a slow and painful week with my cute growing pain

David Jr. and I had a good rhythm going. Every 3 hours (give or take 15 min) he would get hungry. I would nurse, he would stay awake for a little while or sleep, and then we would start over. Then, around tuesday of last week, David threw me a curve ball. He started getting more fussy, and wanting to eat every hour and a half to two hours (doesn't sound bad until you know that I was feeding him for about 45 minutes or an hour out of that time). I was left with a small break between feedings, my "equipment" for nursing was "tired" and this was happening through the night. I was relieved to learn last week that the growth spurt (the 6-wk growth spurt, to be exact) that was the cause of the new rhythm usually lasts from 2 to 7 days or so. Well, by the 7th day my nerves were raw and I was frazzled. David Sr. helped as much as he could but, of course, he can't nurse and he had to finish up his exams and grading. Well, we made it but it was not easy.

I think the growth spurt is over for the most part. Now, he sleeps and sleeps (which is when the growing starts). He looks longer and is definitely heavier (though we don't have any exact numbers). At least for the last couple of days, he has gone 3 hours between feedings and at night he went as long as 6 hours one night. Because I am getting more of a break I tend to like him more. Sure, I love him (would I work so hard for someone I didn't?) But now, I like and want to play with him. It also helps that he is a happier baby now. I don't really look forward to the next growth spurt (books say that will happen at 3 mos. and david is 7 and a half wks).

I made all sorts of plans for this past week that have gone to pot.
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just an aside, there is some kid trying to luge down our street--hilarious!
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I wanted to hang out with my friend Marti and later Meg and Christel. None of the above happened until after the growth spurt ended. I've never heard of these spurts and how hard they can be. But at least the painful part is for a good cause because this little guy is starting to get baby fat. This is a source of pride to me.

the post i was going to write before david jr. arrived

Here are some pictures of our yard as spring made an appearance. We had so many clovers--it was beautiful. Although, our neighbors probably just thought we needed to cut our lawn.

top ten list of why i love being a mom

10. I love having an excuse to be negligent in other areas of my life-- especially with my cellphone. (not that i wasn't already negligent, but now i have the excuse).

9. I love the smell of my newborn's head.

8. I love the cute clothes and tiny diapers (when they are clean, of course)

7. I love that everyone wants to visit us to see our baby--instant popularity!

6. I love watching him grow and change daily.

5. I love that I have a baby that looks like my wonderful husband. I love seeing his face in my son.

4. I love that my baby has my olive skin tone. All this time I thought it was jaundice until the doctor informed me otherwise.

3. I love to sing to my baby, even if it isn't doing squat to soothe him. It probably soothes me.

2. I love and live for this boy's smiles. He is just starting to show us his smiles but we have hints of what it will be like when he is asleep. I've heard him chuckle and I can't stop myself from grinning.

1. I love to snuggle with our baby boy. I don't know if all infants are so snuggly but I love, love, love it. Young David will scoot his swaddled self (think inch worm) over to bury his head in my bosom while sleeping.

let's hear it for healthy breasts

It turns out that my right breast feels like it is being shredded when I nurse because it is "yeasty". I went to see a lactation specialist over that and some other issues and I was told that the pain wasn't normal. Hurray! I loved hearing that this pain was treatable--better yet-treatable with natural remedies such as grapefruit seed extract and gentia violet. I currently expect my nipple to come out of looking like it has been mauled because of how it feels but in a couple weeks I hope to be able to nurse young david with ease (with as much ease as expected when you are getting up in the middle of the night). Overall, it was a great appointment and we are looking forward to David getting to new stages of eating and sleeping. With that said, however, I must say that I can see young David growing overnight and I can't help but feel somewhat sad as I lose those little fingers and hands. They are so much bigger than they once were which is good and healthy but I will miss the ultra tinyness. We are on the verge of getting full smiles from him though so we are moving to good things. We'll just try to enjoy each stage as it comes and goes.