WEEK 2.5 ADVENTURES

THE LITTLEST VAMPIRE

If I write a vanity children's book it will be called "The Littlest Vampire".

Our girl has come into her own as feeder. Although Seamus and I had opted for a parent centered feeding schedule, Yarden is clearly on an "on-demand" meal plan so I've learned to whip out a feeding at work, at the nail salon (no chemicals don't worry), and various lunch establishments.

Yarden has also started taking breaks between courses - which makes it harder to figure out when she's done eating. She'll refuse, ignore, or push away the nipple for about 5 minutes - then suddenly rediscover it and resume feeding at a feverish pace.

This is all to say that she has resolved any breastfeeding issues, now she just keeps us guessing - but last night, was something new.

Yarden comes to life during the night and last night at 11 PM our lovely baby decided she wanted to move up to the next weight class.

Defying biology and physics, she managed to suck me dry then move on to 2 bottles of pumped milk, which means that she somehow squirreled about 12 oz of milk into a 5 oz stomach. This is also 3x her normal feeding, so it took her sleep addled and incredulous mom and dad a while to understand that she was screaming, "I MUST FEED" as opposed to "I'm gassy", "I'm overtired" or "I've shit myself".

At her 2 week checkup, Yarden had not yet made it back up to her birth weight but I think she'll impress Dr. Shaheedy with her baby bulk this time.

BACK TO WORK - WHO'S GOT THE BABY?
We've begun the very emotional process of figuring out Yarden's care once Seamus and I are back at work starting June 16th.

We'd considered a nanny and interviewed a few, the best being a woman named Jessica (e-mail address FaeriePoppins) who seemed like a fantastic partner in adventure. She sings and dances with the kids, studied cognitive psych, knows CPR, teaches kids baby sign language and is also a doula (which speaks to a definite devotion to babies). She takes her slightly older kids out to explore the world - catching lizards etc... and is a Burning Man gal and probably the best female fire dancer in the US (according to her).

I know that last sentence is going to divide our blog readers so I'll put it out there. For me, finding out that someone I already like goes to Burning Man affirms that they are creative and engaged in the world and community in the way I would hope for someone that I'm going to entrust with my baby. Firedancer on the other hand...well, I don't want to offend any readers, but i think it's pretty lame. It's an incredible skill, and I respect that, but it's down on my list of entertainment almost as low as drum circles. YET - as far as a nanny goes, it means she has a lot of creative energy.

Ultimately, we decided against a nanny because it's too expensive an option for now and if we are going to spend $800 a week on the girl, I'd rather spend that on school or other enrichments - including a nanny like Jessica - when she's more engaged with the world and can better benefit.

Right now, her days are spent 70% sleeping, 20% eating and 10% awake and "playing". What she really needs is to be in in an environment where her needs are met quickly and she's soothed and cared for and continues to believe that the world is a fantastic and safe for as long as we can maintain that bubble for her.

We've narrowed it down to two great options:
An infant day care program - which seems to be very unique, at least as far as my google and craigslist searches have determined. The center is large and clean and the class is limited to infants. You 'graduate" to the next class when you start walking. Each child has her own dedicated crib and schedule and all of the toys are infant appropriate.

A home based child care program affectionately referred to as WGA Child Care because the kids are almost exclusively children of WGA employees. It's run by the mom of a WGA employee and Seamus' boss and our friends David and Susan have all trusted their children to the program.

For the first five weeks that I'm back at work - I'm only going to work 4 days a week. I've hired our friend and neighbor Melanie to come to work with me 1.5 days a week along with Yarden to smooth the transition (for me emotionally and for Yarden from almost exclusively breastfeeding to primarily bottle feeding). Melanie is studying to be a baby nurse and she's already a bit of a baby whisperer - so I feel very lucky that she's willing to do this.

(Melanie is the 2nd from the right)

I did try taking Yarden to work for a few hours this week and she could sense that she wasn't the sole focus of my attention, so I think this is an ideal situation, having someone with me at the office who is entirely dedicated to her needs.

TOY PARADE
We want to give a shout out of thanks to everyone who has sent gifts for the girl.
The thank you note is in the mail - really.

Here are a few photos of Yarden enjoying some of her presents.

Yarden captivated by the baby (she like the red, white and black ball too) from Joel and Shiran.

Yarden checking out and approving of flat out bear from Holly and Tracey.

Yarden checking out and rejecting big pink whale from Linda.

Yarden "dancing" to the music box - which is a giant to her - from Sharon.

Yarden modeling her "big girl" sweater from Cindi and Tullio.

Yarden looking angelic in the Amish bonnet from Bubbie and Grandpa.

Yarden modeling her romper from Mike and Kelly while lounging on the blanket from Karen.
And not a gift but definitely awesome - Yarden signs up for health insurance from Daddy's work.
DA IS HERE!!!
Grandpa Dick (Da) arrived on Wednesday night so Betsy and I headed to LAX to surprise him with the baby. Since Yarden had pooped with excitement the last time that we went to the airport, we wondered how she would respond this time.

The answer: she hid in the bathroom.

More specifically, she SCREAMED for boob so she and I took shelter in the Ladies Room so she could eat up before meeting Da. And this was no simple topping off - she kept Grandpa waiting in baggage claim for half an hour.


She calmed down briefly - long enough to make the introductions and be held by Grandpa.
Then she started screaming again.

A very adorable 2 year old wandered over with a toy car that he put in Yarden's face to see if it would cheer her up. He told her all about the car, but she ignored him. I explained that she was just hungry, but he thought of another toy she might like and came back with a rubber lobster - which perked her briefly, but then she remembered she was starving and collapsed into her sorrows again until we started the car, at which point she promptly passed out.

OUR OTHER AWESOME VISITOR
Da is here for almost a week, but we were also lucky enough to have a one night visitor in Mary Beth who was in town for the Book Fair.

She showed up with books for all and about 4 grocery bags full of yummys like beet salad, spinich and feta, blue cheese stuffed olives and an assortment of fruits and cheeses. Ah - a friend who knows me only too well. Betsy made a dinner of pork tenderloin and we actually put out a tablecloth and candles and had a grown up meal of deliciousness and fun stories.

I was exhausted and I fear I was an awful host, but MB was a perfect guest.

And for those of you who live in LA, evidently the Ralph's downtown is a gourmet establishment.
Our neighborhood Ralphs has never heard of tapenade.

Next week Liam (Seamus' brother) and Nancy (my best friend) will be in town staying with us.
It's been great and it's just going to keep being awesome.

As much as I love my job...

Changes to the Album

I rearranged the photos so that the most recent photos show up first.
Photos of Yarden

Yarden continues to poop with enthusiasm about Grandma's visit - including an impressive post bath poop into her lion towel.

A Quick Recap of the Last Few Days

It's been a few days since our last post.

My folk have left so Seamus and I have been on our own for the last few days.
We wanted them to stay forever, but they claimed that was impossible.
It was a sad goodbye.

We wanted to all drive to the airport together so they could have more time with her, but Yarden needed to nurse, so Seamus drove them by himself.

They were kind enough to leave us enough food to make it through a week without leaving the house, but it's still been hard to find time to blog.

For a tiny baby, Yarden generates a lot of laundry and she leaves her clothing EVERYWHERE.
Daddy will have to teach her not to - since mommy still has that bad habit

GRANDMA BETSY ARRIVES

Grandma Betsy arrived yesterday (which is how I'm finding time to blog).
We'd been telling Yarden about her and I guess she got overexcited because she made an explosive poop all over her pants on the way to the airport and had to be changed in the back of the SUV.

She was all dressed up in her "Grandma's Girl" shirt, green pants and fancy socks, but since she managed to line her pants with mustard seed poo, they needed to be bagged - so she met grandma in the rock star combo of long sleeve t-shirt, diaper and socks.



It's wonderful having BetsyMom here.
While I type I'm listening to the two of them playing and it's incredibly sweet.



CONTENDED LITTLE BABY


We are trying to get Yarden, and ourselves, on what resembles a schedule.
Our friends Susan and David recommended "The Contented Little Baby Book".
Their baby, Angelina, certainly seems contented.
More importantly, Angelina's folks seem well rested.

The schedule is a rotation of eating, sleeping, playing and the occasional bath with specific times. Seamus and I are good at keeping to it, and we are grateful to have some semblance of structure to our days - but Yarden has room for improvement.

She sleeps when she's supposed to be awake and playing and vice versa.
Usually the boob chills her out, but last night she was a rabid little truffle hunter - snorting and grabbing at me with her eyes wide open and wild. It was truly hilarious. I don't think I've ever seen her that active.

We are under no illusions that we can actually get a 12 day old on a schedule, but we are trying to get her used to her room and her crib so that she doesn't find it unfamiliar/frightening.

One great piece of advice the book had was to skip the bassinet and go straight to the crib to get her familiarized. Already she'll do her daytime naps in her room, though at night when it's dark and quiet, she likes to be with us (and we like that too).

BREAST FEEDING

Thanks to everyone who has emailed with breastfeeding advice - and in general thanks so much to the veteran parents who have been a phenomenal source of advice and reassurances.

Yarden seems to be taking to the boob well and she's a good eater.
I've been caught outside the house 2x so far during feeding hours and I actually managed to walk the aisles of Costco with a nursing cover.

The only challenge is that she occasionally gets so worked up and enthusiastic that she starts flailing her hands (still foreign objects as far as she knows) so she'll be pushing my breast away with both hands while frantically struggling to get her mouth on the nipple.

YARDEN'S FRIENDS HAVE ARRIVED!

Greg Gleidman and Liz Neuberg - two of my favorite people from and since high school - had their second babies. Greg and Diana welcome Samuel Anthony and Liz and Jesse welcome Seth Jonah.

All three babies were born within 7 days of each other and all families are doing great.

TAKE YOUR KID TO COSTCO

If you ever want to feel like you are traveling with a celebrity, take your infant to Costco.
She is a head turner to start with, but I think at least 20 different people started conversations with me.

TALES FROM THE SLEEP DEPRIVED

My work sent me a very sweet keepsake kit that lets you imprint her foot and hand in plaster.
I was very excited to try this out, but it took longer to dry than the directions said and by the time it was starting to dry Mommy and Baby had gone down for a nap.

I now have a hardened imprint of virgin plaster, which, in it's own way, is a more accurate memento of this time in my life. A reminder that I'm no longer the one in control.

Things That Took One Week for Us to Do.

First bath.
First trip to the mall.
First costume. Yarrrrrr.. den
Umbilical cord fell off by lunch.
Aliyah found it.
We decided not to keep it.

Pink Flowers and Purple Monkey

To my friends at the WGA, thanks for the flowers.And here is my favorite picture so far:

Day 6 - Rough Night, Great Day

Friday night was rough.

We brought Yarden home from the hospital and my parents went to their hotel, so it was our first night without nurses, lactation consultants, bedside delivery of pain medication and meals, and the option of dropping her off at a nursery.

First - Yarden wouldn't eat.

Backstory: All babies lose weight after their birth, but her weight had dropped precipitously while we were in the hospital and she was 1 oz away from getting put on formula. Before her weigh in that night at the hospital nursery, I pumped and breastfed incessantly and we managed to get her up to fighting weight. That's why her refusal to eat on Friday night was particularly stressful.

Seamus and I are charged with taking care of our daughter - which at it's most basic interpretation means keeping her alive. In other words, FEED HER.

In addition to not eating, she wouldn't sleep - oh, and she screamed.

This went on for hours.
Then, suddenly...she wanted to eat.
In fact, she wanted to eat every hour - but screamed every time we put her down.

But at least she had eaten.

The whole family ended up asleep on the couch as "Eastern Promises" played on a loop 3 times.


At 6 am I woke up in a panic thinking I'd missed a feeding, then realized in was 7 am, panicked even more and got up too quickly (OUCH!) and realized I had missed a dose of Percoset.

I force fed my daughter - she was back to no interest in the boob - and then we were off and running.

Saturday was our busiest day yet.
We took Yarden to the lab at Cedars for her Bilirubin test (for Jaundice).
She suffers needles way better than her mama. Then - with an hour left before her next feeding - we picked up her stroller and made it back home in time for all three of us to eat.

Seamus and I are getting good at completing tasks within a 3 hour ticking clock.

It's been fantastic having my parents here.
They brought cold cuts for lunch, including pre-washed lettuce and pre-cut onions so that their zombie kids could assemble sandwiches and get nutrition no matter how sleep deprived we get. My mom also has great breastfeeding advice and she's done non-stop laundry since she got here.

The lunch feeding went AWESOME.
She sucked for 25 minutes and then went into a drunken monkey bliss state.
My heart breaks she's so adorable - she seriously gorges herself and looks like a drunk old man.


After lunch, I spent my first 3 hours away from her.
My mom and I went on a Babys R Us pilgrimage.
Details would bore anyone who isn't me.

We went home - I fed her again (ANOTHER SUCCESS!) - and then we all went out for dinner.

Yarden only weighs 7 pounds, so she doesn't fit in any of her beautiful clothing yet.
To go to dinner, we put her in a combination of the few things that do fit her.
When she's older and asks - I plan to tell her that she dressed herself.


We went to a restaurant and actually made it in time for our reservation. Six days into our lives as parents and we proved ourselves capable of making it out to dinner and back in time to feed her again.

Well it's 11:19 and the girl is starting to rouse.
Fingers crossed for an easier night.

**UPDATE - It took me almost 20 hours to post this.
She is now better at nursing, but still not good at sleeping at night.

Early this morning we had a moment of bliss as the three of us lay in bed calm, sleepy and snuggly. This is what we've been waiting for all these months we waited for Yarden.

Yarden's Photo Album is at http://aliyahandseamus.smugmug.com/gallery/4991527_yox6V#299228734_FxH2N

Aliyah

1 Week Old and She Already has Food Issues

We're having a little trouble feeding. Lactation Consultant blah blah blah she went over six hours w/o food blah blah blah I called Aliyah at 3:30 PM and she was (no joke) still working on the 12:00 Noon feeding.

But, when she eats - she eats. And eats. And EATS. It gives me hope that someday she and I will causally discuss the nuances of regional California sparkling wines paired with omelets made with truffle oil.

Lessons for so far:

(1) She will teach me just as much or more than I will teach her.
(2) Plan to throw away "The Plan," but still make "The Plan." When you plan for a regular birth and then you have -5 seconds to decide that you must have a c-section or loose your baby, at least you know what more than "c" in "c-section" stands for. Or if you want the baby to nurse they may have other ideas (no matter how hungry he or she is) but at least you know ahead of time that it's okay if a single feeding involves 4 hours or forcing her mouth open.

Tomorrow she comes home.

House is Ready

Now if Family Services show up they won't automatically take her into protective custody.

Yarden is Exceptional

Yarden just turned 2 days old and already she is proving to be exceptional.

She only NEEDED to have 1 wet diaper and 1 dirty diaper on her first day according to the nutrition chart, but our little overachiever had 2 black tarry diapers in her first 24 hours.

She also took this very cool hearing test.
They put tiny baby headphones on her and tested to see if her brain reacted to a series of sounds. She passed.

She's also shown a subtle defiant streak - or at least a desire NOT to be fenced in by labels or boundaries. For the 3rd time today, she has kicked off her id tag and her baby lojack. I don't know how our little Houdini does it, the devices just suddenly fall out of her baby burriito wrap.

We can't stop photographing her - so I made an album of her that we will keep adding photos to at http://aliyahandseamus.smugmug.com/gallery/4991527_yox6V#299228734_FxH2N

Just some random pictures for the Fan Club