Finally took down all the cards....

Jamie is 8 weeks old today and I have only just taken down all his cards. This is mainly because they have still been arriving - the last one coming last Saturday. Can you believe he got a grand total of 73 cards - that's more than I got for my 40th!!

Tonight we are going out for the first time on our own without Jamie and Nanna is babysitting. I have had my 6 week check with the Dr and I seem to be back on track. She mentioned my stitches may make things feel a little 'tighter'. Not sure about me and daddy, but I hope Jamie behaves himself as he has been all up and down with regards to his feeding and sleeping over the last few days - consequently I may need more make up than usual when we go out tonight!

Returning to Pre-Pregnancy Size....

This week I joined weight watchers in order to try and shift the 2+ stone I am still carrying about. My pre-pregnancy weight was 10 stone 11, and I currently weight 12 stone 8 and a half!! The last time I weighed myself during the pregnancy - which I think was a few weeks before Jamie arrived - I weighed 13 and a half!! I have said I should like to loose 2 stone by Christmas which is 32 weeks (til Christmas Day!) so that is feasible!! I have done all my measurements, started to reduce portion sizes and calorie content, and just need to find some time (and energy) to fit some exercise into my routine!!

I am no longer expressing breast milk so Jamie will not suffer as a result of my diet. A lot of people mentioned while I was pregnant the fact that breastfeeding helps you to loose weight. I am not sure whether or not this is actually true or another 'fact' that they tell you in order to try to persuade you. I do feel that I have a certain amount of guilt attached to myself at the mo. because I am not breastfeeding!! Jamie seems happy enough and is certainly gaining weight at a rapid rate so I don't think it has done him any harm!! He had his 6 week check yesterday and all is perfect!! He is still waking quite a bit during the night and the Health Visitor suggested that he might not be hungry but might actually just have wind. She suggested giving him gripe water before each feed to help with his wind!

Remember....

You'll never have enough money to buy all the stuff you don't really need, and you'll never have enough time to do all the things you really don't want to do. www.timetowrite.blogs.com/

Sylvia Plath: On seeing her newborn baby

What did my fingers do before they held him?
What did my heart do, with its love?
I have never seen a thing so clear.
His lids are like the lilac flower
And soft as a moth, his breath.
I shall not let go.
There is no guile or warp in him.
May he keep so.

Sylvia Plath
(Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices – 1962)

Due Date

Today is Jamie’s official due date. But of course he will be 5 weeks old on Saturday. He now weighs 7lb 5oz (weighed Tuesday) and is gaining at a steady rate!! (Normal rate = 4-7oz a week). He has outgrown most of the ‘Tiny Baby’ clothes that he has been wearing since hospital and has moved up to ‘Newborn’ – but not for much longer I think! Visitors in the last few days have all commented on how much he has grown – chiefly because he has recently become a total milk monster!! I am still having the few odd tears but most of the time I do feel calmer. Daddy thinks the tears are because I have not really been out much (although I have had a number of visitors) and so today I have been trying to organise a few trips out for myself – with and without Jamie. Nanna has agreed to baby-sit for us in a few weeks, and today she fed and changed her grandson for the first time! One friend who visited this week told of a new mother who had a conversation with her about buying sausages – I don’t want this to happen to me. I can already feel my brain turning into a slow mush and I have had trouble remembering words; so I know I need to get out and interact with people other than my son. Daddy says this will also make me appreciate him more when I return. I have also given up on the dream of being a total earth mother and resigned myself to the fact that Jamie is not going to breast feed and he actually seems to like formulae milk. I have consequently stopped expressing milk, but can feel proud that Jamie had the ‘good stuff’ for the first 5 weeks of his life. This has already helped with my sanity as it gives me a few more hours in the day. Information regarding my breasts returning to ‘normal’ on the internet range from anywhere between 3 days to 3 weeks. I can’t say he is in any form of routine yet but I do feel it has (so far) been easier than expected….and I am enjoying motherhood so far – honest!!

Home Duties

(Home Duties is what I have put on Jamie’s birth certificate as my occupation!)

I found the first few days on my own were quite stressful. It didn’t help that the Health Visitor visited the first day that Daddy returned to work and found me in tears. However, since then I have had a number of visitors which has filled our days, and I even ventured out for the first time on my own with Jamie. It was May’s last day at LCC so it wasn’t a long way to go and I felt so proud of myself that I was able to put in the take out the car seat by myself. Of course everyone was cooing over Jamie and it felt good to be back in the ‘real world’ for a while!

On Friday (1st May) I went to see the Dr for the first time – primarily to discuss contraception but also to get Jamie registered at the practice. On discharge from the hospital I was given some information (Paediatric Department: Discharge Summary and Prescription) to pass onto the GP and I had a quick peak…..

Method of Onset of Labour: Spontaneous rupture of membranes
1st Stage: 6hrs 45mins
2nd Stage: 32 mins (Full Dilation)
3rd Stage: 3 mins (Delivery of Placenta)

Apgar Score of 9 given after 1 and 5 minutes.
The Apgar score occurs right after your baby's birth in the delivery room. The test was designed to quickly evaluate a newborn's physical condition after delivery and to determine any immediate need for extra medical or emergency care. Five factors are used to evaluate the baby's condition and each factor is scored on a scale of 0 to 2, with 2 being the best score:
activity and muscle tone / pulse (heart rate) / grimace response (medically known as "reflex irritability") / appearance (skin coloration) / respiration (breathing rate and effort)

Scores obtainable are between 10 and 0, with 10 being the highest possible score. A baby who scores a 7 or above on the test at 1 minute after birth is generally considered in good health. However, a lower score doesn't necessarily mean that your baby is unhealthy or abnormal. But it may mean that your baby simply needs some special immediate care, such as suctioning of the airways or oxygen to help him or her breathe, after which your baby may improve. At 5 minutes after birth, the Apgar score is recalculated, and if your baby's score hasn't improved to 7 or greater, or there are other concerns, the doctors and nurses may continue any necessary medical care and will closely monitor your baby. Some babies are born with heart or lung conditions or other problems that require extra medical care; others just take a little longer than usual to adjust to life outside the womb. Most newborns with initial Apgar scores of less than 7 will eventually do just fine. http://kidshealth.org/parent/newborn/first_days/apgar.html

Sunday 26th April

The visitors who wanted to come last week came today. As there were two sets plus Nanna, I managed to get them all to come at once. This meant that it was quite noisy and chaotic for an hour or so but once they had all gone it meant we had more time to ourselves as a family and got to take a nice leisurely walk in the sun. I thought it would be a good idea to walk to the local pub and have a drink outside. I had forgot about the smoking ban which now means when you sit outside all you can smell is smoke!! Time to investigate some ‘family friendly’ pubs and restaurants!! One thing I remember being told in hospital is that after a cigarette, a smoker still has that smoke on/with them for 45mins afterwards – which a baby can breathe. We don’t have many friends / family that smoke but it certainly gives you something to think about; especially as smoking is one of the factors often mentioned with regards to cot death.

Monday 27th April Daddy’s last day of Paternity leave. The sun has disappeared and it’s raining. We were discharge from the Transitional Care Team and once again I thank them for their support.

I received my phone Bill for the last month and it was £47.79 – My Usual bill is about £15 !!