Food

We had our daughter's baptism this weekend and then took our families out to dinner at a great place in Brooklyn. I just wrote out the menu and my mouth started watering again.

I'm copying and pasting it so you can get hungry too.

Everything was family-style (my spelling may be off):

- roasted artichokes in lemon sauce on arugula, baked clams, mozzarella in corrozza (google this - basically fried grilled cheese), fried shrimp and shrimp cocktail
- Mediterranean salad
- pasta course - fusilli in vodka sauce and linguine with clam sauce
- entrees - chicken francese and chicken marsala
- sides - broccoli rabe and mashed potatoes
- dessert - big plates of spumoni, slices of cheesecake, slices of carrot cake, tartufo, etc...

Seriously, it was awesome. I'm hungry.

And because I don't plan to post her photo, here's a glimpse of her with a proud and happy momma:

Article about hip dysplasia

There was a great article about hip dysplasia in People magazine. It also included some information about the Pavlik harness. Here's some excerpts from it:

http://celebritybabies.people.com/2010/09/29/larry-the-cable-guy-and-wife-cara-how-we-healed-our-son%E2%80%99s-hip-dysplasia/

A few things really resonated with me - especially when the mother said that she would "get one hour out of 24 when I got to squeeze him and hold him like a real baby"...that really is one of the hardest parts about it for me. You just want to snuggle (and breastfeed) your child in the normal position and it's hard to realize that you can't.

I will say that I'm so glad that I stuck with breastfeeding even though it sucked. I am sad that for half of her life, I couldn't hold her "normally" but now that she's only in it part-time, I'm glad that I kept doing it.

The comments from readers after the article are also interesting. When my daughter was diagnosed, I found very little information on such a supposedly common disorder, I'm so glad to hear all of these stories. I'm also so blessed that my daughter was diagnosed on day #2 and has been followed by an amazing pediatric orthopedic surgeon since day #4. The longer diagnosis and treatment takes, the more likely your child is to require hip surgery. Scary! And again, so blessed!

Not Cool!

We rented a cottage on Cape Cod in August. We rented it the first week and my parents rented it the second week. When we first got there, I was definitely disappointed - the place was definitely run-down and the loft that had been heavily billed in the ad was inaccessible except for a ladder (somewhat hard to get to if you were carrying anything - like wine or a baby). Buuuuut...whatever...GREAT location to both downtown and the beach and reasonably priced.

EXCEPT...there were two deposits - $100 for "extraordinary cleaning" and $250 for "house repair".

Guess where this story is going??

That's right - we didn't get our cleaning deposits back. I was a little shocked but i was like "well maybe we didn't clean it as well as we thought - plus there was a ton of trash because of the diapers".

But a few days later, my dad finds out that he didn't get his deposit. Whaaaat???? That's just CRAZY. He is neurotic (thanks to many years in the military and many years as my grandmother's son). He even said that my stepmother told him to STOP cleaning before check-out because it was spotless.

Also, they took $39 out of dad's $250 deposit because he "stole" 2 pillowcases (which he thought belonged to me). He was SO mad "$39 for your shoddy old pillowcases!!!". They couldn't have given him a call to ask if he had them??? So now he's packaging them up and mailing them back without a note. Hee. My dad rarely gets fired-up (similar to my husband, not so similar to me) but when he does, it's awesome.

We (Mike) already called the owner and he was not interested in discussing it. Oh well...time to let it go. Lesson learned!!! Renter beware!

Pavlik

*** This post will not interest my usual readers (ie my brother and six of my friends). However, since my daughter got her Pavlik harness, I've been searching the internet for information and I haven't come up with much. I hope this post will be found by another parent who is searching for information. It is an amalgam of google searches, information from my daughter's doctor and hints from a friend of a friend. ***

Sleep - not happening. I went from having a nine-week-old who sleep 8+ hours (a combination of luck and a strict sleep/nap routine) to having a 15-week-old who sleeps MAYBE 3 or 4 hours at a stretch. And to cap it off - I'm back at work (and caring for other people's children) so the lack of sleep is really hurting us. No solutions yet.

Skin - I think the best thing to do is put on a plain (no appliques) white onesie, then the harness and then a dress. We use onesies that are a little bigger than usual (I think 3-6 month) and they've been washed in Dreft (especially impt since the onesie is so tight against her fair skin all day). We use dresses in the 6 month size. Also when I take the harness off for the "one hour of freedom", I usually bath her and I always do a quick skin check. I look for areas of redness (future breakdown) around the neck, under the arms, on the back, hips and on the thighs. I also check her toes for good circulation and to make sure that they aren't squeezed into the the foot part (this was happening in the smaller Pavlik). If I see problems, I apply Aquaphor to the area and I try to eliminate future rubbing with Duoderm or stockingette. I have also heard of parents putting cornstarch in the booties to avoid the smell.

Cleaning - for a child who can't move, you would be surprised at how dirty and smelly the harness can get. Our daughter's August harness got particularly dirty because we were at the beach for almost two weeks (and I possibly spilled baby vitamin drops all over the back). For dirt, some parents recommend dyeing the harness so you can't see the stains. We didn't do this because I didn't really care about a little dirt. However, a spitty baby equals a stinky/smelly Pavlik. To get rid of the smell, I suggest scrubbing at the spots with a (CLEAN) hard toothbrush and some mild detergent (again, Dreft is probably a good idea). Then scrub again without the detergent (just water) or rinse with as little water as possible. If you need to dry the harness quickly, I suggest blasting it with a hairdryer. Otherwise, let it sit in the sun (this is a natural stain bleacher) for a few hours.

Also, I suggest taking off the booties when changing a dirty (DIRTY) diaper. I've changed a lot of diapers in the last twenty years and infants have an uncanny ability to get their feet smack in the middle of the diaper. Gross. Double gross when it involves your white cloth harness.

Ok, I'll write more in another post. Topics will include gear (slings, Bumbo, etc...), breastfeeding, snuggling, swaddling and the emotional aspect of your child being in a harness.

What's this?

Well...since CCBL updated HER blog, I felt obligated to take a look at mine!

I have SO much to say...of course, it's mostly comments on parenting so I guess this is probably a mommy blog now. :)

Let's start with three things that I didn't understand prior to having a child:

- I had no idea how much laundry we would do! I heard parents complaining about it and I thought "but it's one small child!"...ha ha, I was SO naive. It's not just HER outfit, it's mine, the sheets, the Boppy cover, the bib, etc... we do a load of laundry every 1-2 days.
- You know how you see cars on the highway BRIMING with baby crap? And you wonder why they need that much junk to go away with a little baby? Ok, I totally admit I was judgy about the overpacking....and then i just went away for four days with my daughter and filled the car. We had my bag, her bag, her little vibrating seat, her tub (ok, this was unnecessary but she's having a bad week* and she loves her bath) and the Pack N Play and all of it's accoutrements.
- Talking about your child nonstop --- dude, I'm boring! This never bothered me about other parents but it actually bothers me a lot when I do it. I just talk about her CONSTANTLY. I think there are two reasons - one, this is the best thing that I've ever done so obviously I want to talk about it; two, it's so all-consuming - it's not like I can talk about movies or work or books!

*Yes, I realize that babies can't really have "bad weeks" but she just was placed in a Pavlik harness and she's so irritable so I felt that she deserved her bathtime.

So...there it is...a new blog post! Yay for me!

Other topics for future posts:
- sleep (mine, hers, his, ours)
- why breastfeeding is both awesome and terrible
- the Pavlik harness
- great hints that you guys gave me
- stuff that NO ONE told me
- baby blues/PPD
- general thoughts on labor, hospitals, newborns, etc...

Itzbeen a miracle

Guess who slept from 11pm to 5am last night? What a wonderful day!!!

Edited to add:

The itzbeen is a timer so that sleep-deprived parents can keep track of how long it's been (itzbeen) since a specific task was done. Mike and I find it to be a useful tool to communicate with each other.

Anyway, they measure hours and minutes. Specifically:
- 6 hours and 2 minutes since the baby's diaper was changed
- 6 hours and 2 minutes since she was fed
- 5 hours and 51 minutes since she fell asleep
- I have no idea what that last one measured (it's the misc button)

Doula, etc...

So I have about a million things to share, including:

- my sleep obsession
- unsolicited parenting advice from people on facebook
- the difficulties of breastfeeding (and my experience at La Leche League)
- baby blues/PPD
- general thoughts on labor, hospitals, newborns, etc...

BUT today I want to talk about "the doula"...a few weeks ago, I had a little "breakdown" (I can't think of a nicer word). Basically I was sobbing about the baby's diaper rash when CCBL called...I guess she could tell that I was "not myself" and contacted Mike. He had already spoken to me and had gotten the same impression and was already on his way home. Between him and CCBL, they worked out a little plan for "Operation Bring Sanity Back to Job Satisfaction":

1. get a therapist (she specializes in PPD and is awesome)
2. make sure JS gets some sleep
3. hire a doula!

A few things about doulas:
- they can be either L&D or postpartum
- they can do overnights (like baby nannies) or during the day

The doula service that Mike found does postpartum and they don't do nights (which kind of stinks but would suck our bank acct dry). The director says their services are threefold:
- mother care - lactation support, psychological support, etc...
- newborn care - baths, etc...
- household care - light housekeeping, errands, etc...

A few things about my doula:
- TOTAL HIPPIE
- gray braid on top of her head
- big hippie dresses - i am 99% sure they are breastfeeding dresses even though her kids are grown. I feel like she could whip out the bo.ob at any moment.
- looooooves to recycle
- knits big wool socks for her grandchildren
- obsessed with cell phone ringtones
- loves to make fruit and yogurt smoothies

Anyway, to sum up my first experience with her - within 5 minutes of arriving at our condo, she was grabbing my bo.ob (not sure if that is googlable) and getting my child to eat; within 30 minutes, she was RUBBING MY NASTY SWOLLEN FEET; within 90 minutes, I had left the condo and was heading to pick up a prescription while a stranger did my laundry and watched my newborn. Being overly tired will allow you to do things that you would never imagine.

Since then, she has come over once/week. She has done countless loads of laundry, watered the plants, gone to the supermarket, helped me pack for a weekend trip to see my family, etc...Also, I have napped for two hours while she held my crying child. Like I said, I would never have imagined that I would allow a stranger to care for my child while I slept...then I had a baby and became REALLY TIRED.

We bought a package of 20 hours so it will run out in about two weeks. I think it's a great service but I don't think I can justify it as an ongoing cost. But I'll miss my hippie!

Sidenote - I haven't posted a picture or named my child on this blog. Thoughts on internet privacy?