Four Months!

Late late late! We have been so busy with work and getting ready for Abby's first Christmas. Here is her four month update!  We had better luck this month taking photos on a Saturday morning instead of a workday evening.  Abby doesn't want to sit still, and she kicks and wiggles when she smiles which make iPhone pictures difficult... (The real camera was MIA.)  She is also getting easily distracted these days if someone or some dog comes into the room while we're playing, eating, or in this case, photo shoot-ing.  But, we did our best!

How many? 4 months! ~18.5 weeks today

Recent Stats?  We just had our four month check up.  Abby did great.  She was so calm that even the nurses asked if she's always like that.  While she was sitting there on her Dad's lap, I noticed for the first time how she really has control over her head now and also how plump she is getting.  Anyway... to the stats!  Big girl weighs in at 14 lbs 7 oz, and is now 60 percentile for weight.  She is 25.5 inches long and 90 percentile for length.  She's also 60 percentile for head circumference if you care.

Clothes size? We're going strong in 3 month size, although some of the 3 month footies are getting to be too short.  My Mom grabbed a 9 month size sleeper out of the closet by accident and it actually FIT her, albeit a bit baggy.  We're probably going to start transitioning to 3-6 and 6 month soon.

Diaper size?  Still in size 1 although this new realization that she weighs 14+ pounds tells me that it's time for us to move up.  That and she's had a couple blow outs lately, which is usually your telltale sign that it's time.

Feeding?  This baby is on the best schedule.  Every 3 hours.  Eat, play, sleep.  Done and done.  4 ounces 6 times a day. 1.5-2 hour naps. We have been given the green light by our doctor to start solid foods! This is crazy to me.  How are we here already?! She also said Abby is beginning TEETHING. WHAT?!  I plan to ease into rice cereal over the next month or two.  I'm not exactly in a rush.  But Abby is still taking an interest in what we are eating so I think she will be ready.

In process of grabbing at my sticker

Sleeping?  Our little trap baby is also a great sleeper.  She goes down every night around 8 and wakes up around 5 (which is when we get up for work.  I know what you are thinking.)  Lately she has been waking up once per night for a feeding.  If this is the dreaded 4 month sleep regression, I'll take it. We also officially transitioned into her bedroom/the crib.  Such a big girl :(  I still have the pack n play set up next to my bed... just in case... :(

Yelling, kicking, etc.

Personality? Very easy going.  Calm and quiet- likes to take in her surroundings.  She loves to watch the animals.  She particularly likes Doc. She thinks her Dad is hysterical.  I can't really get her to laugh too often but she does laugh at him. She did her first belly laugh the other day, but I guess that counts for the 5 month update since this one is late ;)

Milestones? (Update on this section: basically I google "X Month Milestones" and write down all the ones she has accomplished.  This is for me to look back on, perhaps with subsequent babies.  I'm not too concerned about her hitting every single milestone, being late, early, or skipping one altogether.)
Rolled over both ways, but doesn't really care about rolling often
Can hold up head 90 degrees when on stomach, when helped into propped up position *still hates TT
Can hold/let go of an object, can pick it back up depending on what it is and where it fell
Holds head up when sitting
Laughs out loud (sometimes). I haven't figured out how to get her laughing yet.
Makes tons of eye contact, recognizes us, recognizes the bottle, etc.
Voices her displeasure if we do something she doesn't like (put her down, take the bottle away, etc)
Coos/"chatters"/gurgles/M/B consonants

Fun pictures from our Fourth month:

Oh, hey! Didn't see you there.

This is my blue monkey. It's my favorite toy.

Sooooo sick of Mom taking pictures of me.

Up to no good

With my Grandmothers

Being silly in my blanket with my paci and Taggie

Me and Mom

Me and Santa <3 xoxoxox I've been a good girl!!!!!

Abby's Birthmark

Some of you may have noticed a birthmark on Abby's right arm. It's a dark colored mole and it's fairly good sized.  She was born with it; although it was much lighter 17 weeks ago.  It has since gotten darker. I joke that the melanin meant for her eyes all went into this mole, hence the blue eyes still ;)

The doctor is keeping an eye on it, however she has told me over and over again that it's just a birth mark and it will grow with her. Nothing to worry about.

Plus, how cool is it that when someone asks her what time it is she can legitimately look at her wrist and respond, "Half past my freckle!"??

Happy Wednesday,

The Internet isn't Real Life!

Just a friendly reminder that not everything you see on the internet is real.  Those people that seem to have it all together?  They don't.  That Mom (me), who posts cute smiley pictures of her baby all the time? Don't worry. She didn't get that smiley picture on the first try!  Although it totally helps to have a smiley baby who is in a smiley mood....  Here are some outtakes from Sunday's little photo shoot:

Lemme stick my tongue out

You didn't think I'd make this easy did you?

BUT MY HAND TASTES SO GOOD

Seriously Mom?

Thank goodness for the iPhone which can take picture after picture....

Hope you are all getting excited for Christmas!!!!

~SG

Breast Feeding, the Final Chapter

I wrote this such a long time ago and I never hit publish.  But after talking to some friends this weekend who ALSO had a hard time BFing, I decided it was important to share my story because before our various complications, none of us were aware of the different problems new moms face when it comes to nursing.  I think we are all so focused on what the labor and delivery is going to be like that we gloss over the chapter about nursing.  So here's the rest of my story. And remember, no matter how you feed your baby, the bottom line is that you are feeding your baby!! 

Ahh let's see.  Where did I leave off?  I believe I was just getting into some kind of rhythm with pumping and feeding.  Which was working, for a little while.

We finally bit the bullet and got Abby's tongue tie clipped (around 8-9 weeks I believe).  We should have done it immediately when she was born.  Looking back, I regret this and I think our breast feeding relationship could have lasted longer had we done this sooner.  I think it could have also been less traumatic for Abby.  Although, I hardly call 20 minutes of crying "traumatic".  We went to a really good ENT in the area.  He took a look at her mouth, had Joey hold her on his lap, and after trying to catch her wiggly tongue (again- taking a younger baby would have been better), snip snip and it was done.  She cried her eyes out but honestly she cried harder when she got her shots.  She was really just pissed that somebody was holding gauze in her mouth.  Once the bleeding stopped (5-10 mins I'd say) she was passed out in her carseat and we went home.  We expected her to have pain when she woke up.  She didn't even notice.  It healed SUPER quick and she can stick her tongue out so far now!

Once the tongue tie was fixed, breast feeding was no longer painful.  WHY did I wait so long to do this?!  Because it was no longer painful, I started to nurse more and pump less.  And any time you switch up what you are doing, your body gets confused and you can get sick.  Which I did.  I got mastitis, AGAIN.  This time, I had a really bad infection.  I had a very high fever that made me nauseous, chills, severe pain, etc.  I had to call my doctor to get antibiotics in the middle of the night on a weekend.  I was told to keep nursing because the infected milk ducts needed to be cleared.  I tried EVERYTHING to clear them, to no avail.  I went back to exclusive nursing for an entire week. Looking back, I'm really glad I did that because it gave me one last chance to try it.

I went to my doctor for a follow up after a week of antibiotics, exclusive nursing and worrying about a lump that I found.  They sent me to the hospital to a radiologist for an ultrasound on my breast to make sure the lump wasn't anything to be concerned about.  It wasn't, and I have since been back for a follow up just in case. Talk about a terrifying experience, though.

With less than two weeks to go until I went back to work, I made the extremely difficult and emotional decision to stop breast feeding.  I cried A LOT, I went back and forth, I wondered if I was doing the right thing, the wrong thing, if I was wasting a perfectly good supply of milk, etc.  I was planning on gradually stopping but after skipping a couple nursing sessions in a row, I decided I was quitting cold turkey like my doctors had advised.  I'm glad I didn't know that my last nursing session was going to be my last one ever.

Quitting cold turkey with a good supply is the most painful thing I've ever experienced.  I think it hurt less to birth a child than it did in that first 24 hours.  I couldn't sleep.  I couldn't even lay down.  For about 4 days I had really bad pain. After that it just gradually hurt less and less.

I don't really want to think about or talk about my decision to stop that much because it was a really painful thing for me to accept.  I always said I would give it the old college try and I did.  The first time we gave her a bottle with formula mixed in it she was 11 weeks old.  I made Joey give it to her because I just couldn't bear to do it.  Guess what? She totally survived.  When she was 14 weeks, we started on 100% formula.  I was all nervous about it but she didn't even blink when we gave her a "test bottle".  I honestly don't think she cares.  This baby is so ridiculously easy going, which has in turn made my decision SO much easier to swallow.

I had to make this decision for my own health.  Happy mom, happy baby.  And I was not happy.  Breast feeding was consuming me.  It was all I could think about.  I couldn't get through a single day without having some kind of issue or worry.  I am hopeful, though, that I will have the opportunity to breast feed again and that next time I will be better prepared with all that I have learned.

~SG

First Turkey Day!

There are going to be many posts like this.... "Abigail's First ____".

Today's post is about her first Thanksgiving!  While she didn't eat turkey or pumpkin pie, she did get to wear a super cute outfit and I had a little photo shoot where she told our family members and closest friends that she is thankful for them.  Here's a little bit of that:

This turkey onesie was a lot cuter before I washed it and had to iron it afterwards.

 

After Thanksgiving, we did the traditional trip to The Property.  It was Abby's first trip, and our first road trip with Abby AND the dogs.  Luckily everyone survived, even after Chloe got car sick and I threatened to tie her to the roof.  Some usual Property antics ensued, Joey got to go hunting, and the only down side was even though we left on Saturday we got stuck in some return traffic on 95N.

"Hunting the front field"

Fire surfing. The new cool thing.

Bundled up!

We also took the chance to get a few family photos during the holiday. 

It's hard to get a baby to look at a camera... 

"Dad... stop singing."

We topped off the weekend by decorating the house for Christmas.  Abby hung the first ornament. We bought this "Baby's First Christmas" ornament when I was 16 weeks pregnant on our Disney World Vacation. We had just found out that our ornament should be PINK! :)

She looks thrilled.

This week, my Mom is here to play Daycare.  She and Abby are clearly BFF:

I'm excited to get into the holiday spirit.  Even though Abby has no clue what is going on (other than she loves staring at the lights on the Christmas village and the Christmas tree....), it's still exciting to go through the holidays with a baby in the house!  We're going to try to get a picture with Santa, so look forward to hearing about how that goes ;)

I'll be back REALLY soon with her 4 month update too.  I can't even believe that!

Here's a couple more smileys just for good measure.....

Happy Hump Day!

~SG

Turkey Week Randoms

Just stopping by before things get crazy with turkey, football, and Christmas.  Yep... Joey is extremely enthusiastic about the holidays and as soon as we were home from "A Christmas Carol" on Saturday, he begged me to pull out the decorations.  Having a baby in the house means that every project you start gets interrupted every couple of hours for a feeding or a diaper or something.  So, as of this morning, about 1/3 of our Christmas decorations are currently strewn around the house, haphazardly placed on shelves and the mantle and everywhere else there is room.  That was definitely a run-on sentence but I don't feel like going back and fixing it.  I'm sorry.

If you read our 3 month update (and I'm not mad if you didn't), you'll know that I hadn't had a chance to weigh Abby in a while.  I finally plopped her on the infant scale and she weighs just about 12 pounds, give or take an ounce or two.  She's getting big! She's gained about 5 pounds in the 3 months since she was born.  5 pounds is a lot when you only weighed 7 to begin with!

And, more stuff that you may not care about unless you have kids in which case you will totally understand my excitement when I got a text from Joey on Friday that said "omg omg omg! Abby just rolled over!!" And then he sent me a snap chat of her laying awkwardly on her arm because she can get herself over and then her arm is in the way and she lays there and we just laugh. Which is terrible, but it's cute and we obviously help her out (after a few minutes...).

So, I'm the proud parent of a back-to-front roller and she did do one front-to-back this weekend as well but I think she's tired of the attention because she hasn't really done it since.  Girl needs to learn how to perform for an audience....

She also did a really tiny laugh this weekend so I'm hoping that there will be more of those soon.  She thinks Joey is the funniest person alive, so I'm confident she will be laughing in no time.

Everyone enjoy the short work week!

3 Months Old!

Yikes! This is a little late.  Welp, get used to it :)

One-quarter of a year old already! Goodness. My little sugarplum is just blossoming.  She's definitely not a blob anymore and far from it.  She's interactive, cute, fun, and easy going.  We are so lucky.

Some happenings in our third month:
-I wrapped up breast feeding and we're currently supplementing our stash of frozen milk with formula (I have a post written on this and will publish eventually)
-Abby started rolling onto her side, making all kinds of noises, holding onto objects, etc.
-Mom and Dad went out to a bar (WOO!)
-We also went to a cute little pumpkin patch to pick up our Halloween pumpkins
-Abby attended her first wedding (and I freaked out because it was outside and BEES)
-Abby's first Halloween!
-She really started taking an interest in the TV...
-She also took an interest in her Taggie blanket
-Abby voted!  (OK not really but she went with me to the polls)
-Mom broke the stroller (and Dad fixed it)
-Mom went back to work :(
-Daddy Daycare commenced (as did activities such as "Abby-zilla" and listening to Disney Christmas music)


How many months? Threeeee! (14 weeks old today)

Recent Stats?  No recent appointments.  I'll chunk her on the scale and let you know. (But I'm going to post this without stats because otherwise she will be 4 months and this will still be a draft.)

Mmmm HANDS

Clothes Size? We are following all the rules and wearing 3 month size.  She's grown out of most-all of the 0-3 stuff.  It's SO SAD to put away clothes that don't fit.

Holding her fave blue monkey by the tail

Diaper Size? Fitting comfortably in Pampers size 1.

Loungin'

Feeding? Like I said above, there is a complete back story to this, but we're supplementing frozen breast milk with formula and I'm officially not breast feeding anymore.  Abby could care less what's in the bottle or the fact that it is a bottle.  This made my decision easier to handle.  It was very sad but I had to do what I needed to do.

BELLY

Sleeping? Every day I think about how lucky we are. Every day I know that it can and WILL change.  So each night that she sleeps 8+ hours I just enjoy it.  Abby takes her last bottle around ~7:30pm and then will fall asleep around 8:30-9.  And she sleeps until 5-6am. It's a beautiful thing.

It was all good til she kicked Doc in the butt.

Personality? We're still getting to know her.  She is very easy going, easy to please and soothe, and is a generally happy baby.  She is a little head strong, though, and when she wants something (like to sit straight up, for example) she makes sure she gets it.  Future President of the USA?  I'm calling it now.

Vote for me!

Milestones:
Grabs and swipes at dangling toys
Follows moving objects/people with her eyes
Recognizes familiar objects/people/the dogs
Pushes down on legs ("stands up")
Can hold her head up when laying on stomach with some help getting into the position. She's really not into tummy time. At all.
Brings hands (and everything in them) to her mouth. Sometimes brings mouth to hand. This is funny to watch.
Super smiley, chatty, gurgles/gargles/etc. Has started working on some consonants such as "B" and "M". Haven't heard any "D" yet.
Rolls from back to side

Also a note about the milestones, I'm just keeping track of them for future reference.  It is not a comprehensive list and I will probably forget things.

See you later, alligators!

My Post-Baby Body

I follow a mom/fitness blogger who did actual updates on a monthly basis after having her babies.  Like...complete with measurements, photos, etc! You will not be getting too much of that from me.  I just wanted to talk about what changed, what stayed the same, and what I am doing fitness-wise, since I did appreciate having some sort of accountability during my pregnancy.  Even if it was a fail half the time, I had to come on here and admit it to everybody.  Sometimes that in itself got me moving on a Sunday night when I realized I had to post the next day that I didn't exercise all week!

As I've stated about 100 times, I started the pregnancy about 10 pounds heavier than I should be.  I blame this on going off of BCP but mostly it's because of all the beer I drank.  

Pregnancy Weight Gain/Loss:

I did not have the classic "morning sickness", but I definitely had food aversions/didn't really want to eat anything and obviously wasn't drinking anymore, so I lost weight at the beginning of my pregnancy.  

As you also may recall, I gained the majority of my pregnancy weight in the 3rd trimester.  I actually had to stop checking the scale for the weekly survey because I kept worrying that something was wrong. But I did eventually gain a little over 20 pounds.  So, if you are keeping score, that's 30 to lose.

When the baby is born, they say you lose an average of 14 pounds (weight of the baby, placenta, and other fun stuff).  Guess how much I lost? 14 pounds.  I have always been pretty average.  I don't mind.

Breast feeding also makes your body burn a ton of calories, and when I got mastitis (for the first time) I had to go to the doctor to get a prescription and when I got on the scale there, it read the same thing it did when I walked in at 7 weeks pregnant. Yay!

Currently, I'm about -5 pounds from where I started but I'd like to be a round number so let's just say I have about 10 pounds to lose.

So...

What changed?

Your entire body changes when you have a baby.  I weigh 5 pounds less than I did when I started but my clothes do not fit me the same way. 

What stayed the same?

My stomach and waist. This is more an effect of genetics although I religiously slathered myself with various types of oil starting immediately and through about a month postpartum. 

What am I doing now, fitness-wise?

As soon as I felt ready (2-3 weeks I think) I started walking Abby around the neighborhood in the stroller. Even though I had a quick delivery, it's amazing how it really takes a toll on your body.  I mean, a 7 pound baby went through my pelvis. 

I would say from weeks 4-10 I did about 1-2 walks per week.  It really was depending on the weather and what kind of a day we were having.  A few weeks ago, I decided to see how running felt. I have done a few runs and while my legs and lungs hurt, it's really just my body that is slowing me down.

My fitness goals:

My short term goal is that we are doing a 5k this weekend!  I don't have a time goal at all, and my goal for it is to cross the finish line.

Longer term, I registered for the Shamrock Half Marathon (it'll be my 3rd time!) and I'm very excited to get back into the long-er distance running.  

What am I doing eating-wise?

Not much.  It was so much easier to eat healthy when I had a little baby in my tummy.  

My eating goals:

Eat more fresh food.  If it needs to be refrigerated, it's probably better to eat than something out of the cabinet.  I'm also trying Shakeology.

And now, the part you've all been waiting for.

I took some "before" photos at 4 weeks pregnant. (If you are wondering "Can you even find out that early?" Yes.  You can.)

I'm going to share some comparison pictures because this is a safe place/judgement-free zone.... RIGHT?  I even put on the same exact outfit.  I wasn't in great shape before I got pregnant- which, in my opinion, makes it much easier to get back to my pre-pregnancy state. Hahaaaa...  I think the after pics were taken around 10 weeks pp. 

Before on the Left. After on the Right. 

Before on the Left. After on the Right.

Well?  There you have it.  I will check back in a couple more months and let you know how it's going. 

~SG

The Beginning of the Rest of our Lives

Monday I will wake up, leave my baby, and drive over an hour to my job where I will work all day, drive over an hour home, and hopefully get there in time to spend a few hours with her before she goes down for the night.  Just like millions of other people in America.

But it still sucks.

I started working from home weeks before Abby was even born.  The dogs don't even remember what it's like to be locked up all day long.  I can tell you exactly what time the mailman comes on both sides of the street, when to expect the school bus (and parents/children/dogs in my yard), and when the UPS and Fed Ex trucks drive by.  I know what time all of the news channels switch over to soap operas and where to find Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because I feel guilty about my baby looking at the TV (is she watching it?!).  I know what it's like to spend an entire day in my pajamas, only to change right before Joey gets home just so he thinks I did something.  I know what it's like to really do nothing all day and feel completely exhausted.

I could have never imagined what this 12 weeks would really be like.  It's not exactly a "vacation" but it kind of is.  Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's not, and sometimes I sit back and imagine that life could always be like this (if we won the lottery).  Sure, I could stay at home with Abby.  But we'd have to give up some things that I'm not ready to give up (at least not yet).  I also care about my career and I genuinely enjoy going to work and the company I work for.  I'm about to enter into the working mom guilt club that will surely haunt me for the rest of my days. It's going to be rough at first.  But just like those first couple of weeks at home with a new baby, it's going to get better.  We'll survive.

I'm lucky that Abby will be with family for a little while before we start daycare. But I'm still going to miss things.  I'm not going to be there all day to feed her, play with her, put her down for a nap, or be there when she wakes up all smiley.  I'm not going to be able to just sit there for hours and watch her explore her world and develop new skills out of nowhere.

I'm going to miss other things too like watching Good Morning America and 'Kelly and Michael'. I'm going to miss constantly yelling at the dogs to shut the *expletive* up because the baby JUST fell asleep.  I'm going to miss going to Target at 11am on a Tuesday and going through the Starbucks drive thru just because I can.  I'm going to miss taking naps together in the middle of the day and being able to screw around on the internet as much as I want.

But I'm also very grateful that we are ready for this transition. Abby and I are both healthy and ready to go out into the real world.   I knew 12 weeks ago that this day would come but it seemed so far in the distance.  But here we are. So, as we pack up our laptop and diaper bag and head to work and daycare (let's hope I don't get the two bags confused), we'll remember these good times but look forward to even more that are sure to come.  Like our upcoming Disney trip, for example ;)

~SG