Category Archives: photos

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Week 10 : The Fuss-Maker

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fuss1

This past week will be known as The Week He Became a Demon Baby.

See, I thought we’d escaped all that crying, colicky stuff.  Serves me right for telling everyone how easy he is, and how he only cries when he needs something.  Oh, we’re tired, but this having a baby stuff is so simple – tra la la!

And then the all day fussing started.  About 10 days ago.  I originally attributed it to another growth spurt, but once we hit day 10 of me wanting to shove hot pokers through my ears & into my brain, I got it.  This was no growth spurt.

fuss2“Colic”?  MY baby, really?  Sigh.  We hold him, he’s happy for 10 minutes, then he cries.  Put him in the swing.  Happy for 10 minutes, then cries.  Put him on his mat.  Happy for 10 minutes and he cries.  I’ve tried everything.  I gave him a bath one day, followed by a massage, and he napped for an hour and a half. That’s unheard of.  He’s still not much of a napper, but we’re working on it.  Kid needs sleep.

So I thought BATHS! BATHS & MASSAGES ARE KEY!  I tried again the next day, but of course, it didn’t work again.  While he may look increasingly more like Chris every day*, his personality is mine, all mine.  Difficult.  Inconsistent.  Or maybe that’s just the “colic” talking.  On good days, he’s a huge bolt of sunshine.  In the morning & just before bed, he still coos and smiles, just to let us know he’s still in there.  But in between… OH, LORDY, THE CRYING.  THE CRYING THAT JUST NEVER GOES AWAY.

I went to the pediatrician today, just to be sure there wasn’t something else going on.  You know, something concrete & simple that could be fixed.  Nope.  No such luck.  Being the all natural person that I am, I was happy to accept a bottle of chamomile water & a recommendation to give him a pinch or two, each day, from my probiotic capsules.  Chamomile is supposed to be calming and the probiotics are good for the whole digestive system.

I was almost convinced he was teething – you can see the outline of every single one of his teeth through his gums.  I don’t know if that’s normal, but based on this past 10 days – WOW, am I ever looking forward to when the teething starts.  Yeah.  Looking forward to it.  Just like I’d look forward to ramming my head against a cement wall.  Although, if I rammed my head against a cement wall, I’d eventually knock myself out and get some relief.

fuss3Ok, that’s a bit dramatic.  I jest.  I mean, the crying sucks, but I know it’ll pass – and I also know it isn’t nearly as bad as most people have it.  I’ve heard many stories of “colicky” babies who would start crying every day around 6pm and not stop till 2 am.  For weeks on end.  Felix is a considerate little man – he gets it all out during the day and gives us peace through the night.

At some point this afternoon, our realtor is supposed to be coming by to drop off the keys to OUR! NEW! HOUSE!  *I* am looking forward to it because it’ll be so much easier to get out more often, and go for walks.  I also can’t wait to have all my kitchen stuff back.  Well, WE can’t wait for me to have all my kitchen stuff back.  I’m sure Chris is just as sick of all the grab ‘n go & pre-made food as I am.  And just maybe Felix is sick of not being settled already, too.

PS It occurred to me that maybe I should put links to the weekly photos here with the newsletter, as well, so here’s a link to this past week’s photos (week 9.)

* He is starting to look more & more like Chris, isn’t he?  His eyes are still blue and I thought they were going to stay that way, but some days, when the light hits, it looks like there’s a pretty ring of green around his pupil, spreading outward.  *Fingers crossed*

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fatty

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All my troubles with the pump and all have not been for naught.  He’s getting to be quite the little fatty.

And a little ham, too:

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dirty hippies

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We have a fabulous birth story that we never tire of telling – but I’ll spare you from hearing me say “vagina,” ten times.  So you can get the censored version from Chris or I.

Mere days before he was born, I decided I had to have a home birth.  I’d wanted all natural, but was slowly learning that “nurse midwives” (the ones that work at a hospital) are a far cry from traditional, proper midwives.  I absolutely wanted nothing to do with induction (pitocin), epidurals, heart monitors, or any of the crap that’s become common place in American births.  (Crap that causes all the problems it was designed to prevent.  Being induced – getting pitocin, hugely increases the odds that you’ll wind up getting a c-section.)

In any case, I’ve become a loud advocate for home & natural births – if you’ve talked to me for more than 10 minutes, you’ve heard my ranting.  For those who haven’t – let me just reassure you that it’s absolutely safe, and there are actually FEWER complications and far greater need for medical interventions with home births than with hospital births.  Home birthing is how birth was meant to be – birth is not a problem that needs to be solved, something that “happens” to women.  It’s something that we do & that our bodies are quite capable of handling.

Ok.  //end rant.  However, if you’re interested in the whole topic, a couple documentaries & books I highly recommend:

Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin (the most famous midwife in the States)

Orgasmic Birth (dvd/documentary)

The Business of Being Born (dvd/documentary)

We – well, I – have officially become dirty hippies.  Thankfully, Chris is happy to let us be so.  Well, minus the “dirty” part.  We had a 100% natural home birth (and we would have used a birthing tub, except Nugget wanted out too quickly for that to be set up); I’ve been working harder than I’ve ever worked on anything to make breastfeeding a successful venture (you’d think something so natural & good should be easy, right?);  we co-sleep (the benefits of co-sleeping are immense and honestly, I can’t imagine abandoning him in a completely separate room from us to sleep); and as soon as the sling that I ordered arrives, I’ll be “wearing” him throughout the day.  Oh, and then there’s the vaccination issue – but I’ll not get into that here, because I’m not in the mood to argue it at the moment.

One of the biggest benefits of co-sleeping?  The very first thing I see when I wake up and open my eyes in the morning is this:

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He’s such a little man.  When we put him in bed, next to us, we lay him on his back & he immediately rolls over onto his side to face us.

Having him in the comfort of our own home was such an amazing experience – all of pregnancy, really – that I’ve decided on a career change.  I haven’t decided what, exactly – originally I wanted to go to the midwifery school in Seattle, but I’m not sure that’s the exact path I want to take.  My Doula gave me a great idea & suggested I think about childbirth education.  I think that might be it.

In any case.  This is Nugget’s blog, so let’s get back to him!  He had a wonderful birth, was in perfect health, just a little low in weight.  We had a short struggle over feeding, but now that we’re on track, he’s gaining weight in record time.  Our little Monster is thriving, for sure.

He’s bright-eyed & alert, sleeps wonderfully at night, has a huge range of faces (there will be video) and lately, he’s taken to lots of gesturing with his arms.  Sometimes I think he’s orchestrating something in his head.  (A budding music/sound man, like his dad?)