sighing because I know what it's like to have baby hooked up to oxygen 24/7, feeling like baby is on a 'leash', having the heart monitor go off by accident all the freakin' time, not being able to travel for more than 2 1/2 hrs, having to lug heavy O2 tanks around when I go to the store, etc. It isn't my fav.

Then again, I like having my kid alive, so I'll do what it takes. Doesn't mean I won't sigh about it though.

My family was here over the weekend - both brothers, my parents, my SIL and Neice (the other SIL and Nephew couldn't make the journey). We had a GREAT time! Jim latched onto my brothers like there was no tomorrow. Both Uncles were a HUGE hit. Jim made them go outside to play ball every chance he got - it didn't matter that it was freezing. He couldn't wait to 'play ball' again. I have to say, I was terribly happy to see him beem with pride while they played catch with him. I don't think I've ever seen him so animated.

At dinner Jim took a seat at the big table and instructed that each uncle would sit beside him. For once he didn't claim "I'm done!" after every bite. Frankly, I think dinner could have lasted all night and he'd have been OK with it. :)

I was sad to see my family leave, and I was a little worried that Jim would be heartbroken. I think he was, a bit, but he didn't cry or throw a fit. He seemed to accept it. All he said was, "We gonna go to Cene-see soon." Sweet thing.

At present I'm trying to figure out what everyone is getting for Christmas. I've got to plan for myself, Miss M, Jim, and my gifts to hubby. I also have to orchestrate what's coming in from extended family - we are already buried in toys, so I think I'm going to have to cull some stuff to make room for the new stuff. How do you guys handle this? Do you try to suggest appropriate toys or just see what turns up? Do you cull their old toys in advance? Do you cull them while they aren't home?

Challenge being, with 2nd baby here now, I need to cull but KEEP this stuff - no reason to re-buy these toys in a year. I've given away most of our infant toys, but they are scheduled to re-arrive soon-ish from my friend DD. My Den will simply implode like a toy-centered black hole if I don't do something soon.

How do you guys organize your kid's current toys? Do you use toyboxes, shelves, or build an annex to your house?

Jim seems to be coming down a bit from his terriblness. He still needs some managment help from time to time, but he's getting better. He has started being truly jealous of Miss M though. You should SEE the dark looks he gives her and anyone that dares hold her. Sheesh. We are trying to make sure he gets plenty of attention, while balancing it with reality. Tough to do sometimes.

Miss M is still sleeping lots, which makes the sleep study results pretty pertinent. She's spending about 2 to 3 hours awake per day, well, other than the time it takes to down a bottle and get a diaper change every 3 to 4 hrs. I have a fear that she's suddenly going to decide she's done sleeping for the next year! Ha!

Day before yesterday was Miss M's official due date. Hard to believe really. She reached 7.1 lbs last Tuesday, so I'm guessing she would have been a whopper if she'd stayed in to bake. Yikes.

It's funny some of the looks I get when I go shopping with her. People think I've brought a newborn, 2 day old, to the store. She's so tiny and cute. I can't make much progress without getting stopped for questions and peaks and people's stories. It's kinda fun, but also kinda tiring to tell it again and again.

I think I'm rambling... Let's see... What haven't I covered...

I think I'll move on to Miss M's birth story. See you at that post!