books books books

I'm on a bit of a new book binge. Not that I'm buying new books just borrowing them from the library. I mentioned before the Bean was out and about that I was planning on getting lots of reading in over the next little while. I was a tiny bit worried that I was being a little optimistic regarding how much I was going to be able to read after she made her entrance, but I've been pretty lucky so far.

I'm not reading as fast as I normally do but I have been able to finish off a healthy stack of books over the last three weeks. So far I've been keeping to authors who I'm familiar with; Nick Hornby, Terry Pratchet, Neil Gaiman, and a newer member of my must read if written by list China Mieville.

In the Hospital and during our first week home I was reading Good Omens by Pratchet and Gaiman. I also read Hornby's Juliet Naked, a handful of Gaiman's Graphic novels, and I'm now reading Mieville's Un Lun Dun and loving it.

What's on your reading list right now?

A Thousand Words

Truly extravagant baby gear; what fairy Godmothers are made for.

Of Migrainle Like Proportions

The Bean is currently snuggled in her bed grunting and groaning in that really adorable way that newborns do when they're trying to pass gas from the other end (or possibly a nice juicy baby poop) and the Peanut is only just now peeking out of her room.

Yesterday was a little tough on all of us. My patience was super short, the Peanut started the day in tears and continued a lot of it to the tune of mild whingeyness and the Bean was all about the milk, wanting to eat on the hour every hour ending last night at 9 with a large lap full of curdled milk when she coughed and then brought up what looked like a days worth of breast milk. That was when I went to bed, taking the Bean with me and after giving a little more milk and she fell asleep I promptly followed her lead.

And then this morning (at 3, when the Bean was looking for a little night time snack) I woke up with a massive headache which persisted and still persists even with the application of painkillers and an ice pack.

I'm placing full blame on the change in air pressure. There's nothing quite like the human barometer experience. I can't be the only one who feels the weather in headache form. Wanna share your human barometer tales?

It sure takes a lot of work

A few weeks ago I posted about how hard breast feeding is. Having had to relearn how to get a proper latch once again I feel it bears repeating. Breast feeding is hard, it's painful to get the hang of and boy does it ever take up a lot of time.

The Bean was born weighing a whopping big 9lb 2.5oz and because she wasn't able to breastfeed for two hours after she joined us on the outside; the rest of our first day together was spent with her trying to catch up on those lost two hours when I was in recovery. The result was two very blistered nipples and very painful latches while in the hospital.

I have a theory about breast feeding in the hospital. The nurses are there to make sure that your baby is being fed and to get her latched on; not necessarily to sit with you for however long it takes for you to get the hang of holding the baby, bringing the baby to the breast, waiting until the baby's mouth is open wide enough and all the other little things that make up a good latch. These ladies have so many things to do that when they do come in to help it's to get it done fast and get back to whoever else is ringing them for help. Learning in that environment is near impossible. Since on top of the kamikaze breast feeding lessons you also have visitors coming in and out, nurses coming in to test vitals, and you're also trying to get acquainted with the little life you've been lugging around for the past nine months.

It wasn't until I was at home and the health nurse called to follow up and I asked for a home visit that I was able to get the whole latching thing down. Learning how to get that latch once I was at home was so much easier for many reasons not least of which is that it's a one on one experience and she's there to make sure that you get the latching thing down even if it means doing it over and over and over until you get it right and it feels like second nature.

When it's your first time around it's frustrating and difficult and disheartening. At least with the Bean I knew what to expect (I knew it would be frustrating and difficult and disheartening) because I'd been through the same thing with the Peanut. So when I started to get the the little nipple blisters I asked for help, again and again and again in the hospital; knowing that I very well might not get the hang of it there. When I got home I made sure to ask for a lactation consultant to come to me so that I would get back into fine breast feeding form.

Now if I can just get over how much time I'm spending feeding the Bean we'll be doing awesome.

* the photograph above of me and the Bean was taken by my Niece

A Thousand Words

One of my favourite things about snuggling is
that cuddle thing they do into the neck.

I've been trying to get it together enough to write about the coming of the Bean but between getting acquainted with the Jelly Bean, making sure that our Peanut Butter Pie is feeling the love and recovering I've been very side tracked.

The Bean's birth story isn't a usual one. There's no water breaking, or contractions starting. No having to frantically track down the Husband to get to the hospital. We were scheduled to go into surgery at 8:30 so we had to be at the hospital at 6:30. I had pre-registered but we still had to go through some administration. We went up to the maternity floor where I peed in a cup, got a shave, and had three different nurses try to hook me up to an IV. I walked from the pre-op room into the operating room where the anaesthesiologist finally got the IV in and then successfully performed a spinal in record time with only a little bit of pain.

I was given two doses of adrenalin so that I wouldn't be sick during the operation and before I knew it I was listening to the Bean making her first sounds. My first look at her was watching the Doctor place her in the warming bed and the Husband going over to take her first pictures and update his status on facebook. I held her briefly before she went downstairs with her Daddy and I went into post-op recovery. We had her named in those few moments; unlike the Peanut who did not seem to fit any of our favorite name picks, the Bean suited the one we liked the best and we chose a middle name that fits her nick name and fits her like a glove.

Hearing her little voice gurgle through the amniotic fluid and then come out clear and strong was surreal. With the Peanut we were given a quick peak at her face before they took her out. The Bean was born behind the curtain and I wasn't able to hold her and feed her properly until I'd been in recovery for two hours. There were of course tears of complete joy when I first saw her and the shock of recognition too; with the exception of black hair instead of dark reddish and much chubbier cheeks the Bean and the Peanut are most definitely sisters. They look very much alike.

I'll be trying to post more frequently as time goes on. This week the Husband goes back to work and we head into a somewhat regular routine. I'm hoping to be able to get back into the swing of things soon.

A Thousand Words: the new edition edition

Three days old and dressing to
impress her sister; the dino lover