parenthood – Page 9 – hellomelissa.net

Almost seven weeks old…

May 5, 2009October 22, 2008 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

This is Sean feeding Flora for the first time. This picture was taken last night. We bought a breast pump on Saturday, and I think I’ve mostly gotten the hang of using it. I’ve only spilled a couple of times and gotten breastmilk in the motor once.

Flora took the bottle without issue, which really surprised me. I’ve heard so many horror stories about babies refusing bottles when they are breastfed and having to try a zillion different bottle/nipple combinations to get the bottle near their little mouths.

Let’s hope this lasts – I plan to pump a bunch and have a stockpile on hand in the freezer. That way, I can leave the house on my own for longer than a couple of hours once in a while. I don’t envision Sean taking over the night feedings any time soon – he rarely wakes up when the baby cries at night. However, if I ask him to help out at night (which I try not to do too often), he usually does without issue. I usually ask for help with the early morning feed – he changes her and brings her to me so I can feed her in bed. It’s a nice family moment since all three of us are mostly asleep until it’s time for Sean to get ready for work.

These pictures are from some tomfoolery Flora and I got into today. I swear, when her eyes get all googly, I think she is half-Muppet.

One month old

May 5, 2009October 4, 2008 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

Where did the time go? I can’t believe it’s October already. Flora is one month old today. We went to her one month doctor’s appointment yesterday and she is doing very well. She is now just over nine pounds, so she gained nearly three pounds in a month. The sleepers that were too big when we came home from the hospital are fitting much better now. As Grandma Faye (my mum) says “she’s perfect!”

Sean went back to work almost two weeks ago. His first day back at work was the first day I had spent alone with Flora since she was born. I was anxious about being able to handle it, but we’re doing okay and sort of settled into a routine. I’ve managed to get dressed and fit in a few chores every day before Sean comes home so I figure we’re doing okay.

Flora is starting to have wakeful times during the day now, so it is nice to see her eyes. She is constantly looking all around the room, taking everything in. I wish I knew what was so interesting about what she sees. Despite all the time she spends awake, I still seem to take most of my pictures when she is sleeping. I guess that’s because it’s hard to take a picture of a baby while you are holding her. I need to get after Sean to take some pictures of her with me, or at least when she’s not crying. (Sean seems to catch a lot of pictures of her when she’s crying for some reason.)

Speaking of crying, she’s not a major crier yet. She lets us know if something is on her mind, but usually calms down once we figure it out. She has trouble getting burps out sometimes so that’s something we’re working on. Between the farting, the grunting and the noise of a diaper being filled, I had no idea that newborn babies were so noisy. I expected crying, but not bum noises I can hear from another room! (She is going to kill me when she is a teenager and she finds these archives on the web.)

My mom came to visit earlier this week and the three of us went on Flora’s first outing that wasn’t a doctor’s appointment or a walk around the block. We just went to the mall to pick up a parcel for Sean and get some groceries, but it felt good to finally leave the house for more than a few minutes. The stroller steers well, and fits in the trunk (barely – we have a small car). Flora had many admirers and was very well behaved – there was some crying occasionally but she calmed herself down and went back to sleep. Breastfeeding in public was not attempted – more because she didn’t need it rather than due to any embarrassment on my part.

Sean and I took Flora on her second outing after her doctor’s appointment. We went to Costco, and she slept through most of that expedition. She had a few admirers there as well. One set of ladies fawned over her a couple of times throughout the store. It made me giggle and feel more than a little proud. Fortunately no one tried to touch her, considering that cold and flu season is starting. We don’t start our immunizations until next month, and I don’t feel ready to deal with a sick baby yet.

Here are some more pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Getting ready to go out with Mummy and Grandma.

More hanging out time with Grandma

Snoozing in her chair.

A few closeups with her eyes wide (!!!) open

Napping with Daddy earlier tonight.

16 Days Old

April 30, 2009September 20, 2008 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

Flora is 16 days old today. Soon we’ll be counting her age in months instead of days and weeks. It seemed like September was going to take forever to come and now it’s almost gone. I can’t believe how much she has changed already. My mom came to visit last Sunday and she said that Flora had grown already and soon Grandma would hardly recognize her (she said this in baby talk to Flora, who just kept on sleeping).

We’re getting the hang of the breastfeeding thing. We went to the breastfeeding clinic last Monday and Flora is gaining weight and latching well according to the lactation consultant, so hooray for that. She doesn’t really have a sleep routine yet – some nights, she wants to stay up after feedings, other nights, she’ll go right back to sleep. She is starting to be a little more awake during the day, and it’s nice to see her eyes. I love watching her make faces at whatever she is looking at or thinking about. I’ve seen her smile, but they’re small smiles so they’re probably gas. I’d smile too after passing some of the eruptions that I’ve heard come out of her!

And on that note, here are some pictures from the last few days:

Birth Announcement

April 30, 2009September 10, 2008 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

This was the letter we emailed out yesterday to friends and family to announce Flora’s birth:

Hello everyone,

We’ve finally looked up from the baby long enough to send this note. 🙂

Flora Faye Mitchell was born on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 7:17am. She was six days early. (melissa is relieved that Flora held on until past her birthday and into September) We were induced due to a irregular heartbeat that started on August 29th. The heartbeat evened out and she was declared healthy once she was born.

The induction started at 8:30pm on Tuesday, September 2nd. Labour didn’t really kick in until about 3pm Wednesday. It was a long time, but the experience was a good one overall. We have a great team of doctors, nurses and other staff at Toronto East General Hospital to thank for that.

Sean and Grandma Faye (my mum) were with me during the birth. Grandma Janet (Sean’s mum) and my sister were patiently waiting for news in the waiting room. No one passed out and I didn’t curse during labour once. (!!!)

Pictures can be found here: http://flickr.com/photos/mpricemitchell/sets/72157607159140943/ I use Flickr to share all my pictures so you can check here regularly for updates.

My sister Kyla won the baby pool (and that was without any insider knowledge). Check and see how everyone did by visiting http://www.expectnet.com/logingame.php?game_name=SeanMelissaBaby

We came home Friday afternoon (September 5th). Our dog was very excited to see us and gave Flora a sniff and a quick lick. The cat has been laying low and I think he’s a little horrified by all the new noises.

We are happy, healing and getting used to being a family of three.

Thank you to everyone for all your extra love and support during this time in our lives. It has made the start of this journey much easier for Sean and I. Feel free to pass this message on to anyone I have missed.

Someone is starting to squeak and mutter in her sleep so I better go and check things out.

Love to all,
melissa and sean