Lessons Learned

Evan turns three weeks old tomorrow. Here's what I learned in the past three weeks.

Lesson One: Don't run to change the baby's diaper after the first fart. This is a not-so-fun game that Evan likes to play with us. You hear, smell and feel the poop going into his diaper and get up to go change him. Well, as soon as you slap that new diaper on you will hear 5 more farts and soon poop is oozing out of that brand new diaper. So you rush to get a new diaper going and when you remove the dirty one, he starts pooping - and sometimes peeing - some more. Today, Brian said he had the poop that wouldn't end. We are averaging about 3 diapers per changing, but that is down from four last week. We are learning.

Lesson Two: Costco generic brand formula is essentially the same as the Enfamil and Simulac brands. Compare the back of the labels on nutritional values and ingredients. Same. What's different? The price. Costco brand formula gives you 2 cans for $20. Or, go ahead and go with the name brands and pay $30 for one can.

Lesson Three: Don't forget to EAT. I know this is funny coming from me considering I turn into a monster when my blood sugar gets low. (Think about those new SNICKERS commercials that I think are pure GENIUS - particularly the one with Aretha Franklin.) At our first pediatrician's appointment, that was one of the things he stressed was making sure Mom didn't forget to eat. Well, it's not that I forget to eat. It's that I don't have time to eat. When Evan goes to sleep, I have a list of stuff I want to get done. Like, pump, laundry, baby laundry, fold laundry, shower, brush teeth, sweep, clean living room, dishes, clean bottles, let the dog out, etc. You can't squeeze all of that in during one or two or even three nap times. All of a sudden, you are warming up a bottle again and realize, "Hey, I'm STARVING!" So, since the bottle isn't warmed up yet, you scarf down some cold cuts and cheddar cheese without even bothering with bread (or closing the refrigerator door) because it's faster that way.

Lesson Four: Sleep when the baby sleeps. Crap advice. Nobody follows it because it's impossible. You are awake. You got stuff you want/need to get done. If you are lucky like me and have a wonderful husband who was off work for two weeks, then you can steal maybe one nap during the day time. Since Brian has gone back to work, it's either go for a walk or take a nap. I choose walking because I have expensive business suits that I need to be able to get back into in 6-8 weeks and don't have money to buy a new work wardrobe for my enlarged butt. Plus, I really miss wearing professional attire. I don't know why. I always thought I was a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal, but sometime during the last 10 years that seemed to change...

Lesson Five: The Boob Nazi's might have had something with this whole three-hour feeding schedule. The wells are running dry and we are having to supplement with formula. Part of me wishes this wasn't so, the other part is ready to get my boobs back to normal again and be able to wear comfortable bras (do they really exist?). I started skipping pumping sessions to correlate with our established sleep schedule. Evan eats around 8-9 p.m. and then again around 11:30 before going to bed at about midnight. Brian takes care of the last feeding of the night before putting him to bed. For the past week, Evan will sleep from midnight until about 5 a.m. Awesome. I would get up and do the morning feeding and then pump after that.

If you want to feed your baby breast milk for longer than 3 weeks, I recommend pumping every three hours like the Boob Nazi's instructed. Then again, this could be an isolated incident that affects only me. You have to do what works for you. That being said, I have a Medela portable pump (in a stylish black back that has a plug-in as well as a backup battery power) and all the accessories that will be for sale in the very near future. Let me know if you are interested.

I'm sure we will learn many more valuable lessons in the weeks ahead. Friday will be his first extended road trip (about 90 minutes - two hours) as we go visit Aunt Bridgett and his cousins for the day. He did well on the hour drive out to Grandma and Grandpa's over the weekend, so we'll see.

I'll try and be better about writing more frequently, but if it comes down to eating versus blogging, eating will always win out. :)

On our way to Grandma and Grandpas' house