(no subject)

[the_rck]

Okay, I have written a long entry about the first couple of weeks of parenthood, but I think I'm not going to post it. I'll just keep it in my own files since it's mostly for me.

To sum it all up-- We finally got the windows done and all the work in the bathroom (apart from some bits of trim) completed. This required relocating me and Delia several times so that she wouldn't get exposed to dust, solvents, etc. We ended up very annoyed at the bathroom people since they kept postponing at the last minute and couldn't keep the details of their work orders straight, but Scott finally managed to bully them into completing the work before his vacation time ran out.

Delia had jaundice, and we had to resort to a phototherapy device which was a real annoyance. All's well now; all we have to worry about is getting the insurance to pay.

She has also adamantly refused to sleep in her bassinet. We've been using the car seat for that instead and then putting it in the bassinet at night. I'm currently trying to get her used to brief periods in the bassinet in hopes that I can eventually get her to sleep there. Today, she actually played for about 15 minutes while lying in the bassinet, so I'm hopeful. I really want to make it work so that I'll have another safe place to set her down when I need to go and do things.

The bruises from the IV attempts have faded. The swelling in my feet is pretty much gone. I've dropped about 20 pounds (leaving me at about where I was when I started dieting two years ago, but...). I think I've gotten the hang of this whole breast feeding thing, too, so things are looking up. Assuming I can ever adjust to cat napping.

Comments

[melallen.livejournal.com]

Corinne was sorta yellowish too. My mom got me all paranoid and so we took her in for a second bili test during her first week home. Luckily we did not have to do the phototherapy.

And the sleeping situation gets better. I promise.

[the_rck]

You're lucky. We had to do blood tests daily for the duration of the phototherapy. The first nurse had no clue how to do it, and that was pretty traumatic for us (Delia got over it fairly quickly, though).

The phototherapy device itself was a pain (though the doctor tried to make us feel better about it by telling us about the bad old days). It was a heavy box with a four foot photo optic cable that led to a plastic paddle. The paddle had to have skin contact as much as possible and threaded through Delia's shirt. We had an awful time moving her around.

But it worked.

And I'm hanging on desperately to the notion that the sleep situation will get better. Everyone assures me that it's true, but it's hard to believe at the moment.

Re:

[melallen.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about a nurse not knowing how to do the blood tests. We had to do a second PKU test at Corinne's 2 week checkup. The girl taking the blood was clueless. So here we are, Corinne screaming, me crying, the nurse pushing a bleeding heel all over the test sample, but only getting a bit of blood in the circles where it was supposed to be. Thankfully, the trainer quickly took over and the test finished pretty quickly after that.

Now the two month vaccinations are just around the corner..... Poor baby.

[the_rck]

The first woman insisted on removing Delia from her car seat and unswaddling her completely and then poked her heel with no preparation beyond the alcohol swab. She had to milk Delia's heel and leg for about five minutes while the baby screamed.

The nurse the next day left Delia swaddled, just teased out one foot, and used warm water in a surgical glove to dilate the blood vessels. Delia slept through it.

I chickened out and let Scott take the baby in for those tests.

Ick. Vaccinations. I'm not looking forward to those. I hope yours go well.

Yikes

[hoya99.livejournal.com]

And I thought *my* life was stressful...

Re: Yikes

[the_rck]

Oh, it's not really that bad. There's very little more relaxing than holding a sleeping baby, so that helps a lot.