Mommy's Physical /Mental State
For about a month now, I have felt like my old self again. It took about two months, but I now feel I can do all the things I used to do prior to pregnancy with nearly the same energy levels. It feels good to be back!
I am back to running again and I'm still pretty slow, but at least I'm out there!! I ran my first race on July 4 - a 5K and it was a mix between humbling and exhilarating. I was out there, running somewhere on the edge of my ability for 3 miles, and ended up running an average of 10:03 minute per mile pace, what once would have been a training pace. What really kept me back was my lung capacity. My body felt fine and if it hadn't been for lack of oxygen, I could have gone a lot faster! Guess I'll have to build my lung power back up.
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| First race in nine months!! |
I'm mentally back to my old self as well - no more tender days with weepiness sprinkled in. Most days we're just trucking along! In the first month or so, I didn't want to watch TV, listen to the radio, or read books that weren't related to our baby. I really didn't care what was going on with the world outside our little cocoon, and we enveloped ourselves in quiet days and nights. Gradually though, my interest has come back and I'm reading books about running, listening to Fresh Air, or having conversations about the Israeli-Palestine conflict, etc. everyday.
The only remaining physical symptoms is tenderness of where the stitches were - something I don't think about 90% of the time, but am still looking forward to a day where that too is completely healed...although I know it will take time.
Everett's Development
Everett seemed to go through a growth spurt in the last week! He was sleeping and eating a lot for 2-3 days. He's probably close to 11 pounds by now.
We had our 2 month check up on my birthday - June 27. He weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces (damn, I knew we shoulda fed him in the waiting room, ha!) He's on the low end of weight for his age but the doctor was not concerned because she said he's gaining weight at an appropriate rate, especially considering that he started out small as well. She said that Everett would be tall and skinny. That's right! That's my boy! He also got two vaccines while he was at the doctor's office - I held his little hands while they gave him the shots and both Mommy and Everett cried.
Everett is definitely filling out - he has a double chin and fat on his arms, legs, and cheeks. All his diapers fit now - we don't usually have leakages anymore. Yay!! Before his little legs were so skinny that even the smallest diapers didn't fit snugly around him and they would frequently leak.
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| Fat rolls!!! |
He's also building a personality - He spends quiet alert periods lasting anywhere from 10-30 minutes smiling and laughing at us. Bouncing on our knees and kisses always bring reliable smiles!!
Especially with the recent hot days and muggy nights, we've been throwing Everett into the shower with us before bedtime. Every time without fail, he quietly enjoys shower time, blinking at us when water inadvertently sprays his face.
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| Everett always enjoys shower time together with Mommy or Daddy |
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| Look at that neck control!!! |
Our Typical Day
3:00 AM
Everett wakes up for a nighttime feeding. Daddy usually changes his diaper at this time. (1:30 or 4:00 AM feedings optional)
5:00 AM
Everett wakes up for a morning feeding OR for the day. When he's really alert and ready for the day, which is a couple times a week, one of us will get up with him. Usually, he falls back asleep just as one of us has accomplished enough that we're up for the day. If we stay in bed during this time, nursings are frequent/constant until we all get up for the day.
8:00 AM
Chad and I eat, straighten up, or get ready for the day while Everett sleeps.
9:00 AM
Everett is usually awake from his 6:00/7:00 AM nap. During this time we nurse, sit on the porch, change diapers, laugh at each other, and Everett gets a lot of kisses to make him smile.
11:30 AM
Everett gets fussy and cranky, at which point I know it's time for his morning nap. In the sling he goes, around the block we walk, and within 10 minutes he's asleep! I go back home and do laundry, do some prep work for dinner, do the dishes, and eat lunch and listen to Fresh Air.
1:00 PM
Everett wakes up from his nap and we nurse. Then we have some afternoon play time, he lazes about on my lap while nursing, or we sit on the porch and check out the world.
3:30 PM
Everett needs another nap so I throw him in the sling and around the block we go again. Often I will go on a long walk while he naps. Yesterday I walked the 3 mile round trip to the Wednesday farmer's market while he slept.
6:00 PM
Daddy comes home and we make dinner, eat dinner, sit on the porch, water plants, and chat.
8:00 PM
We are getting tired by this point, so we watch an episode of Parenthood.
9:00 PM
Sometimes Everett gets fussy during this time so we take another walk.
10:00 PM
We start getting ready for bed. Depending on Everett's mood we go to bed anywhere between 10:30 and 11:30.
Going Back to Work / Pumping / Bottle Feeding Breast Milk
I go back to work 2 weeks from today and I'm not particularly looking forward to it.
There are aspects of work I'm looking forward to - problem solving and interaction on a professional level. I'm pretty good at my job and enjoy it for the most part - I met with my bosses two weeks ago for my annual review which went really well. We chatted for 30 minutes or so about the department and I realized afterward that I enjoyed the meeting and that I had relevant ideas and thoughts to add to the conversation.
On the other hand, I've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks thinking about women's, mothers', and families' place in our society. While I started learning how to pump milk for Everett when I'm not around, I listened to the coverage of the White House's Summit on Working Families, and I thought about how I personally fit into this picture. I have a love-hate relationship with the breast pump I will be tied to for the remainder of Everett's breastfeeding years. I am coming to realize how little our society sets resources aside to support family values - it is the responsibility of individuals to figure out how to make their families fit into society without disrupting it. Americans have come so far in the past several decades, with women entering the workplace in ways they never could have before. The problem though, is that society hasn't struck a balance between workplace productivity and family life. Chad and I are lucky that we've been able to share in taking time off for the first 5 months of Everett's life, but we've had to make that choice at a huge financial hit to do so. For the most part, we're living on one paycheck and savings to make ends meet while we care for Everett in his infancy. I wouldn't have it any other way, but the fact that the United States has zero support for young families is a travesty. It's hard to believe United States is the ONLY first-world country without mandatory maternity leave. Where is the balance between the rights of women as child bearers and care takers of young their infant babies and their role in society as strong, competent, and capable of careers and decision making?
Every time I pump milk to build a freezer supply for Everett, I think about how I shouldn't be worrying about how to feed my infant when I'm not around. I shouldn't be worrying about whether Everett will easily take a bottle or not (he took his first bottle like a champ). I shouldn't be worrying about whether or not my milk supply will weather pumping 5 days a week, or if it will take a hit and I'll have to think about other ways to supplement. Most of the time, the natural and healthiest way to feed babies is through breast milk. Babies and their mammas were not meant to be separated in the early days of life. I am having to make decisions that are not in the best interest of my baby, because my society does not have social structures in place for families to care for and support young families. If I had the option to stay home with Everett for a longer period of time I would, but alas what my family needs from me is to participate financially in supporting the household. In the end, since I do have to go back to work now, I'm glad I have the technology to provide my own milk for Everett. While the best case scenario would be for me to care for my son, the second best scenario is for other loving people to care for my son and provide him with pumped breast milk.
I don't have the time to do the research and write eloquently and thoroughly on the topics I've mentioned above - I know I've only just glanced the surface and have raised more questions and broad concepts than answers. I don't even know emotionally how that first day/week/month back to work will be...I'll focus on that when I get there.
I AM looking forward for Chad and Everett to have two months together - I am so excited that Chad has the opportunity to get two months of quality time caring for his son full time, which will strengthen the father-son bond from the very beginning. And I will be SO MUCH calmer going back to work knowing that Daddy is at home with Everett instead of leaving him in the hands of an outsider. It will also be good to stave off for another two months wondering how in the world we are going to keep our house clean!
Weekly CSA
We signed up to be a part of Wayward Seed's CSA for the second year in a row (three years ago we had a Rock Dove Farm CSA - it was through them that we got into apple cider pressing!) We really enjoy our CSA, although some weeks it really feels as though the pressure is on. As in, "When the hell are we going to have time to eat the kale, chard, frisee AND two heads of lettuce in one week!?!?" So far we've done a pretty good job though!!
Week One: Baby Hakurei Turnips, Red Romaine Lettuce, Napa Cabbage, Garlic Scapes, Bunched Arugula, Shunkyo Radish, Sugar Snap Peas, Oregano, strawberries
Week Two: Lettuce, Frisee, Hakurei Turnips, Shunkyo Radish, Garlic Scapes, Arugula, Sugar Snap Peas, Oregano, Napa Cabbage
Week Three: Summer Squash, Beets, Garlic, Purple Scallions, Green Cabbage, Skyphos butter head lettuce, Lacinato kale, Fennel, Cucumber, black raspberries
What We've Been Up To
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| July 16: Visiting grandma's to celebrate all the June birthdays (Everett, that was supposed to be you too, buddy!!) |
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| June 22: Everett and I went on a farm tour of urban homesteader/blogger Harmonious Homestead |
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| June 27: Mommy's birthday celebrated at Comfest! |
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| July 04: Corey's first race since November 17, 2013 |
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| July 06: Hiking in Hocking County! |
