Ornaments are my fav!

For the past 5 years my husband has always picked out a new ornament, wrapped it, and had me open it on Christmas Eve. This year we decided to go together and pick one out. The tree ornaments are one of our favorite parts of Christmas. Each are always wrapped in tissue paper (Tim's doing) so as you open it, it's like a little surprise. We have a few from our honeymoon in Disney, a wedding cake my Mom got the year we got married, our childhood ornaments, and now our family ornaments. My sister has always stayed with us Christmas Eve night so her name was included on many of the ornaments. Obie of course has been included as well. This year was extra special because we got to add Kaelyn and rather than saying 'Kristie' and 'Tim' we said 'Mom' and 'Dad'. This will be the first year Karen doesn't stay with us Christmas Eve. She has her own thing going on now. :)

So, a few changes this year. I look forward to when Kaelyn gets to choose her own ornament for the tree.

I love this time of year...

It's hard to believe that Christmas is coming right up. Tim and Kaelyn picked out a Christmas tree yesterday. I felt a little sad that I didn't get to tag along, but with our schedules being completely opposite it made sense for them to do it during the week. This way it gives the tree time to settle and then we can decorate it this weekend. Tim said she was a little afraid of it at first, but she seems to have adjusted to it quickly. I can't believe Kaelyn will be just about 8 months old by the time Christmas rolls around. I've been debating on what to buy her (if anything) for Christmas. It's not like she has any idea what will be going on. She'll probably just chew the wrapping paper and be super happy about it! I did find a toy that we're going to get her - Bat and Wobble Penguin. It's perfect! She can hit it and we don't have to keep picking it up, it has balls that make noise on the inside, and it plays music when you hit it. She loves music!! She has a little doggy that makes music and she'll rock back and forth when we turn it on. Super cute stuff. We hardly watch any TV while Kaelyn is up because she is glued to it so we just turn the station to a Sirius Radio Christmas station (the picture is only a title bar telling you what is playing). We definitely get our fill of Christmas music each and every day.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to getting the tree and the house decorated. I think this weekend we'll find Kaelyn's first ornament! :)

Mental Health Day

Poop, Poop and more Poop!

I woke up at 4:50a.m. to Kaelyn wanting her breakfast. No biggy. I crawl out of bed, grab my glasses and take one step *hmm...that seemed a little wet*. Keep in mind it is very dark at 4:50 a.m. and I don't turn any lights on because Tim is in bed. I head to the bathroom and step in some more wet, cold squishy stuff - this time I'm SURE it's poop. I turn the bathroom light on and find a small piece of poop outside of the bathroom door. I clean my foot off, go to the bathroom, wash my hands, and go into Kaelyn's room. HUGE poop in her room! UGH. I bypass the poop and get Kaelyn to take care of her needs first. Afterwards I pick up Obie's poop (obviously it wasn't like Tim pooped on the floor, right?) And I head back to bed...but wait, I stepped in something in the bedroom too... or so I thought. Again, Tim is sleeping so I don't want to turn the light on so I grab my cellphone and shine it on the floor. OH MY GOD OBIE RUBBED HIS DIRTY ASS IN A CIRCLE NEXT TO MY BED. Lord please help me. Tim hears me say "oh my God" and he says "what" in a worried voice. I'm like Obie friggin' pooped in the house and wiped his butt next to the bed! What do I do? Crawl back into bed.

I wake up again at 7:00 to Kaelyn chatting and kicking in bed - she's getting ready for second breakfast. I take care of Kaelyn and get myself some breakfast. I begin to clean up the poop stains while Kaelyn plays in her ExerSaucer. I leave the bedroom for later so Tim can keep sleeping. After the difficult weekend and waking up to poop all over the rug I decide to call in for a mental health day. Fast forward to about 8:00 and Kaelyn's sick of the ExerSaucer so I take her out "hmm, did you poop". I set her on the changing table and as I begin to pull back her diaper .... OH BOY! is this up your back sweetie? I start to clean it up... oh this is WAY up your back. I manage to strip off her clothes and clean her up a little with a wipe. By this point Tim is up and helps me run a bath. I clean up the poop monster while Tim cleans the circle/streak of crap in the bedroom. Not exactly what he (or I) was hoping to do after waking up.

If the events of this weekend/Monday morning are not a good enough reason to take a Mental Health Day than I don't know what is.

A not so happy weekend

This weekend has been kind of miserable. Obie went to the vet on Thursday for something he had on his eye lid. At the time he also had a mild temperature. They prescribed him an antibiotic with penicillin in it (Clavamox) to clear up what they guessed was a clogged tear duct. Sure enough Obie had one of the severe allergic reactions to it. Let me point out that the vet doesn't give you anything explaining the possible side effects, they just give you the medicine and tell you how much to give him. My mom and sister were here so Karen looked up Clavamox online and we found out that an uncommon reaction to the medication is bumps on the skin (like hives), heart palpitations, and panting. We knew Obie wasn't being himself so to find this we got a little worried. I called the ER vet and we went over to get him checked out. It turned out that yes he had an allergic reaction to the medicine PLUS his fever had gotten worse. He also had several pustules on his body which may or may not be causing the fever. The vet doctor thought these may be caused by the prickle bushes in our yard and the seeds that come off of them are poking his skin. He may have sensitive skin and this is why he's getting these small infections. She popped some of them - YUCK! Her face was inches from it while she was doing it and I said I wouldn't want any of it to pop in my face. She said they get all kind of stuff on them during the day and it didn't bother her. GROSS - bloody puss is NOT something I would want in my face. *gag*

So - the end of the visit he got a shot of a different kind of antibiotic and some to take home with us. We also got some ointment to put in his eye to help heal the thing on his eye lid which was NOT a clogged tear duct, but looked more like one of the pustules on his body. *gag* He seems to be doing a little better today. He still isn't really eating much, but he has taken several treats which is an improvement from yesterday.

Then to make things worse I woke up at 4:15 to no power. I didn't worry too much about it at the time, the house was still warm and I knew Kaelyn would be up in a couple of hours so I went back to sleep. at 6:30 the power was still out so I started to get concerned. The temperature was about 61. By around 9:30 the house was down to 59 and just as I started to really get worried it came back on!

The rest of today has been focusing on paying a lot of attention to Obie. The spots where they popped the pustules they had shaved him first so he looks like a freak with long hair and these random shaved spots. Plus his eye looks awful. If he isn't better tomorrow we need to go back to our regular vet. :(

Best Buds

 

Before Kaelyn arrived we were afraid that Obie wouldn't be very good with a baby in the house.  I never thought that he would hurt Kaelyn, but I figured he'd start marking the house or whatever.  He's been great!   Many times he'll jump up on us if we're holding Kaelyn and he hasn't seen her for awhile.  She's starting to grab his fur which he's learning that it hurts him a little so once he sees her hand come up he moves.  After I get home from work I play with Kaelyn on the floor and I throw Obie one of his toys.  She will sit with me for about 20-30 minutes and watch Obie run back and forth.  If Kaelyn is acting upset I've used Obie to calm her down by leaning down next to him with her in my arms.  She spends a lot of time watching and studying him.  It's super cute!!

Colleen and Nicole made their blogs pretty...

So I guess I wanted to do the same :) YAY to pretty blogs!!

Lately I have been so sucked into the computer it seems ridiculous. After Kaelyn goes to bed I usually putter around the house; do laundry, make dinner, whatever. But lately I'll spend my entire evening glued to the computer. I think I have become obsessed with researching everything and anything about breastfeeding. And this Mom Grieves Baby's Loss by Filling Breast Milk Bank in His Honor put me right over the top. I couldn't sleep the night I read it. I just love breastfeeding. I don't just mean the act of breastfeeding, but everything about it. If it wasn't for my sister in law, Colleen I probably wouldn't have been able to cut out formula early on. (for those who don't know I supplemented for the first couple of months because I didn't think I could produce enough, I was W>R>O>N>G!) I'm a fan of the Medela page on Facebook and Colleen was kind of to tell me that all my posts were showing up on her News Feed. I'm usually pretty open with my comments on other peoples posts/questions. Little did I know my friends were seeing every word. sigh* I've kindly requested Medela to make their page private so this no longer happens. I'm proud that I breast feed my daughter, but not everyone needs to see my comments about my "let down" cycle. :)

Shopping!

Recent tub picture ----->

Nothing says 3 day weekend like shopping some major sales with coupons! My Mom and I scored some good deals and bought a ton of stuff for Kaelyn! I did manage to get 2 Christmas gifts, but my main focus was getting some warmer clothes for Kaelyn. We got her a pink snowsuit , plus 2 hats and a pair of mittens. I bought several 9 month size outfits. She's still wearing 6 month size, but I want to be ready for the next growth spurt - although I see her wearing 6 month sizes for another 2 months or so. It was pretty busy out, but we had a great time! Had some pizza for lunch and shopped for about 5 hours. Time flew by! I wanted to be home in time to put Kaelyn to bed. Not that Tim couldn't do it, but her and I have a good routine going and I don't dare break it up just yet. I've been searching online for a Patriots jersey onesie for Kaelyn. One of my FaceBook friends has one for her daughter and I really would love one. So far I haven't had any luck. I imagine it would be a little expensive, probably $20-$30 for something she can only wear for a few months. My practical side says "RIDICULOUS". I checked ebay and couldn't find one there either. Maybe I'll check out some of the local sports stores.

Screams, Rolls, and Laughs! 5 months old

Kaelyn is healthy and continuing to hit her milestones - I couldn't ask for anything more! :) 5 months in and she is still breastfed. We decided against starting solids yet. We felt that she was doing fine, sleeping through the night, and didn't show signs of needing to nurse more than normal so we figured we would hold off. The American Academy of Pediatrics says to wait until 6 months so their digestive system is properly developed. Although, the doctor said 4 months is fine which I believe it is but like I said we didn't think Kaelyn needed solids just yet. Once we start it will add a whole new piece to the daily routine so why change it when things are working well? The past

couple of nights she has been waking up around 3:00, but I'm finding she isn't hungry she just
wants to play! She starts throwing her legs up and kicking the side of the crib. It rattles a little so she does it again, and again, and again. I finally just shut the baby monitor off and let her go to town while I went back to sleep! :) She must have fallen back to sleep because I heard her a couple of hours later around 5:00 (her normal time to wake up) and she was ready to eat. For those who don't know our house is fairly small so we really don't NEED the monitor, but I keep it on anyway.

She loves to play (grab!) Tim's go-tee. He said that she's starting to pull a little too hard so I don't see him leaning it to let her play with it soon. Still no teeth. I thought for sure they were coming in a couple of weeks ago by the way she was acting, but nothing. The teeth I wont rush - I don't look forward to be bitten if you know what I mean! :)

Oh geez - 4 months big!

Kaelyn is 19 weeks! It's crazy how much she has changed even since my last blog. We had her 4 month check up last Friday. She weighed 13.3 pounds, was 24.5 inches long, and her head was 40 cm. Her weight and length are in the 50th percentile and her head is in the 25th. Her head has been a little small, but it's finally starting to catch up! (It was only in the 10th!) She had two more vaccine shots and did really well. Fortunately, no side effects! The doctor mentioned that we could start solids if we want to. Usually solids are started between 4-6 months. We're not sure she is ready for them yet, but we bought some rice cereal and I think we may try it soon. (well, we bought it last weekend...and haven't exactly tried it yet haha!)

She's hitting all her milestones. She just started rolling over this week. Except she rolls from her back to her belly. It's normal, but not common for babies to first roll from their back to their belly. Once on her belly she just hangs out for a bit then starts to get annoyed because she isn't a fan of

tummy time! It's pretty exciting though - watching her roll over. Obviously it isn't nearly as exciting (or at ALL) for others. She's laughing a lot more and does this really high pitched squeal thing. She does it when I do "num num num's" on her belly which kills my ear. :) And I'm very happy to report that she's sleeping through the night like a champ! We have had a couple of nights (I literally mean a couple, like only 2!) that she had a hard time getting to bed and woke up a little early, but she still slept 6 hours those nights.

Work is going well. I think I may finally be getting into the swing of things. At home we have a fairly good morning routine. I'm not really a morning person (unless of course it's for Kaelyn) so I tend to be about 20 minutes late most days, okay, every day. But I usually feed Kaelyn at about 5:00 she goes back to bed, as do I, then she gets up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 (haha as do I). And I feed her once more before I leave for work. Tim does about 3 bottles

during the day then I nurse when I get home and again before bed. Breastfeeding is going well! I pump 3 times a day at work, again before I go to bed at about 9:30, then I wake up at about 1:30 to pump again. It usually provides enough milk for Kaelyn each day. I read about keeping your milk supply up and also found out that it's actually common to pump several times during the day and have only enough for 1 bottle - I usually pump 1 1/2 bottles worth. Anyway, I find it worth it so I will continue!

To wrap up this long winded update: Kaelyn is doing great as is Mommy and Daddy. :)

We be Laughin'! 16 weeks

She laughed - like really laughed - for the first time earlier this week. I was changing her into her PJs and I took her feet, stuck them on my nose then said "stinky feet stinky feet peeeuuuu" in my highest possibly voice. It made her smile so I did a few more times and sure enough I got the best little giggle I had ever heard! I teared up a little and said "you're laughing, you're laughing at mommy". Unfortunately, stinky feet hasn't worked since. My Mom got her to laugh a bunch and my sister also got some laughs. Tim and I haven't had as much luck. I think we're trying too hard :)

She's almost out of her size 3 month clothes. Fortunately, we have plenty of 3-6 and 6 month size clothes. I've started picking up a few 9 month size clothes just to have. Her next doctor's appointment is her 4 month check up on August 30th which is coming up. She'll have 2 more shots. I'm excited to see how much she weighs and how long she is.

She's still sleeping through the night. I just keep waiting for it to end. I'm sure there will come a time when she starts getting up in the night again, but maybe that won't be until she starts teething. Tim is doing great with her during the day. They recently started taking short walks together outside (Obie too!). She enjoys the outdoors and it really has helped with her fussiness during the day. Plus, it seems to help her nap a little better as well. She's not real excited about belly time. She hasn't rolled over (belly to back) yet. Usually that milestone is reached in the next couple of weeks. My guess is she'll be a little "late", but I'm not at all concerned. I think she's doing great reaching and exceeding many of the other milestones. I think Tim and I can handle it if she's immobile for a little longer!

Amazon Mom

Yesterday I found out about Amazon Mom. It'll save us 30% on diapers and wipes!! Like a REAL 30%, not like a, I-jacked-up-the-price-by-30% first. Plus it'll save us 15% on things like Diaper Genie liners - which by the way are $6.00 per liner regular price and they last maybe 2 weeks I consider that to be a little expensive for the purpose that they serve. I did a little research and found Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to have the cheapest in-store diapers and Amazon Mom is even cheaper! Anyway, all I had to do was sign up with a user name and e-mail on Amazon Mom to get 15% off then I get another 15% off for using the Subscribe & Save option. Subscribe & Save is an automatic delivery option. PLUS it ships for free in 2 days! It's all free and I can cancel anytime that I want.

I'm excited to start using this. (Did I just say I was excited to buy diapers and wipes for a discounted price? - I'm a dorky Mom). Tim and I were really fortunate to get a "shit ton" of diapers (it always makes me laugh to use "shit ton" in a sentence with "diapers" hahaha) and wipes from our friends and family. Kaelyn is 15 weeks old and we still have at least 2 if not 3 months of diapers left! YAY!

Best Baby EVER!! 3 1/2 months

I've been back to work for 2 full weeks and so far I can't say it has gotten any easier. At least for me. Tim and Kaelyn are doing great spending their days together! Tim usually ventures out of the house at least 2 or 3 times per week. It helps break up his day. Kaelyn's on a great schedule! She is going to bed about 7:30 and gets up around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to eat than goes back to bed for 2 or 3 hours. She's amazing!! It really helps that she can put herself back to sleep - that is KEY! I was asked what I was "slipping" her before bed. I swear she is getting ONLY breast milk! And she is breastfed for her last 2 feedings of the day. AND she sleeps in her own bed (which she has from day one). Seriously people, she should win some kind of award or something.

She is learning all kinds of new things. She is grabbing her feet, talking more, laughing and
smiling more. I think she is starting to recognize our voices. While she is breast feeding after about 5 minutes she starts to pull off a lot if we're talking. She looks at me, smiles, then opens her mouth and pops back on. It makes me smile. Sometimes she does this continuously!! On that note: breast feeding is going really well! I'm finally to a point where I enjoy it! I'm still not pumping quite enough at work so she is averaging 2 formula bottles per week (ya, that's right, per WEEK) - which is so MINOR! I LOVE IT! I also pump once before bed and often times once in the middle of the night. She's great, she's healthy, and she's totally amazing! We've been great about getting her around new people and letting people hold her, but she still is unsure of it. After a little bit she gets fussy and wants Mommy or Daddy. I feel that as long as we continue to expose her to people and show that being held by others is safe then she'll get used to it. We are working on more tummy time. She is not a fan of it so she's mastered batting at toys while lying on her back.

So I may be a little bias, but Kaelyn is probably Baby of the Year! :)

12 weeks - back to work

I went back to work on Thursday. My first day back went well, but the second day was a little more difficult. When I left the house in the morning Kaelyn was crying which made it very hard to just walk out the door (Tim was up "tending" to her). So the second day included a few Mommy tears. I wish I didn't have to work or could work just part time, but that isn't possible for us. booo! I think the second day I was gone was harder for Kaelyn too. She really enjoys nursing and as most baby's do she finds a lot of comfort in it. A 10 minute bottle isn't as cozy as a 40 minute boob!



Kaelyn hasn't been sleeping well lately. The last 2 weeks have been a mess! Some nights she'll sleep 4 straight hours, eat, then sleep again for 4 hours, other nights she'll get up every 2 hours. I thought maybe she was hungry so I would feed her every time she woke up, but I'm now thinking she just can't get herself back to sleep. So we've been doing a little tough love the past few nights. When she wakes up during these times she doesn't really cry much she just has a constant fussy noise that she does. Unless I hear serious cries/screams than I let her stay in bed. I'm not real excited about the "cry it out" method, but I think in this case it will work for us. I do find she is learning to soothe herself by sticking her finger(s)/hand in her mouth. She still refuses to take a pacifier and most times it just makes her more mad! I'm guessing she'll turn into a thumb sucker. Unfortunately with thumbs you can't control them not sucking it as easily as a pacifier. O well, she 3 months old I guess I'll worry about THAT later.

I think otherwise she is doing great. Still breast feeding like a champ! Pumping at work is so annoying, but it's worth it! I wasn't really able to get a supply before going back to work so on Friday Tim had to give her a bottle of formula. MINOR! I was okay with that. It may take me awhile to get into a routine of pumping at work and actually pumping enough. I get impatient and can see myself saying "that should be enough" and just stop the pumping session a few minutes earlier than I should.

Well Kaelyn managed to soothe herself to sleep tonight. I had put her to bed asleep at 8:15, but she woke up 10 minutes later. She managed to do it in about 25 minutes with a few hiccups after, but she seems to be out now so I'm going to go to bed. Let's hope she sleeps a little better tonight.

11 Weeks - Bumbo fun and more smiles!!

We have been getting plenty of smiles these days! And what parent doesn't love getting a ton of smiles from their newborn?! We have also recently started putting her in a bumbo seat (the blue thing she is sitting in). It's great for building neck/head strength. I don't keep her in there too long because there is nothing for her to rest her head on and it gets pretty floppy after awhile. She has become a TV addict! Even when she is on the floor playing on her play mat (which is underneath the TV) she turns her head and looks up at it! And if you're holding her she will follow it with her eyes as you rock back and forth.

Bed time has become a production. I'm trying to get her to go to bed earlier than the usual 10-10:30. It's been a little bit of a struggle. Before I knew when to do her last feeding and now I don't. I want her to be in bed by 8:30 which has worked a few times. When she has gone to bed earlier it results in multiple wake up times during the night. I think we need to cut out some of her day time naps to help make her more tired when bed time comes. She's been all smiles and wide-eyed at 12:30 a.m.!! That's not ideal when I go back to work!And by 4:30 she no longer wants to sleep in her crib instead she sleeps in her swing for a few more hours.

More recently she started rolling onto her side!! She usually does it while on her play mat, but there are little bars that go up and over the mat which prevent her from rolling onto her belly (not that I think she is ready to go that far yet!)

Also, breastfeeding seems to still be going well. I'm planning to pump when I go back to work. Hopefully pumping will go well so we can continue with the b-milk!! :)

Camping Trip was a flop

We took Kaelyn to camp for the night on Friday. It was our first overnight in a new place as a family. We left our house around 9:30 and went to my Mom's first to pick up an air mattress. Once we got there Kaelyn needed her diaper changed and while Tim was changing her she ends up peeing all over her clothes! So before we even get to camp we do an outfit change. And at this point she's being really fussy - I imagine it's because we were ruining her morning routine. She goes back to sleep in the car for about an hour and then she wakes again to eat. I pull over and nurse her for 40 minutes!! We get to camp around 1:30 which is almost 2 hours later than originally planned. She continues her fussiness through the afternoon and hardly naps at all. She also wanted to constantly nurse which was difficult since I'd go in the other room for 30 minutes or more while everyone else hung out together. At one point everyone got to go for a boat ride while I stayed at the camp to continue nursing. Which was no ones fault!! I felt awful that Kaelyn was so unhappy. By early evening she was becoming very difficult. She didn't want to be held by anyone other than me. Even Tim couldn't get her to calm down. Her bed time rolled around (10:00) and she falls asleep. We brought her play pen so I swaddled her up and set her down. Within just a few minutes she wakes up. So needless to say she hardly sleeps during the night which meant Tim and I didn't get much sleep either. I didn't bother putting her back in the play pen instead we used her Boppy and put it in between us. We have never co-slept so neither one of us felt comfortable falling asleep. Although, I did manage to get a couple of hours, but poor Tim was too concerned to fall asleep. Anyway, by 7:30 a.m. we decided to just pack up and come home. Kaelyn slept almost the whole ride (2 1/2 hours) Thank God! When we got home I nursed her and she took about a 3 hour nap, woke up, I nursed her again, and she went back to sleep for another 4 hours! Poor girl was so exhausted. I guess she isn't ready for overnights outside of her home. She has set a nice routine for herself and we obviously disrupted that with new smells and new sleeping arrangements. Her big grins after we got home were more than enough to make us realize that home is where she wants to be right now.

2 month check up

We had Kaelyn's 2 month check up today. She gained about 1 1/2 lbs bringing her up to 10 1/2 lbs. Length wise she didn't grow very much, only 3/4 inches, so she is 22 3/4 inches long. Her head is still small for her size. She had 2 shots today and did very well. After the second shot (what the nurse called the "stinger") she screamed so Mommy teared up a little. She quickly recovered once Daddy picked her up and held her tight. She is basically on target with simple milestones like following things with her eyes, responding to noises, gaining eye/hand coordination - all that good stuff. She is still doing well with sleeping 6-8 hours each night! And today marks the third day of me feeding her ONLY breast milk!! I F'in ROCK!! :) I feel so excited to have her only eating breast milk. One of the hard parts is that she likes to nurse for a long time usually about 30 minutes (sometimes longer). I read that baby's can nurse from 15-60 minutes and to not let the clock determine your baby's feeding. Although, it can be challenging when we are out and about doing things to have to stop and nurse for 1/2 an hour! But it's worth it!!! The first night after only having breast milk she woke up every 3 hours, but the second night she did her normal routine (sleep from 10-10:30 until 5:00ish)! Formula tends to digest a little slower than breast milk so I was concerned she wouldn't feel as full through the night so she'd want to get up more often to eat. She also hardly ever spits up anymore. With formula she would spit up almost every time she ate it (which is common for formula fed babies) - and if you've ever smelled formula it is disgusting and is even more gross when it comes back up!!

We're heading out tomorrow morning to spend the night out to camp. After talking about Kaelyn's great sleeping habits I'm sure it won't be so great in a new place. I'm really looking forward to it though! I think I have everything packed for Kaelyn. I'm sure I over packed, but you can never be too careful with a 2 month old! :)

And there goes the hair - 2 months!

Kaelyn is definitely starting to lose her hair. There is a distinct line between where the hair has fallen out and the longer hair is still hanging on. She has been sleeping great! Usually about 7 hours each night from 10:00-10:30pm until about 6:00am. She's also starting to drool more. I read about this and although it is associated with teething and it is possible for an 8 week old to cut teeth it's not likely. However, it is common for baby's around this age to start drooling. She has her 2 month check up next week. I think she weighs about 12-13 pounds - at least based on our scale at home with me holding her. We found that if you tickle her chin or her cheeks she will smile, well not always, but most of the time (especially if her belly is full). She doesn't usually nap very well. She almost never naps in her crib, but we have found she likes her swing. I read a little bit about creating a schedule. I really haven't done anything to create a schedule. Kaelyn has set her bedtime and when she gets up in the morning she usually eats then sleeps for another 2 or 3 hours, eat again and maybe stay up for a little bit and go back to sleep. By 12:00 the "schedule" is gone and I think it's because usually by then the days change. We either go some where and she falls asleep in the car or we play here at home. Once I go back to work I think Kaelyn will fall into a routine of her own.

I had a doctor's appointment this week. My BP looks good! I haven't been taking my medication as I should be. I forget about it now that my schedule is so different. When I was working it was easier to remember to take it because it was part of my routine. Despite the lack of medicine my BP was 124/82! My weight looks pretty good. I'm 4 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.

We are taking our first over night trip with Kaelyn next weekend. Tim and I are going to spend the night at a camp with some friends. I'm looking forward to it! I'm sure I will over pack, but the camp isn't very close to any shopping so if I forget something it'll be a hassle to get it.

I've decided to try a little harder with the breastfeeding. I thought that I wasn't able to produce enough breast milk so I had been supplementing with formula. I believe I was wrong. After a little talk with my sister-in-law who convinced me YES YOU CAN MAKE ENOUGH MILK! I said I WILL DO THIS! :) After 3 days I have significantly cut out formula (Kaelyn gets about one 4oz bottle each day). I am noticing a huge difference in my milk supply and I expect within a couple more days I will not need to use any formula. When I had gone to the doctor's this week they gave me a prescription for something I could take for 1 week to increase my milk supply. I haven't filled it since I think I can produce the milk without it. I'm more than excited about this! I really wanted to breast feed for at least 3 months, preferably 6 months and now I truly believe I can do that!! And even longer if I want!!

Getting Easier - 6 weeks

It seems that Kaelyn is starting to sleep a little more through the night!! I can't say every night is "great", but since the One Month blog most nights she is getting up only once or twice during the night. And she is starting to eat a little more during each feeding, but eating less often - we're down to about 8 feedings per day. I think the past several days she was going through a growth spurt (from what I read there is a growth spurt around 6 weeks) and was eating and sleeping more. She is starting to discover her voice (more than just crying). When I put her down on her play mat she gets her legs and arms going and starts to chatter some. It's beyond entertaining!!! :) She is also smiling more and does so when we least expect it. And I love all the facial expressions that she makes. :) Soon I'll be able to get her in her bouncing saucer seat and use the Bumbo! She's doing great with her head control. I've already started to pack away some clothes that don't fit her anymore, mainly the newborn size stuff. She's finally starting to fit into some of the cute summer clothes we have though.

Three cheers for being a Mom! I think it's really starting to grow on me! :)

Free Stuff Rules!!

Tim and I were recently given a bunch of free stuff! I'm super excited about the stuff we got for Kaelyn - we got an Automatic Bouncer seat that she really seems to like, a bumbo seat, and a stationary jumper. I had wanted to get a bumbo and the jumper, but just hadn't done it yet. She isn't ready to use them yet, but once she has a little more head control I'm sure we'll be using both regularly! With all these kids toys it makes the house feel even smaller - they take up so much space!! The stroller alone is like the size of the kitchen table!! haha Hopefully we'll be able to get a bigger house before we get a bigger family! :)

As for the adult free stuff - we were given a weed whacker and a vacuum! The vacuum needed a new belt, but that was easy and now it works like it's brand new! All this stuff within 2 days! LOVE IT!!

Daddy and Kaelyn snoozing on the couch! :) (pic was taken just a few minutes ago!)

One Month

Kaelyn had her 1 month check up today. She grew 2 inches in length - she is now 22 1/2 inches long which puts her in the 90th percentile for length. Her head is still kinda small and is in the 10th percentile. She weighs 9.1 pounds which is in the 50th percentile. Overall she seems to be doing well!! She got her 2nd Hep B shot and did well with it. Next month she'll have 2 shots.

Kaelyn got to meet he Nana (my mother-in-law) this weekend. Nana found that Kaelyn loves to suck on your finger. We had attempted to give her a pacifier before, but she wasn't really that interested. The finger calms her down and often puts her to sleep.

She isn't anywhere near sleeping through the night. She is usually up every 2-3 hours. Sometimes she'll go 4 hours, but not often enough!! She eats about 9-10 times per day. We give her about half breast milk and half formula each day.

Kaelyn seems to enjoy her baths. We use a wash pod which is difficult to use right now since she can't hold her head up. It's almost impossible to give her a bath without the help of another person. The soap and water make her slippery so it becomes challenging to hold her up. :)

Things are getting easier for us. I still have 2 months of leave (I return to work the end of July). I'm looking forward to more warm days and getting out more often.

2 1/2 weeks after birth

People always say how fast time flies when you have a baby, but so far these past couple of weeks have been very slow. These past couple of weeks have also been quite challenging. Newborns cry about everything so it's like a stressful game trying to figure out what 'this' or 'that' cry really means. I've been concerned that I'm not producing enough milk. We have been supplementing with a little bit of formula to be sure she is putting weight on. I'm anxious for her next doctor's appointment. Since she lost 12% of her weight at the hospital (10% is common, more than that is a little concerning), however, she did gain about 1.5% back within 2 days of leaving the hhospital I just want to be sure she has continued to gain. One of the things I keep reminding myself is that she is peeing and pooping every day so that is a good sign she is eating.

Being a new parent is hard. Everything is new and there is nothing to compare anything to. I don't want to be one of those mom's who calls the doctor every other day with ridiculous questions. Although, Tim did remind me that it's okay to ask questions especially since we're first time parents. I just tend to research things online rather than pick up the phone to call the doctor's office.

I've been feeling pretty good. I'm finally able to drive again. I had a doctor's appointment today to follow up with my blood pressure and my cesarean incision. The incision became infected on one side and come to find out it was caused by a stitch that did not dissolve. The doctor numbed the area and took it out - YUCK! It already looks a lot better though. I'm down 23 pounds since delivery - just 10 more pounds until I'm back to my starting weight. I managed to button my regular jeans, but not comfortably!! haha

Yesterday Tim and I went grocery shopping while Kaelyn stayed home with my Mom and Step Dad. Although we were only grocery shopping it was nice to get out of the house together. :)

Well - the boss is waking up (Boss = Kaelyn) so I must go change her diaper and fill her belly!! :)

My Birth Story

Kaelyn was born April 29th at 3:02 a.m. via c-section. Here is the story of how we got to 3:02 Friday morning.

April 28th, Thursday contractions started around 1:00 while Tim and I were hanging out at home. Around 2:00 I mention to Tim that I think things are starting. By 3:00 we start timing them and the contractions are about 5 minutes apart and last for about 1 minute. We call the doctor and they say to come in to the office. I was only dilated 2 cms (same as I had been for 2 weeks), but the doctor forces me to 3 cm *ouch* and sends us to the hospital.

We get into our labor room at about 4:30. I get an IV for the antibiotics because of the Group B Strep. I used a birthing ball along with my breathing exercises for a couple of hours or so to deal with the contractions. Tim helps by pushing on my lower back and breathing with me to help keep me going. My BP is checked occasionally as well as the babies heartbeat and all looks fairly well. I switch to getting on all fours on the bed and rock my butt back and forth which helped for awhile as well. By 9:00 the nurse checks my cervix again and I'm only 4 1/2 cm dilated. I cry. I couldn't imagine the pain getting worse at this point and I decide to go for the epidural. I felt like I was letting myself and Tim down, but he was very supportive of me doing what I felt was right. By 9:30 I get the epidural and I rest the best I can in hopes of dilating a little quicker. With the epidural I need to have constant BP monitoring and the baby's heartbeat and my contractions are regularly monitored.

By about midnight I have dilated only 1/2 cm more!! And at this point I start to feel the back contractions. The doctor starts me on Pitocin (I cry more because nothing is going as planned!) Which increases my back contractions to almost unbearable. (come to find out she was facing up which causes back contractions to be worse). I begin to throw up and dry-heave almost nonstop. By 2:00 a.m. I've dilated to only 6 cm. By throwing up my water starts to leak and the doctor checks me and finishes breaking my water. At this point we know the baby has had a bowel movement. By BP has been rather high and my heart rate was between 95 and 110 beats per minute. I had to stay on my right side because the baby's heart rate went down if I was on my back or left side. At this point the doctor is considering a c-section because of the extra strain that is being put on the baby (High BP, heart rate, and the sign of stress from her bowel movement). After another 30 minutes or so I practically beg for a c-section (along with the tears because I couldn't ever imagine myself 'wanting' a c-section). They increase the dosage of the epidural so I'm completely numbed from the waist down. I'm wheeled into surgery, prepped, and then Tim is allowed in to sit beside my head. The baby is out in a matter of minutes. To hear her cry was heartbreaking because I couldn't hold her or even see her right away. Doctors from the NICU were there to look her over and suck out the meconium from her mouth and nose. Tim was allowed to cut her cord and then she was brought over to me so I could talk to her and kiss her. The entire process was 45 minutes, with the first 10 minutes spent actually getting the baby out and the rest was to stitch me up.

I was taken to recovery where I was able to breastfeed within the first hour of her birth which I was really happy about. We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights. I don't regret a single decision I made. I'm just happy Kaelyn is here!!

38 weeks 4 days

Why is everything just so hard!? haha I've been debating on whether or not I want to start my maternity leave a little early. I'm having a hard time focusing and getting anything done at work and half the time I come home early because I can hardly keep my eyes open. I even fell asleep the other day on the lunch room couch!! (Why was I even lying down on the lunch room couch you ask? Because I just couldn't sit at my desk anymore, I needed to lie down!)

As of Friday there was no change - still just 2 cm dilated. The doctor said that my placenta has some calcium deposits which tends to be more common at the end of a pregnancy. It means that the placenta is starting to weaken a little. He said it wasn't all that bad and nothing to be concerned about. If it was to happen mid-pregnancy than it would definitely be a concern. I asked my doctor about when he would induce me (if necessary). Because of my BP issues he doesn't want me to go over my May 5th due date. So I think if there is still no change at my Friday appointment (April 29th - 39 weeks 1 day) than we'll schedule an induction for the following week (the week of my due date). This is the LAST thing I want. I really want to go into labor naturally. He did say that we'll induce sooner if the baby is showing signs of stress or my BP starts to increase too much.

My appointment is at 10:30 tomorrow morning, think they'll be any change? I haven't noticed any contractions the past couple of days. Although sometimes I think the Braxton Hicks contractions can go unnoticed. My appetite has been insane! And by looking at these pictures you will notice that my belly is also insane! Sometimes I don't think that it feels that big, but other days I'm like "holy crap, who put this here". :)

Nursery and Belly Update

The nursery pics above include when friends of ours helped paint the room a few months ago. Everything seems to be in its place now we're just waiting for the little lady to get here.

I ended up having an ultrasound at my doctor's appointment today. The baby weighs about 7 1/2 pounds and if I go until my due date she will definitely weigh more than 9 pounds! She looks great though. I'm still 2cm dilated - no change there. (boooo) I could still "go" at anytime though! Fortunately, my blood pressure has been staying relatively low. My weight gain is a little more than I had hoped for - 32 pounds. Not much I can do at this point! And the time has come to say I've got stretch marks. Yes - on the underneath part of my belly. It makes me very sad. The first 3/4 of my pregnancy I felt like things were *perfect*. I was loving every second of it. Then this past month things got "hard". Physically I'm tired, but emotionally I'm like on a crazy roller coaster and it's not fun. The weight gain started to bother me and more recently the stretch marks made their grand entrance! I can admit to the constipation, the extra gas, or even the extra "discharge"! but to admit I have stretch marks is uncomfortable for me. sigh*


Once our little girl is here I'm sure these stretch marks and this weight gain will be the furthest thing from my mind. The stretch marks I can only hope will fade quickly. I plan to breastfeed which tends to burn a lot of extra calories so I don't feel I'll have trouble getting the weight to come off.

37 Weeks I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready

This weeks Doctor's appointment went fairly well. Tuesday my BP was a little high. My first reading was 128/86. The nurses did a second reading after I finished up my appointment and it got higher - 136/92! The Doctor debated on increasing my medicine which was the last thing I wanted, but he decided to wait and see what it would be like Friday. Fortunately on Friday it was a little lower at 130/82 so still no increase in my med's - thank God! On Friday I was 2 cm dilated and 50% thinned out (effaced). YAY! Yes, I know I could be 2 cm for weeks, but I'm excited just the same. I'm hoping maybe things have changed a little by my Tuesday appointment.

Tomorrow night I have my breastfeeding class from about 6-8:30. I'm not super excited about going - it's going to make for a very long day.

Tim and I went out shopping today and picked up a few more baby things. The baby's room is ready. My bag is packed. I wanted to make a couple more dinner things to freeze, but I just didn't have the energy left to do it this weekend. O well! Guess that means my family will have to make us stuff! :)

36 Weeks - Time for Child Ed Classes!

No, they don't call it Lamaze class anymore. We do go over breathing exercises though among many other things like the birthing process, child care after the baby is born, we get a tour of the labor area/nursery, pain meds, and we talk about the questions we have. We also got a ton informational stuff. Yesterday was our first class, 12-5 and today we have another class 12-5 and then there is one more class Monday, April 18th from about 6-8:30 and that class goes over just breastfeeding. Most of the class yesterday kind of went over stuff we already knew, but I'm still happy we're taking the class. There are 10 other couples in the class -"interesting" couples. The instructor is really great! She's really animated which makes most everything funny - at one point Tim and I were the only ones laughing and we both had to make a conscious effort to stop! :) I guess not EVERYONE finds her as funny as we do.

My Dr's appointments this past week went well. Everything seems to be staying right around "normal". I'm noticing some swelling in my feet and legs. Right now my feet look better - ankle bone has reappeared and my toes will spread a part again. My hands also look a little less vienna sausage like. I wonder how long this will last?

Less than 4 weeks to go until our due date. I think we're pretty much ready - with the word ready used very loosely. There are still a couple of things I'd like to get before she gets here, but they are not "must haves". I'd like to get a few meals cooked and in the freezer so when we get home we have some dinners that will be easy to thaw and reheat. I did make some banana bread and blueberry muffins so far. Next weekend I'll probably make a larger grocery run and get some things made up.

My hospital bag is almost ready. I need to get some stuff together for Tim (not that he can't pack for himself, but there are some things I don't think he'll consider to pack). I'm going to be a Mom - I think I'm getting scared!

35 weeks - Ultrasound!!

We had another ultrasound today! It went really well! Our little girl is weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz. They measured her limbs and those seem proportionate to her size so that's good. Her organs look good, she did what they call 'practice' breathing, and she's in the head down position (which she was at the last ultrasound too, 3 weeks ago). We say her sucking on her fingers and open up her mouth. She has hair!! We weren't able to get a picture of her full face, but we did get some good profile pictures. She's got chubby little cheeks that I plan to squeeze as soon as she gets here! The last ultrasound pic is of her hand! She had her fingers spread right out.
Everything else looked good as well - my BP was 118/78 and my weight and urine looked good too! On Tuesday I had the Group B Strep test done and it came back positive. About 25% of woman have Group B Strep as one of the bacteria's in their vagina and I just happen to fall into that category. This means I'll need to have an IV of antibiotics during delivery. If I don't there is a chance I could pass the Strep onto the baby during delivering and she could get very sick.
Hopefully she decides to come a little a early so that way I'm not delivering a 10 pound baby! She's going to continue to average about 1/2 pound weight gain for the next 5 weeks. I had a couple of dreams last night about delivery and having her here. One of them I don't remember much about, but I do remember the due date being April 21st or 22nd! Wouldn't that be crazy if that really happened? The other one I think was a due date of April 1st (today!) and in the dream I remembered me asking Tim a ton of questions because I couldn't remember anything about the birth of the baby. In the dream it just seemed like she was all of a sudden here, but he remembered everything about the birth - weird.

I think I swallowed a basketball!

All is well in the world of The Belly

I'm definitely having an emotional 3rd trimester. I think most of it is brought on by limited sleep. I do struggle a little during the work day. I've talked with my boss and fortunately he's really understanding. I have left a little early a few times (usually only a couple of hours or so) and he's fine with that. I take a nap in the afternoon on the weekends which makes a big difference!

My doctor's appointments (still every Tuesday and Friday) are going really well. My blood pressure has stayed relatively low and was 112/78 this past Friday! The nurse actually doubled checked it because it hadn't been running that low. The previous visit was 128/88. My urine has been good and my weight is staying on track. We'll be having another ultrasound this coming Friday. YAY! :)

Once again this woman at work (not the same one that said "wow, you're belly is getting really big") asked me how many weeks I had left, I told her six, she said I wasn't going to go that long (because clearly I'm like the size of a monster or something *sarcasm*). She said either that or "you're having twins" - are you for freakin' real lady!!!! I felt I had to defend my swollen belly by telling her that maybe it's because I'm not a big person to begin with and the weight is all in my belly so it just LOOKS bigger. Plus, I said to her that my weight is on track and that my belly actually measures pretty average. She gave me the look of "ya, right". Bitch please! I will slap you!!

Last weekend I had my family/friends baby shower. I don't have many pictures because my Mom took most of them and they're on her camera - maybe I can post some at a later time. We received so much stuff it was really awesome! We got a lot of the big items from our registry actually we got a lot of the stuff from our registry. There wasn't much left when I looked at it after the shower. We surprisingly didn't get many duplicate items either. We received a lot of books which I was really happy about. There was also a "diaper tower" so we received a TON of diapers!! LOVE IT! Tim came by later to help load up the car. I think he was excited and surprised to see all the stuff we got! And he got to put his amazing packing skills to good use by packing everything into the car with strategic precision!

This picture is after everything was opened and we were trying to consolidate it into some of the larger gift bags.

"WOW, you're really getting big..."

Seriously, when is it ever a good idea to say this to ANYONE!! If you feel you must point out the obvious than please follow it up with some sort of compliment. And by compliment I don't mean you talking about how HUGE you were when you were pregnant over twenty years ago. I'm
tired, emotional, and uncomfortable. And unless I mention it first I'd rather you didn't say how big you think I am.

I'm 33 weeks along today! Just another 7 weeks to go. Unless of course the little lady decides to make an appearance early! :)

Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment and had a non stress test done on the baby. They put a heart rate monitor on my belly and record the babies heartbeat for about 15-20 minutes. I also had the standard things checked - BP, urine, and weight - all of which looked good! I go back late morning tomorrow to do the same thing all over again! With all these visits I've been making I've gotten to know the entire office really well! :) My calves have been tight the past couple of days - more so in the morning. They cramp up during the night so the next day they're sore. And I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions. They don't hurt, but it's really uncomfortable to sit while your belly feels like a steel ball! Just when I thought my heartburn couldn't get any worse... it has. Sometimes it hurts so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up. Sure enough, in my sleep I threw up a little in my mouth which of course woke me up IMMEDIATELY! I have also been trying to drink as much water as I can possibly choke down. It's not always difficult to drink a lot of water because I feel thirsty all the time, but it tends to be an issue when I wake up 6 times a night (sipping my water every time I wake up - I can't help it, I'm SO THIRSTY). :)

Tim said my belly looks really white. Do I need to point out the obvious (I'm white).