Kristy Maute

Chet News. 3 weeks. oh my.

Somehow my days and nights have all blurred together and Chet is now 3 weeks old. I know it’s cliché, but time sure does fly by when you have a new baby

The past two days have given me hope that balance in life can be possible in my future. We made it to Trader Joe’s to grocery shop. We walked 2+ miles at a nice slow leisurely pace. We took Cole to Target, Toys R Us, and Game Stop in search of Skylander figures. We had friends over for a visit.

Chet is also starting to develop a slightly predictable night-time schedule. Eat and sleep around 9pm. Eat and sleep around midnight. Eat and don’t sleep around 4am. This 4am feeding is Chet’s witching hour. He is having a hard time relaxing at this time of day. He is so full of gas. Normally I feed him, rock him, pace the house with him, try to relieve the gas pains until 5am when I hand him over to Christian. Christian always seems to have the magic touch. He can always get him back to sleep. Once he’s asleep, he normally wakes back up around 7am. Some mornings I feel awake and ready for the day. Other days, like today, I go back to bed with Chet until around 10:30am. No wonder my days fly by and blur together.

Boobs and gas are the biggest obstacles in our house this week. My boobs. Chet’s gas. I do think my boobs are on the road to recovery, but they are still cracked. They are still sore. I’m also trying to avoid what feels like clogged milk ducts. They are definitely healing though. Thank goodness. While my boobs are getting better, Chet’s gas seems to be getting worse. He is such a laid back baby that he doesn’t even cry when he is uncomfortable. He just grunts, moans, groans, squirms, and desperately tries to get comfortable. He is his happiest when Christian is swaying him back and forth in his arms (or attached to my boob).

Being a newborn mom is hard work. The high from week one has slowly worn off. Three weeks of little sleep is catching up to me. Hormones and tears have definitely found me when I least expected it. I’ve felt like I stink at parenting in one moment to completely enjoying every second of my baby in the next moment. It’s all a part of the ride. He is so worth it. (and don’t worry…I don’t really think I stink at parenting. It’s just hard sometimes. And I don’t know what to do in the moment. But we get through it.)

Chet continues to be a baby with a million expressions. He smiles a lot especially when he is eating. He now sings to my boob after he’s done eating. My mom said it sounds like he is purring. It’s so sweet. He really is such a good baby…even when he’s having a late night party at 4am.

Thank you to everyone for the emails and comments about my post yesterday and about breast feeding in general. It is so nice to know I’m not alone in my struggles. It’s nice to know other people made it through just fine. I know I haven’t emailed everyone back yet, but Thank you!

And to my friends….I swear I will call each of you back one day soon. I’m so behind on phone calls and emails!

Beauty of Motherhood

We all have an image of motherhood. Television portrays beautiful new moms with perfect hair and clothes that fit. This maybe reality for some, but it is not my reality.

My reality at almost three weeks post-delivery is this:

• I finally took a shower this morning. Last shower was on Sunday! Thank goodness for toothpaste, deodorant, and face wash.

• I sit on my couch topless more often than anyone should. Poor boobs need to hurry up and heal.

• Tonight I sat on my couch with potatoes on my boobs and a baby lounging in my lap……and by lounging I mean pooping. A few seconds later my lap was covered in poo. ( and yes! You read that correctly. Potatoes on my boobs. I’m trying to avoid what feels like clogged milk ducts. I can’t handle anymore boob issues).

• An hour after all the poop was cleaned up, I was again topless on my couch burping my full baby. My boob, which likes to be explosive, decided to shoot milk across the room.

All of this in the course of a day….and my husband is still crazy enough find me attractive.

Even though I don’t feel beautiful in these moments, I have one amazing little boy who looks at me with more love than I can imagine.

So worth it!

(and don’t worry, I cover up when Cole is awake and home from school!)

Looking forward

Eight weeks from today is the Shamrock half marathon. GASP! EIGHT WEEKS! I haven’t run since Halloween, and I confidently signed up for the half marathon about a month ago.

Do I think about running? Of course. Every morning I wake up and thinking about running. I think that maybe today I will put on my shoes and venture out for a walk. Maybe I’ll jog a block or two. And then I start feeding Chet. I start changing diapers. I need a nap or two. And then it’s bedtime. I know it has only been two weeks since I’ve had Chet. I definitely know my body isn’t ready to start logging miles, but it would be nice to go for a walk or two (someone make the rain go away!).

Now that Chet is two weeks old and I’m eight weeks away from the start line, I’m not feeling so confident any more. I anticipate running again around week four. That will give me six weeks to train for a half marathon. Chet’s extended cooking time definitely put a hiccup in my running plans. I thought I’d have eight weeks to train. (confession: Every day that Chet was late, I quietly knew that I was pushing back my training and was dreading it.)

So what’s my plan? Who knows? I know I’ll show up and finish the race. I have a feeling I’ll be adopting Amanda’s training plan that she used to run the Marine Corps Marathon after an injury: Run a mile. Walk a half mile. Repeat. I also have a training plan for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler that starts next weekend. I could try to follow that and hope for the best.

My goal going forward is to tackle things in manageable sections. Run a mile. Walk a half mile. Repeat. Sleep a two hours. Feed baby. Repeat. Survive a feeding without tears. Let nipples continue to heal. Repeat.

Every day gets a little easier. I think I’ll be more than ready to start incorporating some miles into my daily schedule in a few weeks. If I can run a half marathon six months pregnant, I can run a half marathon with a two month old cheering me on. Right?

(Can I run with my breast pump? Any tips on running while breast-feeding are greatly appreciated!)

Chet News – Week 2

Chet, Mr. Serious, is two weeks old today.

It’s hard to imagine our house without him at this point. His noises have blended nicely into our already noisy house. He is a jabber jaws like the rest of the men in my life. He continues to be an incredibly laid back baby despite all the dog barking (thanks to a now neglected doggy) and Pokémon talk (thanks to a crazy big brother).

Chet 004 — Poor Puppy. He knows he isn't allowed on the blanket.

There are definitely some things that I’m still try to get adjusted too….

Night time diaper changes? I can’t figure out what works best for Chet. Fortunately he isn’t fussy when he has a wet diaper. I’ve tried changing him before I feed him, but he always seems to make a mess of his diaper when I do this during the feeding. I’ve tried changing him after feeding, but this seems to wake him up. I’ll probably figure it out by the time he is sleep through the night.

Life outside of the house? Leaving the house is still a stressful task for me. We’ve had two doctors appointments and one trip to target and all 3 of them were exhausting. Home is definitely home sweet home at this point. It’s too hard to figure out feedings, diaper, and avoiding germs. We might camp out in the living room for the next month.

And my biggest hurdle….Breast Feeding. A few days ago, I would have told you I have finally met my match. I was ready to throw in the towel physically, but my brain and emotions wouldn’t let me. Remember those cracked nipples I told you about last week. Well they are no joke. I spent two days in tears every time I feed him. I even cringed when he would start to wake up because I knew it meant he would want to eat. Once he latched on, it slowly became less painful. The boy has an incredibly strong suck reflex. He is not a gentle eater. I also think I had him latched on improperly. He wasn’t getting enough of my nipple in his mouth. Since we’ve corrected his latch, my nipples are healing. They physically look better although they are still cracked (just not as deep at this point). It is also only mildly painful (compared to earlier in the week) when he initially latches on. I don’t have to close my eyes, tense up my entire body, and hold my breath whenever he latches on. Everything I read said the two-week mark is the turning point. I certainly hope we are heading down a happy road and they continue to heal. I’m so jealous of the moms that can use a free hand when they breast feed. I’m still afraid to move once we are in a good position because I don’t want to mess with a good thing.

In spite of all my issues with breast-feeding, Chet isn’t missing a beat. We had his two-week check up this morning. He got a clean bill of health from the doctor. He is also now weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz. Nearly ONE POUND more than his birth weight. (Did I mention he loves to eat!). He is also growing a lot. He is now 21.25 inches, more than an inch of growth since birth. And we loved the pediatrician and all the staff. YAY!

Two weeks with Chet has made my body have absolutely no time clock. It has made my heart grow a hundred times bigger. I don’t know what we did before he arrived. And I still want 10 more babies (cracked nipples and all!). And while I’m dreaming big, I’d also like to win the lottery so I don’t have to go back to work.

https://breathofsunshine.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2707&action=edit

(And I really need to start taking more pictures. He already doesn’t look like a newborn to me.)

Back to normal…almost

Cole is home. Chet is in charge of our schedule. And I’m attempting to write a blog post from my iPhone (wish me luck).

Cole got home last night around 8:30pm. I had hoped his brother would have a full belly when he got home so we could try to preserve some of our bedtime routine. Chet was done eating around 8:15. Cole got home. Chet wanted to eat again and again and again. After his first feeding, Chet went back for seconds, thirds, and forths. Between 8 and 10 pm, we had 4 rounds of feedings.

Somewhere in between, Cole got tucked into bed. Chet final passed out in a milk coma. I feel asleep on the couch. The next thing I knew, it was 3am and Chet was ready to eat again. You read that right. I got 4+ hours of sleep in one sleeping session. I know it was a fluke, but it felt great.

Chet woke back up at 6:30 to eat. Christian woke Cole up at 7am. They headed to the bus stop at 7:30am. Chet ate again at 8:30. Mom and baby napped until 10:30. Chet ate. He ate again at 12:30.

And then Christian and I ventured out of the house with baby for the first time. Target was calling. I desperately need nursing bras that fit. We needed wipes, breast pads, lanolin ointment and dog bones!

Cole got off the bus at 2:45. Chet ate again. We had Tijuana flats for dinner. And now I’m waiting to start this all over again……

…..life with a newborn and and a 7 year old.

I just hope I’m not doomed tonight since Chet slept so good last night. I already feel like I need another nap!