It is James's birthday today and we had an exciting day learning many parenting lessons and having many first-time experiences, one of which resulted in an exciting present for daddy! Parenting: Co-sleeping begins Parenting: Daddy's first (cloth) nappy change! Milestone: Finding his voice Milestone: A belly button exposed Medical Check: Weight loss Experience: First post for Ron Gifts: Woollen blankets Experience: First walk & rabbit catch Experience: First bath at home Parenting: Ambidextrous eating Saturday 6th OctoberParenting: Co-sleeping begins This was the third night back home and we kept struggling with sleeping arrangements. I was becoming really sad and heartbroken - every time the baby was back in the box and crying, I imagined him feeling abandoned and alone. I was also becoming exhausted as this was the third night of not sleeping. I noticed that there was me and James, as well as Sam and Charlie all cosily snuggled in our large double bed, and there was our baby all alone in a separate box. The pack was cwtched and the baby was alone. It just didn't sit well with me at all. I moved the box close to my side of the bed, so I could keep my hand in there and fuss the baby, but that didn't help to soothe him one bit. I still kept jumping up and down, picking Ron up to reassure him as well as feeding him even more (when will this growth spurt end?). I wanted him close. I wanted him safe and happy. I felt really bad abandoning him in his box, even though it was a foot away from me. I was becoming more and more exhausted and irritated, and very aware of passing of time - there was another night disappearing by with no possibility of me having any sleep! In the end, exhausted from sitting up all night, I put the baby in my corner of the bed, close to me so that I could comfortably feed him. I moved the pillows out of the way and tucked the bed covers under my arm, keeping the baby nice and safe, swaddled in his own blanket but well away from anything that could fall onto his little face. Then he fed. . . and I fell asleep. I didn't meant to fall asleep, but I was sleeping and hugging my baby close at the same time. It felt very cosy and warm, I sensed him breathing calmly and heavily and he was safe and loved there in my arms. . . I slept for 6 hours that night and into the morning, which was more than I had in the last few days put together! I woke up and the baby was happily sleeping next to me, his little arms up by his face as he loved to keep them. I was feeling so happy and peaceful and decided that this was the best way for all of us to sleep from now on. Later this day I did some research into the safety and techniques of co-sleeping with the baby and learned that there is no real danger, other than the risk of suffocation from all the pillows and blankets - as long as these were kept safely away from the baby, we were good to go. I was excited. Parenting: Daddy's first (cloth) nappy change! Before the baby was born I had a serious urge to prepare for the baby as much as possible - I think they call it the nesting stage. So I was cleaning and organising the baby clothes, but most of all I was folding. Folding and re-folding the cloth nappies that we were going to use when the baby arrived. Well, the baby was here and we started using the muslin towel nappies as soon as we got back from the hospital. The downside to my "folding-nesting" stage was that I had become an expert on nappies and the origami techniques but James didn't get a chance to learn quite as much. This meant that I was always doing the nappies, but not today - James bravely volunteered to "fix" the baby up first thing in the morning and did a really good job with it, I was very proud. Then I realised that this was his first cloth nappy change (he has changed a disposable one a few times in the hospital). And then I realised that today was his birthday! Ron was still feeding a lot which meant we spent most of the day cuddled up in bed. I was working on my blog and Ron was having a much - I was becoming adept at one-handed typing (one-handed everything, really) and James was such a darling keeping the rest of the pack and the house in good order, as well as passing me water, pens, lunch, etc. . . Milestone: Finding his voice Once again, I only had 2 minutes or so to myself (or for folding more nappies) before the dreaded "scrunchy face" happened, but today, for the first time ever, the scrunched up face was also accompanied by a lovely loud "weeeeehh" cry! You would think that the baby crying would make us sad, but instead we were proud - as James put it: "Ron has found his voice" and was now able to express himself with sound as well as using facial expressions! Milestone: A belly button exposed Later on, as I was changing his nappy, I had accidentally pulled the belly button / umbilical chord off. I just grabbed it as I was pulling the front of the nappy upwards, and it came off. We were told to simply ignore the chord at the hospital and, I guess that was me ignoring it! The baby made a quick wince and that was that, his belly button was exposed! Medical Check: Weight loss An island nurse practitioner came to see us later in the afternoon. She said that the midwives had asked her to weigh the baby, so we popped Ronnie on the scales. He weighed 3.75kg - which means he had lost 200 grams since birth 6 days earlier. The nurse explained that this was normal, babies usually lose some weight as they adjust to the outside temperatures and get used to digesting milk. She also advised (unofficially, as she wasn't a midwife) that she saw no signs of jaundice so it looks like the baby was getting enough milk. She said that breast milk was definitely best in terms of quality, but sometimes it is simply not enough in terms of quantity. This didn't appear to be a case with me and Ron and I was very happy to hear that! She then said something that made me laugh - apparently, baby's poo can change colour depending on what I eat! If I eat a lot of beets, it turns the poo red (that can be alarming, so I am glad she mentioned it) or spinach may turn it green. She also said that foods that give me wind will give Ron wind too. This is what parenting is like, you see. . . Talking about poops, all the poops all day long! The nurse left and Ron decided it was time to have his lunch - he was still growing a lot and felt ravenously hungry! Feeding him helped to reassure him after he'd been undressed and, remembering that he had lost 200g I kept thinking that he would gain all the weight back and more in no time, at the rate he was munching!
Experience: First post for Ron The postman turned up in the afternoon bearing gifts from family down-under! Before opening the box, we realised that this was the first piece of post addressed to Ron! Gifts: Woollen blanket The box contained two lovely blankets - a normal rectangular one and a star-shaped one with an in-build hat for swaddling the baby with. I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but Ron really loves two things - hats and blankets! This present, therefore, really hit a nail on the head and he loved it so much! The star blanked looked a little bit too big for Ronnie so we put it aside for now, until he grows into it, but the square one has really become his favourite blanket, he is always swaddled in it, sleeping in it and really loves it! Thank you very much auntie Sue! Experience: First walk & rabbit catch It was a lovely and bright October's day so we decided to brave the outdoors and take the dogs for a walk to the common (the never ending fields next door to us). This was Ron's first time at the common - a place which, without a doubt, will become his favourite and best-explored playground in no time! It was bright and sunny, but with a touch of crispness and cold in the air so I swaddled the baby nice and warm into two or three outfits, including the hand knitted one from my Nan and put two or three hats on him (sorry Ron, one of them looked a little girly with pink flowers on it - but it fit you the best and was the warmest!). Once the baby was lovely and warm, I placed him in a sling and we were out the door. This was my first time wearing a sling too - so I didn't poke his legs correctly, meaning he was a little squashed inside the swaddle this one time. I realised that something wasn't particularly right once we were out the door, so it was too late to fix it, we carried on walking with me mostly supporting the baby with my arms. I was hobbling up the hill slowly, carrying my baby. We climbed that hill a million times before (especially during pregnancy) and this was my first time climbing it as a mum. It almost felt as though I was pregnant again and that made me smile. The dogs were running around the bushes, doing their thing (which is hunting for rabbits) and Ron and I were enjoying little glimpses of "sunshine on your face" which would make him frown, even though he was mostly nodding. His face was cuddled into my chest with the sling all around us, but I tried exposing him to some cold Orcadian wind, just to get him used to that too. I think my little boy really enjoyed the walk. We used to come here so much during the pregnancy that I think Ron was very familiar with various phrases and pack calls we had for encouraging and controlling our dogs. Today Ron heard many familiar sounds and phrases too: "this way!" - "Charlie!" - "find it and catch it". These were the true sounds of home! As we were turning to go back home, our lovely puppies had a really good hunting match and came out victorious. It was a team effort, with both Sam and Charlie doing their parts of spooking, chasing, catching and retrieving a decent size rabbit. It was so exciting and lovely to see the puppies so proud and happy - and I was happy to say that this was Ron's first rabbit catch, first of many I am sure! I jokingly said that this was Ron's present for his daddy, as it is James's birthday today. I'm not entirely sure whether that's accurate - yes, it was Ron who encouraged us to go walking, but dogs caught the bunny and then dogs ate it for their dinner?. . . So who is giving a present to whom here? The main thing is, we all enjoyed this walk very much! Experience: First bath at home When we were back from the walk, I realised that it had been a couple of days since Ron had his first bath - it was done by a midwife at the hospital who showed us how to cold him and how to wash him. We decided it was time to bathe him at home. We cranked up the heating in the bedroom, so it was nice and toasty for the baby. We filled up his baby bath with warm water and brought it into the bedroom. This was a real team effort as the bedroom door is narrow and the full bath was heavy and awkward - but we managed to get it into the bedroom and placed it by the radiator. I realised that next time we could simply bathe the baby in the bath, but for now, this was already happening this way. We washed the baby's eyes, then face and hands, as shown by the midwife. Then it was time for washing his hair - so we could dry it with a towel and put a hat back on as quickly as possible, before continuing on. I want to point out that we used no soap or shampoo, it was all just warm water! I am not keen on introducing too many cosmetics (read: chemicals!) to the baby just yet, if at all. Then came the fun part of submerging the little body into the bath - and oh, Ron loved it so much! His little face was all calm and happy, his tiny body and legs floating in the bath freely! He looked so happy and I remembered midwife explaining that it was a familiar environment, reminding him of the time in the womb. You can see some of these first-time experiences in the video below:
Parenting: Ambidextrous eating Roast dinner one handed and victoria sponge cake - making a wish! The last few days have been really good in terms of managing to eat our dinner whilst the baby slept. We had used the Scottish Baby Box as a day cot, putting the baby into the box in front of the warm fire where he slept whilst we had our food and watched the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" (whilst also keeping an eye on the baby).
Today was James's birthday so he made a roast dinner to celebrate - roasts are our meal of choice for special occasions! We were still having a TV dinner as it was easier to keep an eye on the baby this way, and we do enjoy watching "Neighbours" or some YouTube family vlogs (our favourite is the Neave Family Vlogs) whilst we eat, but balancing a big bowl of roast dinner on a knee is . . . interesting! It became more interesting when the baby woke up and wanted cwtches. Nothing would settle him and he wanted his mummy so I ended up holding Ronnie in one arm and trying to eat with the other, then swapping arms halfway, realising that I was becoming ambidextrous in the process! I felt a little frustrated at first as I struggled to enjoy my food and realised that things will never be just as they were before the baby arrived. But it was amusing as well - all I could see in my mind's eye is my sister-in-law's text a few weeks ago saying that I will forever have a little person stuck to the side of me, or something to that effect. I was indeed a mum in the making!
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