Tag Archives: baby

Pumping As a Hobby

Song Lyric of the Day:

Pump it, pump it, pump it

Technotronic / “Pump Up the Jam

With Sebastian I succeeded where I did not with Coraline: breastfeeding. As such, I then had to pump A LOT to keep up with a growing baby. Pumping became my hobby. I was pumping six times a day: wake up, midmorning, midafternoon, when I got home from work, late at night, then overnight. It was all I could do to pump as many ounces as I needed to fill the bottles to send with the baby to my mom’s house. My mom basically turned into the Pablo Escobar of breast milk, giving me a hard time if ever I missed quota. She’d text me during the workday: Sebastian is happy his bottles are each an ounce short. NOT. As you can imagine, my mom was not amused with my new nickname for her.

Having to pump so often I was basically tethered to my breast pump, which I got for free, thankyouverymuch, Affordable Care Act. I set up my preferred home pumping spot in the living room. Why not be comfy on the couch? That location gave me tons of quality time with my cat, Buster, as well as with the weirdness that is overnight television programming. Much to the spouse’s dismay, I got back into murder p0rn — shows like Forensics Files (still a classic), Snapped (SO. MUCH. SNAPPED.), 48 Hours on ID, Dateline, Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, It Takes a Killer. Basically, if it had a murder and re-enactments, I was there.

My overnight viewings weren’t all doom and gloom, though. I also got hooked on Psych reruns on Ion (even though they apparently skip airing entire seasons for some reason). Given that I would finish pumping before the episode would end, I started DVRing them so I could get closure and watch the rest of it when I got home from work. Which led to Coraline watching with me since, as far as “adult” TV shows I watch go, Psych is really tame. So I now have a tiny Psych-O who is watching every episode in order with me on Amazon Prime.

Pumping at work wasn’t nearly as fun since it was cat-free, but at least I could be productive thanks to this hands-free pumping bustier I bought. I also had guaranteed privacy in the comfy mother’s room the office has. I will say I should have bought that bustier long before I did, but I got quite good — and fast — typing with one hand in the meantime.

The last time I pumped was in late January. I can’t say I miss it. I still make sure to get lots of quality time in with Buster, who is now 20 years old. And I of course enjoy my Psych sessions with Coraline. The extra free time is now spent chasing a very active 15-month-old and getting as much uninterrupted sleep overnight as possible. That last one is easier said than done.

Liquid gold!

Liquid gold!

 

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The Winter of Our Discontent

Song Lyric of the Day:

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days / When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out

Twenty One Pilots / “Stressed Out

I’m over this winter. Normally I love winter since it’s cold and I can’t overheat like I do in late spring and then summer, but this winter has been miserable. Why exactly? Because Sebastian has been sick since January 12. I remember the date, because it was the day before Rich was due to leave for India for work for 13 days. Good timing. Sebastian woke up covered in vomit that morning, so we of course immediately thought “flu!” and rushed him to the doc. It turned out to be a stomach bug and a little cold. Rich felt better leaving for his trip knowing he was not leaving me with a flu-afflicted baby.

Sebastian then got a virus, which started clearing up after a few days. Meanwhile, as Rich was away and that always upsets the natural balance of things, Knoxville got snow. One whole inch of snow led to three school snow days in a row — combined with MLK Day that Monday, Coraline and I were home with her sick brother almost all week. At least she had school that Friday, albeit on a two-hour delay.

The second Sunday Rich was away, Sebastian got sick again and was so weak with fever and bordering on lethargic that I was positive his virus had turned into the flu. I called my mom to come sit with Coraline so I could take him to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital to get looked at. When I told Coraline that Abuela was coming to watch her so I could take her brother to the hospital to get checked out, my poor girl got hysterical. She adores her baby brother and has been terrified of him getting the flu since she knows it can be fatal for babies. I did my best to calm her down, although I ended up crying a little bit, too, since she was so upset. I reassured her that I was sure the docs at the hospital would tell me I was just being a paranoid mommy, but she replied with, “I just want to spend as much time with him as I can while I can,” as she went to embrace her brother. It’s not like hearing her say that, through sobs, ripped my heart out or anything. Mom got to our house in about a half hour (she ROCKS) and Sebastian and I left for the hospital. I managed to stake out a corner in the waiting room relatively away from other people; it was full that night, and half the kids were wearing face masks because of flu-like symptoms. We got there around 8:20PM and didn’t end up getting home until 12:55AM. Turns out it wasn’t the flu, just the first day of a new, second virus. Poor Sebastian had blood drawn and spent most of the night in my arms practically fainting from his fever.

The next week was a bit of a blur as Sebastian had me up several times every night. I took to calling him the Fever King since he had so many I lost count. I’m very fortunate in that my job is portable and I can work from home, so when Sebastian felt well enough to play I’d work. I’d then haul ass to get even more work done while he napped since that was my longest uninterrupted stretch during the day. But with a very sick baby who is very clingy when not feeling well, I ended up working most nights after the kids were in bed to finish what I couldn’t during the day. I’d wrap up working for the night between 10 and 11PM, then rush to do a few household things, then try to get an hour or two of sleep before Sebastian’s first wakeup. He’d inevitably wake up with a fever; we’ve gone through I don’t know how many bottles of Infants’ Tylenol and Infants’ Motrin these last few weeks.

Finally the Friday arrived when Rich was flying home. One hour before his scheduled landing, I was changing Sebastian’s diaper before heading to the airport when I noticed his torso was covered in a rash. Another call to the nurse triage line (my second or third at this point) followed. Rich landed safely and the nurse called back while we were at the luggage carousel. After I answered what felt like 100 questions, the nurse assured me she was certain it was Roseola, which meant that the virus was coming to an end. Finally, our little boy was going to be well again, right? Yeah, not so much.

Sebastian was still sick enough that I had to keep working from home with him, but now with Rich home again, he was able to work from home with him a bit so I could get in to the office a few days. Because things weren’t fun enough, Coraline’s school district canceled school Monday and Tuesday that week due to illness since so many kids and teachers were out with the flu (among other things). They had school Wednesday, only to have school canceled the remainder of the week. That weekend Sebastian got sicker — again.

As he was exhibiting flu-like symptoms again, back to the doctor we went. It wasn’t a virus this time, but his first-ever ear infection. He got prescribed an antibiotic, but a few days later somehow got sicker while on it. Back to the doc, where he got diagnosed with a double ear infection and put on a second, different antibiotic. And — because this has been the winter that keeps on giving — you guessed it, he got sicker. Back to the doc, where his doctor took one look in Sebastian’s ear and said it was so infected even a first-year med student could diagnose it. That’s right — his double ear infection had gotten worse while on the second antibiotic. Sebastian was then put on Augmentin, which eventually made progress on the ear infection while destroying his stomach in the process. His doctor had warned us how harsh it would be on Sebastian’s stomach, but boy, it was more vicious than we anticipated.

As I write this, a little more than seven weeks since Sebastian first got sick, he’s still not quite back to 100 percent. He’s pretty close, though — I’d put him around 90 percent. He went eight days before developing another fever this past Friday, but it was a low-grade one of 100 degrees. He also currently has a very runny nose and a little cough; the last few weeks he learned to recognize the Boogie Wipes package, so that’s made wiping his nose extra fun since he fights it. (I don’t know why since those wipes are awesome when you’re sick.) Best of all, he’s eating again. He had next to no appetite at his sickest; breastfeeding was all that was keeping him from dehydrating. And, if I’m honest, as a Puerto Rican, it freaked me out that he wouldn’t eat. When people don’t eat, it freaks us out. We need to feed you. Not eating is weird and scary. At least Sebastian would take his beloved pouches, which oftentimes were the only thing he’d eat for days on end.

I know things could have been much worse, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the most stressed I’ve been in ages during Sebastian’s illnesses, particularly while Rich was out of the country. I made a point to thank Coraline for behaving so well while her dad was away, since she was a big help with her brother. I’m lucky that my parents and sister are in town (as well as close friends) and a phone call away if I need anything, like the night I needed to take Sebastian to the hospital. Now seven-plus weeks, three antibiotics, lots of Children’s Benadryl, Infants’ Tylenol, Infants’ Motrin, 4 negative flu tests, 4 negative RSV tests, and one negative strep throat test later, my baby is finally getting back to his normal, silly, noisy, bottomless eating pit, mess-making self.

Now if only it were spring …

Sebastian on the go

Taken when he felt good one morning, before he napped and woke up with a raging fever later that day (2/19/18).

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Happy Halloween 2017 From Pubert Addams

Sebastian As Pubert

Drawing a mustache on your baby and slicking down his hair are some of life’s simple pleasures. Happy Halloween!

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Done Went and Had a Baby

Song Lyric of the Day:

Like when I close my eyes and don’t even care if anyone sees me dancing / Like I can fly, and don’t even think of touching the ground / Like a heartbeat skip, like an open page / Like a one way trip on an aeroplane / It’s the way that I feel when I’m with you, brand new

Ben Rector / “Brand New

I logged in to my blog the other day, trying to remember if my last post was in the spring (I could have sworn it was), only to be shocked to see the last time I posted was the day before Sebastian was born. That’s right – I now have a second kid, Coraline is a (fabulous) big sister, and Rich has his very own Mini Me. My unintentionally long, almost year-long blogging break reminded me of the short-lived show Up All Night, when Will Arnett’s character reminds Christina Applegate’s character that she last updated Facebook the night before their baby was born, and that people probably thought she’d died. As with me, that was happily not the case.

So what have I been up to these last 11 months? The first six weeks after Sebastian was born were all about surviving an ungodly level of exhaustion. There were nights he would wake up after only 20 minutes of catnapping; I can’t rightly call what he was doing sleeping. Why was he up so often? Because we didn’t get really good at nursing until he was about 6 weeks old. Once he started latching correctly each time, he would get nice and full and then he would sleep. It was such a relief to finally get more than 20-minute catnaps. We’d get two-, three-, even four-hour stretches. It was glorious.

In hindsight, I never should have said Coraline was a bad sleeper as a baby, because sweet 6-pound, 8-ounce baby Jesus, Sebastian made his sister look like a fricking sleep Olympian. But we survived. Although at times it felt like I wouldn’t. I had several days where I would cry purely from exhaustion, as well as days I’d cry that it looked like he wasn’t putting on weight no matter how much I nursed him. Once we hit that 6-week mark, though, everything improved across the board. And boy, has breastfeeding this time around been an experience. I’ll try to write more about that another time; I promise it won’t be 11 months from now.

I admit that I was ready to try for a second kid a couple of years ago, but needing the spouse to be on board with that kind of thing is a pretty big deal. And, you know, kind of important. Coraline had of course been lobbying for a sibling for about three years prior to Sebastian being born. Originally she wanted a sister we would name Elsa. Then she decided a brother wouldn’t be so bad. Then she decided one of each would be great. I shot that idea down pretty quickly. She’s a great age to be a big sister, though. She’s been helpful from the get-go, getting me things she knew I’d need (wipes, the Boppy pillow, a burp cloth) before I asked for them. She’s also great with Sebastian and has even been able to soothe him at times when Rich and I couldn’t; it makes me believe that she really can understand his baby talk and interpret what he’s telling her. Sebastian is also pretty fond of her. Watching them interact is one of my life’s greatest joys. They’re also not yet old enough to fight, so I’m enjoying every second of their current peaceful existence.

I hope to get back into updating my blog semi-regularly. I’ve missed it — and writing in general. (My sincere thanks to the one reader who still checks in occasionally.) For now, though, I’m going to call it a night as I haven’t slept more than six hours straight in almost a year. Luckily it’s been for a very good reason.

My babies

Cora reads to (then 3-month-old) Sebastian

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Photoblogging: She Is … Sabrina Fierce

No sooner did I get out my camera than my niece decided to channel her alter ego, Sabrina Fierce. She’s one tough little cookie. (Photo taken 12/8/13)

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Shiny & New

This is my family’s New Year Baby: My new niece, Sabrina Irene, was born on December 21, 2012, just in time for Christmas and the new year. My whole family is in love with her, particularly big cousin Coraline (going in for yet another kiss in the second photo).

Here’s to a wonderful, happy, healthy, prosperous, relatively sane 2013 for us all. Happy new year!

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She’s Not Just a Member of the Hair Club for Babies …

Hair!

... she's also the president.

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Today Coraline Is a Big Cousin

My first niece, Miranda, was born this morning in Alabama, making Coraline a big cousin. I can’t wait for them to meet.

Welcome to the World, Miranda

Miranda, 7.2 lbs., 18 inches

Yawnsies

Expressing her ennui while her Abuela holds her

Proud Big Brother

Elliott is giddy over his baby sister's arrival

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My Happy for the Day: Nurse Caleb Checks on His Patient

Caleb has fussed over Coraline more than usual since she’s been sick. Fortunately for him, she loves the attention.

 

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One: Happy Birthday to Coraline

One

Happy birthday to my sweet little girl. I can't believe it's already been one year. Thank you for being such an amazing little girl, and for making me laugh every day. I love you and hope all your birthday wishes come true.

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