Eat-Sleep-Love | Maryland DC & Virginia Sleep Coach, Baby Planner, Maternity & Child Consultant

Maternity & Parenting Center

Belated post – 2 month appointment

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I either forgot to post an update a few weeks ago about Micah’s 2 month checkup . . . or I am so confused that I can’t find the post! We took him in on February 16 and he weighed 9 lbs 5 ozs!! He is getting so big. We showed the doctor how he rolled over, and he was impressed by how strong our little guy is. He increased his dosage of Zantac, and then my little guy had his shots. Luckily, it was only 2 shots and an oral vaccine. He SHRIEKED so loudly, and he had this horrible sobbing cry – I’ve never heard him cry so intensely. He has had other shots, but this one seemed to hurt more. I think this nurse was a little rough icon_sad.gif. Right after the shot, I nursed him, and he seemed to calm down almost immediately. He slept most of the day (right through our Baby & Me class), and when he did wake up, he just cranked and cried. I held him close and fed him and rocked him back to sleep. He woke up around 7 pm and he was smiling and happy again, and he ended up sleeping through the night that night. We had a rough day the next day (mostly because we got off our napping schedule), but he bounced back pretty quickly. I hated seeing him hurt, but we were lucky – no real bruising.

These are a few of my favorite things . . .

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After 2 1/2 months, I would say that these are a few of our favorite things . . . .

  • Video Monitor (click here to read an entire post about this)
  • Fisher Price Papasan Cradle Swing
  • Fisher Price Rainforest Bouncy Seat
  • Secure Incline Sleeper
  • Summer Newborn-to-Toddler Bath Center and Shower
  • Aveenobaby bath & body wash
  • Hooded bath towels
  • Sunshine Kids Car Easy View Mirror (I love being able to watch Micah through the mirror – and this simple inexpensive one works great!)
  • Tiny Love Lights & Music Playmat
  • Graco Pack ‘N Play (with changing table)
  • Balmex or Desitin – I’m hating the Butt Paste – it is yellow so it always looks like I forgot to clean off all the poop, and it smells like cinnamon – that is just so wrong.
  • Sleepy Wrap (Elliot is liking the Ergo carrier . . . I don’t get to use it much, though)
  • Medela Pump-in-Style and SOFT breast shields
  • First Years Breastflow Bottles (GREAT for breastfeeding moms – or for breastfeeding babies that are not taking to the bottle)
  • Playtex Ventaire Wide Mouth (slow flow nipple – good for breastfeeding moms – wide mouth more similar to breast)
  • Medicine dispenser pacifier
  • Hooter Hider (now known as the Bebe Au Lait)
  • Swaddle . . . either the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe or the Halo SleepSack Swaddle
  • Pacifier clip (for attaching the pacifier to the baby’s clothing)
  • Sleep Sheep/Dexbaby sound machine
  • Hands-free pumping bra
  • Lullaby CDs (Rockabye lullabies – U2, Beatles, Einstein Baby Classics)
  • Childrens CDs (Free to Be You and Me, Sesame Street Platinum, Really Rosie)
  • Nursing bras (and sleeping nursing bras)
  • Medela or Lansinoh breast pads
  • Prefold Cloth diapers (we use these as burp clothes, for putting on top of the changing table cover and in the Pack ‘N Play changing table to keep things from getting dirty)
  • Pampers Swaddlers Diapers (if you have a skinny baby, these seems to fit better – it also has a notch for the cord cut out, and they come in sensitive AND in preemie size)
  • Footed zip up outfits
  • Side snap shirts or side snap onesies – these are SOOO much easier to put on/take off early on. Regular onesies must go over the head, but the side snaps do not.
  • Long sleeve shirts with the built-in mittens (only good for the winter time)

Here is some video of Micah in my new sleepy wrap:


I’ve lost the weeks . . . .

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It is funny – all throughout pregnancy, you have to be extremely cognizant of how many weeks along you are. Every Monday was our “flip” day, and Elliot and I would sit down and read the different tickers from baby gaga to hear how big Micah was growing and what developmental milestones he should be hitting. It was a little ritual for us, and we loved doing it. Once the contractions hit at 28 weeks, every week was another significant milestone – it meant Micah was a little safer if he was born early, and more likely to make it to full-term. I remember celebrating when we hit 36 weeks and felt we had left the “danger” zone for Micah.

Once Micah arrived, we continued counting in weeks. There was his actual age, and his adjusted gestational age (since Micah was a bit early, they often adjusted his age for hitting different developmental milestones). The weeks were important – for when he should return to his birth weight, for when breastfeeding (well, frankly eating in general) should be easier, etc. Then somewhere around 8 or 9 weeks, Micah hit the “2 month mark” and I haven’t looked back. I can tell you that Micah is over 2 months old now, but I generally can no longer tell you how many weeks. It is a graduation of sorts – we no longer need to think in weeks – we can think in terms of months!

Oh, in case you were wondering . . . I did go count on my calendar, and Micah is now 11 1/2 weeks old.

Filed Under: age

Helpful Tips

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I learned something new and useful this weekend, and felt like an idiot that I did not have a clue earlier. Some of the swaddles have some very useful features. For example, the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe has a slit on the rump. I never understood the purpose of this slit (it isn’t particularly useful for checking diapers since they usually wear clothing under the swaddle). Well, my cousin Trenna informed me that the slit in the back is to allow for travel in the car seat while they sleep! The buckle for between the legs fits through the slit in the back, and you buckle them in and swaddle around the seatbelt arms! Another person informed me that the reason the SwaddleMe has a detachable bottom is so you can change the diaper without completely undressing/undswaddling your little one!

While we are on the topic of helpful hints, I wish someone had told me not to bother with the mobile that matches the bed set. It is cute, and it plays nice music – for about 3 minutes. It is largely a useless piece of equipment. I’m much more fond of the sound machine we are using. We also just purchased a 2nd mobile – one that can play for 10-20 minutes and has a functioning remote control for use outside of the room. Now THAT makes more sense to me! I can barely put Micah in the crib before his current mobile stops turning and playing. He loves looking at it, but I just can’t stay on top of the demand.

I also just bought some lullaby CDs . . . did you know they have U2 and the Beatles as lullabies? I’ll have to let you know how they are. Now, just add Billy Joel, and I don’t see how Micah could possibly be UNHAPPY?

I love my video monitor

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I have to say, I’m loving the video monitor. I have a Summer Infant Video Monitor – the kind with the color screen and night vision. The clarity is unbelievable, and it is so reassuring to be able to check in and watch my little guy while he is sleeping. Sometimes he is restless. Sometimes he slides down the incline sleeper. Sometimes his pacifier falls out. Sometimes he is just a noisy sleeper – he’ll kick his legs, or cry out. The video monitor allows me to see EXACTLY what is going on, and judge whether or not I actually need to make a trip into his bedroom. It also allows me to eavesdrop on Elliot when he is rocking the baby to sleep.

My nephew also enjoyed watching him sleep this past weekend. I confess, sometimes I just turn the video on and watch him . . . he is so stinking cute! I love that I can hear him sucking on his paci through the monitor. I can’t figure out how parents managed without all this new technology. I’d never let him out of my sight or sleep so long uninterrupted without some good visual confirmation.

Update on Me

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The past few weeks have really been great for me. The hardest part of becoming a mom and staying home all these weeks has been that I feel like I’ve been losing me. When friends call, I feel tied down and incapable of leaving to go out for a little while. Micah’s eating had been a huge consuming part of my life, and has left me a bit unsure about stepping away for too long. When I have friends on the phone, I have lost my ability to hold a conversation – I have nothing to discuss other than Micah. I can talk about poop, or sleeping, or breastfeeding, or how many ounces I can pump. I can tell you the last time I fed the baby, and how many outfits he has worn in any given day . . . but most of these things probably aren’t interesting to anyone other than me . . . or possibly Elliot. I don’t do anything else during the day, so it is quite difficult to find interesting topics to discuss. I have felt a bit starved for grownup interactions, and I miss doing my work and being able to go to meetings and schedule my calls. I definitely needed this time off, and I’m not ready to fully return to work, but I miss me.

So, the past few weeks I’ve tried to get a life. I joined a Baby & Me class at the JCC, which has been wonderful! It gets us out of the house once a week, and we interact with other mommies. I don’t feel quite so boring because I have lots of other mommies who don’t care if I talk diapers and pumping. I have been going to a breastfeeding support group (BEST) that gets me out of the house a second day and I usually go out to lunch after that as well. I am certain I will develop a nice playgroup for Micah from all of these activities. Next month, I am joining the OnesiesDC group – each week for 6 weeks, we will go to a different location for a baby-friendly activity – infant massage, a yoga class, a pottery class, a visit with a pediatrician, a photo session, etc. I am excited to learn what activities are out there for Micah and me!

Perhaps the best things that have happened are Micah finally nursing “normally” and sleeping through the night. Nursing normally allows me the freedom to just feed him – when he wants, when we are out, etc. I now have a stash of breast milk in the freezer, so I don’t have a panic about what to do if I have to (or want to) run out. It has been unbelievably freeing! Even better, Micah is now sleeping through the night. We put him down at 8:30 and he sleeps until 6:30 or so. What is amazing about that is I can go out after he is asleep! I can even miss the last feed and go out to dinner and have an evening out. On Wednesday, I left Elliot with a bottle of milk, nursed Micah at 7, then went out to dinner with a friend. It was so freeing to be able to just go out and do my thing for a few hours.

My mom and dad have been great about babysitting. On Sunday night, they came over and watched Micah for a few hours. Elliot & I were able to go out for dinner to celebrate a belated Valentine’s Day – our first “date night” since Micah was born. It was some time we needed to recharge our relationship. Of course, we spent the whole time talking about Micah, but at least we got out! Now that we officially have a bedtime routine and Micah is sleeping through the night, I think we are going to start having them babysit AND put Micah to bed so we can take a longer evening to ourselves. My mom actually asked if she could come and do this one night a week!

So, slowly but surely, I’m trying to find myself again. The new me . . . the one that is a mommy, and the one that has a life beyond being a mommy, too. The balance is so important to me – I really want to “have it all.” Wish me luck!

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPER MICAH!!

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Part of our new bedtime routine is to swaddle Micah in the Halo SleepSack Swaddle. We were swaddling him in the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe, but he managed to get his arms out of the middle and kind of wrap it around his neck a few weeks ago, so we switched to a different swaddle for our own peace of mind. Well, the new swaddle is sort of a dress . . . with a cape on the back. Anyway, we couldn’t resist taking these pictures:



Here are some other adorable videos of our little Micah man this past week:



Oh, and as promised, here is my dog loving the playmat:

Let’s Talk About SUBs

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If you are squeamish . . . or easily offended by slightly foul language. . . I urge you to stop reading this post immediately. Today, we will be discussing SUBs . . . and PUFs. No, I do not mean the yellow underwater kind of SUBs, or even the foot-long kind of sandwich. Nor by PUF do I mean a facial tissue or cotton ball or even one of those body cleansers sponges.

The term SUB, we believe, was coined by our friend Ellen. It stands for Shit Up the Back. PUF is something we take full-credit for . . . it stands for Pee Up the Front. I impart these definitions to you at the outset of this post, because they are the centerpiece for my blog today. Feel free to frequently return to this section if you become confused.

So, here is the first topic we will be discussing – Did you know that it is possible to poop through a diaper and up your armpit? Because that is EXACTLY what happened to my cute little Micah tonight. We’ve had quite a few SUBs over the course of Micah’s infancy, but tonight was the first time a SUB required an emergency run to the bathtub for a head-to-toe cleansing.

I had changed Micah’s diaper about 2 or 3 hours earlier, and I suddenly noticed a faint smell of poop. I had determined that he did, indeed, require a diaper change, but was hoping to wait a bit longer until after I fed him (as feeding generally prompts some poop). I stood up and walked with Micah into the other room, and I heard another mild explosion coming from his behind . . . and the telltale smile on his face that follows that sound. I knew immediately that we had another poop. Micah has actually outgrown the newborn-sized diapers and should be wearing size 1 diapers, but we still have about 15 newborn diapers left and have been trying our darndest to use them all up this week. Consequently, it doesn’t take much poop (or pee, for that matter) to cause a leakage. Once I heard this second explosion, I knew it was time to change his diaper.

Based on the sound (relatively mild in comparison to his other explosions), I did not expect an emergency situation. I walked Micah to the changing table, set up his next diaper, pulled out a wipe, and took my sweet time getting down to business. I undid the diaper tabs, and as I picked up his legs to wipe everything up . . . . I saw it. There was shit up the back . . . and up his side reaching around to his armpit!! The onesie was totally covered in poop! It kind of reminded me of the BLOB . . . it was sort of growing and swelling and taking over. The longer I waited, the more . . . encompassing . . . the poop became. I quickly realized that merely wiping and changing the diaper wasn’t an option. I began to fear that the poop would take over Micah’s entire body, and begin to take possession of the changing table. I called upstairs to Elliot to come help (and help did not arrive), and I quickly began stripping my baby down. I suddenly decided that I would have to bathe him . . . immediately. I grabbed everything needed for the bath, and brought him to the bath to finish striping him. As I peeled back the layers, the poop blob continued to expand. The entire onesie was covered. There was poop on his tummy, and all over his back, and on his feet. It had begun dripping down his arm. I moved him to the tub and started hosing him off! As we finished up the bath, Elliot finally made it downstairs to help. So, I assigned him the task of washing out the poop-laden onesie, and bringing me a fresh diaper and a change of clothes. Yes, I was quite impressed by my little guy tonight.

This is not the first SUB we’ve had – they happen on a regular basis. What I don’t understand is how does one poop out a diaper? Especially when sometimes, like tonight, there really isn’t that much actual poop IN the diaper. Is it a physics equation . . . something like the force of the expulsion times the volume of the poop with the angle of contact with the diaper surface factored in? I would really like to understand the mechanics of this issue.

Speaking of baffling physics equations, this brings me to the PUF. I do not understand how the PUF happens. Here is a typical PUF . . . Micah is sitting around happily playing in his diaper, and suddenly a wet spot appears on his stomach. I quickly realize this is urine, and run to change the diaper. I can see that the diaper is on properly, and it is not wet. Somehow, he has managed to pee out the top of the diaper without actually having ANY urine come in contact with the diaper itself! This sometimes happens moments after changing a diaper. For example, after cleaning up a SUB, we have a nice new diaper firmly attached. I am getting ready to pull down and attach the onesie when all of the sudden, there is this fountain and a puddle on the belly. I sit there looking at the top of the diaper, taking note that both sides are fastened and there are no apparent gaps. I search desperately for big gaping holes or tears in the diaper, and finding none, I wipe up the puddle on his belly. As a precaution, I re-open the diaper, note that it is dry, and seal it again. I double-check Micah for any inexplicable holes in his belly (just in case his belly sprang a leak). I quickly realize Micah has soaked his hair, the onesie, and an outfit. I quickly change his entire outfit, wipe up his hair, then put him back on the playmat . . . only to find that he has PUF’ed again – as apparent by the big wet spot on his new outfit. (NOTE – I intend to revisit the topic of how Elliot DOESN’T notice the wet spot on the belly, or the onesie, when Micah has a PUF at a later date). And no, I’m not ashamed to admit that at this point I look at him and think – “it’ll dry.” So, if you can please explain this . . . I would love to know HOW a PUF can happen. Does it have something to do with the relative density of boy urine to the diaper when erupting in that fountain-like motion that makes it possible to pass through the diaper without being absorbed? Feel free to submit your scientific proofs as explanation. Inquiring minds want to know!

If I only knew . . .

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That my dog would love the playmat as much (if not more) than my son, I would have bought the playmat years ago! My cute little dog has figured out how to make the lights go off, and she lies on her back and hits at all the animals, and pulls them with her teeth. When we go out for a few hours, I come home and find her napping on the playmat. Every time Micah gets on the playmat, she joins him – to sit, to snuggle, to just roll around. The playmat is an endless source of fun! So, for you animal owners out there – feel free to go out and buy a playmat – I’m sure your pets will love it! Here are some photos of my babies – I’ll have to snap one when the dog is playing on the mat by herself! Maybe some video – she loves to start the music and hit all the toys while she lays on her back.