Being Momma G: Day 96

We have had such a great time having Mum and Nana stay with us.

Today, they return to New Zealand after a great week. We hope they had a good time while they were here. Sean certainly loved his cuddles and kisses from his Grandma and Great Nana. We will miss them both very much, but look forward to seeing them again hopefully later this year.

As if he knew he didn't have to be on his best behaviour and could again misbehave, the little man snack fed throughout the night. Between midnight and 6am, when Mum and Nana were all set and ready to be driven to the airport, Sean had had 4 feeds. I was wrecked.

I was glad we were awake to see Mum and Nana off. There was a flurry of activity as they finished their last minute packing, and put their lunches into bags, ready to show Customs on their way through. The ladies gave me and Sean big hugs and kisses as we waved them goodbye from the front door. And then there were just the two of us.

Sean went back to sleep after farewelling Mum and Nana. I got on with the laundry and a few other things, before sitting down to feed Sean just before 8.30am. After a night of snack feeding, the little man was almost as exhausted as I felt, and went back to sleep after the feed.

We were to have lunch with Dad and Mum today, but by 11.30am, Sean was still fast asleep. I made the decision to let Sean continue sleeping, so I called Mum to let her know we weren't going to make it to lunch. Mum invited us to have dinner with them instead, to which I accepted, as Grace and Georgianna and their families were also going to be at dinner. It would be nice to see everyone.

Sean finally woke just before midday, and while he was feeding, I decided to cut Sean's fingernails, where were getting long and scratchy. My eyesight had been getting worse over the years, and I was pretty sure I needed to have them checked again, as I was having trouble focusing on the little man's fingernails. Sean is the wriggliest little boy I know, and even when he was suppose to be at his most relaxed when he's feeding, those wriggly little fingers and my failing eyesight combined to result in an inevitable accident.

I cut Sean's thumb. Missed the nail completely. The thumb bled. A lot. Sean cried. No, wait, Sean screamed. I cried. A lot. Oh dear.

Sean's thumb bled for ages. I didn't know what to do. Not only was Sean bleeding, I was also leaking as Sean was feeding when I cut his thumb. It was horrible. The little man was screaming and screaming and screaming in pain, and writhing and wriggling and trying to make himself feel better, and there I was, trying to hold his thumb to contain the bleeding, to no avail.

I called Jonathan in tears, saying I'd cut Sean's thumb. I didn't really know why I called him - what could he really do over the phone except to try and offer words of comfort. I asked him what I should do to try and stem the bleeding, and Jonathan told me to give Grace or Vinay a call. I should have done that to start with, so I rang off from Jonathan and called Grace, who was mildly amused but nevertheless more helpful than Jonathan.

There really wasn't much that could be done, except to apply pressure to the cut and wait for the wound to clot over. I had wrapped Sean's thumb in a tissue, and Grace suggested I use a wet cloth instead as the tissue may stick to the wound, and once I pulled it off Sean's thumb, it may start to bleed all over again. Grace suggested that we use emery boards in future to file back Sean's nails instead of cutting them. Poor little man. It will be a long time before I would be game enough to cut his nails again.

The trauma of being cut by his mother made Sean a bit weary and restless, and after all the excitement, he slept for a short time before waking and wanting another feed at 2.45pm. I did not argue with him, even though it was too soon to feed him. The little man deserved to have a treat after being made to bleed.

The feed put the little man to sleep. It was as if his whole body was reacting to the trauma of being made to bleed by his bad bad mother, and only sleep would help him recover from the ordeal. I wasn't about to start complaining - the more the little man slept, the longer I was able to get stuff done around the house.

Just before 6pm, the little man woke and we got ready to head to Chatswood to have dinner with Dad and Mum. Jonathan was to meet us at the restaurant, and we arrived a bit late, what with traffic and getting the little man dressed and out the door. Even though we were running behind schedule, we still weren't the last to arrive. Dinner was great - everyone was there, and Sean had a short and fussy feed just before all the food came out. Sean even went to sleep for a little while to allow us to eat our dinner in peace.

Bath time and night feed were a bit later than usual, as we were out to dinner, so as soon as we arrived home, we got on with the bed time routine and packed Sean off to bed. Sean had a nice long breast feed, so here's hoping he will sleep better than last night!