Clara and Everett

Clara and Everett

Sunday, February 2, 2014

First Time Mommy

Tiffany encouraged me to put my notes to her sitters on the blog so I can look back at them. She says I know Clara well. ;) She is too sweet to me. I liked the idea. I can look back at how crazy I was/am and remember all the details of where she was when I had to pass her off to others.


Tid Bits to help get to know Clara:

Sleep: Her first nap is between 9:30 and 10 daily. She usually sleeps about an hour, sometimes more. The more the better, keeping her up during the day doesn’t help her sleep at night. The more she sleeps during the day the better she sleeps at night so YAY for sleep if she does!! If she is going through a growth spurt she may sleep most of the day, that’s great! If she sleeps less than an hour and she ends up cranky, she is still tired and needs to sleep more, I swaddle her and walk her in the sling while I do errands around the house, it usually takes less than 10 minutes to get her back to sleep and I lay her back down in the sling because trying to get her out can wake her, unless she happens to be out cold. I swaddle her to keep her hands in because she rubs her eyes a ton and wakes herself up. I have let her sleep unswaddled in case you didn’t want to or she busts out, it is a trick to get the perfect swaddle that keeps her in, I can show you if you’d like. Depending how long she sleeps she will nap again usually around noon or 1 for an hour and again between 3 and 4, so she will probably be napping or ready for one when I come to get her. So typically three hour (or more) naps a day every few hours. She is normally quite content when fed so if she is cranky the problem is probably lack of sleep. If you can keep her on an incline, even if it’s slight, it helps her reflux. Being home alone with her I purposefully leave the TV on so she is used to noise however she is and always has been a pretty light sleeper. She doesn’t sleep through me doing dishes and wakes too easily, sorry! :/ I do my best to make noise so she will sleep better for you! When putting her in her sling, position her butt where the tag is so she is sitting up, otherwise she hates it. She usually cries when I put her in, however once I give her the pacifier she is quite content. She is normally pretty good about lying happy for a bit after she wakes. Once in a while she wakes with a cry, many times she just needs her pacifier and she’ll go right back to sleep. If you need our monitor please let me know and we can bring it daily, her cry isn’t too loud.

Eating: she is usually like clockwork eating every three hours unless she sleeps through it. If she sleeps through her three hour feeding she will eat like a shark when she wakes probably eating more than usual. She usually eats at least 3-4 ounces; later in the day she tends to eat 4 or more. Most of what I have prepared to bring is four ounces, if you think she may want a few ounces more, instead of warming an entire 4 ounces of breast milk she likely won’t drink in full please use the formula I gave to supplement. Andre will bring frozen milk for you to thaw in a bowl of warm water; I feed it to her at a luke warm to warm temperature. If she doesn’t eat with Andre in the morning she will need 1ml of her medicine in her milk along with 1ml of vitamin D. I will remind him to bring it and let you know. You can use the vitamin D dropper to measure her medicine as well. If you can’t time her meals and she gets too hungry and cranky about it she may cry when you try and feed her and refuse to eat at first. If you stand and walk for a minute she will take it and calm down, then you can sit back down. She just likes you to know she was waiting, I think. J She usually needs to be burped every 2 oz max, even if she cries when you pull it away there is usually gas in there, a big part of her problems…gas! I burp her for a few minutes between ounces. If she doesn’t burp after a few minutes I begin feeding again. After her bottle is gone I burp her for about ten minutes. The Dr. Browns bottles help her gas, especially with the formula.  Her first burp is usually dry and there is usually a second shortly after that brings up any liquid if there is any coming. Watch your clothes! Changing positions helps her burp, I go from my shoulder to sitting her on my lap, she is a mover so watch your chin, her head can be all over! The doctor said to keep her upright for 30 minutes after her meals, I know this isn’t always possible but it helps her a lot. I just make sure never to lay her flat after for at least thirty minutes, if you need to put her in the sling or car seat the incline helps. She is borderline too light so having her eat well is great!! If you warm a bottle and she isn’t hungry, sometimes it hard to tell, please don’t use it after an hour of sitting out. If she starts to eat from a bottle and doesn’t finish it, you can dump it. We do not rewarm any bottles or put them back in the refrigerator. I’ll send three bags of frozen milk daily and one extra to keep in the freezer, let me know if that’s not enough. She will eat her formula, she may make a sour face at first and play with the bottle but when she realizes that’s what she is getting she will give in and eat it. If she doesn’t eat for Andre in the morning you may get my morning milk that I pumped. When giving her her medicine, I only put it in 2-3 oz of breast milk to make sure she ingests it all, like I mentioned before she is not always too hungry in the morning and it’s important she gets drinks all her medicine. Then when she finishes I’ll pour the rest of the milk in for her to finish if she is still hungry. Let me know if any of this doesn’t make sense. I’ll send three to four bottles to use throughout the day so you can use a clean one each feeding, you can return them to me dirty in the bag and I’ll wash them nightly. I have gerber and dr. browns, if you are using formula please use the dr browns to help with gas.

Diapers: I usually change her when I feed her. I like to change her before so she doesn’t have to lay flat after eating because part of her meal will come up along with a great case of hiccups; however she usually poops while eating. I’d rather you use too many diapers to help her reflux and if you have to change her again if she poops, oh well. I do change her ASAP after she poops but if she is eating I let her finish. I also put cream on her every diaper change, please feel free to use a lot, I don’t want her to have diaper rash. I’ll bring one for each of you to keep at your changing station and let me know when it gets low. Lately she has been pooping out the sides of her diaper, yuck, hopefully that phase ends soon. I’ll make sure you have a few changes of clothes in case this happens. There are blue bags in her diaper bag on the inside pocket if you need to put soiled burp clothes, blankets, and clothes in. If you prefer to bag diapers before throwing them in the trash feel free to use these bags for that as well.

Entertainment/Happiness: She is happiest laying/sitting on her own; she doesn’t care to be held all that much unless it’s in her sling or upright and facing out. I think she got used to being held that way because of her reflux. She loves to play in her gym and she loves to have conversations. She loves to watch your tongue and your mouth move. Lately she has enjoyed reaching for and grabbing at her toys. If she gets unhappy she tends to be easily distracted by playing with her and shaking her rattles and toys, I’m sure things you already know. She is normally quite a happy girl as long as she is fed and well rested. If she ever gets extremely cranky her pacifier, being swaddled (if she’s not too hot), and walking around holding her out and upright calms her best. She does not like to sit still…sorry!! She rarely enjoys sitting on the couch on your lap, she’s an on the go kinda gal! If you can get her to do belly time for a few minutes a day that would be awesome, she has just started tolerating it. She loves her pacifier; it helps soothe her in all situations so I’d keep it on hand aka attached to her. I only put it in when she is fussy, if she is happy I try and keep it out of her mouth so she talks but leaving it attached to her makes it handy when she needs it.  I’ll put an extra clean one in her diaper bag in the pacifier pocket, there is a little picture on the outside in case you are out and about and it’s dirty and you can’t clean it, there are also wipes for her pacifier in the inside pocket of her diaper bag if you aren’t near a sink and it gets dirty. I do clean it if it touches the floor or anything else gross/full of germs.  Other than being tired the only other time she is very fussy is if her belly hurts, usually from gas or constipation. I’m sure the signs are universal but she kicks her legs hard and her legs get stiff. I can keep her gas drops in the diaper bag too in case this happens, they help a little. The directions are on the side of course but I believe she takes .3 of her gas drops. I usually gently push her legs to her belly for five to ten seconds at a time and put a warm cloth on her belly to help her get her gas/poop out. Let me know if you know better tricks I can use!

Burp clothes/blankets/bibs: I am the crazy first time mommy that washes everything, probably too much. I’d rather things clean and if you know Andre, he has me trained to keep things cleaner than any normal person. I am like that with my own clothes and blankets so I’ll probably always be that way. Because of her reflux and constant spit up she wears a bib all day; otherwise I’d have to send 10 outfits. I usually let her spit up a time or two in them before changing it, unless it’s wet under her chin or against her skin, I like her clothes and anything against her skin to stay dry so let me know if I’m not sending enough bibs or clothes. I always lay down a burp cloth or blanket anywhere she sits or lays as she spits up a lot and it saves washing the actual pads and sheets and makes for an easy clean up. I’d suggest putting a bib, blanket or both down on her changing station, on her play stations and where she sleeps. I do not mind having a ton of laundry so please send anything slightly soiled back to me daily and any blankets weekly for me to wash. I’ll let you know if I become normal and let things go.

I’m sorry if this is way too “crazy first time mom” directions, I know being with her twice a week might take a little longer to get to know her quirks so I thought this might help. I can’t help being long winded. I’m not sure how our mornings are going to go. Her nighttime sleep isn’t exactly predictable yet so she may come to you already fed or needing to eat right away. Hopefully once I get on a schedule with work things will fall into a routine with her too. Please never hesitate to call Andre or myself for anything at all, please try me first but Andre is sometimes able to answer his phone easier so if I can’t answer immediately he will. I’ll put her doctors information in the side pocket of her diaper bag in case you need to call them for any reason too along with these directions to refer to so you don’t have to go digging in your email to find something. Thank you so much for taking care of our little angel, it means the world to us to have such amazing mommies in charge of her!!! We love you!
 
 Elisabeth and Tiffany could have told me I was crazy and they didn't need all this information, but they didn't. Elisabeth said it was helpful and Tiffany told me she remembered when her mom watched Dylan for the first time and she told her mom how to warm up his milk. She knew her mom knew what to do but for some reason mommies just like others to know how they do things. I think that's okay.
 
Here are some of the emails we pass on to one another so we can keep up with how Clara is doing. I'm sure this will become less and less as time goes on and everyone gets used to her and I get used to being at work. I appreciate their efforts so much. It will be neat to look back and see what Clara's first week at her sitters was like.

From:Tiffany Feger (tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com)This sender is in your contact list.
Sent:Sun 2/02/14 8:32 PM
To: Barbie Lang (barbielang12@hotmail.com); what.the.dill@gmail.com (what.the.dill@gmail.com)
it seemed like the flow was too fast actually,
she liked the pacifier but the sight of the bottle annoyed her, and the drips going in started her having to swallow too soon before she latched on.
but I don't know. I know you need faster for cereal, and maybe she was bothered by having to work for it since she wasn't used to it.

From: Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com>
To: Tiffany Feger <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com>; "what.the.dill@gmail.com" <what.the.dill@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2014 7:38 PM
Subject: RE: Clara log 2-2

Hi Ladies,

I had a nice weekend with my love...dreading going back to work. Hopefully the week flies!

I upgraded nipple sizes in her bottles for evening a week ago since I'm putting a little cereal in to keep her full for longer. I think this may be why she was flustered while eating since it's much slower in the day and she has to work harder and she gets annoyed...so hopefully the bigger nipple with faster flow allows for happier eating. If not, walking for a minute still helped. Since the flow is faster her bottles go quick. As I'm sure you found she doesn't want to stop and burp, I let her go 3 oz and she did okay. Four was too much, but she is a happy eater until after she burps then it's getting those last few ounces or ounce in that she gets angry...I don't get it. Sitting her up some to eat helps her not choke since it's coming much faster, with the cereal it's thicker so it's slower. Maybe you already fed her that way...it helps her reflux too. You be the judge when to burp and let me know what you find.

I had her in her sling this weekend two times and she spit up in there both times. I think she is too long. It scrunches her together too much so I'm not using that anymore for now. I also held her on my hip for a second to grab laundry out of the drier...I found the same result as Elisabeth wrote about and she spit up bad. I think it is too much pressure on her belly. It was even a while after she ate.

She slept well, ate well and we had a nice weekend. Lots of laughs. I hope this week goes smooth for you both! I'll be sending milk that has 3 or 3.5 oz for her first feed since her morning feeding is smaller. I found that she wasn't hungry in three hours after her 5-6 am feed so maybe just waiting longer...I'm sure you'll be able to help me figure her out. She could probably go almost four hours since she eats so much at night she is probably still kind of full.

Thanks Ladies! I hope you both had a great weekend!
XO
Barbie

Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 21:44:06 -0800
From: tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Clara log 1-31
To: barbielang12@hotmail.com; what.the.dill@gmail.com

I put the milk in warm water and the water started getting cloudy - there was a hole in the bottom! so I flipped it over and warmed it up side down then just cut the bottom off to pour it out. you had written 4oz, and when in the bottle, it was still over 4oz, so it wasn't much that leaked out.
9:15, didn't like the bottle, but I burped her after some sips and at 9:30 she ate a lot. I stopped her to burp her, but wish I hadn't b/c after that, she barely drank more. burped plenty, barely spit up. 3oz total.
tummy/talking time on my big belly :)
likes the swing, it's sitting up for her so that's perfect.
11-12:30 nap in the swing
1:00 i started her on her milk. She drank 3 of the 4 oz of milk, but took a half hour to get her to start eating ( I gave her a break) she was playing w/ the nipple and laughing at me. then she fell back asleep on me. I didn't really want to put her down, but figured I should clean the blankets/toys before Vicki and Barbie came so I swaddled her and put her in the bassinet and she slept for an hour, 'til 2:40. The day went by so fast!
Still no poop but there was some gas at the end and she was a little fussy, I was bracing myself but Barbie came.
Congrats on a first week completed! you did it! Clara is happy, she still needs her mommy but is content with us. She's easy! Except for the not being in the mood for milk, yet I'm sure she's hungry part. The pacifier and bouncing/walking and giving her breaks works.
I think she had the pacifier for the first nap (I remember Barbie saying that sometimes she'll wake up and will just need the pacifier put back in, so since I didn't swaddle her, I had the pacifier in). But none for the 2nd nap.
And Barbie, you should blog your long email to us :) It says everything about that phase of her life, which is already changing, and shows how much you're in tune to your baby girl! I remember having to tell my mom about how long to leave milk out and how not to use too hot of water to thaw it and to never microwave it etc even though she is a mom, a good one, but I wanted to make sure she knew my way.
I have a 4.5 oz milk in my freezer left over.
corrie and you freeze a lot at once. I only did up to 3 oz each feeding, usually a lot less. but I didn't have such a good schedule baby so they ate more frequently probably. you're amazing!
p.s. if you happen to remember to price Tic Tacs at Sam's Club, then I need 60+ and Corrie needs that many too. We'll pay you back. I didn't go to Wal-Mart today. I'm not in a rush, I just need them by Valentine's Day, so if you want to stay home tomorrow, then please do! Or Steven can borrow Andre's card if Wal-Mart doesn't have them, or Corrie can go to Costco for us. I can probably order them, I have enough time!

From: Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com>
To: Tiffany Feger <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com>; "what.the.dill@gmail.com" <what.the.dill@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 7:15 AM
Subject: RE: Clara log 1-31

Yikes, not yet. She has had lots of stinky gas. Lucky you! She ate at 6 with Andre, had her medicine and vitamins. So shortly after he drops her at 9 she will be hungry I'm sure. We're finding she is eating much less in the mornings. At night she pounds 6-7 ounces at two feedings and kind of waits until the afternoon to eat more so I'll start to freeze bags with three ounces. She went back to sleep this am so you'll want to ask Andre what time she got up, she is usually happy for about an hour and a half and then needs a nap. I am having Andre dress her in long sleeve bc it's still cold out there but it is supposed to warm up so there are short sleeve onesies in her bag.

Also, you may know this already but after you thaw a bag of milk it needs to be used. Elisabeth noticed it got smelly after it sat in the fridge after being thawed so we'll need to keep them frozen until use. That was something I didn't know. If ANdre follows my directions today he'll be bringing one bag that has 3.5 ounces so you may want to start with that one since the others will have more.

Have fun today! Thanks Aunt Tiffy!

Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:05:42 -0800
From: tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Clara log 1-30
To: what.the.dill@gmail.com; barbielang12@hotmail.com

so did she poop?
:)

From: Elisabeth Cannon <what.the.dill@gmail.com>
To: Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com>; Tiffany Feger <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2014 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: Clara log 1-30

8:30 am Woke up from morning nap as she arrived with Andre
9:15 am Ate 2.5 oz.
11:10 am Napped about an hour total; woke up after 45 min. and went back to sleep for a few more after I readjusted her swaddle
12:20 pm Ate 3.2 oz.
1:50 pm Napped about 40 min.
3:00 Ate 2.7 oz. Had a lot more spitting up than other times that I've fed her in the following half hour, but I was moving around a lot and carrying her with one arm on my hip so maybe that was a little too much pressure on her stomach.

It seemed like today Clara was less content than on Tuesday. Honestly, I think the novelty of our house is gone and she realizes that when she comes here she is not at home with Mom. She seemed to crave a lot more interaction and would fuss if I left whichever room she was in. I ended up holding her quite a bit more today than on Tuesday. She continues to enjoy lying on the floor in the little "gym," especially when Altazara is there playing with the chains and toys too. We tried about 1 minute of "tummy time" which was not a happy minute. But we'll keep working on that and see if we can make it more fun!



On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 7:46 AM, Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com> wrote:
Good Morning!

Clara didn't poop at all yesterday Elisabeth so watch out! ;) Her belly may be upset and a blowout might be on its way. Andre fed her at 6 so I'd say by 9ish she'll be hungry. She hasn't been eating as much in the mornings though. Also, he is not so good at feeding her without waking her up so she was ready to go at 6 and hung out with me ;) while I got ready this morning, my best morning yet! Needless to say, she will be tired sooner, I hope naps go better for you. She did sleep yesterday with three kids playing so hopefully you'll have better luck today. She has been eating her bib and pulling down hard on it and the back of her neck was getting red so I have been putting one of her little "toy blankets/stuffed animal" on her lap and she grips that instead, I sent one in her bag today. There is a camera in the side pocket of the diaper bag, I'd love to blog pictures of her and Altazara if you don't mind her pictures on my blog, only close friends and family have the address: theotherfegers.blogspot.com - so feel free to take lots of pictures and some selfies too with them! I'll be running out the door at 3! Thank you for taking care of my darling, it means the world to me!

Warmly,
Barbie
From:Tiff (tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com)This sender is in your contact list.
Sent:Wed 1/29/14 6:35 PM
To: Barbie Lang (barbielang12@hotmail.com)
Andre? Working saturday?! Thats cool. I can often help wednesdays, like today-no plans :)

Yay for u just snuggling and loving clara:) no lesson plans sounds fine to me. U r still a better teacher than most!

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 29, 2014, at 5:28 PM, Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com> wrote:
You're too much! You are already helping us out, now providing wipes, being my therapist, photographer, what am I missing!?!?

Today was better...morning tough still; I can tell I will get used to it even though I will always hate it!! It was too much for our sitter today though, she had four small kids including Clara so I think andre is going to work on sat so he can stay home on wed with her! The sitters infant needs to be held all day, dad teaches tae kwon do so isn't always there. Yay for Clara!!! That made my day. His choice too! She will now only have to adjust to two new places not three. She did great today though, both sitters saying how happy she is and what an easy girl she is!!

I'm a different teacher, not doing plans as of now. My time after work is all about her, if I get fired, so be it. My days are insane, the expectations of teachers is crazy and getting crazier! Four crying in faculty meeting this am, it's too much. I'm just taking one day at a time and I will wait until I get in trouble for not doing all the bs to start to stress about it.

Come home and snuggle Clara all night. No dinner. The house is a mess. I could care less.

I think taking today was brilliant! Those are the days they will remember! You are such a fun mom!!! Can't wait to read about it!

See you Friday! I will be jumping for joy for the weekend!!!

On Jan 29, 2014, at 5:09 PM, "Tiffany Feger" <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com> wrote:
oh I've got refills :)
how was today?
don't hate me, but I kept my kids home from school today. we were all dressed and in the car, but then I asked if they wanted to go to Publix to pick out Isaac's bday cake instead b/c we were going to be like 5 min late. (If it had been a good day, I was planning on taking them to the zoo so I wasn't motivated to take them to school even though I didn't have anything fun planned.) they're done w/ testing and it's before the 100 days of school day, so it was an ok day to do something fun. I blogged our random day while at Piano. now on to tae kwon do!

From: Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com>
To: Tiffany Feger <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 5:05 PM
Subject: Re: Clara Log-- January 28

I think we should send wipes to refill your warmer!!

On Jan 29, 2014, at 10:58 AM, "Tiffany Feger" <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com> wrote:
no need for extra wipes here, I use a warmer upstairs for tyler and ivy june bug.
poo changes and we always looked it up too, if you're worried ask the doc, but it sounds like she's ok. I'll let you know how swaddling goes. I have a baby sling (or 3) myself so you can keep yours.

From: Barbie Lang <barbielang12@hotmail.com>
To: Tiffany Feger <tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com>; Jessica Kate's sister-in-law <yourtrainerjessica@juno.com>; "what.the.dill@gmail.com" <what.the.dill@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 7:05 AM
Subject: FW: Clara Log-- January 28

Good Morning Ladies,
I can't thank you all enough for watching my love. Knowing she is with such great mommies makes this return possible. Jessie, Tiffany is my sister-in-law who will be watching Clara Mondays and Fridays. Elisabeth is a wonderful friend of Tiffany (and now me!) who will watch her Tuesday and Thursday. Jessie is watching Wednesdays. Tiffany has four boys and is pregnant with her fourth...a GIRL!!! Elisabeth has a beautiful angel Altazara who is 2 and a half-ish. Jessie has two girls, one that is about two weeks younger than Clara. She is also watching my friend Kate's son Liam. Elisabeth thought of creating this log since Clara is with so many different people it will be easier to keep track of her routines and such. If you have the time for a quick email to us all that is great, if not I understand completely, you are already doing enough for me by taking such good care of Clara.

New things:
-she is eating her hands like crazy, to the point where she gags herself. If you can keep her pacifier in instead I'd prefer that since I feel I can keep it cleaner and also take it away one day. I was a thumb sucker for WAY too long so I'm hoping to avoid that with her.
-she now seems to poop once a day. Elisabeth it was on our way home again and of course, through her pants. It's very "liquidy" now so it seeps out the sides and top, all over! Watch out. Do any of you mommies know why it went from kind of a paste to more of a liquid. I read it means they may have a stomach bug but she has been doing this a few weeks now and her belly seems to be okay. Should I be concerned?
-I think it is going to be an adjustment for her to nap in new places so any sleep you can get from her is great! She is now busting out of my swaddle which I thought was as tight as possible so maybe we should just get her used to sleeping without it. Elisabeth noticed what I did, she wakes herself up because she is all over the place when not contained. Thoughts?
-it seems 12am and 530am are consistent (for now) wake up times to eat so I have been putting medicine in her morning bottle at 530. I'm pretty sure andre and i can handle that in the am so it will probably be very unlikely you'll have to give her the medicine and vitamins, I'll be sure to have Andre let you know if he didn't.

Jessie, since she is only with you one day I'll make sure that there are wipes, diapers, and formula in her bag instead of bringing excess for you to store.

Thank you girls for your time and input on Clara.

Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 03:40:38 -0500
Subject: Clara Log-- January 28
From: what.the.dill@gmail.com
To: barbielang12@hotmail.com; tiffanyfeger@yahoo.com

10:00 am Napped for 15 min.
10:40 am 2.5 oz. milk
12:00 pm Napped for 30 min.
1:30 pm 4 oz. milk
2:30 pm Napped for 30 min.

Clara was perfectly content most of the day. She only got annoyed when I tried to feed her more after she was all done! She loved watching Altazara and also liked when I sat and sang songs with her. She fell asleep on her own in the cunita (little crib) with a little background noise. We're going to keep working on the naps... :)


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