Cutting the Bedtime Nursing

Today was a pretty good day, all things considered. Captain Adorable slept pretty well last night...I heard him wake and moan a bit from down the hall where I was sleeping. Captain Obvious was able to sing to him and stroke his back/belly until he went back to sleep each time. At 5:40 he woke up crying hard and I sprinted in to the room. He calmed down a bit as soon as he saw me and I wanted to change his diaper before getting in bed and nursing, but I couldn't find any diapers and thus realized that I was going to have to buy diapers since there were very few left in the house! Anyhow, I got in bed with the captains and the baby immediately nursed. I was not able to go back to sleep. Then the alarm in the room where I had been sleeping went off. I couldn't do anything but lie there and listen to it since the babe was latched on and Capt. Obvious was asleep. Finally (after about 20 minutes) Capt. Obvious woke up and it turned out he had set the alarm because he thought he was sleeping in that room. Oh well. It went off an hour early anyhow seeing as neither of us ever turned that clock back.

Captain Adorable ate a good breakfast (4 ounces of yogurt!). He had a 2 hour nap in the stroller while my Mom took him on a walk (yes, she walked him for all that time!). He was in a super mood and had a good lunch (half a cup of organic potato and leek soup and some pieces of cooked veggies and tofu from dinner last night). We played and had a good afternoon. Then at 3:00 Mom took him for another walk because I had to get ready to go to my character interview. (Yes, if you apply to be admitted to the bar, you are interviewed to make sure you're not insane or a liar. Yes, I did not pass the bar, but I will and then I will not have to do the interview again since I did it now.) I left just as they were getting back a bit over an hour later.

When I got back from the interview, Captain Obvious was home and everybody was ready for dinner. Capt. Adorable ate well again. He did not drink half as much as I would like, of course. I guess as the days go on without nursing he will drink more and eat more but right now I do worry about whether he gets enough liquid. I also worry about whether he gets enough protein and fat and nutrients...like I said, I guess as there are more days without any nursing, he will continue to eat more and will begin to drink more, and he will continue to grow well.

After dinner I played with Captain Adorable for a while (sort of reversing roles with Captain Obvous, who would have to go to bed with Captain Adorable later and would have to work hard to help the babe sleep). At first I had the baby on my back in our new (organic, dark brown Ergo). He grabbed my hair, which was in a bun. I took out the bun and put my hair in a pony tail for his amusement. As I turned my head from side to side, he started to giggle and laugh at this! He had a great time playing with the pony tail and I had a great time making him giggle just by turning my head. I have an appointment at 9:30 tomorrow to have my hair cut off since I will probably lose it all with chemo. (I have long hair and have had for almost all my life.) I think it will be easier to deal with the hair that comes out if it is short rather than if it is long.

After I got tired of having Capt. Adorable on my back, I tried to tire him out by letting him crawl up the stairs (with my close supervision of course). He climbed those stairs 5 times! He seemed to get a second wind on the evening from all that climbing and we didn't put him to bed till an hour after his usual bedtime. I put him into bed with Captain Obvious, who had a bottle of EBM (expressed breast milk, in case you just joined this story) and was ready with songs and cuddling. Captain Adorable went to bed without having any of the milk and without crying...

We will see how he sleeps tonight, having gone to bed without any nursing and without any milk. My heart is aching to nurse him. I wish it was morning. And I don't want morning to come since it will be the next-to-last morning I get to nurse him.

So, I found an excellent person to accompany me to chemo class Friday morning and stay with me through chemo Friday afternoon. This person has known me since I was in elementary school and he is meticulous, intelligent, and very accustomed to dealing with the medical establishment. I am so glad he volunteered to help me out. Captain Obvious still wants to come be with me for the administration of chemo in the afternoon and I still want him to get the full benefit of the training he is attending this week. He says he can take the class anytime and he has only one wife. We will see what we decide.

I am going to ask my Mom to take a couple of photos of me before and after the hair cut tomorrow.