Tuckered Out

Hey there Humble Readers...

Tuckered out seems to be my constant state of being these days. 

Pippin has hit his 4 week growth spurt a couple days ahead of schedule, so I'm not getting a lot of sleep these days. The other night he was awake every hour and a half or so. Add in the fact that in less than a week Ginny has cut four teeth.  It's been challenging, to say the least. 

Breastfeeding is not happening, at least not in the traditional sense.  Pip is still getting close to 50% breastmilk and 50% formula.  I'm pumping every three to four hours (usually 15 minutes a side), and he's getting every drop I have to give him. 

Pumping and exclusivly bottle-feeding was not what I had planned, of course.  Our little man started out so well at the breast, that I had high hopes, but the effects of the jaundice combined with the realities of my life with a newborn and a toddler brought a different reality. 

With the jaundice, Pip became an incredibly lazy eater... a trait that has still lingered, even though I have tried every trick under the sun to keep him awake.  He simply eats a little, and then dozes off, only to wake up 5 or 10 or 15 minutes later ready for more.  He even does this with the bottle. 

Struggling to keep him awake to eat, then ultimately bottle feeding, and then having to pump meant that every feeding was taking an hour and a half.  This routine was completly impractical, and honestly impossible to maintain.  Something had to give. 

That something was breastfeeding. 

I know that he's still really young and we may yet be able to get him onto the breast.  I still try once a day.  I am hoping that perhaps this growth spurt and his increased appetite might prove helpful in this regard. 

I also know that a nursing baby will get more and better milk at the breast, than what a pump can draw out.  It was a choice I had to make. 

I'm trying to keep the feelings of having copped out at bay.  I'm constantly reminding myself that Pippin is growing like a weed, and he isn't hurting for food.  I'm also working hard to remember that I'm providing half of his dietary needs without medications or supplements, and that is such a huge improvement over what I was able to provide Ginny. 

I don't know how long the pumping and supplementing will last.  Ideally, I'll be able to get him on the breast and have him stay awake.  But if that doesn't happen relatively soon, I'll have to take a hard look at how long I can continue pumping.  The pump rental is expensive, not to mention that it's still taking a long time for each feeding/pumping session, even without actually breast feeding.  I'm tentatively looking at our 6 week doctor appointments as a possible weaning point, but we'll see. 

Both wee ones are sleeping just now, so I'm going to try to catch a few zzz's myself.  I hope you all are keeping well.

Technical Difficulties

Hey Humble Readers...

I had a great post planned for today, but my comment section is going really wonky and attempting to fix it has taken away any of my creativity.  Not to mention patience. 

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. 

I'll write something worth reading tomorrow.

Apologies

I am sorry, Humble Readers...

My energy level this past week has been in the barely functional range.  The good news is I have been getting better sleep at night, but I then end up taking major naps during the day (we're talking 2-3 hours at least).  I thought the second trimester was supposed to be less sleepy... my poor Beloved has been having to cook his own meals, and you know when I'm too tired to cook I must be comatose. 

I have 3 days off coming up, starting on Sunday.  I'm hoping to get caught up on what's going on in your corners of the world and post something worth reading. 

Until then, be well and stay smurfy, Humble Readers!

Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Week 9 Zzzzzzzz

Good Morning Humble Readers...

Your friendly neighbourhood hobbit is living in a fog these days.  I'm so exhausted that I can barely function.  As I sit here, I can barely keep my eyes open.  Sleep has gotten a bit better tho, I'm sleeping most of the night in bed, thanks to my new body pillow. 

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The wierd dreams have continued, with scary overtones.  Most recently I had a long rather convoluted nightmare about being at an airport (why all the traveling?) and being robbed of $15K while going through security.  And that was just the beginning... there was a weird dance club for little people (ie people with dwarfism) and I ended up being chased by a balrog (the fire monster from the mines of Moria... Lord of the Rings). 

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Is it possible to have sciatica this early?  A couple of times I have fallen asleep on my left side, and when I wake up I'm in agony. 

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In other news, my Beloved has demonstrated a new level of handy-manliness.  Keep in mind that he is an accountant, who is at his best in front of a computer working with numbers.  About a month ago, I bought a new shower head, but hadn't gotten around to changing it yet.  This past weekend, while I was at work, he not only went to the hardware store and got the pipe tape we needed, but actually did a great job changing it out.  I'm VERY impressed.

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I still can't get my halfling-ticker thing to correct itself.  It always changes on Thursday evening, but my new week doesn't start until Monday.  Hmmmm....

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We've decided that we are going home to K-town for a week in July.  I'm excited because I haven't been home in more than two years, but I'm not looking forward to the drive or being there at the hottest time of the year.  Mom and Dad have a pool now, so I might see if I can find a jumbo extra huge swim suit so I can just float for the week.  We had planned to go out there this month, but Mom and Dad are going to be in Vegas during the week we were able to take off.  So, in just over a week we will be havig a stay-cation.  Going to get some stuff done around the house and maybe go on a couple little road trips.  Oh, and we get to have Sunny the Pug for a few days. 

How to Tell When A Hobbit is Tired...

Good evening Humble Readers!

(This is likely to be my second most boring post ever!  There was one post about a year ago that no one commented on, and I think this one might just tie that...)

Oooooh my, I am pooped tonight.  My work week was only three days, but I just am wrung out.  All day long I was using the wrong words (saying computer when I meant cucumber, one staff person's name when I meant another, reminding my staff to change their clocks on Sunday rather than Saturday... oy!). 

It's been weird at the store lately.  Quiet, traffic-wise, but lots of busy work.  

Back during the olympics, I ran a contest for the staff.  I divided them into teams and set criteria for earning points.  Each team was given a country name... and after the two weeks, Denmark won the gold medal.  The prize for the team was a free lunch... but not just any free lunch.  I would make them something fantabulous! 

Things got a wee titch complicated when one member of Team Denmark told me he had a long list of allergies and intolerances (he can't handle spicy food, and for him ceasar salad dressing is too spicy... oh my) and another told me that she can eat pretty much anything except garlic (her husband is deathly allergic, so she can't have it at all... double oh my... no garlic?????).  The other two just had some basic nut and dairy issues, but I could work with that. 

I looked at the schedule, and today was the only day for a while that they were all going to be working at the same time, so I planned accordingly.  Except, I didn't take into consideration that I was scheduled to close last night and open this morning.  Yikes!

So, last night, at 10pm, I was cooking two separate meals.  Mandarin Almond Chicken with rice and salad for W & J (my food restricted folks), and Chicken Souvlaki, Roasted Greek Potatoes and Not-So-Greek Salad for M & R. 

By the time I crashed on the couch at around midnight, I was done in! 

It took me a while to fall asleep because my back was aching, and the alarm went off waaaaaaaay too early.  I was up and putting the finishing touches on the dishes at 6:30 this morning. 

Don't get me wrong.  I had fun last night cooking.  It was an adventure to make something that I hoped they would all like and still meet their tastes.  I just should have found another day to do it. 

Add to all this that my work shoes are pretty much dead, and are making it challenging to get through a shift on a good day...

I'm sore, I'm tired, and my Beloved and I are going shopping tomorrow in Calgary (Ik.ea here I come!)... I think it's going to be an early night for me. 

So, what do you guys have going on this weekend?

December ICLW... Merry Christmas!

Good Evening Humble Readers! And welcome to all you ICLW-ers who may be encountering my hobbit hole for the first time. I hope you are all having an excellent holiday season.

Thanks so much for all the feedback on my chart. It's still wonky... FF actually moved my crosshairs to CD 14, which is actually a pretty normal day for O for me, but it doesn't fit to what I see on my chart. Temp-wise, anyway. Who knows... I'll start testing sometime around Christmas, and keep testing every other day until I get an answer either way. Funny enough, I'm feeling pretty mellow about this cycle. We'll see what the end of the week brings.

In other news...

I forced myself to stay away from the blogosphere all day today, until my wrapping was done. I have to say that this was not my best year for Christmas wrap. I will admit, when it comes to gift wrapping, I have a tendancy to channel Martha. I'm a perfectionist, and I will usually happily spend several hours tying beautiful bows out of carefully colour coordinated ribbon for all my gifts. I will make sure that I have gift boxes so that wrapping is easier. Normally, I choose my giftwrap early, find the ribbon to go with it, get all my needed tools, pop in a movie and enjoy the process.

But this is not a typical year. I'm running out of time. I've run out of energy.

Today...

four days before Christmas...

I attempted to wrap a baseball cap...

without a box.

Someone please medicate me.

Oh, and if I hear "Santa Baby" one more time, I might move in with the Grin.ch.