Looking back, and ahead!

What a year it's been! It's crazy to think that at this time last year I was planning and plotting how to "fake drink" at our New years party because I was newly pregnant! This year, we're enjoying staying home and hanging out with our little guy, and hopefully making it to midnight, but not being totally bummed if it doesn't happen :)

I'm making a new years resolution to blog more in the next year. I want to really document every day life with our little munchkin. It seems like he changes every single day and I really want to make sure I don't miss any of it! The good and the bad, the highs and lows! I also have quite a few friends having babies in the next few months so thought it might be fun and helpful if they happen to be experiencing some of the same things!

I'm just going to start off my resolution by adding some highs/lows/learning moments of the last few weeks:

• Baby Vomit
• How do you tell the difference between baby vomit and baby spit up?? Well, when you're sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office waiting to be seen because your little one is hardly keeping anything down, look out. It comes like a flowing river. That doesn't stop. Until it's all over him, you, and the waiting room. This, of course, is followed by most people in the waiting room quickly turning away pretending that they totally missed what just happened, even though you're soaking wet and so is your kid, and so is the floor. Then there's the people who really want to try help, but there's not much they can do, and even more who just look at you with, "been there, done that" empathetic faces when your little munchkin starts screaming the worst cry you've ever heard because he got so scared of what just happened. Took everything not to break down and cry myself. Ugh.
• Baby Diarrhea
• I won't spend as much time or go into as much detail on this topic, but it's nasty. It's even more nasty when it accompanied the tummy virus that caused the vomitting. It smells worse than anything you've ever smelled in your entire life, and then some. Like, probably just put these individual diapers right in plastic grocery bags and into the garbage to try save the diaper genie from the smell. If your baby has this for too many days, don't be afraid to ask your dr about using Pedialyte. Our doctor told us to give him Pedialyte for 24 hours in place of his formula to try calm his tummy down. It did a really great job of it, and we were able to introduce his formula back to him in half formula half pedialyte bottles right after that. There's no nutritional value to it, but when nothing else is staying in, it was the best route to go to keep him hydrated.
• Diapers
• Don't go the cheap route for bedtime diapers. Off-brand diapers are great during the day and when they're having frequent diaper changes, but I definitely recommend a good Pampers Swaddler at night time when baby sleeps all night long. Otherwise, you wake up to a completely pee-smelling baby because they ended up leaking out the back of their diaper and are now soaking wet! Good morning, mom, hope you have time to give me a bath! :)
• Bath Time
• Even though it's harder on the knees, once they start splashing, move that baby tub to the real tub!!! I thought we'd be just fine keeping it in the sink because it was so much easier. Then came the splashing. ALL over the kitchen, and myself. He LOVES to splash, so now we put his tub in the "big boy tub" and he can splash all he wants!
• Crib sheets/mattress pad
• This kinda goes along with the vomit/diaper bullet, but make sure you have at least 2 of each of these items, and make sure one is clean at all times!
• Laundry
• Buy Dreft. And try to convince your husband that you have to use it FOREVER on your baby clothes. It just smells SO wonderful and makes folding all of those little teeny tiny outfits and socks that much more enjoyable! We bought Tide Free and Gentle to just wash all of our clothes in, but I'm having a real tough time letting go of the Dreft.
• Advocating
• I'll try not to get too fired up when typing this, but when we were at the dr last, he had us get a new prescription for Corbin's reflux. So, brought it to the pharmacy (it was Friday) and they told me it would be ready on Monday. So, Monday came and I gave them until the end of the work day and went there and they're like, "oh, it didn't get ordered. Do you want us to try something else?" Um....do I look like an F(*&ing doctor?? You've had all day to figure this out with the dr's office, or CALL ME and I'll call the dr's office. Well, they'd have it on Tuesday. Ok, so, called before I went there on Tuesday. "Oh, sorry, we can't fill it until your dr fills out the prior authorization for your insurance, so check back at the end of the week." Um, EXCUSE ME?? We needed this on FRIDAY. So, I asked if I could get it without insurance and they said they still didn't even have it. SO they tried blaming it on the dr's office. I was so fed up by the time I went to the pharmacy on THURSDAY and they said they didn't have it again. This was by far the rudest I have ever been to another person and the most I've yelled at another person in public, but my little boy need this medication!! Finally sent Tim in to pick it up a WEEK later.
• Sleep!
• It's a beautiful thing. Especially when it happens ALLLLL night long! I'm not going to say any more about it because I don't want to jinx it!
• Video Monitor
• It's never been a necessity in my book, but now that I have one, I can't imagine what I ever did without it! We did just fine with just the sound monitor, of course, but this just brings things to a whole new level. Mostly because I get to watch him sleep and it's SO FLIPPIN CUTE! :) Besides that, it really is nice to just be able to check on him without having to actually go into his room and risk waking him up.

I could really go on for days with all of the things we've learned in the last few weeks, but I'll save those for the next time! HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE and HAPPY 2014!!!!

Life these days...

It's been a while since I posted, so I figured I was due for one! Lots has happened in the last few weeks! I started back to work part time on November 4th. I had heard how hard it was going to be to drop him off at daycare and leave (which it was...), but nobody ever told me that you completely forget how to do your job once you get back!!! I was seriously so lost for the first week back. I think it had a lot to do with my mind having been "baby" 24/7 for the last 10 weeks, not wanting to come back, and a million changes made while I was gone. It was pretty miserable to say the least. I do recommend going back part time for a week or two to get back into the swing of things if it's possible! That first week back, Corbin was such a good boy and slept for 9-9 1/2 hours at night! Of course, he's been back to waking up once a night the last few nights, but I'll take once over twice any day.

My second week back to work we ended up closing on our new house! It was really hard to be excited about working when I knew I was getting a new house at the end of the week! We closed on our house on Thursday late afternoon, started moving on Friday and Saturday, and by Sunday evening we spent our first night there! It's been great so far, but we still have a lot left to unpack! Of course the flu decided to hit our house this week, so Tim and I have both been down for the count, so unpacking hasn't been getting done this week. Hopefully C stays healthy!! Jersey is adjusting pretty well to the new house, although I think she's still waiting to go "home." And in other house news, we accepted an offer on our old house and will hopefully be closing December 18th!!! Merry Christmas to us!! :)

Corbin has been getting really good with his head control lately and he's discovering his tongue! It's so cute to watch him because his tongue is always out and licking something! This, of course, makes for constant drool, so bibs are a must these days! He's "talking" to us all the time and is getting SO close to a good giggle! He really loves bath time and does plenty of splashing around! It's so much fun to watch him learn new things and he's such a happy, smiley boy!! We're doing Christmas pictures next weekend, so hopefully he has his smiles ready! He's rolled over once from his back to his tummy, and I managed to get it on video! Of course, he hasn't done it again, but we're working on it. He's not a huge fan of tummy time, but we're working on that, too. It's so amazing how much love I have for this little man--it's truly more than words could ever explain!

Check out those thighs! Finally getting some meat on our bones! :)

Um, I have an 8 week old??

Ok, well officially as of tomorrow, anyway. How is that possible?! I have 2 full weeks of maternity leave left, then 2 weeks of half time, and back full time November 18th. Since the last update I posted (at 2 weeks post partum) we've been busy!

We're still on the formula rollercoaster. We've gone from milk-based formula to his dr putting him on soy. The brand of soy we were on constipated him...but I shouldn't have been surprised, because on that brand (Similac), he had been constipated with the milk based formulas, too. So, we decided to try Nutramigen (Enfamil brand), which is hypoallergenic and of course the most expensive formula without getting a prescription. This should've been the answer and we thought it was the first 2 days into it, but things started to slowly get worse. On other Enfamil formulas he tried, he ended up projectile vomiting them up, and having nasty diapers. Well that's what was happening here, and I was struggling to get him to take even 3 oz, and still would spit it up. We're back to soy, the Gerber brand this time, and have his 2 week check up on Wednesday where we'll discuss if he needs reflux meds. I'm SO thankful that these are all things he will grow out of eventually, but for now, we're just trying to do what we can to help him feel good!

He's been SO FUN lately!! At about 5-6 weeks, we started getting our first "on purpose" smiles! He has been such a smiley boy lately, and I just love it! I had him to the doctor last week and he weighed 10lb 7.8oz! He's getting so big. I actually packed away his newborn clothes yesterday :( With these formula changes, I think we're finally on the right track and he's been more content to sit in his rock 'n play or swing or play on his play mat. He has been sleeping for typically 5-7 hour stretches at night, and hopefully that just continues to get better! He's getting so strong and holds his head up better every day! We still struggle with day-time naps, but if he's going to sleep at night, I'll take it! :)

As for myself, at my last post I had just started with this hematoma business under my incision. Well, it would kinda stop and start draining for about 2 weeks after that. It even opened up from a different spot in my incision. It got to the point where the surgeon scheduled me for surgery to clean it out and try close it back up again so that it heals properly. Of course I wasn't looking forward to having surgery AGAIN and being down for the count AGAIN. Thankfully, the weekend we had baptism, it stopped draining...and didn't start up again. Monday (surgery day) came and we got the hospital and I asked to see the surgeon before we did anything. I'm so glad I did, because he said it looked like things were healing on it's own and we ended up not having to go through surgery! I've been feeling so great ever since, and actually pretty much feel like normal! My incision area is still numb and weird/sensitive feeling, but I hear that'll be like that for a while, or possibly forever.

The other exciting thing in our lives is we are buying a new house! It's in town and in a new development where there are lots of younger families. I'm so excited! We'll have a nice big corner lot and much more space! Closing date is November 15th--so I suppose I should be packing instead of blog-updating while little man is sleeping! :)

Life with a newborn and post-partum life: Things I wish I had known!

Things I wish I had know, some I was told, but didn't really pay much attention to or didn't think would be relevant to my life, some I've learned on my own!

In no particular order:

1. No matter how much experience you have with newborns or babies or kids, bringing home a brand new baby is super intimidating. When we got home from the hospital, it was kinda like, "ok...now what?!"

2. You can read every single parenting book, blog, website, discussion forum, but nothing can totally prepare you for what you're about to experience! Sure it's great to have that knowledge, but don't overwhelm yourself and get this idea of what your baby is going to be like, because you'll just get frustrated when he isn't like everything said he would be!

3. You'll cry....a lot. Not post-partum depression, but what they call the "baby blues." Your hormones are literally all over the place...I would start crying just because, and would get frustrated because you just have no control over those hormones! Pair that with a colicky baby who you have no idea how to help and soothe, makes for the most crying in the last 7 weeks than in my whole entire life!

4. You can have an idea of how your birth experience will go, or what you want to happen, but be prepared for it to be completely turned upside down. I was fully prepared to have an intrathecal and was going to have my baby naturally, of course. Well, when there's fetal distress and you stop progressing, you don't have much of a choice! Granted, I had told myself I was ok with whatever had to happen and didn't have a "birth plan" but was still an emotional wreck when deciding to do c-section.

5. Everyone else seems like they have super "easy" babies or they really have motherhood figured out. It's true. Looking at everyone else, I couldn't help but think, why can't my baby be that easy?! Or how come it doesn't seem like it's a whole lot of work for them to make a trip to the store, but for me I put it off as long as possible because of how much work it is to get loaded up, get there, unloaded, shop, worry about him getting hungry, screaming in the store, etc! Well, I've come to realize that people don't talk about the tough stuff very often and there are more new moms who feel the way I did/do, than those who have it so "easy."

6. There seems to always be somebody who has experienced what you are, no matter how much you might feel you're the only one in the world going through it! Breastfeeding, for example. When my milk never fully came in and I was dealing with a hungry, screaming child, I thought I was so alone and the only person this had ever happened to. Everything you read talks about how breastfeeding is best, you immediately start nursing when baby is born, it's a great bond with your baby, etc. WELL, nobody ever talks about what happens when that doesn't work. Literally, in all of our childbirth classes, reading, researching, etc., I don't think I ever heard anything about what to do when that doesn't work! It wasn't until a week later when I realized that we were going to have to supplement with formula and eventually go to full formula feeding did I find out that there are SO many people who experienced the same thing! I felt SO alone while going through all of that, but then all of a sudden I had a huge support system simply because when people asked how things were going, I was completely honest instead of just saying, "wonderful!" to get people to quit asking!

7. Unsolicited advice is NEVER ENDING......You think it's bad while pregnant and people are giving advice, but once that kiddo is here, it's like people think it's a total free-for all. I've been pretty good now about listening, taking what I feel might be relevant, and letting the rest go, but it took a while to get there. As I'm to the point where I'm taking my poor boy to the dr because I can't handle his colic anymore and have tried LITERALLY everything, people starting throwing out advice. Yes, I've LITERALLY tried EVERYTHING, but thank you! Now, advice from someone who's been in my shoes with the things we've dealt with, I'm all about advice!! For those who read this and have provided such, THANK YOU, seriously!

8. You will love this kid so incredibly much, it'll make you want to cry! In a good way! No matter if your baby is "easy" or super colicky, or anywhere in between, he is the most amazing miracle and the best thing you never knew you were missing in your life!

9. Your husband is going to look to you for direction, because chances are, he probably has LESS experience...and it can be frustrating if you don't know how to help him! Learn your baby together, and since you're probably going to be spending more time with the baby, share tips that seem to work, but don't smother him in them! He'll learn his own tricks, too! AND he might not be as excited about your teeny tiny fragile little baby as you are, but it's so fun to see how much more comfortable he gets as baby grows!

10. Don't be afraid to ask for help. BUT also, don't be afraid to turn visitors down, especially right away if you're not feeling up to it.

11. The best gift to a new mom is frozen meals! Enough said :)

12. Take a nap when baby does! Everyone and their mom will tell you that. And it's true. SO true. Especially for the first month until you start to kinda sorta get more sleep at night and kinda sorta get some sort of routine.

13. 5-6 hours of sleep uninterrupted will feel like 10! With me not nursing, I am fortunate to have Tim be able to get up for a feeding at night so that I can get longer uninterrupted sleep. Who knew that I could feel like a rockstar after 5-6 hours of sleep?

14. Don't forget "date night!" Of course you'll miss your little sweetheart while you're away from him, but the other important person in your life needs some attention, too! Even just a few hours to go furniture shopping and out to eat is so refreshing--and will help you remember that you still are husband and wife, and not just mom and dad!

15. SNUGGLE!!!!! Cliche as it is, they grow way too fast, maternity leave ends way too fast, and pretty soon they will be running all over the place and not want to snuggle! Who cares if your dishes don't get done or laundry doesn't get folded today? Those things will always be there! :)

16. There's still lots of things you wish you would've known that people won't necessarily talk about. But it's ok to ask! Some things might seem too gross, seem too personal, or that you think are dumb to ask, but just remember that for the most part, people who have babies experience a lot of those same things--and most of time wish someone would've told them or answered their questions about such things!

17. Just relax and realize that you're doing the best job you can! I must admit, when my baby is screaming and nothing I'm doing is soothing him, this is hard to remember. Having a baby is such a learning curve, and an expensive one at that...but even the fact that you're trying everything you can for this baby means that you're doing the best job you can!

18. AND you might experience some, none, or all of these things! That's just the way it goes! :)

There are so many more things that I could go on and on about, but these are just a few that I want to remember for next time! Time to get back to snuggling my sweet boy! :)

Oh, read this article--kinda the inspiration behind this post! http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/09/to-my-post-partum-self-things-i-wish-id-known/

Our First 2 Weeks

Newborns are supposed to sleep all the time, right?? Right. Not. Our first week home was quite interesting! Sleepless nights, lots of screaming, no poopy diapers, etc. It was quite emotional for me as well, because I didn't know what to do! I called and talked to nurses, lactation consultants, and had tried everything they suggested to get him to stop crying and sleep. We decided maybe he wasn't getting enough to eat when I tried pumping and would only get an ounce. We decided to start supplementing with formula. As soon as we did that, we had a SAFISFIED baby!! It turns out my milk never really came in. I wasn't as bummed about the not being able to exclusively nurse but the fact that everyone puts so much pressure on moms to nurse. I am glad he got the important colostrum in the beginning and at least one breast milk bottle a day for 2 weeks, but it just was too much to try keep up with when there wasn't much of a supply.

I really didn't realize how common this is until I started talking to other people. In our classes and in the hospital, everyone puts so much pressure on nursing and basically throws out the guilt trip if you can't do it. Once I finally got the courage to just do what is best for us, I felt a million times better! Corbin was 6lb7oz at his one week check, so not back to his birth weight. Our dr was very supportive of our supplementing and we went back on Monday and he weighed 7lb4oz!!

Our latest struggle has been finding the right formula. We've been through constipation, projectile vomiting, and hopefully now are on the right track. This whole having a newborn thing is such a steep learning curve and an exhausting one at that!

Yesterday I started bleeding from my incision. Tim took me in to the dr and it turns out I had a hematoma. They drained it and there was lots of old blood. I had a sharp pain in that spot the last couple days so I should feel quite a bit of relief. I have to keep a dressing on it for the next couple days and hopefully the recovery goes even faster now! What's one more set back?!

Currently we're enjoying snuggles and naps on the couch and getting used to bassinets and swings. Slowly but surely!

Corbin's Birth Story

On Friday August 23rd, I worked hard to get things finished up and was telling people that I would be throwing a temper tantrum if I had to come back to work on Monday! I wasn't due til Wednesday, but was getting really tired of work and people commenting how I still hadn't had this baby yet! I was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend complete with lots of naps.

On Saturday, Chelsey and Riggins came to hang out while Tim was combining! We had a great time just sitting around, talking baby stuff, and she sterilized all my bottles and helped get the last few things ready. We went for a short walk and I could definitely tell that this baby was on the downward move. Saturday night, Tim got home around 9pm and they had finished combining. We sat around and talked for a little bit and decided it was time for bed. I went to the bathroom and headed to bed. I bent over to pick up a pillow off the floor, and a big warm gush came running down my leg! I hurried up back to the toilet. I told Tim that I either peed myself or my water broke. I got my answer as I sat there and it just kept coming!!

Tim started to get nervous about what we should do. I told him that I was going to just go bed and try get some sleep and he should do the same. Shortly after lying down, contractions started. People aren't kidding when they say you'll know real contractions when you feel them!! I layed there for about a half hour timing the contractions, anywhere from 6-8 minutes apart. I called the hospital to let them know so they could get ready for me but told them I was going to stay home for a while longer. I tried to get some rest but that's pretty hard to do in 5-8 minute increments! Finally at 2:45 I had decided that contractions were getting strong enough that I wanted to head in. We loaded up our stuff and made our way to the hospital.

Once we got there, they put monitors on me and checked and I was already dilated to a 5! Things were progressing great and my dr would order the intrathecal. I was breathing through contractions and the meds couldn't come fast enough! Once I got the intrathecal I was able to get a little rest. The told me intrathecals take away about 80% of the pain. It sure wasn't long before I was at an 8 and contractions were miserable. Then the nurses and my dr started getting concerned because Corbin wasn't handing contractions well. His heart rate would dip down with each contraction and not quite come back up to where it should be. This went on for a while and I wasn't progressing. Eventually they gave me the option of waiting to get to 10, have an hour or two of pushing that he might not handle well, OR csection and get him out without more stress. After listening to his heartbeat a little longer we decided we needed to get him out.

At this point I turned into a total emotional wreck. Contractions were awful and often, I was concerned about my baby and just the fear of the unknown with the csection. It seemed to take forever for them to let Tim in the operating room after getting him dressed up in scrubs. About 10 minutes later, we got to hear the scream of our sweet boy! It was the most amazing sound ever and seeing him was the best moment. It turns out the cord was wrapped around his neck and shoulder and he was trying to come out with the right side of his head first. It wouldn't have been an ideal situation and probably would've ended in csection anyway. It broke my heart when Tim and Corbin had to leave me, but I am so thankful for my amazing doctor and the anesthesiologist who kept me sane during that half hour. Once I got wheeled into the recovery room they put Corbin skin to skin on my chest. Words cannot describe that feeling!! :)

So blessed to have this little man in my life!!

39 Weeks!!

Toes are all pretty and polished from my pedicure yesterday, nursery is ready, hospital bag packed (minus snacks!!), car seat base installed=game on!!

This last weekend leading up to the 39 week mark was awesome. Plenty of time to relax in my recliner with Jers, did a little bit of cleaning, rode in the combine til it broke down (didn't get much of a ride in that day...) and watched Lifetime movies! Of course then Monday came and I just dreaded coming back to work, mostly because I didn't want to hear the "Oh, you're still here" comments and all of the stares that come along with that! I've had a pretty busy week, so it hasn't been too terrible. I've got plenty on my to-do list still at work, but really feel like I'm getting it as close to tolerable for someone else to take over as I can!

I had a dr appointment yesterday afternoon. My blood pressure was a little bit high and since I've been having some swelling my dr wants to keep an eye on it. He wasn't concerned to the point of limiting my activity or anything, but I go back on Monday to see where we're at! I am dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced, so he said my body is doing what it's supposed to be doing and there's progress, so that's really exciting! He also told me to think about how far over my due date I want to go and start deciding on a possible induction date if necessary. He doesn't want me to go past 41 weeks, so I guess there's an official end in sight!! :) THEN I had a little mini panic attack as I waited for the nurse to come back to check my blood pressure one more time. I think I suddenly experienced a little bit of every emotion possible thinking about how soon this baby will be here!! (Not like I've been waiting for 9 months or anything....) But, just the realization that sometime in the next week-two, I'll be responsible for another life! Ahhh! :) I almost forgot to add that I got to see a bunch of my former coworkers yesterday morning at a training and it is always so fun! Definitely feel the love from all of them! AND there was a lady who opened the door for me at the clinic and said, "You are just adorable!" I laughed and said thanks, and she's like, "No, really, honey, you just look so cute!" haha--totally made my day!! :)

It was the last "Ladies Night" for golf on Tuesday, so that was really fun! My dr was impressed that I was still golfing and told me to maybe try it again to see if it will help move things along! Well, lucky for me, I'm playing the Polk County Social Services scramble tonight! The girls on my team have never golfed before, so they were a little nervous that I wouldn't make it there. We're taking bets on how many times I'll hear, "Are you sure you should still be golfing?" Considering the fact that my dr gave me the go-ahead, and I'm PREGNANT, not FRAGILE, yes, I should definitely still be golfing! :)

You're all welcome for a completely "positive" blog post! I know it's been a while :)