Adventures in monkeyland

I've been a bit busy but have been meaning to write my first experiences of being a new Mum.  I can't believe 11 days have already flown by!  Since it's been so long, I'm going to do point form instead of trying to recall each day (would be impossible anyhow!)

Leaving the Hospital

Clayton's parents were in town a few days later and my parents arrived from the Island that week too.  My Parents were to stay with us, and originally Mom was going to stay for a week and Dad would return back home but Mom was sick with a bad cold and didn't get to cuddle with Mason much.  Clayton's parents visited once the house was empty.  My Mom told me I wouldn't want visitors right away (like Parents are considered 'visitors) and I disagreed.  However in hindsight, I probably would wait maybe a week to get oriented (as a new parent) before having anyone stay over night.  Not only did I not know how the nights would progress, my Parents didn't get much sleep either.  Made for a slightly tense household.

The Baby

There were initial concerns over Mason's bladder function as he wasn't peeing as much as he should of by 48 hours.  Finally we got a full diaper and put that one to rest.  Until the Health Nurse came to visit a few days later.  There were small urate crystals in his diaper which indicated dehydration but as she witnessed, he was feeding (I was keeping a schedule) my milk was coming in and he looked healthy.  When she weighed him, we were quite concerned to see his weight had dropped beyond the 10% allowance in the first few days.  I breastfed while she was here and with a bit of breast manipulation we were able to increase his weight (in a matter of 20 minutes!) to an acceptable decline of 9%.  Still he needed to be monitored.  Unfortunately since that visit, the feed schedule went wonky and my breasts seemed to stop giving as much milk and Mason was growing impatient.  As my Parents had left and Clayton's sister Faye had arrived from Edmonton, we figured now would be a good time to get a breast pump so we were a bit more mobile.  This was a great and bad idea.  Great because of the mobility and because we were able to see just how much milk Mason was consuming.  As soon as I started to bottle feed him, his diapers were full and he seemed very happy.  His sleeping patterns improved and he was sleeping better through the night (Less fussing).  The second visit to the Health Nurse proved that his weight was increasing and they were satisfied he had overcome this weight issue.  The bad side of bottle feeding was that I couldn't get him back on the breast.  Then the worst came a few days ago when even with pumping my breasts didn't put out much (average was 2oz for both) and I didn't have enough milk to feed him.  I finally hit peak frustration, the tears came and I reluctantly (and with much guilt) asked Clayton to go to the Pharmacy to pick up formula.  I still am not sure why I am so against formula however I feel breast milk is best and felt like a failure for not being able to feed my son.  Another thing is that formula is extremely expensive and the kind we bought was instant feed however anything Mason didn't drink had to be thrown away (why, I don't know) and I felt that was a waste of money.  The amount of formula is more than he consumes in one sitting.  We went through 3 bottles and that gave me enough rest (as Clayton got to feed little boy) and my milk supply finally came back to normal.  So I'm now trying all three, pumping most of the time, using formula only at emergencies and still trying to get him on the breast.  It's a lot more work than I anticipated!  Once we overcame this hurdle and had a few great doctor appts (Mason is very healthy and shows no other signs of issues) my stress level decreased.  The only medical thing left for Monkey is to have his hearing checked as his right ear passed the testing in the hospital however the left ear was inconclusive and requires extra testing.  They were supposed to call me to make an appointment and despite following up with them on  Monday, I still haven't heard from them.

Aside from that stuff, Mason is a happy little guy and I have to say Clayton and I spend a lot of time holding and watching him.  He loves falling asleep in our arms and being cuddled.  I love his baby smell and can't help myself from nomming his little neck and cheeks.

Me

I am still amazed and impressed on how my body handled pregnacy and the birth.  The next day after we were released from the hospital I was out running quick errands.  People thought I was nuts!  I felt fine! (And no I didn't crash days later).  I just felt like I was on a high and as long as I didn't overdo it, I was fine!  The other surprsing thing (Sorry, I have to brag) is that my pre-preg weight has fallen off....all of it and then some!  I gained about 20lbs in total and I am about 22lbs lighter than I was before I got pregnant.  That's not to say my body has returned to it's pre-preg state.  My old clothes do not fit (wider hips) and I have this poochy belly I hate but I will wait the recommended 6 weeks before I start any exercise regimen and will get my mommy butt on the Wii Fit (Valentines Day prezzie from Clayton) and get back in shape.  Well I was never IN shape but get in better shape :)  Emotionally I would say I'm average, I have my teary moments where the experience of being a new Mum is overwhelming, exciting and amazing at the same time.  I think because I wanted to be a Mum for soooo long that I just naturally jumped into the role and feel like this is where I belong and I couldn't be happier.

Us

Clayton and I have been doing really well as a team, we truly are partners.  He is very hands on and completely in love with his Son.  They have a lot of skin to skin sessions and there are times when Mason is fussy and I've gone through the 'list' (feed, change and burp) and he still is not content and then Clayton gets home, I pass the baby to him and within minutes Mason is calm and happy.  I'm not jealous by any means, I think it's really sweet.  We love 'family time' where we will lay in bed with the baby between us or in one of our arms and just cuddle for hours, stare at Mason and talk about how great being new Parents is!

Other notes & rants