Turtle Monkey

We got Elias this swing today with gift cards from my employers. He really seems to like the mobile that goes around and around. It’s a lot easier to put him in than the take-a-long rainforest swing.

Some days I can hardly keep from waking him up from his naps because I miss playing and talking with him. Today is not one of those days. Today he’s a bit cranky and I am relishing my break.

Elias has really taken to his swing; I’m glad we got it. He’s been taking naps in it the past few days and he likes playing in it alone for about 10-20 minutes total every day. It’s easy to sit him in it and sit on the floor and read to or play with him.

I got some pictures yesterday and a cameraphone video of him in his swing yesterday. (I really want to get a video camera soon!):

His smile! Not one of his bigger ones, but he’s camera shy.

It’s nearly noon and Elias is doing pretty well today. He woke up at 8am and just wanted to be sitting upright. I propped him up on my pillow, keeping a close eye on him as I made the bed, gathered his toys for the day and started the diaper laundry (my 5 extra BumGenius diapers came in the mail! Woo!)

He ate around 9am and was content after that in his swing for about 20 minutes while I did some dishes and folded the clean diapers I neglected yesterday. TMI, I know, but he seems to prefer pooping when he’s in his swing. He will keep it in if I’m carrying him around, so I just put him in the swing after his morning feeding. He usually only poops once a day.

After changing his diaper and giving him a morning sponge bath, he played with his musical gym toy for another 20 minutes or so. Then I put on my Moby, popped him in and did a few more chores and made myself something to eat. At one point he wiggled around for about a minute (he does this when he gets really tired and it usually precedes him crying for a few minutes, fighting off sleep). But then he just put his face into my chest and fell asleep. Win! I love it when we get through the morning without crying. He’s been asleep for probably about an hour and a half now and will probably be ready to eat when he wakes up. From what I can tell so far, he seems to be feeling better than yesterday. I hope this continues.

In the past few weeks since I’ve been completely off the Reglan, I feel like my milk supply has lowered dramatically. I don’t really know why I feel this way other than I no longer leak from one side at night, which had started when I started the Reglan. I’m still taking herbal supplements, but they don’t really seem to be doing any good at all. In one more attempt to try to up my supply, I’ve ordered Domperidone from a UK website (since the FDA won’t allow it to be prescribed in the US for breastfeeding purposes). People have said wonderful things about this drug, so I hope it does something. I feel so defeated about not being able to exclusively breastfeed. I hate formula. I hate bottles. I’ve gone back to using the SNS full time, but it doesn’t really make any difference supply wise.

Anyway, Elias is waking up, so we’ll start our afternoon together. I hope it goes as well as the morning did.

Today’s post will probably be quick. Elias is currently sleeping in the Moby, but I don’t know how long that will last. He slept fitfully last night, poor thing. He kept flailing his limbs, which would jolt him awake. He isn’t napping very well today either. He’s been pretty fussy so far today and yesterday evening as well. To make matters even better, I was alone last night until 10:30 and tonight Mark’s not due home until 9:30. I’d like to tell myself that maybe Elias is being extra fussy because of missing his daddy, but I think he’s probably just under the weather.

It isn’t as bad as a couple of weeks ago when he was just never awake without being fussy. We’ve played and talked together a couple of times today, but I’ve only had a few smiles. He even let me put him in the swing for about 20 minutes total today. Whenever he’s in it, he seems to be having a serious telepathic conversation with the tucan and tree frog hanging from the plastic leaf above him.

Being fed up with his razor blade nails, I decided to try to clip them with our baby nail clippers I’d tried just filing them because I didn’t trust myself to clip them. I can barely clip my own nails without nicking myself. Sure enough, I accidentally clipped some of the skin on one of his fingers. He wailed and I felt like the worst person alive. His nails do seem much less sharp, but I don’t know if I can go through that again.

Last night Elias didn’t wake up until around 7:30, so he spent a good 90 minutes or so conked out in his swing. I don’t think he was feeling very well though because he had problems falling asleep. I fed him at 11pm and he seemed tired, but when we got into bed he was wiggling all over the place and upset. He didn’t fall asleep until around 2am and that was with me holding his arms down gently so he wouldn’t wave them around and wake himself. He was awake almost nonstop from 7:30pm until 2am. He slept until about 7 this morning.

He seems back to his old self this morning, so hopefully whatever was bothering him last night is over with.

Poor boy has cradle cap and nothing really seems to be helping. We’ve tried putting oil on his head for 15 minutes, gently combing out the flakes and then washing his head, but it doesn’t help too much and it REALLY pisses him off. It’s hard for me to go to such great lengths to treat it when it’s a purely cosmetic problem. His forehead is dry too and no matter how many times a day I file his nails, they’re always as sharp as knives, so he keeps scratching his face as well. My poor little boy’s face looks less than wonderful and perfect. I don’t know how people have such perfect looking babies. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong, or he’s just a bit of a freak.