Beach, Sleep, and Beer

Memorial Day weekend was a somewhat busy one.  I'm sad it's over - I love getting to spend all my time hanging out with the little man.

Saturday morning we made our first beach outing.  It was relatively successful. Let's just say that going to the beach this year will take a lot more forethought and planning. And stuff.

Andrew slept most of the time we were out there:

Oh, and I also did something for the first time while we were there. I had to nurse in public.  The bottle I pumped for him beforehand wasn't enough and I was desperate so a threw a towel over me and whipped it out.  I felt awkward, but what are you gonna do?

That evening we decided to hop in the golf cart and go down to Pitt Street to watch the sunset. I strapped him to me in the carrier and away we went.

The sunset was nice:

Andrew missed most of it:

Sunday afternoon we went to a friend's house for a cookout. It was a nice small gathering and Andrew was a perfect angel. He slept for the first half of the time we were there and then after I fed him he sat on my lap all contentedly and looked around. Everyone was so impressed with how good he was. That night was another first. My first beer in about 10 months.

All the excitement at the cookout must've worn the little guy out because that night he gave us yet another first. His first night sleeping more than 7 hours.  7 hours and 47 minutes to be exact.  I was beyond thrilled and felt great yesterday.

Unfortunately that appears to have been a fluke because last night I was up every 2.5 hours with him. It's gonna be a long Tuesday...

Two Months

I cannot believe our little guy is already two months old. How did that happen? Where has the time gone??

Maybe because I think he's growing so fast I had a crazy dream last night. In it we went to go show him off to the neighbors and when we did he looked up at them and gave them a huge smile - complete with a mouthful of teeth.  I was so upset in the dream and kept saying that he can't have teeth yet - he's too young.  And I love his little gummy smile - I'm not ready for him to have teeth yet.

I woke from that dream when I heard him fussing and waking up. I looked at the timer. He had been sleeping for 6 hours and 37 minutes!  Yay!!  A quick diaper change and some nursing and we were both back to bed.

With him turning two months old came the two month checkup - including shots.  I know he needs them and they are what's best for him, but I was nervous because I hate to see him in distress.

We got to the doctor and he got weighed and measured.  11 lbs 8 oz (48th percentile), 22.7 inches long (42nd percentile), and I forget the head measurement off the top of my head but he is in the 30th percentile.  The doctor said he is doing fantastic and everything looks great.  He said he'd see us in 2 months for his 4 month visit and then he ducked out so the nurse could do the dirty work.

First up was the oral dose for rotavirus.  He wasn't too keen on swallowing it, but we eventually got it down.  Then it was time for the shots.  The nurse got the first one in. At first Andrew just looked surprised, but then he turned very red and let out a shriek. My heart broke.  She still needed to do the two shots in the other leg. She got the first one in but then Andrew was so tensed up that she had to wait til his muscles in his leg relaxed to get the last one in. The shrieking continued and I got teary.

She finished up, put the little round bandaids on and hauled ass out of there.  I scooped up my screaming baby and started to try to calm him. What better way than to shove a boob in his mouth?  He nursed between whimpers and I got him calm enough to put back in his carseat.  I wiped the tears from my eyes and we got out of there.  Two more months before we have to go through this again.

To cheer us up (well, to cheer me up anyway) we stopped at Target for some retail therapy. I got a few cute little outfits for him, a sun hat, and a new toy for him for being such a good sport.

Now we are back at home and he is asleep across my lap.  I just hope he doesn't get a fever or anything from the shots.  My poor sweet baby...

Poo-A-Palooza 2011

Last night Andrew decided to show us yet another one of his many tricks.  I had given him his bath and was trying to get him to eat so he would go to sleep.  He was slightly fussy and we heard a squirt so J went to change him.

He had the diaper completely off of him and had gotten him all cleaned up. Just as he went to grab the diaper cream and was about to put some on Andrew's little bum our little man lifted his legs in the air and blew a stream of poo clear across the changing pad, onto the dresser and all over the side of the wipes warmer (thank god that was there or it would've gotten all over the carpet and possibly the glider).

I stood there in awe as J started yelling for me to go grab a towel. As I ran to go grab something I began laughing hysterically.  Who would've thought I could be so entertained by such a mess?  I must be delirious from the exhaustion.

Andrew was quite proud of his little accomplishment and gave us both a big smile as he lay there kicking his little legs.  We got him all cleaned up again and got him ready for bed.

Today he is being good so far and is currently sitting in his swing behind me as I do some work - and some laundry.

Who knew something so small could make such a mess?  Good thing he's so cute  ;)

I guess it's the thought that counts

Last night I was tired. Really tired.  I had been up since 5:30 AM, spent all day working from home while also taking care of Andrew, made dinner after J got home, and gave Andrew his bath.  He wouldn't eat after his bath and I had a feeling he was going to wake me up in an hour. I was cranky.

J took the monitor and said he can help out if I have a bottle to feed Andrew and I just have to ask. I told him I shouldn't have to ask him to help take care of his child.  Like I said - I was cranky.

We went to bed at 10:30 and I fully expected him to be wailing in an hour.  I was shocked when I heard him cry and looked at the clock and it was 3:50.  Good job little buddy!

J got up with him, but neglected to turn the monitor off or take it with him, so I heard Andrew loud and clear all through the diaper change.  I remained awake until J came back in the room at 4:30. Two minutes later Andrew was yelling again and I went and got him.  He had sucked down the entire 4 oz bottle with J so I didn't think he was hungry, but I nursed him and after about 2 minutes he zonked out.  I put him back in the bassinet and went downstairs to pump since I thought I might have a boob explosion if I didn't.

I got back to bed a little after 5:00,  but was still awake at 5:40.  I must've dozed off, but at 6:24 Andrew was squawking again.

So even though J did help out last night I still didn't get any more sleep than if I had gotten up with Andrew to begin with.  Oh well - at least he tried...

Back to work...

Since my farming abilities won't exactly pay the bills I had to start back to work today. Luckily my office is very flexible and will allow me to work from home for a while.  I logged on at 6:30 while he was still sleeping and got 2 hours in before he started stirring.  Then he did this for a while:

That kept him busy for 30 minutes or so til he needed a diaper change.  Now he is on my lap nursing while I type.  With a pillow on my lap and the boppy on top of that his is at the perfect height to nurse without me having to bend over. And he is between me and the table so he isn't going anywhere.  As long as he cooperates like this for most of the day I may actually be able to get some work done  And once J gets home and takes over with the little man I will be able to put in any hours that I can't do during the day.  Thank god for flexible office hours!

New plan

Screw going back to work. I'm just going to keep working on our garden and take all our fresh produce to the farmer's market so I can spend all my time with Andrew...

Head lettuce

Bell peppers

Red leaf lettuce

Banana peppers

Tomatoes

Purple and green cabbage

Broccoli

Yellow squash

Jalapeno peppers

Raspberries

Blackberries

Unfortunately I don't think my green thumb is going to pay the bills, so it's back to work tomorrow. On the plus side, I'm working from home for a few weeks so I don't have to leave Andrew just yet. The thought of that makes me want to cry  :(

My Little Gremlin

That's what I call Andrew due to the crazy noises he makes all day.  Sometimes even when he eats he is making funny noises.

Yesterday I recorded him and sent it to J at work - he misses the little guy so much during the day so I send him pictures if Andrew is doing something particularly cute.  We were doing some tummy time and Andrew was very noisy so I wanted to capture it.  He sounds so funny  :)

Last night we had a little playtime on the floor and watching the two of them together melted my heart.  Andrew loves his daddy and J is so adorable with him:

Today Andrew has been a bit of a fuss butt and was screaming bloody murder when I was trying to get some stuff done. Particularly the laundry since Andrew had a diaper leak while we were snuggling in bed this morning and needed to wash all the bedding. Excellent.

I finally got him to give in and take a nap:

He looks like such an angel when he is sleeping. Hard to believe he is such a holy terror when he is awake sometimes!

Oh, and we attempted to weigh him last night since it's been a while since he's been to the doctor. By our guesstimate he is about 12.5 lbs.  Yikes!  That seems like a big gain for less than 8 weeks so hopefully we're off a bit.

Six Glorious Hours

That's right - last night Andrew slept for 6 hours straight. Well, 5 hours and 54 minutes, but it's pretty damn close!

I was in shock, especially since it didn't seem that he ate that much before bed. And he had napped quite a bit in the afternoon.  I figured if I got 3 hours out of him it would be a good night.  I almost did a happy dance on the way to pick him up to change his diaper and feed him at 4:45 this morning.

We got up at 8:16 this morning and snuggled in bed for a little bit before starting our day.  Andrew was in a happy mood while we hung out.

We took a walk to drop off the daycare contract at the place where we will (hopefully) be leaving Andrew once I have to go back to work.  That's one of the things I like about it - it's within walking distance.  And I'm hoping that the walking is going to help me knock off these last 10 lbs.

Here's me before our walk this morning

Now I'm waiting for him to settle so we can make a run to Wal-Mart and get some stuff that we need around the house. He is currently laying on his boppy next to me on the couch and 'talking' to me.

So far it's been a good day and I'm going to enjoy every second of the last week of my maternity leave.

Thanks buddy!

Yesterday Andrew was my happy little baby and we had a great day of visiting my office and shopping at Babies R Us before taking a nap in the afternoon.

I love the huge grin - too bad he closed his eyes

Last night we took the little man to Senor Tequilas for dinner and he didn't make a peep the entire time. When we got home we lounged on the couch and watched some tv before giving him a bath in his bedtime bath and putting his bedtime lotion on him.  I swaddled him in his new Summer Infant Swaddle Wrap and we gave him a bottle of milk I'd pumped earlier.  We're trying this to see if maybe if we get a decent amount of milk in him he'll sleep longer.

At 11:30 he was still awake (he'd napped for almost 4 hours in the afternoon) and J needed to go to bed since he was getting up early to ride.  I took Andrew out and sat in the rocker with him til he fell asleep 15 minutes later.  I put him down at 11:45 and the next thing I knew it was 5:14 AM. He slept for 5 hours and 30 minutes.  Way to go little man!  Needless to say I was beyond thrilled.

I fed him the couple ounces I had left from pumping and then nursed him til he quit.  He didn't eat that much, so I put him down and went downstairs to pump the rest before hopping back in bed.  I woke up at 9:16 and heard him making a little bit of noise.  He had slept for another 3 1/2 hours.  Woo hoo!  I actually felt like a human being when I got up!

We got ready and headed to the park for J's company picnic.  He was a bit of a fuss butt and wanted to be held, but that's ok because everyone wanted to see him anyway.  We had taken a bottle along with us (I'm still not ready to nurse in public).  He did great and we had a nice afternoon.

I did get him to nap in the stroller for about 15 minutes so I could eat

Now he is snoozing on the couch while I do some of his laundry so I have a fresh gown to put him in after tonight's bath.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he gives us a repeat performance of last night.

6 Week Post Partum Appt

Yesterday was my post partum doctor's appt to make sure that everything healed well and all was back to normal. 

The day started out with a bang with me barely getting any sleep Monday night. Excellent.  The night before I actually have somewhere I have to go is the night that Andrew decides to not sleep.  I guess I got spoiled with the two nights in a row of 5 hours straight.

Anyway, we got to the office for my 11:00 appt and waited. And waited. And waited.  Seriously?  Me with my ticking time bomb of a 6 week old sat there waiting while person after person was called back - many of them who arrived after me. I was none too pleased - and Andrew started getting cranked up.  I had to take him out of his carseat eventually because he wouldn't settle.

Finally at 11:50 I was called back by the nurse for all the pre-workup stuff.  My last time peeing in a cup (yay!).  Then I was put in an exam room and told to strip and put a gown on.  I did that and had to get Andrew back out of the carseat because he was fussing more.  After 10 minutes I decided to change his diaper since it appeared we would be waiting a while.

Finally at 12:15 my doctor came in.  She oohed and ahhed over Andrew and then we got to the exam. I held him the entire time (which she said was perfectly fine) and she did her stuff. According to her everything looks great - all healed up.  We chatted for a bit about birth control.  Not sure what I'm going to do just yet, but she wrote me a prescription for a progesterone only pill and gave me a pamphlet on Mirena.  Now J and I need to talk about if we are going to have another little one anytime soon (which would mean it't the pill) or if it'll be a while, or if we're one and done.  As tired as I am I can't imagine keeping up with a toddler and a newborn, but I hate the thought of Andrew being an only child and not having a sibling.  We'll see...

Anyway, while I had been waiting in the waiting room I had posted a mini vent on FB about it.  Well, my physician sister - the one who is still bent about Andrew's name - took offense and posted a comment basically telling me I should be grateful that my doctor takes the time with patients and doesn't rush through appointments and I should cherish the extra time to sit and spend with Andrew.  Umm - what???  It took all I had not to comment back with a big eff you.  J saw it, however, and commented back. Needless to say it got a little heated, my mom yelled at both of us, and J ended up defriending my sister.  WTF?  He's still pissed at her for her behaviour after Andrew was born and how she attacked me about his name. He's protective of his family and knows how much it upset me so he is sticking up for me.  Not sure what will happen the next time they have to see each other, though.

So, I stopped at the store with Andrew on the way home, got back here, nursed him a bit, finally got him to nap after he was fighting sleep, and attempted to nap myself. Didn't really happen.  J skipped the gym and came straight home so I took the opportunity to go the gym myself. I figured I could workout and get tired enough to sleep at night.  A 30 minute run (3.16 miles) and some ab work later and I headed home.

Last night was another rough night of trying to get him to sleep. J saw how tired and upset I was and sent me to bed at 11:00 and stayed up with the little man until 12:30.  Andrew woke me up at 2:08 and 5:56, so he slept a little better last night.

I attempted to get him to nap in the crib today (unsuccessfully) and now he is snoozing on the couch next to me.  Fingers crossed that tonight is a better night...

He spent his time in there kicking his legs and staring at Snoopy, but not sleeping

He prefers to nap next to me on the couch

Happy Mother's Day

Yeah, I know, this is a day late.  But I was unable to get Andrew off of my boob long enough yesterday to post anything!

Andrew's present to me was that he slept for 5 hours straight Saturday night, which was excellent.  Of course he was up 2 1/2 hours later, and then 1 1/2 hours after that, but I'll take the 5 hours.

We had a nice relaxing day and J and I took him for a 5 mile walk on the bridge.  The fresh air was fantastic and the exercise felt great.  After the walk he was so hungry that he was eating what seemed like every 45 minutes.  It was a long night from 6:00 to 10:00.  Luckily I got him down at 11:00 and he slept until 3:30.  Thanks buddy - mommy needed that!

Here was his Mother's Day outfit  :)

And here is something that my mom forwarded to me last week. I thought it was sweet so I figured I'd share.

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.

My poor nips

I'm pretty sure Andrew is hitting his 6 week growth spurt right on schedule because he has been wanting to eat every 60 to 90 minutes this morning.  And I'm not talking about just a little snack. I mean he is eating for 15 - 20 minutes each time.  Makes me a little afraid that my supply won't have time to replenish before the next time he is squawking for a meal.  I do have some pumped milk that I can heat up for him, but I need that for tomorrow night when J and I go out for our belated anniversary dinner (J's mom will be here to watch Andrew).

Oh, and what goes in is coming out, too. He is tearing through the diapers like there's no tomorrow.  I continue to be amazed at the amount of poo that this tiny little person can produce.  On the bright side, he is no longer so angry when we change his diapers. I guess he is getting used to the process since it happens so often.

One positive development today is that I have a lead on a daycare provider. She is very close by so it's convenient. The downside is she doesn't have an opening until August, but we may be able to get by until then. J's mom can help out for July to get us through.  The woman is emailing me the contract to go over and we are going to set up an interview for next week. Fingers crossed that it works out.

And the last thing for today, I finally get to go to the gym!  J is at the dentist right now, but when he gets home I get to make my first trip to the gym in 6 weeks. I can't wait!  Hopefully I don't die on the treadmill.

Now the obligatory picture of Andrew in all of his adorable-ness:

Super boob and lazy boob

That appears to be what I have going on here. 

This morning I pumped the one side for about 10 or 15 minutes and got a little over 4 ounces just from that side.  When I've pumped the other side I've been lucky to get 2 ounces.  So it looks like my right side is a rock star and my left side is a slacker.

Of course this didn't stop him from being attached to each of them today almost constantly.  I swear I felt like I spent the whole afternoon with him on my boob.  That puts a big crimp in me being able to get anything done around here.  Very frustrating.

Oh, and I had to call my insurance AGAIN to see if the claim from my OB had been paid because I need the OB to reimburse me for the money I paid up front so I can pay the hospital bill.  The check has still not cleared. Seriously?  It was sent out on 4/19.  What the hell is taking so long???

Anyway, tonight we go to see our friends who just had their baby boy last Friday - Andrew's first friend.  We're taking them dinner and a gift to return the favor of them bringing dinner over to us when we first brought our little man home.  Hopefully he cooperates and doesn't meltdown so we can visit for a few minutes.  Wish us luck!

Two years

Up until 5 weeks ago, two years ago today was the best day of my life. It was the day that J and I did the whole 'til death do us part' thing.  Yep - today is our anniversary.  I can't believe it's already been two years.  And it kind of snuck up on us this year - we've been a little preoccupied with the cuteness that is Andrew.

In honor of our anniversary, here are some of my favorite pictures from our big day:

Definitely one of the best days of my life...

I feel like a new woman

Yesterday, last night, and this morning did wonders for my state of mind and well being.  I actually feel human today.

Yesterday we got up and went downtown so J could help out one of our friends with his team for the Boys & Girls Club charity.  They had teams of 5 people that had to do pushups for 45 minutes and the team that did the most won. Not sure what they won, though.  J's team only had 3 people, so obviously they weren't going to win.  And they were doing real pushups while some of the other teams were barely bending their arms.  Either way, it was for a good cause.

After that we walked over to the farmer's market and got some fresh produce.  I love supporting the local growers and getting some fresh veggies.  And the weather was gorgeous so it was a good afternoon.

We got home and both napped on the couch with Andrew.  While we were relaxing my friend, Colleen, texted to see if I wanted to meet her to go get a pedicure.  Hell yeah!  I needed some girl time and some "me" time.  I got ready, nursed Andrew, handed him over to J, and headed out.

It was so nice to hang out and get a little time to myself.  I stopped at Target on the way home to get some bigger diapers for Andrew, some more nursing bras for me, and some clearance Easter candy for J.

We had a relaxing night at home and put him down for bed at 10:55. I commented that he'd probably have me up in an hour. At 1:00 I woke up and looked at the monitor. He'd barely moved. At 2:00 I woke up and looked again - he still hadn't moved. I got scared that something was wrong so I went in to make sure he was still breathing. Yep - all was good. I crawled back in bed and at 2:30 he woke me up crying.  Woo hoo!  3 1/2 hours!

Of course I was up with him for 90 minutes because he would not stop eating and fussing. But at 4:00 I was back in bed. At 6:30 he got me up again and I fed him, but he didn't eat that much. So I took him downstairs figuring he was just going to fuss.  10 minutes later J came down to see what I was doing.  And he said something that made me fall even more in love with him.  "Give him to me and you go back to bed for a few hours."

I went back upstairs at 7:00 and went back to bed.  The next thing I knew I rolled over and it was 10:37. Ahhhhhh - just what I needed.  I got up, got dressed, and went downstairs feeling great.  For once my eyes weren't burning and my head wasn't hurting. I felt spectacular!

We had a lazy afternoon and then I popped him in the Snugli, J and I grabbed the dogs, and we went for a walk. Perfect weather for it, too. Not too hot, no humidity, and enough of a breeze to keep the bugs away. 

Now Andrew is asleep next to me on the couch after a bath and a feeding and I'm about to go put him in the bassinet and go to bed. Life is good  :)