Izzy update, 18 days old

A lot of folks have been asking for more pictures and updates on Izzy. I know it seems like we should have lots of time to do this while he is sleeping half the day and just nursing and pooping the rest of the time. It’s hard to explain how little coherent time you get to yourself when taking care of a newborn. Just eating or going to the bathroom is a complex process involving handing the baby off to Brian (if he’s here – he works in the mornings), putting him down in a safe place (none of which he likes very much right now), or putting on a sling so I can carry him hands-free. Combine this with an unpredictable boss who might need to be fed or changed at any moment regardless of my own plans, and it’s hard to really get much of anything done. (Speaking of which, thank you’s are on our to-do list, we promise!)

Currently Izzy is sleeping on me in a sling which gives me about 1.5 hands free to type this blog entry!

But anyway, Izzy is a great little baby. He’s good-natured much of the time, and we tend to forget the crying when he gazes at us with his deep blue-green eyes. For a while he was only waking up once a night, but we’ve thrown off the schedule so now he’s usually eating twice overnight. I’m working on the side-lying breastfeeding position so I don’t have to get up, but I haven’t figured out how to change a diaper in bed yet (just kidding – don’t want to) and sometimes there is just some unavoidable screaming (him, not us). So nights are not as restful as we might like, but for his age they could be much worse.

He is breastfeeding very well, although sometimes he gets lazy and wants the breast to do the sucking for him. Then he gets cranky when it doesn’t. About once a week, he eats about 50%* more than usual which is either a growth spurt or an effort to ensure my milk production stays very active. Several books and health professionals recommended cabbage leaves to soothe aching breasts and I finally tried it last night. It works!

My own physical recovery is going very well. I am already wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans, which is a major step forward is personal comfort for me. I no longer have discomfort at sitting down, but I still have pelvic joint pain (which plagued my pregnancy) which makes long walks and sleeping on my side quite painful. My abdomen is about as fat as before but very floppy. I’m looking forward to starting Mommy Baby yoga class later this week.

(* Yes, I do know exactly how much his habits vary because I use this software to track it.)

Look for future blog entries about Izzy’s birth and his name…