my purple monkey: May 2007

Shhhhhh

Sophie is now napping in her crib for the very first time.

Sniff sniff-first the crib, then off to college. It all goes by so fast.

Happy Birthday Omi & Andy

It's my Mom's birthday today. And our Cousin Andy. Happy Birthday guys! What better reason to post pictures of our baby Sophie. She is now 6 weeks and 3 days old. She's getting so big we think she will be moving to her 'Big Girl Bed' (crib) soon as she's about to outgrow her bassinet. Yesterday we prepared her room as lately it's just been a storage area for gifts and such. Sigh-our little girl is growing up so fast!

These were taken yesterday and she is wearing an adorable outfit given to us by Jenny & Erik. Thanks guys-she loves it. And so do we!

Sophie now smiles and you can see her little dimple on her left cheek. She also likes to fold her hands neatly in front of her when eating. Such good manners! What a cutie : )

Leave

My Maternity Leave officially runs out this Friday. THIS Friday. I can't even imagine having to go back to work so soon. Little Sophie would only be six weeks! But plenty of people do it. They have no choice. Luckily we are in a position where I can take a few more months of unpaid leave to be with her. First I'll use up my vacation time, then the unpaid time. Normally for a C-Section they give you 8 weeks paid leave, but apparently this has recently changed and you get 6 weeks regardless of vaginal or C-Section birth. Craziness. In almost every other country in the world you get a great deal more. Many countries offer six months to a year of paid leave. Our parent company, British Telec0m, offers their UK Mom's 26 weeks of paid leave. TWENTY SIX WEEKS!!! But for the American folks, only 6. Something is wrong with this picture. We really have our priorities screwed up here in the good ol' U S of A. And people wonder why our kids are so messed up these days.

Food Fair

Yesterday we had our first real New York outing with Sophie. We hit the Ninth Avenue International Food Fair with Celvyn, Matthew , Kathy and Henry. I actually remembered to bring almost everything in my diaper bag this time. Usually I forget one key thing-a pacifer, a bottle, diapers, formula. This time I brought everything except a third feeding of formula. But it all worked out. Of course right as we starting our walk up the ave in search of yummy food Sophie starting crying for a feeding. So there I was, on bended knee feeding the wee one as hundreds of people walked by. Never did I imagine I'd be crouched down on 9th Ave (literally) feeding my child. But when your baby is hungry you must feed right away, no matter how inconvenient it may be.

Food was good but I was overly concerned that Sophie was comfy, didn't have any sun hitting her, warm enough or not overheating. I guess with time I will relax and not be so over the top with how she's doing. There was one creepy old man who approached us with questions about Sophie. Asked how old HE is, how much HE weighs, why do we have HIM wrapped up in a blanket so tightly, etc. David and I were glad when he ended the conversation with "nice to meet me" and walked away. Weirdo. It's amazing how protective you feel when a stranger approaches your child.

Afterwards we headed to Central Park to sit and enjoy the weather a bit. Watched some kid and his dad play ball. Then headed home as the storm clouds rolled in and it began to rain.

Sophie is now sleeping really well. She has a 4-5 hour sleep stretch from around 9pm-2am . Then wakes, feeds, goes back to sleep for another 3 hours or so. Then again wakes, feeds, and goes back to sleep for another 1-2 hours. Great right? Yes, but now WE can't fall back asleep. David takes the early shift, I take the later one. But it seems at any given hour one of us is still awake trying to fall back asleep. If only we could sleep as well as she does! David and I are now popping Simply Sleep (Tylenol PM w/out the Tylenol) pills nightly to fall back asleep after we feed her. I hate taking them as then I'm groggy in the morning, but I know it's only temporary as hopefully soon she'll be sleeping more and more and so will we.

Bath time

Sophie loves her baths!

Mother's Day

Sophie with Aunt Lorraine

Sophie with her Omi

Yesterday was my very first Mother's Day. And it started off with Sophie crying for a 7am feeding and I tapping David and saying "it's your turn. Again. Because it's MOTHER'S DAY!"

We spent the weekend at Granma & Granpa's in Long Island. It was a little hectic packing all the stuff to bring out there and then getting out there on the subway and train. Actually, it wasn't that hectic, but I was so darn nervous about it all! Of course David kept his cool as always and it really did go smoothly. Sophie only cried when she was hungry, as always. I swear we have the best baby ever. Rarely fusses. Sleeps really well. Eats well. What more could I ask for?

Anyhoo, my Mom/Fred came out for the weekend as well. The weekend was a whirlwind of visitors, passing her off to everyone to hold, feed, burp, etc, and then trying to get some sleep ourselves. The first night she was up every 2 hours or so. Probably because of the new sounds, smells of the Grandparents house. The next night however she slept pretty well as did we.

On Mother's Day we had a nice brunch at home with Great Granma's homemade Trini specialty saltfish & eggs served with piping hot 'fried bake' bread. So tasty. Then more guests arrived throughout the day and the passing around of Sophie continued. She is so good with strangers though. Never cries. Never wonders who is holding her. I managed to get away with Shaina for a little Marshall's and Old Navy shopping. I even managed to buy something for myself and not just Sophie. It's hard though. Baby clothes are so darn cute and I'm not feeling like I can fit into anything yet but luckily Shaina made me try on some clothes and I actually found some that'll do for now.

So now I'm back in the big city and it's lonely. Today we had our one month pediatrician appointment. Dr says Sophie gets an A+. She now weights a whopping 10lbs 8oz! He says she is very strong and has excellent neck/head control. I swear sometimes I think they underestimated her age and she is really going on two months rather than one! Afterwards we met David for lunch and we sat outside which was really nice. I think it's the first time we had a meal at a restaurant since I had her. Sophie slept in her Baby Bjorn the entire time as I ate a veggie burger and yam fries over her-trying hard not to spill anything on her head : )

"Help Me"

I have to say Lost was pretty darn fantastic last night. Finally! I was losing hope early in the season but little by little it's gotten better. Found an interesting article here about the future of the show. 48 episodes left! So glad there's an end in sight. Let's hope it doesn't dissapoint.

Hello

Three weeks

Sophie is now three weeks and two days old. Or, as I like to think about it, she really a month since she was 6 days overdue! The first week on my own is over and it had its ups and downs. It started out easy as she was taking naps throughout the day and only waking to eat or fuss a little. Towards the end of the week, however, she was fussing a lot more and it became increasingly difficult to get her to nap. I was getting so frustrated that I called David at 4pm on Friday and told him to hurry home. Now that he's been home all weekend things are SO much easier. He just seems to know how to calm her more than I do. I think it's because he tries more ways to do so, whereas I try the same few things over and over and sometimes they work, sometimes not. I really learn a lot watching how he is with her. Hopefully this next week will be smoother. I will definitely take her out more in the Baby Bjorn as that seems to calm both her AND I!

Feeding her is another huge issue. I'm still pumping breastmilk and also supplementing with formula. But everyday this week I've had plugged milk ducts. EVERYDAY. And it hurts. A lot. I don't know what the issue is, but I do know that it hurts like hell and I don't know how much longer I can do it. I woke up at 5am Friday morning in major pain and thought 'I just can't do this anymore'. I went online to find out more information on clogged ducts and also how to stop breastfeeding. Wouldn't you know it there is almost NO info on how to stop! It's all about how to solve issues and keep going. Very frustrating. I'm having such a hard time deciding how to proceed. Since Friday and my decision to possibly stop soon I am now producing so little milk! It's amazing how your milk is so in tune with your mental state. But now I'm feeling so guilty about deciding to stop that this morning I woke up thinking I will try for another few weeks until she is six weeks old. I go back and forth. I'm so torn between all the pain I'm feeling ALL the time and what I know is best for her. This is so difficult!