Snow Suit

Since Jack was about 6 weeks old I have been taking him to Layton High School football games. My clinic covers all the injuries for Layton High. Jackson has gone to all but 2 of the games (both were before he was 6 weeks old) and he never fusses. He usually watches the first half and then sleeps the second half. It is the magic of the sling. A couple of weeks ago the temperature dropped and we actually got some snow...not at the game, but it was quite chilly. I found him a little snow suit which he could wear for walks in the winter, but it works perfectly for football games too. Have you ever seen anything so cute!!!

I Miss Him When I'm at Work

Well it was back to work this week. On Monday Dustin was off for Columbus Day so he stayed home with Jack. I worked a 4 hour day, but with the commute and paperwork Dad was home with the boy ALONE for 6 hours! They did just fine. I didn't do too bad either. It was much easier leaving him with Dustin. The 2 of them spent the day walking the dog and playing NCAA football on the play station. Jackson only had one melt down...and I learned a good lesson. Don't leave Dad to put on an outfit that you have never tried on the baby first. Dustin asked that I leave some clothes out for Jack and I picked this cute outfit. I have been slowly moving out his newborn clothes and adding in 3-6 month clothes. I had never put this outfit on Jack before and it was made of cotton, but not a very stretchy cotton. When Dustin was trying to put on a long sleeved shirt I don't know if he caught Jack's finger or twisted his arm funny, but apparently Jackson started screaming bloody murder. It took Dustin about 30 minutes to calm him down, but he did it all by himself without a call to mom. Yeah Dad!

Tuesday was a much harder day. I took Jackson to his school...I like to call it school, it makes me feel better than day care. These pictures are from his first day of school. The ladies that work there are very nice and they welcomed him with warm and open arms. I don't have any fears that they won't take care of him, it is just hard being away from him. I cried on my way to work, but was able to work the whole day without any tears. Dustin picked him up and the ladies said he was the only baby that day not to have a melt down. His favorite place was to sit in the bouncy chair. He ate his breast milk well and was happy when Dustin picked him up after work. It was a good first day at school.

The rest of the week continued to go well. I can't tell you how excited I am to get home from work every day. It actually gives me more energy and I feel no fatigue at the end of the day, of course the longest day I worked was 6 hours so we will see when that jumps up to a 9 hour day. Everyday gets a little easier and as long as he seems happy I am happy. Having Wednesdays off is great. We get to spend the whole day together, just like old times!

Back to Work

Ooooo I am so sad to be going back to work. I can't believe it is that time already. I was never one of those people who thought I could be a stay at home mom. While I don't think I could just stay home, I would like a few more months at home and then only a part time return to work. I am returning slowly, I am only working 4-5 hours a day for the first week and then slowly increasing until the first of November when I will then work 4/9 hour days. Tomorrow won't be too bad because it is Columbus Day and Dustin is off work. I'm not too worried about it, but Dustin is a little nervous because with the commute Dustin will be home with Jack 5-6 hours tomorrow. To date this is the most time he has spent alone with little Jack. He will do just fine, he is a great dad!

Jack is growing every day. Just last week he started noticing himself in the mirror we have in the car. When you put his car seat in and sees himself he smiles...it is so cute. He has also been more aware of the toys that are on his car seat as well as the ones that hang over him on the floor. He doesn't really play with them, but he purposefully bats them with his hands. He is talking all the time and smiles big at mom and dad. He smiles at other people too, just more smiles with some people than with others. He likes being read and sang to. I sing to him during his diaper changes and I have a different song I sing depending on which cartoon character is on his diaper...Dustin thinks I am crazy I think, but it makes Jackson smile and that is all that matters.

We had a good last weekend together. Yesterday was spent watching football and baseball. Grandpa Treanor and our friend Jared came over to watch the Ute game. I think grandpa had a great time with his grandson sleeping in his arms. It was a good day the Utes won and the Ducks won (and yes Chuck...even Texas won)! The Red Sox lost, but it makes for a little more exciting series...as long as they win in the end. Today Jack and I went to visit my friend Kelly and her kids and we are going to spend this evening with our friends Brad and Amy. To celebrate my last night of full time momdom we are actually going out for dinner...somewhere with metal forks!!! Hopefully all will go well and I will keep everyone posted on how many tears fall this first week leaving the most important thing in my life with strangers.

My Mom Tries Real Hard

I have decided to put together some information I have learned either through my own blunders, through others or from reading. I would like to continue to, every few months, keep this same title and add more nuggets of information as I continue to learn as a first time mom. I think I have taken Jack's temperature at least 100 times and I am always second guessing what I am doing, so this is to help other moms not feel alone in their paranoia. I do try very hard to do what is best, but I do make mistakes. The good news it that Jackson doesn't know the difference, at least not yet.

SHOTS--Prior to taking Jackson to get his shots, his doctor suggested I give him Infant Tylenol. I was reading Parent magazine and one of the articles suggested that following his shots to breast feed him to help soothe him. Both of these suggestions were very helpful and he came through his 8 week shots without too much distress. However, I did have one blunder. About 4-5 hours after his shots I put him in the bath. The nurse suggested that either moist heat with a wash cloth or a bath would help soothe his legs and that worked very well. It is part of our bath time routine to put lotion on after his bath...don't do that! The lotion stings at the injection sites and he just screamed. It did help to get a cold cloth and wipe the lotion off the injection sites, but it was a little trauma.

NO POOP--Apparently a baby can go for a couple days without pooping. Jack's doctor said that as long as he is peeing normally it is okay not to poop. She also said that anything from runny to very soft is normal.

CLOGGED MILK DUCTS--I have run into a problem of having clogged milk ducts. If you ever have clogged ducts you will know because your breast will hurt so bad! It aches and is sore to even the lightest touch like a really bad bruise. This can be rectified in 1-2 days by placing some heat on it. One thing I have found helps me is if I heat the sore area of my breast and then feed Jack. I did speak to my lactation specialist and she suggested taking lecithin. This is supposed to decrease the "stickiness" of the milk and prevent clogged ducts. She said to dose it as labeled on the bottle.

DECREASED MILK PRODUCTION--After my clogged ducts I did notice that my milk production had deceased and it was not bouncing back after about a week. My lactation specialist suggested taking Fenugreek and this seems to have helped a lot. She said to just follow the directions on the bottle and my production would come back in 1-2 weeks.

NAPPING--I was noticing in his napping routine that he was napping much longer and more soundly if I would hold him versus putting him in his bassinet. If I laid him in his bassinet he would only sleep for 15-30 minutes as compared to 1-2 hours if I held him. My concern with this is that when at day care there won't be someone to hold him for his entire nap. I asked his physician about it and she said that since he was going to day care that I should start practicing putting him down to sleep. She said that it was okay if he only had short naps because he would eventually get tired enough to sleep for longer times.

STUFFY NOSE--Here in Utah the air is very dry and Jackson was waking in the morning with a stuffy nose. It was not runny, but just a congestion...he snorted a lot. I called the doctor's office and they asked if he had a fever which he did not, they asked if he seemed uncomfortable or pulled at his ears and he did not. She felt that it could be just the dry air and suggested running a humidifier at night. In order to relieve the congestion they had me buy some saline drops and put a couple of drops in each nostril and then use the aspirator (the blue ball from the hospital). When I did it the first time he did not mind it hardly at all and then I spoke to our friend John who asked if I put my finger over one nostril while I sucked the other...of course I had not. He said it will feel like you are sucking his brain out. If you don't plug on of the nostrils then you end up just sucking from one side to the other and not getting up into his sinus. While this was more uncomfortable for him, it worked much better. I would suggest having someone help hold the baby's head...at least the first time, they tend to rotate from side to side to try to get away from the sucker.

RUNNY EYES--Jackson's eye was tearing and at one point it was oozing thickly causing him to wake with is eye sealed shut. The eyeball itself wasn't red and the goo was only a light yellowish color and mostly clear and teary. The doctor said this was a clogged tear duct. She said that I should run my ring finger from the medial side of his eye (nose side) to the outside several times and repeat this three times a day. We are still working on getting it cleared up, but it is getting better.

I guess that is it for now...I have droned on way too much! I know there will be more to come.

Welcome Janey Ray!!!

What a great day!!! I am so pleased that I am now an Aunt and Jackson has his first cousin. Today at 12:42 am Janey Ray Korfhage was born in Portland, Oregon. His mom and dad are doing great and Janey is a healthy 8 lb 12 oz girl. We have been waiting for this day for so long and I can't wait to hold her and spoil her like a good Aunt should!! Congratulations to by Brother Brian and a woman I am proud to call my only sister, Kari. You go girl! You did it!

On top of an already good day we did take Jack to another Ute game, this one much rowdier than the first. Utah beat the Oregon Beavers 31-28 in an amazing comeback in the last 2 minutes of the game!

First Ute Game

Last Saturday we took a chance and tried out Jackson at a Ute home football game. The game was against Weber State, who is a mediocre division II team. Going into the game the Utes were 4-0 and ranked 18th. We loaded Jackson into the sling and off we went. I had a pretty good feeling because he had been to 3 high school football games, where my clinic helps out with injuries on the sidelines. He had been in the sling for those games and never complained. My only concern was the noise in the stadium. It was a beautiful 6:00 start with the temperature around 80 degrees.

Once we got in the stadium I did put some cotton in his ears, but it wasn't until I could put his beanie on later in the game that it stayed put. I fed him before the game and then again at half time. The problem was finding a place where I did not stand out too much to breast feed him. We are not allowed to leave the stadium so I had to find somewhere in the stadium and did not want to feed him sitting on the toilet in the bathroom. I found a pretty good spot and it worked out great.

Sometimes I really think that he is too good to be true. He was awake and asleep on and off throughout the game, but I did not have to get up and walk around or anything. It is a good thing, because his dad never leaves a game until the last second has ticked off the clock! It is also a good thing that the Utes won because his dad is in such a bad mood when they lose. The didn't play great, but came out with a "W".

It was also a good day for me because Oregon kicked the living snot out of WSU again! Sorry Mom, Dad and especially the Sorenson family!