First Vacation

This past week, we went on our first little family vacation.  Megan graduated from Salisbury University on Thursday (yay Meg), so we decided to make the week a vacation to Ocean City, Maryland since we were going to be in the area anyway.  My college roommate Stephanie and her family graciously let us stay at their beach home in Ocean City, which made it possible for all of us to stay together. In addition to the trip to OC, Mike, Ryan, and I spent a weekend in Annapolis visiting with my other college roommate.  It was really nice to get away for the week!  Here is a quick recap of our trip.

First we went to Annapolis for the weekend.  Amanda is having her baby boy this July, and her shower was conveniently scheduled for the weekend we were going to MD anyway.  So Mike, Ryan, and I stayed at their beautiful home and enjoyed a really nice visit with my roommates.  Saturday we had Amanda's shower and then spent the evening sorting through all of her new goodies.  The guys spent the day drinking and eating and smoking cigars.  Then on Sunday we went into downtown Annapolis, went on a few walks, and went out to dinner.  Luckily, Stephanie was able to join us for dinner so we all had plenty of time to catch up.  Mike and I always say "we can live down here" after we go for a visit.  Annapolis is such a cool area.

Then on Monday morning we left for Ocean City.  We stopped to visit Megan in Salisbury on our way, and my parents met us there.  Over the next few days we helped Megan get packed up to move, the guys played golf, we went on many walks, shopped the Rehoboth outlets, and ate A LOT!  I found it especially nice be around my family and have the extra help with Ryan.  Everyone enjoyed getting to spend some time with him.  The whole week was nice and relaxing for everyone.  On Thursday, we went to Megan's graduation.  I have to give Salisbury credit, the graduation ceremony was nice and did not take forever.  That night we celebrated the graduation by going to dinner at Fager's Island and then out for a few drinks at Secrets.  I wish my first trip to Secrets was not while I was a breastfeeding mom of a 2 month old, but it was still cool to see what it was all about.  I will definitely need to make an adults only trip back at another time. 

I was nervous to travel with Ryan, especially after the rough beginning he had.  But everything went really well.  He did fine sleeping in the pack and play and he was generally a happy baby.  I am lucky that he likes to sleep in the car and the stroller because we were able to do a lot of things with him.  We spent many hours shopping at the outlets and he was great the entire time!  I am also getting better at breastfeeding in many different locations.  Throughout the week I nursed Ryan at the baby shower, in the car, and Megan's house.  We pretty much did whatever it was we wanted to do and when it was time to feed him, I found a quiet corner and fed him.  If we were in a busy place, I covered up and tried to be discreet but I didn't let it get me nervous.  I want to be able to live my life AND I want to nurse my boy as long as possible... so I just have to go with the flow. 

The other thing I was nervous about was going out to eat.  I had no idea what to expect when it came to eating out (especially dinner since that is his fussy time) .  But I am happy to say we ate out 3 times for breakfast, 4 times for lunch, and 4 times for dinner, and we had no problems at all.  Sometimes he slept the whole time, sometimes he was awake but quiet, and once or twice he needed to go on a little walk to help him get settled; but we never had to pack up the food and leave the restaurant.  I am thankful for the travel system we have because it made these dinners much easier.  We would just pop the car seat right into the stroller and bring him into the restaurant like that.  Then the stroller was ready if he needed to be rocked. 

Its the little things you worry about when traveling with a baby, but I am happy to say everything went smoothly on our first vacation.  I want my baby to be portable, so this first test was a good sign. I just need to remember to stay relaxed and enjoy myself and everything will be fine.  Ryan is not going to totally change our lives, but join the life we already live... and that will include traveling!

Chiropractor

One night, I was up feeding/rocking Ryan for the 3rd time and I was reading the March Mommies forums on my phone.  This was one of those nights where Ryan woke up about every 2 hours to eat or fuss, just to go back to sleep for about an hour before waking up again.  I was exhausted and frustrated.  His colic behaviors were continuing, he still was not sleeping well for naps or overnight, and he just seemed so restless and uncomfortable all the time.  As I was reading the forums I came across a few posts about Chiropractors.  These moms had posted that they took their newborns to the chiropractor for various reasons and they were having great success.  In response to these posts were other mothers commenting on their success stories due to the chiropractor.  So at about 4am I decided that the next day I was going to do some research and see if this is something that would help Ryan.

I e-mailed a friend from high school for more information about chiropractic care for infants (she is currently is school to be a chiropractor).  She wrote back with information about how it can bennefit a baby and how it can work wonders for babies with colic.  She also included some local chiropractors that really specialized in infants and children.  After that we had a few more sleepless nights and Crying Ryan all day, and I decided it was worth giving it a shot.

Ryan has now been to the chiropractor about 5 times and I am really happy.  I was immediately impressed by the Doctor and felt very comfortable with his care.  The very first visit, Ryan cryed hysterically the entire time.  But that was the first night that he slept for 7 hours straight!  The next day we returned and Ryan was a very happy little boy the entire visit.  He smiled and cooed at the doctor while he was being worked on.  Each visit since than, Ryan has continued to enjoy the experience.  I have absolutely noticed changes at home.  He is now consistently sleeping better.  Most nights he goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8, wakes up once between 2 and 3, and then wakes up for the day anywhere between 6-7:30am.  This is a huge improvement!  He also is starting to have more and more happy time during the day.  He is more content to just lay on his play mat and look around then he ever was before.  Don't get me wrong, things aren't perfect... crazy man still comes out to play once or twice a day; but his overall temperment has improved.

We are going to continue to go to the chiropractor, because I do feel it is helping Ryan to become a healthier and happier baby.  Thank goodness for insurance!

First Mother's Day

This past Sunday was my first Mother's Day and it was wonderful.  Mike and I decided to invite everyone here instead of us driving all over New Jersey to visit the important mothers in our lives.  We spend most holidays trying to balance out what everyone else is doing and I figured since I am a mother now too I could make the call to stay home.  So we had a nice brunch with his family and mine.  The weather was beautiful and it gave Mike a chance to show off all the work he has done in our back yard.  Then we had a very quiet afternoon, I even got to take a nap.  To top it all off I got a gift card for a massage at my favorite spa AND we had cleaning people come on Monday morning to really clean the house.  It was pretty much a perfect first Mother's day.

The Adventures of Spit Up

When you have a baby that spits up a lot, every day can be interesting.  Many of my friends have heard the story of the one morning he spit up on EVERYTHING; his crib, the rocker, changing table, me, himself, his dad, the carpet, and his activity mat.  There are also times that I complain that he throws up huge amounts and some how I end up catching it in my hands.  I have quickly learned to always have an extra... an extra crib sheet ready, changing pad cover, outfit for Ryan, top for me, burp cloth, etc. 

This morning was an extra special one when it comes to spit up.  We were getting ready for a 9:15 appointment and I fed him before we left.  He then threw up all over himself, all the way down to his feet.  I quickly brought him upstairs to change him and clean him up before we had to leave.  As soon as I lifted him from the changing table in his new cute outfit, he threw up again (and we aren't talking little baby spit up, I'm talking cover your whole outfit spit up).  So even quicker than before I changed him again so we could get out the door for the appointment.  That was not the end of it, once I had him strapped into his car seat and was walking out the door... you guessed it, more spit up!  Luckily we had a short break while at the doctors appointment, but the consistent spit up did continue the rest of the day.  Once down my back, once on the couch, and several more times all over himself. 

Needless to say it was a rough day for Ryan and the laundry hamper filled up very quickly! I hope he is feeling better tomorrow.

2 months!

I can't believe Ryan is already two months old (I will probably start all of his month birthdays with a similar sentence haha)!  I still feel like he was just born, but when I look at him I can see he is quickly turning into a little boy.  He looks less like a squishy newborn and more like a boy each day.  He is starting to put on some weight.  He is now officially 10 lbs 13 oz.  So after all of the worry about him not eating the first few weeks, I am not sure he is getting enough with each feeding!  He still has light hair and very blue eyes, I am interested to see if that changes. Our days are slowly getting better.  Crazy man still comes out a few times a day, but the out of control crying does not last as long.  I have figured out how to help sooth him, and I think he is starting to feel better overall.  I took him to see a chiropractor for the first time yesterday, so we will see how he does with that (look for another blog post in regards to the chiropractor). He is still taking zantac twice a day for his reflux but he is spitting up much less than before.  Earlier in the month he was still pretty uncomfortable and getting sick a lot, so we took him to Jersey Shore Hospital for some testing to make sure there was nothing more serious going on.  Luckily, everything checked out fine. I am really starting to believe that we have reached the peak and we are on the happier side of the mountain.

Here are some things that happened this month:

*He rolled over from his stomach to back (7 weeks)

*He has gained a lot of head control, but he still hates tummy time

*He started sleeping in his crib (6 weeks) and is slowly starting to sleep for longer stretches.  Just last night was the very first time he slept for 7 hours straight!!!!  Lets hope this is a new trend, getting up every two hours is starting to get old :)

*He is smiling much more, my favorite time of the whole day!

*I think he recognizes Mike and I, and he is able to follow our faces when we move around
*He has figured out how to pull my hair, and pulls it very hard
*He loves to be carried around so he can take in all the sites, he seems very curious about whats around him
*He loves when I sing to him, especially the songs Old Time Rock and Roll, Margaritaville, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and I Like Big Butts (a very interesting mix haha)
* His favorite place to take a nap is in the car

Some exciting things he did this month was attend Ally and Eric's wedding, go to Blake's 1st birthday party, celebrate his first Easter, go to Kelli's baby shower, hang out at book club, and go on his first walk at the park with his girlfriend Eloise!  It has been a good month and I really hope this next month is even better.