Sun & Shower

On Monday we hung around the house until it was time to go downtown.  We met up with Amber, Jamie, Nate and Nadine at the parking garage next to Elwood. It had been converted into an outdoor bar scene.  We had a couple of beers, listened to a pretty good band (I wish I could remember the name!) and then went inside.  As always, the Championship game atmosphere was awesome!  Sadly, Carolina did the same thing to State that they did to Illinois in 2005.  It was painful to relive.

Aunt Judy and Uncle Terry watched Braeden while I was at the game, and it sounds like he was a little more fussy than he had been Saturday.  I guess he was as upset as I was about how the game was going.  After a late night, we got up super early to drive back to Chicago.  I don’t know how Grandma was able to do it.  I had to catch some sleep on the way to East Lansing to drop off Kari.  Braeden slept almost the entire way.  I think he was only awake and crying through Indiana.  Of course, being in Indiana makes me cry too.

Overall it was a really fun trip and I’m so glad we went!  I wish I could have taken Braeden into the games but the NCAA told me he needed a ticket.  Turns out I could have taken him in without a ticket but I digress.  Thank you to everyone who made the trip possible - Grandma, Uncle Terry, Aunt Judy, Cousin Caitlin - and everyone who added to the fun - Aunt Kari, Jake, Terry, Amber, Jamie, Nate, Nadine, Ben, Carrie and the Michigan State basketball team!

Braeden and I went downtown today to request a copy of his birth certificate and introduce him to my coworkers.  I loaded him up in the stroller and walked to the corner of Clark/Montrose to catch the 22 downtown.  Naturally, the bus was crowded so I felt like a complete buffoon with my gigantic stroller in the middle of the aisle.  Some seats finally opened up that allowed me to get the stroller out of the way, then it was smooth sailing the rest of the way downtown.  Braeden, of course, fell asleep during the ride.

Braeden was pretty well behaved at the office.  He really only cried when he got hungry.  Fortunately, no one had moved into my old office yet so I was able to close the door and feed him there.

We stayed a bit longer than planned so we took the el home.  And by home, I mean, to happy hour.  It was Amber’s birthday so Braeden had to go!  We walked to the Washington/Wells stop because it has an elevator to get to the platform and rode the brown line to Southport.  Because we waited until 6:00, the train wasn’t even close to full.  We had no problems with the stroller although getting the wheels unlocked before the door closes can be tricky.  Rachel was a big help, holding the door open for us.

As usual, Braeden slept through most of the activities at the bar.  Mom and Dad got to enjoy a beer and dinner while everyone else played “pass the baby”.  I wonder if all this socializing will make Braeden be more like his mom or more like his dad when he gets older.

Braeden and I have been busy the past few weeks!  Be sure to read several posts down to catch all of the updates.

The newest info today is that we’re experimenting with all pumping and bottle feeding.  With the way bottles are designed these days, Braeden takes in less air when eating from the bottle than when he eats directly from me.  And if you’ve ever seen him about half hour after eating, he can be in some serious gas pain.  He’s been fussy today but not the painful, gassy kind.  He seems to be overtired because he doesn’t usually fall asleep while eating from the bottle.  When I feed him, he tends to fall asleep.

I’m a bit torn on how I want this experiment to turn out.  On the one hand, it’s nice that I can put myself on a pumping schedule and it’s less painful (no 30-minute feedings!).  I also like that Braeden isn’t in as much pain afterward.  On the other hand, I actually miss the bonding time.  Bottle feeding just isn’t the same.  Being so attached to the bonding caught me off guard.  It’s gotta be the hormones!

Breaking news: We think Braeden might miss my feedings too.  We’re going to see if that eases his fussiness. 

Breaking news 2: Looks like he just needed some mommy time.  Five minutes of eating and he was out cold.  I sure hope he outgrows this before he goes off to college!

Nine hours!  I got nine hours of continuous sleep! 

Brian took Braeden for the night so I could get some quality sleep.  It’s amazing what a difference a good night sleep can make!  When I finally got up and out of bed this morning, I… well, I pumped first thing because, yikes, I should have gotten up halfway through the night and taken care of that but the sleep was just so good.  Anyway, when I finally got up, I felt so energized that I completely cleaned the kitchen including going through the food in the cabinets and tossing anything that had expired.  I also rearranged the food in the cabinets so we could more easily see what we have in there.  I would have moved on to do some serious work on the living room but Braeden woke up and I never got a chance to get back to cleaning.

Brian and I decided we’ll have to do this every weekend.  I’m already looking forward to my next good night of sleep!

We finally gave Braeden a bath today before going to see Grammy Kieffer.  He was surprisingly good!  I thought he would hate the water and cry a lot but he seemed to like it.  I credit that to Brian’s bath-giving skills.  He did most of the work.  We only had to dodge one fountain when Braeden peed near the end.  Fortunately nothing came out the other side until after the diaper was on.  Phew!

Today Braeden and I went to Casey Moran’s for more basketball.  Just like yesterday we went for the early games, played “pass the baby” and I got to eat lunch with two hands.  I also had the best-tasting beer I’ve had since before I was pregnant.  I’ve had mixed feelings on the beers I’ve had in the last month but this one, a Goose Island 312, was delicious.  I enjoyed every last sip of it.  Side note for those in Chicago: Casey Moran’s has really good nachos!

Tonight we had dinner with Brian’s boss and co-worker.  We tried putting Braeden in his car seat during dinner but he was not having any of that so I got out my trusty sling.  Works every time!  For anyone having a baby, you must get a sling.  I had to try a few different ones before I found one that worked for Braeden.  Every time I put him in it, he falls asleep - I get peace and quiet and both hands free.

Braeden turned one month old today!  To celebrate, we took him to Joe’s to watch the basketball games.  We went early, for the first group of games, so we were only there about 10:30 - 2:00.  Our friends loved having him there and played “pass the baby”.  Mom and Dad love that game because we get a break and can eat lunch with two hands. 

Later that night, I went back to Joe’s to watch the Illini game.  Brian stayed home with Braeden.  Although the bars in Illinois are smoke-free, people tend to be sloppy drunk by the time the late games come on during March Madness.  We didn’t want to take any chances so Braeden only got to go during the day.  Anyway, it was nice to get out and have some “normal” fun with my friends - watching basketball and drinking beer.  Just like the good ol’ days… except for my one beer limit.

Sadly, the Illini didn’t win this one for Braeden but he’s got lots and lots of years of frustration and disappointment ahead of him.  He may as well get used to it now.

Braeden had a very exciting diaper change last night.  When I removed his onesie, the umbilical cord stump fell out.  He has a belly button now!  There are still some small pieces that will fall off so we’re not giving him a full bath just yet but the big piece that can get caught on his clothes is gone.  I’m so relieved to not have to worry about it getting ripped off anymore!

Braeden also had a social night last night.  He went to happy hour at Messner’s to meet a bunch of mommy’s friends and wish them happy birthday.  He was not phased one bit by all the noise.  He was out cold for about two hours, giving Mom and Dad a chance to enjoy a beer (or four for Dad!) and some dinner.  After happy hour, Braeden went over to Uncle Ben and Aunt Carrie’s place to watch American Idol.  It was a long night for him but he was very well behaved.  He only cried when he was hungry.  That’s a good sign for taking him out to watch basketball in a couple weeks!

Braeden really does say “I-L-L!” 

P.S.  I apologize for the mild profanity near the end.  Braeden isn’t happy with the loss to Penn State.

If you have trouble viewing, try watching at You Tube: I-L-L!

Braeden is two weeks old today.  Does that deserve a Happy Two-Week Birthday?  Probably not.  The two week mark did mean Braeden and I had checkups at the doctor this week.

I saw my doctor on Monday.  It was a long wait for a short visit.  My stitches look good - no signs of infection.  I’m still having some stomach pains in my lower abdomen but that’s normal.  Apparently it takes a really long time for the uterus to shrink back to its usual size.  They gave me a postpartum depression quiz.  Good news!  I’m not depressed!  My blood pressure is perfect, which is good because it was up and down the last two weeks of pregnancy and while I was in the hospital.  And I’ve lost 25 pounds so far, most of which was Braeden getting out of my belly.  I joined Weight Watchers this week to help me focus on getting the rest of the baby weight off as soon as possible.  Now I’m looking forward to my six-week checkup when I should be cleared to start running again.

Braeden saw the doctor yesterday.  He’s now 21-3/4 inches long (90th percentile!); weighs 9 pounds, 3 ounces; and his head measures slightly above average in size.  Everything checked out okay with his health including his hips.  No signs of hip dysplasia so far.  He’s a healthy boy!  His next checkup will be at the two-month mark when he’ll need immunizations.

At home, we’ve got somewhat of a system down.  I’ve discovered that Braeden doesn’t sleep as well in his crib as he does in his bouncer.  He sleeps even better when I hold him.  I typically go to bed and get some good sleep between the 10pm and 1am feedings while Brian stays up with him.  Then I get up and have him the rest of the night while Brian sleeps.  Braeden usually falls asleep during his feeding so I just lie down on the couch and hold him.  We both get some sleep then, sometimes as much as 4-5 hours!  I’m also learning to get a nap in during the day when he’s sleeping so overall I feel pretty rested most of the time.  I still wear out quickly though, especially if I don’t have the afternoon nap. 

Some of the cute things Braeden has done in the last week… He’s started kicking off his blankets.  This kid is definitely going to be our scholarship athlete.  I’m thinking field goal kicker.  He’s also start saying I-L-L!  I know you don’t believe me but he really does have a cry that sounds like he’s saying I-L-L over and over.  My li’l Illini!  I couldn’t be happier!