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Archives for May 2005

Allison, Day 21

Happy Memorial Day! It’s hard to believe that Allison is already 3 weeks old. She’s filling out rapidly. Her face is getting chubbier and she’s starting to fit into her 0-3 month clothes. Just as importantly, she is establishing a more regular nighttime sleep pattern. She’ll typically get up after 3.5 hours and then 3 hours. So, if we put her down at 11:00, she’ll get up at 3:30 and then 6:30. We’re on a relatively sustainable sleep schedule – say 5 to 6 hours a night. Hopefully as she grows, she’ll sleep even longer.

Allison is also trying to hold up her head by herself. As we hold her, she’ll hold her head straight up for a couple seconds and then if we don’t catch her body will flop to one side. She’s more cogent – staring in the general direction of Katherine who often times will sit a foot away exclaiming “Hi Allison, I’m your big sister!”

We reached a wonderful milestone (for me at least) tonight. Steve fed Allison over an ounce of milk from a Gerber bottle. Steve suspects that we used Katherine’s older bottle nipple as Allison could barely keep up with it. But, we were super relieved that she took the bottle readily. My goal is to have either Steve, Patty or my Mom feed her at least once a day – so we don’t run into any resistance later like we did with Katherine.

Allison, Day 14

Sleep deprivation is taking its toll on our family. We had a couple tough nights this past week. For several nights Allison was getting up at 11PM, 1AM, 3AM and 5AM, and it was taking at least 45 minutes to get her back to sleep after an endless loop of nurse/burp/pooh/nurse/burp. As of Saturday night we’ve adopted some new tactics to get more sleep.

  • She’s now sleeping in her crib, so we don’t have to listen to her thrash, burp, pass gas, and make other noises in our room.
  • I’m modifying my eating habits – no more spicy or potentially gaseous food that will keep Allison up to all hours of the night.
  • We’re starting to employ the concept of shifts, where one parent is on shift with the baby monitor at any one time.

The good news is that she is putting on weight at a rapid clip. As of Friday, she was 6 lbs. 11.5 oz and 20″ long. This puts her in 75% height and 25% weight, a tall and skinny baby like Katherine. The doctor also said that her wheezing, sing-song breathing wasn’t a problem. It is likely caused by still soft cartilage in her nose.

Last night we finally got our first decent night’s sleep. Allison woke up at 11PM, then 3AM and then 7AM. ๐Ÿ™‚ To counter this, Katherine woke up at 1PM demanding “Allison sleep with Mama, Katherine sleep with Dada in guest room!” We’ve been telling Katherine today that Allison is now in her crib, and we expect her to sleep in her junior bed as well.

Katherine is adjusting to Allison as well as can be expected, although she still acts up and tests us. When in the minivan she’s told us several times “I have to go to bathroom. Dada, please pull over now so we can go to store” and then didn’t have to go to the bathroom! Or, she will ask for a food and not touch it at dinner. She especially pushes Steve really hard, knowing that he’s more likely to listen to her incessant demands. Katherine takes pride in being a big sister. She insists on “closing the strap” on Allison’s diaper, getting towels for Allison’s bath and even trying to lather her up! She is as gentle as possible with the baby – and knows that if she sits on the couch she can hold the baby on her lap.

I’ve reached some exciting milestones as well. As of Day 10, the doctor gave a thumbs up so I can now drive! Also, I’ve packed away ALL my maternity clothes for future donation, hopefully never to see or wear them again! It’s very exciting to actually wear my pre-pregnancy (albeit chubby) clothes.

Allison, Day 5

We’re starting to get a hang of Allison’s way of doing things. Christine and I settled into bed at 10PM (an hour after we got Katherine to bed) fully expecting Allison to continue her sleep and feed cycles of roughly every 2 hours. As the night pressed on, it was clear that Allison wasn’t going to follow this routine. She was power feeding and working through some major gas bubbles. Allison would feed, Steve/Christine would burp her and Allison would sleep for 10 minutes and the cycle would repeat. This went on until about 12:30A. Then a miracle happened. Christine fed Allison and dad burped her and she fell into a deep sleep that lasted until 7A the next morning. Christine had to wake her up. Hopefully, this will be the routine. Between the gas bubbles and the power feeding with no sleep, Christine and I were starting to get a bit worried about our ability to sleep for the next couple of weeks.

Katherine got up at 6:00A this morning and wanted her apple juice and to sleep with daddy. Allison was sleeping/feeding with mommy so dad took Katherine to the spare bed room and slept until 7:30A.

Allison and mom have figured out the art of feeding. Allison has this cute behavior of opening just her left eye when she’s sleepy or breast feeding to check out the world. She will nurse for a while and then fall asleep. Christine will ask “are you done?” Allison will peer at us using her left eye (or not) then start feeding again. The cycle continues until she passes out and we wrap her up in her blanket.

Allison is also a good sleeper. She has to be because Katherine sings her ABC’s at the top of her lungs to “wake up the baby” despite mom and dad’s attempts to have her use her inside voice. It’s all about testing boundaries. Fun to watch the interactions but adds a whole new dimension to parenting.

With all of her eating, Allison is starting to fill out – although she is still only 6 lbs! Her face is getting rounder, and she looks increasingly like Katherine when she was born.

Patty arrived at 8A and helped Katherine get ready for Gymnastics. We’re all going to meet up at the pediatrician at around noon for Allison’s checkup and Katherine 2 year Hep booster shot -Katherine doesn’t know this yet ๐Ÿ™ This afternoon, Allison gets a checkup and hearing test at the Overlake Women’s center. Grandma Dottie is coming over for dinner to visit and fix us dinner, yum.

Overall, Christine and I cannot complain. Allison is sleeping well and we have some time and energy to spend quality time with Katherine and document Allison’s first days. Katherine is adjusting as well as expected to having a baby sister. The novelty of having “the baby” is still there but Katherine is acting up more to attract our attention. When mom is feeding Allison, I’m trying to give Katherine some attention.

I also wanted to thank Grandma Chang for helping take care of Katherine while we were in the hospital. It’s great to have family around who can help us and pass on the family values to Katherine.

I’ll update with news and pictures later this evening.

Allison, Day 4

Zone Defense. Lack of Sleep. Everything starting to come back from late night hallway walks to routine detective work to figure out why Allison is crying now. Katherine continues to evolve too. Katherine can now open the locked pantry and the refrigerator by herself. 

My goal is to update Day 3 and 4 later this evening after Katherine goes to bed with news and pictures. Consider this a placeholder.

 

Allison Sarah Bush, Day 2

Day 2 for Allison. Last night Allison slept well for a newborn, waking up every 2-3 hours for “check-ups” by the hospital staff. Steve and Christine got a decent night’s sleep, all things considered. We’re tired but not exhausted.

It’s all coming back to us. We experienced a lot of firsts for Allison today: wet and dirty diapers, breast feeding, yawns, sneezes, fake smiles, turns to the light, etc. The second child is just as rewarding as the first. We missed a lot of “firsts” with Katherine as we were exhausted. It also gives us the opportunity to relive Katherine’s birth and Allison’s own growth plan.

Christine is recovering well from C section delivery. She’s been detached from all of the cords tying her down and is able to move around the room pretty well. Christine and Allison are mastering the art of breast feeding, every child has their own eating preferences.

Steve is spending his time in support of Christine and Allison, posting pictures to the web site and trying to tie up loose ends at work. He’s looking forward to finishing the open items in his parental leave transition plan so he can enjoy spending quality time with Christine, Allison, and Katherine. The people at Pure Networks have been fabulous in picking up any unresolved tasks.

Katherine visited Allison at the hospital today. Grandma Chang and Patty have been taking care of Katherine at the house. Katherine has missed mom and dad dearly and was really excited to meet her new baby sister. Dad met Katherine in the lobby and spent some quality time with her before bringing her back with Patty and Grandma Chang to the room. At Toby school, Katherine stood up during circle time and declared to all that she was a big sister now. Patty and Grandma Chang gushed with pride.

Katherine literally gazed at Allison in awe. It was a beautiful sight. She’s truly a proud big sister and will nurture Allison through her growing years. As a parent, it’s truly amazing to see the sister bond start to form. Katherine will be a great big sister.

Grandma Chang couldn’t wait to hold Allison. She beamed with excitement for new new granddaughter. As a parent, it’s rewarding to see the joy a newborn brings to the lives of extended family.

Nanny Patty patiently waited her turn to hold Allison. We are truly blessed to have Patty as a caregiver. She’s shown great love and guidance for Katherine and helped Christine and I raise a well adjusted child. We’re looking forward to Patty’s help in raising Allison as well.

Mom and Allison are asleep as I write this. I’m publishing it now without Christine’s editorial approval so this entry may be improved later when she wakes up and reviews. ๐Ÿ™‚