Tuesday, July 13, 2010

On My Own

Yesterday was my first full day taking care of Lillian by myself. It went well, and I am so excited and grateful that this is going to be my new job!

I am, however, very thankful I had help for the first six weeks! Greg took the first week off, my mom and aunt were here the second week, my mother in-law was here for 10 days after that, and then my sister was here for 16 days. The first five weeks were really rough and I don't know how I would have done it without help!

I had my six-week postpartum OB appointment yesterday, and everything checked out fine. I decided to go on the mini-pill because, even though it took four IUIs to get pregnant with Lillian, I REALLY do not want another one right now and am not willing to take the risk!

The OB appointment was also our first excursion out of the house just the two of us. That part did not go so well :/ So far, taking Lillian out has not been easy. We haven't done it much because our pediatrician said to avoid taking her to public places until she is two months old. This is hard because it means I can't run to the grocery store while Greg is at work, but I am also afraid to take her to the grocery store anyway because she gets so fussy!

For example, my sister and I took her to a nursing store last week so I could return the scale and buy some bras. I nursed and burped her before we left. It was a 20 minute drive, and she was fussing by the time we got there. My sister watched her while I tried on bras, and I got about halfway through when she turned to full-on crying and I had to take her to their private room to nurse her. Another example is from this weekend: Greg and I took her to my work so I could clean out my office. Again, I nursed and burped her before we left, and she was screaming by the time we reached my work, (which was a 20 minute drive). I had to nurse her again in the car, and then she was fussy almost the entire time we were at the office, (for about an hour and a half), and I had to nurse her again while we were there.

At the OB's office, I decided I would be prepared and bring a bottle of pumped milk so I could easily feed her at the drop of a hat. It was only a five minute drive, and the appointment was short, so I thought it would be a piece of cake. Nope. She was on the edge the entire time, and started crying the second the doctor came into the room, so a nurse came in and took her out of the room so I could be examined. And then, as I was buckling her back into her car seat, she started screaming hysterically. I was so embarrassed, and now I am wondering how long it is going to be until I feel comfortable taking her out in public! I had a CF clinic appointment this Thursday that I decided to reschedule for next month because Greg can't watch her and I do not feel comfortable taking her to a three hour doctor appointment. I hope her fussiness gets better soon!

Other than that, Lillian is truly a joy and I am having so much fun. She is smiling and cooing a lot, and I swear I’ve heard her laugh a couple of times. Her favorite thing right now is when I read her a book after a diaper change, while she is still on the changing table. She smiles, kicks her legs, coos, and happily yells out the entire time. So.much.fun. I love this girl sooooo much!

And here is my current favorite picture of her, take last week before we went to the nursing store:

9 comments:

Shannon and Jon said...

If I wore A when we were out in public it went a lot better than if I left him in his car seat. Obviously that won't help at the doc's office, but it does help at the grocery store. It also kept strangers from trying to touch him so I didn't stress as much about the germ factor. I also have a couple of recs for car toys/mirrors that really helped in the car. Most of our car trips were mental torture for the first few months.

bbjoys said...

She is such a cutie. :

Mon said...

My friend's baby did the same thing and they found out that her neck is hurting her in the car seat, so they started putting a rolled wash cloth under her neck (so it was supported rather than rest on nothing but air) and baby started enjoying the car rides ! I wanted to try with mine but it was too late when she told me.
Love that yellow dress !

Lindsay said...

I love her hair! She is precious! I hope you all are able to get more comfortable leaving the house together.

Alicea said...

It will get better and easier for you, I promise! When I first brought Kyle to Target with me for groceries, etc., I made sure to make the trip very short. Going out with him was quite the adjustment. Each time I went out, I tried to stay out a little bit longer and it got better once he was able to see and focus on objects. Now I love taking him places!

Kyle HATED his car seat, too, and what I realized was because he was getting too hot in it. So I always made sure to dress him lightly (in the summer it was just a onesie) and kept the A/C on in the car to keep him cool. I also bought a car shade for his window in the backseat. When he got old enough, I bought one of those car seat toys that attaches to the handle on both sides and that helped A LOT to keep him occupied during car trips.

Lillian is such a cutie! I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already. Are you planning on staying home with her?

Maeghan said...

It will get easier. I took Caroline out in public once she hit her due date but I don't bother going grocery shopping etc. I use that as "my" time at night and I can get in and out a lot faster. I agree with other posts though, Caroline hated the carseat for a bit until we got her neck taken care of and now she's hating it again b/c it gets hot. Apparently, the Chicco's are known for this. Always something to keep you on your toes. Keep up the goodwork, she's adorable!

Melissa said...

We went through the same thing. Olive hated (still does) her carseat. Anytime we went somewhere in the car she was a mess. It is stressful but know that it will get better.

L is so so cute!!

nanann said...

What a beautiful little girl! Love that picture in the yellow dress!

And yeah, taking Elena out when she was that little was H.A.R.D. For some reason it was so much easier with Julia. I don't know if she was actually an easier baby or if I was just less stressed about it all, so no real help to offer.

kate1989 said...

i had been following your journey for a long time, but hadn't been on my computer for over a year, and to come on and see that you successfully conceived and had that beautiful little girl and you are healthy over joys me! Congratulations!!

 
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