The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Over the past several months I have heard a great deal about a social networking tool called Twitter. I finally decided to try it and I do love it. I encourage everyone to take a look. Instead of me trying to explain its merits, check out this short video about the service!

http://www.commoncraft.com/Twitter

Hope to see you on Twitter!

Last night, Erin and I went to see a production at Pioneer Theater. On our way there, we grabbed some food at the local grocery store.

We were walking out of the store and trying to cross to our car in the parking lot when a man in a car drove into the same lane as we were in. He stopped the car as we were walking, and for a second it was like a silly game of Red Light/Green Light. We couldn’t tell what his intention was because he had failed to use his turn signal. I was frustrated by this and opened and closed my fingers, as if to signal a light while yelling, “Use your turn signal!”

As we walked past, he rolled down his window on his way into a parking stall and shouted angrily, “You want to talk?! I’ll talk!!!” We found our car and I got Erin inside. I emptied my hands of groceries as he stomped toward me, yelling. I had a nice adrenaline dump as he did so because he looked ready to fight.

I can’t remember what he hollered at me, but it was something to the effect of me being a jerk (in quite a few more words). I told him that we had no idea where he was trying to park, because he didn’t signal. He screamed a few more obscenities at me, and deciding that a fight would be a bad idea, went to go shopping.

I am amazed that some people are wound so tight that they’d fight so quickly. He was clearly not interested in “talking.” I was glad I was not pressed to defend myself as we were trying to hurry to the show. Hopefully he was just having a bad day and it was not his normal temperament. Anyway, it turned out to be a good evening with my wife.

     Well, I guess that it is about time that Brandon and I have something to rave about since we are constantly ranting about the status of the world, politics, and various other things.  As you may or may not know there was a writers strike, this has caused that there will not be a new season of 24 until next January.  It has also shortened this years season of Lost by 3 episodes.  This had Brandon and I kind of bummed and wondering about what we would watch in the evenings.  Well, we came across 3 new shows that we like. 

     The first was in the fall, it was called, “Samantha Who.”  The premise is that this girl (played by Christina Applegate) has lost her memory and now has to experience life and figure out who she is.  It was a fun concept and well acted.  The 2nd show is Eli Stone, it’s premise is that a lawyer is having visions, he is diagnosed with a brain anuerysm, and his old friend also tells him that it is possible that he could be a prophet.  It is a new and unique concept with a lot of wit and fun characters.  Lastly, we have recently started watching New Amsterdam, the concept of this show is that the man is a homicide detective who in the year 1770 was given a gift that he would not die until he met his true love and that when he met her he would feel it in his heart and that once they were wed he would age normally and die.  This show has been intriguing, they do flashbacks from his past and he works on various cases during the episodes.  So, if you are at a loss for what to watch, look up these shows and watch them.  New Amsterdam is on Monday evenings, and Eli Stone is on Wednesdays after Lost.  So there you are! 

Yesterday I was reading my friends blog about her new addition (he is just a little bit older then Aiden) and in it she spoke about how her little one has a bit of reflux and an unsettled stomach. It is interesting because I am sometimes at a loss for what to write about in these journals and I will read her page or someone elses and then I will realize that I have stories about something similar.

Aiden is doing well, he seems to have a bit of a bubbly belly. He needs to burped every 5-10 minutes of eating or after every ounce, and he is constantly gassy. He spits up regularly but is gaining weight at a steady pace so the pediatrician called him a “happy spitter.” (Which is basically a baby who spits up but still gains weight.) She wasn’t concerned and he isn’t on any medication for it. We do use Mylicon to help break up the bubbles in his tummy and that seems to be working pretty decently.

The only other thing is that he is constantly sniffling and snorting. He has pretty active mucus production. I called the pediatrician about this as well and aside from sucking the gunk out of his nose regularly (which we were already doing) she suggested having him sleep at a 15 degree angle, using saline drops, and a humidifier. Basically she chalked up all of the snorting, grunting, sniffling, burping, spitting up and farting to the fact that the his nervous system isn’t fully developed yet and that the nerve endings are still just firing randomly. Things are getting better though. So his nervous system must be continually developing. Babies are definitely a new adventure that I never expected, an adventure that changes every day!

I thought that I had better write an update. Since I last wrote I decided to breast feed for all of the feedings except the 7:00 and 10:00 feedings with me pumping at 10:00. This will allow for Brandon and I to go out on dates and not have to worry about feedings, because Aiden can be bottle fed the breast milk. It has been going smoothly.

We also went to church today for the first time, we spent the morning getting ready and according to the time on our clocks we would have been only about ten minutes late. Well, when we got there people were leaving the chapel and there were already kids in the nursery. I was very confused and so we asked what was going on. We were informed that it had been daylight savings time and that we were supposed to turn our clocks an hour ahead. DOH! I have never had a daylight savings fopah wherein I have arrived an hour early or late to something. I have always worried about it but things always work out and generally someone reminds me to change my clock. Not this time, and it wouldn’t have been a problem if it weren’t 3 weeks early! In fact, at the relief society activity yesterday they were mentioning that daylight savings was 3 weeks early this year but no one stated that it was last night.

Anyway, Aiden was awake for most of Sunday school and Priesthood meeting. During Sunday school he was very happy and making all sorts of happy baby noises. He is a squirmy kid though and likes to look around, especially up at the ceiling or at any lights that are near by. I watched as the other new babies (ranging from 1-4 months) slept soundly the full two hours of classes and was envious because 9-12 is generally Aiden’s awake time and we will have to keep him entertained. It’s ok though. He is a mostly happy baby and seemed very content at church. We will just have to take things as they come.

Lastly, Aiden sure is cute and growing like a weed. Wow! He looks a little bit more grown up every time I see him. We are going to get his picture taken this week because I have a coupon for a free newborn picture package. I plan to get his picture taken once a month (for at least the first year) to document his growth (plus I have coupons for some great package deals) and to capture his cuteness on film. 😉 That is all for this time. I will write more as stories arise.

They say that it isn’t money that brings happiness. And they are right. But the last two weeks have taught me the top two things that do constitute happiness.

They are:

     1) progeny
             &
     2) sleep

The mysterious thing about this fact is that the items above are mutually exclusive, at least for the first 18 years, from what I’m told.  🙂

We love our little boy and have consigned ourselves to the idea that less is more when it comes to regularity in slumber. Though this trite little cliché might comfort some, it does nothing to placate the eight pounder when he is hungry at 2 am and then also at 4:30 am. Some might try to reassure with the empty promise that a baby’s biological clock will find some normalcy, and to that I’d say, “What Bio-clock?!” This cute-faced kid is merely a front for a bio-time-bomb that could go off at any second, releasing any number of bodily fluids in any combination imaginable! And babies have the amazing ability to rough you up like a mob enforcer without any teeth. You’d better listen carefully because his next request, if misunderstood, could result in another hour of confused crying. And then the little one would start wailing along with Dad.

But seriously, Aiden is adorable and is very sweet. We have had some ‘fun’ moments as well, but it is a tremendous blessing to be heading down the road of parenthood.

I’d like to mention one highlight of our last week. Erin and I stole away to watch August Rush. This film is tremendously acted and fantastically written. It is one we will commit to our library for sure. 

Much to the delight of Brandon and I, and due to some miracle beyond understanding, little Aiden slept 5 hours straight last night. We knew he had it in him because twice during his first week on this earth he slept for 6 hours during the day. (Silly me just let him sleep instead of realizing that he would not start to re-adjust his sleeping patterns if I was not persistant in waking him up every 2-3 hours during the day.) So, hooray Aiden’s ability to sleep 5 hours at night and for doing it for the first time so early in his little life. 🙂

They say that breast milk is best, it is specifically made and tailored for each of your different children and best of all, it is free. These things and the bond that comes with breast feeding are the reason’s I decided to breast feed. It is also said by various breast feeding resources that if you breast feed then you already have all that you need to feed your newborn. This is true, to a point.

You see, you will need nursing pads to prevent leaking and they are not cheap. You can get a box of 60 for about $7.00 but after being home for 2-3 days you will quickly realize that one box will only last for 30 feedings and if your little one eats 8-12 times a day, well, they aren’t going to last more then 3-4 days. This is a scary prospect to think that you will be spending $50.00 a month on nursing pads.

The next thing is that I decided to just double pump every 6 hours (Aiden eats 8 times a day) and that would give me enough milk to get through each day. This made me realize that I would spend another $40.00 a month just to buy enough breast milk storage bags. AGGGHHH!

Here is what I have done to reduce our costs in the feeding world. First of all I bought 2 yards of white flannel at Wal-mart, cut it into 4 inch squares, stacked 6 squares on top of each other and serged the edges together (if you have no serger zig zag around the edges). Traditional pads are round but the thought of sewing around 25+ circles was, well, not going to happen. If you cut creatively you can get 31 squares. I ripped 4 inch wide strips of fabric, cut off 24 inches and folded that in half and then thirds for one nursing pad. I then took the extra length, stacked 6 of them on top of each other and then cut that into 4 inch squares.

As for the milk storage bags, after reading about the special bags (medela, lansinoh, etc.) I learned that they are made of a special virginized plastic, and sterilized. The special plastic protects against the plastic stretching and isn’t prone to get weak spots if dropped or banged against the table, etc. Well, we decided to try regular freezer bags from the store. They are sterilized and we will just be careful not to drop them or bang them on the furniture. We haven’t learned yet how they will work but I think they will work well and you can get 100 of those for $3.50 or so. This is a MUCH better and more affordable solution. 😉

So, I was just thinking of the few things that I had learned, wish I knew, or been taught during my pregnancy and labor and delivery. So here they are…

1. Vitamin B6 not only helps with fertility, it also eases nausea (a.k.a. morning sickness).

2. Ginger-ale and ginger snaps also ease nausea.

3. If you are retaining water and have swollen feet and legs then vitamin C, cranberry juice, and yogurt will help reduce it (you can also try soaking your feet in cold water but this doesn’t always work.

4. If you need an excercise routine go the route of water aerobics, it allows your belly to float, thus eliminating the strain you would get with impact aerobics (just make sure you tell the instructor that you are pregnant.)

5. The epidural tends to cause constipation so do your best to stay hydrated during labor (eat lots of ice chips and send for the nurse when the I.V. drip runs out.)

6. Episiotomy stitches hurt, but witch hazel pads and your pain medications from the doctor help BIG TIME, if you don’t have a boppy or an inflatable donut to sit on, you ought to consider investing in one.

7. If you do not like your nurse at any time during your hospital stay (you will have a labor and delivery nurse, a post partum nurse, a CNA who takes your vitals, and a nursery nurse for your baby) then demand they leave and request a new one! It is your right and the nurses make or break how well your stay goes. Be brave!

8. While at the hospital, let your little one sleep in the nursery. In my mind I thought, well I won’t have a “nursery” to stick the baby in when I get home, I will just tough it out. I should have realized how important it was to get sleep while I could because I needed all the energy I could get once I brought the baby home.

9. You will get little to NO sleep after the baby is born, enjoy sleeping while you can. (There will be nights when you will only get 2 hours of sleep, a good night is 6 hours, try to catch as much sleep as you can in a 24 hour period as you can. Don’t think of sleep as only a night thing.)

10. Don’t feel bad about the things that you need to do to cope the first couple of weeks. If you feel it would be easier to feed your baby formula then do it, if you want to give them a binky do it, it is important to stay sane and in a positive mood because the baby will sense if you are frustrated or overwhelmed and will become agitated.

11. You can not prepare yourself for the IMMENSE amount of love you will have for that little bundle of joy that is yours to keep forever.

Well there you go. I hope that these tips are useful for any of you who are pregnant for the first time. Adios!