Seven months!

Our little dude is now seven months (and one week) old! I wanted to take some time to update. Before I do that though I need to update with his six-month stats that we got on 5/30 at his six-month check-up. He is 19 pounds, 9 ounces, and 27 3/4" tall and his head circumference is 17". So he still has an average size head but is very tall and heavy for his age. Everyone says he looks like he is one year old already! He is going to be crawling any day now, although I feel like I've been saying that well over a week now. I think he can crawl but he just doesn't know it yet. From a seated position he'll reach for something and then he'll be on all fours. He kind of goes backwards or he'll just flop on his belly or he'll go back to a seated position. He gets all over though for not being able to crawl. He is an incredibly happy boy. He smiles a lot, laughs all the time, and is just very pleasant for the most part (until he gets tired but things around are too busy for him to fall asleep!). This past month was a big one for us! We moved him to his crib on June 7. The first night was pretty bad. I had a feeling it would be since every time I just put him in his crib for fun (it had been assembled for a bit) he would scream. So the first night he only lasted three hours. The next night was six. And then the next night was nine! Yippee! We also transitioned him to convertible car seats in June. For my husband's car we put my nephew's in on June 10. And then the following Sunday (June 17) he installed mine (a new True Fit from the First Years). He looks adorable in there. I do feel bad when he falls asleep and his head bobs all over. It is slightly reclined but he doesn't seem to know that. Ha ha. He says "ma ma ma" but I don't think it means "Mommy" although my husband insists it does. It is his hunger cry. He reaches for me and says it when he is hungry. Poor little N was sick again last week. On Wednesday I got a call around 4:15 saying he had a 102.3-degree fever and I had to come pick him up. I stayed with him on Thursday and S stayed with him on Friday and my mom came over Friday afternoon to sit with N for a bit since S had a conference call. I'm sure my mom was thrilled. N is like their first grandchild all over again! He is the only one they get to see on a regular basis (weekly at least). Anyway N did not want to sleep in his crib when he was sick. He would turn into a koala and just cling to my arm and not let go. We did let him sleep in our bed a few nights. I still kind of wish we did that all the time but I have to admit he and I both sleep better in our beds. He sleeps through the night often in his crib. Last night he slept nearly 11 hours straight! We started BLW on May 27. Avocado was the first food. He also eats rice cereal mixed with breast milk and baby yogurt at school every day. He is OK when I get there at lunch but when I get there after work he still seems ravenous. He still loves to nurse! I don't think he is really consuming much "real" food except the yogurt he eats at school. He loves to suck on lemons, little nut. He grabs them from our glasses and sucks on them. The ensuing faces are quite hilarious! He has also tried asparagus (same face as lemons), steak, applesauce, rice cakes, carrots, broccoli, snap peas (is that what they're called?), and I'm not sure what else. He mostly likes to lick stuff which I guess is all part of it. He is drinking better from a cup now. He still never took to a bottle. I do ask them to keep trying at school. I don't think it's good he goes that long. Then all evening I'm nursing him, which is fine but I feel like I can't go anywhere or get anything done. This will not last forever though and I do enjoy nursing him. I have to say though I think I'll be more vigilant with giving any future babies a bottle more regularly. I do not know if it would have made a difference with N or not because he did take one and then just stop. Speaking of future children I am still not fertile again. My LMP was 1/30/11. It feels weird to say that on 6/26/12!

Sick again!

Ugh! I just posted about sicknesses and then I got hit with another! When I picked up our baby on Wednesday there was a 10-month-old who was vomiting. A few hours later I got nauseous and two hours after that I was vomiting. It went on for awhile (1:00 a.m., then 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., etc.). I was really scared I was going to be dehydrated! My milk supply had already taken a hit from being sick the week before. I called the doctor's office to ask about what I should do and the receptionist said the doctor would want to see me. Ugh. I did not know how I'd make it there without vomiting but I did. She gave me a 1:30 appointment and up until that point I couldn't keep anything down. I'd try to run my tongue over my teeth and it wouldn't even glide; it just got stuck. My lips felt really dry too. I was still vomiting when the doctor came in. She told me something was going around (forget what it was called) and that the vomiting should stop in a few hours. But she said if I didn't start keeping fluids down and start urinating I'd need to go to the ER for fluids. She prescribed me Zofran and I went to the pharmacy to pick it up and I got some fruit bars while I was there. I took the Zofran and ate a fruit bar and to my surprise it stayed down. I tried drinking some Gatorade too and that stayed down. I did not throw up again after that! I started feeling better and better so I did not have to go to the ER. Whew! I was afraid of how much that would cost but of course if I needed to I would have. The little dude was so cute tonight! We went out to eat and we put him in a high chair with a high chair/shopping cart cover my sister lent to me. Oh, he thought he was big stuff! So cute. He was just grinning and grinning. First he tried to eat his kids' menu. It was so funny because the waiter was asking us if he wanted apple juice or a kid's meal and he hasn't even had any solid food yet. He was very good! This was his third time in a high chair at a restaurant. When we went out for brother-in-law's birthday and again for Mother's Day dinner with mother-in-law we did the same thing.

Six months...and sicknesses.

It's been so long since I posted! I just have no time anymore. Life is good, just very very busy. It's rushing out the door with baby in car seat, pump and pump parts, changes of clothes and bottles for him, dropping him at day care, getting to work, pumping, running back at lunch to nurse, pumping again, picking him up, nursing, nursing, nursing, washing bottles, putting him to bed, and starting all over again. His sleep is not great right now. Some nights he'll sleep all night and then other nights he wakes several times. He just nurses and goes right back to sleep except a few times when he was sick (more on that in a bit). My little guy is continuing to learn and grow and delight us in every way. He is doing well at day care. In fact, I had my first parent-teacher conference yesterday. He is doing well in every area except self-feeding (ha! he hasn't had regular food yet and he still hates bottles so of course he is not going to feed himself a bottle). He sits very well now for long periods of time. He rolls over occasionally. When he first learned both ways he did it once and that was it. Now he is doing it more. He loves his Exersaucer and sitting his Bumbo seat next to a basket of toys. He pulls them out one by one and plays with each for a bit and then when the toys are gone he wails. He is so cute. He is a very happy baby. In the day care I notice many of the babies are very serious. Not my boy! He grins at everyone. He is definitely my son! I'm such a smiler! He got pinkeye on Friday night, April 20. We called the doctor Saturday morning when it was obvious what it was and they had us come in. He started an antibiotic eye drop and his eye started clearing up right away. I did stay home with him that Monday. Two weeks after the first time his eye started oozing green. I thought it was pinkeye again but wasn't sure so I called the doctor on call (not his normal doctor). She said it sounded like pinkeye and to start the drops again. Well, his eyes got worse instead of better. I wound up staying home with him that Monday as well. I called the doctor to say it was getting worse instead of better and they asked me to bring him in. It was already late in the day so I made an appointment for Tuesday and my husband stayed home with him Tuesday and took him to the doctor. This time he was prescribed oral amoxicillin (the pink bubblegum-flavored stuff) which he needed to take twice a day for a week for a bacterial infection. It was horrible trying to get that stuff into him! He would cry like he was being tortured, gargle it, spit half of it back out, you name it. He was starting to do better and then on Monday (the 14th) I got sick with sinusitis. I went to the doctor Wednesday and took him with me just so she could look at him but she said he was fine and there was nothing we could do for his cough (we both had terrible coughs!). I got my own prescription for amoxicillin and within a day I started feeling better, at least from the sinus pain/pressure. The cough hung around for days. The day after I went to the doctor I noticed a gooey discharge coming from his ear when I picked him up at day care. I asked the teacher who was there if she noticed it (it had not been there at lunch time)and she said she did not notice it. It ran all night but he seemed happy and not in any pain. I asked my husband if he thought he was having an ear infection but he thought if he was it would be hurting the baby and he was fine. So against my better judgment I took him to day care. I felt like I couldn't miss any more work as I missed Tuesday & Wednesday of that week. Well, I got a call sometime between 10:00 and 10:30 from the day care telling me about the discharge and I asked if I should come get him or call the doctor or what. They said to call the doctor and call back. Well, of course they said to bring him in. I called my husband and asked him to take him in. Not long after I got an earache that I just couldn't ignore! I wound up leaving work not long after and met my husband and son at home. And I got the news that our baby had a burst eardrum! Poor little guy. So he got more antibiotics, azithromycin, 4 mL one day and then 2 mL the next four days so he finished that yesterday. Through it all he has had a nasty cough and a runny nose. I feel bad for him! He is in pretty good spirits though; you wouldn't really know he is sick. It's just been one thing after another. In other news his high chair is all assembled and we are getting ready to start him on solids! We are planning to do baby-led weaning which is letting the baby feed him/herself, no purees, no shoved spoons, etc. We have avocado and some broccoli which I'll steam. Of course we'll wait four days in between new foods in case there is an allergic reaction. I wanted to start tonight but my hubby can't find the cord for the video camera and it needs to be charged. I don't want to miss this moment on film! Well, I'm going to get back to American Idol! I should go to bed but I have to know who won. :)

Five months! Don't blink...

Five months have gone by in the blink of an eye! There are so many firsts. Little man is now sitting up on his own! He doesn't last terribly long but he's doing it without assistance. He also started day care two weeks ago. I left him there on Thursday, April 5, and Friday, April 6. I SOBBED after leaving him on Thursday. I went back and lunch time and nursed him (as I was planning to do when I returned to work) and sat in the rocking chair and sobbed again. It was one of the hardest days! Friday my husband had off (Good Friday) and we dropped him off and then went out to breakfast. We wound up springing the little guy out of there shortly after lunch. I couldn't leave him there any more when we were home. I was so sad! Monday we had the day off to go to a baseball game and Tuesday was the real deal, my first day of leaving him and going to work. I am SO glad it was suggested to me to leave him a few days before going to work. Oh, my gosh! I barely cried at all on Tuesday whereas on Thursday I sobbed! I can't imagine if I had gone to work like that. Now there is the chance I wouldn't have cried if I was at work but I would not put money on it. I had a few days to see he would be OK and survive without me before having to concentrate on work! Going back to work was both weird and familiar. In some ways it was like I never left, never had an almost six-month break. In other ways it felt weird. The dread of returning to work was definitely worse than the reality, thank God for that. He does not take a bottle very well. They can get him to take a little bit in the morning and then again in the afternoon. I nurse him at lunch and when I get home from work I just sit and nurse him on the couch for awhile. He knows what he wants! And a bottle is not it. I say he drinks just enough to survive and that's it.

April Update & The End of My Maternity Leave

The long-dreaded night is here. Tomorrow I will be taking my boy to day care and leaving him there for the first time. I am really upset and emotional and just trying to talk myself through it. I am not actually returning to work until Tuesday but I thought we would do a few "dress rehearsals." Besides missing him, obviously, my main concern is that he will not take a bottle. I'm really nervous about this. I feel like I failed somehow. He had bottles the first four days of his life and then on and off til the end of January. He started refusing and I couldn't get him to take one since then. He screams. It is very upsetting for us both.

Other than that I think things will be OK. We visited last Friday and again on Monday just so he could get used to being there and he met the other boys in his "class." I dropped the diapers and wipes off on Monday so now tomorrow I just have to put his crib sheet on and take all the normal weekly and daily items (changes of clothes, tuition check, bottles, milk, pacifier).

I am so nervous about getting us out of the house every morning with all our stuff. I just know I'm going to forget something. Once I start work again I'll have to remember my work bag, breastpump, and my food for the day in addition to his stuff. It's a lot to remember early in the morning.

I have been so enjoying this age. He giggles a lot. He shrieks (cute for a little while anyway, ha ha). He smiles tons. He blows raspberries. He grabs his feet. He is just adorable. Tonight I caught him looking at his daddy and just smiling from the other end of the couch.

My maternity leave was so long, it sort of felt like it might never end. But 25 weeks have passed and the next one will have passed in the blink of an eye. I think we did a good amount of fun things. We went to three matinees (two specifically for moms and babies). We went to La Leche League meetings, support groups at the Breastfeeding Resource Center, a couple of playdates. We also started chiropractic care which was three days per week for me and he came along to all of them but only was adjusted once per week. He has just been my little sidekick for so long now. I'm not going to know what to do without him.

My hope and prayer is still that I can go to part-time. I'd have to wait a few weeks anyway for my husband's full-time job to start. I have to remain full-time to carry health insurance for us but once he gets his on April 23rd we can switch to his I hope.

I hired a cleaning lady and she starts this Saturday. If I have to work full-time (or even most of the time) I do not want to spend the few precious hours I have with my son working around the house. I want to spend quality time with him. I'm so excited to have the house all clean. Good-bye, dust bunnies!

Learning new things!

The little man is growing so quickly! His latest things this week are: 1) blowing "raspberries" and then laughing at himself. He drools all over so I often have him in bibs! And 2) grabbing his feet and pulling his socks off! It's so cute!

We have his four-month check-up in just a few days. I'm curious to see what he weighs. On the baby scale my sister lent me he is showing up at 19 pounds.

He also rolled over for the first time two weeks ago at 15 weeks old. He just did it once though and as of yet, has not completely rolled over again. I guess it wasn't that fun!

He charms everyone everywhere we go. He smiles and coos and laughs. Tonight we were in Crazy 8 and I bought him two new pairs of pajamas and as I was checking out he started squealing in excitement. I said, "Are you excited about your new pajamas?" Ha ha, he is so funny!

I only have less than three weeks with him full-time now before he starts day care. Every time I think of it I start to cry. It is going to be so so tough to leave him there and go to work. Everyone says it will be harder on me than it is on him but it's hard to remember and believe that!

Update

It's already been a year since we found out our baby was on the way! Ever since I got out of high school it seems time goes by so quickly. But I have to say this last year must be the fastest ever! It really seems like I was just running out to the store to buy the little baseball shirt to give to my husband to tell him the exciting news and now it's over a year already.

Our little guy continues to bring so much joy to our lives. He babbles and coos and grins and laughs. He makes me smile. He is fussier than normal since he's teething but he is still a very good baby. My favorite time of day is when he first wakes and is just all smiles. I bring him into bed with me and nurse him and then we stay there for awhile. I am in no hurry for him to move to his own room. He is still in the Rock 'n Play Sleeper and I will keep him in there as long as possible. We actually sold the cosleeper bassinet on Saturday. I was not too attached to it. We had bought it used, only used it for about 4.5 weeks (when we got home until he was about 5 weeks) and then it was basically just a changing table for awhile. I did not like how it took up ALL the room between my bed and the wall (width) and blocked my nightstand. I kept bumping my incision on it as it was the exact level my incision was.

I am doing my best to fill out his baby book but sometimes I am just at a loss. For instance there is a space to write down when baby discovers hands and feet. Well, he has been sucking on his thumb since he was just a day or two old. Now he has abandoned his thumb and shoves the whole hand in there as many fingers as he can get until he gags himself. Is that discovering his hands? I don't know. As for his feet he has definitely been looking at them before but he hasn't grabbed for them yet that I recall. I'm trying not to make myself crazy with having this perfect baby book but it's hard. He is my first and I hold myself to this high standard! Except for the "baby's firsts" page I think I'm doing a good job.

I started cloth diapering part-time last week. I bought 10 diapers from Just Simply Baby. I really like them so far! He leaked (pee) out of one which I found odd. I'm going to make note of that one next time he wears it as I'm wondering if it might be defective. It was during the day and he'd only been wearing it a short time. He has worn them overnight and he has pooped in them and all the others have held everything in so it was odd to me that that one could leak. He looks so cute in them too! I am thinking of buying about 20 more. I also just switched to Target disposables. A huge box arrived yesterday. I had some in size 1 from the baby shower and they worked great. Mostly we were using Huggies and we only recently were getting to the point where we needed to buy them as we'd received so many as gifts. So far all we bought was a 33-pack of newborns that he used immediately (even though in the hospital they put size 1s on him right away), and then we bought the big packs of 2s and 3s in the Pure & Natural and we've used the 2s so far. And now I just bought a 96-pack of size 2s of Target's brand. Other than some size 3 Huggies in the denim design and some size 3 Huggies our shower stash is gone. It lasted us a good two months though, maybe longer, so that was great! And now with using cloth part-time I should not have to buy so many.

Today we went to a new chiropractor. It is right down the street so I put him in the stroller and off we went. Going there was downhill so it was easy. Coming home was harder since I was pushing up the hill. I made it though. Ha ha. We had a 4:00 appointment so I arrived around 3:50 to fill out paperwork. It was a complicated process. We met with one woman, and then we met with the chiropractor who examined the baby and did a sort of examination on me (watched my posture, felt my spine, etc.), and then he left and the woman examined me further and X-rayed my neck. They wouldn't X-ray anything else since I am breastfeeding. I did not even get an adjustment though and I'm hurting! And we were there til 5:30! I go back Monday for my results. Who knows if we'll get adjustments then though? I picked this chiropractor for two reasons. 1) It's down the street. 2) It's in network. Then I find out today as of March 1, they'll no longer be in network with my insurance company. What a bummer!