Being Momma G: Day 39

I have the most wonderful husband on earth. And I am definitely the frontrunner for the Worst Wife and Mother of the Year award.

By the time we finished feeding Sean last night, it was just past midnight, and Jonathan and I thought we'd try and settle Sean in our bedroom. Sean refused to settle and kept crying, no matter what we did. I was so sick of the crying that I took Sean into my arms and all but shook his head off his shoulders, trying to stop that horrid noise coming from his mouth. Jonathan saw that how upset I was, and how upset Sean was, so he took Sean from me and went out to the lounge room, with strict instructions that I closed my eyes for a few minutes and rested while he tried to settle our son.

So I did. I closed my eyes and rested.

The next thing I knew, it was 4am, and neither Jonathan nor Sean were in the bedroom. I jumped out of bed and found Jonathan and Sean in the lounge room, where they had been all night. When Jonathan took Sean to the lounge room earlier in the night, Jonathan had shut the door connecting the bedrooms to the lounge room, to try and give me some peace. Sean had just woken up for a feed, and when I realised Jonathan had spent the night in the lounge room, I felt very guilty, but Jonathan kept reassuring me that he had been napping and sleeping when Sean was asleep. As I wasn't up to breast feeding Sean, Jonathan made a bottle and gave it to Sean while sending me back to bed.

I woke again at 5.30am, this time with both Jonathan and Sean in the bedroom. Sean came into bed with us for a feed, but he must have been so exhausted from his night time shenanigans that he only fed on one side before falling asleep and totally refusing more milk. Jonathan got out of bed an hour later, and Sean and I stayed in bed and slept some more. When Jonathan left for work, I thanked him profusely for allowing me the luxury of sleep. Jonathan is truly the most wonderful husband and father on earth. Sean woke for more food just after 8am, and after the feed, he remained settled enough for me to have a shower and wash my hair.

Sean and I were expecting visitors today, with Penny and Chuck coming to visit. Penny wanted more cuddles with Sean, and Chuck had yet to meet him, so they were popping by for morning tea. Even though I had some jam rolls in the pantry, as well as a bunch of other snacks to serve for morning tea, I wanted to bake. After the shower, I settled Sean quickly - and lucky for me the little man was agreeable, so I got on with my baking. It might have been a packet mix kind of baking, but it was still baking and it felt good to grease the muffin tin, mix the ingredients, pour the mix into the tin, and wait for the yummy goods to be ready.

Sean was brilliant and stayed asleep while I baked. He woke just as I had finished putting the muffin tin into the oven. He must have known we were having visitors and we were going to have yummy treats, for he was awake from 10.30am, just as the muffins were ready, and waited patiently for Aunty Penny and Uncle Chuck to arrive. Chuck arrived first, followed very closely by Penny, and after showing Chuck around the house, we sat down to tea and muffins and a good catch up. Chuck and Penny both had a few cuddles with Sean before he got fussy and wanted a feed, and afterwards, he was more than happy to be passed around for more cuddles.

Before we knew it, it was time for Penny to head off to her appointment, and for me and Sean to get ready for Mothers Group. It was lovely to see Chuck and Penny and catch up with them. Sean and I dropped Chuck at West Ryde Station and continued on to Mothers Group only a block away.

Sean had fallen asleep while we were still at home, and stayed asleep for the first 15 minutes of Mothers Group. While he was asleep, I weighed him and found that he had gained 400g in a week! Our chubba bubba had grown to 4.7kg! After a week of breast feeding and regular formula top ups, our little man was becoming much bigger. I decided there and then that Sean would not be getting any more formula top ups - he was obviously getting enough from me, and there was no need to give him the synthetic stuff.

At 2.30pm, Sean wanted another feed, as did a few of other babies in the group. This week, we talked about feeding, and Catherine gave us useful information about breast feeding, formula feeding, cluster feeding, and all feeding related topics in between. Afterwards, the same group of ladies stayed and chatted - Janet and Suzie and I chatted about our babies and their weight, and Candy and Rachel and I chatted about Chinese New Year celebrations.

4pm came around very quickly, and with Sean refusing to sleep and now completely overtired, we made our way to St Leonards to our next appointment of the day - the Executive Committee Meeting at The Forum. Even though we don't live at the apartment any more, I was still on the Committee as I still owned the apartment, and tonight was the first meeting for 2011.

I'd arranged with Kerrie and Emma to stop in at their place prior to the meeting, so they could have cuddles with Sean and I could feed him before the meeting started at 6pm. Sean wasn't a lovely baby wanting cuddle by the time we arrived at Kerrie and Emma's, but they still had a few cuddles before Sean's cries became too much to handle and I sat down to feed him.

Jonathan arrived at the apartment just as I was about to finish feeding Sean, so he stayed to look after Sean while Kerrie and I went downstairs to the meeting. We felt Sean might have been too much for Emma to take care of by herself - he does have a good and healthy set of lungs on him, and anyone not familiar with the screaming would definitely find it too much to handle. Heck, I find it too much to handle at times, and I hear it all day every day!

I had so much wanted to have a proper catch up with both Kerrie and Emma, but alas, after the meeting, Jonathan and I hurried home so we could have dinner and feed Sean again. Jonathan and I took turns in eating - he ate while I fed, and then when Sean was full, Jonathan gave him a bath while I ate. As with every outing, Sean was sufficiently worn out enough to sleep soon after the bath.

The little guy has been down for a while, and we feel it's safe to go to bed. Hopefully, he'll sleep for a bit before his next feed - it would be nice if both Jonathan and I can get a little bit of sleep tonight.