Fascinated with the Fan Blades

3 Weeks Old

Isn't it funny that before delivery, the day I really felt like nesting, my focus was on the fan blades in our bedroom... and now that we're home, whenever Nayelli has finished nursing, as I'm walking around with her in my arms her attention goes straight to the fan blades?? I think it's funny. They're still dusty. But she probably looks at it because they're symmetrically pleasing and she can make out the difference in black and white.

Nayelli is seriously the perfect, straight-out-of-the-medical-book baby. There are things I forgot, but she puts me right on track. It's like her sixth sense is knowing how a newborn should behave. For example, I couldn't remember how often a baby should eat, and how much. I did't have to worry about that with Mila (that I can remember... PREGNANCY & MOM-BRAAAAAAAIN STRIKES AGAIN!) because she was breastfed. Whatever the breast makes is what you get, kid. Even though we were attempting to breastfeed and pump at the same time with Nayelli, we still had to supplement with formula because she lost too much weight. She almost lost an entire pound! When babies lose that much then the doctors start checking functionality of organs!! Anyway, the answer is - newborns should be eating around 2.5oz every 3 hours. Nayelli automatically searched for me at 3 hours. How many diapers should you be changing a day? "I don't know, but Nayelli does!" Actually, wets should be 5-6+ a day and dirties 3-4 stools. Nayelli pees and sometimes toot-poops before every feeding and toot-poops after. She's an overachiever. And she doesn't like to be wet or dirty either. You don't have to look for a blue line. If she's crying and fidgety with her legs, odds are she's uncomfortable down there and needs a change. How long can a bottle of milk save for? Well, actually it depends on whether it's breastmilk or formula. Formula can last about an hour freshly made. Lesson learned: you don't need instant formula for a newborn when breastfeeding at the same time because the bottle goes bad, even stored in the fridge, after 3 days. Breastmilk on the other hand can last 4-5 hours freshly pumped, 4-5 days in the fridge, and 4-5 months frozen. I have no idea why I would ever freeze it... I typically don't have to worry about the time because Nayelli is up and ready to eat at precisely the right time. I'm so thankful and my heart is full. We got lucky with our third. Everyone says WATCH OUT! But I think Luke and Mila prepared us for Nayelli. We knew exactly what we wanted to do as far as breastfeeding, pumping, hospital stay, sleeping arrangements, etc. We knew what to look out for as far as baby blues - and I haven't experienced any! Lack of sleep... maybe a little. But, I am seriously getting more sleep NOW than I was PREGNANT! (Pregnant I was waking up every 1-2 hours to pee and Nayelli is up only 1-2 times a night. We go to bed at 11-11:30 pm. Like clockwork, she's up at 2:30 am for her change, eating, change again, comfort boob. And again, up at 6:00 am. Sometimes she skips the 2:30 am and we're up between 5:30-6 instead.) One thing I want to point out - you know how they say Mommy can recognize different cries? The signs are easier to spot. At this point, the only difference in cries I have spotted are the cute wimpers that say, "I don't like this," vs. the gasping for air, face red as a tomato wail that says, "I'm ticked. Take care of the problem." As I mentioned before, the sign for a change is shifty legs. The sign for I'm hungry is smacking the lips or sniff/searching around my armpit/boob in bed. If I'm holding her upright while on the couch and she's hungry, she'll literally allow herself to fall down until she's fully horizontal, parallel to my boob. I've noticed that guys think us moms are magical because we know what the kid wants. No, we don't. We look for the two signs, and if that doesn't work, we guess. And sooner or later, we arrive at the answer. So guys... you can do it, too.
I also forgot about colic and jaundice in babies. We haven't had to worry about either one. Aldo mentioned colic one time, and that was when Nayelli cried because she was uncomfortable and then stayed up all night from a growth spurt. The next day the aforementioned "colic" was gone. So it wasn't colic. And the doctor brought up the lack-of-jaundice because Nayelli had "good coloring" at every follow-up appointment we've had.
Something that all three of my kids have suffered from are the crusty eyes. All three have had blocked tear ducts. Early on, it shows up like a lone tear that stays in the inside corner crevice of the eye. Then it turns to a yellow/green tear. And it ends in eyes crusted shut. I remembered that we tried out chamomile tea, but the thing that resolved it was a warm, wet baby cloth and massaging the tear duct. I did it right away on Nayelli's left eye and it went away. The right eye clogged later on, and I'm still working on it. Those little eyes are easy to get clogged because the ducts are so small.

So... here are a few things that happened after coming home and a few thoughts I've had since. I'll label them according to the topic. (I also have to hurry as I type this because Aldo is downstairs taking care of Nayelli and I have finished pumping, so he'll be expecting me...)

• CARBS. How many carbs should a regular person have? (A regular person being someone without diabetes.) And what should a blood glucose reading look like? Aldo and I said that we want to continue eating healthier. Now, right after I had Nayelli, I binged in the hospital. Then, this past week Aunt Dolores gave us three different types of bread and cookies. Thankfully the bread was moldy after a day, so it was trashed. But the cookies went to my mouth. I had to look up these questions because as a breastfeeding mom it felt like my intake of food would be greater. I'm burning energy here! The answer: Breastfeeding women should have 210g of carb per day from healthy sources. Interestingly, that's how much I was allotted while I was pregnant. So NO CHANGE. For a non-diabetic, dietary guidelines say that carbs should be 45-65% of your calorie intake. I don't count calories, but with a 2000 calorie diet that would equal 225-335g of carb per day. How come it's lower for breastfeeding women may I ask...? I settled on this one article that said, "Instead of counting calories, follow your hunger cues." And dang, am I hungry!!!! Also, a normal fasting blood sugar (after 8 hours of not eating) is less than 100 mg/dL. And if you eat and wait 2 hours before testing, the blood sugar should be under 140 mg/dL. The other day, I had a breakfast of between 45-70g carbs (not all healthy) and my reading was 87 mg/dL. I think it's safe to say that the diabetes has gone away. But still, I'm restricting noodles. I'm restricting rice. I'm even restricting amount of bread. It physically stuffed me when I had the entire Frontega from Panera yesterday. I was full of bread after half the sandwich and wanted to stop after the second half. I'm restricting the sugars. No carb-loaded juices. If it's sugary, make it good! Make it a cheesecake, worth the sugar.... or make it a dark chocolate. No more uncontrolled candy snacking.

• POOPING. This was difficult at first. The hemorrhoids really had me worried while pregnant and post-delivery. I was told they would go away right away. It hasn't. And I was still just as constipated afterward, PLUS they added in iron to the medicines I should take. Iron will make you more constipated. Even with the stool softeners, I've clogged a record number of toilets in this house. Probably more than I have in my entire lifetime. The answer: I quit the iron. I quit the stool softeners. I turned to prunes. If you look at carbs, then 3 is your serving size. BUT, I took one for the team and have been eating about 5 prunes a day (the serving size on the package). I didn't think I would like the taste, but they're like a large, sticky raisin. I'm not brave enough to try prune juice. I think I'll waste til I'm old. Like 100 years old. The other resolution has been good, seating positions on the toilet. Yes, I actually looked this up. Haha! Feet should be flat on the floor. Knees comfortably raised above hips, or at least, at hips. Hunching over helps. Breath through it three times as if you are doing a deep-breath-peaceful-yoga-esque push. If the poop hasn't come out yet, then stand up and walk. Or you can try drinking something warm...? I'm going to be brutally honest and open right now... there were at least two poops that were as hard as rocks, and the main problem was that the balls weren't breaking off into little parts. Although hard, they were sticking together and making my butt force the stretch. I'm much better now, but I'm still taking the prunes while I'm eating as much protein as I am at meals and snacks. I'm not having a peanut scrape my booty canal again. 

• BLOOD. How much should I be bleeding? Is it supposed to be a flat golf ball or a 3D golf ball-size? Google called it "involution". You bleed no matter what the birthing experience because your wounded uterus is healing. Google did not refer to golf balls, so... the answer: If you soak a pass after you get home from the hospital every hour for two hours, that's too much. Bleeding should decrease with time. If you see an increase, it could indicate you probably did too much activity. And also, after a resting position, you're more likely to bleed more when you stand or sit back up. Currently, my blood is just about gone. A drop in the morning. A drop in the shower. A drop when I wipe. It's like the tailend of a period. Yesterday Aldo accidentally left me without transportation because he took the only keys with him to work. Everyone was gone, so I had to walk 2.2 miles with Mila at my side and Nayelli in the baba wrap to pick Luke up from school. Even after the walk, I didn't bleed but a drop. Can't wait until I'm out of these annoying pads.

• SWELLING. Is ankle-swelling supposed to happen AFTER a C-section??? The answer: It can happen. Post-partum swelling is actually normal. All that extra fluid gained during pregnancy, plus the added fluids from the IV, can cause swelling in the extremities after birth. My ankle swelling has since gone away. The incision will also swell. And, it is currently still swollen, but less with each week. To prevent swelling in the legs, or even worse blood clots!, do small exercises and stretches while you are healing and limited on movement. Make circles with your ankles, lift your legs and hold them, flex your feet, drink plenty of water and GET UP AND WALK! This is what Aldo's mom was talking about - although I would want to take it easy, the best thing to do after surgery is to get up. So, with that, I did those little exercises and the swelling went away. Each day, I pushed myself to do one thing I couldn't do the day before - first goal was to lay on my side. On October 14th I shaved my legs (it was a struggle because I didn't bend my knees much...). And my final goal was to give myself a pedicure. The true success was when I could clip my toenails. Now I'm swinging my legs around like normal. The one thing I don't care for - how my legs slide around on our new mattress. But that's not a leg problem; it's a protective cover problem.

• OTHER. There aren't many other things I have noticed to such a high degree. I immediately started losing hair in the shower, but it's a couple here and there. Not a clump. And you're allowed to lose 100 hairs a day, so we're alright. My tatas are larger because I'm breastfeeding. I forgot that my left is fast-flow and right is slow-flow. I haven't had much hard spots because Nayelli is so scheduled in her feedings. Eventually I'll wear contacts again. And hopefully soon I'll go to the dentist. I know that your teeth change with pregnancy. Strange things! Lastly, we went to the OB on Tuesday. I am released to pick up Mila now. My incision looks good. Redness is to be expected. Well... I can't see it, so no worries from me. However, I was having pain in my overhang area. The doc says that's normal. She says it will go away with time. I am more sensitive to touch than others, but still, it will go away. The answer: Tylenol for pain + Spanx to hold it in + Time. Aldo asked about "the pill". I don't plan on going on it again because it caused so many problems with my periods. So when she mentioned an IED, Aldo said he was going to have the operation. She said that was the least invasive and best way for us to not get pregnant and that I had found a really good man. Too true. He is already looking up urologists... but that's because we have met our deductible 100x over for the year it seems. If there's anything else we need done medically, now is the time...

What else is going on in the world? I was such a sucker for not getting the baby books finished for Luke or Mila. I'd forget when this tooth fell out. Or to write down when they rolled over, or what their favorite <fill in blank> was... I'm glad I've somewhat kept up with the important things in these blog books. So, with Baby #3 I have finally kept up with what is going on in the world at large. I mostly have Aldo to thank. The week after coming home we followed the questioning of who is now judge, Bret Kavanaugh. It was a stupid show of our broken governement - between false accusations, probably some Democratic agenda, the #metoo movement, and horribly so... the media - it's disconcerting. Hurricane Michael was more legit and had less coverage. Sad. Also, the Chiefs look really promising this year because Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback. Yes, I was being forced beyond my will to watch the Chiefs. And now, I'm getting into it. Ugh. I'm taking up the mantle for Grammy Nola. I was forced to watch the Chiefs vs. Raiders game (we lost by a three-point field goal). I agreed to watch the Chiefs vs. Bengals (very disappointing game because the Bengals were talked up so much and we smoked them). And now I'm involved. And it's not even the play-offs. I shouldn't know what play-offs are!!! But darn it, Aldo likes to teach me things...

Speaking of Aldo... I should get downstairs! And watch Forged in Fire. Where I learn all there is to know about blacksmithing and forging knives and other weapons. Whyyyyyy?