Strange Machines

It’s pretty confirmed Jack’s on a 5+3 night schedule now. In fact, he’s almost like clockwork. He fussed from 10pm till midnight, drinking like a parched nomad in the desert, and finally fell asleep on his own. He woke at 5am almost sharp, drank 4 sessions, had a diaper change, and wanted to play a little before finally sleeping at 7am (which was when I managed to sleep too). True to form, he woke again at 10am and we called it a night.

I’ve put away the milk towels for feeding, using them only to protect MBF or the bed. The plastic-backed bibs seem to be better, very much more absorbent and less messy, and also seem to give Jack a better feeding experience (as a usability tester, it is important for virtually everything to have a good experience - hmm… maybe I should go into sales).

Did a bit of surfing today and found lots of cool parent sites. I like Parent Hacks and Rookie Mom for their cool ideas on managing baby. More links on the left under the category Mom Zones.

Our aircon is being serviced as I type this. Amazingly, Jack is sleeping through the loud whirring. The past 5 nights, it had been dripping like a leaky faucet, sometimes like a river. My Dad said it was clogged. I hope to find out why soon.

Last night Jack was fussy from 11pm-midnight. It is almost as if he knows his bedtime is midnight, so don’t try to con me, Mommy. After 2 failed attempts to put him to bed, third time was a charm after feeding extensively on both boobs.

He woke at 5am, fed extensively from both again and fell asleep quickly after a diaper change, burp, and a hug from Mom. I couldn’t sleep. Mind buzzing about work stuff. Finally I fell asleep close to 8 and had a strange but telling dream.

Jack cried to be fed again at 8.30am and he ate and dozed till 9.30am. His Dad put him to bed then and us parents got up to have breakfast. I worked on my site while he studied a little.

Meanwhile, I decided bibs are better than milk towels for better absorption per square centimeter. They smell less bad too. This comes from someone who washes them daily, even soaking them in Dynamo and boiling water the night before. It just makes them smell like boiled milk.

He cried again at 10.30am, suckled a little but preferred to be entertained by an adoring Mom and Dad who sang and danced to him along to Allan Sherman’s comedy ditties. He laughed so much - we were so delighted. I brought him to his gym (he burped spontaneously en route) and he played a bit before getting fussy. His Dad carried him and he dozed almost immediately.

Kaku came to visit me in the loo! I petted her happily and told her I missed her. How was she, I asked. She meowed in return. Her tail section looked like it’d grown back some. Sam took his turn too and then scurried off. Back at my computer, Boy is dozing contentedly on his new fave spot - the coloured mat that I use to cover the wires. I am so happy things are getting back to normal.

Jack just fed and is napping on my lap now. We best get dressed soon for lunch.

We took Jack to Borders last night after a lovely Macs dinner. I managed to get a copy of The Selfish Gene - they’d brought in new stock. The poor boy was so hot that we took him out of his Bjorn and carried him. I fed him in the breastfeeding room at Wheelock and after seeing the dismal one at Great World, I have to say two thumbs up.

The sweetie fed at 10pm and again at 11pm. Slept at midnight and woke at 4.28am, 7am and 945am. He woke up so happy after the final feed he was smiling and laughing when I held him and talked to him. His Dad played Les Miserables for him and he loved it. What a happy baby he is.

Okay, the title reeks of a Jerry Springer-type story but last night while I was going comatose and frankly suffering brain damage from severe sleep deprivation, the Hubman came to the rescue.

I explained to him how I finally understood one weary Mom’s ponderance on how hair could possibly hurt and it was not because I pulled out a whole tuft while removing the koyok from my neck.

So at 9pm I went to bed, a few hairs short, and 2 panadols in me. Baby fussed and cried till 11pm (aka I got no sleep till then although I was prone), and I fed him one last time and was out like a light when kind Hub brought him outside.

I was woken up by Jack’s fussing. Ran to the loo before it escalated into crying. Checked the clock - it was 509am! Quickly wore the MBF pillow and picked him up to feed. While feeding, I counted the hours (remember: brain function still slow). OMG… I slept 5 hours straight. It was a record since I gave birth.

Using the Compression Technique to make your baby feed more at night while dozing on boob (guarantees you a longer sleep), I finished feeding him on one side, changed his diaper, and then fed again on the other. When he was done, I sat him up for a while (to let the milk go down), and then tucked him back to bed. I think there was a spontaneous burp there when he sat up but I couldn’t recall if it was this feed or the next. Anyhoo.

At 8.30am he woke again and during the feed, smiled and laughed at me. It was so delightful! He went back to bed and woke again at 1050am. I dressed him in his favourite (okay, my favourite) Creysi romper and now he’s sitting up talking to his blue turtle friend and listening to Vivaldi.

I have bad knees. That’s a fact. But my finger? Well, all three gave out yesterday and had to be stuck with white stickies of koyok. I can just about hobble now but stairs still pain me and my ring finger still refuses to take any weight on it.

Last night I managed to watch Lost while carrying Jack in a sling. I remembered a Mom writing about it and decided to try it for myself. Gosh! It worked! He slept like a baby (excuse the pun). Of course I paid for it later when he refused to be stirred to be fed.

I gave up at 1230am although he did seem to feed a bit. He woke again at 2.30am and drank a little. Another feeding at 430am, and then I made a dreadful mistake. My achy finger and knees decided for me. I left him beside me to sleep.

From then till noon, he dozed and woke, cried. Fed a little (2-5 minutes!) and dozed again. Just when I started dreaming (and strange dreams they were - product of a strange machine - okay corny joke, back to topic), he’d cry and I got up to see what was wrong.

Two diaper changes, multiple feeds, and numerous attempted burpings later, he still fussed. Around 1230pm, I staggered out of bed during a moment of quiet after Diaper Change 2, turned on Mozart, and he stayed quiet, gurgling to himself while he stared at something on the wall.

Weary as hell, I washed up, fed the kids who had just about broken the door down in hunger, did the laundry, and sat him in a stroller so I could use the computer. Mom came to the rescue soon after. A nap sounds good right about now.