An Elephant's Journal

So I think the work I’ve been putting in to generate more milk (pump more, take more “milk booster” food/drinks, ensure the boobehs are emptied out as much as possible each time) is slowly showing results. Them boobehs fill up at a faster rate now. The let-down is also getting a bit more forceful. The Baby latched and flicked on the “MILK NOW” button with his vigorous suckle, then he unlatched for no reason (just to latch back again a second later, it’s like a game for him – his version of the Hunger Game). The nipple, having been trained to obey The Baby’s command and already reporting to feeding duty was caught off-guard and sprayed a stream of milk in a projectile mid-air, and wouldn’t stop! The stream was spraying straight at his eyes and face, and I was holding the boob and screaming, “OH NO, Stop! Stop!! Put it back in!!!”. It’s like turning on the tap to the garden hose and got caught off guard by its power, and the hose starts shooting about wildly like a python on seizure an...

Day 4 was considerably more relaxed for me, as The Man took the day of. Partly to get a break since he got back from a business trip on Sunday night and hadn’t had any time off and secondly, to accompany me to my 6 weeks post-partum check-up. Day 4 was also spent preparing for my first ever time being away from The Baby for longer than a few minutes, though actually the biggest prep – ie ensuring I pump enough milk for the hours that I’d be away had been in the works since Day 1. I wasn’t super anxious, as I know The Man is fully capable of taking care of him alone. In the end, I think we all did good. The Baby hardly noticed I was gone, since he had his milk in abundance supply; The Man did all the baby duties AND walked the dog somehow; and I enjoyed the function that I attended. It felt a bit strange being back in the thick of things. It’s been awhile since my world / thoughts / conversations revolved around anything except childbirth, breastfeeding, diapers and The Baby...

Day 3!   Wow I wonder if I’d be able to keep up this daily journal thing for the entire month. Is there such a thing as post-partum carpal tunnel? I was plagued by a brief episode of carpal tunnel during pregnancy – which is common and well documented during pregnancy. But for the past 2 days I’d woken up with horrible stiffness and pain in my thumb and wrist, such that I couldn’t even spread my fingers wide or tie my hair. I set up the baby audio monitors today. The Baby was fast asleep in the room after his morning feed and I didn’t want to wake him up by carrying him down. It’s useful and all, but I am just a little creep out by it. The receiving monitor displays a frequency sound, followed by your baby’s sound whenever the detecting monitor detects anything. It comes in and out quite suddenly (like a walkie-talkie). And that baby monitor scene from Insidious is just too freaky to forget (Google it).   What if I suddenly hear a voice talking to my baby, comfortin...

Wow, I am tired. To all my friends who are parents, I am sorry I never empathized with you enough before as to this kind of tiredness. My good friend Praveena nailed it when she said that the ol wisdom of “nap when the baby naps” is just bull because it is blardy impossible when there is so.much.to.do! The cleaning up, sterilizing, EATING, (typing these entries) and before you know it..the baby is up! Time passes too quickly when you are a stay at home mum, and at the end of the day, I have just accomplished a quarter of what I set out to do and feel lousy. Having said that, I know I’m losing the perspective. This time is for me to spend precious moments with my baby and he’ll only be at this age/stage ONCE. So I shouldn’t be counting down the minutes until he sleeps again just so that I can get on with my list of things to clean / organize / throw. I must remind myself to stop and smell the baby (is that poop?) once in awhile! I seem to also have post-partum nesting....