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Three Weeks Old!
Apr. 23rd, 2011 11:40 pmIt's amazing how different life is now. It's equally amazing how little has changed.
We've hit the three-week mark here at Olympus. The Munchkin (the latest in a revolving series of nicknames, although I think this one might stick) has been constantly hungry the last couple of days. Aimee tells me this is normal for infants between two and three weeks, getting ready for a growth spurt. On that front, we're seeing only incremental change. He's a little bit longer, gaining weight slowly, and stays awake and alert a little but more every day, but nothing dramatic yet.
We've definitely found that new normal I talked about last time. Aimee and the boy-child spend most of their day sitting together on the sofa. Mostly, he eats and sleeps. Come to think of it, that's pretty much what Aimee does, too. More dozing than sleeping, but the concept is the same.
The rest of us have picked up the threads of our old life, with some adjustments. Michy rearranged her schedule so she can be home one day a week. Ian did the same, but he gets two days home. I'm finishing the last of my classes and papers (ten days, five GIS classes, two papers and one history class left!) and thinking a lot about what comes next for me. The next "big change" comes when Aimee has to start going back to work. She's got a trial coming up in mid May that will be the first big test. By then, the baby will still want to eat every few hours, but she could be gone for an entire work day, three days in one week.
To prepare, she's started using a breast pump. If you've never seen one, or watched it work, allow me to describe. The pump itself is a small machine about the size and shape of a homemade explosive device. It even comes in a handy little black bag to solidify the image. A bunch of wires snake out from it, which are used to control the speed of the device. A second set of tubes with large tuba-ish pieces of plastic fit over the female's udders, which lead to two small plastic bottles. The first tube provides suction, which is transferred to mom through the miniature tubas, to simulate an infant's suckling. While running, it makes a strangely soothing rhythmic sound as it extracts the magic mommy juice. And it looks absolutely ridiculous in operation. But since the other options are to use formula (which we are loathe to do), or for me to start lactating, we're going to try this first.
In other news, we're officially transitioning to cloth diapers. I'm a bit chagrined to admit that they are kinda cool. I was really down on the idea when Aimee brought it up, but I'm definitely a convert. We're going to do a lot of laundry, but with a newborn, you do a lot anyway. And we're not filling our garbage, or the landfill, with baby excrement. The newborn ones we're using now are kinda like little shorts that happen to have super absorbent fabric in them. Aimee bought twelve, in different colors and patterns. To her surprise, two of them that looked beige on the website are actually pink in person.
Not to worry though. I assured her that our son is secure in his masculinity. Which isn't saying much since he doesn't know what that is yet, but that is besides the point. And besides that, I know he'll look good in pink. Because I know I do, and he looks so much like me it's scary. He's got some of his mom's good looks, too, but there really is a striking resemblance between the Raspberry and me.
Except in all the ways he resembles Ian. Which should be endlessly amusing as he grows up.
We've hit the three-week mark here at Olympus. The Munchkin (the latest in a revolving series of nicknames, although I think this one might stick) has been constantly hungry the last couple of days. Aimee tells me this is normal for infants between two and three weeks, getting ready for a growth spurt. On that front, we're seeing only incremental change. He's a little bit longer, gaining weight slowly, and stays awake and alert a little but more every day, but nothing dramatic yet.
We've definitely found that new normal I talked about last time. Aimee and the boy-child spend most of their day sitting together on the sofa. Mostly, he eats and sleeps. Come to think of it, that's pretty much what Aimee does, too. More dozing than sleeping, but the concept is the same.
The rest of us have picked up the threads of our old life, with some adjustments. Michy rearranged her schedule so she can be home one day a week. Ian did the same, but he gets two days home. I'm finishing the last of my classes and papers (ten days, five GIS classes, two papers and one history class left!) and thinking a lot about what comes next for me. The next "big change" comes when Aimee has to start going back to work. She's got a trial coming up in mid May that will be the first big test. By then, the baby will still want to eat every few hours, but she could be gone for an entire work day, three days in one week.
To prepare, she's started using a breast pump. If you've never seen one, or watched it work, allow me to describe. The pump itself is a small machine about the size and shape of a homemade explosive device. It even comes in a handy little black bag to solidify the image. A bunch of wires snake out from it, which are used to control the speed of the device. A second set of tubes with large tuba-ish pieces of plastic fit over the female's udders, which lead to two small plastic bottles. The first tube provides suction, which is transferred to mom through the miniature tubas, to simulate an infant's suckling. While running, it makes a strangely soothing rhythmic sound as it extracts the magic mommy juice. And it looks absolutely ridiculous in operation. But since the other options are to use formula (which we are loathe to do), or for me to start lactating, we're going to try this first.
In other news, we're officially transitioning to cloth diapers. I'm a bit chagrined to admit that they are kinda cool. I was really down on the idea when Aimee brought it up, but I'm definitely a convert. We're going to do a lot of laundry, but with a newborn, you do a lot anyway. And we're not filling our garbage, or the landfill, with baby excrement. The newborn ones we're using now are kinda like little shorts that happen to have super absorbent fabric in them. Aimee bought twelve, in different colors and patterns. To her surprise, two of them that looked beige on the website are actually pink in person.
Not to worry though. I assured her that our son is secure in his masculinity. Which isn't saying much since he doesn't know what that is yet, but that is besides the point. And besides that, I know he'll look good in pink. Because I know I do, and he looks so much like me it's scary. He's got some of his mom's good looks, too, but there really is a striking resemblance between the Raspberry and me.
Except in all the ways he resembles Ian. Which should be endlessly amusing as he grows up.
