Sundays With Gage and On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam MD

November 14, 2010November 15, 201024 Comments

This is the perfect picture of what a sleeping newborn should look like – and yes, I do see the resemblance to a frog. Sleeper, check. Baby on back, check. Absolutely nothing else in crib, check. As you can see Gage knows the correct procedure. At least every time but nighttime. I consider it a little funny that this night owl has a son who seems to think daytimes are for napping and when the sun goes down it is time to party. I won’t go into the sleeping woes of this new mama because my parents came for the weekend and I got two nights of extra sleep. I’m feeling good and ready for the mostly sleepless nights of the upcoming week.

The following book was given to me for a pregnancy gift, but I only read it after Gage arrived. My loss. It has proved invaluable.

This photo was taken when Gage was 2 weeks old. He’s pushing 4 weeks now 😉

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Finished 11-6-10, rating 4.5/5, parenting, revised & updated 2006

I am not a huge fan of schedules but I think that babies and children can benefit from them so I was happy to read this book on how to give my baby some structure. The book recommends forming and maintaining a routine for your infant that is based on sleeping, feeding, and waketime. There are tips on how to establishing a schedule for your child and I have found it useful. I have not been able to follow it to the letter (Gage is only a newborn, after all!), but by using the guidelines loosely I have found my day to have a little more certainty.

I think there may be a danger if you try to follow it too closely. I’ve tried that and there are some things that I think will not work for Gage. Making him nap when he wants to play for a few hours seems counterproductive to getting him to sleep at night. But keeping in mind the three blocks of time and shaping them to suit your needs I think will help many first time parents feel more in control and knowledgeable. Having a plan, whether you follow it to the letter or not, goes a long way in making you feel prepared.

While I think the first chapter called Your Baby Needs a Family was well intended it did seem to lack empathy for most mothers and fathers out there that for whatever reason do not have the ideal nuclear family. If you are one of them, as are most families these days, I might just skip that chapter altogether.

This book was a gift from my friend, Kate.

Sundays with Gage

November 7, 2010November 7, 201020 Comments

Motherhood, c-sections, weight gain and loss, sleeping, and gassy babies are all things I might talk about on a given Sunday, but today all you get are a few Gage pics.

This week Gage was able to dress up and visit a few neighbors on Halloween

And he received visitors. He met Jason’s dad,

my Grandmother, a great aunt and uncle, Aunt Amy, Uncle Doug and cousin Lucy, and his new friend Anne. He’s not even three weeks old yet and he’s already surrounded by love 🙂

Baby Gage’s Arrival

October 25, 2010October 20, 201545 Comments

Gage’s arrival was a bit earlier than expected. I wasn’t due until November 3rd, but last week my blood pressure spiked and they decided I had preeclampsia, which meant that Jason and I checked into the hospital on 10/16 around 10 pm. After getting situated they decided to start me on Magnesium. That meant I could not get out of bed or have anything to eat but ice chips and Popsicles until 24 hours after Gage decided to make his appearance. I did not enjoy my 3+ days on this awful drug. I couldn’t see, hear, or concentrate correctly. But I did eat lots of Popsicles.

After trying to induce and making little progress a doctor finally decided to do a c-section on Tuesday morning. At 10:12 am Gage came into the world with 10 fingers and 10 toes. While Daddy cut the cord, Mommy made a nuisance of herself by continually asking the surgical team, “How much longer?” The answer was always 10-15 minutes. Liars.

Gage came in at 6 pounds even and was 19 3/4 inches long. He is doing well and is very, very sweet. He is trying to get over jaundice right now and is on a blanket machine that makes him look like a glow worm. Too cute. He is being spoiled by his grandparents, who we couldn’t have done without. And I’m convinced that I gave my son the best possible father. Gage and I are lucky to have him.

The c-section is taking me a little longer to recover from than I thought it might. Maybe it’s because I tried to be a tough girl and resist too many drugs. I’m past that. If I haven’t returned your call or email, don’t be offended. I haven’t returned any. I’ll be working on that soon.