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i filed my claim for the baby bonus about a couple of weeks ago and today i got a call from centrelink and they want me to go to a centrelink office to show them my original citizenship certificate. also i just found out that we will need to apply for a tax file number (TFN) for butch in order for the claim to go through. apparently even non-residents without work rights can apply for a TFN provided they meet specific conditions like if their spouse is going to claim a family tax benefit, or if they are receiving super payments, among other things. lucky i found out about the TFN thing before butch leaves this saturday, otherwise it will be a pain trying to get his proof of ID certified.

the baby bonus is going towards our airfares for the wedding and if there’s any left, a cheapo laptop for me, so that i can go online in my room. i’ll probably go for a pink dell

having a wedding six months after giving birth is not such a good idea… first of all it will probably take me that long to go back to my pre-pregnancy weight and secondly, i need to give my measurements to veluz this week so that she can start making the dress. she said not to worry cos i will have to get re-measured next month, but i don’t think that’s enough time to lose enough weight. i can’t exactly go to the gym cos i’m too busy with matt and i don’t think i’m even allowed to do strenuous exercises until after six months from the birth.

i think starting next week i’ll go for walks with matt in the morning, at least if he falls asleep during the walk it won’t disrupt his nighttime routine. i will also have to hound our wedding coordinator for updates on what’s happening. i haven’t heard from her since december and i even tried emailing/texting her. hopefully everything is on track from her end. any updates to our wedding preps can be found in my wedding blog.

yesterday was a pretty good day, matt was able to sleep during the day for periods of 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. at around 6.45pm he fed and then i tried to settle him but he wouldn’t have any of it. at around 8pm i gave up with the settling cos he seemed like he was hungry again so i fed him again, after feeding i tried to settle him for about half an hour and again nothing! i was thinking and dreading that my new settling method might not be working anymore, after only a day so anyway i got tired from settling matt so i got butch to carry him and try and rock him to sleep. at around 10pm he was still awake but quiet. we moved the bassinet from the lounge room to the bedroom and matt started fussing so i fed him again up until 11pm.

anyway i tried settling him again (i didn’t want to waste my efforts with the new method by rocking him to sleep) and finally at 11.20pm he slept. i had dinner at around 11.30 and then stayed up until around 12 and decided to go to sleep just in case matt wakes up to feed in a couple of hours. when i woke up butch was still awake so i thought maybe it was only around 2am, but when i looked at the clock it was already 4.30am!!! matt had been sleeping soundly since 11.20pm

he woke up for a feed at 5.40am which meant for the first time ever, he slept for 6 hours and 20 minutes! after feeding i put him back in the bassinet and wrapped him (while still awake) at around 6.30. i haven’t tried to go back to sleep in case he needs settling, but it’s already 7am and he hasn’t made a fuss yet so fingers crossed he’s gone to sleep by himself i just checked on him and he has gone to sleep! yey!!

i’m really optimistic about this new settling method. i guess the only reason why matt wouldn’t settle last night was because he was cluster feeding and preparing himself for a good night’s rest. i hope tonight (and onwards) he’ll sleep like this at night, so that we can both get some rest i’ll just have to remember that if he won’t sleep in the early evening, then that probably means he wants to cluster feed.

matt turned one month yesterday, and what better way to celebrate it than with better breastfeeding and a new settling method! LOL

in the last month matt has been smiling randomly, crying heaps, grew to enjoy baths, developed baby acne , got nappy rash, outgrew his first set of clothes, used nearly 200 nappies and grew by 590 grams and 5 cm since birth. as for me, i became extremely sleep deprived, cried a few times, breastfed and leaked a gazillion times, lost my pregnancy tummy but still have bilbil and ate about a hundred nutella sandwiches!

i was planning to get a cupcake and a candle for him yesterday but i was too tired from the breastfeeding clinic so i couldn’t be bothered. when we got home i tried the controlled comforting techniques taught by the nurse but it just wouldn’t work. finally when matt fell asleep (after being rocked) i did some research on it and what the - it’s meant for babies 6 months and up! durr poor matt had to endure all that crying and we were doing the wrong thing!

anyway, i found this settling technique for newborns to 6 months here. i tried it on matt and it worked!!! i didn’t even have to pick him up. it took him a while to fall asleep on my first try but he actually settled before the 15 minutes was up. since last night i’ve done it about four times already. the first time he fell asleep for almost 2.5 hours, and then between 45 minutes to one hour for the rest. i didn’t get much sleep last night but i’m not complaining, at least i’ve found a method that *seems* to work!

i’ve asked butch not to rock matt to sleep cos it would just waste all the effort i’ve put on the new method. hopefully with being consistent matt will get the idea

matt really cannot settle on his own! LOL matt and i went to the breastfeeding clinic today so that i could get some tips on feeding matt. when it was time to put him to sleep he just wouldn’t settle! even the nurse admitted that she felt like she hadn’t done anything today, so she kindly booked us in for a day stay on the 13th of march.

well we’re home now and i’ve tried some of the techniques that the nurse taught us. matt is still not settling by himself but he isn’t crying as much as he did while at the clinic. i think it’s because he’s more familiar with the bassinet and also maybe because i put a worn shirt over him as a blanket (the nurse’s suggestion lol).

i’d better go now cos he’s crying again!