OK. I was naive before I had a baby. I thought, "Certainly my baby won't have projectile vomiting, poop or pee while we're trying to change her. She will never make a mess in her crib or of my clothes or anything else." I woke this morning to a fussy baby (those darn antibiotics I'm on upset her tummy, I think), and I could tell she needed to be changed. As a side note - it is so weird that I recognize her different cries. Yet another thing I didn't understand until I became a mom. Anyway, I'm changing her, and all of the sudden poop shoots out all over the wall. Fun times...second time this has happened, by the way. So, I finish cleaning her up, set her in her crib and proceed to pull the crib out from the wall and wipe it down with Clorox wipes for 10 minutes. After I feed her, she spits up in her crib getting it all over the sheets. Did I mention that last week she had an explosive diaper situation that ended up on my arm and my couch? Sigh. The weird thing is, just like people told me, I don't really mind it all that much. It's just part of the job, and cleaning up Zooey and everything else is just something that has to be done. For those who know me, hopefully this means I'll handle the projectile vomiting with as much ease, because just the idea of that still really freaks me out.
After I fed Zooey, I was changing her - again (that's all they do: eat, poop & sleep) - and I was talking to her, getting her ready for the day, and she flashed me a huge grin. It's like God gave babies these adorable grins to make all the poop-cleaning worth it. :)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
One Month Update
(Written on 11/5/09) Zooey is one month old today! As I sit here and think about what exactly to write in this update, my mind is blank, but my heart is so full. It seems like yesterday my water broke, and we were excitedly off to the hospital to meet Zooey. I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes holding my belly. At the same time, I cannot imagine my life without her in it. I can barely seem to remember life before she came, too, unless I sit down and really think about it. She just "fits" into our family in such a perfect way. I am so fully in love with her, and that love truly grows each day more and more. She has certainly captured our hearts.
Zooey seems to be hitting all the developmental milestones, just as she should be. My most favorite new development is that she smiles and will occasionally (very occasionally) smile in response to our smiles. It's fun to be able to interact with her like that. She seems most happy first thing in the morning and at night when Ryan comes home and scoops her into his arms. She's so strong, too! It amazes everyone how long she can hold her head up, how she can roll over by herself and how strong her little arms are when she's protesting something she's not too thrilled about. We're both becoming pro's at nursing now, and the teary-eyed days that were only a week and a half ago seem like they were a long time ago. I look at the pictures in the hospital, and she's already changed so much! She's bigger, her complexion is different, she's more alert. She & I have so much fun together; I can't wait until she can really interact - I'm sure that we'll do all sorts of fun things.
Being a parent has also made me think a lot about my own childhood and how thankful I am for Christian parents and for a mom who was blessed to be able to stay home with my sister & me. As the holidays are quickly approaching, I think back to all the fun stuff my mom did with us. We made cookies, Chex mix, ornaments, gifts...lots of fun crafts. But it wasn't just at the holidays; my mom had fun projects for us year-round, and I am excited to one day be able to have fun with Zooey like that. Being a parent is the best job I have ever had. It's also the hardest job, but it is so worth it. Ryan is an amazing dad, and when I see him with Zooey, I fall even more in love with him. He's just a natural, and he's so patient, both with me and with Zooey. Of course, I knew when I married him he'd fit into the role well. He's such a natural, maybe I'll just leave for the ages of 11-14. :) Just kidding.
Zooey seems to be hitting all the developmental milestones, just as she should be. My most favorite new development is that she smiles and will occasionally (very occasionally) smile in response to our smiles. It's fun to be able to interact with her like that. She seems most happy first thing in the morning and at night when Ryan comes home and scoops her into his arms. She's so strong, too! It amazes everyone how long she can hold her head up, how she can roll over by herself and how strong her little arms are when she's protesting something she's not too thrilled about. We're both becoming pro's at nursing now, and the teary-eyed days that were only a week and a half ago seem like they were a long time ago. I look at the pictures in the hospital, and she's already changed so much! She's bigger, her complexion is different, she's more alert. She & I have so much fun together; I can't wait until she can really interact - I'm sure that we'll do all sorts of fun things.
Being a parent has also made me think a lot about my own childhood and how thankful I am for Christian parents and for a mom who was blessed to be able to stay home with my sister & me. As the holidays are quickly approaching, I think back to all the fun stuff my mom did with us. We made cookies, Chex mix, ornaments, gifts...lots of fun crafts. But it wasn't just at the holidays; my mom had fun projects for us year-round, and I am excited to one day be able to have fun with Zooey like that. Being a parent is the best job I have ever had. It's also the hardest job, but it is so worth it. Ryan is an amazing dad, and when I see him with Zooey, I fall even more in love with him. He's just a natural, and he's so patient, both with me and with Zooey. Of course, I knew when I married him he'd fit into the role well. He's such a natural, maybe I'll just leave for the ages of 11-14. :) Just kidding.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Our Little Pumpkin
As promised, here's a picture of Zooey's first Halloween. She didn't really know what was going on, of course, but doesn't she look awful cute?
Can't a girl catch a break?
Ugh...I have mastitis. I have had a fever since 3am on Friday; I think it's finally beginning to break 24 hours into my antibiotic. Thankfully I had an appointment with my OB yesterday anyway to discuss another lovely post partum symptom: a prolapse (Google it if you really want to know). Zooey is gassy and fussy because of the antibiotic. Ryan's hunting but will thankfully be back today sometime (& hopefully with an elk). So...I've been sitting around being lazy the last two days watching TV, nursing and napping.
Being a mom is hard work! Such a blessing, but hard work. I guess in a way I'm kind of glad that the worse thing I have is a fever, rather than the flu or something the first time I have to care for a child. Plus, my sister was kind enough to stay the night last night, so I got a good solid 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which really helped.
I'm determined to take a shower in a bit and get Zooey in her pumpkin shirt, so we can pass out candy. Pic's to follow...
Being a mom is hard work! Such a blessing, but hard work. I guess in a way I'm kind of glad that the worse thing I have is a fever, rather than the flu or something the first time I have to care for a child. Plus, my sister was kind enough to stay the night last night, so I got a good solid 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which really helped.
I'm determined to take a shower in a bit and get Zooey in her pumpkin shirt, so we can pass out candy. Pic's to follow...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
My new favorite thing
Note to self for Zooey and future baby: I LOVE MY MOBY WRAP!! Zooey has a fussy time in the evenings. Tonight I thought "What the heck? I'll give my brand new Moby a shot," and so I busted it out. I wrapped the ginormous piece of cloth around myself, tucked crying Zooey in and -BAM!-3 minutes later, she was asleep. Yes, it looks a little hippy like it was designed in Boulder (it was not, by the way), but you can't knock something this comfortable and effective. Hands-free-baby-cuddling = baby bliss.
To all those who patronized me about the weight gain...
...I am currently 7 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Take that Dr. - I told you it was water!! Sorry, it's just, as one could see from my early pregnancy posts, I freaked a little bit about my weight gain. No, my body is not the current shape it was in before, and no, I'm not in my pre-pregnancy jeans quite yet, but I am super happy with my results from doing nothing (although I suspect the breastfeeding has helped). I am also quite confident that once I start running again, I'll be back in those jeans in a jiffy. :)
Just another testament to the power of prayer
Zooey is doing beautifully with the breastfeeding. I submitted a prayer request for my sweet BSF ladies to lift up on Saturday morning, I was praying, Ryan was praying, my mom, Sarah & dad were praying...and guess what? Saturday evening she started latching on perfectly. By Sunday night, she was more than comfort nursing - she was swallowing. Today, we are only supplementing 1 oz. of breastmilk if she doesn't seem content after a feed, and Ryan gives her the last meal of the day via bottle. God is so amazing, and I am consistently brought to tears (the good kind :) ) at how he cares about the little things.
Now I am told that it will take a couple of weeks to a month for my boobs to not feel as if they are decaying from pain. I know, probably not the best use of words, but man oh man they hurt. If anyone has gone through this and can offer a little ray of hope as to how long it took for their boobs to feel close to normal (or at least become desensitized to the pain), please leave comment below.
Our days are together are awesome. Time goes so fast, and by the time I look up, Ryan's home from work. Usually that's when Zooey has a bit of a fussy time, but I'm convinced part of that is that she wants her daddy. :) He literally picks her up or takes her from me and within seconds she's calm. She's put on good weight and as of Monday is at 9 lbs. 3 oz. I have one more appointment on Monday with the LC to get a weight and address any questions. I believe at that point, if everything's going well, I'll be able to stop pumping after each feed and strictly BF, unless I want to pump to store some milk. Last night Zooey went 5 hours between feeds; however, it was her 8:00 and 1:15 am feed, so I want us to work on getting that long stretch in the middle of the night...possibly doing a dream feed at 11:00 pm. Any Baby Wiser's with advice regarding this, I would love your feedback. I'm hoping she'll stick to the 2.5-3 hr. schedule well enough that she'll sleep through the night (5-6 hrs.) by 8-10 weeks, even with the breastfeeding hurdle we faced. Zooey's super strong, as I mentioned in earlier posts! She can hold her head up during tummy time for much longer than the "3 seconds" I've read about in the books and stuff. She's also started smiling more this week and making different noises. I'm sure it won't be long now before she can smile in response to our smiles. She is just such an amazing gift, and we love her so much!
We continue to pray for Ryan's job situation. Six weeks is coming up quickly, and although I did tell my boss that I'm taking 12 weeks maternity leave, I'd like to be able to tell them I'm not coming back sooner than that. Our plan is for me to stay home and make it work. It will be tight, don't get me wrong, but it will be so worth it - for all of us. So...come mid-November, if there's no news from TSA, we will apply for private insurance and Ryan will try to find something else with benefits until TSA calls. Again, the insurance is really the big thing here, and we have enough in savings to pay for that for awhile. We both feel that home is where God wants me, so we are placing our trust in him. If I must work, I will find a part-time job somewhere eventually. It's super scary to trust. If we cannot find insurance, I will have to return to work...we just keep praying!!
Now I am told that it will take a couple of weeks to a month for my boobs to not feel as if they are decaying from pain. I know, probably not the best use of words, but man oh man they hurt. If anyone has gone through this and can offer a little ray of hope as to how long it took for their boobs to feel close to normal (or at least become desensitized to the pain), please leave comment below.
Our days are together are awesome. Time goes so fast, and by the time I look up, Ryan's home from work. Usually that's when Zooey has a bit of a fussy time, but I'm convinced part of that is that she wants her daddy. :) He literally picks her up or takes her from me and within seconds she's calm. She's put on good weight and as of Monday is at 9 lbs. 3 oz. I have one more appointment on Monday with the LC to get a weight and address any questions. I believe at that point, if everything's going well, I'll be able to stop pumping after each feed and strictly BF, unless I want to pump to store some milk. Last night Zooey went 5 hours between feeds; however, it was her 8:00 and 1:15 am feed, so I want us to work on getting that long stretch in the middle of the night...possibly doing a dream feed at 11:00 pm. Any Baby Wiser's with advice regarding this, I would love your feedback. I'm hoping she'll stick to the 2.5-3 hr. schedule well enough that she'll sleep through the night (5-6 hrs.) by 8-10 weeks, even with the breastfeeding hurdle we faced. Zooey's super strong, as I mentioned in earlier posts! She can hold her head up during tummy time for much longer than the "3 seconds" I've read about in the books and stuff. She's also started smiling more this week and making different noises. I'm sure it won't be long now before she can smile in response to our smiles. She is just such an amazing gift, and we love her so much!
We continue to pray for Ryan's job situation. Six weeks is coming up quickly, and although I did tell my boss that I'm taking 12 weeks maternity leave, I'd like to be able to tell them I'm not coming back sooner than that. Our plan is for me to stay home and make it work. It will be tight, don't get me wrong, but it will be so worth it - for all of us. So...come mid-November, if there's no news from TSA, we will apply for private insurance and Ryan will try to find something else with benefits until TSA calls. Again, the insurance is really the big thing here, and we have enough in savings to pay for that for awhile. We both feel that home is where God wants me, so we are placing our trust in him. If I must work, I will find a part-time job somewhere eventually. It's super scary to trust. If we cannot find insurance, I will have to return to work...we just keep praying!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)