baby reflexes

Last night, Chris and I gave Owen a bath. He really enjoys bath time. He gets pretty mellow and floats around in the tub with wide eyes and relaxed limbs. When I was drying him off on his changing table, his mood suddenly shifted 180 degrees...he was screaming bloody murder, and all I was doing was putting on his diaper! Then I noticed that one hand was not only up above his head, but that it had a handful of his hair in a tight little fist. Poor boy was pulling his own hair, and didn't know why it hurt so much! I got his fist unclenched, and then he was fine again. Whew! I didn't know that could happen, but will be on the lookout to catch it the next time.

more pictures from Hamills

End of the holiday weekend

Here are the pictures of Granddad Bob and Grandmom Lee's first meeting with their Grandson.

It is Tuesday morning, and Dad and Lee have just left this morning to return to Cedar Rapids. We had a really nice weekend together, strolling through Liberty State park on Sunday afternoon, and doing some outlet store shopping in Secaucus yesterday.

Lee telling Owen a secret, and Owen is listening intently. :)

I think they enjoyed getting to meet and spend time with Owen! He was very agreeable for all of the gallivanting that we did. (He just made sure to make up for those extra hours of daytime napping by staying up and extra hour at 2am this morning, a way to say, "Thanks Mom!") I think I should invest in some Visine stock...it helps me get my burning, sleepy eyes open for those middle of the night feedings.

We are looking forward to having an uneventful, quiet afternoon. Our landlord is upstairs right now, and may be resuming work on the 3rd floor apartment above us, so we shall see if my plan for quiet is attainable...
Here are some wonderful pictures Rachel sent from her visit.

Saturday morning

I have a few minutes before I go to meet my parents for the day. We are going to have some lunch at our place, and do a walking tour of Hoboken. It is a nice neighborhood to check out shops and restaurants, and I am also on a mission to find some sandals at a specific store there. Please parking fairies, work your magic for us today!

It was a sleepy morning. Neither Chris or myself could seem to wake up this morning, even though we got just as much sleep as we have been every night. Nursing takes a certain amount of alertness on my part (God bless my friends who can nurse in their sleep!!) so the very early morning session was a little more challenging because I was not very awake. -Owen thinks he can take the initiative and latch himself without my help, but he is mistaken!

We had a nice afternoon visiting with Lee and Dad here at our place. We went grocery shopping, and had an early dinner. We pulled out our newborn pictures of Chris and me, and gave them a chance to decide who Owen favored in his looks. They watched our movies from before and after the birth, and shared all of our wild tales from the hospital experience. Lee and Dad have offered to babysit so Chris and I could go out to dinner or a movie, or something that we can't ordinarily do on our own. We are going to have to put our heads together to decide how best to use this generous offer! (I think we are considering an afternoon movie...it may be rainy tomorrow anyhow)

I am due to jump in the car now and pick them up. Chris is going to attend Clambake at Lincoln Center today with his friends, Amir and Suzanne. They are going to meet their former professor, Deb, and see some of the work of their former classmates'. That should be fun.

Have a great weekend everybody!

-jess

TGIF

Owen and Chris and myself have had good week. We had a lovely visit with Suzanne and Amir on Wednesday afternoon. We had pizza at our house, and then went for walk in the park to eat cake. :) The squirrels in the park were particularly tame, and interested in everything that we were snacking on, so much so that Suzanne and Chris were "shooing" them away from their close proximity!

Yesterday, Owen and I went to visit the Occupational Therapist in Hoboken. Hoboken is only 4 miles away, and takes about 10 minutes to drive to...but it can take hours to search for a parking spot in that neighborhood. I bit the bullet and parked at a lot close to my appointment, the ones where you leave your keys and they actually park your car. They balked that I was only planning on being there for two hours, and I basically said, "I've got a newborn baby here, and we have an appointment we are going to be late for if I don't leave right now!" With my purse, diaper bag and car seat, I went down the street to find our destination. I have to get used to carrying so much stuff!! The appointment went pretty well. The O.T. worked on Owen's head, neck, and shoulders. She also observed me nursing, and said that overall, he is strong, in excellent health, and just has this pesky tendency to tighten his jaw. The adjustments that she made were supposedly going to improve his problem. I also nursed in front of her, and she gave me some more pointers how to avoid further injury.

Basically, when a baby nurses, they have two different phases to the process. The first phase is the feeding part, and the second is the "I'm finished eating, but want to nurse for comfort until I fall asleep." Owen is getting how to correctly do the feeding part without causing me pain, but the comfort sucking may continue to revert to his bad habits...which just means he and I may have to skip that part of the process, and I can offer a pacifier or finger to help him work out his need for comfort. She gave me the green light to return to nursing full time.

Today, my parents, Bob and Lee are coming from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to visit for the long weekend. I am looking forward to meeting them in about an hour and a half at the airport. Our weather should be warm and clear, and even Chris is getting a shortened day at work to start the three day weekend.

We got this swing for Owen, but guess who likes it best...even when it isn't in a locked position, Phoebe is more than happy to jump in for a nap!

Here is the new over-the-shoulder sling I got to wear the baby around the house. It is really wonderful to have my hands free, and Owen naps quite happily in it. I even wore it to meet Chris at the train yesterday afternoon, and only got a few stares from folks on the street as they passed by!

Bath Time

Well, its another Wednesday here at the Boone's, which means I am home from work, attempting to work from home. It isn't too hard to work from home with Owen and Jess, they are pretty quiet during the day. The trouble has been getting things to work on. It is easier to pick up a couple hours to fill in the gaps when I am there and looking at the internet. So today I only have an hour or two of paperwork. Things are supposed to pick up next week.

So instead of working today, I decided to give Owen a bath.
For those of you that haven't tried this, "Get your own kid, this one is mine!" I mean, it is quite an adventure. It is easier to just get in with him. Owen loves the water. It is the only time we have seen him stretch out to his full length. (now 21 inches) Jess took a bath with him last week, and I got my chance today. It is amazing how well he floats. I sink like a stone when I swim, but he just needs on hand under his head and he is happy as can be. I have to hold his feet down to get him to be more upright.





Its a pretty adorable adventure, so of course we have pictures. Annabelle likes to sit on the edge of the tub and watch, occasionally taking a drink. (The crossed eyes are cute, but not typical)

This afternoon our friends Amir and Suzanne are coming for a visit. We will have some pictures of that too.

Have a great afternoon, Chris

more pictures from week 3

Aunt Rachel's visit

Sleepy baby

Update this week

Greetings Everyone,

We have had the changing of the guard this week, as the Boones headed back to Ohio, and my sister, Rachel, has arrived from Chicago. She has been learning the ropes of being Aunt Rachel (neither one of us had much baby experience before Owen came on the scene) and she has been cooking us yummy meals to help out.

This week with Owen has brought many of the same challenges that the first week brought, and we are only on week number 3! Owen had some unusual changes to his how shall we say, "diaper deposit" along with some spitting up of blood a few days ago that warranted another trip to the pediatrician. This coincided with me having some serious soreness/pain when nursing. So, we had some question as to whether the blood Owen was ingesting (and he was, unfortunately) was coming from me or from his own system. The Pediatrician decided to treat both possibilities, so little O is on a baby dose of Zantac, in case the problem is acid reflux...and I was put on nursing hiatus until I had a chance to heal for a few days. Well, I finally got the boy used to nursing, and denying him that opportunity in the last few days has been an upsetting turn of events as far as he is concerned. There has been many hours of fussy protest about everything.

Today, I went to a support group meeting for new moms. My lactation consultant hosts these meetings twice a month, and offered to give me some extra consulting time after the meeting was over. I found the meeting SO helpful...hearing other mom's concerns and questions that were the same ones on my mind. I also found the meeting rather hysterical; 15 moms and their babies, all making noise, moving around, having individual conversations and one person attempting to present information over all of the chaos. It was a zoo, and I found it impossible to focus on any one thing. -that could be the sleep deprivation too, dunno.

My nursing consultant, Ann, spent time observing my nursing technique, and concluded that I was doing the right stuff, but my dear baby is clamping down on my nipples when I nurse. She assured me that the pain I was experiencing was not the typical dry/cracking skin that most women deal with in the first week or two of nursing...she described it as "crushing" pain, and what a relief to learn that I was not just being a wuss! She said that Owen may outgrow this method of nursing on his own, or that I might consider having some cranial sacral work done to help him release the tension in his jaw. I am going to look into that referral tomorrow.

I am back to nursing on a limited basis. And right now, I've got to go!

The Boones are here!

It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and Grandpa Tim and Grandma Jan Boone are here to see their grandson for the first time this weekend. They arrived on Thursday morning, and will be here with us until Tuesday evening. They think Owen is really strong...he can nearly lift the weight of his head on his own already.
Grandpa Tim enjoyed a lovely nap with Owen on Thursday.
Infact, we all enjoyed naps on Thursday, since the Boones had to get up for their flight at 4 am.
Here is the first time Jan held Owen.

We have been keeping busy getting fans and air conditioners installed, since the weather suddenly got hot and muggy. We are all feeling much more comfortable now!

Owen continues to be very sleepy during the daytime, and more wide awake during the middle of the night. He doesn't fuss for long periods of time...maybe only for 1/2 hour or so a day, so really, the nights aren't that hard, other than just missing the usual sleep patterns we are accustomed to. He only gets upset when he is awake, and away from the activity of other people. Who wouldn't complain about that?

Here is a picture of me and Owen post-feeding. He is a sleepy lump, but so soft and sweet!

life at home with Owen

Hello Everyone,

Time for a progress report on the last few days with Owen. Yesterday was the first day that Chris returned to work, and that I was here alone with the baby. I was really nervous on Sunday in anticipation of Monday, but as it turned out, yesterday was quite a good and easy day. Owen and I were able to go out and walk to the train to meet Chris on the way home from work. (okay, he rode in his spiffy carseat and stroller, I walked.) I am feeling so much better these last few days, like my energy is finally returning...and my swelling has subsided too.

Owen is very easy-going so far. He has one hour or so of fussy time per day, and some mild protests when he is getting his clothes changed...but otherwise, he is very amenable to be wherever the people are. He doesn't struggle to fall to sleep, and we are already having a lot of improvement on the nursing front.

I am having to get used to not being able to get much done around the house, but the quiet time with him is really wonderful.

Owen's Log: Day 4, 5, and 6

Monday, Day 4: I had a rough night! I went to my first pediatric appointment, and she was a little worried that I had lost weight, and my skin tone looked a little yellow. She told my parents to take me over to a laboratory in the area to have my blood drawn and checked for jaundice. OUCH...my Dad held me while that lady stuck my foot, and I think he wanted to cry as much as I did!

I was pretty upset after that, and the Doctor wanted my parents to keep me in the area of the hospital when the test results came in, in case I needed to get treatment right away. I took my first trip to starbucks, and it made me feel much better.

The good news was, my test came back with good results, and we were all able to go home.

I had a lot of feedings that night when I got home, but my parents were still worried, because I hadn't pooped or peed the next morning (that was nearly 24 hours after my last wet diaper) I drank a lot of stuff...so where did it all go? My pediatrician wanted to see me right away the next morning when she heard that I hadn't done any business in my diapers. So they put me on that cold scale again, and guess what? I had gained 4 ounces since the day before!...and as a special treat...I peed in my diaper just before the doctor arrived. I showed her!

Today, I had another adventure meeting a lactation consultant, who helped show my parents why I am having some trouble with nursing. It is okay, because Mom and Dad and Grandmas give me really good bottles with milk right now...and Mom and I are working on the breastfeeding in between for practice. That consultant thinks we can figure it out in a little bit of time, and with some patience. I am really close to getting how to do it, and Mom is going to be better at helping me too.

I have been pooping and peeing like a champion, even in the car when Mom and Dad have forgotten to bring all the right stuff in my diaper bag. Oops...they better learn fast!

Well, now it is time for me to be cute some more and entertain everyone. Here's a picture of me and Grandma Crystal:

Here is a picture of me and Grandma Retta.