Cluster F***

No, not that one. We're in the midst of cluster feeding - which, for those of you who don't know, basically means that we are feeding our little man every 2 hours at the most. Miles has been attached to my boob for more than 20% of my waking day -- and that is just exhausting! He had us up every 2 hours last night, which means that we got about 1 hour of sleep at a time. Needless to say, we've had a less than productive day. Tim took the first nap while I took Miles at 7:00 am. I took the next nap while Tim watched over our little man at 11:00. And then the 3 of us, all tired, slept from 3:30 - 5:30. Our strategy was to get the sleep we can today, as we may not get any more tonight. Yippie.

"Miles to go before I sleep"

Robert Frost never said it so good!

At the last pediatrician appointment, we learned that we didn't need to set the alarm any longer to wake up our little man for feedings. Rather, we could let him wake us up when he needed some food. Gratefully, he has let us sleep the last 2 nights. On Friday night, he slept from about 3 - 7 and last night he slept from about 1:30 - 6. Yay Miles!!!

We know that he has a growth spurt coming up in the next couple of days - and growth spurts mean the need for more food (called cluster feeding) at all times during the day and night. But for now, we are grateful for the sleep we have been given - as we are starting to feel human again.

Week 2 - Miles Second Dr. Appointment

We're happy to report that Miles is doing great! He has steadily gained weight - now weighing in at a monster 7.5lbs; half a pound over his birth weight. He's also added a half an inch on his height; from 20in to 20.5in. His color is good, he's exhibiting all normal signs of a two week old.

Good news from Dr....we can now let Miles dictate when we feed him. Up until now, we've been keeping to a feed once every 3hrs; setting alarms thru the night and waking him to make sure he gets his. We still need to make sure he is getting a minimum of 8 feeds during a 24hr period. Dr. says we can now let him sleep as long as he wants, which means we will sleep more...hopefully.

Lina had a list of questions ranging from "Is it normal for him to sneeze as much as he does?" to "Are those white dots on his nose normal?"; all of which were answered and we have been assured all is normal.

Lina has her first postpartum appointment this afternoon. Trust all will go well.

Both Mom and Dad are tired...but it looks like we've hit a major sleep milestone!!

More Photos at Flickr

More here!

8 days... holy cow

Wow - it's been an amazing blur. I can't believe our little man is 8 days old. He is doing great and seems to be settling into our household. It appears as if he is well fed (read: craps a LOT) and is sleeping incredibly well. We actually have to wake him up every 3 hours in the night to make him feed - it seems contrary to any instinct to wake a sleeping baby.

Some highlights of the last week:

• - He had his first doctor's appointment and is doing great. No signs of jaundice and his weight is actually up from his discharge weight.
• - My milk is in... OUCH! Enough said.
• - Having said he would never change a diaper, Tim has changed all diapers but 3. He has been peed on numerous occasions, but still volunteers to do the changing. There is something very different when to poop is your son's and all you want to do is get him clean - the task at hand is less about the poop and more about his comfort.
• - We're slowly getting into a routine with sleeping and feeding, and are finding that we get around 6 hours of sleep a night, which is a lot, I take it.
  
• - Dado and Beebles (my parents) flew out from CT to make Mile's acquaintance. They have spent as much time holding him as they have cleaning kitchens and stocking fridges -- all of which is greatly appreciated!
• - He had his first sponge bath! Grandma (Tim's mom) read up on how best to give an infant a bath and led us through the process. Her leadership, tenderness, and expertise were incredibly appreciated!
• - He has had several loving visits from Grandma and Grandpa, each of whom have a hard time being in the room with him and not holding him. They are so great with him that it is hard not to feel lucky to have in-laws so fabulous and so close!
• - Miles met his great grandfather today! Grandpa Joe is out here visiting Grandma and Grandpa and they stopped in today for a quick visit on their way through to Reno for the weekend.
• - Miles met his great aunt Patsy and Uncle George - my Dad's sister.

We're all doing great - though exhausted. It's amazing how much he has changed in 8 days. It is going so quickly! We have aspirations of more blogging and posting photos, but sometimes the nap takes priority.

Well, I have a crying baby on our hands who is pining for his next feeding... demanding little guy when he wants to be. Stay tuned. We'll do our best to keep the updates coming!!

Video #1

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video must be a million.

The labor story...

So for those of you who may be actually interested in Miles' journey into being, here is a quick recap of Thursday.

• - I woke up around 3:30 with a contraction. I woke Tim up around 4:00 with the next one. We lay in bed for about an hour timing how far apart they were where is dawned on us that this was really starting to happen.
• - Around 5:00 we came downstairs to get comfy in front of the TV, get some food, and get settled into waiting until the contractions were close enough to go to the hospital and not get sent home.
• - Around 11:00, we started to motivate a bit more. We took showers and pulled the last things into our bags.
  
• - Around 12:00, my contractions quickly worsened. Apparently my reaction to the pain was nausea and it wasn't the first time I would lose my lunch that day. At which point, Tim and I thought it was time to call the doctor... who thought it was time to head to the hospital.
• - When we arrived, I had a contraction while checking in. "Follow me Caroline to room number 12.... after your contraction." It was very odd to be standing in a hallway surrounded by doctors and nurses who all thought that contractions were the most normal thing ever and no need to be concerned.
• - We passed the exam and were quickly admitted... but then came the wait. Apparently, lots of blood needed to be drawn, questions answered, IVs administered etc, all in between contractions that were about 2 - 3 minutes apart and causing me to puke... it was a super-fun time.
• - Once the IV was in place (third time is a charm!), I got a quick hit of fentenol, a morphine relative. This took the edge of the pain, and Tim noticed a dramatic lightening of the squeeze on his hand with each contraction. I wasn't out of pain, but I didn't seem to care as much.
• - About 2 hours after we arrived, I finally got my epidural. Wow, what a difference. Within minutes, I was cracking jokes with the doctors and the nurses having a great go of things. Though I tremendously respect those women that have a natural birth, I can't figure out why you would want to - love me some drugs!!!
• - Then we just waited, and waited, and waited until we could start to push.
• - Around 8:40, it was time to go. My first several pushes were really productive and everyone was optimistic that we would get through this quickly.
  
• - But that wasn't to be the case. Miles seemed to have gotten stuck at my pelvis bone, the last hurdle before life. After about an hour and a half, the midwife grew concerned and put in a call to the doctor who then joined in the fun for observation. They let me keep at it well after 2 hours. I was determined not to have a c-section and kept telling everyone that I had more in me.
  
• - At about 2 1/2 hours, we seemed to have had a break through and the pushing was becoming more productive. The environment in the room immediately changed from "we're going to have to stop this soon" to "let's put on our dressing gowns!"
• - At 11:43, the reason for the stall in pushing became clear: his little head emerged with a little hand - waving to this new world and announcing his presence. "Tada! I am here!!!!" I have this visual in my head of a gymnast's dismount searching for the perfect 10 - which he got as far as I am concerned!!!
  

After they gave him to us, I spent the first couple of minutes staring into his eyes and falling in love - then I spent the next couple of minutes thanking the doctors and the nursing staff for letting me continue through the labor. The hospital staff was amazing and made the entire experience start to finish a warm, encouraging, and wonderful one. We were lucky, these same fabulous nurses went on strike today for 10 days... I am sure glad we delivered last week!!!!