A swing is not a boob (and other six-week musings)

Today marked Lorelei's six-week birthday (at 6:17 am! Hell yes I was awake). So many things have been going so much better, and others have been continuing to confuse and frustrate us.

Right now Lorelei is spending some time in her lambie swing, which she just loves! However, something strange has happened. The last few times she's been in there, she has craned her neck to one side and started to fake nurse on the pillow part of the swing! WTF!?! And I know she's not hungry, because I just fed her.

This, of course, worries me a bit due to the whole SIDS thing - is she going to smother in there? But the other part of me is just amused, because, well, she nurses probably 18 out of 24 hours every day, it's no wonder she is  always looking for a boob!

The other thing she's doing in the swing right now--and in general--is smiling, cooing, and making baby noises other than crying. That is a huge relief. Not only that she is somehow developing different types of communication skills, but also that I know that she's not really so unhappy all the time, which I had no way of knowing before.

Nursing is going "well," by which I mean it's still going. I've had a bunch of problems thus far, but luckily none of them have gotten in the way of our Little Miss getting enough to eat. Last week I got mastitis and had to go on antibiotics. :( Three weeks ago I also stopped eating dairy products because of "interesting" diaper colors and textures. However, I've also sorta stopped eating peanuts/peanut butter..and decided to try it out this morning (had a tablespoon of PB on bread). If she has a reaction, then it's possible it's peanuts and NOT dairy (because those two were the only two foods I really consumed on a daily basis). So I'll try a switch if that happens. OR, it could be both! Wonderful. Can you imagine if I had to go about my running life without eating peanut butter?! That's my go-to long run/race pre-snack. Well, I won't jump to conclusions yet...of course, I could always avoid this issue and give formula so that my diet doesn't have to change. But I'm not really interested in that option yet.

Sleeping is sort of better, but not great. For a while, she was only sleeping in the swing for extended periods of time (the longest being 4 or 5 hours overnight) and only like 30 minutes to an hour in the crib or bassinet (and that was if we could even get her to fall asleep--usually putting her down on a flat surface rouses her and she starts crying, even if she is in a deep sleep!). But the last two nights we have been trying harder with the bassinet, because we will be traveling next week for Thanksgiving and won't have the swing with us! She has been doing pretty well - I think she has gotten up to about 2 or 2 1/2 hours now in that. Maybe even 3 hours, although honestly, any times recorded between the hours of midnight and 6 am are quite fuzzy to me, so apologies for not remembering accurately!

Also, we've found this technique from The Happiest Baby on the Block which includes the 5 Ss: Swaddling, Side/Stomach position, Swinging, Shushing, and Sucking. It's pretty amazing how the "shushing" part works. You kind of have to do it loudly, and it sounds like waves crashing or something (and it's more like "shhhhh" than "shushhh"). It's supposed to mimic the sounds inside your uterus--in fact, all of the 5 Ss are supposed to recreate that. Dr. Karp (the creator of this technique) calls the first three months of life "The Fourth Trimester," where babies are really not used to life outside the womb yet. Makes sense!! And, while I cannot "shhhh" all night long, our Cloud B Sleep Sheep helps TREMENDOUSLY with this! There are four sounds: a heartbeat; whale sounds; rain, and ocean waves (which sounds like the "shhh"ing).

Other observations of the past couple of weeks:
1) Your baby will probably have more clothes in one drawer than you have in your entire closet.
2) Some burp cloths are meant to be thrown out. As in, the ones you have to mop up baby crap with.
3) A thank-you email is sometimes necessary instead of a thank-you card in order to maintain sanity (and still give you time to nap).
4) Despite the persistent advice to "avoid housework," you'll still feel self-conscious when a visitor comes, clearing the couch of baby blankets and discarded nursing bras in order to make them feel welcome.
5) A GOOD breastpump is essential! I just ordered the Ameda Purely Yours, which is due to arrive soon, because my manual pump wasn't exactly productive enough.
6) Do NOT skip coffee. Just don't.
7) Have water/snacks at a number of "stations" throughout the apartment, because you never know where you'll be nursing, and you want to be well-stocked wherever you are.

In other news: I had my first workout post-baby! I went to a yoga class called "Beginners and Beyond Ashtanga Yoga." Um, more like beyond beginners! Not too fun. And I'm not really a huge fan of the Astanga style, I realize now. It's ok! Just glad I got back out there. I have my six-week checkup tomorrow, so I'll ask the doctor when it's ok to resume running. Not like I have the time OR energy right now! We'll see.

Here's a recent pic of Lorelei in her crib!