Dress Up

Corinne's room is upstairs (our bedroom is on the main level), so instead of carting her up and down the stairs each time she needs an outfit change, I took some basic clothes in her current size and kept them downstairs in our room.

Previously, she had preemie outfits and size newborn in the brands that run small (ie Gerber) residing in our bedroom. However within the last few days I've noticed that the Gerber newborn clothes are running tight on her. So, this weekend, I packed up all her preemie clothes and small newborn clothes and put them away. In their place I brought downstairs the other newborn clothes that run normal/big.

I remember the first time she wore some of those outfits in the NICU. They were so big on her that she was able to wear a long-sleeved undershirt under the onesie, and she was still swimming in it. I did set aside one outfit to put in her memory book. It was the first time I dressed her without assistance from a NICU nurse, and it was my favorite onesie on her:

I am the world's biggest sucker for onesies with funny statements on them. This one says "Could I be any cuter?"

Going back to today....for fun, I played dress up with her. Here she is in a 0-3 month dress:

Pretty in pink, tulle and giant oversized flower headband

She was not enthralled with the dress-up fun:

Not so happy camper

While the sack outfits are good in theory (nothing to un-snap/un-buckle during a diaper change); unfortunately, they continually ride up her body with each movement. And she's a squirmer.

Maybe it could work for a ghost costume. With ducks on it. A very scary duck ghost.

Totally un-related to anything dress-up-able, but this is a sweet picture:

Extreme Couponing: Procreation edition

According to my health insurance, you CAN put a price on love! This is what $290,000 will get you:

Let's take a look at the breakdown:
~Trying to conceive proceedures/meds/pregnancy losses: about $25,000
~Pregnancy doctor appointments/ultrasounds/tests: about $10,000 (those MFM ultrasounds really add up)
~Csection birth: $25,000
~NICU stay: $230,000
~~Insurance negotiated discount: -$56,000

Street value of one take home baby before negotiated discounts? About $290,000. Holy christ on a cracker. I think we just paid for a new hospital lobby. Just us.

My out of pocket expenses? About $6,000. It's like "Extreme Couponing: Procreation edition"

My insurance haaaaaates me.

NICU stay statement

It's official...I'm now one of "those" moms

You know, the kind that does not work and stays at home. Since Corinne was born so prematurely, her doctors heavily recommended to us that she not go to day care for the first year for health reasons. Instead, the best case scenario would be to have in-home day care (nanny). After researching the costs of a nanny, it made it not worth it for me to return to work. Pretty much, I would be giving up 50 hours a week with Corinne to bring home a bit more than minimum wage.

I spoke with my boss this week to try to work out alternative working arrangements (work from home 80% of the time, etc), but it's just not feasible with my position, and sadly, my company is not exactly progressive as it does not condone working from home scenarios. So, it's a done deal. I just need to send in my formal resignation letter to HR next week, turn in my badge, my corporate credit card (man, I'm going to miss that thing), my raz token, and clear out my desk.

So, the plan is to stay at home for a year, and then look to going back full time after that. I have mixed feelings about staying home.

I'm excited to be able to stay at home with Corinne and watch her grow. The thought of giving her up 50 hours a week to a relative stranger gives me the skiivies. When she has a fussy night and I barely get any sleep, it's nice to know that I don't have to get up with an alarm and be productive...instead, I can catch up on sleep later on throughout the day, napping when she naps.

I'll miss my job. I'll miss the social aspect of the people I work with. I'll miss coming home and talking to M about the interesting things that happened that day. Since I've been on leave, I ask how his day was each evening, and he tells me interesting stories. When he asks how my day was, I feel sub-par when I tell him that the most interesting thing that happened that day was cleaning up after Corinne peed all over the side of the packnplay. I'll miss being in charge of people, of being productive (I don't get much pride after completing a load of laundry). I'll miss having people seek me out to get my expertise or advice on a matter (which was 90% of my job...and I'll be honest...it was good for the ego). I'm afraid I'll turn into one of "those" stay at home moms who can't talk about anything other than their kids. I'm afraid I'll start to seriously consider the merits of a minivan. I'm afraid I'll start to say "Oh, staying at home is the most important job in the world" in an effort to make myself feel better. Actually, being in charge of the federal reserve is probably one of the most important jobs in the world. Let's face it...staying at home is not going increase or decrease M3 (anti-heterodox economics, I know).

M and I had the agreement that if someone stays home, that person takes care of the house. If he had a day off, I expected fresh laundry in my closet and a meal on the table, and vice versa as well. If I had a day off, I had dinner waiting for him, and a clean bathroom. So, now that I'm the one "at home", my job is to take over the household chores (minus the litter box...that is one chore I'm not doing). Before, the chores were pretty evenly split 50/50. If he left his dishes out, I'd call him on it to take care of it. But now, my job is to take care of it. I'm afraid that I'll start to feel like domestic help instead of a partner.

From the looks of it...maybe taking care of the house IS a full time job. What used to be a family room, and now has turned into a disarrayed baby blanket/toy/item museum of sorts:

But, I'm banking on the fact that the below little 7lb ball of cuteness is going to heavily outweigh the cons.

Adventures in Boobland

My life now revolves around the fleshy ladies...and not in a "look at me, aren't I sexy" sort of way. Half of my days now are spent with my boobs bared to the world. Good thing we don't have nosy neighbors.

My mom has been visiting for the last three weeks. I had 3 goals while she was here:
1) Get some sleep (afternoon naps while she babysits are going to be sorely missed)
2) Pump as much as possible to get my dwindling milk supply up (since Corinne likes to be held all the time, it was nice to have someone available to hold her while I pumped)
3) Move Corinne from taking her milk from the bottle to the breast

The Results:

I have acquired some excellent naps in the last three weeks. Good God, I love sleep. LOOOOOVE IT.

I increased my pumping sessions and spent a fair amount on herbs that are supposed to "naturally increase your milk supply". The main pill is Fenugreek. I was told that I would know I'm taking enough when my armpits start to smell like maple syrup. Well, after about two weeks of popping the Fenugreek, I am proud to report that I now smell like a pancake house on a Sunday morning. I bought it the day M and I went to see Harry Potter. (FANastic movie, by the way.) My supply went up, and I'm now able to freeze an additional 2-3oz of milk a day beyond what Corinne eats. Score!!

Within the last week and a half, Corinne is starting to get the whole "nursing on the boob" is more awesomer (my blog, I'll make up words as I please thankyouverymuch). She doesn't choke/get reflux like she does with the bottle. Burping is a minimal affair.

It was hard getting her to take the boob and not the bottle, but persistence paid off (and a few tears were shed along with "Fvck...I don't want to do this anymore" thoughts). In the last 10 days, we've gone from "Good God, get that thing out of my face and mouth" screams to where she actively seeks the boob out and get agitated until a boob goes in her mouth. I'm using a nipple shield, which is supposed to "ease the transition from the bottle to the breast" according to my lactation consultant. So, breastfeeding still requires an additional step of preparation. I have to wash and adhere the shield before use. Then, when Corinne gets "mahhhd!" and rips the shield off, I have to readjust, and reapply. The next step is to wean her from the nipple shield to the bare nipple. Sigh. Transitions suck. Right now, she wouldn't know what to do with a naked nipple even if it poked her in the eye (and it has...more than once). Darwin must be having a field day with her.

Currently, we're down to three bottles of day, and two of those are her medicine/vitamin bottles (I mix about 1/2-1oz of breastmilk with her meds to get her to eat them).  I still pump about 2-3 times a day. But, man, life is so much easier delivering her food via the boob instead of the bottle....as long as I'm at home.

In order to get her to nurse, it requires a nice chair, a boppy pillow, a rag as she eats on her side, and the extra milk dribbles out the side of her mouth, soaking me and her....the rag helps to minimize this. I tried nursing her today wearing an "appropriate for public" shirt while sitting in a chair without the boppy. Epic fail. So, if I do want to nurse (at least now), I can pretty much only do it at home.

We are headed to a wedding a 2 hour plane flight away in two weeks....I'm wondering how I'm going to nurse while I'm there. I'll all for nursing in public, but I had envisioned wearing a chic nursing cover, and minimal fuss. I'm afraid I'm going to spend the entire time in the hotel room with my boob out, since right now, I require so much "set up". I don't know how I'm going to do it on the plane or at the airport. Sigh.

"Change me and then feed me, woman. Make it snappy."

Out & About

Knowing that we'll have to go into more "lockdown" mode once RSV/flu season arrives, I'm taking advantage of the low chance of flus/colds by getting out of the house:

First trip to the grocery store

Cooling off at the fountains

First walk around the block (and momma with a stylin' hat)

First time at the pool

After that much activity, one needs a bath to clean the day off

Refueling

Taking a snooze with the seahorse who, I have been told, is the equivalent of "baby crack".

Best seat in the house according to Corinne AND the cat

There are two cats in this picture. Kitty is freaking out about the uninvited guest who was sitting on *her* windowsill

Happy 2 month birthday, Corinne!

Well, two months actual age...her "adjusted age" is one day before she was supposed to be born.

M and I are celebrating her 2 month birthday by leaving her with a babysitter (grandma) and we're going to go have date night. Well, we were supposed to go out for M's birthday, but Corinne decided to make her entrance into the world, so needless to say, M's birthday dinner got put on the back burner.

M and I headed out to dinner (Corinne stayed home):

So far, she does most of the stuff a newborn is famous for: eat (when she's calm, feeding time is nice...when she's not calm, feeding time is hell), poop (we're slowly killing the earth...one disposable diaper at a time), and sleep (but only when she's being held by someone). Although right now, she's sleeping by herself in the rock n play. I bet M it wouldn't last for more than 10 minutes. She likes looking at these black and white jingly toys which grandma bought for her the other day. The cat is going to get an awesome hand me down gift when Corinne outgrows the toy (whenever it jingles, the cat looks at it longingly). I have one hanging from the mobile over the packnplay, one hanging from the tummy time/activity mat, and one in the diaper bag. I'm seriously considering buying more. They are great!!

Today, we tried nursing again (with the nipple shield) with the tips learned from the lactation consultant yesterday. During yesterday's lactation appointment, she took 24cc from the breast (there are 30cc in an ounce) using the nipple shield. They weigh her (in grams) before and after a feeding. Each cc is equal to one gram. She fed at the right breast for about 30 minutes and the left one (my gimpy boob) for about 15 minutes. I gave her a bottle afterwards to "top her off" and she ate 2 oz from the bottle, so I'm thinking she ate 0.5-1 oz from the tap. We don't have a handy dandy gram scale to put her on. I can't wait until I can say goodbye to the bottle and she can just feed naturally. I hate pumping, cleaning, and prepping all the crap that is needed for bottle feeding. It lengthens the feeding time by double. Not to mention, if I want to go out in public, I need to bring a cooler, prepared bottles, nipples, etc. I'd love to downsize to just bringing a nursing cover. I really don't understand why anyone who CAN breastfeed chooses not to.

Yesterday, at the lactation appointment, Corinne weighed 6.02 pounds (with diaper). We'll see what she weighs at the pediatrician appointment on Monday.

On a side note, we're taking advantage of having grandma here, so M and I are going to see Harry Potter #7.2 tomorrow morning when all the good southerners are in church. Hopefully, we'll be able to avoid some of the crowds that way. It will just be us and the other heathens. I can't wait!!!!! I know I should start reading to Corinne...think she'd enjoy being read Harry Potter?

We went to the pool for the first time today. Here are Grandma and Corinne at the pool:

And, some pictures of cuteness:

Birth Announcement

Officially introducing Corinne (because nothing makes it more official than personalized stationary):

It has her "born" stats and her "welcomed home" stats.

The New Babysitter

I forget if I mentioned this before, but the girl likes to be held. She won't sleep/hang out in the crib, bassinet, rock n play, or really anywhere. Instead, she'll cry and fuss until someone picks her up. As long as she's being held, she's a perfect little farting angel (OMG....the farts...she would give a trucker a run for his money; I'm blaming it on the formula I have to mix with the breastmilk to increase her calorie count).

A friend recently gave us a tummy time mat. She's been happily cooing away on it for the last 90 minutes. Which means, I actually have two free hands so I can update this blog.



Socks are a lost cause at this point.



Kitty Zen Picture of the Day

Despite the fact that it is 90+ degrees today and humid, the cat finds the spot on the floor where the sun is coming through:

I tried laying Corinne down next to the cat. The cat will tolerate Corinne, and will even sniff her on occasion, but Corinne actually *touching* her royal fur? Well, that just won't do. The cat tried to escape.