I am only days away from his 11 month milestone so we can wrap two months into one again. I can not believe I will only have a "baby for another 5 weeks"- let the tears begin. It is soooo bitter sweet.
-Thomas is very independent, and I probably give him much more freedom than I gave the others. He crawls quickly, goes from room to room exploring, and loves the change of scenery.
- He is starting to pull himself up on his knees, but no interest in standing or walking as of right now.
-Big news is as of this week, we FINALLY put the rock n play away. He started sleeping in his crib over night consistently at about the 9 month mark, and this week I finally got in him the crib for naps too!! There are some tears at nap time as he tries to work it out and get settled, but its normally not bad and he settles to sleep.
-Overnight is still pretty rocky. Last night he was up at 10:30 again at 2:30 and then up for the day by 5am. But we have had a few positive nights with longer stretches and just 1 wake up. I feel like we are very slowly making progress.
-In other big news, he did sleep through the night 1 night! It finally happened! After 10 months 5 days, we had our first full night of sleep. It was our first in Disney World and he was super tired from traveling. I was afraid it would have the opposite effect, but on this occasion it was great. He went to be at about 8:30pm and stayed asleep til 6am! Whoooo Hooooo! So exciting. It only happened that one night, it went back to normal the next night, but it was refreshing to know it can happen.
-Perfect time to talk about Thomas's first big vacation! We went to Disney World this month, and it was pretty awesome! Thomas was a good sport. He went along with all of our daily activities, napped in the stroller, nursed around the parks, and slept in the pack n play all just fine. His big brothers had an amazing time!
-Thomas has become quite the momma's boy. He wants me, and only me, all of the time. If I walk in the room and don't pay him attention, he gets angry, really angry. He wants mommy to hold him, snuggle with him, play with him at all times. Apparently when I am out of site, he is totally different, but when I walk in the door he needs to cling. I will take it, because I know its not long before Dad's become the super cool center of attention for the boys as they get older.
-To my amazement, he is still nursing and very frequently. I am finally going to reach my goal of nursing my baby on his 1st birthday!
-He has gotten much better with solid foods. We are doing the Baby Led Weaning and give him mainly soft solids. He prefers to feed himself and does not like to be fed by spoon, so we are going with his lead. Sweet potato fries, avacados, broccoli, scrambled eggs, puffs, and yogurt are some favorites. He also loves those baby food pouches that he can hold up and drink himself. I am glad to see him eating more.
Some of his favorite things are - baths, dancing, clapping, anything with music, playing catch (aka rolling the ball back and forth).
Some dislikes- bumping his head on furniture as he crawls around, not being with mommy, and going to sleep on his own.
Thats about it for right now. We all LOVE LOVE LOVE him so much. He makes off of us smile and laugh all day every day! I can't wait to celebrate his 1st birthday next month and I'll post all the details!
The Taynors
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Gender Reveal and Pregnancy Update
We decided to do things differently this time around and find out the sex of the baby ahead of time. This is a new concept for us because I am totally Team Surprise! I love love love waiting til the baby arrives to find out if its a girl or boy. There is something so special about that moment for me. But this time the circumstances were different. With already having two boys, everyone had a comment about how much they wanted it to be a girl. Plus if it was a girl, we would need to do a little more preparing, where if it was a boy, he could just jump right into our tribe of boys. Most importantly, and the reason I think I was persuaded to find out, was because Ryan really wanted to know. He didn't care if it was a boy or a girl, he just couldn't wait to find out. He kept saying "you know Mom, you can just take a test and find out, you don't have to wait anymore!" So we did it, we took the test and found out.
I really didn't want to do the whole gender reveal party. My emotions have been all over the place, and I didn't think I could handle dealing with everyone else's feelings and emotions as I was processing my own. But since this is our only time finding out in advance we did want to do something special. Mike picked the gender reveal balls that explode when they hit something hard, and I picked to do it just the 4 of us (plus a friend that came for video taping purposes).
I polled everyone ahead of time and we were all on team girl. Based on how sick I was feeling, how awful my skin looked, the babies heart rate, gender prediction charts, and how different this pregnancy was from my others... I was 100% team girl. And it seemed like the whole world agreed with me. I would walk past people randomly and they would say, "wow you are definitely having a girl, I can just sense it".
Surprise- We were all wrong! It is a boy!!
I was shocked, legitimately in shock. I really really really felt like this baby was a girl. Of course we are excited about having another boy, being a boy mom is the best. And watching brothers grow up together is really awesome. And above all, having a healthy pregnancy and baby trumps everything. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't also have a moment of sadness. Not at all because we are having a boy, bring on the boys I would take 10 of them, but since we are pretty confident that this is our last baby, I had to mourn the idea of never having a daughter. The hours after finding out was all excitement and celebration. Then around 9:30pm it hit me like a ton of bricks that I will never have the daughter that I have dreamed about having my whole life. The person to share the bond with that I do with my mom. The daughters wedding to plan or the dance recital to do hair backstage for. Also getting to see Mike be a father to a girl, and sending them off on Daddy Daughter dates. Relationships are different between mothers and sons and mothers and daughters (same for fathers with sons vs daughters). They are each special in their own way. So I am blessed to have three boys in my life, but also sad not to experience the other side. I cried for about 24 hours straight. Which of course made me feel guilty, but an emotion I had to process to move forward with embracing our family.
I am glad I had that moment though, I needed it, because since then I really am back to just being excited. What an adventure life is going to be with 3 sons!! I use to be so worried I would never find a guy to love me (back in my sappy single college days) and now look, I will have 4!! We are soooo blessed, and know that this was the baby God wanted for me and we can't wait to meet HIM!
In other pregnancy news-
I am so happy to be about 20 weeks and finally feeling good. The first 16-17 weeks was rough. I was so sick to my stomach every day all day. I threw up frequently, spent all day gagging at the most random things, couldn't eat anything but bagels, and my I wanted to sleep all the time. Plus I have the throw up every time I brush my teeth condition I had with the other pregnancies (unfortunately that normally lasts the entire pregnancy). Luckily that has all slowly faded away and I am feeling back to normal.
The baby's heart rate has been about 160 at each checkup and the ultra sound tech said "wow that is an active baby" (of course he is, he is my son). I have been measuring exactly a week ahead of my estimated due date, which makes more sense to me based on my ovulation schedule (thanks Turks and Caicos for helping us get pregnant!). The official date on the doctors records is July 2, but based on my cycle and all the ultra sounds, the better estimated due date is a week earlier June 25.
Ryan has spread the news to the whole world, and can't wait to be Mom's helper when the baby arrives. He practices every day and tells me all the jobs he will do once baby arrives. Patrick has finally warmed up to the idea and has stopped saying "No I am the baby" every time someone mentions I am pregnant. I think by July he will be excited and ready too.
I am starting to prep for actually getting this baby out. I am going to prenatal yoga more often and recently reaching out to a Doula to work with towards the end of pregnancy and delivery. We are also starting to plan Baby Boy's nursery, we are going with an antique airplane theme this time around. Nothing major, just sprucing the room up so it doesn't exactly the same as when it was Patrick's nursery. Next on our agenda is to pick a name. I am so bad at names, especially boy names (I have had Charlotte Elizabeth in the waiting for 6 years now!). Some maybes are Harrison, Charles, Thomas, Andrew, Alex... who knows. But I seriously want to decide soon. I hate having that decision hanging over my head. I'll keep everyone posted.
Life is good right now. We are all excited and happy and can't wait to see what life in zone coverage parenting will be like!
I really didn't want to do the whole gender reveal party. My emotions have been all over the place, and I didn't think I could handle dealing with everyone else's feelings and emotions as I was processing my own. But since this is our only time finding out in advance we did want to do something special. Mike picked the gender reveal balls that explode when they hit something hard, and I picked to do it just the 4 of us (plus a friend that came for video taping purposes).
Gender Reveal Balls from Etsy- Awesome!
I polled everyone ahead of time and we were all on team girl. Based on how sick I was feeling, how awful my skin looked, the babies heart rate, gender prediction charts, and how different this pregnancy was from my others... I was 100% team girl. And it seemed like the whole world agreed with me. I would walk past people randomly and they would say, "wow you are definitely having a girl, I can just sense it".
Surprise- We were all wrong! It is a boy!!
I was shocked, legitimately in shock. I really really really felt like this baby was a girl. Of course we are excited about having another boy, being a boy mom is the best. And watching brothers grow up together is really awesome. And above all, having a healthy pregnancy and baby trumps everything. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't also have a moment of sadness. Not at all because we are having a boy, bring on the boys I would take 10 of them, but since we are pretty confident that this is our last baby, I had to mourn the idea of never having a daughter. The hours after finding out was all excitement and celebration. Then around 9:30pm it hit me like a ton of bricks that I will never have the daughter that I have dreamed about having my whole life. The person to share the bond with that I do with my mom. The daughters wedding to plan or the dance recital to do hair backstage for. Also getting to see Mike be a father to a girl, and sending them off on Daddy Daughter dates. Relationships are different between mothers and sons and mothers and daughters (same for fathers with sons vs daughters). They are each special in their own way. So I am blessed to have three boys in my life, but also sad not to experience the other side. I cried for about 24 hours straight. Which of course made me feel guilty, but an emotion I had to process to move forward with embracing our family.
I am glad I had that moment though, I needed it, because since then I really am back to just being excited. What an adventure life is going to be with 3 sons!! I use to be so worried I would never find a guy to love me (back in my sappy single college days) and now look, I will have 4!! We are soooo blessed, and know that this was the baby God wanted for me and we can't wait to meet HIM!
In other pregnancy news-
I am so happy to be about 20 weeks and finally feeling good. The first 16-17 weeks was rough. I was so sick to my stomach every day all day. I threw up frequently, spent all day gagging at the most random things, couldn't eat anything but bagels, and my I wanted to sleep all the time. Plus I have the throw up every time I brush my teeth condition I had with the other pregnancies (unfortunately that normally lasts the entire pregnancy). Luckily that has all slowly faded away and I am feeling back to normal.
The baby's heart rate has been about 160 at each checkup and the ultra sound tech said "wow that is an active baby" (of course he is, he is my son). I have been measuring exactly a week ahead of my estimated due date, which makes more sense to me based on my ovulation schedule (thanks Turks and Caicos for helping us get pregnant!). The official date on the doctors records is July 2, but based on my cycle and all the ultra sounds, the better estimated due date is a week earlier June 25.
Ryan has spread the news to the whole world, and can't wait to be Mom's helper when the baby arrives. He practices every day and tells me all the jobs he will do once baby arrives. Patrick has finally warmed up to the idea and has stopped saying "No I am the baby" every time someone mentions I am pregnant. I think by July he will be excited and ready too.
I am starting to prep for actually getting this baby out. I am going to prenatal yoga more often and recently reaching out to a Doula to work with towards the end of pregnancy and delivery. We are also starting to plan Baby Boy's nursery, we are going with an antique airplane theme this time around. Nothing major, just sprucing the room up so it doesn't exactly the same as when it was Patrick's nursery. Next on our agenda is to pick a name. I am so bad at names, especially boy names (I have had Charlotte Elizabeth in the waiting for 6 years now!). Some maybes are Harrison, Charles, Thomas, Andrew, Alex... who knows. But I seriously want to decide soon. I hate having that decision hanging over my head. I'll keep everyone posted.
Life is good right now. We are all excited and happy and can't wait to see what life in zone coverage parenting will be like!
We are Pregnant!
This post is long long over due. But after our struggles this year, I was holding off on posting until we had more answers and were sure things were progressing and baby is healthy! My last post was mid October, and a lot has happened since then. Just a week or so after posting I found out I was pregnant again. Of course my first reaction was one of hope and excitement, but it was very quickly followed by fear and anxiety. Then within a week a week of getting the positive pregnancy test, we met with the hematologist and finally got some answers as to what was going on with my blood work.
The doctor results were that I did have a mutation of the MTHFR gene and have anticardiolipin syndrome. As my OB suspected, my levels where high enough to put me at risk for blood clotting, and most likely the clots where leading to the past miscarriages. The hematologist suspects this is a new condition, not something I had when I was pregnant with the boys. I have a ton of questions, like why would I suddenly develop a new blood clotting condition, but at this particular moment my bigger concern was what can I do to help keep this pregnancy.
The doctor recommendation is that I need to do daily injections of Lovenox in my stomach every day til 4 weeks after the baby arrives. This is a blood thinner that is safest for pregnancy, and apparently the common treatment for a condition like this. I hate shots, and needles, and I knew I wouldn't be able to do the injections to myself... but you gotta do what you gotta do. That night Mike and I started our daily ritual of him giving me a shot in the tummy every night before bed. Its not fun, it stings, and its getting harder as my belly gets bigger. But we do it with no complaints because we know its helping baby. Thank God for my husband. This is definitely one of those moments that I appreciate him even more than usual, because he stepped up without any hesitation to give these injections, even though I know its something he is uncomfortable with.
We pretty much told our family and close friends right away that we were in fact pregnant again, and taking it one day at a time. We were holding off on celebrating, praying a lot, but still hopeful for a healthy baby. I was kind of stuck in a weird funk. I wanted to be so excited about being pregnant, to talk about it and plan for baby, but I was so scared to get attached and scared of getting hurt again, that I resisted all urges to just let myself be an excited pregnant momma. I had a variety of doctors appointments pretty much on a weekly basis for the first few months just to make sure things were progressing.
The week before Christmas, I had a 12 week ultra sound and all the genetic testing blood work, and I had a follow up with the hematologist. Everything checked out great, so we decided we could officially start spreading the news and more specifically tell the boys that they were going to be big brothers! On Christmas Eve we told the boys, Ryan was so excited, Patrick not so much. And then we let them tell all of our friends, family, cousins, as we saw them throughout the holiday week. It was great to finally get to celebrate the new baby.
In January, at 15 weeks pregnant we did have another scare. One night as I was getting ready for bed, I started bleeding very heavily. I have it about and hour to see if it continued and see if I had any other symptoms (based on my OBs recommendation). About an hour later the blood was still very heavy and I was officially freaked out. Mike happened to be sick with the flu that night, so I called my mom and off to the ER we went. At that point I just wanted to hear the babies heart beat, I needed to know baby was safe. We spent the entire night in the hospital, blood work, ultra sounds, monitoring, and the baby seemed to be doing just fine. The ER docs were not able to identify the cause of the bleeding, just that it was not a miscarriage or the placenta, THANK GOD! He sent me home at 5am and told me to see the OB first thing in the morning.
I followed instructions and was in the office about 10 am. They did another ultra sound and found that I was pooling blood in my cervix, which is why it was bleeding like a heavy period. Long story short, for some reason my body was not reabsorbing blood the way it should, and it was causing it to pool in my cervix instead. The remedy, modified bed rest, stay calm and quiet and relaxed as much as possible, and give myself the chance to heal. If the blood was reabsorbed, that would be great and we can move forward, if the blood continued to pool, it could lead to early contractions and labor as my body tried to get rid of the extra blood. So on doctors order, I did just that. I modified all my activities, asked for extra help from anyone around that could help, and tried to rest and relax as much as possible. Luckily it worked, and the last week of January we confirmed the issue went away, baby looked great, and I could return to normal activities (as long as I still remembered that yes I am pregnant and yes my body needs to take it easy).
I am now officially 20 weeks pregnant! Anatomy scan ultra sound looked perfect this week, and I am feeling the 2nd trimester high! We can not wait to meet this baby in June/July and complete our family!
Next post... finding out the gender! And other pregnant fun!
The doctor results were that I did have a mutation of the MTHFR gene and have anticardiolipin syndrome. As my OB suspected, my levels where high enough to put me at risk for blood clotting, and most likely the clots where leading to the past miscarriages. The hematologist suspects this is a new condition, not something I had when I was pregnant with the boys. I have a ton of questions, like why would I suddenly develop a new blood clotting condition, but at this particular moment my bigger concern was what can I do to help keep this pregnancy.
The doctor recommendation is that I need to do daily injections of Lovenox in my stomach every day til 4 weeks after the baby arrives. This is a blood thinner that is safest for pregnancy, and apparently the common treatment for a condition like this. I hate shots, and needles, and I knew I wouldn't be able to do the injections to myself... but you gotta do what you gotta do. That night Mike and I started our daily ritual of him giving me a shot in the tummy every night before bed. Its not fun, it stings, and its getting harder as my belly gets bigger. But we do it with no complaints because we know its helping baby. Thank God for my husband. This is definitely one of those moments that I appreciate him even more than usual, because he stepped up without any hesitation to give these injections, even though I know its something he is uncomfortable with.
We pretty much told our family and close friends right away that we were in fact pregnant again, and taking it one day at a time. We were holding off on celebrating, praying a lot, but still hopeful for a healthy baby. I was kind of stuck in a weird funk. I wanted to be so excited about being pregnant, to talk about it and plan for baby, but I was so scared to get attached and scared of getting hurt again, that I resisted all urges to just let myself be an excited pregnant momma. I had a variety of doctors appointments pretty much on a weekly basis for the first few months just to make sure things were progressing.
The week before Christmas, I had a 12 week ultra sound and all the genetic testing blood work, and I had a follow up with the hematologist. Everything checked out great, so we decided we could officially start spreading the news and more specifically tell the boys that they were going to be big brothers! On Christmas Eve we told the boys, Ryan was so excited, Patrick not so much. And then we let them tell all of our friends, family, cousins, as we saw them throughout the holiday week. It was great to finally get to celebrate the new baby.
I followed instructions and was in the office about 10 am. They did another ultra sound and found that I was pooling blood in my cervix, which is why it was bleeding like a heavy period. Long story short, for some reason my body was not reabsorbing blood the way it should, and it was causing it to pool in my cervix instead. The remedy, modified bed rest, stay calm and quiet and relaxed as much as possible, and give myself the chance to heal. If the blood was reabsorbed, that would be great and we can move forward, if the blood continued to pool, it could lead to early contractions and labor as my body tried to get rid of the extra blood. So on doctors order, I did just that. I modified all my activities, asked for extra help from anyone around that could help, and tried to rest and relax as much as possible. Luckily it worked, and the last week of January we confirmed the issue went away, baby looked great, and I could return to normal activities (as long as I still remembered that yes I am pregnant and yes my body needs to take it easy).
I am now officially 20 weeks pregnant! Anatomy scan ultra sound looked perfect this week, and I am feeling the 2nd trimester high! We can not wait to meet this baby in June/July and complete our family!
Next post... finding out the gender! And other pregnant fun!
Friday, October 14, 2016
Our Journey Towards Baby 3
Right off the bat, this is not a pregnancy announcement! It is actually the opposite, it's the story of how we have been struggling to grow our family. It has been a challenging year plus on this roller coaster ride, and I am ready to get it all off my chest. You never know who will find this post, that may be going through a similar struggle, and find peace in knowing they are not alone.
Almost immediately after Patrick was born, I knew our family wasn't complete. I knew right away we would have another baby. I didn't know when, but that is what I felt in my heart. When he was about 1, I felt we were ready, but Mike and I had an adult only trip to Colorado planned that summer, and I really didn't want to go pregnant. So we decided as soon as the trip was over we would officially start trying. Leading up to that time, I tracked my cycle so I had a pretty good idea how long my cycle was and when I ovulated each month. August 2015 we "pulled the goalie" and started trying for baby 3. With both my past pregnancies, it only took about 3 months, so we were hopeful that we would be pregnant by the Fall.
September- I got my period. October- negative pregnancy test. December- Not yet. And this continued for a few more months. I was trying to stay positive, I know it takes many women a long time to get pregnant. But each month we were disappointed to find out we still were not pregnant. I never even considered after two great pregnancies that it would not come easy again.
In March 2016 we finally got pregnant! I was soooooooo excited! Shocked, relieved, ecstatic! I had a cute little way of surprising Mike with the news, and he was more excited then he has been with the past two pregnancies (he always gets nervous when I am pregnant). I think since we had to work a little harder for this one, made it a little extra special.
Everything seemed to be going well, I had morning sickness, peed all the time, the normal first trimester fatigue... all of my regular early pregnant symptoms. My first doctors appointment was scheduled for when I would be 8 weeks, April 1.
It was at that appointment, during my pregnancy confirmation ultra sound, that we knew something was wrong. The minute the doctor started the scan, I knew there was a problem. I didn't see anything on the screen. Not a sac or spot or anything at all. The doctors face was blank. There was no baby there. But the doctor didn't say that. We immediately started going through all the possibilities. Maybe I was earlier in the pregnancy then we thought, maybe the sac was hidden somewhere in the uterus, maybe we should have a specialist do the scan. That lead to a week of doctors appointments, blood work, and ultra sounds. Long story short, about a week later the doctor confirmed it was a miscarriage. My hormone levels were all great and growing as a normal pregnancy should, but the baby wasn't growing along with it. After some consultation, we decided to do the D&C procedure that week.
Well we were heartbroken. Completely devastated. It was like the rug was pulled out from under us. We were so excited and hopeful and happy to be pregnant, that we immediately got our hopes up. We immediately imaged our family with 3 kids, we immediately planned how we would set up bedrooms, when I would go on maternity leave, how we would tell our families on our Disney vacation, pictured Ryan and Patrick as big brothers. Ryan has been praying every night for a baby, he was going to be so happy. Learning that we were no longer pregnant just ripped that all away. I didn't know how to process the emotions. Especially since physically I still felt pregnant for another couple of weeks. It was a terrible loss, the sadness ran very deep.
The doctor said he didn't see anything wrong, he had no reason to believe something was wrong with my health, and that we were free to start trying once my cycle returned. So we did.
I got my period the end of May, we started trying in June, and I found out I was pregnant again by the end of June! Even though we had just gone through that horrible experience, I didn't really worry it would happen again. Seeing the positive so soon took my breath away. We were happy and excited, this time we would have a health pregnancy. I became an expert at pretending to drink at social events, so no one suspected a thing. I could not wait to finally announce it to the world that we were growing our family.
We scheduled our 8 week appointment, went for our first scan, and got the bad news again. This time we saw the sac trying to grow, the baby got to about 6 weeks before it stopped growing. I did the blood work and scans and appointments just like we did in April. All with the same results. Another miscarriage and a D&C in August.
I couldn't believe we were going through this again. I think the second time around I felt more angry than sad. Why was this happening? What was wrong with my body? What else could I be doing to help get pregnant? Why did the whole world around me seem to be pregnant?!?!
This second miscarriage also lead to me re-evaluating the whole process. Are we not meant to have another baby? Should we stop trying? Is this a sign from God that my body can't handle a pregnancy? Or is it just normal, like so many people keep saying? Should I see a fertility specialist? Or should I just keep trying and it will happen when its meant to happen?
So to help us grieve, we planned a spontaneous last minute family vacation to Turks and Caicos (that post is coming next). We wanted to appreciate the family we have, the blessings in our world, and not agonize over getting pregnant and the loss of these babies. I know that sounds crazy, but the time away gave us perspective and took the edge off.
In the meantime, the doctor ordered a full list of blood work, to take a look at everything going on that may be affecting my pregnancy. At this stage they are not considering it an "infertility" issue because I had two healthy pregnancies, I am under 35, and its only 2 miscarriages, not 3.
Our current status is this- my blood work came back with a few areas of concern, One thing specifically is that my cardio lipids are very high, leading to blood clotting. The doctor suspects the blood clotting is causing the problem, because not enough blood is flowing to the baby to give it the ability to grow. He also recommended I see a hematologist to help review the blood work and explain whats going on. I also decided to see a new OB for a second opinion. I want someone else to see the results, hear my story, and let me know what they think is going on. I like my OB but he seems very nonchalant about the whole thing. The new OB appointment is this week, and the hematologist is next week. So I guess we will see. Hopefully they can create a plan for us.
We really really want this baby. As much as I am nervous to get pregnant again, my gut still tells me we are not done. There is another baby for us. We will continue this journey, work with the doctors, and pray a whole lot, and I believe whatever is suppose to happen will happen. My Rainbow baby will be here one day!
Almost immediately after Patrick was born, I knew our family wasn't complete. I knew right away we would have another baby. I didn't know when, but that is what I felt in my heart. When he was about 1, I felt we were ready, but Mike and I had an adult only trip to Colorado planned that summer, and I really didn't want to go pregnant. So we decided as soon as the trip was over we would officially start trying. Leading up to that time, I tracked my cycle so I had a pretty good idea how long my cycle was and when I ovulated each month. August 2015 we "pulled the goalie" and started trying for baby 3. With both my past pregnancies, it only took about 3 months, so we were hopeful that we would be pregnant by the Fall.
September- I got my period. October- negative pregnancy test. December- Not yet. And this continued for a few more months. I was trying to stay positive, I know it takes many women a long time to get pregnant. But each month we were disappointed to find out we still were not pregnant. I never even considered after two great pregnancies that it would not come easy again.
In March 2016 we finally got pregnant! I was soooooooo excited! Shocked, relieved, ecstatic! I had a cute little way of surprising Mike with the news, and he was more excited then he has been with the past two pregnancies (he always gets nervous when I am pregnant). I think since we had to work a little harder for this one, made it a little extra special.
Everything seemed to be going well, I had morning sickness, peed all the time, the normal first trimester fatigue... all of my regular early pregnant symptoms. My first doctors appointment was scheduled for when I would be 8 weeks, April 1.
It was at that appointment, during my pregnancy confirmation ultra sound, that we knew something was wrong. The minute the doctor started the scan, I knew there was a problem. I didn't see anything on the screen. Not a sac or spot or anything at all. The doctors face was blank. There was no baby there. But the doctor didn't say that. We immediately started going through all the possibilities. Maybe I was earlier in the pregnancy then we thought, maybe the sac was hidden somewhere in the uterus, maybe we should have a specialist do the scan. That lead to a week of doctors appointments, blood work, and ultra sounds. Long story short, about a week later the doctor confirmed it was a miscarriage. My hormone levels were all great and growing as a normal pregnancy should, but the baby wasn't growing along with it. After some consultation, we decided to do the D&C procedure that week.
Well we were heartbroken. Completely devastated. It was like the rug was pulled out from under us. We were so excited and hopeful and happy to be pregnant, that we immediately got our hopes up. We immediately imaged our family with 3 kids, we immediately planned how we would set up bedrooms, when I would go on maternity leave, how we would tell our families on our Disney vacation, pictured Ryan and Patrick as big brothers. Ryan has been praying every night for a baby, he was going to be so happy. Learning that we were no longer pregnant just ripped that all away. I didn't know how to process the emotions. Especially since physically I still felt pregnant for another couple of weeks. It was a terrible loss, the sadness ran very deep.
The doctor said he didn't see anything wrong, he had no reason to believe something was wrong with my health, and that we were free to start trying once my cycle returned. So we did.
I got my period the end of May, we started trying in June, and I found out I was pregnant again by the end of June! Even though we had just gone through that horrible experience, I didn't really worry it would happen again. Seeing the positive so soon took my breath away. We were happy and excited, this time we would have a health pregnancy. I became an expert at pretending to drink at social events, so no one suspected a thing. I could not wait to finally announce it to the world that we were growing our family.
We scheduled our 8 week appointment, went for our first scan, and got the bad news again. This time we saw the sac trying to grow, the baby got to about 6 weeks before it stopped growing. I did the blood work and scans and appointments just like we did in April. All with the same results. Another miscarriage and a D&C in August.
I couldn't believe we were going through this again. I think the second time around I felt more angry than sad. Why was this happening? What was wrong with my body? What else could I be doing to help get pregnant? Why did the whole world around me seem to be pregnant?!?!
This second miscarriage also lead to me re-evaluating the whole process. Are we not meant to have another baby? Should we stop trying? Is this a sign from God that my body can't handle a pregnancy? Or is it just normal, like so many people keep saying? Should I see a fertility specialist? Or should I just keep trying and it will happen when its meant to happen?
So to help us grieve, we planned a spontaneous last minute family vacation to Turks and Caicos (that post is coming next). We wanted to appreciate the family we have, the blessings in our world, and not agonize over getting pregnant and the loss of these babies. I know that sounds crazy, but the time away gave us perspective and took the edge off.
In the meantime, the doctor ordered a full list of blood work, to take a look at everything going on that may be affecting my pregnancy. At this stage they are not considering it an "infertility" issue because I had two healthy pregnancies, I am under 35, and its only 2 miscarriages, not 3.
Our current status is this- my blood work came back with a few areas of concern, One thing specifically is that my cardio lipids are very high, leading to blood clotting. The doctor suspects the blood clotting is causing the problem, because not enough blood is flowing to the baby to give it the ability to grow. He also recommended I see a hematologist to help review the blood work and explain whats going on. I also decided to see a new OB for a second opinion. I want someone else to see the results, hear my story, and let me know what they think is going on. I like my OB but he seems very nonchalant about the whole thing. The new OB appointment is this week, and the hematologist is next week. So I guess we will see. Hopefully they can create a plan for us.
We really really want this baby. As much as I am nervous to get pregnant again, my gut still tells me we are not done. There is another baby for us. We will continue this journey, work with the doctors, and pray a whole lot, and I believe whatever is suppose to happen will happen. My Rainbow baby will be here one day!
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Whats going on these days?
Its been a wild few months. Lots going on. Good things, bad things, stressful thing, exciting things. I am not going to get into all of it right now, but here are a few notes on the Taynor family happenings.
- We are trying to sell our Coolidge house. The renters are ready to move out, and keeping it is not a great long term investment, so we hope to sell it soon. It has been on the market for 2 weeks and had lots of showings and one offer we are currently negotiating with. I am hopeful we can get it sold quickly and move on. The goal is to use the money from that house to buy another home in North Carolina. The NC can be an investment home or a home for us to live in if we decide we are heading South. That is a conversation for another day. Owning three homes and being landlords has been a fun yet challenging new business venture we have started the past couple years.
-We are actively debating whether we should settle in here in NJ or make the move to NC like so many others have. Lots of pros in both directions. I have kind of thrown my hand up in the air, I pray every night, and I am asking God to take the wheel on this whole process.
-As usual I am debating my job situation. My bridal hair business is growing and I am happy with the progress I have made. I do hope it continues to grow and allows me the ability to leave the office job. I am also looking into other options of what I can do from home to supplement my income if I decide to the leave the office. The balance of babysitters and office hours has become very difficult, especially for how little I make and if we plan to have another child (lots of prayers for this too) then this problem will not go away anytime soon. So its the constant battle of being home a lot, taking care of my family, and still making enough money to contribute to our monthly finances. One option I am considering and in the process of working on is a travel agent. I figure I love planning, I am very organized, and like my previous post states I am travel obsessed these days, so it might be a good fit along with the bridal business.
-Mike and I were training for a half marathon. Unfortunately I was sidelined at the last minute (tough look after training for 3 months, I didn't even get to run the race), but Mike ran with my sister and they did awesome. We are hoping to keep it up because we do enjoy running together.
-We have been doing lots of work on our house. Some little projects, some big projects, but slowly but surely we are making changes. I'll do a post with pictures soon, but its nice to see some progress. But I will admit, when I look around this house I still just see work. A big property that needs lots of love, a basement I would love to finish, these ugly counter tops that I dream about changing... so while we wait and save to do it, I just watch a whole lot of HGTV and dream.
-Ryan is officially registered for kindergarten. It makes me so sad and proud at the same time. I can't imagine him leaving at 9am and not coming home til 4pm every single day! I am going to miss him like crazy and am getting ready to buckle in for a rocky year.
-We are getting ready for wedding season. We have another 5 weddings this year! I thought I was too old for his!
I think those are the hot topics as of right now! Look at me catching up on lots of blog posts. Still to come- Disney re-cap, birthday party details, ADHD discussion, and home improvements update.
- We are trying to sell our Coolidge house. The renters are ready to move out, and keeping it is not a great long term investment, so we hope to sell it soon. It has been on the market for 2 weeks and had lots of showings and one offer we are currently negotiating with. I am hopeful we can get it sold quickly and move on. The goal is to use the money from that house to buy another home in North Carolina. The NC can be an investment home or a home for us to live in if we decide we are heading South. That is a conversation for another day. Owning three homes and being landlords has been a fun yet challenging new business venture we have started the past couple years.
-We are actively debating whether we should settle in here in NJ or make the move to NC like so many others have. Lots of pros in both directions. I have kind of thrown my hand up in the air, I pray every night, and I am asking God to take the wheel on this whole process.
-As usual I am debating my job situation. My bridal hair business is growing and I am happy with the progress I have made. I do hope it continues to grow and allows me the ability to leave the office job. I am also looking into other options of what I can do from home to supplement my income if I decide to the leave the office. The balance of babysitters and office hours has become very difficult, especially for how little I make and if we plan to have another child (lots of prayers for this too) then this problem will not go away anytime soon. So its the constant battle of being home a lot, taking care of my family, and still making enough money to contribute to our monthly finances. One option I am considering and in the process of working on is a travel agent. I figure I love planning, I am very organized, and like my previous post states I am travel obsessed these days, so it might be a good fit along with the bridal business.
-Mike and I were training for a half marathon. Unfortunately I was sidelined at the last minute (tough look after training for 3 months, I didn't even get to run the race), but Mike ran with my sister and they did awesome. We are hoping to keep it up because we do enjoy running together.
-We have been doing lots of work on our house. Some little projects, some big projects, but slowly but surely we are making changes. I'll do a post with pictures soon, but its nice to see some progress. But I will admit, when I look around this house I still just see work. A big property that needs lots of love, a basement I would love to finish, these ugly counter tops that I dream about changing... so while we wait and save to do it, I just watch a whole lot of HGTV and dream.
-Ryan is officially registered for kindergarten. It makes me so sad and proud at the same time. I can't imagine him leaving at 9am and not coming home til 4pm every single day! I am going to miss him like crazy and am getting ready to buckle in for a rocky year.
-We are getting ready for wedding season. We have another 5 weddings this year! I thought I was too old for his!
I think those are the hot topics as of right now! Look at me catching up on lots of blog posts. Still to come- Disney re-cap, birthday party details, ADHD discussion, and home improvements update.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Patrick is One!
I am a month late, but better late than never. Patrick turned 1 last month and we had a great time celebrating. The next post will be about the party, for now it will be all about him. Here are all the special things about Patrick as he hit the 1 year milestone.
- He weighs 20lbs (25%) and 30 inches (75-90%) so apparently he is tall and skinny. Don't remember the head measurements, but that was also 90-95% so most of his weight is in his big head.
- He is finally sleeping through the night AND going to sleep on his own! Woooo Hooo! This finally happened right around Christmas. I kept hearing about kids who didn't sleep until they were one, and I guess he was one of them. He now sleeps from 6:30/7pm-6:30-7am. Mommy is happy!
-Naps are a different story, they are better in the fact that he can finally fall asleep on his own- but they are still very inconsistent. A lot of days are still 30 minutes, 1 hours are slowly becoming a bit more regular, and a 2 hour nap happened one time so far! But regardless, its much better than it was and he is definitely more rested.
-Now on to the fun things- He loves music, to dance, and clap his hands along with it. He has one Mickey mouse toy that is his favorite to dance to and he loves the "Get Up and Dance" commercial from Disney Jr.
-He cruising, crawling, climbing, and bear crawling all over the place. He doesn't have any interest in walking yet, but he finds ways to get around.
-He loves to push things around- his high chair, Ryan's stool, toys... anything he can move.
-This month he has mastered climbing the stairs, and he is starting to get the concept of going down feet first from things.
-He loves the sight of himself in a mirror. He waves and smiles big as soon as we walk past one.
-We are working on blowing kisses, he has about half the process down, but still working on it.
-When you say nap time, he will start waving bye bye and blowing kisses right away, even if no one else is around to see it.
-A favorite activity is taking things out of a container and then putting it back in. He is constantly moving things in and out of various objects.
-Mickey Mouse is the one TV show that catches his attention right now.
-He loves to chase and tackle. Before bedtime Ryan and Patrick get play time with Daddy and its pretty much a big wrestling match.
-He eats EVERYTHING! Like seriously eats all foods all the time. I am surprised his weight is still lower considering how much he eats. I still have him on a mainly fruits and veggies and protein kind of diet... but he enjoys trying things like crackers for the first time. I already understand the meaning of "they are eating me out of house and home"... I can't image what it will be like when they are teenagers.
-Fingers crossed, I do not think he has any allergies... he shows no signs of food irritation, so he eats what we eat most days.
-After turning one we started the transition off of formula to organic whole milk, and now I am weaning him off the bottle and much less oz of milk. So he gets a morning bottle and a bedtime bottle (6oz) and a sippy cup of milk sometime during the day. I am not a big milk fan, so I will continue to wean him to smaller amounts and replace it with other good fats/nutritious foods.
-He still only has 2 teeth! Very slow teether. I can see the top two are coming in, but they did not break through yet.
-He is at a pretty clingy stage. He wants to be held and carried and played with at all times. He does not like when I wash dishes or cook dinner. He has also showed us that he knows how to throw a pretty good temper tantrum. They don't happen often, but we have seen it appear a few times. The first time he had one of these fits, my mom and I seriously just laughed at him because it was so funny. I am interested to see how his personality continues to emerge this year.
-Generally he is a happy, peaceful baby. He loves attention and to cuddle. He has a very silly two tooth smile, and he loves his brother!
-For future me (if I decide to go down this crazy road again)- here is his 1 year schedule.
6:30-7:00 wake up
7-7:30 bottle (normally while hanging out in our bed as we get ready for work)
8:00 breakfast and play time
10:00 morning nap- this one is normally pretty short
11:30 milk sippy cup or snack
12:00-12:30 lunch with Ryan and play time
2:00 afternoon nap- this one we have a better chance at being longer
3:30 ish snacks
5-5:30 dinner
6:30 bath some nights (poor second kid gets baths way less frequently) and bedtime routine
bedtime is pjs and clean diaper, read a quick book, bottle in the rocking chair and then I lay him down and walk out.
Again because he is a second child, the schedule is much more flexible than it was with Ryan. He tags along with me for school drop offs and pick ups and birthday parties and speech/OT... but generally thats the schedule we aim for.
-So things are great, and he is doing great. I am loving being a mom to these two boys and can't wait to report back next year!
- He weighs 20lbs (25%) and 30 inches (75-90%) so apparently he is tall and skinny. Don't remember the head measurements, but that was also 90-95% so most of his weight is in his big head.
- He is finally sleeping through the night AND going to sleep on his own! Woooo Hooo! This finally happened right around Christmas. I kept hearing about kids who didn't sleep until they were one, and I guess he was one of them. He now sleeps from 6:30/7pm-6:30-7am. Mommy is happy!
-Naps are a different story, they are better in the fact that he can finally fall asleep on his own- but they are still very inconsistent. A lot of days are still 30 minutes, 1 hours are slowly becoming a bit more regular, and a 2 hour nap happened one time so far! But regardless, its much better than it was and he is definitely more rested.
-Now on to the fun things- He loves music, to dance, and clap his hands along with it. He has one Mickey mouse toy that is his favorite to dance to and he loves the "Get Up and Dance" commercial from Disney Jr.
-He cruising, crawling, climbing, and bear crawling all over the place. He doesn't have any interest in walking yet, but he finds ways to get around.
-He loves to push things around- his high chair, Ryan's stool, toys... anything he can move.
-This month he has mastered climbing the stairs, and he is starting to get the concept of going down feet first from things.
-He loves the sight of himself in a mirror. He waves and smiles big as soon as we walk past one.
-We are working on blowing kisses, he has about half the process down, but still working on it.
-When you say nap time, he will start waving bye bye and blowing kisses right away, even if no one else is around to see it.
-A favorite activity is taking things out of a container and then putting it back in. He is constantly moving things in and out of various objects.
-Mickey Mouse is the one TV show that catches his attention right now.
-He loves to chase and tackle. Before bedtime Ryan and Patrick get play time with Daddy and its pretty much a big wrestling match.
-He eats EVERYTHING! Like seriously eats all foods all the time. I am surprised his weight is still lower considering how much he eats. I still have him on a mainly fruits and veggies and protein kind of diet... but he enjoys trying things like crackers for the first time. I already understand the meaning of "they are eating me out of house and home"... I can't image what it will be like when they are teenagers.
-Fingers crossed, I do not think he has any allergies... he shows no signs of food irritation, so he eats what we eat most days.
-After turning one we started the transition off of formula to organic whole milk, and now I am weaning him off the bottle and much less oz of milk. So he gets a morning bottle and a bedtime bottle (6oz) and a sippy cup of milk sometime during the day. I am not a big milk fan, so I will continue to wean him to smaller amounts and replace it with other good fats/nutritious foods.
-He still only has 2 teeth! Very slow teether. I can see the top two are coming in, but they did not break through yet.
-He is at a pretty clingy stage. He wants to be held and carried and played with at all times. He does not like when I wash dishes or cook dinner. He has also showed us that he knows how to throw a pretty good temper tantrum. They don't happen often, but we have seen it appear a few times. The first time he had one of these fits, my mom and I seriously just laughed at him because it was so funny. I am interested to see how his personality continues to emerge this year.
-Generally he is a happy, peaceful baby. He loves attention and to cuddle. He has a very silly two tooth smile, and he loves his brother!
-For future me (if I decide to go down this crazy road again)- here is his 1 year schedule.
6:30-7:00 wake up
7-7:30 bottle (normally while hanging out in our bed as we get ready for work)
8:00 breakfast and play time
10:00 morning nap- this one is normally pretty short
11:30 milk sippy cup or snack
12:00-12:30 lunch with Ryan and play time
2:00 afternoon nap- this one we have a better chance at being longer
3:30 ish snacks
5-5:30 dinner
6:30 bath some nights (poor second kid gets baths way less frequently) and bedtime routine
bedtime is pjs and clean diaper, read a quick book, bottle in the rocking chair and then I lay him down and walk out.
Again because he is a second child, the schedule is much more flexible than it was with Ryan. He tags along with me for school drop offs and pick ups and birthday parties and speech/OT... but generally thats the schedule we aim for.
-So things are great, and he is doing great. I am loving being a mom to these two boys and can't wait to report back next year!
Friday, January 2, 2015
The night before baby boy's birthday
The food is prepped, the house is clean, the decorations are ready to be put up and the smash cake has been delivered... Must mean one thing- tomorrow is Patrick's first birthday! Man this year flew by. I feel like we have barely had a minute to blink and take it all in. Right before my eyes my little tiny baby has turned into a one year old who likes to spend his time climbing up the stairs over and over again.
I'll update on the party and all the happenings of Patricks monthly update some time this week. But for now I am just a ball of emotions remembering how I felt this time last year. I can remember the snow forecast and making plans for Ryan to sleep at grandmas "just in case" (thank god we made those plans). I remember driving him to the sleep over and starting to get regular contractions and wondering if it was the real thing. I remember walking around Home Depot with Mike, feeling contractions every 5 minutes but still arguing over light fixtures for our kitchen. And I remember the snow starting to stick on the ground and talking to mike and my mom and my doula trying to decide if it was time to get to the hospital.
It was a long labor, a very long labor, and I still say it's the most unbelievable thing I have experienced, but it was also so unbelievably special. Watching the blizzard through the windows, progressing very slowly, having my team (Mike, Mom, Dr. Azu and Nicole) around me the entire 26 hours, and screaming my head off begging for it to be over. And of course, at 5:50pm 1/3 it was finally over and I met my second baby boy. The feeling if relief is like nothing I have ever felt before.
My first impression of Patrick was "wow look at that cone head" hahaha. Seriously it was a crazy cone head. And also that I didn't want him out of my arms. I made the nurses do his check up while I held him, no baths just yet, no visitors please.... I just wanted that special bonding moment with him.
It's been an amazing year full of highs and lows and LOTS of sleepless nights/Napless days (come on kid please sleep better soon!). Being a mom is hard, being a mom of two even harder... It's a rocky journey, but I have loved it all. Can't wait to see what this year holds for us!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Adventures in the life of a mom
Today I am home with the boys. I don't have to work til 4:30. But like all moms do (I assume), I filled my day at home with a long list of things to be done. Most of my to do list is the normal stuff.... Laundry, make dinner, call Comcast, clean the bathrooms, but I had one very important thing that had to be done by mid day today.
The task was simple- get cash from the bank and take it to the carpet guy. Three hours later, I am just now home from what turn into quite an adventure.
Here is how a simple task turns into an adventure when doing it with a toddler and a baby.
It's a super cold day today, so to make the car ride a little more fun I was going to turn it into a movie day. I let Ryan wear his slippers, bring a blanket and two favorite stuffed animal friends. We are all finally buckled in and I can't get the DVD player to load the DVD. After multiple attempts I give up and go back inside the house for the iPad. This movie car ride is a fail without the movie part. Get back in the car to find that the iPad has about 15% battery remaining. No worries, I have 3 chargers in the car.... Except- none of the 3 chargers work. Here we are about to spend over an hour in the car and we have no DVD or iPad that works. Oh well, I had to get this done so off we went.
Arrive at the bank- no problems there thank goodness. But that's just about when Ryan makes his first announcement that he has to pee. I leave the bank, find the nearest wawa and start unloading the boys. That's when I realize Ryan has no shoes, just the slippers I let him wear for his movie ride. I am now attempting to carry both Ryan and Patrick in my arms into the wawa for an emergency pee break.
We manage to get in and out pretty quickly. Get Ryan buckled in and now I'm working on Patrick. This is just about the time I hear the dreaded explosive poop come out of Patrick's little bum. Immediately I know it's a bad one. A quick glance down the side of his pants and I see it's a full blowout.
I reach for his diaper bag, and realize I don't have it!!! I have Ryan's emergency bag, but no diaper bag. And of course the back up diaper and wipes I normally carry in Ryan's bag had been taken out just the other day. I have no change of clothes and no diaper for Patrick's poopy mess.
Decision time- I'm about half way to the carpet store. Do I keep going or turn around to change Patrick?? Don't judge me, I kept going.
Thankfully we make it to the carpet store- make the quick cash drop off and then we are on our way home. Patrick fell asleep (poor sleepy guy sitting in that mess). Ryan now starts the "I'm hungry" chant. I don't blame him, it's lunch time by now. Problem is, where can I stop for drive through food for my kid who is allergic to everything. I decided on mcdonalds apple slices.
Pull up to mcdonalds, order the apples, and guess what? They have no apple slices. They have nothing that Ryan can eat. So now I have a very hungry 3 year old who is bored with no movie and a baby sleeping in his own poop. Mom of the year!
We keep heading home. Patrick keeps sleeping and Ryan falls asleep about 5 minutes away from our house. The next challenge is getting them both inside on this blustery day. I attempt Ryan first since I don't want him to wake up. I lift him over my shoulder and get him up the stairs. He briefly woke up but laid right back down for his nap. Patrick next- but he woke up as soon as I opened the car door.
Last step- change the blow out. Upstairs we go, pants off and they are covered (right into the soak pile). Then I realize I can't get the onesie over his head without covering him in poop. I run to get the scissors to cut if off (first time ever trying the method but I was desperate). As I walk back in, I see the final step to this mess... He is now peeing all over himself, the floor, and whatever clean clothes are left. Anyway, I cut off the onesie and put it straight in the garbage, get him naked and in the bath, and get a load of laundry started for the rest of the clothes.
Now Patrick is clean, dry and happily playing, Ryan is sleeping, and I'm sitting with coffee writing my story.
So the end result- after all that craziness- at least the carpets are paid for and can be installed next week. Now onto everything else I need to get done before work in 2 hours. Being a mom rocks 😉
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The task was simple- get cash from the bank and take it to the carpet guy. Three hours later, I am just now home from what turn into quite an adventure.
Here is how a simple task turns into an adventure when doing it with a toddler and a baby.
It's a super cold day today, so to make the car ride a little more fun I was going to turn it into a movie day. I let Ryan wear his slippers, bring a blanket and two favorite stuffed animal friends. We are all finally buckled in and I can't get the DVD player to load the DVD. After multiple attempts I give up and go back inside the house for the iPad. This movie car ride is a fail without the movie part. Get back in the car to find that the iPad has about 15% battery remaining. No worries, I have 3 chargers in the car.... Except- none of the 3 chargers work. Here we are about to spend over an hour in the car and we have no DVD or iPad that works. Oh well, I had to get this done so off we went.
Arrive at the bank- no problems there thank goodness. But that's just about when Ryan makes his first announcement that he has to pee. I leave the bank, find the nearest wawa and start unloading the boys. That's when I realize Ryan has no shoes, just the slippers I let him wear for his movie ride. I am now attempting to carry both Ryan and Patrick in my arms into the wawa for an emergency pee break.
We manage to get in and out pretty quickly. Get Ryan buckled in and now I'm working on Patrick. This is just about the time I hear the dreaded explosive poop come out of Patrick's little bum. Immediately I know it's a bad one. A quick glance down the side of his pants and I see it's a full blowout.
I reach for his diaper bag, and realize I don't have it!!! I have Ryan's emergency bag, but no diaper bag. And of course the back up diaper and wipes I normally carry in Ryan's bag had been taken out just the other day. I have no change of clothes and no diaper for Patrick's poopy mess.
Decision time- I'm about half way to the carpet store. Do I keep going or turn around to change Patrick?? Don't judge me, I kept going.
Thankfully we make it to the carpet store- make the quick cash drop off and then we are on our way home. Patrick fell asleep (poor sleepy guy sitting in that mess). Ryan now starts the "I'm hungry" chant. I don't blame him, it's lunch time by now. Problem is, where can I stop for drive through food for my kid who is allergic to everything. I decided on mcdonalds apple slices.
Pull up to mcdonalds, order the apples, and guess what? They have no apple slices. They have nothing that Ryan can eat. So now I have a very hungry 3 year old who is bored with no movie and a baby sleeping in his own poop. Mom of the year!
We keep heading home. Patrick keeps sleeping and Ryan falls asleep about 5 minutes away from our house. The next challenge is getting them both inside on this blustery day. I attempt Ryan first since I don't want him to wake up. I lift him over my shoulder and get him up the stairs. He briefly woke up but laid right back down for his nap. Patrick next- but he woke up as soon as I opened the car door.
Last step- change the blow out. Upstairs we go, pants off and they are covered (right into the soak pile). Then I realize I can't get the onesie over his head without covering him in poop. I run to get the scissors to cut if off (first time ever trying the method but I was desperate). As I walk back in, I see the final step to this mess... He is now peeing all over himself, the floor, and whatever clean clothes are left. Anyway, I cut off the onesie and put it straight in the garbage, get him naked and in the bath, and get a load of laundry started for the rest of the clothes.
Now Patrick is clean, dry and happily playing, Ryan is sleeping, and I'm sitting with coffee writing my story.
So the end result- after all that craziness- at least the carpets are paid for and can be installed next week. Now onto everything else I need to get done before work in 2 hours. Being a mom rocks 😉
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Patrick 10 months
Only 10 days late with this update :)
Patrick is so smiley. Its the first thing everyone comments on when they see him. He is already a ham for the camera- he loves taking selfies and seeing himself on the camera. He is just pretty laid back and goes with the flow and definitely makes the idea of having another baby easier. Sleep is still our one trouble (I'll update based on his behaviors right at 10 months). Anyway here are the facts:
-He is still in 6-9 month clothes, he is a little smaller than Ryan was at this time.
-He started crawling at 9.5 months and now he is all over the place.
-He can pull himself to standing but doesn't quite cruise around yet.
-Lucky for me he is not climbing yet!
-He finally got his first tooth!! It popped through right before 10 months.
-He loves to clap and talk to us. He makes a lot of "Ehhhh!!" to get our attention.
-Ryan and Patrick are really starting to interact. Patrick loves to follow him around and copy him, and Ryan loves being protective and teaching him how to play with things.
-He is always doing silly things with his mouth and tongue. Sticking out his tongue, clicking his lips, puckering up his face. He is having fun experimenting with what his face can do.
-The wresting match diaper changes have begun.
-He is starting to get better at using a sippy cup of water.
-He is experimenting with foods- I still make all of his fruit and veggie purees, he gets chunks of banana, avacado, peas, and carrots for finger foods, and just this week I introduced yogurt with his fruit in the morning (just plain whole milk yogurt)
-We officially stopped nursing last week. The past month was a slow weaning process, but the first week of November we officially stopped. I think its harder on me than it is for him. I miss our cuddle moments already, but I just did not have any supply left at all. My body just couldn't keep up and it was becoming a fight and a stress for both of us. Anyway, I continued to build a freezer supply as I was weaning, so there is enough for him to continue to get 1 breast milk bottle a day for about a month. I want him to get milk as long as possible because its really the best way to get those healthy fats and the antibodies to build a healthy immune system.
-Sleep- Daylights savings time sucks! We finally got Patrick sleeping until about 6am and then we had to change the clocks so he was back to 5:00am. At 10 months he was still stuck at that 5 am wake up every single morning.
-Naps- Still suck at 10 months. Still 30 minutes on the dot for each nap and he wakes tired and cranky. I have tried it all, I just have to hope that he is a kid that needs to do it on his own time. I can't not lay him down to fall asleep on his own, that just makes the whole day a disaster. Oh well- its a huge source of anxiety but I really can't let it get me down. Just lots of prayers for his sake and mine that he will continue to adjust on his own.
-It was a fun month- Patrick's first halloween (he was a lion just like big brother) and our trip to Disney world. He was such a good happy baby for all of it!
Patrick is so smiley. Its the first thing everyone comments on when they see him. He is already a ham for the camera- he loves taking selfies and seeing himself on the camera. He is just pretty laid back and goes with the flow and definitely makes the idea of having another baby easier. Sleep is still our one trouble (I'll update based on his behaviors right at 10 months). Anyway here are the facts:
-He is still in 6-9 month clothes, he is a little smaller than Ryan was at this time.
-He started crawling at 9.5 months and now he is all over the place.
-He can pull himself to standing but doesn't quite cruise around yet.
-Lucky for me he is not climbing yet!
-He finally got his first tooth!! It popped through right before 10 months.
-He loves to clap and talk to us. He makes a lot of "Ehhhh!!" to get our attention.
-Ryan and Patrick are really starting to interact. Patrick loves to follow him around and copy him, and Ryan loves being protective and teaching him how to play with things.
-He is always doing silly things with his mouth and tongue. Sticking out his tongue, clicking his lips, puckering up his face. He is having fun experimenting with what his face can do.
-The wresting match diaper changes have begun.
-He is starting to get better at using a sippy cup of water.
-He is experimenting with foods- I still make all of his fruit and veggie purees, he gets chunks of banana, avacado, peas, and carrots for finger foods, and just this week I introduced yogurt with his fruit in the morning (just plain whole milk yogurt)
-We officially stopped nursing last week. The past month was a slow weaning process, but the first week of November we officially stopped. I think its harder on me than it is for him. I miss our cuddle moments already, but I just did not have any supply left at all. My body just couldn't keep up and it was becoming a fight and a stress for both of us. Anyway, I continued to build a freezer supply as I was weaning, so there is enough for him to continue to get 1 breast milk bottle a day for about a month. I want him to get milk as long as possible because its really the best way to get those healthy fats and the antibodies to build a healthy immune system.
-Sleep- Daylights savings time sucks! We finally got Patrick sleeping until about 6am and then we had to change the clocks so he was back to 5:00am. At 10 months he was still stuck at that 5 am wake up every single morning.
-Naps- Still suck at 10 months. Still 30 minutes on the dot for each nap and he wakes tired and cranky. I have tried it all, I just have to hope that he is a kid that needs to do it on his own time. I can't not lay him down to fall asleep on his own, that just makes the whole day a disaster. Oh well- its a huge source of anxiety but I really can't let it get me down. Just lots of prayers for his sake and mine that he will continue to adjust on his own.
-It was a fun month- Patrick's first halloween (he was a lion just like big brother) and our trip to Disney world. He was such a good happy baby for all of it!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Patrick 9 month milestones
Hello again-
My blogging skills are lacking these days. So much to write about, not enough time to sit down and do it. I wish technology would come up with a way to just take my thoughts straight from my brain and put it on paper :)
Anyway, Patrick turned 9 months on October 3. As always, I am a little late with this post, but better late than never. Right at the 9 month mark he had a few huge changes happen....
Edit- Went to the doctors today and he is 19.4 lbs and 28 in long... thats 25-50% in both categories.
1. He is finally sleeping through the night!!!!!! Yes! Finally! Literally as of October 4 (a day after turning 9 months), he has been sleeping til 6-6:30am every day. I am hoping this stays consistent and this is his new sleeping pattern.
2. While we are on sleep, the naps are still kind of all over the place. Most days there is a morning nap of some kind, and an afternoon nap of some kind, and occasionally a late nap depending on the day, but for the most part I still don't know what to expect. He is definitely not on a routine the way Ryan was. I'll keep working on it and offering structure, but for the most part as long as he is happy and sleeping at night, I won't stress.
3. He can finally go from laying down to sitting up by himself. This helps him so much because he can roll around and play without constantly needing to be re-positioned.
4. Since he is able to sit up by himself, he wakes up a little bit happier. Occasionally he will just sit up and then talk to himself in the crib for a little bit until I go to get him. This is a huge improvement from the screeching cry every time his eyes opened.
5. He waves hi and bye all the time now. He likes to see people come into a room and wave at them. This also happened exactly at 9 months. And clapping is in full effect. I think this was because of our Disney trip... lots of clapping and waving at characters, rides, parades, etc.
6. He is very close to crawling. I though for sure it was going to happen in Disney. He gets up to all fours, he rocks back and forth, he considers moving, and then eventually plops to his belly and does the army crawl or rolls to get what he wants instead.
7. His eating patterns change every day. Most days he gets 1 formula bottle at 1:00 in the afternoon and then I nurse him at 7, 10, 4, and bedtime. Then he has breakfast at 8am and dinner around 5:00. But depending on our schedule that can change, again like naps, he is not on nearly as rigid of a schedule as Ryan was. Everything depends on the situation.
8. My milk supply is continuing to dwindle, I feel like the end of nursing is near. I am going to start adding a few more formula bottles to supplement, but still nurse like 3 times a day and see how long that lasts. I am also going to start using some of the freezer breast milk to try to give him as much milk as I can for as long as I can, even if I am nursing less. I"m not as stressed and upset about it as I was in the past. I am proud of how long I have lasted, and I'll do my best to continue, but even if I only make it to the 10 month mark, I am happy with that!
9. We go Tuesday for a check up, so I'll have weight information then. But my guess is he is about 18 lbs. He is in size 3 diapers and still wearing 6-9 month clothes. He is smaller than Ryan so its helping that he can wear all of Ryan's clothes... they are the right size for the right season.
10. Patrick went on his first real vacation to Disney World- lots more about about that next.
11. Still no teeth! Teething like crazy, but no signs of anything breaking through. Because of this I am still limiting real foods and he doesn't really do well with finger foods yet. Just puffs and occasional fruit pieces for now.
12. He has moved into the big bath tub. He loves bath time... its a very wet and messy experience for everyone involved.
13. He has officially learned how to throw things off his high chair table, just for fun. Thats such a great stage, ugh.
14. He doesn't eat much solid food, but when he does, he has to have all pieces in his hands at one time. He will put them one at a time into his mouth, but he likes to sit with fists-fulls of food.
Andddd he is awake after only a 25 minute nap so I need to wrap this up. Here are some pictures of my photogenic boy!
My blogging skills are lacking these days. So much to write about, not enough time to sit down and do it. I wish technology would come up with a way to just take my thoughts straight from my brain and put it on paper :)
Anyway, Patrick turned 9 months on October 3. As always, I am a little late with this post, but better late than never. Right at the 9 month mark he had a few huge changes happen....
Edit- Went to the doctors today and he is 19.4 lbs and 28 in long... thats 25-50% in both categories.
1. He is finally sleeping through the night!!!!!! Yes! Finally! Literally as of October 4 (a day after turning 9 months), he has been sleeping til 6-6:30am every day. I am hoping this stays consistent and this is his new sleeping pattern.
2. While we are on sleep, the naps are still kind of all over the place. Most days there is a morning nap of some kind, and an afternoon nap of some kind, and occasionally a late nap depending on the day, but for the most part I still don't know what to expect. He is definitely not on a routine the way Ryan was. I'll keep working on it and offering structure, but for the most part as long as he is happy and sleeping at night, I won't stress.
3. He can finally go from laying down to sitting up by himself. This helps him so much because he can roll around and play without constantly needing to be re-positioned.
4. Since he is able to sit up by himself, he wakes up a little bit happier. Occasionally he will just sit up and then talk to himself in the crib for a little bit until I go to get him. This is a huge improvement from the screeching cry every time his eyes opened.
5. He waves hi and bye all the time now. He likes to see people come into a room and wave at them. This also happened exactly at 9 months. And clapping is in full effect. I think this was because of our Disney trip... lots of clapping and waving at characters, rides, parades, etc.
6. He is very close to crawling. I though for sure it was going to happen in Disney. He gets up to all fours, he rocks back and forth, he considers moving, and then eventually plops to his belly and does the army crawl or rolls to get what he wants instead.
7. His eating patterns change every day. Most days he gets 1 formula bottle at 1:00 in the afternoon and then I nurse him at 7, 10, 4, and bedtime. Then he has breakfast at 8am and dinner around 5:00. But depending on our schedule that can change, again like naps, he is not on nearly as rigid of a schedule as Ryan was. Everything depends on the situation.
8. My milk supply is continuing to dwindle, I feel like the end of nursing is near. I am going to start adding a few more formula bottles to supplement, but still nurse like 3 times a day and see how long that lasts. I am also going to start using some of the freezer breast milk to try to give him as much milk as I can for as long as I can, even if I am nursing less. I"m not as stressed and upset about it as I was in the past. I am proud of how long I have lasted, and I'll do my best to continue, but even if I only make it to the 10 month mark, I am happy with that!
9. We go Tuesday for a check up, so I'll have weight information then. But my guess is he is about 18 lbs. He is in size 3 diapers and still wearing 6-9 month clothes. He is smaller than Ryan so its helping that he can wear all of Ryan's clothes... they are the right size for the right season.
10. Patrick went on his first real vacation to Disney World- lots more about about that next.
11. Still no teeth! Teething like crazy, but no signs of anything breaking through. Because of this I am still limiting real foods and he doesn't really do well with finger foods yet. Just puffs and occasional fruit pieces for now.
12. He has moved into the big bath tub. He loves bath time... its a very wet and messy experience for everyone involved.
13. He has officially learned how to throw things off his high chair table, just for fun. Thats such a great stage, ugh.
14. He doesn't eat much solid food, but when he does, he has to have all pieces in his hands at one time. He will put them one at a time into his mouth, but he likes to sit with fists-fulls of food.
Andddd he is awake after only a 25 minute nap so I need to wrap this up. Here are some pictures of my photogenic boy!
Friday, September 12, 2014
Why I Quit Sleep Training
I am officially a sleep trainer quitter. Patrick and I have failed. For those of you who know me, I don't quit very often. Normally I am soooo stubborn that I do things just for the sake of completion even if its not the best idea. So hopefully that puts it into perspective.
Here is why I am no longer doing the sleep training and cry it out.
From the day Patrick was born he had a hard time falling and staying asleep. Its always been his biggest struggle. When he hit the 6 month mark I realized that I really need to start actively sleep training him in order to try to help him become a better sleeper. I re-read the books and talked to friends and was ready to go. I officially started July 12 and the plan was the do the gradual extinction cry it out method, on top of setting up a strict nap and bedtime routine and following a strict schedule.
My own attempts did not work. He would cry hysterically every single nap and bedtime, he was still taking very short naps, and he was waking very cranky. I kept hearing that it was "one bad week" or "a few bad nights" but then he would eventually be able to settle himself to sleep and things would get better. After about 3 weeks of no improvement- actually I think it got worse- I decided to hire someone to help. All of our lives were revolving around Patrick's schedule and I was starting to feel really bad for him.
So I started working with a sleep consultant on August 10. She set up a routine for me, and went into more details about the dos and don'ts (longer routine, how exactly to soothe him, dream feeds, etc etc). Most of what she said I already knew and already tried, but I gave it a shot and did exactly what she told me to do. It was super hard because by the end that meant letting him cry for a full hour in the middle of the night, which would ultimately end with Ryan also wide awake and all 3 of us sitting up listening to him cry.
Anyway... 3 weeks later... no improvement. Nothing. It was now almost a full 2 months and it was awful. The only time I could get him to nap were the few times we were in the car, or where I would let him sleep in my arms because we needed to be out doing something (aka Seaside Sundays- I still needed some beach time this summer). I seriously tried to be home for every nap, I had my mom and mother in law doing the exact same routine... I did it all. And things just got ugly.
By the beginning of September, he was crying for almost an hour to fall asleep for naps, then only sleeping about 15-20 minutes before waking up again, and he would not go back to sleep. Then we would repeat the process 2-3 more times throughout the day. The times he was awake he was cranky... puffy eyed... and would fuss big time if we walked out of the room. He just wanted to be held and he had to see someone at all times. He was starting to be extra clingy. My easy going child was becoming very stressed and cranky. Not to mention tired!
Bedtime was a little easier to get him settled because he was just so exhausted, but he woke up frequently because he was so restless... almost appeared anxious all night. Then normally by 4:30 am he was up for the day and I could not get him back to sleep. The sleep trainer told me not to even go into his room or out of the crib until after 6 am, so most days we sat and listened to him crying from 4:30-6am every day.
And the crying wasn't just baby fussing... it was hysterical, body thrashing, can't breathe, throwing up in the crib crying. Eventually when he would fall asleep he would try to catch his breath for extended periods of time after. It was sooooo sad (and scary) to watch. For those of you reading this that know Patrick from when we are out and about, you probably don't believe it... because this is not the kind of kid he is. He is happy, peaceful, smiling all the time. But that's exactly my point, this person at bedtime was not my kid... he became some different monster.
Bottom line- it never got better. It wasn't a few bad days or weeks, and I didn't see any hope of positive change. All I saw was a miserable, tired, scared baby.
One day I woke up and something clicked... I couldn't do it any more. I couldn't listen to my baby cry like that for another minute. Mike made an excellent point- the most important thing in the world is that our boys are happy and healthy... and when Patrick was crying like that he was neither happy or healthy. He was stressed, blood pressure raised, struggled breathing, scared, exhausted tired, and it was all for no good reason. He still wasn't sleeping.
At that moment I knew I was done with cry it out and I was not going to turn back. Don't get me wrong, that strategy might work for you. Maybe you have a baby that just needs to break a bad habit and a few bad nights is all it takes. But 2 f*cking months was wayyyyy to long and I am kind of mad at myself for letting it even go that long. Every baby is different and has different needs, and my baby needs me to help him settle into a restful sleep.
That brings me up to date... after quitting cry it out, things are actually getting better!
I am still sticking to the routine, have a set nap times, encourage a good nap atmosphere, but I do not let him cry to sleep. I will bring him into his room, change him, sleep sheep on, close the curtains, read him the same quiet bedtime story... but then instead of laying him down and walking out of the room, I will rock him for a minute or two until he is drowsy and then try to lay him down in his crib. Some days I can just rub his back and he falls asleep, other days he cries as soon as he lays down and I have to soothe him a little, and some days he really gets upset so I pick him up and rock him to sleep. Every nap and bedtime is a little bit different. But the end result, he is always peacefully asleep in his crib within 10 minutes.
The naps are very slowly starting to get longer... they are going from 30 minutes, to 40, to sometimes even 1 hour. Its not consistent and the 30 minute nap monster still comes up, but many naps are closer to the 45-50 minute mark. That's a huge improvement.
For bedtime he is now normally alseep by 7:00pm (bedtime routine starts at 6:30) and then sleeps through until sometime around 5-5:30. I always try to just give him his binky to fall back asleep but that normally doesn't work. If it doesn't, then I"ll bring him in my room, nurse him, and then we can both dose off a little until Ryan wakes up. My goal is to keep him in his crib til 6, but I"m not forcing it anymore. I would rather feed him at 5 and let him lay in bed with me and I dose off for another hour than to have him hysterical in his room and waking all of us up for the day at 5:00.
Another improvement is that if he does wake up over night, he can normally settle himself back to sleep. If he needs soothing its very little. He no longer wakes up in total hysterics the way he was when we were doing cry it out.
Anyway, you have to do whats best for your family, and for me cuddling my baby a little longer and helping him get to sleep is a much happier and healthier way of living for all of us.
I hope by the 9 month update that I have much better news.... fingers crossed that one of these days he will be able to drift asleep happy, nap for 1.5 hours, wake up smiling, and sleep til 7am... is that too much to ask ;)
Here is why I am no longer doing the sleep training and cry it out.
From the day Patrick was born he had a hard time falling and staying asleep. Its always been his biggest struggle. When he hit the 6 month mark I realized that I really need to start actively sleep training him in order to try to help him become a better sleeper. I re-read the books and talked to friends and was ready to go. I officially started July 12 and the plan was the do the gradual extinction cry it out method, on top of setting up a strict nap and bedtime routine and following a strict schedule.
My own attempts did not work. He would cry hysterically every single nap and bedtime, he was still taking very short naps, and he was waking very cranky. I kept hearing that it was "one bad week" or "a few bad nights" but then he would eventually be able to settle himself to sleep and things would get better. After about 3 weeks of no improvement- actually I think it got worse- I decided to hire someone to help. All of our lives were revolving around Patrick's schedule and I was starting to feel really bad for him.
So I started working with a sleep consultant on August 10. She set up a routine for me, and went into more details about the dos and don'ts (longer routine, how exactly to soothe him, dream feeds, etc etc). Most of what she said I already knew and already tried, but I gave it a shot and did exactly what she told me to do. It was super hard because by the end that meant letting him cry for a full hour in the middle of the night, which would ultimately end with Ryan also wide awake and all 3 of us sitting up listening to him cry.
Anyway... 3 weeks later... no improvement. Nothing. It was now almost a full 2 months and it was awful. The only time I could get him to nap were the few times we were in the car, or where I would let him sleep in my arms because we needed to be out doing something (aka Seaside Sundays- I still needed some beach time this summer). I seriously tried to be home for every nap, I had my mom and mother in law doing the exact same routine... I did it all. And things just got ugly.
By the beginning of September, he was crying for almost an hour to fall asleep for naps, then only sleeping about 15-20 minutes before waking up again, and he would not go back to sleep. Then we would repeat the process 2-3 more times throughout the day. The times he was awake he was cranky... puffy eyed... and would fuss big time if we walked out of the room. He just wanted to be held and he had to see someone at all times. He was starting to be extra clingy. My easy going child was becoming very stressed and cranky. Not to mention tired!
Bedtime was a little easier to get him settled because he was just so exhausted, but he woke up frequently because he was so restless... almost appeared anxious all night. Then normally by 4:30 am he was up for the day and I could not get him back to sleep. The sleep trainer told me not to even go into his room or out of the crib until after 6 am, so most days we sat and listened to him crying from 4:30-6am every day.
And the crying wasn't just baby fussing... it was hysterical, body thrashing, can't breathe, throwing up in the crib crying. Eventually when he would fall asleep he would try to catch his breath for extended periods of time after. It was sooooo sad (and scary) to watch. For those of you reading this that know Patrick from when we are out and about, you probably don't believe it... because this is not the kind of kid he is. He is happy, peaceful, smiling all the time. But that's exactly my point, this person at bedtime was not my kid... he became some different monster.
Bottom line- it never got better. It wasn't a few bad days or weeks, and I didn't see any hope of positive change. All I saw was a miserable, tired, scared baby.
One day I woke up and something clicked... I couldn't do it any more. I couldn't listen to my baby cry like that for another minute. Mike made an excellent point- the most important thing in the world is that our boys are happy and healthy... and when Patrick was crying like that he was neither happy or healthy. He was stressed, blood pressure raised, struggled breathing, scared, exhausted tired, and it was all for no good reason. He still wasn't sleeping.
At that moment I knew I was done with cry it out and I was not going to turn back. Don't get me wrong, that strategy might work for you. Maybe you have a baby that just needs to break a bad habit and a few bad nights is all it takes. But 2 f*cking months was wayyyyy to long and I am kind of mad at myself for letting it even go that long. Every baby is different and has different needs, and my baby needs me to help him settle into a restful sleep.
That brings me up to date... after quitting cry it out, things are actually getting better!
I am still sticking to the routine, have a set nap times, encourage a good nap atmosphere, but I do not let him cry to sleep. I will bring him into his room, change him, sleep sheep on, close the curtains, read him the same quiet bedtime story... but then instead of laying him down and walking out of the room, I will rock him for a minute or two until he is drowsy and then try to lay him down in his crib. Some days I can just rub his back and he falls asleep, other days he cries as soon as he lays down and I have to soothe him a little, and some days he really gets upset so I pick him up and rock him to sleep. Every nap and bedtime is a little bit different. But the end result, he is always peacefully asleep in his crib within 10 minutes.
The naps are very slowly starting to get longer... they are going from 30 minutes, to 40, to sometimes even 1 hour. Its not consistent and the 30 minute nap monster still comes up, but many naps are closer to the 45-50 minute mark. That's a huge improvement.
For bedtime he is now normally alseep by 7:00pm (bedtime routine starts at 6:30) and then sleeps through until sometime around 5-5:30. I always try to just give him his binky to fall back asleep but that normally doesn't work. If it doesn't, then I"ll bring him in my room, nurse him, and then we can both dose off a little until Ryan wakes up. My goal is to keep him in his crib til 6, but I"m not forcing it anymore. I would rather feed him at 5 and let him lay in bed with me and I dose off for another hour than to have him hysterical in his room and waking all of us up for the day at 5:00.
Another improvement is that if he does wake up over night, he can normally settle himself back to sleep. If he needs soothing its very little. He no longer wakes up in total hysterics the way he was when we were doing cry it out.
Anyway, you have to do whats best for your family, and for me cuddling my baby a little longer and helping him get to sleep is a much happier and healthier way of living for all of us.
I hope by the 9 month update that I have much better news.... fingers crossed that one of these days he will be able to drift asleep happy, nap for 1.5 hours, wake up smiling, and sleep til 7am... is that too much to ask ;)
Patrick 8 mo
Here we are again for another monthly update... 2/3rds of the way through the first year. Thats just carzy.
Some of the facts and happenings of this month.
-Patrick is starting to eat more foods. I make 98% of his food home made, and we use jars when we are eating out at a restaurant. But I like giving him fresh organic foods, and sometimes its as easy as smashing up a banana or an avocado because that's what we have on hand. He has had a wide range of fruits and veggies.... not grains yet (well except some puffs for finger food). Other than the puffs, he is not interested in the finger foods just yet, he kind of spits out whatever he gets into his mouth. He has a mid morning meal, and a dinner time meal. Occasionally he will have a 3rd depending on the day.
-He is using a sippy cup with water, just not well yet.
- I don't have a current weight... luckily he has been healthy so we have had no reason to go to the Dr. We go at 9 months for a well check.
-He was exclusively breastfed/breastmilk only until the 8 month mark. At 8 months I started supplementing with some formula. It was sooo hard to keep up with his needs and my supply was causing a huge stress. So I decided that as of 8 months, I would slowly start to wean and transition to formula and bottles. I started with the 1:00 feeding.. but a crazy thing has happened... now that he gets that one bottle at 1:00 and I don't pump in place of it, my supply has evened out. So I nurse him when he wakes up in the morning, at 10am. at 4:00pm, and then again for bedtime. Then he gets the 1 formula bottle and a few meals of solids and he seems to be doing very well like this. So I am not going to rush the transition... right now we are both happy so this works for us. I am still pumping at night to keep building a freezer supply. Even when we transition more off the boob and onto bottle, I want to be able to give him some amount of breast milk as long as possible.
-This was a big area of stress and disappointment. My goal was to breastfeed 100% for the first year, so coming to terms with the need to supplement was really difficult. But I must say I do feel much better knowing that even if its not 100% at least I'm still doing it, having the bonding moments, and he is getting the antibodies. Instead of being disappointed, I am trying to focus on the accomplishments... I made it past the very difficult first 2 weeks, then the 6-8 week fussy period of cluster feeding, and then the massive 6 month growth spurt. So anything form here on out is a bonus!
-Patrick is much slower to hit the major mile stones than Ryan was, but I kind of like it.
-Still not teeth... I'm waiting on those to start more solids.
-He sits great, but he still can't go from laying down to sitting on his own.
-He is scooting and rolling all over the room, but he is not crawling yet... I think we still have a few more weeks.
-No attempts to pull himself up to standing yet. He would rather sit on the floor and pull things to him.
-He babbles up a storm and has lots of fun new noises.
-For the most part he is very laid back and as long as he has someone to play with or something to watch, he is content.
-His laugh is contagious
-He is a cuddly boy. He loves to be help and to snuggle against my neck. He has also started the sloppy kisses phase.
-We are working on things like peek a boy, waving, and clapping.
-For the sleeping my next entry... that's a post of its own. I love this boy to death but boy do I hate his sleep patterns.
-Ryan continues to be a great and helpful big brother... seeing their interactions increase and them actually play together is a happy mommy moment.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Lets talk about my boys: Patrick 7 months
I'm super late on this one, Patrick hit the 7 month mark 2.5 weeks ago. But I'm gonna write this post as if he just turned 7 months, not current as he is now. You know in baby world, things change over a 2 week period.
So that being said.... Happy 7 month birthday my boy!
Some details of this month and then on to the cute pictures.
-We don't have a check up until he is 9 months, so I don't have any accurate weight and height info.
-He is just now transitioning into 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
-I am very proud that as of just a few days before his 7 month mark, he was still exclusively breastfed.
-He is enjoying 1 meal a day, so far he has tried peas, bananas, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
-He is sitting 100% on his own. Its nice to be able to put him down so he can sit and play with the toys around him.
-He has learned a great (very loud) screeching noise. Its his way to ask for food, get my attention, or just remind everyone he is in the room.
-He is still on an eating every 3 hour schedule, can't seem to stretch to that 4th hour yet.
-He is loving the beach, the bath tub, taking walks, watching Mickey Mouse with his brother, and putting toys in his mouth.
-Lets not talk about sleep. Its ugly. Both naps and overnight. We did give in and hire the through email sleep consultant because we are desperate for some help.
-He had a great first vacation to Baltimore. He was so good! He loved just hanging out in the stroller or in my ergo carrier. He stayed up late both nights, and he enjoyed his first professional baseball game already.
-He is lovin on his mommy these days. Very cuddly, always wants to be in the same room as me, and gives me big kisses on my cheeks (or he is trying to eat my face but kisses are cuter).
-We are still waiting on his first tooth. He has had all of he teething symptoms but nothing yet.
-He is starting to enjoy spending time with his cousins. They are interacting and laughing at each other... the age gap already seems smaller.
-In some ways he is just like his brother (he can be loud, he has trouble settling to sleep/staying asleep, he loves to cling on to mommy, etc) but in other ways he is so different (must more content and smiley, huge belly laugh, no drool or spit up, not on the move nearly as much, etc). Its fun to watch them grow up as brothers but also very different boys!
I think that is about it for now! LOVE my little guy.
So that being said.... Happy 7 month birthday my boy!
Some details of this month and then on to the cute pictures.
-We don't have a check up until he is 9 months, so I don't have any accurate weight and height info.
-He is just now transitioning into 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
-I am very proud that as of just a few days before his 7 month mark, he was still exclusively breastfed.
-He is enjoying 1 meal a day, so far he has tried peas, bananas, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
-He is sitting 100% on his own. Its nice to be able to put him down so he can sit and play with the toys around him.
-He has learned a great (very loud) screeching noise. Its his way to ask for food, get my attention, or just remind everyone he is in the room.
-He is still on an eating every 3 hour schedule, can't seem to stretch to that 4th hour yet.
-He is loving the beach, the bath tub, taking walks, watching Mickey Mouse with his brother, and putting toys in his mouth.
-Lets not talk about sleep. Its ugly. Both naps and overnight. We did give in and hire the through email sleep consultant because we are desperate for some help.
-He had a great first vacation to Baltimore. He was so good! He loved just hanging out in the stroller or in my ergo carrier. He stayed up late both nights, and he enjoyed his first professional baseball game already.
-He is lovin on his mommy these days. Very cuddly, always wants to be in the same room as me, and gives me big kisses on my cheeks (or he is trying to eat my face but kisses are cuter).
-We are still waiting on his first tooth. He has had all of he teething symptoms but nothing yet.
-He is starting to enjoy spending time with his cousins. They are interacting and laughing at each other... the age gap already seems smaller.
-In some ways he is just like his brother (he can be loud, he has trouble settling to sleep/staying asleep, he loves to cling on to mommy, etc) but in other ways he is so different (must more content and smiley, huge belly laugh, no drool or spit up, not on the move nearly as much, etc). Its fun to watch them grow up as brothers but also very different boys!
I think that is about it for now! LOVE my little guy.
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