Being Momma G: Day 36

Who here knows a 4 week old baby who can sleep 6 hours through the night? Anyone? Anyone?

Ours did. Yes, yes he did.

After cluster feeding our little milk monster, Sean fell asleep around 11.30pm and did not stir until 5.30am. Major kudos to our little guy, who gave me and Jonathan some much needed rest after he fussed and messed around yesterday evening. As we were to receive Mina today for her first sleepover since Sean was born, we both needed to be on top of our game.

I fed Sean while Jonathan continued sleeping, and by the time Sean had had his fill, it was time for Jonathan to get out of bed. Sean ended up coming into the big bed with me again, as he was a bit reluctant to settle back to sleep in his bassinet. We stayed that way until 8.30am, when Sean next woke for a feed.

Mina was full of beans when she arrived at our house, and did a few chores with Jonathan while Sean and I were still asleep. Mina had been looking forward to her visit, particularly the sleepover, but I wondered if her mother had fully prepared Mina for the sleepover visit now that there was a baby in the house, and that babies cry and fuss and such at all times of the day, which may make it hard for tired little girls to go to sleep at bedtime.

Today was going to be yet another busy day, so as soon as Sean was fed, we headed out to run all the errands. First stop was to see Dr Siva, so she could check on my C section scar, and also for Penny to witness and guarantee Sean and my passport application forms. Dr Siva was pleased to see my scar was healing well, and even more pleased to see that I was looking a lot more relaxed and well rested. We had a good chat, and she was happy with my progress. Sean was asleep for most of the visit, so we left quickly and continued our way to Macquarie Centre.

First port of call was Medicare to claim back some medical expenses, then while I waited at HCF for more refunds, Jonathan and Mina took Sean into JB Hi Fi to visit our friend Tristan. By the time I was done with HCF, the visit with Tristan was over as he had to return to work, so we then continued to Big W to buy a few things.

We needed to get a better baby carrier for Sean, who seems to loathe the Minimonkey baby sling that we bought before he was born. Every time we have put Sean in the Minimonkey, he has screamed has head off, and he will only tolerate being carried in the Minimonkey if he was really really tired. I have yet to try carrying Sean in the Minimonkey, as Jonathan likes to carry Sean when we are out (which often leaves me to carry the heavy nappy bag or push the heavier shopping trolley), and having seen how much of a struggle Sean puts up being placed into the Minimonkey, I insisted we have a look for an alternative. (As an aside, I have watched the instructional videos on how to put the baby in the sling, and I'm not entirely sure that Jonathan is putting Sean into the sling in the correct position.)

We went to Big W in search of the baby carrier and something that looked like it would suit our needs - the Infantino Breathe - lightweight, not too expensive, and the baby can be carried in 2 positions - facing us and facing the world. While in Big W, we also grabbed a few things for the garden - after watching Rita cut back our shrubs at the front of the house, I decided it was time to buy some garden implements so I could take care of our garden, rather than let our 80+ neighbour do it for us. We picked up some secateurs and a garden hose and a pair of gloves from the Patio by Jamie Durie range.

After paying for all our goodies, we went back to the car to put away our purchases before heading back to the food court for lunch. We still had to do the grocery shopping, so we thought we should fuel up before braving the supermarket, plus Sean was still asleep, so we ate as quickly as we could before heading to Woolworths.

Mina was a huge help to us while we were in Woolworths. She took the items listed on our shopping list off the shelves and put them in the trolley, and helped to spot items that were out of her reach. We were done with our shopping in record time, which was just as well as Sean woke about 5 minutes after we entered the supermarket and let it be known that he was hungry. We loaded everything into the car and raced home to feed the milk monster.

What we didn't realise until much later was that today was the hottest February day in 85 years. By the time we got home around 1.30pm, the city was baking in 41C searing heat. We couldn't get the house to cool down quickly enough, and the heat stayed with us well into the night. We were melting, and the little man was so wilted and limp that as soon as he was fed, he fell asleep and stayed asleep for hours.

As the little guy was asleep well past his next predicted feeding time slot, I expressed before making dinner for Jonathan and Mina. Sean woke just as I was finishing cooking, so Jonathan fed Sean the 75mL of expressed breast milk, and I followed it up with 90mL of formula, which Sean inhaled - poor little guy - he must have been so hungry and thirsty in this horrendous heat!

While I fed Sean, Jonathan and Mina tucked into the yummy chicken fajitas I cooked earlier. Sean stayed up for a little while after dinner, so Jonathan and Mina gave him a quick bath, before it was time for Mina to go to bed. Thankfully, Sean settled and slept before we started Mina's bedtime routine, so we only had to look after one child at a time.

Sean woke up at 8.30pm and wanted some more food, but he fell asleep after only one side. He woke again at 9.15pm and continued his meal. Lazy bugger.

Sean's asleep now, and after some initial difficulties, Mina is also asleep. It's so frigging hot - even with the air conditioning on and the fan blasting, the air is warm - it's still over 30C outside right now. After last night's effort, we are hoping that Sean will repeat the performance tonight, but so far, all signs point to last night being a one off, and tonight is going to be horrible. I have a bad feeling that Mina is going to have a bad night too. In the meantime, we're going to go to bed now and hope for the best.