Being Momma G: Day 84

After two very big days, the little man slept soundly last night. The adventures wore him out so much that he slept from just after 10.30pm to 5am!

Sean was very very hungry by the time he woke for a feed, and he fed very well. He must have been pretty tired, for he went back to his cot without a fuss, and stayed there until 9.30am.

With the Ikea outdoor furniture being delivered today between 7am and 10am, I got out of bed with Jonathan as he was getting ready to go to work. While I waited, I did my housework and watched some news. As the minutes ticked by, I knew that Sean could wake at any time and demand to be fed. By the time Sean woke at 9.30am, the furniture had yet to arrive and I was starting to wonder if the van would ever turn up. I called the delivery company, only to be told that the driver would contact me within 30 minutes of arriving at our house. I told the customer service rep that I needed to breast feed a baby, and I would not be able to get up and tell the driver where to put the furniture once I sat down with Sean. She was unsympathetic, and only after I ranted for a bit longer about punctuality and my expectations of their delivery service did she offer to call the driver to find how far away he was. After a minute or so, she returned with advice that he was 10 minutes away, and that he said he had sent a text to say he was arriving soon. I told her I had not received any notification, and that I hoped the driver was only 10 minutes away, as Sean would get quite upset if the driver took any longer to arrive.

The driver called me as soon as I hung up from the delivery company, and told me he was only 5 minutes away. And sure enough, he arrived within 5 minutes of his phone call. After receiving the packages and signing for them, Sean and I sat down to his breakfast.

Once Sean was finished with his meal, we got ready to head next door to meet Rasima, who ran a family day care from her house. Prior to Sean being born, I had put him down on a number of waiting lists for child care for August this year, when I had planned to return to work. Even though I had now extended my maternity leave, I still wanted to meet Rasima and see her operation in the hope that she may have a spot for Sean in January next year. On our way to Rasima's house, we stopped and had a chat with Rita, who was doing a bit of gardening at the front of her house. Rita really wanted to have a cuddle with Sean, so we promised we would drop in next week to pay a visit.

Rasima was not what I expected. I imagined her to be in her late 40s, based on her voice when we'd spoken on the phone. Instead, I was greeted by a lovely lady who was the same age as me, athletic and full of energy. Rasima told me that she was a mother of 3 and she had always loved kids. About 7 years ago, she completed her certification to become a family day carer, and she had been caring for kids in her house ever since.

Today, Rasima was looking after 4 little ones - 3 girls and a little boy who was 7 months old. The kids were gorgeous, and they had plenty of things to do and a big area to play in, which was all covered and shaded. Rasima also showed me around her house, and the big den where the kids would play when they were inside the house. Rasima explained that both her sons lived with her, as well as her elder son's friend; her daughter had recently moved out with her boyfriend into a place of their own. The look on my face prompted her to continue - Rasima was a young mum, and her eldest was 20 years old. Her daughter was 18, and her youngest was 9. She went on to say that the den where the children played was off limits to anyone living in the house - the room was only used by the children she cared for.

Rasima showed me the scrapbooks she kept for each of the kids she looked after, filled with photos of what the kids got up to when they were being cared for by her. I was very impressed to see everything Rasima showed me, and after a bit more chatting, I was convinced that I would like her to look after Sean when I went back to work.

Sean fell asleep during our visit, and after thanking Rasima for her time, we went home. On our way to our front door, we saw Marie with a few bags of groceries from her shopping trip. I offered to help Marie take her groceries inside for her, but Marie insisted she needed to do the job on her own. We chatted for a while, before Sean started stirring and we bade farewell to Marie so I could put Sean down for a sleep.

The little darling went into the cot and slept for 2 hours. Yes, after falling asleep in the Minimonkey sling, Sean was happy to sleep some more in his own cot. We were making progress!

While Sean slept, I found out from one of my sisters that both the girls were having dinner with Dad and Mum tonight, so I called Jonathan and asked him if he'd like to have dinner with the folks as well. After getting the thumbs up, I called the parents and asked to join them for dinner, and were told to meet up with everyone else at Sea Treasure Seafood Restaurant in Crows Nest at 6.30pm.

When Sean woke just before 2pm, we fed and got dressed to go out. We had a date with Charmaine and her little man Christian to have coffee at Top Ryde, and Sean's timing was perfect. We were a few minutes late getting to Top Ryde, which worked out really well as Charmaine's mother-in-law Mrs Sam had to get something from Big W first. We spent the afternoon chatting over tea and cakes at Pattison's Patisserie, comparing notes on our babies, and how far we had come from those very first days in hospital. Christian was so so so cute, and it was lovely to see how big he had grown. Mrs Sam was much better at Cantonese than English, so I spent the afternoon practicing my Cantonese on her.

Sean was perfectly behaved and slept for a little while in the pram. When he woke, he was more than happy to be in the sling. Time flew, and before we knew it, it was time to leave Top Ryde and head to Crows Nest for dinner. Charmaine and I made plans to catch up again, and I invited her to join my Mothers Group outings when she had the time.

The traffic in the afternoon was horrible, and the little man was tired and irritable and hungry all at the same time. By the time we finally arrived in Crows Nest, Sean was long overdue a feed, and as soon as we parked the car, I jumped into the backseat and tried to feed our very upset little man. Sean was at his most wriggly, and had a very fussy feed. My boobs were so full that milk was actually squirting from them, which Sean did not enjoy. After trying to keep him on for 15 minutes, we gave up on the feed and went into the restaurant.

Dinner was a feast, and Sean was a little bit upset through dinner, but he did manage to get a little bit more sleep in the pram. Jonathan and I asked Grace for some advice on what to put on Sean's various skin patches, especially the creases in his neck which appeared to be split and weeping. Grace recommended a combination of Daktozin, Ego Dermaid Soft Cream 0.5%, Sudocream, and Johnson & Johnson Baby Sorbolene Cream. Poor little man - so many lotions and potions!

As soon as dinner was finished, we headed home and gave Sean a better feed. As per the usual night time routine, Jonathan gave him a bath, and then gave Sean a top up of formula. After another exciting and long day, we hope the little man will sleep well tonight.