The Christmas Edition

My hair was slicked back, wet with purple hair dye that was dripping on to my back. I was wearing only my nursing bra and bikini bottoms while cooking pancakes on Christmas morning. I hope none of the neighbors could see me through the windows, it must have looked like a crazy house! Usually when I dye my hair, I wear old ugly t-shirts and put old ugly towels around myself. I was not at home though, and I didn’t have any old ugly shirts, and the only towels were nice hotel bright white ones. I don’t think my Mother in Law would have appreciated her nice towels suddenly turning purple. The Sister in Law wanted to live vicariously through me and suggested I dye my hair. I thought it would be fun to have purple hair (that goes away after 8 washes…) for Christmas, so I thought, why not? We had a good Christmas, lots of good presents, good food (prawns on the BBQ, chicken skewers, pasta salad, fruit salad, gelato, fruit flan), and a nice lazy day.

Hannah loves opening presents. She does, of course, want to eat the wrapping paper. I think she likes the paper better then the actual present inside. She’s no longer allowed to chew on paper or cardboard as she has learned how to take bits off with her gums and then tries to eat them. After fishing a few bits of paper out of her mouth, I banned paper and cardboard from her list of toys. I was actually able to get some smiling photos of Hannah. We were out to lunch one day when she went a bit hyper and started squealing, yelling, jumping, and giggling. I got out the camera, and to my amazement, the hyper activity didn’t stop, she didn’t stop and stare at the camera like she normally does. I was able to get lots of smiling photos, and since that day, she smiles for the camera like she’s been doing it her whole life.

I hope no one looked at me through the window of the car on the drive home. They would have been in for a very big shock. I’m sure it’s not everyday that you see someone in the passenger seat of a car using a manual breast pump while going down the freeway. I didn’t really have a choice, Hannah was refusing to nurse (too much to look at, it was very hot and sticky, who knows really), and I am not really a fan of exploding boobies, so I pumped. Yes, I could have done it in the bathroom at a rest stop or something, but 1, that would have added extra time to the already long journey, and 2, is pumping in the filthy bathroom at Macca’s any less weird then pumping while in a moving vehicle? I think not. I was very worried about the drive home from Byron Bay. Hannah has never really been a fan of car rides, and we were going to drive from Byron Bay to Tamworth the first day, then Tamworth to Sydney (via Penrith) the second day. She never fails to surprise and delight us though. She was wonderful the first day. Even though she didn’t have much sleep in the car (she can’t sleep very long in the car seat, I think because she usually sleeps on her tummy and obviously can’t do that in her seat), she was happy, didn’t cry, and was quite content. We stopped frequently to let her out of her seat, and to give her some food. By the last couple of hours of the journey on the second day, she had had enough. She pretty much screamed for an hour straight, until we stopped in Windsor for some lunch. Poor Bubba.

I know my blog is a day late. Monday I didn’t even realise it was Monday. Aaron has the week off, so it felt like it was Sunday. Then Tuesday I meant to do it but the camera was out of batteries so I couldn’t get the photos on the computer to put on the blog (and I forgot to charge it until the evening). Then yesterday I was too busy. Oh well, I’m sure you’ll live.

Bubba makes boys cry

Trying on one of my bikini’s, I looked in the mirror. Finally, my linea nigra is starting to fade. It’s still there, but not so loud and proud as before. I’m glad I can fit into my bikini’s, but I still have 3 kilos to lose before I’m back to my pre pregnancy weight. No rush though, it’s only been 4 months. I put my shorts on the other day too. I tried them a month or so ago, and couldn’t get them past my hips/butt, let alone do them up, so I’m ecstatic that I can fit in to them now.

“Ouch!!” Ok, well that’s what he would have said if he could talk, but he is just a 4 month old baby, so he curled out his bottom lip, and started crying instead. Hannah has started to take interest in other babies, and reaches out to touch them and grab their hands. Unfortunately, she gave Archie a nipple cripple while she was at it. He wasn’t the only baby she made cry that day, baby Connor also cried when she grabbed his hand too much. Watch out, we have a little heart breaker on our hands!!

Bubba and I went to the beach with the girls on Wednesday. I was a bit worried that Hannah might not like the water as it is still quite cold, but she couldn’t have cared less. As soon as I put her little feet in the wet sand, she started bouncing (she does that when she’s happy). The little waves crashed over her feet, which she also loved. She watched her feet as the water went out, burying her little toes in the sand. I didn’t want to keep her in too long though, her little bubba feet were getting quite cold.

Speaking of feet, Hannah has discovered that she has some. She can entertain herself for ages, just laying on her back, grabbing her toes. Or, she lifts her head and shoulders up, as well as her feet, and looks at them for a while.

I like that Hannah is now exploring the wide world of food, but I don’t like the increasingly smelly, sticky poops. Last night, she ate 2 TBSP of rice cereal (with breast milk), and another 2 TBSP of sweet potato (with breast milk). This morning, she had a really smelly, sticky poo. I hate to think what her poos will smell like when she is over 6 months old, and getting more solids then breast milk!

leaky boobs

Time since birth: 5 weeks 1 day
Total weight loss: 10.4kgs (22.9lbs)
Weight loss this week: 500g (1.1lbs)

I woke up in a cold large puddle. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on, then it hit me. My boobs were leaking again. Not just a little bit, I was laying in a puddle. I looked at the clock, 3am. Hannah had been sleeping for 7 hours. Uh oh, is she ok, is she still breathing? I heard her little “I’m waking up” noises on the baby monitor. Phew, she’s ok. I wish she slept for 7 hours straight every night (I like getting lots of uninterrupted sleep)! I hoped I had enough milk left in my boobs, as opposed to all over the bed, to feed her (I did). Apparently, if I go to long without feeding, my boobs become self milking.

Hmmm… how do you clean up a giant puddle of milk from your mattress?? I pulled off the sheets and put salt on it. The salt drew out a lot of the milk, and then was vacuumed up. Still wet. I repeated bout 4 times, but it was still wet! I spent the night sleeping at the foot of the bed perpendicular to how one would normally sleep on a bed while trying to let the milk puddle dry. Aaron spent the night on the couch. Still wet the next day, I opened the windows and let it air all day. Finally, a dry bed. Hopefully it won’t start smelling (so far so good though).

After said incident, I started wearing a bra to bed, with breast pads inside. The bra tends to creep up during the night and sit halfway up my boob, which can block milk ducts and lead to mastitis. Surely I’m not the only one with this problem. How do other mothers protect their beds and boobs at the same time? I still don’t know the answer to that question, but I decided to wear a tank top and stick some breast pads in there. Fingers crossed I won’t have another giant leak, as I’m pretty sure it would go through the shirt and pads.

I was getting ready to go on a pram walk and lunch with my antenatal class girls, carrying Hannah around while doing so. We were in the bathroom, about to brush my teeth when she gave me the biggest, sweetest smile I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t the usual “I’m doing a fart” involuntary smile either, it was a genuine “mommy I love you” smile. She has been sparingly dolling out smiles ever since.

At our lunch that day, at the pub, we saw the channel 9 finance reporter and weather girl. Every single one of us had our boobs out, nursing our hungry little babies. I don’t know if the weather girl gave us a look of disgust or support, but she definitely gave us a look. Maybe she just thought it odd that we were at the pub (FYI, the meals are good, there is hardly anyone there at lunch time, and there is ample room for pram parking).

Friday, a friend from church came over to take Hannah to the park with her girls and give me a chance to catch up with the house work. It was the first time I’ve been away from Hannah. I worried about her the whole time (is she hungry, is she crying, does she need a nappy change?), but still got so much done in her absence. It’s amazing how much you can do when you have a time constraint.

As for the mammogram, I have to go see a breast specialist next week (there goes another $175). The mammogram report suggests it’s nothing to worry about, but also says to see a specialist for follow up. We are beginning to think they just refer you to anyone and everyone to get them all more money. Why do w have to go back to the doctor each time? I mean, the ultrasound report suggested further investigation, but they could have just told me that, I could have mad the appointment to get the mammogram, and so on. Instead, it’s doctor, specialist, doctor, different specialist, doctor, and so on. It seems incredibly inefficient if you ask me. If I have to go back to the doctor after my boob specialist appointment just to get the results of the appointment, I think I will scream.