3 months today!!

Logan is 3 months old today!! Well, sometime between today and tomorrow as he was born on 31st and there is no 31st in June. Gosh it has really flown by, I am really pleased the first 6 weeks are well gone now as they were very hard. From now on I wish it could slow down a bit as he changes every day. 

I am pleased to say that he now does his nights! Not sure if that's early or late at 3 months, but it started on Wednesday last week, then we were in Edinburgh on Thursday so it was a bit of a disrupted night, but since Friday night he has had his dreamfeed at 10.30 pm and then has slept all the way through to anytime between 7 am and, well I'm not sure, it's 9.30 am and he is still asleep this morning. He wakes up around 6 am but I go through and reassure him by telling him to go back to sleep (not that he understands, but the sound of my voice does the trick).

The problem has been teaching my breasts not to produce milk at night. This is the one inconvenient about breastfeeding: it leaks, and it's very painful when it's full. And yes, I do use breast pads. Everything else about it is wonderful. But the leaking is really annoying. Eventually last night it was fine, yee'ha! 

Yesterday was a bit of a hectic day as we had our first baby massage class at 2 pm. So we get up in the morning, have a feed then go to change a nappy and put some clothes on (I don't like him to be in his babygros during the day, they're for night time, no matter what both his grannies say!). Well I had to change everything as he had pooed all the way up his back. The day goes on, another feed (a big one, I was really surprised and a bit worried some of it might come back up), another nappy full change as again he had pooed all the way up his back. I was all right with that as I wanted to put some fancier clothes on him anyway as we were going to socialise (coffee with other mummies after the massage class). As I was about to leave the door to go to the massage class, he gets sick and I have to change him all over again!!! We seem to always have baby clothes being washed or drying in the house...

The baby massage class was GREAT and I really recommend it to everyone. Here in Ayr there are 4 classes, 1 per week for 4 weeks. Yesterday was the first one and we concentrated on the legs, feet and lower tummy. Logan loved it until we got to the tummy, but I think he was tired by then and needed a nap. So he got a bit cranky. Plus the baby next to us had started crying a lot and that set off another 3 babies or so. There were 8 babies and mummies, babies ages ranging from 7 to 18 weeks old. 

We were each given a small bottle of organic sunflower oil to warm up in our hands before applying to our babies. It is pretty much odourless so it doesn't hide mummy's smell. 

Next week we will do the same, and do all of the tummy too. The week after we will add the head, and the last week we will add the back. Apparently they love the back. Not sure about Logan, he hates being on his tummy!

They recommend to massage the babies before going to bed, but I'll massage Logan before his bath because I don't want him to go to bed all greasy. 

 

First times

It's been a busy week for Logan as we have been up to a lot of things, including a couple of "first times".

It started on Monday when for the first time we went to the swimming pool. My parents bought a static caravan at the Craig Tara holiday park and as their UK contact I have a pass which allows me to use the facilities as I wish. Which means I can go to the 2 swimming pools (the public one, very busy, and the owners one, smaller but much quieter), use the gym facilities, and get 15% off everything I buy - very handy for that "after swim" coffee and cake!

I really wanted Logan to take part in a baby swimmers class, but the Ayr class starts at 6 months old and the closest one after Ayr is in Irvine and I really don't fancy driving half an hour each way for an hour's class. So the Craig Tara pool will do just fine, even more so as when Logan is old enough he will be able to get free swimming lessons. Brilliant!

I was a bit worried about how old he should be for the first time, and what temperature the water should be at but Baby Centre is just a great website that gives lots of tips and advice. So at 11 weeks Logan was well old enough (they say there isn't really a minimum age but to wait until 6 weeks is advisable, plus mums can't do any physical activities before 6 weeks after the birth) and the water temperature should be 26-27 degrees minimum. As this is your standard swimming pool water temp, there was no problem there. 

Baby Centre also recommends to do it slowly. So we were going to go into the water for 10 minutes max, or until he started shivering. Well he took to it quite well. No smiles, but no cries either. Just a bit of a puzzled look on his face really. Unfortunately the owner's pool had a problem with its hot water so we had to go to the main pool and it was really noisy for a first time. Hopefully next Monday we will be able to go into the smaller, quieter pool so he can start really enjoying it.

The second "first time" was a bit more challenging. For the first time since Logan was born, we spent the night "elsewhere", i.e. not in our house. We went to Edinburgh on Thursday where we visited the Botanic Gardens (highly recommend them, especially the Glass Houses, entry fee of £4 per adult but well worth it), and on Friday morning at 9.30 am I had a double appointment to renew my passport and get Logan his French passport (which will be his only passport until he can get a Scottish one, so his Dad says!!). 

So Thursday night was spent at the lovely Aaron Glen B&B just South of the city. The landlady had added a travel cot to the bedroom, and for the first time since Logan was moved into his own room 8 weeks ago, he slept in the same bedroom as us. Keeping the routine was really hard!! We had to shower him instead of bath (a bit tricky! tip: both mum and dad are needed, mum to sit in the shower and hold baby while dad washes and rinces baby, then takes baby away to be dried and clothed. Mummy can then have some "alone" time in the shower!), then we put him in the pram and walked to the restaurant to make him fall asleep for the night. It worked and he was well zonked. But weirdly he spend the night moaning, squirming, talking to himself while being fast asleep. So WE didn't sleep a wink as he was keeping us awake!!

And we came back on Friday afternoon to set the normal routine again. Much better. We had a great night as Logan slept through from his 11 pm dreamfeed to 8 am this morning!!! Amazing. Not so good for me though as I had to get up at 4 am to express some milk since my boobies were exploding...

Pushing the pram

Haven't been keeping up with writing the blog so much lately as I've decided it's high time I started working on the business again. AND my social life has gone a bit crazy with meeting new mums every second day or so! It's brilliant!

So due to all this busy time in my life now, I've changed my view on taking Logan for a trip in the pram.

Originally, and like everyone else, I used to push him to make him sleep when he wasn 't taking a nap during the day. It works really well, and on a sunny day I would let him sleep in the back garden and set up a mock office there with the laptop. But sunny days are probably gone until next April now (not joking!!) so when the walk is finished I have to take the pram inside, and invariably that wakes Logan up. Which meant that the "asleep" time when I could DO things never happened as he would be asleep OUTSIDE the house, but never INSIDE allowing me to do some housework or work on the business.

SOOOOO. A few weeks ago I took the decision to have Logan take his naps in the house, and I would push the pram straight after a nap when he is wide awake. It's a win-win combination really: I get to LIVE MY LIFE when he's asleep in the house, and he gets to SEE TONS OF NEW THINGS when he's out for a "walk"!! Plus now he's so big I don't want him in the carry cot anymore (see picture below) so from tomorrow he's on the sitting pram attachment (however you call it) of the "travel system". Which means he'll be able to see even more!

Sometimes when I push the pram I wonder if people walking or driving by think I'm mad. As Logan is awake, I only stop talking to him trying to make him smile (there is nothing more rewarding than your baby smiling at you!!) when I need to cross a street. So all the way into town I make funny faces and weird noises while leaning over the pram!! But I don't care as long as my baby is smiling!! :)

Growing fast!!

Logan is 11 weeks and 4 days old and time has flown by. It seems like only a couple of weeks ago when I was given this tiny human being that I was now responsible for, for the rest of my life (or at least for the next 18 years!).

In that time he went from 3.450 kg (7lb 8oz) and 50 cm to 6.05 kg (12 lb 12 oz) and 59 cm. Well let me tell you, it makes a huge difference to your arms and back!!

I'm enjoying it much more now, and for the past 4 weeks or so, because there is so much more interaction. I still can't wait for the time he'll be able to hold his head properly (he's pretty good at it, but we still have to watch as from time to time he'll jerk his whole body to one side or another and the head doesn't quite follow!!) and when he'll sit up!

We are starting to have "geee" "eyyy" "woo" discussions just now and it's great fun! He also smiles a lot and has just started laughing as I was mentioning in my last post. The best feeling is first thing in the morning when  I go and pick him up for his first feed and he sees me and gives me this huge big grin and starts flailing his arms and legs in anticipation.

So this week we've had to buy a cot as he was fast outgrowing his crib. I thought I would get away with having him in it for 4 months but he was getting to the stage where he couldn't quite move his arms as much as he would want. So I went on eBay at the week-end and got a second hand Mamas and Papas cot. It's a lovely cot, we built it last night and Logan slept in it for the first time. It was great to see him with so much space around him. We've also been able to hang his gorgeous Winnie & friends cot mobile (it was too big for the crib) and he could spend hours watching Winnie, Tigger, Piglet and Eyeore slowly revolving over his head.

The second step is changing the carry cot on his pram for the bit where he can sit. As you can see on the photos below, it was high time we took both steps!!

 First night at home

Last night in the crib!!

Filling the carry cot!!

First laugh vs. teething!

Oh gosh there are lots of things I want to write about but just not enough time in the day!! So I'm making lists of items to talk about. I was going to write about something else, but since today brought 2 firsts in Logan's life, it's much more exciting to write about that!!

The first exciting new development took place early this morning. As I mentioned before, Logan's dad and I take turns in getting up early with Logan, and today it was my turn. So as I was uploading new photos to email the family, I played with him a bit and one of his favourite toys. Usually he would smile and maybe go "gah" or something. But to my surprise, this morning it was a full on laugh! It was hilarious! 

The other first wasn't so much fun. Logan is 11 weeks and 1 day old, and he is TEETHING... Was that not supposed to start at 4 months or something??? It started this afternoon (well, maybe yesterday, come to think of it) when he shrieked and shrieked and kept shoving his fist in his mouth (he's been doing that for a while anyway, but there was a real momentum to it this time). Eventually he fell asleep on my shoulder. I put him in his cot and he woke up screaming with pain a mere half hour later. A friend told me some signs of teething, which include (sorry about that) nappy rash and runnier poos, and he's definitely got that. Unfortunately he's not old enough to be able to hold teething toys. He was in so much pain earlier it nearly made me cry. 

The same friend recommended using Dolodent, which is a French medicine only available in France and Tunisia apparently, so my mum brought me 2 bottles from France. We rubbed some of the stuff on his gums and it definitely seemed to have helped. 

Dreamfeed 2

Hurray!!

Yes, it is working. Well it has worked for the past 6 nights so I hope I am safe in saying this, and am not jinxing it!!

So how does it work with Logan?

Well typically he has a bath at 6.30 pm, then a last feed at 7 pm and he goes to bed any time between 7.30 and 8.30 pm depending on when his last nap was.

I then tiptoe into his bedroom some time between 10 and 11 pm, don't put any light on and I pick him up, taking great care not to wake him up. And then it's really amazing, he is fast asleep but will feed! It takes forever though.

And for the past 6 nights, he's only needed one extra feed through the night, some time between 3.30 and 4.30 am. It is so much better for us his parents as we get 4 or 5 hours sleep at a time before he wakes us up. His dad is great as he will go and change his nappy at that time before I go and feed him.

He then wakes up between 6.30 and 7.30 am, and after his "breakfast", his Dad and I take turn in getting up until his first nap of the day, typically 1.5 to 2 hrs after he's woken up.

HOWEVER, a friend sent me this link The Baby Whisperer. So maybe dreamfeeding isn't the way to go. I do think my baby is too small still not to be fed at night. I'll start trying to wean him off the dreamfeed when he's 12 weeks old and see how it works. The main thing for me at the moment is getting rid of the feed in the middle of the night. If this means I have to dreamfeed, then I'm happy to do that!!

Wrap sling scarf thingy

I have a French friend who has 4 children and swears by the sling scarves. All her kinds have been raised in them and she even didn't have a pram for months with her 1st born. So when I got Logan, one of the first items of my "to buy" list was a sling. I bought one on eBay, unfortunately the seller wasn't reliable and it never arrived, so after weeks of toing and froing I got my money back and was able to order another one from a different seller. Logan was already 6 weeks old by then, and hadn't been swaddled since he was 2 days old.

He's never liked being swaddled, couldn't wait to wriggle about with his arms and legs.

So by the time he was 6 weeks old, he'd not been used to being tightly wrapped. We tried the sling 3 times over 1 week and he never really liked it. So I decided I had to go to a "slingmeet" to see what I was doing wrong.

I went to a meeting in Glasgow yesterday, and I was told to wrap it a different way to what I'd been doing. I then slotted a sleepy Logan in it, and he was fine for about 10 minutes. Then he badly wanted to get out of it. 

The meeting was really good as the girl in charge showed me different types of slings that can be used later on (my Moby wrap is a stretch wrap so can only be used until Logan is about 6 months old) and I really loved her Mei Tai. Plus they're pretty good for Logan's dad as well as they can be used on a back carry like a rucksack.

I went home and looked for Mei Tais on the internet, the price range is crazy. In any case I wasn't going to buy one just yet.

This morning I tried Logan in the Moby wrap again and he screamed. Now I had it exactly how the girl showed me yesterday so not hurting my boy in any way. We tried for 10 minutes and as he wasn't settling I took him out of it again. I can only conclude that he doesn't like it because he can't move his limbs in it.

I think I'm going to sell it on eBay and then get a Mei Tai or something similar, where he can move arms and legs. The whole point of getting a sling is so that we can go on holidays to Orkney without needing to take the pram (won't have space for it in the car with all the luggage for 2 weeks).

The first time we tried it.

A day in Stirling and Loch Katrine

Last Friday (3rd June) was the best day of the year so far with regards to the weather. So we cancelled all appointments and bundled Logan in the car, wearing a cute little summer outfit that his Auntie Caryn and cousins Lauren and Rachel had got him.

We'd stopped at Tesco on the way out of town to get some SPF 50 sunscreen and a baseball cap to protect his fragile skin, and I smeared the stuff all over his face, arms and legs for the journey out to Stirling.

Our aim for Stirling was to visit the Old Town Jail for our business. We'd brought the scarf thingy to carry Logan around while visiting, but it was way too hot so we decided to just carry him in our arms. He behaved really well, this may have something to do with the fact that it was quite cool inside the Jail, a nice break from the heat outside. We reckon it was approx. 24C in the shade!

To keep him hydrated, I decided to feed him as often as I could - after all, we were drinking a lot so there was no reason why Logan should be less thirsty than us. What he gets from me is both his food AND drink, which is to be remembered on hot days. So he got some as soon as we arrived in Stirling and had parked, and then again before we left (after visiting the Jail). 

After Stirling we headed for Loch Katrine, where we wanted to take a trip on the Steamship Sir Walter Scott. The ship has been sailing on the Loch for over a hundred years and we were really looking forward to the experience. However we took a bit longer than planned to get there and missed the 1.30 pm sailing. So instead we decided to go for a walk along the shore of the Loch, from where we could see both boats (the Lady of the Lake also sails, but it's not a Steamship so of less interest). We'd put Logan's carseat (with him in it) on the pram wheels and after a lunch of coffee and Capuccino cake we set off. It was gorgeous. Logan slept nearly all the way but he got tons of (hot) fresh air and that's really good for him.

Again he got fed as we arrived, and before we left.

The way back home was a little bit worrying as it was still scorching hot and the aircon in the car wasn't working. We'd opened the windows a little at the back so Logan could get some air, but we found the 2 hour trip pretty uncomfortable ourselves. Logan slept through it, but we kept wondering if he was still OK or had got dehydrated and unconscious because of the heat. Thankfully I had put Sophie the Girafe on top of him in the carseat and every so often we'd hear a squeak when he moved. As soon as we got home I fed him again, and you know what, he was absolutely fine!

We'll definitely sort the aircon out before our next long trip anywhere!

Immunisation

Logan had his first immunisation jabs last Thursday. Poor little soul he didn't like it one bit.

The nurse was very nice and explained that breastfed babies go through it better if they are being fed at the same time. As I had planned to spend the afternoon in town, I had fed Logan to the hilt and of course he wasn't hungry one bit...

One jag in each thigh. My poor baby SCREAMED and CRIED and it nearly made me cry. He did feed for comfort afterwards. And the nurse put plasters where she'd jabbed him. Fine at first, but then I thought, how the hell am I going to remove these plasters without inflicting pain to my baby??? Well he kept them for 2 days and we took them off while he was having a bath.

The nurse had said that up to 2 days later babies can get a bit ill and feverish after the immu, so she told me to go to the chemist's and get him some baby paracetamol as from 8 weeks they can take it.

Logan was fine that afternoon, which we spent with my French friend and Enzo, who is 14 weeks old, and my Sewedish friend and Freya, who is 15 MONTHS old and can now walk (very funny!).

He was also fine the next day, which we spent in the Trossachs and I'll post something about that later.

However on Saturday he was really cranky and got a bit of conjunctivitis. So we gave him one dose of Paracetamol, and put some saline solution in his eye, that put him to sleep and he was much better afterwards.

He was wearing his very cute Papillon outfit!

Dreamfeed 1

I have called this entry Dreamfeed 1 because I trully hope I will have an update in a few days / weeks (not too many weeks!) which I'll call Dreamfeed 2.

What is dreamfeed? I'd read about it on a forum page but didn't really know what it meant. Then a friend from Glasgow told me that she used to dreamfeed her Lucia at 11 pm before going to bed. So I asked her. For the new mums out there, dreamfeed is when your child has gone to bed at a normal time of 7 pm or 8 pm (or whenever you put your child to bed, for me it's anytime between 7 and 8 pm depending on how tired Logan is and how recent his last nap was) and you feed them when you go to bed (for me, any time between 10 and 11 pm) while they are still asleep. They don't even wake up. They smell the milk and automatically open their mouth and start sucking. It's pretty amzing really.

So last week I met up with my French friend and her wee boy Enzo and we talk about our children's sleeping habits. Enzo is 5 weeks older than Logan, which is pretty cool for me as I can ask my friend how she dealt with this or that. Logan was having a last feed around 7 pm, then I was putting him to bed, and he would wake up some time between 1 and 2.30 am to be fed again, and again around 5.30 am, to eventually wake up any time between 7 and 8.30 am. At 8 weeks old I was starting to think that really he should be starting to sleep through for more than 3 hours in the middle of the night. 

My friend said that she was dreamfeeding him at 10.30 am and that would last Enzo until 7 am. Wonderful! A full night uninterrupted for the mother. So last Saturday night I started dreamfeeding Logan. It works really well insofar as he feeds nicely without waking up so I can put him straight back in his crib (I don't even bother winding him).

The problem is, he still needs a feed at 2.30 am and again at 5.30 am!! So instead of skipping a feed in the middle of the night (I don't mind which one really!!), he's gained an extra feed!! Little greedy monkey... 

Tonight, one week on, he actually WOKE UP at 10 pm for his dreamfeed. Not a dreamfeed at all!

Hopefully in a few days I'll post a Dreamfeed 2 update starting with "Hurray!!".

I nearly woke him up with the flash taking this photo tonight!

Spot the Winnie the Pooh crib surround made by his Aunty Rona

Airport delays

Now that's we're up to date, I'm not going to stick to weekly blogs. I might do them if nothing much happens, but if something in particular happens, then I'll do a post on that particular subject.

So the title today is "Airport delays". No, I didn't fly anywhere. However, my parents came back from Iceland last Friday and Logan and I went to pick them up at Glasgow Airport.

A few facts:

1. Their flight was supposed to land at 1.40 pm.

2. They were coming from Reikjavik (however you spell it) via Manchester, with passengers coming off and on at Manchester Airport.

3. Because of their luggage, I could not take the wheels of the pram, to plonk the car seat on top and ferry Logan around in the airport, so I was just going to pick him up in my arms and carry him while waiting for Mum and Dad.

4. Glasgow Airport is 45 minutes away from my home.

5. At a push, Logan can last 3.5 hours before needing fed again (except at night when he can last a bit longer).

So with these facts in mind, I had planned on leaving the house at 1 pm. By the time I parked and made my way to arrivals, they would hopefully had got their luggage and I wouldn't have long to wait.

Around noon, Dad calls me to say that the flight is dealyed but they don't know what is happening (they are French and couldn't really understand what was being said) so they will call me back once they board the place.

At quarter to one, Mum calls and passes me through to an American tourist they had befriended, for her to tell me what was happening, so I could explain to my parents. The airline had overbooked the plane by 3 passengers and was waiting for 3 volunteers to agree to go onto the next flight for Glasgow. This had just happened so we agreed that I would leave the house at 1.15 pm.

I had fed Logan at 12.30 pm so he should be fine until we were back around 3.30 pm.

I arrived at Glasgow Airport around 2 pm, and right after I'd parked my Mum called again to say they'd been waiting for 1 hour in the plane but they were still at Manchester Airport! I did not believe her until I saw the new expected arrival time of 3.10 pm in the airport. 

Ah. What was I going to do for 1 hour with a 2 month old baby that I was carrying in my arms. Not enough time to go back home and come back (and not fun for a baby!). So I went and bought a book (not easy to do when you're carrying a baby in one arm and purchasing with the other, I was scared to drop him!!) and sat in the arrivals lounge. Dear Logan was asleep, so I laid him down on a towel that I'd spread over a couple of seats. 

Update on the arrivals board: now 3.30 pm. Just my luck - that should be Logan's feeding time. My little boy wakes up around 3 pm, and I manage to keep him entertain until about 3.30 pm, with no sign still of my parents arriving (the plane had landed a few minutes before, so I was trying to keep Logan's mind on something else than his stomach, in the hope that he would last until we were back in the car as I didn't fancy breastfeeding in the airport). That was a long enough wait for him and I did have to feed him. And then I thought: thank goodness I'm breastfeeding, I would never have thought of bringing a bottle and some formula with me since my parents were not supposed to be this late!!

At last they arrived, and all in we were back home at 5.30 pm!!

New mums out there: always make sure you bring plenty of supplies with you! nappies, wipes, formula etc... should always be in a greater quantity than you think you'll need!! :)

Week 8 - that's it we're up to date!

So what happened last week?? It's crazy I can't remember.

Well Logan got over his cold. And I am pleased to say that since we stopped the saline solution he hasn't been sick once, not even a little dribble after a feed.

We tried the wrap sling scarf for the first time last week and it's brilliant, although Logan, who loves to move about, feels quite constraint in it at the beginning. I find it great for a lot of things as it enables you to use both arms. However, with the child right in front of me, obviously I can't do such things as cooking, washing dishes, ironing etc... But hanging the washing and most importantly typing on the computer are all of a sudden feasible!! 

The other fab thing about the scarf is that it puts him to sleep quite quickly! So I've used it 3 times so far, one hour each time as about half an hour after he's fallen asleep I then like to put him in his crib (sleeping lying is better then sat I think). I need to get him used to it though as I plan on using it a lot this summer when we go on a 2 week holiday/work trip to visit the Orkneys. And I won't have space in the car for his huge pram, so we will go about visiting places with him in the scarf. 

So I need to find a meeting somewhere, where I can be helped with it, just like with the breastfeeding. Last time I used it, I had it really tight (as was recommended to me) but I felt it was maybe hurting his wee legs. And he took a long time to settle. I'll post something once I've been to a meeting.

 Logan at exactly 8 weeks old. Bit grumpy that morning.

 Doing some advertising!

  First time in the wrap sling scarf!