5 weeks old today !

My beautiful baby boy is already five weeks old and I'm amazed at how quickly the time has gone. He is so very well, and I am doing better and better. So many people have said how well we both appear and I can't explain it - Zack just seems to be coping well with social situations, and I feel good / more sane for being out amongst adults every day or two. He does get tired, and so do I, but as long as we're careful and don't overdo it, we're coming along nicely. Last night was a bit manic as we were out with Greg, Charlie, Jackie and Claudio until well past 12:30pm, and we were feeling smashed afterwards. But that is the exception rather than the rule.
I'm coping with the feeding during the night and seem to get by on the regular doses of 2 - 3 hours with an hour long feed in between. He is progressing too and manages a 4 hour stretch every now and then, which is a pleasant surprise to me when I roll over and look at the clock and hear him wimpering for food.

My mum is so enjoying being here - cuddling her little grandson each day, and having some time away from home for the month. We took a stream of photos yesterday (Fri), so here are some lovely shots for posterity.

meeting zack's mates

On wednesday we went to the Wild Cherry in Bethnal green to meet up with all the girls from our NCT class. Zack got to meet his friends, and those he'll be celebrating his birthday with next year !

(middle pic) Amy with baby Ruby (5 days older than Zack)
(bottom pic) Rae with baby Myles (8 days older than Zack)

my mum arrives

My mum arrived safely on Friday to spend a month with us and Zack. Keith leaves today for South Africa, for Harley and Tamara's wedding on Thursday. I will really miss him while he's away - it'll be a week until he returns. I am pleased my mum is here tho' as it'll make things so much easier having a loving extra helper.

Sunday was the London Marathon, and Keith's put all the photos he took onto the Flickr website. We even saw the front runners (men) coming past which was quite exciting. This all happened while my mum watched Zack sleep. Very wierd going out without the baby, and yet you know you have to go home to feed him, so it's not a complete detachment.

wednesday must be mastitis

What a week this has been. Everything was going so well - just peachy in fact - and then Wednesday hit. I had to get up early because the electrician was coming over to repair the intercom system (it's taken me the better part of 2 months to get him to come and finish a job he started before Christmas, sigh). Then at 10am I had to dash off to Hackney so that I could register Zack's birth at the Town Hall. Took me a couple of laps to find parking, then had to cart the car seat a few blocks (running late by now) to the main doors. Thankfully they were very relaxed and directed me to the little office where we filled in all the necessary forms. I retrospect I should have taken the 277 bus from Canary Wharf, but I didn't think of that at the time.
On the way home again, I started feeling the most awful pain in my left breast, and thought that rather than putting it off I should go and see the doctor. Not having an appointment and just turning up on the doorstep of your GP's practice is not how the NHS do things, so I had to go onto a waiting list. Thankfully they had a doctor on call, so while I fed Zack, I could wait (on site) for the call. He rang me within ten minutes and was surprised to hear that I was still in the building. He took a very quick look and listened to my symptoms, only to confirm that I have mastitis.
It sucks !
Cabbage leaves have become my best friends, and although I pushed through and avoided taking the antibiotics for 2 days, I am now well into the course and will have to finish them by the end of this week. I hope it's making a difference - the pain and heat have certainly subsided.
Then to make things worse I started running a nasty temperature, so I came home and shook violently for about an hour, fed Zack, then waited for keith to come home. After that it was lots of sleep and sweating it out. It really does work.

Now Zack has a nasty little cold in his nose and snuffles his way through the day. He isn't his usual upbeat self - really very mizz and anxious. I do hope it's a mild one, and he'll be over it soon. Poor little chap.

first family

Zack had his first family visitors today : Caryl & Claire. Caryl got back from Australia this morning at 5am, and decided she HAD to come and see him before sunset. It was great to have some adult company and to see them both again - it's been 3 months since our Christmas Lunch. What happened to the time ? !

Things have been relatively uneventful this past week. Zack is doing well. We are getting into a regularly feeding pattern. Keith went back to work yesterday, and we miss him so much, but it's only a 4 day week (and so is next week), so we're easing ourselves back into 'reality'.

Keith's team at work have spoilt us rotten - gifts galore and so many good wishes. They can't wait for me to take him into the office to show him off. Today he got to work to find that they'd had a mouse-mat made for him with a photo of Zack on it. How cute !!!

Too quick !

I'm sure this is something I'm going to be saying for the next 20 years, but the time is passing too quickly. Zack is now ten days old and changing rapidly. He has gained quite a lot of fat under his skin, so the overall tone has changed. His hands are fuller, and marbled pink and white. On Monday night, both Keith and I noticed that his little eyes had changed - he just seems to be able to see so much more - they seem clearer and more focused on his surroundings.

He is such a delight to us both. We are ever the doting parents - sitting and cooing over him and his every grunt and snuffle. He is feeding very well, and we are learning what he needs and what he likes. I've gone off caffeine because he was quite iffy on Saturday when we went to Starbucks for a cup of coffee. To be honest I do like my coffee very milky so it's not the biggest sacrifice for me.

He took his second bath yesterday (Monday) and seems to be getting into it. He is quite calm and happy once he's actually in the water - it's the naked bit beforehand that winds him up quite a lot.

Keith has been a superstar in every respect. He has eagerly participated in every part of Z's care, worried about me and whether I'm sleeping enough, thirsty, uncomfortable from the stitches, and if I'm stressed out because things aren't getting tidied away. We've both tried to be as honest as possible with one another in discussing our feelings and expectations. We're trying to impliment the 'Baby Wise' feeding/activity/sleeping schedule, and intend to do so in earnest from tomorrow. We both feel that Z is now feeding well, and that he just needs his time a little more structured so that it fits together well. Tonight is a good example of the way we'd like to change things...

21h30 - feed
00h30 - due for another feed, sleeps through
01h30 - hungry

What we want to do is wake him up and get him to feed at the 3 hour mark (ie. midnight) so that we can then do 3am and 6am, or perhaps 4am and 8am. We will have to see what transpires in the next 7 days.

one week old already !

well, our beautiful baby is now a week old. Fatter for sure, but oh-so cute and just a delight to his mum and dad. Yesterday we had our first outing - we got to try out some 'gear' - popping Zack in the Ergo baby carrier that I'd ordered in the States. We dashed out of here at 2:15 after a feed, and up to Starbucks at Canary Wharf. I picked up some goodies at Boots and we made it home just in time for the next feed. Funny how easily our lives have slotted into a 3 hour cycle.

Keith had some great news when we were up there - his new camera will be delivered on Monday. This much-awaited piece of equipment is going to crank the photography-hobby up a notch. Small inconvenience is that they don't yet have the lens that he'd ordered, but we'll borrow one from a friend and that'll do for the interim.

It's the weekend, and we don't have any plans. We hope to get upstairs and do a bit of pruning as the weather's warmed up so much, but this may be scuppered by wind and rain. No, I stand corrected, we currently have blue sky and sunshine. Ah well, I'll have to see what it's like in ten minutes time.