Mom and Baby Group Addendum

I've been thinking more about mom and baby group. First, about an interaction involving these two particular women from mom and baby group. They looked a lot alike, so maybe they're related? And their babies were two of only three cloth-diapered babies in the group (both diapers green). Atticus would have been number four, except that my thus-far limited cloth diaper stash (awaiting shipment of more bum genius this week) was in the laundry, so he was in a disposable. I was perturbed by this despite that he was sporting a chlorine-free diaper at least. It was as if I'd dressed him in an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt on the first day of school.

Anyhow, there was a divide between these two women and the rest. The two pretty much just interacted with each other, except when they were dispensing expertise to the rest of us. Another woman asked the doula at what age she could use sunscreen on her baby, and the two mothers of green-cloth-diapered babies interjected about an environmental website that rates such things. They said that the safest baby sunscreens often use zinc oxide as the main ingredient, the same ingredient used in diaper rash creams.

The woman who posed the sunscreen question: "I don't know about that. Zinc is a metal."

Mother #2 of a green-cloth-diapered baby: "Iron is a metal too, and without it, your brain wouldn't develop."

The woman who posed the sunscreen question: "I'm rubber, and you're glue. What bounces off me sticks to you." (Okay, no, she didn't say that, but if it were up to me, she would have. I'm not siding with her. She did sound like an idiot, but still...)

Second, about the fact that it was recommended that we remove our babies' diapers while we massaged them, except I didn't dare risk that Atticus spray the neighboring babies and their mothers with his excrement.

Third, while massaging his toes, I noticed that Atticus had toe fuzz. I need to do a better job of bathing him the next go-around.

Mom and Baby Group

Mom and baby group: lots of babies and lots of breasts.

I learned how to give Atticus an infant massage. I should try to do this every day, I was told. I'll try. He seemed to like it, but it was hard to tell whether it was the massage that he liked or the female baby (Annabelle) he couldn't take his eyes off of.

I bought him a new swaddle contraption. The doula highly recommended it--both swaddling and this swaddler in particular. She demonstrated it on him, and I have to say that it certainly was a tighter fit. He can wiggle an awful lot in the ones I've been using, so maybe that's why they haven't been so effective in getting him to stay asleep longer? However, she also said that it's pretty normal for a baby his size to wake to feed every 2-3 hours or more. Does "his size" mean his weight? His age? I suppose I should have asked. Anyhow, the only swaddler she had left was pink, so now my boy will be swaddled in pink each night. I figure he won't know any better.

I weighed him while we were there. He's now just over eleven pounds. Sheesh.

According to the doula, frequent pooping means a healthy baby, so while I'd like to alleviate this diaper change situation, at least I know he's eating plenty and that his digestive system is good at eliminating waste. That's some consolation.

Explosive Poops

Most parents of boys have to protect themselves and the baby and the surrounding furniture from urine sprays during diaper changes. We're not immune to this problem (or should I say "I" since I've done just about all but two of Atticus's diaper changes), but the spraying urine issue pales in comparison to his explosive mid-diaper-change poops. This baby can spray poop several feet out, and it's not uncommon for him to do so two to three diaper changes in a single day (sometimes four explosions in the same diaper change). Am I feeding him too much? Am I eating too many vegetables? I don't have a clue, but no mother I have mentioned this to so far recalls her baby ever (ever!?) pooping during a diaper change. At the moment I have a towel draped over his changing pad because all of my changing pad covers are in the laundry. :(

Today we're going to our first mom and baby group at the Birth Center. I'm hoping the doula who runs it will have some insight.

Thrill Seekers

Zoo's are so boring.  How many people actually get to go out and see a big cat in its own environment?  On average, the mountain lions only eat about 15 out of 5,000 visitors each day.  The odds are you will be fine.  What I don't like is the rotting human carcasses on the side of the road.  That is a health hazard in my opinion.

Grandpa Riggs and Grandma Cunningham visit Atticus

Dad and Jean arrived on Saturday afternoon.  They are in town for the week.  We went on a big excursion to Sabino Canyon today.  Michelle also got in her first post birth jog.  Atticus has been a bit fussier the last couple of days.  Nothing terrible.  No worries.

First Bath (video)

First bath

First Bath

Atticus had his first bath last night.  We put him in a trash can.  OK, not really, it is actually a trash can marketed as a baby bath.  Atticus was totally calm about it.  He even sat up on his own for a minute.  So Atticus is officially clean for the first time in his life.