3 Weeks

Will turned 3 weeks old yesterday. It seems like he has been here longer than that already. (In a good way) He is thriving, we weighed him today and he is now 8 lbs, 15oz. We took Aunt Molly to her favorite restaraunt, Cracker Barrel, today. For those of you who are reading from the Northwest, you may not know what this is. It is all southern, all the time. Catfish, grits, collard greens, fried okra, all in all a southern feast. Half of the place is a store specializing in novelties such as John Deere toothpick holders and hokey ceramic things such as hands praying that glow. They also carry a large assortment of musical, animated animals. Seniors love this place. Florida is full of them. Molly and I have taken a few roadtrips over the years and always stopped at one daily. Where else can you find Grand Ole Opry Cd's? Anyway, Will enjoyed a trip there today, and let me eat for about 5 minutes before crying. He got lots of attention from people. He has been very gassy tonight and quite fussy, so it may be a long night. But it will also be his first, so I consider myself very lucky.

Stupid Cat.....Cute Baby

I realized late last night that the collar the vet had placed on Maggie wasn't preventing her from messing with her stitches. I realized that she has been licking them and they now looked infected at the bottom section. Great. So this morning Jason had to take her back to the vet. They put a larger, rigid collar on her and now she is quite comical as she does not realize that she needs more clearance around her head. The collar is clear plastic so she doesn't seem to see that the collar is causing her not to be able to squeeze through her normal spaces. We now have to wash her sutures daily, give her oral antibiotics, and apply antibiotic ointment. Arrgh. Will however is doing well. He received a baby shower in a box today from our best friends in Florida, Dave and Laura. They will always be considered his surrogate aunt and uncle, and if we could live next to anyone the rest of our lives, it would be them. Although we would all get nothing done except play round after round of scrabble and rummikub. Laura sent me an adorable memory book, and many other goodies. So now I have no excuse not to make Will a great album. Molly and I walked to Whole Foods and got milk today and went to lunch at the diner. We also stopped at Starbucks and I tried to nurse in public with a non nursing bra. Not easy. So when we got home I did laundry. Jason spent this evening exercising the baby, I think he wants him to be sitting by the end of the month. It is quite funny to see him making the baby practice all kinds of motions. Tonight he did various swim strokes,raking leaves, and drying dishes. Preparing him for his future chores I guess. Molly and I went to Nordstrom Rack tonight and found a few more sleepers for Will since he still doesn't fit in most clothes. I am going to weigh him this week though so we hope he won't be in newborn much longer.

Splish, Splash!

You say goodbye, I say hello....

Yesterday was a sad day here. Grandma left. We took my Mom to the airport last night, and we were very sad to see her go. Will slept 5 hours last night though, so that was nice. This morning we returned to the airport and picked up Aunt Molly. She has been getting acquainted with the baby and familiar with all that parenthood entails. I think she will wait awhile to join the club. Will held his head up a lot today. Jason has been joking that he will have the baby holding his own bottle by 3 weeks and lo and behold- he did it! Granted it was almost empty, but still very impressive for 2.5 weeks. We also let Maggie out today to roam a bit and she seemed much happier. Her stitches come out friday. Happy Easter to everyone!

Tales from the boob

Will is overstimulated by his Stim-mobile
Will sleeping in his actual crib with Auntie Bridget's blanket.



Last night I realized why so many women stop breastfeeding. It was 2:30, Will had gone to sleep for the night at midnight. He woke up hungry and yet wouldn't latch once again. For about 15 min we struggled together and then he finally latched for 5 minutes. Then refused to latch again for an additional 10. I never did get him to feed well. I finally handed him over to Jason who gave him his supplement bottle and put him back to sleep. When he does this I completely understand how women that are not totally gung-ho on nursing end up stopping. Thankfully the sun rose again and today we are back to normal.

The most exciting and exhausting 2 weeks of my life.

Will is officially 2 weeks old today. He went in for his 2 week check and had gained 15 ounces since last Thursday!! Amazing what supplementing with a little formula can do. I am still disappointed that I am unable to give him all the milk he needs but I guess it has to do with the same hormonal stuff that made me take 6 years to get pregnant. He is doing great though at going back and forth from breast to bottle. I am pumping as well, so hopefully all my hard work will pay off. He now has a clogged tear duct so is by far less adorable with a goopey eye. My mom is leaving on Saturday and I fear what I will do after that. Thankfully, Molly arrives on Sunday morning, so I won't have to go it alone for another week. I went to the Dr today and he said I am healing well. He gave me some medication to boost my milk, but after reading some of the side effects, I am not sure I want to take it. I left the baby with my mom while Jason and I went to the OB and it seemed very strange not to have him with us. It's amazing how quickly it becomes normal to have him around. I will post some new pictures tomorrow.

What costs 3,000 bucks and takes 4.5 hours?

Removing a piece of thread from a cats digestive tract. While we were at the hospital Maggie got a hold of a spool of thread and ate approximately 8 feet of it. When we arrived home the thread was cut and the spool was on the floor. Soon we figured out what had happened because she started to pass it, all in one long string. We kept cutting it off and she kept putting more out. We cut off about 4 feet. She then proceeded to get sicker and sicker, vomiting, not eating or drinking and looking pretty rough. We took her to the vet and he found that it was actually tied around her tongue! He recommended surgery to remove the rest. He gave us a quote of 1,200 dollars. Do we have 1200 dollars you ask? No. Especially right now. But after 4.5 hours of surgery and 6 inches of her small intestine being removed, one night of intensive care and 2 days in the vet hospital, she is home and frisky as ever. The bill swelled to almost 3 thousand because of all the complications. She better live now darn it! I told her she can never have a potty accident again and she has to let Will carry her around and dress her in costumes when he grows up. She looks quite pitiful though in her collar and with a huge line of stitches up her belly. This month has to be one of the roughest in my life.