January 2011 In Pictures

Being Momma G: Day 31

I don't want to jinx anything, but it does appear that we have turned the corner with our little man.

With medication for reflux and extra milk, Sean has been much happier and much easier to settle. Today, he has been the perfect baby.

After waiting and waiting and waiting for him to wake up last night for a feed, Sean finally woke just before midnight. Sean was breast fed, and we tried to feed him some formula afterwards, which he was not interested in at all. It didn't take very long for the little man to go back to sleep, and as Jonathan was due to be up by 5.30am, we went straight to bed. Sean woke again around 3am and this feed was a bit harder. Jonathan got up and changed Sean into a fresh nappy while I made up some formula for Sean, and he drank a good portion of it. Sean needed more cuddles before he was willing to go back to sleep, so he and I shared some cuddles in bed before I put him back into his bassinet.

Sean woke again at 7.30am and wanted his breakfast, but alas, after 25 minutes on one side, he declared himself full and refused to have any more. I tried in vain to wake Sean, who pursed his lips at me and refused to open his mouth. So cute!

Since Sean was asleep in the big bed next to me, I decided to nap until he was ready to have more milk. At 8.30am, Sean let me know he was ready to continue his breakfast, with a look that said "Well, come on Mummy, I'm ready, where's my breakfast?"

I tried to feed Sean some formula afterwards, but he did not seem at all interested. Sean cried and fought against the formula, and in the end I just gave up.

Almost as soon as I wrapped Sean in the muslin, his eyes started closing and he drifted off to sleep. I went about getting myself some breakfast and putting on a load of laundry, which was finished and put on the line before Sean woke again for his next feed just before 1pm.

Again, Sean fed well on the breasts, but again, he fought against the formula. Sean screamed and wriggled and cried against the bottle, so again, I gave up. Poor thing - you'd have thought I was trying to feed him poison!

So when he woke at 3.30pm and had his milk, I didn't bother making up any formula. Jonathan came home just as we were finishing, and changed Sean's nappy and burped him before settling him straight away.

Sean didn't settle so well after the next feed at 6.45pm, and was grizzly all the way until the next feed after that at 9.45pm. So grizzly was Sean that we've just now fed him 50mL of formula - here's hoping he will settle down soon - Jonathan has to get up at 5.15am again tomorrow and I'd like some sleep soon!

Being Momma G: Day 30

Our little man can be a greedy guts, but if overfeeding him helps him settle down and go to sleep, then so be it.

At 11.45pm last night, Sean spent an hour on the breasts before letting us know that he was still unhappy about something. It was nearly 1am by now, and the only settling technique we hadn't tried was feeding Sean a bottle of formula. We made up 90mL and gave it to him - Sean has been quite good at stopping when he'd had enough, and as he was so unhappy, we thought that the bigger bottle would be better - he could drink what he needed and we'd toss the rest.

Sean drank 80mL. He must have been hungry.

The formula proved to be a godsend. Sean fell asleep almost straight away. Jonathan and I crawled into bed. Sleep, sweet sweet sleep.

The next time we heard Sean was just after 5am, so I brought him into the bed to feed him, mainly so we could both lie down. We were both so tired that we fell asleep, so Sean ended up feeding on one side for just over an hour. Sean only stayed on for 15 minutes on the other side, but he was well and truly awake by the time the feed was over.

Jonathan changed Sean's nappy and the boys hung out with each other for a bit longer, before Jonathan left us to sleep while he went to collect Mina. Sean and I shared some quiet time in the big bed together, before we both finally woke up around 10am. Mina came in for some cuddles, before Sean's insistence for breakfast to start got too much for her ears.

While I was feeding Sean, I saw I'd received a message from Ian and Kate, asking if they could come for a visit. Jonathan and I had not seen Ian nor Kate for quite some time, so we welcomed the chance to see them both. Plus I had a lot wedding magazines I wanted to give to Kate, more for entertainment purposes than for her impending wedding.

Sean took no time at all to settle down after the feed, so Jonathan and me and Mina enjoyed some lunch together, for a change! After lunch, we waited patiently for Ian and Kate to arrive, and they did around 2pm. It was so lovely to see them - they came bearing gifts: a bottle of wine for Jonathan and me, as well as a gorgeous rattle for Sean.

Ian and Kate stayed for afternoon tea - they brought chocolate hot cross buns, and we caught up over these yummy treats and coffee. We showed Ian and Kate around our house, and Kate admired our lovely rug in the living room. We sat around the dining table and chatted for over an hour, while Mina napped on the couch.

All too soon, Ian and Kate had to leave - they both had some afternoon commitments and it was getting late, but not before meeting Sean who had woken up for a feed. Ian and Kate both had a cuddle before Sean became too fussy, and they left as I got ready to feed Sean. During the feed, Jonathan took Mina home, so Sean and I continued by ourselves.

Once Sean was asleep after this feed, he stayed down until 8.50pm. Looking at the feed chart, Sean had only had 4 meals, when we are suppose to feed him at least 6 times a day. As I type this, Sean is still awake after the feed, so I wonder what having only 4 feeds today will mean for us tonight.

Jonathan's been trying to settle Sean for a while now, so I should go and take over. Jonathan is on morning support all week this week, which means 5.30am starts again. Here's hoping he's still alive by the end of the week.

Being Momma G: Day 29

3 nights in a row. Can it be too good to be true?

Sean woke all by himself at around 11.30pm last night, and after the feed and top up, he went almost immediately back to sleep. It was quite late by the time we finished up, so we headed straight to bed as soon as Sean was settled.

Sean woke again at 3.30am, and after his feed, he became a little bit unsettled and Jonathan jumped up and settled Sean, allowing me to go back to sleep. After Sean fed at 6.30am, he refused to go back to sleep, so Jonathan took over once again. Sean was so unsettled that Jonathan ended up feeding him some formula at 8.45am.

I climbed out of bed around 9.30am and breast fed our monkey moo. That seemed to do the trick, as Sean went back to sleep after this. Just as well as we had a busy day planned - we needed to visit Medicare and HCF and the bank, and do some grocery shopping as well as a visit to the hairdresser for Jonathan. We also needed to take Sean to the North Shore Private Hospital for a blood test for jaundice. Today was going to be a big day of errands.

Sean slept the whole way through our wait at Medicare, and at HCF, and at the bank. We dropped into Target to check out a special that we saw in one of their catalogues, and Sean slept through our little shopping side trip. Jonathan and I had seen a package advertised in the Target catalogue that included a Russell Hobbs food processor and electric salt and pepper mills, and upon closer inspection, we decided to buy the package as well as a set of electric scales for weighing food. All 3 pieces totalled less than the normal retail price of the food processor! Sean continued to sleep, so Jonathan went and got a haircut. All up, Sean slept for around 3 hours.

By 12.30pm, we were both hungry and wanted some lunch, and as always, he with the impeccable timing woke up just after Jonathan placed our lunch order at the bagel place at Macquarie Shopping Centre. Sean and I left Jonathan to wait for his meal, and to get mine into a takeaway container, and headed down to the only parents room at the shopping centre for a feed.

After lunch (for everyone), we stopped by Big W to get a window shade for Sean's side of the car. Sean did not seem interested in sleeping at all, so Jonathan carried him for the rest of our shopping trip. While we were in Big W, we also picked up a few other bits and pieces, and as it was nearly 2.30pm, we finished our shopping expedition and headed to the hospital for Sean's blood test.

Once we got to the hospital, the nurses went about getting the blood test done quickly. Sean was due a feed, so I started feeding him while the nurses got ready. Poor little man was not so happy about having his heel pricked for the blood test and screamed when the nurse pricked his heel. Thankfully, the milk calmed him down and we continued with the feed until he was done. Unfortunately, the little man was very unsettled afterwards and cried almost all the way home.

The little man was so unsettled that we fed him some formula after trying almost every other settling technique. The formula did the trick and Sean went to sleep for a while. Jonathan and I were able to enjoy dinner in peace again. Sean must have been so worn out, as he slept through what we thought should have been the time for his next feed (at 8.30pm). My boobs were so full and sore that I had to express a bit of milk to relieve the swelling. 5 minutes on each side yielded 70mL - I remember a time when it took me an hour to the same amount!

Sean woke at 9pm for a feed, and there was still plenty of milk left for him even after the short expression earlier. He still seemed hungry afterwards, so we fed him half of the expressed milk. The long and exhausting day had a major effect on Sean, for he was very very very unsettled and refused to go to sleep. At 11pm, we fed him the rest of the expressed milk, and Sean remained awake and alert and refused to sleep.

After almost 3 hours of crying, we are going to breast feed him again now, and hope that this will settle him down. Both Jonathan and I are exhausted, and we have Mina tomorrow, so please, Sean, please settle down after this feed and sleep for a few hours so Daddy and I can get some rest too.

Being Momma G: Day 28

Sleep. Oh how I've missed you. And welcome back.

Yes, we slept. Not for long, but we managed to get a couple of good stretches last night / this morning.

Our little man slept from 11pm till 2.10am before wanting a feed. We fed in bed so both of us were able to lay down, so we were both relaxed and Sean continued sleeping afterwards. Sean woke again at 6.15am and we completed the feeding in bed again. It took a little while to settle him afterwards, but he did go back to sleep, allowing Jonathan and I another hour in bed before we got up for the day.

We had our appointment with Dr Arnold at midday today, and as I wanted to drive Jonathan to work again, I called my folks to find out if it would be OK to drop in on our way back from the city, so that we could wait and feed at their place before our appointment. They were happy for us to pop by, so we did. We also got invited to return for dinner tonight, which we gladly accepted.

Sean was a little bit niggly by the time we got to Dad and Mum's, so we went to change his nappy and feed straight away. It was a quick feed, as we were a bit late leaving home to get Jonathan to work. I had a feeling that Sean would be quite grizzly at Dr Arnold's, but hoped he would behave for a bit.

No such luck. Sean started crying about 5 minutes into the consultation, and during the lengthy examination, Sean showed Dr Arnold his very healthy set of lungs in his bestest and loudest voice. Dr Arnold was very thorough and poked and prodded our very upset little man for what seemed like an eternity, and when it all finally came to an end, Dr Arnold declared Sean to be in good health.

Dr Arnold ran through his findings with me point by point. It was likely that Sean has a mild case of reflux, and a course of losec would fix that problem. Sean was also a little jaundiced, which was probably a result of Sean not getting enough milk. To see how jaundiced our wee man was, we need to return to North Shore Private Hospital tomorrow to get a blood test. Dr Arnold was keen for me to start a course of motilium to help produce more milk for Sean, and he was keen for us to feed Sean on demand with top ups of formula at the end of each feed, after hearing that we had been trialling the top ups and we'd seen a slight improvement over the past 2 nights.

According to the charts, Sean was a little bit underweight (in the 25th percentile), but he was taller than the average baby, and his head circumference is also right on average. Aside from being on the lightweight side, Sean was fine. It was a big relief.

Sean's medicine could only be obtained from a small number of pharmacies, and the most convenient one was in Willoughby. Dr Arnold's secretary Robyn called and asked the pharmacist to prepare the medicine, and to call me to let me know when it was ready to be picked up.

Sean was so very exhausted by the time we left, and as he'd only really had half a feed, we raced home to have another feed. Sean was so hungry and thirsty that he sucked down the top up I gave him as well, and so tired that it took only 15 minutes to settle him afterwards.

After Sean went to sleep, I finally had some lunch and sat down to relax. The pharmacy called and told me the medicine was ready for pick up, so I kept an eye on the clock to make sure we had time to go to the pharmacy before heading to my parents' place for dinner. The little man had other ideas - by 5pm, he was still asleep, so I had no choice but to move him from his bassinet to the car capsule. Fortunately, Sean was still so exhausted from our earlier outing that he went back to sleep in the car.

With Sean sleeping so well, I hated the idea of getting him in and out of the car just to spend 2 minutes in the pharmacy to pick up his medicine. So I called the pharmacy and asked if someone could run the medicine out to the car when we pulled up, and the lovely lady on the phone agreed, but only after making sure that I had money to pay for the medicine.

By the time we got to my parents' place, Jonathan had already arrived. Sean woke about 10 minutes after we walked through the front door, so we went to feed him while Dad was finishing dinner. The timing was almost perfect - Sean and I were finished 10 minutes after dinner started, which meant I was able to enjoy my meal without having to stop in the middle or rush through so I could feed Sean.

Grace and Georgianna and their families were also having dinner with my parents, so it was a very full house, full of loud noisy children. Sean was on his best behaviour, and it didn't take too long for Sean to settle down and fall asleep after dinner.

It's now after 11pm, and Sean is overdue for another feed. My boobs are so full and sore; they feel like they are about to explode. Sean is still asleep but he looks like he's starting to stir. Much as we're reluctant to do so, we may have to wake him for a feed. We'll trial the losec tomorrow, at the same time as I start the motilium. If my boobs are this sore now, I wonder how I'm going to feel when the motilium kicks in and I have more milk!

Being Momma G: Day 27

We had a slightly better night last night, which we hope was a turning point in our struggle to please our little man.

Sean woke at 10.15pm for a feed, and while he seemed to have had a good feed, he cried and cried and cried for ages afterwards. Jonathan and I tried everything we could think of to make him stop crying. The lungs God gave Sean continued to be exercised all the way till midnight, and in the end, we decided to make up a bottle of formula milk for him. It really was the only thing we hadn't tried, and we had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so we fed Sean 90mL of formula. After the feed, the little man must have been so worn out, for he went to sleep straight away.

Sean woke at 4.30am, fed for 15 minutes on one side only before falling asleep again. I didn't mind - I was pretty tired so when Sean stopped suckling, I put him straight back in the bassinet and fell back to sleep myself.

Sean next woke at 6.15am, fed well, went back to sleep. Jonathan was working the afternoon shift, which meant he didn't have to be at work till 11am, so we were both able to have quite a bit more sleep.

When Sean woke at 9.40am, he was hungry hungry hungry. I fed him while Jonathan got ready for work. As Jonathan had helped me throughout the night with the feeds, it was only fair that we drove him to work. After Sean was fed, we all piled in the car and headed to the city. Sean was pretty good for most of the trip to the city, and just as we were nearing Jonathan's office, Sean started whimpering. The whimpers got louder and louder on our way home, and he only stopped for a few minutes while I pulled into the McDonalds drive-thru at Lane Cove to get something to eat. I was so hungry, I was more than happy to settle for a Cheeseburger and a Fillet-O-Fish.

On our way home, we stopped at the post office at West Ryde to pick up some registered post. I had predicted that it would be Sean's birth certificate, and I was correct! We'd only applied for it 2 weeks ago, so it was nice to receive it already. We can now apply for Sean's passport in preparation for our trip to Hong Kong in April this year.

Sean had settled down somewhat by the time we got to the post office, but with a long line and his hunger pangs worsening, he let everyone in the post office know that they were keeping him from his lunch. Everyone in the post office gave us "the look", including a heavily pregnant woman and a mother with 2 kids in a stroller. I just rolled my eyes when they gave me "the look" - as if to say "can't you control your baby" - what else could I do? I felt like telling the pregnant woman that her turn will come, and as for the mother with her 2 kids, well, I can just bet they weren't perfect at 4 weeks old either! As soon as we picked up the envelope, we hightailed it home.

Sean was so hungry by the time we got home that he gulped down his lunch. He was still hunger afterwards, so I gave him 70mL of formula. Sean was still quite unsettled, but as he didn't finish the formula, I didn't know what else I could give him. Catherine had asked me to see if I could get an emergency appointment for Sean to see his paediatrician Dr Arnold, so I gave his rooms a call and managed to get us in at 12 noon tomorrow. Sean settled down for a short time before we headed out to see Dr Siva, to get a prescription for motilium for me to boost my milk supply.

When we arrived at the surgery, Sean was quite well behaved, and remained pretty good for a little while before fussing again. Dr Siva was worried about me - I was crying again and felt like such a whinger, but Dr Siva told me that what I was feeling and expressing was all part of being a new mother. Dr Siva asked me a lot of questions and wanted to be sure I wasn't suffering from postpartum depression. I assured her that my tears were from sheer exhaustion and frustration from not being able to settle our baby. Dr Siva recommended that we cease the 3-hourly feeding - it was driving me batty, and it wasn't doing Sean any good either as he was too tired to be feeding properly when we woke him. Dr Siva suggested that we returned to feeding on demand with top ups of formula after the feeds. I told her about our appointment with Dr Arnold, and she was quite pleased that we had arranged the visit.

Dr Siva wanted to see me again in a week's time, to make sure everything was going well and to give Sean a more thorough examination. We made the appointment for next Tuesday, before Mothers Group - next Tuesday is going to be one very busy day!

Once we were home, Sean went to sleep straight away. He must have been so worn out from all the excitement of the day. From 3pm, the little man slept all the way through till 6pm, just as Jonathan was walking through the front door.

Again, we breast fed Sean before giving him a small top up - either my milk was better, or Sean was able to get more out of me, for he only needed a very small amount of formula before he pushed the bottle away. It took about 20 minutes to settle him after the feed, which may seem like a long time but in actual fact represented only a fraction of the time it usually took to settle him. Jonathan and I were able to enjoy most of our dinner in peace.

As we were back to feeding on demand with top ups, when Sean woke himself up at 9.45pm, we got our "stations" ready. Again, after getting what he needed from me, he only needed a small 20mL top up. And went to sleep without a fight.

We are now going to head to bed, and hope that Sean will continue to be settled throughout the night. Sean showed signs of improvement last night, so we can only hope that he will continue to improve, now that we are feeding him more.

Being Momma G: Day 26

Happy Australia Day!

And Happy Birthday to our darling nephew Tommy, who turns 5 today. We can't believe he's 5 already - how time has flown!

The 10.45pm feed last night didn't happen. Jonathan woke me, but I was so not up to feeding. Plus after the 7.45pm feed, I just didn't want to face another hour of trying to wake Sean and keep him awake enough to feed, when I was dead tired and just wanted to sleep.

Both Jonathan and I went to bed. Jonathan had agreed to take Mina today, so he needed to get some sleep so he could play with Mina. Sean woke at 1.15am to feed and didn't fuss too much afterwards, allowing all of us to continue sleeping. Sean woke again at 6am and fed without waking up too much.

Jonathan left around 7.30am to go and collect Mina, and Sean and I continued sleeping until 10am. Sean didn't want to sleep at all after the 10am feed, and insisted on staying up until the next feed at 1pm. I tried almost every trick in the book, but could only manage to get Sean down for 10 minute stretches before he'd wake up again. So we gave up trying to get the little man to sleep, kept him awake till the 1pm feed.

Jonathan and Mina spent the day playing with Lego, after helping around the house with the laundry and bathing Sean. Mina got a few cuddles with Sean throughout the day, when he wasn't being grizzly or feeding. We woke Sean at 4pm for his next feed, just as Jonathan and Mina were getting ready for Mina to go home.

We were just finishing the feed as Jonathan returned home. After changing Sean's nappy, he enjoyed some Daddy time as Jonathan settled him for a short sleep.

It's now just past 7pm, Sean is due for another feed, and while I Feed Sean, Jonathan is going to cook dinner for us. This is how I've spent Australia Day 2011 - feeding a baby, settling a baby, changing nappies, while wearing my pyjamas all day long. I'm going to get off the computer and go wake our son, and hope that he will be a good little monkey moo tonight and sleep like he did last night.

Being Momma G: Day 25

We trialled the Miracle Blanket last night, with mixed results.

After the 11.45pm feed, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes opened. Jonathan took one look at me and although he was dead tired himself, he sent me to bed and bravely tried to settle Sean all by himself. Sean was putting on another show of screaming and crying, which I was becoming quite immune to, so I took myself off to bed and fell asleep straight away.

About an hour after I went to bed, Jonathan came and woke me, having had enough of Sean crying and screaming and fighting against the Miracle Blanket. It took me about 20 minutes to settle Sean - Jonathan had done all the hard work, all I did was put in the dummy in Sean's mouth and after a while, he did finally settle down.

An hour later, Sean woke for his next feed, and I tried to feed him in bed with mixed results. I was so tired I didn't care whether Sean got what he needed - as soon as he had been suckling for 20 minutes, I'd shift him to the other side, and waited for him to suckle for 20 minutes before putting him back into the bassinet. Sean woke for a short time around 5am, and Jonathan and Sean had a few cuddles before Sean settled down and went back to sleep.

At 8.30am, Sean woke for his next feed, which meant that I managed to get a few good hours' sleep. Amazingly, Sean then went back to sleep straight after the feed, which allowed me to have breakfast and have a shower before our next feed. It was important to get a few things out of the way before the 12.30pm feed, as we had plans to head out to Mothers Group at the West Ryde ECHC at 2pm today.

There were plenty of new parents at the Mothers Group. There were around 15 babies, including Sean, and amongst the adults were a few fathers and a grandmother who tagged along with the mothers. Catherine convened the group and ran through the housekeeping bits (telling us where the bathrooms and the baby changing table were) before outlining what the sessions would hold for us. For the next 6 weeks, we would discuss certain topics, such as settling and feeding, and we would be shown DVDs on each topic and with time to discuss our experiences at length afterwards.

Catherine asked each of us to introduce ourselves and our babies and to tell the group something good that happened this week. My good thing for the week was that I have managed to keep Sean alive for 3 weeks, even though I was managing on average 3 hours of sleep a day. The other parents laughed and agreed that it was indeed a good thing. The babies ranged from 2 weeks to 3 and a half months, all of whom are just so gorgeous - what a good looking bunch of babies!

The DVD that Catherine showed us today was one Jonathan and I had seen at one of our baby classes, all about interacting with our babies. After the DVD, we were let loose amongst ourselves, so I started chatting to the ladies next to me. Soon, we were joined by more ladies and their babies, and we all share stories amongst ourselves. Such a multicultural bunch - there were 3 other Asian ladies and 2 Irish ladies. I only wish I can remember their names - I'll try harder to remember their names next week!

Sean was really unsettled towards the end of the meeting, for it was a flipping hot day and although the air con was on, Catherine had left the big double doors wide open and let all the cold air escape. Sean was getting hungry and was quite overheated, and totally over stimulated as well, but he needed to be weighed, so I took him to see Catherine.

It appears that our little man is not putting on the prescribed amount of weight (around 100g to 150g per week) and Catherine suggested a number of things - that we feed Sean every 3 hours, whether he was awake or not, or we continue feeding on demand, but top up with 40mL of formula at the end of the breast feeding. Catherine also suggested that I visit Dr Siva again and ask her to prescribe me some motilium to help me produce more milk for Sean. And last but not least, Catherine also suggested that I contact Dr Arnold, Sean's paediatrician to see if we can get an earlier appointment to see him, based on the facts that Sean was very unsettled and he was only gaining half the weight he should be gaining each week.

Yay. After a perfect pregnancy, it was only fair that we face a few hurdles now, right?

Sean and I left the West Ryde ECHC after speaking with Catherine. Sean really needed to be fed and he was getting very impatient. We had to stop at Woolworths to get milk for me, and he let everyone in the supermarket know he was tired, hot and hungry. By the time we got home, Sean was totally covered in a lather of sweat and he was so hot he had no energy to cry or scream.

Jonathan arrived home about 20 minutes after we got home, and I told him what Catherine had told me. It was decided that we trial the feeding by schedule method - waking our son every 3 hours to feed, whether he liked it or not. If that method didn't work, then we would move back to the feeding on demand with a top up of formula. So, after Jonathan and I had dinner, we went and woke Sean for a feed and he settled down straight away afterwards. It was really hard going feeding a sleeping baby, who was more asleep than awake. I spent more time trying to wake him than feed him. I have no idea how much milk the little man actually drank, but I hoped he got enough to keep him going till the next feed.

Sean is due for another feed at 10.45pm, but I can barely keep my eyes opened and my head is starting to feel so heavy for my neck. I think I'm going to lie down for a bit. Jonathan has promised to wake me at 10.45pm. I'm really not sure about this feeding on a schedule thing, but as I'd agreed to give it a try, I shall persevere.

Being Momma G: Day 24

Fussy and horrible would be an understatement of what Sean put us through earlier this morning.

When Sean woke at 2.30am for a feed, I thought he would settle down straight away and sleep through till 6am. At least, I had hoped he would. Sean fell asleep and fell away from the boob all by himself at the end of the feed, and he did settle down for a few minutes, but when he woke at 3am, he stayed awake. And he let us know about it too.

I tried to let Jonathan sleep, so I took Sean to the living room and tried to settle him by myself. By 5.15am, I had run out of ideas and patience, so I popped Sean on for another feed in hope that he would have a drink and then fall asleep. I was so tired that I could only feed on one side and didn't bother to complete the job. By this point, Jonathan was awake and he took over, while I somehow made it back to the bedroom and fell dead into bed.

After 4 hours of straight screaming and crying, Sean finally fell asleep around 6.30am. It was too late for Jonathan to return to sleep, so he stayed up until it was time for him to go to work. Whereas Jonathan could have caught the 7am bus to go to work, he stayed until just before 9am to make sure Sean was fast asleep and to allow me a few hours of peace.

I was so exhausted that I couldn't get warm while I was in bed. My knees felt ice cold and before Jonathan left for work, I asked him to check my knees, which were warm to his touch. Jonathan covered me with the sheets from his side of the bed while I shivered, and I went back to sleep for a little while longer.

I dragged myself out of bed at around 9.15am, mainly because I needed to use the bathroom. I felt so guilty that Jonathan was going to work again with not enough sleep, and so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who sacrificed his own sleep to make sure I got a break from a screaming baby. I called him to thank him and found that he was sitting at the bus stop waiting for a bus. I offered to drive him to work, but Jonathan declined and wished me a better day than the early morning had been.

When Sean woke at 9.40am for his next feed, I had a little talk and a little cry with our little man, telling him how unfair he was keeping both his parents awake till all hours, and how nasty we found his continued screaming and crying. Poor little man - only 3 weeks old and already getting a stern talking to. After the feed, Sean behaved and went straight back to sleep.

We weren't so successful with the next feed at 2pm. After the feed, Sean decided he wanted to stay awake, and no amount of soothing could get him to sleep. Hours later, at 5.10pm, the little man finally went to sleep.

While Sean was sleeping between the morning and afternoon feeds, my Facebook status attracted some attention. In particular, my lovely friend Jules wrote me an email to offer her Miracle Blanket for us to trial and see if it will help settle Sean. Since Jonathan and I have pretty tried everything else, I gladly accepted the offer. Seriously, what have we got to lose?

Jonathan walked in through the front door just before 6pm, a lot earlier than I'd expected. Sean woke around 6.45pm, and Jonathan gave him a bath while I started preparing our dinner. By the time Jonathan and Sean were finished with bath time, dinner was in the oven and I was ready to feed Sean. As if he had something to prove, Sean didn't fuss after the feed and settled well, so that Jonathan and I could enjoy our gorgeous roast dinner in peace.

Jules swung by with the Miracle Blanket and we traded horror stories about unsettled babies. Jules' little boy Thomas was a very unsettled baby, so Jules could definitely sympathise with our current situation. It was so good to see Jules and we are so grateful to be able to borrow the blanket from her. We are so blessed to have such good friends.

The little man should be waking up any minute now for his next feed, and we will be sure to try out this blanket tonight. Here's hoping the blanket lives up to its name and we enjoy the miracle of a few hours of much needed sleep tonight.

Being Momma G: Day 23

We learn something new every day with Sean. When it comes to settling the little man, what worked yesterday is guaranteed to not work today. What works today may not work tomorrow. And what will work tomorrow will surely not work the following day. Every day is a new day, and there is a surprise around every corner.

Last night, after the 10pm feed, Sean went to sleep straight away. We hoped we'd get a few hours of sleep, and managed to have a couple of hours before Sean woke up for his next feed. Unfortunately, he also wanted to stay up and play after the 2am feed, and it took until nearly 5am before he finally went back to sleep.

As it was a Sunday, Mina was due to spend the day with us. Last week, her mother had all but demanded that we take Mina for a sleepover weekend this weekend, and considering how poorly Sean was sleeping, Mina would have been badly affected by all the crying during the night and we would have had 2 grizzly children to deal with. After pleading with her, to the point of using a "mother to mother" guilt trip angle, we convinced Mina's mother to explain more to Mina what newborn babies are like (they sleep, eat, cry and poop, rinse and repeat throughout the day) and that sleeping over right now would not be a good idea. We only wish that Mina's mother would grow a pair and be the mother and an adult, instead of letting her child dictate terms to her and call the shots.

Mina arrived just as Sean woke for his morning feed. We had a few cuddles in the bed, and Mina helped to keep Sean awake during the first half of his feed by giving Sean gentle caresses every time Sean fell asleep while suckling. It was nice to see Mina - we'd missed her visit last week as she was feeling unwell.

During our catch up, Mina made a few references to "Daddy" that seemed out of place. I finally worked out that she was calling her mother's partner "Daddy", and I gently asked her why she was calling a man who was not her father "Daddy". Mina's response was "Mummy is making me call him Daddy".

Gently, I told Mina to stop calling her mother's partner "Daddy" when she was in our house, and to never ever ever refer to that man as "Daddy" in front of Jonathan. As nicely as I could, I told Mina that she has a Daddy, a Gloria, a Mummy, and her mother's partner, and that's the way it should be. Calling that man "Daddy" would hurt Jonathan immensely, and Mina was to stop using this reference at once.

Poor Mina. She looked so sad when we were having this conversation. I assured her that she wasn't doing anything wrong - she was only doing what she was told to do by her mother. The mother has been so desperate to force the family unit on Mina, making Mina acknowledge her partner's daughters as her sisters, which I had a problem with when Mina first started referring to those girls as "my real sisters" but I've since let that slide, and now to complete the picture, Mina's mother is forcing Mina to call a man she met 18 months ago "daddy".

To me, this showed total disrespect towards Jonathan, who is a wonderful father and is always there for his kids. Further, this looked like an attempt by Mina's mother to cut Jonathan out of Mina's life. Why would you ask your own child to call another man "daddy" when she has a wonderful father already? I would totally understand if Jonathan was a dead beat dad, but he is the exact opposite, so why on earth would someone want to force her child to call a near stranger "daddy"?

Mina has on occasion called me Mummy. The first time she called me Mummy is still fresh in my mind - it was March 2010 and totally unexpected, and I was so overwhelmed that I burst into tears. Since then, Mina has continued to call me Mummy on the odd occasion, and when she has, it has been of her own choosing. We have never asked her to call me Mummy because she has a Mummy, but admittedly, when she has called me Mummy, we have not discouraged nor dissuaded her from doing so. 90% of the time, Mina calls me Gloria, and I'm happy being Gloria.

To say that Mina's mother cannot see the bigger picture is an understatement. Mina's mother has been known to not think things through before jumping into action. Imagine the stink we would cause if we were to force Mina to call me Mummy! Which is exactly what we would do if Mina's mother continues to force Mina to call the partner "daddy".

I debated whether or not to tell Jonathan, and in the end, I did. Jonathan tried his best to hide his emotions, but I could tell it upset him just as much as it upset me. Something will need to be said to Mina's mother at drop off time to nip this calling some random guy "daddy" in the bud.

The day was uneventful. Sean fed at 12.40pm, just as Jonathan got lunch on the table, and woke again at 4.15pm for another feed, just as Jonathan and Mina were getting ready to leave. We watched a whole lot of Spongebob Squarepants during the day, and Jonathan managed to get a nap in the afternoon. By the time Jonathan returned from dropping Mina home, it was time to get ready to go out for my mother's belated birthday dinner.

It was Mum's birthday on 15 January, and we had already had a birthday dinner last weekend to celebrate the occasion. But with Grace and Vinay and their children still overseas on their holiday last weekend, the "official" birthday dinner was held tonight.

Sean was pretty good for the most of dinner - he slept in the pram and didn't wake until almost the end of dinner for his feed. I made sure I dressed appropriately so Sean had easy access to his food. As we were in a private dining room at the restaurant, I was able to feed Sean in one of the corners of the room.

Grace had been looking so much forward to meeting Sean, and she got her cuddles before Sean and I retreated into a corner of the room to start our feed. Renée and Kiran were also quite keen to meet their brand new cousin, and they all got a chance as Sean was in a fairly good mood as he was waking up.

Kiran kept me company while I was feeding Sean, and Kiran was quite keen to learn all about how I was able to produce milk for Sean. I must admit I gave Kiran some phony information - after telling him that Sean liked one side more than the other, Kiran wanted to know the reason, and I told Kiran that the side Sean liked better must have chocolate milk. Then Kiran wanted to know how the chocolate milk got into my breast, and I told him that I sometimes gave myself a treat of chocolate during the day, and that must be how I would make chocolate milk. Then Kiran wanted to know how the chocolate would know which side to go to, and I told him there must be road signs inside my chest to direct the chocolate to the side that Sean liked. The conversation led to me having traffic lights in my chest, directing chocolate to one breast, water to the other breast and food into my stomach. Bless my gorgeous 4 year old nephew for believing such fanciful tales!

Sean and I finished the feeding just as Dad paid the bill, so we all left the restaurant and came home. Sean cried almost the whole way home, so we decided to give him a feed once we got settled. After being so over stimulated from our first meal in a restaurant, it took Sean a little while to settle down. He's now finally down, so it's time for bed for Jonathan and me. As Jonathan has to work tomorrow, no doubt the little man is going to be fussy and horrible tonight!

Being Momma G: Day 22

I must keep reminding myself that our darling baby is only 3 weeks old, and is having a really really really hard time adjusting to life on Earth.

It's not Sean's fault that no one taught him the difference between day and night, nor explained to him in a way that he would understand that day time is for playing and night time is for sleeping and resting. It's not Sean's fault that no one gave him any instructions on how his little arms and legs work, and nor teach him that sometimes, when he wriggles his arm out of the wrap, the arm can hit his face and wake him.

For our little man, life in the outside is hard. Having spent months in a cushy room where the temperature is constant, food is on tap, sounds are muffled and light is dim if not completely dark, Sean has been on a steep learning curve for the past 3 weeks. Everything is totally new and foreign to him. The temperature can vary dramatically, food is available but not on tap, sound can vary from one thing to the next and from low volume to very loud, and light can range from very very bright to pitch black.

Whereas there was one person looking after him before he was born, there are now 2 sets of arms who carry him and cuddle him and hold him. Whereas he was use to floating naked in his own private pool, there are clothes and nappies and muslin wraps that encase his little body. Whereas hiccups never use to bother him while he was in utero, they now wake him and upset him and prevent him from sleeping.

In the past 3 weeks, these 2 big people who carry and cuddle and hold Sean have tried to cajole and direct him to sleep after certain events of the day. And when he fails to sleep after a lengthy period of time of cajoling, and becomes upset when the 2 big people keep putting him into a bassinet in the hope that he will sleep, this in turn upsets the 2 big people, who have been known to yell at Sean for protesting against being put into the bassinet. The 2 big people become increasingly upset the more Sean protests, or the later the night becomes.

Sean's not the only one on the steep learning curve. Both Jonathan and I are also on the same steep learning curve. No one ever said being a new parent was easy - in fact, everyone says it's one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing a person will ever go through. Although Jonathan has been through the early days of parenthood once before, it was some time ago and he's relearning everything and trying to help me through the maze at the same time.

The fact that we have kept the baby alive for 3 weeks is a testament to how hard we've tried, and how far we've come in our journey so far.

Last night was another hard night. After the 11pm feed, Sean didn't want to settle down at all. I spent the better part of 90 minutes patting, walking around, bouncing, singing softly, talking softly, swaying, rocking, etc, to no avail. Sean just kept fighting against sleep, so by 1am, I was totally fried. I'd sent Jonathan to bed hours earlier, and with a little tiny bit of rest, he came and took over from me while I collapsed into bed. Thankfully, around 30 minutes later, Sean finally went to sleep.

Hoping Sean would feed and sleep at 4.30am was futile. Sean woke, fed, then took his time before settling down again. It didn't help that Sean had done a massive poop in his nappy, which needed a change after the feed. At 5am, my reflexes were at their sluggish worst, and I wasn't quite quick enough to prevent the little man from peeing all over himself, the change mat and over the rug on the floor. The nappy change woke Sean even more, so Jonathan and I both tried to settle Sean by putting him in the bed with us. In the end, Sean fell asleep on my belly after I'd also dropped off for a minute or two.

The little squeaks from the bassinet next woke me at around 8.30am, which I greeted with tears. I was feeling so exhausted, and just didn't want to face feeding the milk monster. I'm ashamed to say that at that point in time, I didn't want to deal with Sean at all. Jonathan took his time changing Sean out of yet another poopy nappy, and by the time they returned to the bedroom, I had composed myself enough to start the feeding.

I didn't feel much like sitting up for the feed, so Sean and I tried feeding while both lying down, which worked quite well. Jonathan came and laid down with us, and the 3 of us enjoyed some quiet cuddles while Sean had his breakfast.

While Sean was feeding, Jonathan and I mapped out our day. We needed to go out to the supermarket to buy groceries, and planned to head out as soon as the feed was finished and everyone was dressed. We were planning to use the pram while we were out, so that Sean could familiarise himself with the pram - we have a few scheduled outings where the pram would be the easiest mode of transporting Sean, so he needed to get use to it. We had certainly hoped that he would sleep in the pram while we were out.

For a while, Sean seemed happy enough in the pram. We walked around Macquarie Shopping Centre for a short time before he fell asleep. However, within 5 minutes of entering Woolworths to get our groceries, the little man woke up and proceeded to exercise his lungs. We had so much stuff to get, and Sean cried the whole time we were in Woolworths. We ended up taking turns carrying Sean and pushing the pram, while the other pushed the shopping trolley.

Sean cried the whole way home too, and as if right on cue, he fell asleep just after we got home and we had put away all the groceries and I had readied myself to feed him. While Sean was getting his lunch, Jonathan fixed our lunch (gourmet crackers with smoked dutch cheese, ham / salami, roma tomato and baby pickles), and we enjoyed some quiet afternoon time after Sean went down for his nap without a fight. All the crying at the shops must have worn him out.

We almost had to wake Sean for his next feed at 6pm. After that feed, Jonathan gave Sean a bath while I cooked dinner for us. Sean enjoyed his bath, but seemed to dislike the moisturiser Jonathan gave him afterwards. Sean screamed the house down! The reaction to the massage wore him out, and Sean went straight into the bassinet and off to sleep without any fuss.

For a change, Jonathan and I enjoyed an uninterrupted dinner and even managed to watch a couple of TV shows. It's now just after 10pm, and Sean has woken himself for his next feed, just as we were contemplating waking him. As he sounds like he's starving, I better go and feed him. I wonder what tonight will hold for us.

Being Momma G: Day 21

For the second night in a row, the milk monster slept through the night.

With the exception of waking up for a couple of feeds (at 2.30am and 5.45am), the little man slept from 10.30pm last night all the way through till 8.15am. This in turn allowed me to have that much needed night time sleep and I was feeling a whole lot better in the morning.

There were a lot of wins today - I had time to have breakfast, made myself a coffee in our whiz bang coffee machine, managed to eat lunch before Sean woke for his midday feed, and got plenty of water into my system. Feeling so rejuvenated, I also managed to do a load of laundry, put the laundry on the line, make the bed, go to the toilet, sort through the mail and the bills and receipts etc, write some cheques to pay various doctors, write a few emails and return a phone call! Although these may appear to be small wins, any win during the day when the baby is willing to settle is a huge win at the moment.

I decided today to try out controlled crying, which worked quite well in the morning.

Sean was quite well behaved all day, right up until the 4pm feed just as Jonathan was walking through the door. Taking a tip from Catherine's advice yesterday, I asked Jonathan to try and keep Sean awake for a longer period of time after this feed, in hope that it will wear him out and make him tired enough to sleep through the night for the 3 night in a row. Jonathan valiantly agreed to try to keep Sean awake for an extra 30 minutes.

What I failed to notice was how tired Jonathan was. When Jonathan is tired, he becomes quite impatient and gets frustrated very easily. When Sean failed to settle down straight away after the feed and the extra stimulation, Jonathan's impatience seeped through and in the end, I took over from him and settled the little man myself.

Sean struggled against sleep and fought with all his might, and finally had his nap around 7.15pm. I say "nap" because he was awake again at 8pm, just as I'd heated up my dinner and had just started eating. Thankfully, Jonathan was almost finished with his dinner before Sean woke, so Jonathan changed Sean's nappy before handing Sean to me to feed. Thus began the next chapter in the saga of the Never Ending Crying Baby.

Sean cried from the 8pm feed all the way through to the 11pm feed. And the little man did not feed well. I'm just about to send Jonathan to bed as he's dead on his feet, and will try to settle Sean on my own. Wish me luck.

Being Momma G: Day 20

The milk monster sleeps. Yes, yes he can.

After the 10pm feed, Sean went straight to sleep. No ifs, no buts, no mess, no fuss. Sean woke again at 2am, and again went straight back to sleep. Rinse and repeat for the 6.30am feed.

I'm not sure what we did right - perhaps he was so exhausted from crying for nearly 90 minutes yesterday afternoon that he needed to sleep to through the night. One can only hope that that is the case. If so, I will be doing my utmost best to make him stay awake all day so we can all get some sleep at night.

Understandably, Sean was a bit unsettled after the 9.30am feed. He had had so much sleep that it was only fair that he wanted to play and stay up for a bit afterwards. Unfortunately, we were due to go out to see the nurse at the West Ryde Early Childhood Health Centre, so I had hoped he would still be asleep when we went for our visit. Sean finally fell asleep around 11.20am, and only managed to get around an hour of sleep in total.

We were a bit late arriving at the West Ryde ECHC for our midday appointment. After visiting the Chatswood ECHC last week to attend the breast feeding drop in clinic, and seeing how flash and wonderful and new their facilities are, I was so disappointed by the cruddy building and the complete lack of free parking at the West Ryde ECHC. When we arrived, it took 2 tries to get into the building, and even at the front door, it took another few attempts to get in to see the nurse. Apparently, the instructions to "ring the door bell for the West Ryde ECHC" were incorrect, and the nurse was more than annoyed that I rang it 3 times before she finally got off her butt to answer the door.

Once inside, Catherine softened her attitude towards me, especially when it dawned on her that I had never been to the centre before and I was only following instructions. On top of this, I was wearing my best "completely exhausted new mother" look, which created more sympathy for me.

The purpose of our visit was to weigh Sean, and to measure him as well. Catherine and I had a short chat about how things were going at home, and I told her that the little man wasn't settling well at night. I told her all the different things we were trying and Catherine suggested that we keep Sean awake for longer periods of time during the day, in hope that will tire him out so he will sleep better at night. Definitely something worth thinking about.

Sean woke up wanting to be fed just as we were finishing our visit, so we hurried home so he could be fed. And without planning to try the "more awake time during the day", we did just that. Sean refused to sleep or settle down after the feed, unless he was being held. And after a while, even when I held him, he screamed and cried. By 3pm, I had had enough of the crying and no food all day and barely 3 sips of water, and I was frazzled and yelled at the baby in a misguided effort to get him to listen to me and go to sleep. He finally did, around 3.45pm, allowing me to finally eat something. Not that I tasted what I ate - I was too frazzled and tired to taste the food, which I only ate to fill the void in my stomach. No food for me = no food for the baby, and really, that was the only reason I ate.

My knight in shining armour walked through the door at 4pm. I'd texted Jonathan around 3pm to see when he was coming home as I was fed up with the crying and needed urgent help. Jonathan had just missed the early bus, so he caught the next available bus and hot footed the 1km from Top Ryde to home, through the blazing heat which he would have hated. I burst into tears after he sat down and gave me cuddles. I was just so tired and frazzled. Poor Jonathan - he was feeling as run down as me but he had to put me back together first.

When Sean woke again for his next feed around 6pm, he was still a little bit grizzly. Jonathan and I got dinner separately, so that one of us could settle Sean while the other ate. Sean fell asleep again just after 8pm, and managed to stay down until just before 10pm. Sean was pretty groggy with sleep throughout the feed, and was completely asleep by the end of the feed. Jonathan and I quickly put him to bed and set about getting ready for bed ourselves. We have no idea if Sean will sleep through tonight, but here's hoping.

Being Momma G: Day 19

5 hours. 5 long hours of screaming, crying, kicking, and more screaming. Who would have thought a baby could have that kind of endurance?

5 hours. That's how long the little man was awake last night before finally falling asleep at 2am. When he woke at around 8.30pm, we thought he might enjoy a bath, a feed, and fall asleep after a little while. Boy, were we wrong!!!

After the bath, Sean did feed, and he fed well. He looked tired at the end of the feed, and we went to wrap him and ready him for bed. At this point, Sean decided he was going to fight sleep and fight with all his might.

Between 9pm and 2am, the little man slept for about 30 minutes all together. I tried valiantly to settle Sean in the living room, trying very hard to let Jonathan sleep as he had to be up at 5am to go to work, but to no avail. Sean screamed from the 9pm feed to the midnight feed, with no signs of wanting to sleep. After trying to settle him for hours, I was so frazzled by 1.30am that I started screaming at him. At this point, Jonathan came out of the bedroom and took over. I was dead on my feet, my eyes were rolling into the back of my head, and I had no patience at all, so I gladly let Jonathan take over and fell dead into bed. Jonathan told me later that it took him about 30 minutes to finally get Sean to sleep.

Once he fell asleep, Sean stayed asleep until nearly 8am. Poor little mite must have been so exhausted from fighting off sleep when he was suppose to sleep. I certainly didn't complain, but poor Jonathan slept through the alarm and ended up getting to work half an hour late.

Sean was pretty well behaved all day, sleeping after each feed and settling well. By the time Jonathan came home from work, Sean had been a perfect angel for me all day.

Jonathan and I had arranged to see Dr Siva again today to get booster shots to prevent whooping cough, so at 5pm, we set off for the surgery. Sean got a few cuddles from Aunty Penny when we arrived at the surgery, and he was totally awake by the time Dr Siva was ready to see us. Unfortunately, he was also ready for a feed, and screamed his little head off for the rest of our appointment. We dropped by Eastwood to pick up some roast duck and BBQ pork for dinner, and Sean cried the whole way there and the whole way home.

Once home, we made sure Sean was the first one to be fed, and he and Jonathan enjoyed a little bit of Daddy-Son time afterwards. Sean was a bit unsettled after this feed, but after a while, he did sleep. Jonathan and I grabbed dinner while Sean slept, and managed to watch some TV shows before he woke for his next feed at 10pm.

We wonder what tonight will hold for us. Fingers crossed the little man will sleep tonight. Jonathan and I both desperately need some rest, and hope Sean can feel that too.

Being Momma G: Day 18

3 years ago today, some random guy walked up to me at the Hoey Crowie (aka the Crows Nest Hotel) and with a big goofy smile on his face, struck up a conversation with me. I'm so glad he did. I love you, my darling Jonathan, and your goofy smile, more and more each day. ♥♥♥

There are so many reasons why I love my darling man. Sean refused to settle down after the 10.40pm feed, and over an hour later, he was still crying and refusing to sleep. I fed him again at 12.30am, but that didn't do anything. I was at wits' end by 1am, exhausted, frustrated, and ready to put the baby in the car capsule, put the capsule out in the backyard and just leave him to cry himself to sleep. Jonathan was already in bed, as he needed to get up at 5.30am to get to work, and I desperately wanted him to sleep. Alas, after nearly 3 hours of trying to settle a stubborn baby who insisted on crying and crying and crying, I needed Jonathan's help.

Jonathan didn't hesitate to jump out of bed to try and settle Sean. I laid down in the bed to try and relax a bit, so that I could take over again after a while. My body on the other hand had other ideas, and I fell asleep almost immediately. Jonathan later told me that it took him around 10 minutes to settle Sean - he said I'd done most of the hard work and Sean was tired; just not tired enough when I was still trying to put him to bed.

I felt Jonathan get out of bed at 5.30am, and heard him empty the dishwasher and take the garbage out. I only knew he was leaving when he came to give me a kiss and wished me a good day with Sean.

Sean stayed asleep until 7am, which was awesome. This meant I got a little bit more of a sleep in before we got up for a feed. Sean was a bit unsettled afterwards, and I was still quite tired, so we returned to the bed where I gave him a few cuddles. Before I knew it, we had both fallen asleep. I felt quite sheepish when I woke up 5 minutes later, and put Sean straight back in his bassinet. Both of us got a bit more shut eye before Sean was hungry again.

It was a lot easier to settle Sean today. After each feed, Sean was able to go back to sleep almost straight away. I was conscious of the "I'm tired" signals, and made sure that the second I spotted those, I'd wrap Sean and put him down for a nap. I was able to get through lunch without any dramas today.

I was going to have to break confinement again today with a visit to the lovely Dr Marcel Lee to get my bad tooth fixed. My tooth had been giving me grief for about a week, and it was time to go and see Dr Marcel for more treatment. I'd planned to wake Sean at 2pm to feed him before setting off to the city to collect Jonathan from his office, and drive back together to Chatswood for my 4pm appointment. Sean was fine to start with, but as we got to Lane Cove, he started crying, and cried all the way into the city, and then all the way to Chatswood. What a big set of lungs he has!

Dr Marcel worked his magic on my tooth while Jonathan looked after Sean, who fell asleep about 10 minutes after we got to Chatswood. Dr Marcel was really quite clucky during my visit, asking all sorts of questions about Sean, and even saying that he wanted to have a photo with Sean. When Jonathan came up to the surgery, everyone cooed over our little man, who was fast asleep in the Mini Monkey sling.

45 minutes and a few hundred dollars later, we left Dr Marcel with a scheduled appointment to return in 3 weeks time for a further check up. As we were in Chatswood, and I needed to get some antibiotics for my teeth and gum infection, we decided to drop in to St Leonards to check for mail at our apartment and to get the medication from the pharmacy in the plaza.

As we pulled up out the front of the building, we saw Emma coming home from work. Emma got to meet Sean, albeit through the boot of the car. Caitlin saw us out the front, and came out to have a look at the sleeping baby too. I quickly ducked into the pharmacy to get the drugs, and also paid a flying visit to Coles Express to pick up some vegetables for dinner. On my way out, I ran into Kerrie who had heard I was in St Leonards with Jonathan and Sean and had been walking around the plaza looking for me! It was so lovely to see the ladies - I'd missed them all so much since we moved to Denistone.

The visit was all too brief, and we had to get home as quickly as we could to fit in with Sean's next feed. Sean was again quite good at settling so Jonathan and I were able to enjoy dinner without any interruptions.

Sean woke again around 8.30pm, and Jonathan gave him a bath before we fed him again. As I type this, it is nearly 11pm, and the little man is still awake and refusing to sleep. I have no idea how the rest of the night is going to go, but here's hoping that he'll fall asleep soon. Jonathan is dead on his feet and I'm not much better!

Being Momma G: Day 17

Today came around sooner than I'd hoped. Today, I was going solo. Momma G is in da house. By herself. For Jonathan was going back to work.

The little man must have known Daddy was going back to work, so he did his utmost best to make sure Daddy got little to no sleep. Not only was Jonathan going back to work, he was also on day support. Which meant he had to be at work by 7am. Which meant he had to catch the 6am train from West Ryde Station. Which meant he had to be up by 5am to shower and get dressed and walk down to West Ryde Station.

After being unsettled all yesterday afternoon, the little man continued to be unsettled at night. By 11.45pm, Jonathan and I decided to give him a lot more milk than he should have been having. There was still a bit of expressed breast milk in the fridge from a few days ago, so we warmed up 90mL and gave it to Sean. The greedy little milk monster gulped it all down in 10 minutes.

It was around 1am by the time Sean finally settled down and went to sleep. Poor Jonathan had to be up 4 hours later, and at 5am, I heard Jonathan's alarm go off and felt him get up to get ready for work. Sean was still asleep, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Sean woke an hour later, and thankfully, he fed in his sleep, so both of us were able to get a bit more rest.

Just before 9am, the phone rang, and groggily, I tried to answer the call. The call was from Margot from Camellia Family Care Cottage, who wanted to pay Sean and me a visit to see how we were doing. Family Care Cottages provide support, counselling and education for parents who are experiencing difficulties with infant feeding, crying babies, child behaviour, feelings of depression and relationship problems that are impacting on the child, with qualified staff who are child and family health nurses, social worker and lactation consultants. Saw Bee from the West Ryde ECHC had referred us to Margot, after we raised some concerns with Saw Bee about Sean being unsettled (and after she witnessed it for herself), and Margot had called to arrange a time for her visit.

Unfortunately, when Margot called, I was half asleep and not making any sense, so Margot said she'd wait until 10.30am before paying us a visit. As if right on cue, Sean woke up around 10.15am for a feed, just as Margot walked up to the front door.

Like a good performing monkey, Sean fed well and seemed happy enough after the feed. But when it came time to settle, Sean showed his true colours. Margot unleashed her arsenal of settling methods, some of which worked, and most of which failed to completely settle Sean. Almost as soon as Margot thought her work was done, Sean would wake up and show her otherwise. After nearly 90 minutes with us, Margot had to go, and Sean was still awake.

Margot's visit wasn't in vain. She did show us a couple of new tricks that we may try at a later time. The more techniques we have up our sleeves, the better we are equipped to deal with the long periods of unsettled behaviour, especially the late night / early morning stints.

Once Margot left, I picked up Sean and cuddled him back to sleep. It was the only thing that would work that day, and with Georgianna's advice fresh in my mind ("do whatever it takes to settle them as quickly as possible"), I stuck to the cuddling technique.

Jonathan came home around 4pm looking like a train had hit him. And it was only his first day back at work. Sean woke just before 7pm, just as we were about to have dinner. Even though he was so tired, Jonathan still cooked dinner (sausages and mash) and while I was feeding Sean, Jonathan cut everything up into bite sized pieces to ensure I could multitask with my limited number of limbs.

It's getting close to Sean's next feed now. We'll update you on how we go tonight shortly.

Being Momma G: Day 16

I got a bit teary today. Well, actually, I got a lot teary today.

I had a bit of a meltdown as the enormity of the task ahead dawned on me. For most of today, I kept bursting into tears every time I opened my mouth. Jonathan kept giving me hugs and reassuring me that I would be fine.

With Mina not visiting us today due to illness, we only had one child to look after, which was a bit easier for me, but at the same time, I still felt out of my depth and really really really didn't want tomorrow to dawn.

For most of today, Sean was quite agreeable. After the 7pm feed last night, Sean slept and stayed asleep until 12.30am. Happy with the feed, he went back to sleep until 4.30am when he was next hungry. Again, he went back to sleep, so Jonathan and I were able to sleep some more.

Sean woke up just before 10am, and became quite unsettled after the feed. This behaviour was to continue for the next few hours. Sean stayed awake between the 10am feed and the 1.30pm feed, and after being awake for so long, he finally went to sleep at around 4pm, and stayed down until just before 6.30pm.

From here on in, Sean refused to sleep. He must have known Daddy was going back to work tomorrow, and wanted to spend as much time with Daddy as possible. We tried cluster feeding Sean, feeding him just before 9pm and at 9.45pm. Nothing worked. The little guy kept wanting to stay up and flatly refused to be settled, no matter what we did.

We are both exhausted and out of ideas. There's a bottle of expressed breast milk in the fridge, and we are seriously thinking of giving it to Sean, in hope that he will drink the milk and fall asleep soon afterwards. Here's hoping this idea works - Jonathan needs to sleep, now!

Being Momma G: Day 15

Today is my mother's birthday, so Happy Birthday to a most loved mother and Por Por from all of us!

Sean woke just before midnight for a feed, and it took about 90 minutes to settle him afterwards. Thankfully, once he fell asleep, he stayed asleep until just after 4am, when he fed while he slept and didn't fuss when I put him back in the bassinet at the end of the feed.

Sean woke again just after 8am, so we fed again in bed before we both slept again. Jonathan was more than happy to look after Sean if he was to wake and fuss, but there was no need. Both of us slept until 11am when Sean wanted more milk.

We received a phone call from Mina's mother telling us that Mina was feeling sick, and that she thought it would be best of Mina did not come to visit us tomorrow so as to not bring her germs and infect Sean. Mina was running a fever and she was off her food, which is most unlike Mina, so Mina's mother decided Mina should stay home for the best interest of everyone's health. See, sometimes, Mina's mother can surprise us with her thoughtfulness - well, at least that she's thought through a situation. We thanked Mina's mother and asked her to tell Mina we'd be looking forward to her next visit and to get well soon.

Sean woke at 3pm for a feed, and went straight back to sleep again. This did not bode well for us, as the more Sean seemed to sleep during the day, the more unsettled he became at night. But, alas, if the baby needs sleep, who are we to deny him of that?

As it was Mum's birthday, we had agreed to go to my parents' place for dinner. Sean was asleep during the car trip, but almost as soon as dinner was on the table, Sean woke and wanted his dinner. So I ended up eating dinner on my own in my parents' study while I fed Sean. Joy.

As Grace and Vinay and their kids were still overseas, we had plans to have dinner with everyone next weekend - out at a restaurant, which will be the first time Sean will be dining out with the family. I don't want to think how that will go - I just hope that Sean will be a good boy and let me eat before wanting his food.

We left pretty much straight away after dinner. Jonathan managed to settle Sean after his feed, so I could eat more dinner, but as we didn't want to chance how well Sean would stay asleep, we hurried off.

With Mina not due to visit tomorrow, Jonathan and I are both looking forward to a lie in - no sleeping, but at least we can lie in bed and try to relax our aching backs. Please be good tonight, little man.

Being Momma G: Day 14

As with every other night, it took a little while to settle Sean after the late feed. Last night / this morning was no exception.

After finally going to sleep, Sean woke at 4.10am and then again at 8.10am for his feeds. Bless him for sleeping after both feeds. Jonathan and I both crashed out for a bit after the 8.10am feed - him on one couch, me on the other. By 11.30am when Sean woke for his next feed, we were both feeling a little bit more refreshed after our naps.

While I was feeding Sean, Jonathan worked on his weekly Friday report for work. After Sean was done with his lunch, it was time for us to eat. Before we knew it, it was time to head out to the breast feeding drop in clinic in Chatswood. We'd decided yesterday that we would pay a visit to the clinic, as I wanted to be reassured that I was breast feeding Sean correctly.

We got to the breast feeding clinic a bit later than we had hoped, but the nurse still saw us and watched me feed Sean. The nurse was lovely lovely lovely - she assured me I was doing the right thing and that Sean and I were both doing well.

When we pulled up at the brand spanking new Chatswood Early Childhood and Health Centre, we were amazed by the fantastic facilities. There was plenty of onsite parking and everything was new and spick and span. I only hope the West Ryde Early Childhood and Health Centre is just as nice.

Sean and I finished feeding before we left the centre. I was certainly feeling so much more confident and it didn't seem so daunting to be at home by myself when Jonathan goes back to work next week.

As we were in Chatswood and needed to pick up some groceries, we headed the Coles in Chatswood Chase. Oh, how we've missed Coles at Chatswood Chase - the best supermarket we have ever had the pleasure of shopping in. No other supermarket compares to this Coles - we especially love the fact that there is always a fishmonger on duty who can fillet a whole snapper for us, and the seafood always seems so much fresher than anywhere else, and that includes De Costi Seafood just outside Coles at Chatswood Chase. We picked up some snapper and vegetables and a bunch of other groceries and headed home.

Sean fed again at 6.15pm, and as soon as he was finished, I handed him to Jonathan to change the nappy and settle while I cooked dinner. We were able to enjoy our snapper in peace as Sean slept through.

After the excitement of the outing today, we're all pretty pooped. I wonder what time the little man will wake for his next feed, and how well he's going to settle tonight.

Being Momma G: Day 13

I had a little meltdown today.

Even though Sean and I were doing quite well all day with breast feeding and settling, I was still very nervous about next week, when Jonathan goes back to work and I'm looking after Sean on my own. Jonathan has been so supportive and wonderful, and he has been great company for me over these last couple of weeks, so I felt I was within reason to feel a bit teary and emotional just thinking about how I would cope by myself.

Jonathan reassured me that I was doing a good job and that I would be able to handle everything. Still, I felt uneasy and cried, and it took Jonathan a little while to calm me down.

Adding to my uncertainty was the fact that I was feeling an added amount of pain near / behind the C section incision. I keep forgetting that I have had major surgery, and when I'm asleep and hear Sean cry, my automatic reaction is to jump up to see what he wanted. While there hasn't been any damage on the outside, the inside felt different. I raised this issue with Jonathan, who insisted that we visit a doctor to get everything checked out, if nothing else than to put our minds at ease.

We broke confinement again to pay a visit to the doctor, and I was seen to by the lovely Dr Sharan Siva, who examined me thoroughly and asked me lots of questions. Dr Siva didn't think I had done any damage to myself, but to be on the safe side, she sent me to have an ultra sound in the afternoon.

The ultra sound was scheduled for 3pm, and with the little man asleep, I decided to try and drive myself to the appointment and leave Jonathan at home with the baby. Although I was still very sore, I got to the appointment without too many problems. The radiologist was very thorough and took his time scanning my insides. At the end of the appointment, he said that all seemed fine and I have nothing to worry about.

I arrived home to be greeted by both Jonathan and Sean, who had woken up minutes before I got home. We sat down to a feed, and the little man went to sleep for the next 4 hours.

Sean woke at 8:15pm, so I went about trying to feed him. Unfortunately, he didn't seem so interested in either breasts, so we had to give him a top up with the expressed milk. While Jonathan fed him from the bottle, I got on the pump and expressed some more for storage.

We've now just fed the little man, who gulped down 80mL of expressed breast milk like he was in a sculling competition. Seeing him drink the milk so quickly makes my heart heavy - it takes an hour to extract the milk, and to see it disappear down Sean's throat in a fraction of the time it took to get the milk into the bottle is enough to make me cry. On the bright side, at least he's getting breast milk.

We are going to break confinement again tomorrow with a planned visit to the drop in breast feeding clinic at Chatswood. I really need to know if I'm breast feeding correctly before Jonathan goes back to work, and tomorrow is my last chance to go out to a clinic with Jonathan's help.

Being Momma G: Day 12

Sean had one of the most unsettled nights on record, but thankfully, I was able to handle most of it by myself, albeit through tears.

The little man woke at 3.30am for a feed, and I bravely attempted to breast feed on both sides. The left side was stinging too much for me to continue, and with the little man screaming his little head off, I had no choice but to wake Jonathan to help. Jonathan gave Sean a bottle while I expressed what I could out of my very hard and sore left breast, with a small expression from the right, which came to a whopping 100mL. To the untrained eye, that may not be much, but when you take into consideration that a full milk expression from both breasts have in the past yielded 70mL, 100mL is a lot!

Sean did not settle well after that feed, so we gave him some more milk. Mr Greedy Guts drank the lot before he was finally willing to sleep. I recall the skies were getting light by the time Sean finally went down.

We didn't get up to much today - just hung around at home and waited on Sean hand and foot. He really is our little prince, who is so utterly gorgeous and adorable when he's asleep, or awake and happy.

Just after every feed, when Sean is in a state of total bliss with a full tummy and a clean nappy, that's the happiest time of all. Sean is really focusing on both Jonathan and I now, and holding our gazes as we look deep into each other's eyes. During this happy time, we talk to him, sing to him, make faces at him, give him kisses, let him know in every way possible how much we love him. This time is fleeting, and it is so precious to both of us.

Sean can go from total bliss to "talk to the hand" in a split second, as all babies can do when they go from happy and awake to the start of their sleep time. In a blink of the eye, Sean will go from a lovely floppy baby who's happily holding your gaze, to a screaming baby with jerky arms and legs, eyes tightly shut and face all screwed up. That's when he's not so adorable. And even less when he's been kicking and screaming for 30 minutes.

We spent most of today persevering with breast feeding. We have been getting it right mostly, but on that odd occasion, Sean has still hurt me. We just need him to be patient, and not so hungry that he'll chomp down on anything. We'll keep on keeping on, and hope that we get it right before Jonathan goes back to work next week.

Being Momma G: Day 11

I don't know what I'd do without my darling Jonathan.

Jonathan was the one who got up at 3am to feed our little milk monster. I was so beyond tired that I don't think I stirred much when Sean woke up wanting a feed. I have no idea how the feed went - Jonathan told me later that Sean fed well and went straight back to sleep. As I all but slept through the 3am feed, it was only fair that I got up and fed Sean at 6am.

We tried breast feeding, which worked for a little while, but as Sean wasn't use to having to work for his breakfast, he needed extra time to get what he needed. After he was fed, both Jonathan and I crashed out for a nap on the couches while Sean was asleep. People say "sleep when the baby sleeps", and we did exactly that.

We had arranged the home visit with a child health nurse from West Ryde Early Childhood Health Centre at 12.30pm. An hour before the nurse was due to arrive, Sean woke for his lunch time feed, and again, it was a bit of a struggle to feed him as he was getting use to breast feeding again.

When the nurse Saw Bee arrived, we were almost finished with feeding, so she set about reviewing Sean when we were finished. Saw Bee measured and weighed Sean and checked him all over. Unfortunately, this all proved to be too much excitement for the little man, and when Saw Bee was ready to leave at 2.30pm, Sean was completely over stimulated and beyond overtired. It took Jonathan and me hours to settle him afterwards.

The rest of the day was spent trying to settle the little man, whose sleep pattern was erratic at best. We fed him, cuddled him, rocked him, fed him some more. Because everyone was tired, Sean and I weren't doing so well with breast feeding on the left side, so it was back to expressing and feeding him expressed milk for the time being. We'll try again with the breast feeding in the morning.

Being Momma G: Day 10

Firstly, yay, Sean is 10 days old!

I can hardly believe it's been 10 days myself. My body tells me it's been longer.

The little milk monster woke just after midnight screaming for a feed. Both Jonathan and I got up - Jonathan to feed and me to express. At the end of the feed, we had hoped Sean would go back to sleep. Alas, that was not to be the case. Sean continued to be unsettled for the longest time and every time Jonathan put Sean down in the bassinet, Sean would start crying. We agreed to feed him a small top up of formula, which finally did the trick.

The next feed at 4.20am was easier. I left Jonathan to sleep as he'd already done so much, and thankfully, Sean fed well and went straight back to sleep, but not before leaving me a stinky message in his nappy. As asleep as I was, I still managed to change the poopy nappy - win for me.

Sean was now waking up every 3 or so hours for a feed, which is coinciding well with my expressing. I was still ahead of him by a fair margin, which means I was not stressed out that I wasn't not producing enough to keep him happy. We're still not breast feeding yet - I am a bit scared about doing it wrong, and I really don't want my nipples all shredded again.

By 8am, I was in a zombie state of mind. Sean woke, Jonathan fed, and I expressed. Again, I produced record levels as I didn't express after the 4.20am feed. It was pleasing to see that I'd almost filled a bottle with only one expression.

We called the West Ryde Early Childhood Centre to confirm the home visit with the child health nurse for tomorrow, and decided that we should pay a visit to a drop in breast feeding clinic later today to speak to someone about returning to breast feeding. I'm so over being chained to the Swing.

Jonathan, my darling man, sent me back to bed for a nap after the 8am feed and took it upon himself to settle Sean and tidy up the kitchen. I wasn't about to say no to the offer to return to bed. And I didn't wake up again until the next feed and express at 11.30am. Sean took quite a while to settle again, but when he did, Jonathan and I quickly showered and had something to eat, before we headed off to Lane Cove to see someone about breast feeding.

Unfortunately, when we turned up at the drop in clinic, we were told that we had read the information sheet incorrectly and that the breast feeding clinic was held in the morning, not in the afternoon. The nurse who saw us, Barbara told us to either wait for over an hour until she had finished with her appointments, or to go to another clinic tomorrow. I started crying - I was so desperate to see someone, plus the fatigue and the hormones were kicking in at full speed, so Barbara took pity on us and asked us to come back in 20 minutes, as another nurse called Kate was on her way back to the clinic after a home visit. We took ourselves to a coffee shop to wait.

Kate was lovely. Again, I cried while trying to tell her what had happened so far - that we've tried breast feeding, that we've been unsuccessful, that my nipples had just healed, the pumping, the desperation I was feeling. Jonathan had to step in and finish off some of my sentences because I was so upset. Kate assured us that we were doing the right thing, and was more than happy to help us by watching what we were doing. So, under Kate's watchful eyes, we gave breast feeding another go.

Sean latched on. Correctly. It took 3 goes, but he latched on correctly. And it didn't hurt. Hurrah!

Sean fed well on one side for 30 minutes, and then, under Kate's guidance, we tried to feed on the other side side. Again, it took a couple of attempts, but Sean and I got it right again. My tears continued, but this time, they were more tears of hope and relief. We stayed at the clinic and finished feeding Sean, with much thanks to Kate.

The little milk monster was so well behaved after the feed. Since I'd already broken confinement by going to the drop in clinic, we went across the road to do some grocery shopping at Woolworths. Sean slept the whole shopping trip, all the way home, and for about an hour after we got home.

We tried the breast feeding again at 7.45pm, and for a time, it looked like Sean and I were doing it right. But alas, Sean would not settle down after the feed, and we gave him a top up from the earlier expressed stock, as well as putting him back on the breast again. Eventually, he seemed full, and finally went down for some rest. However, within half an hour, Sean woke up again with the usual post feed hiccups.

Tonight is going to be interesting. It's humid and warm, which means we're going to have a hard enough time going to sleep, let alone with an unsettled baby. We can't wait to see the child health nurse tomorrow to get some advice on how to settle Sean at night during those vital hours when Jonathan and I should be getting some seriously needed shut eye.

Being Momma G: Day 9

Very unsettled Sean = sleepless night for Mummy. As Daddy had already done 2 night shifts, it was only fair that I took on the overnight feeding. Plus Jonathan was so tired, he was more zombie than human.

After a great feed at 9.30pm last night, Sean woke at 1am screaming for a feed. We fed him the amount he should be receiving, and hoped he'd go back to sleep, but he had other ideas. Such a little wriggle puss. By 2.15am, it was clear Sean was still hungry, so we fed him another bottle, which basically meant that he had 2 meals in the space of just over an hour. That's 2 hours of hard work down the hatch.

Jonathan was still slightly awake at 2.15am, so he fed Sean and changed his nappy while I sat down for yet another pump. After Sean finally settled down, I sent Jonathan off to bed - he could barely keep his eyes opened, yet he wanted to stay up with me to keep me company. Bless my darling man. After an hour, I could manage 2/3 of the usual quota. I was just too tired and too stressed to do much more, plus I was falling asleep on the couch, so I gave up and went to bed.

Sean woke again at 5.30am. This time, Jonathan didn't even stir. It took me a few seconds to register that there was a baby in the room, but then I got up and got Sean's bottle ready. Thankfully, he was satisfied after the feed and went straight back to sleep.

I have no idea what time Jonathan woke up this morning, but he was gone when I stirred at around 8am - he'd left to go and collect Mina for her weekly visit. Sean was still fast asleep, so I rolled over and got some more shut eye. I have no idea what time Jonathan and Mina came home either - they crept in quietly so as to not wake either me or Sean, and finally, just before 9.30am, Sean and I emerged from the bedroom for his breakfast.

After a fairly good stretch of sleep (about 3 hours worth), I was able to express a record amount of milk. This made me feel a bit better about being chained to the Swing.

Mina had been looking forward to seeing Sean all week, but at nearly 6, she is learning (just like me) that newborn babies are really very boring little things that sleep, eat, poop, cry and sleep all day long. Mina had hoped that now we were home, she would be able to play with Sean a lot more than when he was only 2 days old when she last saw him. Mina's disappointment at being able to cuddle Sean for about 15 minutes in total was palpable, but we have assured her that as Sean gets bigger, he will be much more fun.

Around lunch time, I sent Jonathan out with a big shopping list, and asked him to have lunch with Mina at the shopping centre while they were out. This gave me a couple of hours to finish yet another milking, get some dishes done, put the laundry on the drying rack, heat up some lunch for myself, and prepare for the next Swing session.

Jonathan and Mina were quite quick with their chores and returned sooner than I expected. Poor Mina - she had hoped Sean would be awake and ready for play time when she returned, but Sean was fast asleep. As there really wasn't a lot to do at home and we needed to keep the house on the quiet side to ensure Sean slept, Mina was becoming very bored and a little frustrated that babies are not as much fun as she had envisioned.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sean woke for his afternoon feed. Mina helped with the feeding and took great delight in seeing Sean gulp down the milk from his bottle. There was even enough time for a few cuddles before Jonathan drove Mina home. Here's hoping she will have a better understanding of how newborn babies work by next week and is prepared to be stuck in the house with not a lot to do.

Leftovers were on the menu for dinner. Not that it mattered much to me - I was too tired to want anything fancy, but knew I had to eat for the sake of putting food into my stomach and keeping my energy levels up. We were both dead on our feet and thought it would be best to head to bed after the 9.30pm feed and express, which we've just finished. So, good night, and here's hoping Sean will be a bit more settled tonight.

Being Momma G: Day 8

1:00am: me on one end of the couch expressing milk, Jonathan on the other end feeding Sean both expressed milk and formula. I simply didn't pump enough mid afternoon yesterday for a full feed right now, thus requiring a top up with formula. I was starting to feel useless.

4:30am: Jonathan fed Sean a portion of formula. I slept through this.

8:00am: Jonathan fed Sean again while I expressed. Record amount of milk after some much needed sleep. Woot!

11:15am: Feed and express time. I was producing a good amount of milk. Yay me.

2:20pm: Sean wasn't wake, so I expressed and tried to be one up on him. Still producing a great amount.

3:30pm: Emily and Pamela dropped by for a visit. Neither had seen the new house, and Pamela had yet to meet Sean, so it was lovely to have them both over for a short period of time. Both the girls oohed and ahhed over the new house, and Pamela got all clucky over Sean. The girls and Penny, Lissy, Michelle and Maddie chipped in to give me the most thoughtful gift - a pamper session at a salon Paddington that has a crèche. No guarantees, but I will try my very best to get over to Paddington before the end of June this year!

Sean woke just as Emily and Pamela were getting ready to leave. The girls both had a cuddle with Sean before he got grizzly and wanted a feed, and after the girls left, Jonathan gave Sean his bottle.

The rest of the afternoon and evening went by uneventfully. I continued to express milk every 3 hours, and Jonathan continued to feed Sean when he woke.

We are both dead tired, and I'm just getting ready to express again. We have no idea what the little man is going to be like overnight, but we are hopeful he will be more settled than last night.

Being Momma G: Day 7

See Sean eat.
See Sean sleep.
See Sean kick.
See Sean wriggle.
See Sean cry.
See Sean look straight into your eyes and turn you into a great big puddle of mush.
Rinse and repeat, all day long.

Add to the above:
See Mummy being "milked" every 3 hours.
See Mummy keep meticulous records of milk production.

Day 2 at home. We're settling in. Sort of.

Penny alerted us to the story that was run by the North Shore Times, for which we had our photos taken a couple of days ago. The photos turned out really well, but alas, the idiot who wrote the story screwed up Jonathan's name. Somehow, in all the printed versions of the paper, Sean was born to Gloria and Anthony!!! This is despite the fact that we spelled Jonathan's name to the reporter, twice to make sure she had the correct spelling. Twat.

A scathing email was dispatched to the editor, and I received an email from the reporter, stating more or less that she was "busy and mistakes happen - whoopsies, we got your husband's name wrong - what do you want me to do about it". The editor eventually got back to me, offering to reprint a few copies of the paper for us to keep as well as offering to give us the high resolution photos from the day for our personal use, to make up for the fact that they got Jonathan's name so wrong. As there really wasn't anything anyone could do about it, I accepted her offer, as well as demanded that the online version be altered so that Jonathan's name appeared as Sean's father.

The online article (post correction) appears below.

* * *

BUNDLES OF JOY MAKE HAPPIEST NEW YEAR OF THEM ALL

6 JAN 11 @ 01:14PM | North Shore Times

Six sets of parents welcomed the new decade in the best possible way - with a bouncing bundle of joy.

Two girls and four boys made their entry into the world on New Year's Day 2011 at North Shore Private Hospital. The first baby born in the new year at the St Leonards hospital was Dilan, to his proud parents Denisha and Colin Anbu.

He made his appearance at 1.35am after a natural birth, weighing 3.42kg and measuring 52.5cm.

Dilan’s elder brother, Caden, 2, was born on Mother’s Day.

"There’s something about having our boys on special dates," Mrs Anbu, 31, of Epping, said.

"We joked about having him on New Year's Day and then it happened after I went into labour at 9.30pm on New Year's Eve."

Her husband Colin, 38, joked: "Now we have to have a girl so I’m already planning."

But Mrs Anbu said she wasn't so sure now that she had two sons to juggle. "It's a great start to the new year, but we'll just have to wait and see," she said.

The hospital's maternity manager, Nicki Bergin, said it was lovely to spend such a special time with new families.

Ms Bergin said the hospital welcomed about 2600 babies a year, averaging one to 18 every day.

"To have six New Year babies is about normal," she said.

"It's such a beautiful unit to work in."

The smallest baby born on the day was little Bridie at 2.84kg to parents Jodie and Mark Gordon, of Gladesville.

She wasn't due until January 16, but arrived early due to her breach position.

"She just wouldn't wait," Mrs Gordon, 29, said. "And she was born in the 11 hour on the 1/1/2011 at 11.33pm.

"She's our first baby so at least I'll always remember her birthday."

Mr Gordon, 31, who works for the navy is working onshore this year. "I’m trying not to go away as much so I can spend time with Bridie," he said.

Other babies born at North Shore Private were Adlan Sigit to parents Eridani Saleh and Bimo Sigit, Riley Quin to parents Amber and Anthony, Quinn Brown to parents Georgiana and Andy, and Sean Hill to parents Gloria and Jonathan.

Royal North Shore Hospital welcomed four New Year babies, the first baby born at 2.42am.

* * *

As we had been home for a couple of days, we really didn't have a lot of food in the house for dinner. My parents wanted to make sure were eating properly, so they invited us over to their house for dinner. Georgianna and Tim and their boys were also going to be there for dinner, so we readily agreed to head over after our 5.30pm pump and feed.

Sean was the perfect angel - he fell asleep after the feed and stayed asleep the whole way through dinner. Dad, who has never been great around newborn babies, was very impressed with Sean and made many comments about what a good settled baby Sean was. If only he knew what Sean gets up in the middle of the night!

Speaking of the milk monster, he's just gulped down a portion of expressed breast milk, followed by a portion of formula. I'm just about done with expressing, so I should get ready for bed. I'll need to be up again in 3 hours to express again!