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"I'm going to go look at her" Aaron said.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't you ever just like to look at her?"
"Yeah, I do it all the time."
Aaron came back down to the laundry room where I was washing nappies. "You have to see this, she's so cute!"
Not quite knowing what to expect, we went in her room. I peered in the cot, and there she was, on the very edge, halfway up, one arm through the bar and touching the wall, sleeping on her belly.
"Is she breathing?" I half freaked out, it didn't look like a normal Bubba sleeping position.
Aaron put his finger near her nostril "I'm pretty sure I can feel it."
That wasn't good enough for me. I gently put my hand on her back. "Yeah, I can feel her breathing." Phew. And maybe this means she won't wake up every time she rolls on her tummy. Houston, we may have success!
1am- She's on her belly again and screams for a feed
2am - "waaaa!!" The belly sleeping success is clearly not going very well. She's not happy, she's on her belly again. I go and turn her over and calm her down. Slightly losing my marbles.
3am - Oh my goodness, she wants me to turn her over again. Bag of marbles getting smaller.
5am - She is sick of sleeping on her belly again and cries for me to turn her over. More marbles leaking out of my bag....
6am - Dear Lord, I think I'm going to lose it. You know you are about to lose it when you dreamt about someone asking someone else how to do a moustache combover (um...what is wrong with my brain?) and then are awakened for the 5th time by a screaming baby that doesn't know how to polley rolley (but can rolley polley).
I feel like Taz, the Tasmanian Devil. I wish I could just spin around in a cloud of destruction whilst shouting expletives, because at this point, that is what I really feel like doing. Instead, I gather my marbles back up, take a deep breath, and go turn over and calm said screaming baby. I'm so tired and frustrated and know that somehow, I'm going to crack. Rather then indulging in my Taz fantasy, I sat there, patting Hannah, trying to get her back to sleep, and I cry. I don't usually cry, but when you've been up 5 times in one night (and she was never even up that much when she was a newborn), and are having crazy dreams about moustache combovers, something's gotta give. I've finally cracked it. I decide right now that later today, I'm going to march down to the shops (ok, drive) and buy a rolley polley preventer (not actual name). The baby nurse said those can help (or the baby can figure out how to roll over it, but even if it gets me once peaceful nights sleep, it will be so worth it), or there are special sheets you can get that velcro baby in. Now in my head, that means baby wears a velcro suit, and then is plastered to the bed much like one of those game shows on tv where they don helmets, and velcro suits, jump on a trampoline, then get stuck to a velcro wall. Instead they are sheets with flaps etc. so you sort of harness baby in. I think my version would work better. I go to bed feeling only slightly better, but still like my bag of marbles is only half full. Luckily Hannah gives me another hour of sleep and when I wake up, I have regained most of my marbles. I can't wait to get my rolley polley preventer. Fingers crossed it actually works.
As soon as I got home with the rolley polley preventer, I fed Hannah and put her to sleep. Oh my goodness, she put herself to sleep, no patting needed, and slept for an hour and a half. I think I like the rolley polley preventer. She woke up twice that night (would have been once, but I was too lazy to dreamfeed her and she didn't appreciate it). The next night she only woke up once. Unfortunately it was down hill after that. She keeps waking 3 times a night, trying and trying to roll over in her rolley polley preventer (actually called a sleep positioner), and getting upset that she can't. So basically, she gets upset if she doesn't sleep in it because she wakes up on her belly and wants to be rolled over (and calmed down after waking up with such a shock at being on her tummy), or, she can sleep in the rolley polley preventer and then wake up cranky because she can't roll over. I can't win. I just hope this stage doesn't last long, I really enjoy sleep!
"Boo!" Aaron yelled from the bedroom.
"Yes Boo" I said (yes we are weird and we both claim the other one is Boo).
"Can you get me a cloth?"
"Ok." I brought it in. Hannah was over Aaron's legs playing Airplane Bubba. She looked at me and gave me the cheekiest grin I've ever seen. I looked at Aaron. His lips were pursed shut and he had an "I can't believe you just did that" look on his face. Something white was all over his face. I laughed my head off and Hannah laughed too. She thought it was hilarious that she threw up right on Daddy's face.
Since starting solids, Hannah has had really sticky, messy, smelly poos (instead of quite runny, mustardy ones). This morning she had a nugget. I don't know if babies are supposed to do nuggets, but there it was, all nuggety in her nappy. Maybe she is a little constipated? She didn't have a lot of poo yesterday either. Hmmm...How do you know if they are constipated? Do I just get some prune juice anyway, and mix it with her rice cereal, or do I assume all is fine since there was a bit of poo (just not her usual volume or consistency)? Maybe I worry too much.
"WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" Aaron and I looked at each other. It was only 9pm, what was Hannah doing waking up screaming right now?
"You cheeky Bubba," I heard Aaron say from her room. I went in to see what all the fuss was about. "You cheeky little monkey!" I said to her. She looked up at me from halfway down the cot, facing the wrong direction, with a puzzled expression. I'm not sure if she knew how she got on to her belly. Did she do it in her sleep, or did she do it on purpose. I could already tell this was going to become a problem. Aaron tried a number of times to put her back to sleep, but she just kept rolling as soon as he put her down. I gave her a feed which knocked her out, then I put her down. My success was short lived, she woke up on her tummy a number of times that night. If only she knew how to roll back over....
Hannah hasn't had a proper nap since Saturday. Or was it Friday? I can't remember. I think she's out, then 5 minutes later, WAAA!! I find her on her tummy again. Yesterday I sat in her room and patted her belly for an hour an a half (the amount of time she is supposed to nap for). She slept for 20 minutes, and I had to prevent her from rolling over on a number of occasions. When she is in her light sleep, she moves around a lot, puts her legs straight in the air, and then brings them down to the side and bang, she's on her tummy. She used to just move her head from side to side like a crazy person and rub all of her hair off. After a while, she would go still, in her deep sleep.
I've been hearing a lot about Baby sleeping bags recently. A lot of the girls bought them for their babies because they wiggle around in their cots and end up with no blankets. Hannah either kicks her blankets off, or puts her feet straight up in the air, making the blankets slip over her head. I think it's time for a sleeping bag. Add the now rolling, and there is no way she can have blankets. She could get all tangled up in them. I saw some at the shops for 60 something dollars. Seemed a bit steep to me, so I did what any industrious girl would do. I made my own. Then the weather decided to be a gross 40 degrees (104f), and my wrap was made useless (too hot!). I plan to make another one with a better design this time, and a bit thinner for summer.
Even though it was extremely hot outside, I was freezing. It was bed time, and I was piling on the blankets. My muscles were all achy. Aaron came to bed asked me if I was crazy (for having blankets on). "You're like a furnace!" I felt Aaron's skin. It felt rather cold. Had he just been frolicking in a refrigerator. I felt mine. Next to Aaron's, mine felt like the sand at the beach on a stinking hot day. You have to run on it because if you leave your foot down too long in one spot, it hurts. Yep, I had a fever. I didn't sleep well at all, with all the coughing and feeling like I was trying to sleep in an ice chest even though my skin was burning up to touch. After I fed Hannah, I'd had enough and turned to the panadol (ok, cheap pharmacy brand imitation) for some relief. An hour later I woke up feeling like I was in the desert. I kicked off all the blankets and felt my skin. Phew, I was normal again. I didn't feel well when I woke up, I was still achy and felt like I just wanted to lay down, so I asked Aaron to stay home from work so he could look after Hannah. Awesome husband that he is, he did, and I laid in bed all day long (except when Hannah wanted booby of course).
I went to the doctor the next day as my cough was worse and I still would have a fever if I wasn't popping fake panadol (FYI, they are fine to take when breast feeding, no need to call CPS on me). Ew, I have bronchitis. The doc gave me some antibiotics (again, also ok to take while breastfeeding...), and I'm feeling much better now, but still have the obnoxious cough, and still feel like my windpipe is trying to escape through my mouth.
I always thought that chocolate, or ice cream was a good treat, but Hannah has found this week, that toes make a tasty treat. Last week she found her feet, but this week, she has been enjoying trying to eat them. I wonder what they taste like? I bet ice cream and chocolate taste better. Ok, I don't need to wonder what they taste like, I lightly bite her toes all the time, she thinks it's funny (they don't taste like anything in case you are wondering).
She also thinks it's hilarious to blow raspberries while I feed her. Not while she's having booby, but while she is having her proper food. I put it in her mouth, and "ppppphhhhffff," I'm showered in food. She grins cheekily. Cheeky little monkey. I probably shouldn't have laughed the first time she did it, but it was pretty funny. I think I encouraged her. My bad.
Grandma has her bet on that Hannah will be crawling at Christmas time. Since she has all this new found tummy time (since she puts herself on her tummy every time you put her down), she has discovered that she can push herself up off her elbows, have her arms straight, with her hands still on the floor. She then kicks her little feet like she really wants to go somewhere, and tries to pull herself along the floor. Look out everyone, Hannah may soon be mobile. Our flat is so not ready for that! I think we will have to buy a play pen.
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!
Time since birth: 4 months
Where has the time gone??
I'm not impressed, I have a cold. The skin around my nostrils is bright red and peeling due to excessive nose blowing. I sound like I have a frog in my throat. I feel like I have a frog in my throat. My nose has turned into a faucet. I've been feeding Hannah with kleenex stuffed up my nose so it doesn't drip on her. I must look rather funny, a boob hanging out with a bubba attached, kleenex hanging out of my nose. I think Hannah might have caught my cold. Last night she was up 5 times. Never in her life has she been up 5 times before (I kept records, I checked). She doesn't seem sick though. I suppose there are a million other reasons why a baby would be up so many times. The first time (10pm) she seemed gassy, the kind that burns when it comes out. I patted her and she screamed as she did huge farts. I thought she had done a giant poo, but upon nappy checking, all I found was pee. I gave her some booby to settle her down and then she went back to sleep. 12pm - the crying started again. She seemed a bit snuffly. I gave her some booby and she went back to sleep. 2pm, surely she can't be hungry again. I patted her and let her suck my finger (after I sanitised it) and she went back to sleep. 3pm, awake again. I gave her some more booby which she took ravenously. 5pm, I could hear her grizzling, and crying a bit on the monitor, but I didn't get up, it didn't sound urgent. She went back to sleep. As I said, there are so many reasons why she could have been waking up. Maybe she was too hot or cold (it was pretty hot at the beginning of the night), maybe she was uncomfortable with wind or just the way she was wrapped. Maybe she was hungry. Maybe she just couldn't resettle herself after her sleep cycle (babies have sleep cycles of about 45 minutes). Who knows. I just hope that tonight is better. I feel like a zombie today. Maybe more like a mummy, I do have kleenex hanging out of my nose. I could walk around with my arms in front of me and scare small children if I wanted to. Come to think of it, zombies and mummies are quite similar. Maybe mummies are just zombies with bandages? Yes, I know I'm random.
The race that stops the nation. That is the Melbourne cup. I like to dress up for the occasion, as I have done for a few years now. It's fun to put on a nice dress and put a fascinator (or hat, whatever takes your fancy) in your hair to watch the race. I'm not particularly into horse racing (I feel a bit sorry for the horses, I think backyard horses would get so much more love and attention), but it's a good excuse to dress up. I was going to wear the fascinator myself, but I put it on Hannah for a bit of a laugh. She looked so cute that I left it there. We went to the pub with Grandma to watch the race and I could hear everyone commenting on how cute Hannah was as we walked by.
Aaron usually gives Hannah her bath, but sometimes I feel like a bit of a bath, so she has one with me. We have a bit of a special hot water system in this apartment building that only refills once per day (well, night, sometime in the middle of it). There is enough water for 2 showers with a bit left over, or a bath and a shower. Needless to say if Aaron and I both wish to stay clean, Hannah can't have a bath as often as needed, so she ends up having a shower with Aaron most of the time. I felt like a bath, so after I had a relaxing nice bath, in came Aaron with Hannah for her wash. He stood her up in the water, holding under her armpits to balance her. Her lower half is usually under the water, but since she was standing, Aaron could clearly see that she did pee pees as soon as she got in. I wonder if she always does that. Is it gross that I didn't get out? I mean I was already in there, It was already in the water, we were out of hot water, and getting out wasn't going to change the fact that it was already on me. It's not like it was a huge volume or anything either, she is only tiny. I think Aaron is a bit scared of having a bath with her now. It's funny, before having a baby, I would have been mortified to think that I would be in a bath with pee, but now, after being peed on, pooed on, vomited on, finding vomit in my hair at the end of the day and not knowing when it got there, etc., a little pee does not bother me. Of course if I could control the matter, there would never be pee in the bath with me, but it's out of my control, so what can you do? Shortly after the pee fountain, the bathtub became a spa. Little bubbles came up all around Hannah. I take it she likes to fart in the bath too. Maybe she was just gassy that day. Lucky for me, there was no follow through. That, I would have vacated the bath for.
It was supposed to rain on Saturday, but it ended up being a very nice day. We went to a lunch at someone from Aaron's works house near the beach, so we decided to take Bubba to the beach for the first time. I had already purchased her a really cute little swimming suit. Well, it's not so little, it like a rashee with legs. It covers her from her neck, to her wrists to her ankles, and is SPF 50. Don't want the bubba getting sunburned!! I also bought her a sun tent. It's like a dome tent that you sleep in when camping, only it has an open side. That way you can always have shade at the beach and not burn the Bubba. We didn't stay long at the beach as it was quite windy, but Hannah seemed to really like it. We stood her in the sand (holding under her armpits, she is a super baby, but she can't stand yet...), and she smiled and wanted to bounce. She loves to bounce. She bends her little knees and then pushes and who ever is holding her then pulls her up as if she is jumping. She loves it.
There's nothing on TV on Sunday mornings. Hannah was having a nap, and we like to have some constant noise so she doesn't get used to napping in silence (we don't want to have to tip toe around the house while she is napping!). We settled on the Sunday morning cartoons. My how they have changed since I was a kid! There was a cute lion and lioness, walking upright, the lioness wearing an apron. All seemed well until the lioness said (and these are the exact words) "We have the house to ourselves, and I'm still in H-E-A-T...." while suggestively kissing her lion husband and looking at him seductively. Seriously, is there ANY reason why something like that needs to be in a child's cartoon?? How on earth did that get past editing, then why would the network agree to 
put it on tv, and what sort of freak show pervert draws and writes that in the first place. I mean really, it was so unnecessary. When I was little, I watched cartoons about a little bird who "taut he taw a puddy tat." What has the world come to??
I wanted to put the washing out, so i put a towel on the ground and laid Hannah on her back while I pegged out the washing. I'd turn to check on her every few items, but when I turned, she was on her tummy, halfway off the towel!! She was quite chuffed with herself. I picked her up and she gave me the biggest, most accomplished grin. Of course she wouldn't do it again though, not while mommy was watching!!
The next day she rolled on our bed twice, but this time from her tummy to her back. Clever girl!
Lately Hannah has been getting up twice during the night, making me into somewhat of a zombie. I have gotten used to only waking once, or not at all, so I decided that I would figure out a way to make her only get up once. First on my new plan: Don't let her nap past 4pm. Sometimes she has a late nap but then wants to get up for the day at 4am. This isn't usually a problem, but once in a while she refuses to sleep during the day and then wants a late nap. I can't really blame, her, playing is so much more fun then sleeping!! Second part of New Plan: dream feed at 9pm. What is a dream feed you ask?? Simple, I went into Bubba's room at 9pm, picked her up without unwrapping her, and put her straight on to my boob. She doesn't actually wake up, but has a full feed while she is half asleep. Of course I was secretly hoping she wouldn't wake up at all after taking such measures, but she only woke up once, so I deemed the whole exercise a success.
Monday morning Hannah wasn't quite herself. She didn't want to eat much, was lethargic, and had disturbingly bright green poos. Think Kermit the frog, and that is the right colour. I took her temperature and found it was 38 degrees (Celsius that is). Just a slight fever. She cried most of the morning. She didn't even want to play, which is so unlike her. Since she was a bit lethargic, I thought it would be the perfect time to cut her nails. She usually flails about, making it rather difficult. Wow, it has never been so easy before! I must have gotten a bit too confident. She let out a huge painful cry, similar to the one I've only heard once, when she got her shots. Her tiny little thumb was bleeding. I cut her. I felt like the worst mom in the world. I cut my little baby. She cried for about 5 minutes, but I cuddled her the whole time. I felt so bad. At least she forgot for a moment that she didn't feel the best.
She still wasn't feeling well that afternoon, so I took her to the doctor. The doc took her temp (which was now normal), and checked her heartbeat, in her ears, in her mouth, etc. She looked fine. Doc thought it was probably a bug of some sort. It is common for little girls to get urinary tract infections as their poo has a tendency to go everywhere, including their poor little baby bits. Doc gave me 2 specimen cups to go home and catch her wee with. Doc also told me if she gets any worse, bring her back in or go to emergency if it's the middle of the night.
Tuesday morning she was looking and feeling much better. She smiled at me and wanted to play when she woke up. I had to complete my urine catching mission first though. Now, it's much easier to catch urine on little boys. You just have to attach a bag thing to his boyhood and wait (this is what one of the girls told me when her little boy had to be tested for a UTI). With girls on the other hand, you need to be a bit more patient, and employ your cat-like reflexes. I laid her out on her changing mat, nappy off, collection cup in hand, lid unscrewed but still sitting on it so as not to contaminate the future specimen, and waited. It didn't take very long, she always pees when she has her nappy off. I used my said cat-like reflexes and, kept hold of the yellow lid in one hand, and like lightning, pressed the cup below the stream of pee. Success! Urine collected. Not a lot, but hey, babies don't pee a lot anyway. It was enough. FYI, she doesn't have a UTI, and is fine now.
We weren't going to start Hannah on solids until she was at least 5 months, but, she had her first rice cereal (with booby milk) on Saturday. She was fussing at the beginning of all of her feeds for the last few weeks, so I took her to the early childhood centre to see the baby nurse. She recommend I introduce solids. They are not in any way to replace the breast milk, they are just for something a little extra. We don't give it to her until after she has had a full meal of breast milk, and then she only has about a teaspoon. The first time we gave it to her, she didn't really know what to do. She held it in her mouth for a little bit, made a funny face, then swallowed it. Most of it ended up all over her face. Not because she spat it out, but because she had never had a spoon in her mouth before and didn't really know what to do. She had some for the third time this morning and has started opening her mouth in anticipation. Next weekend we can introduce some mashed potato (with booby milk). You are supposed to introduce bland vegetables before fruits, and only introduce something new every 7 days.
