Sunday, March 9, 2008

Back in Austin and Two months old!

We've only been back in Austin for a few days, and it already feels like it's been weeks! It's been great to be home, and to have Carter here. We spent many years dreaming about having a baby, and now here we are. It wasn't the path we'd expected, but we got there in the end.



Adjusting to life at home with Carter has been fun, though exhausting. He loves to be held and spends much of his time sleeping on someone's chest. I also wear him in the Moby quite a lot, which allows me to do things around the house at the same time. And there's a lot to do, especially since I've been away from home for so long. I managed to collect quite a lot of stuff during my two and a half months in NC, and there is currently a huge stack of boxes in the bar. It's feels a bit like moving in! I'm slowly working through all of that stuff, but it's going to be a while before we get it all put away.


The house is a mess. :-P We'll get it back together at some point, but it just isn't a priority at the moment. Things like sleep take precedence...

We had our first visitor over the weekend! Here are a couple of pictures of Carter with Rita and her son Sam. Sam was mildly curious about the baby, but more interested in opening all the closet doors and chasing the cats.


In other news, we had a consultation with a lactation consultant yesterday afternoon (Saturday). There is a great breastfeeding store in Austin called Special Addition. I can't believe I didn't know about it before, but I only just discovered it when googling for pump rentals in Austin. In addition to having lots of great items to choose from, they have a lactation consulting service. One of the consultants has a lot of experience working with preemies, and she watched Carter nurse and gave me some pointers. She suggested I rent a special scale so that I can weigh him before and after nursing. We did that some in the NICU, and it was helpful to know how much milk he was getting.

I weighed him a couple of times Saturday evening and it was interesting. One time he got 1.3 ounces even though it didn't look like he worked that hard, and the next time he seemed to work hard for more than half an hour and only got half an ounce. The LC said that the scale would help me start to recognize what a good feeding looks like. It will also help me understand his feeding patterns a bit more. Carter is now 38 weeks and is close to being term in his development. I think that he'll be nursing almost exclusively in another month, but we have a lot of hard work to do in the meantime to get him there.

Right now I'm triple-feeding him: I nurse him for 20-30 minutes, then give him a supplemental bottle, and then pump. That means every feeding can take as much as an hour and a half, including pump clean-up time. I then have 1-2 hours to rest or do something else before he's hungry again. No wonder I'm not getting anything done! I'm really looking forward to a time when I can just put him to my breast and know that's enough.

And now I think I'll go take a nap...

5 comments:

rjrmommy said...

Don't worry about your house!! Mine hasn't been "clean" in 6 1/2 years!! :)

jansong said...

I'm with Jill. It may be awhile before house cleaning gets really done, but that's okay. Naps are important. It also will be awhile before you feel rested ever again, but it will happen. Enjoy.

Debby said...

Wow!!! Carter looks as if he has grown. I miss you guys but Nana can not wait to see you again. Enjoy your time together and your naps... Nana loves you!!!

Rayne said...

Oh, he looks big now! What a sweetie, and Sam is cute as ever. :)

Welcome HOME! :D :D :D

bewestbrook said...

Jenn--Thanks so much for setting up the blog. I realized how much I missed getting news there for a few days. Welcome home to everyone! Brett