I’m here. And I’m okay. I just literally have no time for myself, and so my posting has been absent. I’m sorry.
Here’s what’s going on in a nutshell:
1)Fatigue: I’m at the point where I pity myself because I haven’t had a full night’s rest in over 6 months. My ass drags around day after day because I can’t get enough sleep. Mr. Man still doesn’t sleep through the night, and his weight isn’t enough yet (see below) for me to feel comfortable Ferberizing* him like I did with Sophie. I understand why they use sleep deprivation on detainees at Guantanamo. It messes with you. I have luggage under my eyes that airlines will charge me for.
2)Weight Gain: Not mine, although there is that (sigh). Mr. Man went for his 4-month checkup. The doctor tells me that his weight is in the third percentile. Yes, you read that right, THIRD. So basically, line up another 99 4-month-olds by weight, and the only ones smaller than he is a crack baby and a midget. I think the doctor thinks that I’m starving him. I explained that his sister was little, too, but she’s throwing around terms like “failure to thrive” and tells me that unless I start feeding him solids his brain development might be affected. How’s that to make sure you don’t sleep well at night?
3)Nursing: I brought my lactation consultant into Mr. Man’s weight gain issues to help increase my supply. I have a feed and weigh appointment with her on Friday to see how much milk he gets from me at each feeding. Cross your fingers for me. I don’t want to have to give up nursing.
4)Tahoe: Dim and I got away for a weekend in Tahoe to attend a friend’s wedding. I went on a ski lift for the first time. It was pleasant and scary all at the same time.
5)Sister: My sister’s been coming over once or twice a week to help me with the kids so I can run errands. It makes a big difference in my week, my temperament, and my refrigerator. I like spending the time with her. We never got along as kids, but I feel like I’m rediscovering her now that she’s an adult. She’s actually a nice person, not the annoying little turd that always tried to flick boogers at me. Oh, wait. That was me doing the flicking. Never mind.
*For the uninitiated: Ferberizing means getting him to sleep through the night by learning to self-soothe. It involves letting the kid cry it out until he can discover that he can fall asleep at night on his own. It took three nights of horror to get Bean to do it: the poor thing cried so hard she threw up several times. But it was only three nights, and she’s been a good sleeper since.
Hi! I'm usually just a silent reader of your blog. But I just want to say hang in there with the nursing...I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. :-)
I nursed my son for 16 months (he's almost 4 now) and he wasn't always at the top percentiles for those growth charts they (pediatricians) use. Sometimes he was in the middle and sometimes he was on the low end. If he was on the low end, never did his pediatrician ever suggest 'failure to thrive'. Because you could look at my son and see he was doing just fine! He was happy and he nursed just fine...and when HE felt hungry...not on some doctor-prescribed schedule. And his pediatrician never pushed solids before 6 months (I voluntarily let my son start trying rice cereal mixed with breast milk just a few weeks shy of his 6 month birthday).
I say if this feed and weigh session goes well and to you, you feel that your son is doing fine (going along about the same as his sister was at the same age), then keep up the good work! :-)
Just wanted to give some encouragement...doesn't sound like you're getting that from the pediatrician. Trust your instincts! Hope the feed and weigh goes great!
Posted by: Lisa at July 23, 2008 9:47 AM