Meighen

Today Meighen is three weeks old and she’s doing great. We’re up to 80 ml or so at each feeding. Most of it is still formula as I don’t think I’m producing that much milk – something to talk to the doctor about when we go back at the end of this week or beginning of next.

I’m doing a lot better. I keep hearing how people can’t believe how fast I’m recovering. I’m pretty much back to my old self – shlepping groceries, gardening, cleaning the house, driving, running errands etc. The antibiotics worked and the incision’s infection has cleared up. The remaining hole is starting to close up too. I think I’ve finally lost some of the stitches. It’s hard to tell since I can’t see the area and Ben said you really couldn’t see the stitches to begin with.

Me mere came back tonight with her husband to see Meggy before they head home tomorrow. They also brought with them 11 boxes of baby clothes from Ben’s cousin. She had a girl with her first baby and now has a little boy so she was kind enough to give us the girly stuff. I’ll have my work cut out for me this week going through it all. We don’t really have the space in her room for all these clothes so I’ll have to work out a rotation system. Right now all her clothes fit in three little fabric boxes on her change table shelves… not any more!

I’ve been working on the baby album Mom bought Meggy while I was in the hospital. I think I have most of what I can filled out so far. It’s been fun and will hopefully be a great keepsake for Meg. I still have to finish my “Belly Book” which is a pregnancy journal. Good thing I kept this blog going, that’s how I’m able to go back and fill it all out. Between our wedding and baby I’m starting quite the collection of photo albums and journals. I hope she appreciates them as she grows up.

Over the August long weekend Meggy will be going to her first cottage. One of my dearest friends Ali will be up at her cottage outside of Ottawa for the long weekend. She’s invited us up so she can meet Meighen. I can’t wait. Hopefully she and Ali’s son Seth grow up to be friends, or at least enough to get long at our annual visits. They’re seven months apart. Its great having a friend who’s also a new Mom, she’s a wonderful resource.

I think that’s about it for now. I need to beef up the photo album here on the blog. I’ll try to get to that this week. Right now all my Meighen pics are on facebook.

Wohoo!! Two Mommy milestones today.

First, I got my feet back!! Not just my toes but my ankles too! This is a good day. My wrists and arms looked thinner too so I tried on my wedding rings and BINGO – milestone two!! Oh how I’ve missed them. These are kind of the same milestone since they both deal with water retension but hey, I’m stoked!

Meggy’s doing well. There’s really nothing to report from the other day I posted. Ben’s Mom has been with us since yesterday and will be heading to his brothers tomorrow for a few days. Ben’s home today/tomorrow too so there’s been a lot of help. I even got to sleep last night… Ben took the night shift. The breastfeeding is going better too. We’re up to 4 or more feedings a day now.

Today was Meggy and me mere’s first time at Cora’s for breakfast. Mmmm so good. It’s totally pricey for breakfast but 100% worth it. We also booked our family (or maybe just baby) portrait session at Sears for Sunday the 27th. She’ll be a couple of days short of one month and they’re running a anniversary promotion that expires on the 31st. Talk about cutting it close.

Tomorrow Meighen will have been with us for two weeks. It’s going by fast but each day seems to go on forever, specially when she’s fussy. We’re very lucky that she sleeps for about six hours at a time at night… just when she starts that stretch is questionable. Sometimes it’s around midnight, other times its around 3 am or 4 am. Last night she finally calmed down around 4 am and slept till around 11 am. Ben and I took turns trying to calm her down and Ben even took her for a drive. Sometimes the poor kid just doesn’t want to sleep and wants to wail for hours on end… what can you do? Ben and I have both been surprised by the amount of patience I have. Last night was a bit of an exception but after a couple hours sleep I was fine for the next shift with the bawling Meggy. I can sit there for hours with her screaming in my ear while I swaddle her, change her, feed her, burp her and walk her. Lord knows how I’m doing it. I’m totally not a patient person in other situations.

I can’t believe how observant she is. When she’s calm and chilling she’s always staring at things and moving her head around to look at everything. It keeps her amused for up to an hour at a time. At Grandma’s house she loves the clock on the wall, it has a swinging pendulum. Meggy also loves So You Think You Can Dance. I watch it every week and often watch the repeats too. She usully gets a bit fussy when I’m trying to watch my favourite shows (of course) so I bounce around with her to the music the couples are dancing to. I can’t dance by any means but she seems to dig it, heh.

We all went to the doctor yesterday for her two week check up and everything’s still great. She’s almost back up to her birth weight (now at 8 lbs 6 oz – birth was 8 lbs 9 oz) and that’s normal for two weeks old. The doctor’s convinced she’s just fine. I’m a bit of a different story. My incision isn’t doing well and I have a bit of a gaping hole which is where all the fluid is leaking. I may also have a slight infection so I’ve been given antibiotics to nip it in the bud. We’ll see how it works and I go back on Friday for my own check up. Meggy’s good for another two weeks.

Breastfeeding is going a lot better. I’ve been trying every other time she feeds and she latches on great (after a few tries) and nurses for about 20 mins per breast. Shortly after she still wants a bit of a bottle but I’m sure that will change as I produce more milk. I’m glad it’s starting to happen – it’ll be so much easier than formula and pumping.

I’m starting to feel like a human being again. I can get out of bed with no pain now and my feet are finally going down. My toes and tops of the feet are back to normal and just have some swelling in the ankles left. I can drive and get in/out of the car almost perfectly and I’ve been getting back into my gardens. They’re a terrible mess and I haven’t touched them once this season. It’s been killing me but what can you do, some things have to be neglected when you’re pregnant or home with a newborn. I’ve done two of my eight gardens and my goal is to tidy up at least one a day when the weather permits. Today I finally vacuumed the house and got some laundry done. Ben’s been doing most of the laundry over the last few weeks – which has been a huge help. I’m glad I can finally get back to my old routine and take care of the daily chores… well most of them.

We’re back from Grandma’s and it was good to get away. The hospital bed, daily foot jacuzis and pedicure did my feet wonders. The swelling has actually gone down!! I wish I could say the same about my incision. It’s still leaking… boo! Otherwise I think I’m doing really good. I can get off chairs and couches without thinking twice about it and I can get myself out of bed semi-easily. My endurance is coming back and I can toodle around the mall and run short errands. Today was my first time behind the wheel since the day I was admitted to the hospital (two weeks ago). It felt good to drive and get out for a few minutes on my own. I knew what traveling with a child entailed but man, there’s so much crap to lug with you when you do!

While we were there Ben and I took in a movie – Wall-E. How cute! At one point Wall-E is pretty banged up and one little boy started crying and wailing – “What happened to Wall-Eeeeee?” Ben started laughing (as most adults in the theatre were). It was heartbreaking that the kid was upset but really cute at the same time.

Meighen’s doing great. We only had one bad night at Mom’s and she slept the others almost through. It’s not uncommon for her to sleep six hours overnight just waking up for food or a clean bum. I’m still formula feeing with a bit of breast milk. She’s still frustrated that she doesn’t get a mouthful when put to the breast so I’m pumping hoping to increase my supply and formula feeding as well. We’ll see how long this goes on for. I might end up giving up. I know “breast is best” but it’s exhausting!!

Ben’s brother and wife came by today to meet Meggy. They adore her already. My Aunt and cousin are coming this weekend to visit and that almost takes care of all the introductions. My girlfriend Ali is hoping to make it to Ontario for a long weekend or two over the summer and Ben and I will meet her in Ottawa so she can meet our little girl. Hopefully her son Seth and Meighen will hit it off and become friends when they grow up. That’d be really awesome. With today’s technology there’s limit to keeping in touch.

We have another doctor’s appointment on Friday and hopefully we’ll both pass whatever checks are in store.

Tomorrow Meighen will be one week old. It’s been a long but fast week! She’s doing amazing. She’s a really good eater, sleeper, pooper and mover. She sleeps through everything – thankfully. The dogs barking, car and office doors slamming, phone rining – nothing phases her. She’s fascinated by everything around her and can stare at things forever. She loves her hands and always has them around her face… she does the cutest things with them.

Meighen had her first doctor’s appointment yesterday and passed with flying colours. She’s gaining the right amount of weight (can’t remember what that is), her umbilical cord is close to coming off, she has great muscle tone and movement (this kid has a neck of steel!).

Grandma couldn’t stay when we got out of the hospital but she came back yesterday to look after baby for the night so Ben and I could sleep. She also came to look after me. Ben’s been doing an amazing job at cleaning my incision, changing the guaze, helping me up and down but of course Mom wants to help too. My body’s been though so much and it’s healing well but there have been a few inconvenient steps in the process. My incision is leaking like a demon. Hopefully it’s all my retained water leaving my body. It drains nicely during the day but then it comes out in floods at night. The first time couple times it happened I was so scared I popped a stitch or something else was wrong. Apparently not. I’ve also had problems breathing. They were monitoring it in the hospital. I don’t take in enough oxygen – which we knew. I woke up the other night and couldn’t breathe at all. I thought for sure Ben would have to take me back to the hospital. After about an hour it was back to normal. It seems to be the worst at night.

We’re heading to Grandma’s today for a few days and will be back on Tuesday. That way I can use Grandpa’s hospital bed to keep me elevated and oxygen if I stop breathing again. For those who don’t know my Dad has been really sick the last few years and his place is like a mini hospital. He feels terrible he hasn’t been able to make it down to meet his granddaughter. He’s been carrying her pic everywhere and showing it to everyone in town (they live in a small town so they know all the local vendors). He’s a proud grandpa. I can’t wait for him to meet her.

Finally she’s here… well she arrived around 8:50 am on Sunday June 29. After 45 hours of induction, 20 hours of labour and 2 hours of surgery our little Meighen is here. We ended up needing a c-section because my pelvis was too small for our big girl. She weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and we still don’t have an official length but she’s long. After she was born you could see the rings around her head from her trying to come out.

I’ve been in the hospital since last Thursday and can’t wait to go home tomorrow. It’ll be six days that I’ve been in here.

Meggy’s doing well. She has a big appetite and is eating often. The last couple days she’s been sleeping really well to, up to three hours at a time, wake to feed, then back to sleep for a few hours. She’s had a couple fussy fits lasting at least an hour but thankfully the nurses are here to rescue us. It’s either she needs more food, burping or a tighter swaddle. Things we’ll be able to manage at home with a bit of practice.

I’m healing pretty well. My stitches are looking good and I’m able to walk around with minimal discomfort, getting up is another story. We’ll see how I do tomorrow at home with all those stairs. She’s taken well to the breast but has been frustrated that she’s not getting enough milk fast enough. I’ve been using the hospitals pump but didn’t get much myself the first couple of tries. I think it was all the drugs I was on during labour. Since I couldn’t sleep tonight I thought I’d give it another try and guess what.. we got milk! Real milk, not just colostrum!! I’m super stoked. It wasn’t a feedings worth but it means that it’s coming in and it’ll only be a matter of time before there’ll be enough for her. I just have to keep the pumping up at home and we’ll be good! I’ll probably still do up a few bottles a day so it’s handy for traveling and for Ben to give her nightly feeds.

Ben’s been awesome. He’s spent every night with me and can’t wait to sleep in his own bed tomorrow (me too!) We tag team the nightly duties depending on who’s had more rest. I’m sure it’ll be hard when he goes back to work in two weeks and the bulk of the care giving will fall on my shoulders. As long as she keeps up the decent sleeping (wishful thinking I know) I’ll be ok. I have lots of great support.

So far our visitors have included my Mom and sister, Ben’s Dad, Aunt & Uncle. My Dad hasn’t been well enough to make it to the city but is planning on coming by on Saturday. Ben’s Mom will be in town in the middle of July to meet her newest granddaughter.

That’s about it for now. She’s almost done her before bed feeding and hopefully she’ll sleep for a couple hours.. I’m beat!