Archive for October, 2009

The “Witching Hour”

06
Oct

The “Witching Hour” or the “13th Hour” is commonly used to describe a time of day outside of time, time which no longer exists or sometimes in occult mythology that ospicious hour when reality shifts ever so slightly.

I dare to redifine this term. For me, the 13th hour is that precious middle of the night time after our first bedtime. A quiet, peacfull span of 30-60 minutes where the world stands still and a new mother can relax and take care of things that help her take care of her newborn.

Bedtime for us is starting to be a routine. Around 8pm I finish feeding baby and daddy takes charge, changing her diaper and either snuggling or playing depending how awake she is so I can have a bathroom break and then lay down for my “nap”. I have him wake me if she starts making the “hungry face” or in 2 hours whichever comes first (so far I’ve only made it 2 hours once). Daddy changes her while I have my 100th bathroom break then I settle in my “nursing station”, Daddy hands her over and then while I feed her, he preps my night by putting my ice packs on my ankles (more on postpartum swelling to come) and stocking my tv stand and the fridge with multiple beverages and tons of one handed snacks to get me through the night. From there it’s off to bed for daddy and the rest of the night is me, my iPhone in one hand, and the baby on my arm.

I get comfotably through about 3-4 hours and then on the tail end of a long both boobs feed I carefully untangle baby from skin2skin contact, change her diaper, swaddle her, put her down in her crib, refill my snacks/drinks, tend the boobs and hit up the bathroom. Once I have 90 min on the alarm clock I hit the pillow for my “bed time”.

Now, here is where the magical 13th hour kicks in. I set the alarm short 30-60 min of when she actualy needs to get up for a feed. What do I do with this magical hour?

First, Bathroom (if you haven’t yet deduced postpartum water shedding is ferociuos) then I have my quiet putter around time until the hungry face showed up.

I pay bills, order stuff I need (tonight we bought our breast pump on amazon), play on the computer, re-apply any ice packs, do light pick-up, hit the bathroom one last time and then it’s over. Time restores itself and I unswadle the munchkin, change her diaper, and settle into the nursing station where we eat, blog, feed, and get lots of skin2skin inbetween. This is where daddy finds us. Snuggled, content and at peace with the world.

My advice, find a schedule/system that works for you. Have a strong support system of familly and friends to help you. Be generous to yourself with anything that provides you comfort, and enjoy these beatifull hours alone in the wee hours with your wee one. They fly by…

Tags: newborn care, nursing, parenting, schedules, sleep

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Puppy Love

04
Oct

Ok mommy, I don’t quit know what it is yet, but I love it and your never getting me to give up the little blankie that has her “first minute in the world” smells all over it that daddy gave me before you came home.

And another thing, I let kitty beat me up but I don’t like her near my baby with those claws so don’t worry mommy, I will chase away kitty with my deep woof everytime she gets near my liitle wiggly thing!

Tags: dogs, kids & pets

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Straight from the horses… Well, boob

04
Oct

So #1 – Do not have a baby… Without also having an iPhone! It’s 4 am and we are sitting in the dark burping between boobs while mommy flexes her writing skills on the blog from her phone… WOW
So I’m 100% an advocate for all natural birth now, but you gotta love technology and it’s many uses too

Being up for 1-2 hours every 1-2 hours to feed a voracious newborn affords some interesting time to ponder life, the universe, and everything (yes, I love Douglas Adams) I expect this blog will get much more interesting in the days ahead, shoot I may just take this blog writing business pro!

By the way… I didn’t know September was officially “pirate month” when I packed the hospital bag with the little jolly Roger hat, nor that my due date of Oct 5th would wash away in a burst of amniotic fluid on the last official date not to have a 1 in it for the next 10 years (thanks for that factoid Grampa Graham!)… But isn’t it ospiciously cute anyway!