Catching Up

Being a super dad can be pretty exhausting but as long as Sarah carries on recovering, staying sane and being a happy super mum then all is well.

Yesterday whilst the family were at boob sucking class, I went shopping and bought biscuits. Then I came home and read the news. This might not sound like a lot but in two weeks I haven't read any tech or sports news, so it was like a guilty pleasure just sitting and catching up on things I really like.

Leo and Sarah continue to amaze me. He's such a cutie, and progresses every day with movement and alertness, seeming to recognise the patterns of the day and being mostly cooperative. Sarah is continually trying to improve the whole experience for all of us, getting Leo to feed better or more consistently, helping me out and generally being the person I fell in love with 4 years ago.

I've started a project backing up all our photos onto Flickr whilst I've been off, and scrolling through the camera roll that it creates has been really interesting, showing off a load of moments that I'd forgotten about. It's amazing what you can get up to in 4 years, so who knows what will happen in the rest of our time. Personally, I cannot wait to find out.

Ever since Sarah arrived in my life, we've been basically one person.We do everything together, be it painting tin cans for our wedding, watching downhill mountain biking on the side of Ben Nevis or drinking nine pints of beer and not being able to walk. Since Leo (the Lion / Frog / Squirrel, depending on what he's up to) came along, suddenly we've had to be slightly independent, with me cooking meals whilst Sarah feeds Leo for example. It's been a fairly major change in our life and thankfully Sarah tearily brought it up pretty quickly as a problem that needed solving. It's going to be something to watch out for but we're aware and on top of it.

Work starts again on Monday, and it has gone crazily fast these past two weeks. I can't say I'm looking forward to going back, but at least I have a job that I really enjoy and that challenges me, so the days away from my gorgeous little family will at least go quickly and I can get back to them ASAP.

Baby update

Still a baby 😉

So last night we had wide awake restless baby again at midnight. I managed a couple of hours before waking Tom and asking him to take over for a bit just so I could grab 20mins nap.

Instead, what he did was soothe him off to sleep and sit holding him for 3 hours as he wanted to make sure I got a good rest and couldn't guarantee he would stay asleep if he put him down. Husband of the year award goes to... He then fed well and went back down well, we then went back to bed until gone 8! Not something we can do when Tom is back in the office!

I've also been feeding well! I thought I would weigh myself this morning. I am 149.6lbs, so only 9lbs off my pre preggo weight. I'm liking this diet.

We are getting brave

Yesterday we ventured out for lunch with a couple we met through NCT. They were the only couple, other than us, that went overdue and we were 4 days apart in the end. That was really nice to get out, meet their new arrival and see there is a bit of life beyond baby.

We attended a breastfeeding clinic this afternoon with some of the other NCT girls. It's just an informal get together and you ask questions when you like and talk to mothers with older babies and they let you know you can make it through.

Looking at signing up to a load more classes, Leo is going to have a busier social calendar than I ever have!

We currently have Baby sign, Baby yoga, Baby massage on the radar and would quite like to sign up for swimming.

So much waste

I decided early on in pregnancy that I wanted to try and reduce environmental impact and a couple of ways to do this was by using reusable wipes and nappies.

I have gone with  cheeky wipes bamboo and minky for wipes and they are brilliant and so easy to use. They come as a kit and have travel packs for when mobile

For nappies, I have opted for the  Bumgenius v4. I have yet to start using them as I feel they introduce an extra level of stress at a time of new, hard situations.  It's a shame really as I hate seeing all the waste! I am going to aim to start introducing them in the day to begin with so it is easier to cope with and we don't have to deal with leakage.

I can see why people don't use them,  disposable just don't require a huge amount of thought and the key to new baby management is definitely making everything you can as efficient as possible, I just hate that efficiency comes at a price to the environment.

I need to try at least, I've spent the money on the kit and it means a lot to me so I can make it happen. I just need to get over the shell shock of being a new parent first!

The Night Shift

So tonight Mr Piglet wanted more feeding through the night, and Sarah was really struggling to stay awake and keep him fed and calm. She woke me up and asked if I could soothe him for a while so she could get a proper few minutes sleep at least.

That was 3 hours ago now.

I should probably have gone to bed before now, but it is quite nice just having Señor Pigletino snoozing on me. Not sure if it's creating bad habits but hopefully not.

During this time, I've mostly been watching videos, reading blogs, and cuddling Leo. It's been a really nice few hours just chilling out.

Today we are going to a breastfeeding clinic, I think because it's always good to learn more.

Hamster Cheeks has just smushed his face against my arm and his nose is now making squeaking noises. It's so super cute. Like when he has hiccups, that's just so adorable.

Stupid babies being all amazing and cute and lovely.

Cluster feeding, whose idea was that?

I thought we had cracked it last night. We managed to calmly bypass the witching hours but we then passed smoothly into the cluster feeding black hole. Every hour ish he was feeding for 20 - 30 mins from midnight to 4ish.. Really tiring and I had to wake Tom at one point just so he could sooth him whilst I went and got food.

It threw me quite a bit as we had kind of got into a routine and then, boom; greedy baby appears.

He then started up again from about 9ish and I found it quite stressful as we had plans. I like plans; I thrive off order, routine, purpose and being on time and it is something that will hinder my state of mind if I don't learn to let it go.

I was going to cancel plans but pulled my head out my arse and went, regardless of baby protestations and it was great to get out, Leo sat quietly for the whole time and I had my first public breastfeeding experience.

All good, we have just had a couple of good sleep runs so we shall see what the night brings.

Now to sort out a wet bed from a random nappy leakage, all timed perfectly with Tom being out for tea! Typical but people manage far more! I also wore jeans again today for the first time in ages #bliss

The 'when to wake and feed' conundrum

One thing you get constantly told is to wake newborns every 2hours to feed and categorically don't let them go longer than 4. I have been going with the 2 hours in the day and 3 ish at night, but feel he can go longer and waking a sleeping baby takes more guts than a bungy jump imo!

We have a breastfeeding clinic on Thursday so will ask then, but there doesn't appear to be a hard and fast rule. I just don't want to end up with a dehydrated baby, but at the same time, I want him to get into the habit of sleeping as much as possible.

I dutifully set my alarm for 3.5 hrs this time and woke to super peaceful baby. I did my usual 'IS HE BREATHING' leap out of bed and stare then touch as that's not good enough and then decided to wait a while.

I got up and fidgeted around for a while in the bathroom and I could hear him starting to mess so I sat on the bed and waited on more feeding queues. He went to 3hr 50 mins and we making noises, chewing hand and squirming, so I am going to start going by his lead I reckon. He is a good weight, is gaining, although not fully restored yet and my milk is in.. So in theory, not an issue!

We are on the move!

Out with my beloved tomatoes at last

My more photogenic properties on display

The wonderful Maa Burgin (Sue, Tom's mum) bought us a baby carrier as a a baby gift. We decided on the  Ergo 360 and what a great bit of kit that is!


You can carry newborns in it facing forward and as they get older you have front facing, hip and back carrying options. All of these positions can be achieved by yourself too which is great.

The instructions are brilliant, it shows photos of each step and it shows how you should hold baby as you are doing it. It's really comfortable and we shall have to wait and see whether or not it turns baby into a thermonuclear pastie in the process.


Happy puppy

Lots of cheeky access

Ooh, a face.. I like sniffing faces.

Samuel also casts his vote of approval for the carrier.. Access to mummy again and a chance to investigate this new little package he's been aware of for a week and not had much involvement with.

Again, a really positive response from him. Was just desperate for a sniff assault so I had to keep a good firm grip of his neck as it was a little hardcore for Leo. Also not the cleanest interaction a week old baby immune system could experience!