Sometimes life hands you a diaper full of green poop

Sorry there hasn’t been much in the way of updates, we’ve been keeping quite busy. As I said in my last post, it has been incredibly difficult keeping Jordan’s hearing aids on him or at the very least keeping them on with minimal feedback. [Little side note here: I will probably be typing “hearing aids” a lot from here on out, I’ll abbreviate it as “H.A.” going forward.] They can’t be worn whilst nursing or napping (or bathing, I think should be quite obvious.) And they will squeal if he turns his head and pinches the tubing or loosens the ear molds just so, especially when there is always one that isn’t a super-snug fit. And of course, the one that is a super-snug fit isn’t much fun to cram into his ear canal. Since ensuring that Jordan associates as little negativity as possible with his H.A.s is important to us you can see how the whole business has been very tricky. We have put in his H.A.s every day but some days are better than others; sometimes he just wears them for a total of two hours, but the record is four. Today was one of his good H.A. days. We do our best to have some fun with the Little Dumer as soon as they’re on and running; we sing songs, read or look at picture books, play with toys or dance around and generally try to show him how great it is to have H.A.s in. We had a really great Sunday afternoon dance party, with Jordan doing the hand jive and Daddy trying to mimic him all to the sounds of Rolf Harris’ “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” and “Iko Iko.” I am sure we made quite the picture! I felt guilty at first not being able to happily have him wearing his H.A.s every waking moment but I’m coming to understand it’s a process, and we are bolstered and encouraged by Selma and EHP liaison, Lori. In case anyone would like to hear it, I've added "Tie Me Kangaroo..." to the playlist, scroll down to the bottom of the page to choose it out of the list (it's good fun, mate!)

Chris and I have also made a decision about which interventionist program to sign up for. It sounds like The Deaf Children’s Society (DCS)will be able to meet all of our needs, they are extremely flexible, and it doesn’t hurt that we have a connection with the location with Chris working in Burnaby. We will be meeting up with the program director, Janice, tomorrow to get all the ducks in a row. You can read about DCS on the list of references to the left, or click on this link http://www.deafchildren.bc.ca/membership/index.html where you can even become a member for a small fee. You’d be supporting a group that supports Jordan and you even get a few perks like a newsletter, please consider it.

Let’s see, what other news do we have? Oh yes! It was a big day for the Dumaresq Family on Saturday! Mommy and Daddy went out together for the first time since Jordy was born! The Drivers babysat for us while we went to the movies to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was so fantastic to get away on a date! And it couldn’t have gone too badly for Mark and Aida, as they weren’t holding our baby and his diaper bag out to us to take as soon as we arrived to pick him up! They even said they’d be willing to do it again. Mommy wasn’t the least bit nervous; she was able to enjoy herself completely! We couldn’t think of anyone better than the Drivers to look after our boy the first time. Thanks guys!

Mark & Aida with the little Dumer. Jordan waves 'bye to us, but he's already interested in other things

And finally, it appears there are still some things I have to learn the hard way! A few days ago I noticed, as mums will do, that my boy’s poop had a slight green cast to it. I promise I will refrain from describing it in detail, and that all this poop talk will lead to a very good lesson learned in the end! But I digress.... This diaper-load caused me some concern so I googled breastfed-infant-green-bowel-movement. Hey! This is what the internet is for! What I learned is that this is often an indication that a breastfed babe is not getting all of the high-fat hind milk. For those who aren’t familiar with the wonders of human lactation, breast milk comes out in two stages: the thinner sweeter foremilk, and the richer high-cal hindmilk which is necessary for baby’s growth and development. It takes a while for a nursing babe to get to the “good stuff” and apparently I wasn’t allowing Jordy to do so. Apparently I made the somewhat common mistake of watching the clock and not the baby and switching him to the other breast after about fifteen minutes. Turns out this is kind of like making someone a fabulous steak dinner, but taking away the plate with the steak just after the salad was eaten. See, I had frequently heard surprised comments from others about how “long” the kiddo nursed, as if it was abnormal. And true enough, I had never seen another baby nurse as long as Jordy likes to. He did have a tendency to slow down around the fifteen minute mark and let me break his latch without a fight, so I thought I was doing the right thing. Well, what do I get for worrying about the opinion of others? A few diapers full of green poop, that’s what! Granted, I am not normally one easily swayed by nay-sayers. I allowed myself to be easily convinced because it’s so damn hard to sit still for long stretches of time with an infant latched on to my guns! I’m working on fixing the problem by allowing Jordan to control our nursing sessions. Rather than dislodge him, I wait for him to fall off the breast and I “block feed,” which is nursing on just one side any time in a three hour span that he wants to feed. His poop has since lost its green hue; it looks like mustard but its no-ot! I am learning so much from this little guy of mine! I am reminded that things are no longer about me, or the opinions of others but about my little Squirt and what he needs and wants when he needs and wants it. Someone once said that a perfect example of minority rule is a baby in the house. Amen, brother.

Just call him LL Cool J - all the Ladies Love Cool Jordan!

Here he is with Catherine and Peggy, more of Mommy's Starbucks cronies.