Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Getting into a routine...

1 month 9 days old - that's how old Olivia is today!  It's hard to believe my 6 week maternity leave is up in less than a week!  Fear not, I've been told I can take more time off (fingers crossed).  I had a really nice visit from our friend, neighbor, and fellow USAFA '05 graduate Paula Delapasse, her kiddos (Lilith and new son Jacob) and her mother a few weeks back.  I picked Paula's brain about how to put a baby on a schedule that enabled her to go back to work with Lilith, and as always, she provided some excellent ideas.  We're making some progress toward a schedule, although O is still feeding on demand, which makes predictability spotty at times. 

Overall I strive to feed her at 3 am,  6 am, 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm, and maybe 12 am if she's not asleep yet.  BUT, almost immediately after coming home she's been generally sleeping from approximately 10 pm until about 3 am, sometimes longer, skipping the 12 am feeding.  Last night she slept from about 11 pm until 5:30 am!!!  I was up by 4 am because I was so full and ready to nurse her...too bad she wasn't ready and I really didn't want to wake her up, so I just read on my iPhone until she woke up since I was so uncomfortable.  I'm thinking this may be a fluke and she's not ready to sleep "through the night" yet since at the most she is 10 pounds and babies typically don't start sleeping long hours until they're at least 11 to 12 pounds.  Still, it's wishful thinking...if only my milk supply would adjust too!  :-P  Overall (knock on wood), O has been a really good baby.  She typically only fusses if she's hungry, has a dirty diaper, is gassy, or REALLY tired to where she needs some soothing.  Generally she's a self soother and will "sing or talk" to herself to sleep in her crib, which is awesome.

Nick and I have talked casually about me leaving the Air Force and staying at home.  While I would love to do that, the AF did send me to graduate school while paying me full pay...so alas, I owe three years.  I really would love to stay home with my precious girl, especially while she's little, but go back to work when she's a bit older.  Too bad the military doesn't work that way.  One can't just leave for a few years and decide to go back.  So for now I just want to spend as much time as I can with her.  Nick's parents were here for Labor Day weekend, and on Sunday we left to go to the nearby outdoor mall known as the Greene, for lunch.  Even though we were only two miles away I thought about her almost constantly and even asked Nick to do a quick call-in to check on her...oye...Nick gave me a hard time about this and I'm sure I'll get better as I'm used to being away from her more.  Nevertheless, it won't be easy going back to work...hopefully mama and baby can make the transition smoothly...

While Nick's parents were here, Nick and his Dad had a good time riding their motorcycles (yes, his Dad brought the bobber he just built on a trailer from North Carolina - they're Harley fanatics, what can I say) and his mom, O and I had a good, but tiring time vising the mall with a grocery trip to Trader Joe's and Kroger's squeezed in at the end of the day.  Since O hates her infant seat, I have panic attacks trying to get her anywhere - so with a day out I must try to get to everything while I have the opportunity.  Really, it's getting better, as long as I time it just right with a feeding beforehand, a clean diaper, then off to run errands while she sleeps.

In general, I'm finally starting to feel like myself again.  I felt fairly good early on (aside from the healing pain), but took a dive when the mastitis hit around 3 weeks.  Now I try to rest as much as I can during the day, but I finally feel like I can get back to putting this house together.  Yes, I'm embarrassed to say I've really let the house go in terms of cleanliness...when my mom was here she literally scrubbed everything from the top down while O and I were stuck at the hospital for two days.  But since it's been almost six weeks, the house and especially kitchen can really use a good scrubb'in.  Luckily I think I can tackle some chores today!

I leave you with my new favorite picture of our baby girl!








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