My Mistake
In the birth announcement email that we sent out, I'm pretty sure that we wrote down that Margo was 20.5". Going over the discharge papers from the hospital, she was, in fact, 20".
On the flip side, as of today she is now 21", and during the midwife's second home visit 3 days after birth, she did a second weigh-in and Number 1 Daughter had managed to gain 3 ounces. On average, breast-fed babies lose for the first little while before starting to gain again.
Now, I'm no mathematician, but according to these tendencies, by the age of 15, Margo will be 5 storeys tall and should weigh in the neighbourhood of 350 lbs. Yes, we will only ever be able to eat at all-you-can-eat buffets, but we should be able to save money on bus passes by saddling "MarMon the Persuader" up for the daily commute.
So, in most people's minds, healthy weight gain and growth is a great thing; our baby is healthy, she's got a good, strong future ahead of her, that kind of thing. Why, most people would think that there must not be any downside to these wondrous growth spurts.
Most people would be wrong.
Days 6 through 7 were what we assume to be Margo's first growth spurt. This means that Donna fed the baby 20 times in a 24-hour period, and immediately after a feeding, MarMon the Ravenous would be eating her hands looking for more. It was our first night of sleeping in 20-minute intervals, and nothing would comfort her other than a nipple. Sorry, Papa, but unless you've started lactating, at this point you're just a cumbersome obstacle getting in the way between the smorgasbord and I. It raised a lot of doubts in our minds in terms of our parenting abilities, and reason is a luxury with such broken sleep.
And then, as quickly as it came, after the 2 a.m. feeding, she fell asleep and caught up on her rest for about 7 hours, or, to put it in perspective, 5% of her life up to that point. When she woke up, she was satiated after her morning feeding. Life was back on track. MarMon the Hungry packed her bags and Margo LaDouce returned. Nice to see you again, Margo... high five!
Other events of note: yesterday was the girl's first outing. We visited my old workmates before they started their recruitment campaign and before they came back with germs and sickness from across the country. She fared well enough. We, unfortunately, timed things poorly and found ourselves coming home by bus during rush hour, a trial in itself even without a baby and stroller. Donna, still walking gingerly from the birth, was in no shape to walk home, and space was tight on the bus. We finally decided that Donna would go on the bus and I would hotfoot it home on foot, with the baby. So Mom was more than 10m from baby for the first time. Nobody spontaneously combusted, gravity continued to keep things on the ground, cheese curds still melted on poutine. In actuality, it was part of my 917 step plan to make me Donna's equal in Margo's eyes. Step 1: cut the umbilical cord. Step 2: change diapers. Step 3: go for a walk alone with my girl. Step 4: all-out smear campaign exposing to Margo that her Mom's soup stock uses puppies as a base.
Margo is also no longer content to have her arms pinned to her sides in a classic swaddle, and will grunt until she gets them free. The results can be seen in these photos. It also means that we had to cut her nails for the second time now, or have her accidentally scratch her face.
She's a pretty good kid, and what few tough times that we've had have been nothing compared to the horror stories that some parents tell. Thanks for being a teamplayer, Margo... that's friggin' team work.
- Michel
On the flip side, as of today she is now 21", and during the midwife's second home visit 3 days after birth, she did a second weigh-in and Number 1 Daughter had managed to gain 3 ounces. On average, breast-fed babies lose for the first little while before starting to gain again.
Now, I'm no mathematician, but according to these tendencies, by the age of 15, Margo will be 5 storeys tall and should weigh in the neighbourhood of 350 lbs. Yes, we will only ever be able to eat at all-you-can-eat buffets, but we should be able to save money on bus passes by saddling "MarMon the Persuader" up for the daily commute.
So, in most people's minds, healthy weight gain and growth is a great thing; our baby is healthy, she's got a good, strong future ahead of her, that kind of thing. Why, most people would think that there must not be any downside to these wondrous growth spurts.
Most people would be wrong.
Days 6 through 7 were what we assume to be Margo's first growth spurt. This means that Donna fed the baby 20 times in a 24-hour period, and immediately after a feeding, MarMon the Ravenous would be eating her hands looking for more. It was our first night of sleeping in 20-minute intervals, and nothing would comfort her other than a nipple. Sorry, Papa, but unless you've started lactating, at this point you're just a cumbersome obstacle getting in the way between the smorgasbord and I. It raised a lot of doubts in our minds in terms of our parenting abilities, and reason is a luxury with such broken sleep.
And then, as quickly as it came, after the 2 a.m. feeding, she fell asleep and caught up on her rest for about 7 hours, or, to put it in perspective, 5% of her life up to that point. When she woke up, she was satiated after her morning feeding. Life was back on track. MarMon the Hungry packed her bags and Margo LaDouce returned. Nice to see you again, Margo... high five!
Other events of note: yesterday was the girl's first outing. We visited my old workmates before they started their recruitment campaign and before they came back with germs and sickness from across the country. She fared well enough. We, unfortunately, timed things poorly and found ourselves coming home by bus during rush hour, a trial in itself even without a baby and stroller. Donna, still walking gingerly from the birth, was in no shape to walk home, and space was tight on the bus. We finally decided that Donna would go on the bus and I would hotfoot it home on foot, with the baby. So Mom was more than 10m from baby for the first time. Nobody spontaneously combusted, gravity continued to keep things on the ground, cheese curds still melted on poutine. In actuality, it was part of my 917 step plan to make me Donna's equal in Margo's eyes. Step 1: cut the umbilical cord. Step 2: change diapers. Step 3: go for a walk alone with my girl. Step 4: all-out smear campaign exposing to Margo that her Mom's soup stock uses puppies as a base.
Margo is also no longer content to have her arms pinned to her sides in a classic swaddle, and will grunt until she gets them free. The results can be seen in these photos. It also means that we had to cut her nails for the second time now, or have her accidentally scratch her face.
She's a pretty good kid, and what few tough times that we've had have been nothing compared to the horror stories that some parents tell. Thanks for being a teamplayer, Margo... that's friggin' team work.
- Michel
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on Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 4:24 p.m..
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8:52 a.m.I had such fun meeting Margo on Friday! Thanks guys... I'll never forget the little contented noises she was making while feeding. (I can only assume that was during the growth spurt in question) And the hair! Having heard my description of the cuteness my mother is now requesting an audience...
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