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Thursday, November 20, 2008

No complaints here

As much as Quebecers complain about high taxes, poor healthcare and other social issues, I must say our parental leave program is a god-send.

Tim was able to take 5 weeks off from work at 70% of his salary and I will be off for 25 weeks at 70% plus another 25 weeks at 55%.
If you're curious to see how the plan works, here's the link to the government page:
Quebec Parental Insurance Plan

I coul not imagine living somewhere where I'd already be heading back to work, having to leave my baby in someone else's care all day long. I would miss him so much.

I am truly cherishing watching him develop, as unobvious as it may be at this point. But I do notice the little subtleties as I observe him for so many hours a day.

His vision seems to be increasing. He doesn't focus or follow anything yet, but you can tell he can now see more of the world that surrounds him.

He also gets quite vocal at times, cooing and grunting and making all kinds of sounds.

No smiles, it's too early yet, but he grins to himself as if he's in on his own private joke. Those looks particularly crack me up and melt my heart!

So, needless to say, I am enjoying motherhood like I never could have imagined.
My little Kieran is an angel and I love him so!

Little Boy Blue

I suppose it's about time I posted a picture of Kieran for those of you who aren't on Facebook or haven't met him yet...



Doesn't he look so peaceful?!

He's wearing the sweater Grandma Jo-Anne knit for him.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

5 weeks already

Wow! Kieran is doing excellent and Mommy is not doing too bad herself. Yes, I definitely now have the designation of mother first and foremost pretty much all the time now!

It's so surprising to see some people's reactions to Kieran when we go out with him. You half expect women with older children to take notice of a newborn but when young men, like our waiter at Pizza Hut, tell you "He's so cute!", it's kinda funny and heartwarming too!

So Kieran had his VCUG on Friday the 7th where they injected iodine into his bladder to see if urine was going back up into his kidneys. After doing the test twice to make sure, it was determined he has no reflux. Yay! So after Monday night, he was antibiotic free.
It was kinda funny when they did the test, there was the radiology technician, a resident specializing in radiology, a McGill me student, 2 Dawson College technician students plus Tim & I, all watching this little guy, waiting for him to pee. No pressure!
We weren't worried, but is was a relief to know that he had no reflux. So everything is fine for now and we have another ultrasound in January to see what size his kidneys are then.

And we had a breakthrough on Monday...I'd pretty much given up trying to breastfeed Kieran somewhere around Halloween as he'd taken to the bottle and I was producing more than enough milk to pump and feed him. It was working out, Tim was able to help with feeding and Kieran was getting breast milk nonetheless. It was just more work as I had to pump every 3 hours or so.
Well, on Monday morning, I tried getting him to latch on again and, lo-and-behold, he was able to do so pretty well. So we've been doing pretty well with the breastfeeding so far. Today was a little more trying as Kieran did not seem to be satisfied no matter how much I fed him. So he is getting a bottle as I have my suspicions he was just not getting enough milk from breastfeeding.

I must admit, it is rather easier to nurse him and somewhat more gratifying too.
I'm lucky enough that he usually gets a good latch on and I don't have to focus all my attention on him so I've been able to read or write while he's feeeding.

He has been spitting up a little more but I think that's because he's not quite used to the quicker flow of milk. Even with a good burp, he spits up a little, sometimes even half an hour after he's done nursing.

So all is pretty good on the Westmount front.

Tim has been busy all week doing some programming work but he's been on diaper and bath duty. He's going back to work on Monday, a week earlier than planned so he can have some time off later instead. I'm sure everyone at his office will be glad to see him.

Monday, November 03, 2008

3 weeks post-partum

24 days already since Kieran arrived! Yes, now I believe all of you when you say to enjoy every minute as time definitely does fly, even with the extra hour yesterday!

I am finally feeling back to my non-pregnant self. (I dare not say "normal"!) No more swollen feet, no more heartburn, no more carpal tunnel, among others. I even fit into a few pairs of non maternity pants, yay!

We've been pretty busy some days and managed to have some quiet, more restful days too. Kieran has already had a couple of visits to the Children's hospital to check up on his kidneys. They don't seem to be getting any bigger which is a good sign. This Friday we go for another appointment to see if urine is going back up from the bladder to the kidneys. If all is good then he can stop taking antibiotics which he is on as a preventative measure to stop any urinary tract infection or kidney infection.

We've managed a few outings too. We've been to both my office & Tim's a couple of times, for vistis & to pick up paperwork.
Last week we even took him out for lunch all the way out in Boucherville, at this great resto called Bistro Lulu.
We decided to get out of the house for the day as a water main had busted up the street and after some high water levels (Tim dubbed our street Lake Columbia), they shut the water off. So our best option was to head to the South Shore for the day.

Saturday evening another pipe burst further up the street so as of this morning, they have started digging up our street, section by section and they will replace all the aging water network. Our water is to be shut off from 9am to 6pm every day. Thank goodness I had done all our laundry on Saturday.

Other than that, it's a routine of feeding, changing diapers, pumping and hanging out with out little cutie. Kieran has not taken to latching on to breast feed, even after a lactation consultant's visit. Which is no so bad. He's getting breast milk nonetheless and Daddy can help with the feedings when I'm too deep into sleep mode!

Kieran is not quite on a regular feeding schedule yet. During the day he usually feeds every 2 1/2 to 3 hours but sometimes in the morning he'll feed a bit every hour. The past few nights he's fed around midnight & lasted about 4-5 hours before getting hungry again. So I get about 3-4 hours of continuous sleep. Naps during the day are a must!

So if you haven't come for a visit yet, give us a call already! And if you're due for another visit, give us a call already! No time is good or bad, really. But your chances of seeing him alert are higher around 10:30 am. For now at least...