Middle of the Night Musings

I’m up, again, in the middle of the night. Max is sick again. He caught the cold/cough his cousin James had while here. He woke at 2, which really wasn’t a bad run since he fell asleep at 6:60 pm (was up briefly again at 7) and then slept pretty solid until 2. Seven and half hours. He needed a saline suction treatment to eat anything. He ate off of both breasts, but didn’t seem to eat long. This means I don’t expect him to sleep long before he is awake and wants to eat again. While he was awake anyway, figured I may as well do a diaper change. Probably a good thing since he was soaked.

As I was dealing with Max (in my room/on my bed), I noticed that Lucky’s stomach was churning and turning again. I decided since I was up to try to give her some wet (can) food (chicken in gravy) with an anti nausea pill to see if that helped. Before I got there I hear her vomiting. I go find he in Max’s room barfing right in front of Max’s crib. I clean that up before I open the can food. She and Shadow hear/smell the can open and come running. I only gave them each a small amount. Don’t want to over do it for Lucky since she did just puke. I’ll try to give the rest in the morning, I mean LATER in the morning when I am supposed to be up, if this stays down.

Now that everyone else is settled again, I am wide awake. Sigh. I hope I am not up for the night.

I seriously thought about coming to the computer and blogging about how my cousin’s visit wasn’t all bad. I know I made is seem that way with my last post. It really wasn’t. However, it was much harder and more taxing on me than I expected. I was just wiped out physically and emotionally from having so many extra people around for that many days in a row. The thing is that when she comes, it isn’t just her and the kids that are around more. My mom is here almost every day. Both my sister’s that live in Southern CA were here a few times to see her/visit. And, remember my sister Cindy from Atlanta was here for a few days too at the beginning of the trip.

It was very cute to see James (Terri’s 15 year old) with Max, even if Max does now have his cold/cough that my cousin kept insisting was allergies because James was sleeping in the office on the dog beds. LOL. Yes, the same ones that were featured a few weeks back with Lucky and City Boy dozing away. Hey, it was either that or the couch. He slept on the couch for the first day or two then opted for the dog beds in the office (with a door that closed). LOL. James went on one hike with us and carried Max in the Bjorn for half the walk. Very nice for me and James was so proud. James would ‘hold’ Max for me and entertain him on and off for brief stretches. James would get this cute grin on his face that he would try to hide. He even put Max in his PJ’s for me one evening (under the guidance of his 8 year old sister as she eagerly told us). He also very willingly walked the dogs for me two evenings by himself which were huge helps each time.

Carolyn LOVED Max and was actually fairly helpful, especially by then end of the week. She could do a complete clothes, diaper change without guidance/supervision. He was like a real live doll to keep her amused and entertained. And, Max found her equally amusing most of the time. Carolyn also grew quite fond of Mimi (as Naomi has asked to be called by Max/children since it is easier to say). Carolyn headed off to the park with Max and Mimi every day and had a great time. She was so sad when the weekend came and there was no Mimi for two days.

I talked to my sister Julie very briefly yesterday and she said something to the effect that she didn’t know how I did it because she was stressed out and irritated after having lunch with Terri and my mom two day’s in a row. Terri, Carolyn, and my mom drove to the other side of LA to see my sister’s new place on Saturday while I had SPA DAY with a friend of mine which had been planned before Terri decided to visit at the last minute. Then, we all had lunch again for my birthday lunch on Saturday. It made me feel a bit better that it wasn’t just all me that had a hard time dealing with this trip.

SPA DAY!! It was great! My friend and I have been talking about doing it since I was out on maternity leave and just never got it scheduled. She is the friend that I inherited City Boy from and that recently got married. Her new husband watched Max while we had a day of pampering. A massage and a pedicure followed up by a nice size helping of frozen yogurt topped with Reece’s pieces was JUST what I needed, especially because of the break it provided me from the whole extra family visit thing. It’s funny. My friend got irritated with her husband because he didn’t give Max the bottle I left in the fridge because he wasn’t sure what or how to heat it up (or not). It was a lesson for me to be more specific. She felt he should have called and asked instead of letting Max cry on and off. I have to say, it didn’t bug me in the least. The fact that Max cry’s doesn’t really bother me as long as ‘I’ don’t have to hear it. LOL. Plus, I figure it is good for him to be around a guy and not be so catered to all the time. It really was nice to be away from Max for a bit as much as I love and adore him and spending time with him.

I liked it so much that I am even getting a baby sitter for Saturday night so I can go out to dinner with a friend. Okay, I’m not sure you could technically call it a sitter because I asked Naomi if she wanted any extra hours or if her niece (who she had mentioned was looking for a nanny position) would be interested. Naomi said she would like to do it. Easy hours/money for her since Max will be asleep probably the whole time, but nice for me also because I already know and trust Naomi. My boss gave me a “free” dinner on the town right before my cousin came. I told her about it and she really wanted to do it while she was here, but it just didn’t work out. I didn’t want to bring Max because I found out when I took him out on New Years Eve that it is extra stressful for me to take him out when I am having an expensive meal. He is still most often good in restaurants, but it can be hit or miss especially if he is tired or the place is loud. Terri wanted me to leave Max with James. James does baby-sit, but hasn’t for anyone so young and I just wasn’t comfortable with that. We had talked about trying to go to an early dinner while Naomi was still here, but that just didn’t work out either. So, I still have a dinner on the town that my company will pay for and I decided that I will pay for a baby sitter (which will be about the amount that I would pay for a dinner if I went to a normal dinner) and have a night out. There is this restaurant around here that I have wanted to try and heard was ‘pricy’ so here is my chance. I’ll have to call tomorrow (okay, later today) and see if I can get a reservation.
Good thing that I fell asleep early last night. Like I said, I thought about coming to the computer. Actually, I think I did come to the computer, but then got side tracked and realized I was wiped out so I climbed in bed and read for about an hour, ignored the phone when it rang a few times and was asleep by 8:30. I’ve stopped worrying about it being too early to go to sleep and put myself to bed early when I have the chance since typically I am up and down at night and up early anyway.

Can I tell you how much I love my son and how great the six month mark is? He is just so darn cute right now I can hardly stand it. He has started to fall into a better sleep routine with a morning and afternoon nap and a decent stretch of sleep at night. He is “talking” a lot more. Blowing raspberry’s was his ‘thing’ last week. This week he is babbling mama, maamaaa and baba, baabaa. It is so darn cute. He can pull himself up to a sit and stand almost effortlessly now as long as he is holding on to someone’s hand/finger. He is very close to pulling himself up to a sit or stand. Terri was really hoping that would happen while she was here. It didn’t, but I don’t think it will be long. All of a sudden, Max can basically sit up by himself. He will still topple over after a few minutes if you don’t catch him, but his trunk control just matured significantly within a few days. It is truly AMAZING to watch how quickly he is growing and developing right now (even with being sick the last 2 out of 3 weeks). Also, weaning has started to go better all of a sudden and he is eating a lot more at a time. I started giving him a bottle in the morning after our hike and before his morning nap. In just the last week, not only has he started taking it willingly and holding the bottle himself (he would push it away and cry a week ago and pull on my shirt for the breast), he has gone to drinking at least 6 or 7 ounces at a time from about 4 a week ago. He is drinking about 16 ounces of bottle (12 ounces of formula mixed with 4 ounces of breast milk) during the day. I am having to pump in the late afternoon and easily getting 8 ounces in about 5 minutes of pumping. I’m going to see how things go for both of us during my work trip next week. Maybe that will be it and I will just go for all bottle when I get back. I realize this will be hard for ME because I really do like breastfeeding, especially at night and first thing in the morning when we are cuddled up nice and close. I remind myself that I can still have that snuggle time and it will bring me a step closer to trying for another bundle of joy. We will see.

I just love this whole mommy gig even if it does mean that I am up in the middle of the night saline spraying and suctioning and not being able to go back to sleep.

Off to see if I can wind down enough to fall asleep for another hour or two before another day officially begins.