Updates from Babyland
07 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Parenting, Photos Tags: baby hats, parenting, twins
My mum arrived on Monday night armed with hats. Proper knitted baby bonnets that I wore 35 years ago. These are bonnets that will stay put on heads unlike everything else we’ve tried. I’m getting fed up of going out and people telling me that I need to put hats on the babies when the stroller is littered with hatty debris. So now I’ll have people commenting on the vintage nature of these hats.
Zoey in my baby hat
Naomi in another old hat
Like this:
A field guide to new borns for newbie parents
27 Nov 2011 4 Comments
in Parenting Tags: new borns, newbie parents, parenting
Some friends of ours just had a baby so I was mulling over what advice to pass on – as we have now been parents for a whole month! Here are my top five tips:
1. Be nice, and remember to eat
A kind word here and there you’ll make your partner feel like a million dollars (even when she is bent double like a safety pin from the c-section). Alex took the lead during the first two weeks as I was recovering from the surgery, and as I slowly built up strength it was his words of encouragement that I was “Doing really well” that helped build my confidence. You might both be winging it but being nice to each other makes everything better.
It’s also really important to eat. You are working 24/7 so you need the calories to sustain you otherwise you’ll be no use to your new born. Everyone says “Sleep when they sleep” (HA!) but I say “Eat when they sleep”, and keep snacks and water dotted about in case you get hemmed in somewhere.
2. Anything goes during the first few days, weeks & even months
Be prepared to (temporarily) throw out your preconceived notions of parenting, and embrace anything that makes your lives easier. We did things in the first week that I never thought we would: co-slept for four nights (then transitioned the girls to their crib), fully embraced formula and plastic bottles with disposable liners, bought a truck load of pacifiers and Pampers. Now that we are a month in we are using regular bottles (the nipple of the glass bottles didn’t agree with the girls), and are slowly transitioning to cloth diapers but we also are bathing the girls in the kitchen sink (and not that often – once a week if that) and enjoying the “freedom” of being able to pop the girls in their bouncer seat and swing (beats being pinned to the couch with the girls on cushions).
3. Newbie parents get a pass on recycling
Given that you’ve already added a baby or two to the global population explosion don’t worry about being green whilst you are trying to get over being green parents. Remember that wipes are your friend. Be they for your baby’s bottom or cleaning your kitchen. Things will slowly return to a 2.0 version of normal I promise. Just don’t beat yourself up if you are tossing all those Red Bull cans straight in the trash.
4. Fresh air is your friend
As soon as you feel comfortable taking your baby out do so. The fresh air and exercise is just as good for you as it is for your wee one. Within a day of coming home from hospital we went on a little jaunt up the block to Starbucks, then a few days later out to a cafe for lunch and then a week on we were at the park so Alex could play tennis (we even ended up changing the girls diapers on a park bench and feeding them al fresco). Even though I was still randomly bursting into tears it was good to get out of the flat. Saved our sanity and stopped us from climbing the walls.
5. Do not Google ‘flabby stomach skin postpartum’
You will not be wearing your skinny jeans home for the hospital, and it is going to take time for your uterus (along with everything else) to return to normal. Your body was not designed to snap back into pre-pregnancy shape overnight despite the celebrity propaganda to the contrary. So, in the meantime embrace your “mummy tummy”, and remember that you are not fat but recovering from pregnancy.
The C-Word
22 Nov 2011 3 Comments
in Parenting, Photos Tags: baby gazing, parenting, twins
I hate to say it but I think Zoey is flirting with the c-word. Thankfully she is not crying for hours on end so I don’t think it’s full on c-word more like a gas overload. I’m hoping that if I don’t say it out loud that we will find the magic combination of a different formula and gas drops that will relieve the general crappiness of sleepless nights. We thought that we’d solved this with wide nippled bottles but on Sunday night Little Miss Gassy Breeches decided she wasn’t sleeping or settling down ever again.
Since it’s a short week (so thankful for Thanksgiving) I’ve taken the bulk of the Zoey night shifts, and I’m hoping to get more daytime zzzzs from Wednesday onwards. Plus, we can start experimenting on her which makes me feel like there is some hope. On our constitutional stroll today we’ll pick up some formula for gassy fussy Cylons – I believe it’s called gin (or is that just for mama?).
Other than the gassy Cylonette things have been going well. My second week home alone went better than the first. This is in a large part to the swing and bouncy seat (cheapie Fisher Price ones since they’ll loose interest in a couple of months) we bought. It’s so great to have somewhere to stash them whilst we get on with things, and I can feed one and soothe the other one with my foot (pushing the swing or bouncing the seat). We’ve also now got a foam mat so we can start to let them “play” on their play mat gym thing.
Our girls are really evolving from sleepy newborns. They’ve not only started to fill out their “meat suits” but they’ve started to be more alert during the day. This means I have two pairs of beady eyes on me. I’ve noticed that when I carry one about the flat (getting on with chores) they are now clocking their surroundings and checking things out.
I had, what I thought was, a lovely moment with an “alert” Naomi. I was changing her, and she was staring at me with such a relaxed intensity I felt myself welling up. Then I noticed that she was peeing all over herself, and I realized she was just enjoying the warm pee washing over her legs rather than a one-on-one moment with mama.
Some photos from the past week:
Zoey and her "marmoset" eyes
A Quick Update & A Few More Photos
10 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in Parenting, Photos Tags: new borns, parenting, twins, Virgin Atlantic
Fist bumping anchor babies what would the GOP say?
This is my first week alone with our girls, and I made it to Thursday!!! THURSDAY!!!!! Without breaking down – okay not entirely true. On Tuesday I sent out the Bat Signal to my Mum asking her to come for a visit. I can manage during the day. But, it’s hard especially when they both want fed at the same time. The crying is so difficult but I only have one pair of hands.
Between amazing friends, the doula and Thanksgiving holidays I have November pretty much broken down into manageable chunks but December was looking grim. So I checked out flights on Virgin Atlantic saw they were doing a deal in early December, and emailed my mum. Once I reassured her that Alex was okay with it (and this morning I told Alex that if he wanted a full nights sleep – or two - whilst she is over mum and I could do a couple of night shifts so he could sleep in the living room) she booked her ticket in double quick time. I love mums.
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