john's version of a nursery rhyme:
patty cake patty cake baker's man
bake me a cake as fast as you can
roll it
and toss it
and...
[long pause and an "uhhhh"]
...put it in the oven for an hour at 350.
i like it better.
cry me a river
Thursday, September 24, 2009
We've come to learn Harper's cries!
Well, most of them. Most of the time.
Hungry Cry:
Imagine a little lamb bleeting. Now replace the 'B' from baa, with an M. Maa!! Maaaa! Maaaaaa! Very very cute. It's a cry I don't mind hearing.
Her Mad Cry. Or as I like to call it, "Bulls on Parade":
It's like winding up a toy. You wind it to its max and then you release it. When Harper is pissed she holds it in while it builds and when she lets go it is loud and mad and she turns bright red. Her voice strains and her body tenses. It is big cry for a tiny baby. When ever I hear this cry "Bulls on Parade" plays in my head. Don't ask me why. But my guess would be a mad song matching a mad cry.
Lonely Cry:
When she notices she is all alone in a room she starts whimpering. She kicks her little legs like she is riding a bike and whines. It starts off quiet but quickly gets louder. It builds till you pick her up and give her lovins. She usually starts smiling right away. :)
Hurt Cry:
This cry breaks my heart. She opens her eyes and her little chin and mouth quiver as she cries. It's not as loud as the mad cry. It's a hurt cry. I don't know how else to explain it. When she has a tummy ache or gas and we can't fix it and she has been crying for awhile she calms down, but has a look in her eyes like she has been defeated. Poor baby!!! It really is heartbreaking.
Tired Cry. Or "Gentleman, Start your Engines":
This one makes me laugh. She sounds like an engine revving. WhAAaaAAaaAAaa! MmmmMmmmMmm! WhAAaaAAaaAA! Hilarious. And when we have to bounce her to sleep it only intensifies.
It's amazing how they still manage to communicate by crying. Although we are really looking forward to when she can tell us what she wants by using her words.
got milk?
Monday, September 14, 2009
I do.
And apparently I have too much.
Yesterday John noticed Harper's poo wasn't her normal color and consistency. We thought nothing of it and went about our day as normal. Last night, well around 3 am, as I was feeding her she seemed to be having a very hard time latching on and was extremely cranky and frustrated. Again, I just thought maybe she was tired (like me :) ) and having a hard time eating. She was screaming and her face was bright red as she was trying to eat. I could tell she was pissed and hungry and just couldn't seem to work it out. She ate a tiny bit, I swaddled her, calmed her down and we both went back to bed.
This morning as I was trying to feed her I noticed something was a little off. You see, babies love love love to be with their moms while they are eating. Harper even seems to dink around while eating just so she can stay with me longer. She smiles and falls asleep and takes her sweet time. This morning it was like she hated being there with me. She wouldn't stop screaming and was flailing her arms all over. She would latch on, eat for a minute then pull off, screaming. This happened every time I fed her today. To top it off she was cranky and irritable all day and wouldn't sleep and barely ate. -That makes for one unhappy Harper.
This evening while John was changing her diaper (in the middle of another screaming fit) he noticed her poo was extremely different in color and consistency. I googled it and instantly we found our answer:
Mom's who make too much milk can have babies that suffer from not getting enough "hindmilk"-The fatty portion of the milk. They get full before they get to the fatty part.
All of our symptoms matched me and Harper to a T. The irritability. The unhappiness while eating. The green poo. The choking and gasping for air while eating. Even the symptoms for me. It was so exciting to figure out what was wrong with our baby. We pulled out some of the milk we had froze, put it into a bottle and she guzzled it down instantly and quickly and has been sleeping ever since.
So I have to stop pumping for a couple days to slow my production and do something called "blockfeeding" which I don't understand enough about to explain. But I know the jist of it is to feed on 1 side several times before switching to the other. Things should be back to normal in a couple days.
Karen (John's mom) brought to my attention how incredible it is that Harper instinctively knew that milk wasn't good enough for her. How God made our bodies to signal us when something is wrong. As soon as she tasted the milk we had frozen, she drank it, cause it was good and had what she needed and she knew it.
I kinda wonder if there is actually any biological reason her poo is green when she doesn't get enough hindmilk. It wouldn't surprise me if it's only to warn us something is wrong.
Thank God for green shit.
And apparently I have too much.
Yesterday John noticed Harper's poo wasn't her normal color and consistency. We thought nothing of it and went about our day as normal. Last night, well around 3 am, as I was feeding her she seemed to be having a very hard time latching on and was extremely cranky and frustrated. Again, I just thought maybe she was tired (like me :) ) and having a hard time eating. She was screaming and her face was bright red as she was trying to eat. I could tell she was pissed and hungry and just couldn't seem to work it out. She ate a tiny bit, I swaddled her, calmed her down and we both went back to bed.
This morning as I was trying to feed her I noticed something was a little off. You see, babies love love love to be with their moms while they are eating. Harper even seems to dink around while eating just so she can stay with me longer. She smiles and falls asleep and takes her sweet time. This morning it was like she hated being there with me. She wouldn't stop screaming and was flailing her arms all over. She would latch on, eat for a minute then pull off, screaming. This happened every time I fed her today. To top it off she was cranky and irritable all day and wouldn't sleep and barely ate. -That makes for one unhappy Harper.
This evening while John was changing her diaper (in the middle of another screaming fit) he noticed her poo was extremely different in color and consistency. I googled it and instantly we found our answer:
Mom's who make too much milk can have babies that suffer from not getting enough "hindmilk"-The fatty portion of the milk. They get full before they get to the fatty part.
All of our symptoms matched me and Harper to a T. The irritability. The unhappiness while eating. The green poo. The choking and gasping for air while eating. Even the symptoms for me. It was so exciting to figure out what was wrong with our baby. We pulled out some of the milk we had froze, put it into a bottle and she guzzled it down instantly and quickly and has been sleeping ever since.
So I have to stop pumping for a couple days to slow my production and do something called "blockfeeding" which I don't understand enough about to explain. But I know the jist of it is to feed on 1 side several times before switching to the other. Things should be back to normal in a couple days.
Karen (John's mom) brought to my attention how incredible it is that Harper instinctively knew that milk wasn't good enough for her. How God made our bodies to signal us when something is wrong. As soon as she tasted the milk we had frozen, she drank it, cause it was good and had what she needed and she knew it.
I kinda wonder if there is actually any biological reason her poo is green when she doesn't get enough hindmilk. It wouldn't surprise me if it's only to warn us something is wrong.
Thank God for green shit.
A time for pain and a time to heal
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The rest of Harper's belly button scab fell off today! It has completely grossed me out from the very beginning. On her very 1st appointment I asked the doctor to cut the clip off cause changing her diaper and having to see it made me queasy. And when the leftover "pinched skin" scab fell off I didn't even look at it, my mom just told me it happened. But I didn't get off completely free... as I was feeding her today the remainder of the bloody part fell off and onto my lap. I flicked it off instantly! But it was fun looking at her belly button for the 1st time!!! Man, am I relieved that process is through. I wonder if she'll be an inny or an outie?!?
Harper gets her shots next month and we need to research which ones we do and don't want her to have. The list they gave us had about a dozen immunizations and we have a hard time believing she needs all of them. We will keep you posted about what we choose.
I had my postpartum check up today. Everything is healing up really well! She said almost all of the stitches are gone! I have lost all but 4 pounds of my pregnancy weight and we talked about our birth control options. I have been having nightmares about being pregnant again. I am just not ready to relive it yet!!! Our doctor gave us info about an IUD and to our surprise insurance covers the cost 100%! So we have an appointment at the end of October, we just need to decide which IUD is right for us. In the meantime, it's back on the pill for me.
We are doing good. Harper is getting so big and already trying to crawl when we lay her on her tummy. My healing process is almost complete and I'm so thankful because it has been tedious. John is an amazing father with a 6th sense about what Harper needs. Right know he is teaching his mom what she likes and doesn't like when she is fussy. :) Breast feedng is still going very well and Harper sleeps on average aout 5 hours straight in a night!
We have many friends right now that are pregnant and as EXCITED as we are for them, I am so thankful I'm not pregnant anymore. We'll want to be pregnant again someday. But someday is not today.
Fun Fact: All but 1 of the girls that were in our wedding are pregnant/expecting a baby!!!
Harper gets her shots next month and we need to research which ones we do and don't want her to have. The list they gave us had about a dozen immunizations and we have a hard time believing she needs all of them. We will keep you posted about what we choose.
I had my postpartum check up today. Everything is healing up really well! She said almost all of the stitches are gone! I have lost all but 4 pounds of my pregnancy weight and we talked about our birth control options. I have been having nightmares about being pregnant again. I am just not ready to relive it yet!!! Our doctor gave us info about an IUD and to our surprise insurance covers the cost 100%! So we have an appointment at the end of October, we just need to decide which IUD is right for us. In the meantime, it's back on the pill for me.
We are doing good. Harper is getting so big and already trying to crawl when we lay her on her tummy. My healing process is almost complete and I'm so thankful because it has been tedious. John is an amazing father with a 6th sense about what Harper needs. Right know he is teaching his mom what she likes and doesn't like when she is fussy. :) Breast feedng is still going very well and Harper sleeps on average aout 5 hours straight in a night!
We have many friends right now that are pregnant and as EXCITED as we are for them, I am so thankful I'm not pregnant anymore. We'll want to be pregnant again someday. But someday is not today.
Fun Fact: All but 1 of the girls that were in our wedding are pregnant/expecting a baby!!!
Abuela
Monday, September 7, 2009
John's mom, Karen came from Nicaragua Saturday night to meet Harper! We were really looking forward to having her come, but super, super excited to have her meet Harper. Her 1st and only grandbaby!
The minute Karen saw her she kissed her, talked to her and held her. She had been waiting for 3 weeks to meet her and she said her heart was aching to hold her. It was a very sweet moment to witness. And John and I were very happy Harper was wide awake and in a good mood when she met her Grandma.
So one more down and A LOT more to go. -People that have yet to meet her :)
Kansas, Colorado, Nicaragua, Indiana, Texas, California. Lotsa love from lotsa different places. Harper needs a couple of those T shirts that say "Somebody in .... loves me!"
The minute Karen saw her she kissed her, talked to her and held her. She had been waiting for 3 weeks to meet her and she said her heart was aching to hold her. It was a very sweet moment to witness. And John and I were very happy Harper was wide awake and in a good mood when she met her Grandma.
So one more down and A LOT more to go. -People that have yet to meet her :)
Kansas, Colorado, Nicaragua, Indiana, Texas, California. Lotsa love from lotsa different places. Harper needs a couple of those T shirts that say "Somebody in .... loves me!"
harper sucks.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
only literally!!!!
she learned how to suck on a binky on tuesday and today she learned how to eat from a bottle!!!
Establishing the breastfeeding before introducing the binky and bottle is very important or else babies get confused with how to suck. 3 weeks old is usually a safe time to give them the other stuff. When babies breastfeed they suck using the back of their mouths and when they bottle feed they suck with the front of their mouths. And it seemed like it was exactly right timing because the breastfeeding really turn a huge corner just this week. It's a pretty big accomplishment for a little baby. It took her a couple hours to figure out the binky and only a couple minutes to learn the bottle.
Surprisingly, I was a little concerned with the bottle feeding. I was nervous she would feel abandoned by me, although we're only feeding her with a bottle when we go out and 1 of the nighttime feedings. But I've already fed her once since her 1st bottle feeding and she did perfect. 3 weeks ago I never would have guessed I would enjoy breastfeeding. It came as a complete shock to me.
We are very proud of Harper for doing so well! It's funny to me how proud parents get of their little ones for the tiniest things. We praise her for a good burp, a big poo, sleeping for more than 2 hours, holding her head up, being awake for so much, for smiling and the list could go on and on. We even praise her for her loud cries. She's got some lungs on her!!!
If you want to see her eating from a bottle for the 1st time you can go to youtube.com/familyosburn.
she learned how to suck on a binky on tuesday and today she learned how to eat from a bottle!!!
Establishing the breastfeeding before introducing the binky and bottle is very important or else babies get confused with how to suck. 3 weeks old is usually a safe time to give them the other stuff. When babies breastfeed they suck using the back of their mouths and when they bottle feed they suck with the front of their mouths. And it seemed like it was exactly right timing because the breastfeeding really turn a huge corner just this week. It's a pretty big accomplishment for a little baby. It took her a couple hours to figure out the binky and only a couple minutes to learn the bottle.
Surprisingly, I was a little concerned with the bottle feeding. I was nervous she would feel abandoned by me, although we're only feeding her with a bottle when we go out and 1 of the nighttime feedings. But I've already fed her once since her 1st bottle feeding and she did perfect. 3 weeks ago I never would have guessed I would enjoy breastfeeding. It came as a complete shock to me.
We are very proud of Harper for doing so well! It's funny to me how proud parents get of their little ones for the tiniest things. We praise her for a good burp, a big poo, sleeping for more than 2 hours, holding her head up, being awake for so much, for smiling and the list could go on and on. We even praise her for her loud cries. She's got some lungs on her!!!
If you want to see her eating from a bottle for the 1st time you can go to youtube.com/familyosburn.
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