Figuring Things Out

i think the sleep situation may improving around here, folks. well, as much as it can with a 3 week old baby in the house. last night i got 6 hours. woo hoo! and i got those 6 hours between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. while actually sleeping in the same bed with my husband. max chose to cooperate last night and sleep in his crib (!) for a few solid 2 or 3 hour blocks. the fact that i am now a pro at both ignoring random baby sounds that aren't crying when they're magnified by the baby monitor (though even the tiniest and briefest of cries wakes me instantly) and at falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow (or sometimes in the rocking chair while i'm trying to get max to go back to sleep after a feeding) also helps in the sleeping more department. so now i can get 5 or 6 hours of sleep at night before chad has to get up to go work instead of 2 or 3 hours. that is seriously how much sleep i've been operating on... and i usually only get those few hours of z's if i completely give up and just hold max in my bed or on the couch so i can sleep for a couple of hours. he usually falls asleep in either his swing or his bouncer for an hour or so at a time during the day, but i find it incredibly difficult to take naps during the day for some reason. i always feel like i need to be cleaning up or doing something else while he's sleeping. i've been taking a nap after chad gets home from work, though. it's amazing how a few months ago i was a total zombie after a few nights of less than 7 hours of sleep, and now i feel amazingly good after one night with 6 hours. 6 interrupted hours.

i am also figuring out a few things about max. like how to avoid the death screams when it's time to change a diaper or take a bath. it's not always possible, but sometimes it is. if max is awake and fairly calm when you strip him down, he takes being naked pretty well (thank god he was awake when i took him for his weight check at the doctor's office last week - i had to change his diaper and then strip all his clothes off to weigh him, and he didn't make a peep). he gets a little fussy toward the end of a sponge bath, but it's not the same as the usual ear-splitting wail that persists for the entire bath. he's definitely getting better at getting changed and bathed.

oh, and if you wondering about max's first doctor visit, it went well. he weighed 7 lbs 12 oz, and the nurse said he looked really good (so we avoided the jaundice thing). did i tell you about the jaundice thing? i don't remember. well, max and i have different blood types, he's a boy, and he's breast fed, which all increase his chances of becoming jaundiced. so they were sticking needles in his heels every few hours in the hospital to check his bilirubin levels. i felt so sorry for him. anyway, his pediatrician told us about max's increased risk for jaundice while we were still in the hospital and told us to keep an eye out for any yellowing of his skin or eyes when we came home. his bilirubin levels were slightly elevated in the hospital, but they weren't high enough for him to be considered jaundiced. the doc just told us to put him in front of a window with lots of sunlight for a little while and to call if he started to look yellow. so i was always freaking out and asking myself whether max was turning yellow and inspecting him in different rooms with different lighting. i never thought he looked yellow. just that sweet peachy-pink that babies are supposed to be. anyway, he never got jaundice, which is good. basically, he's pretty much perfect. he's gaining weight like a champ, and i can definitely tell that he's bigger now than when we brought him home. the vast majority of his clothes are still way huge on him, but he's working on growing into them. we have 5 newborn size sleepers that fit him really well and a whole bunch that are too big but he wears anyway. the onesies are kind of big but not too bad, but his pants totally look like m.c. hammer pants. so i had to go and buy him a few pairs of newborn size pants to go with the onesies (because it's been too chilly for him to go without pants, yo). they're still a little big on him. 5-8 lbs my ass. [newborn size clothes are supposed to fit babies 5-8 lbs, and max is over 8 lbs now]

ok, that's my update for now. more to come later.