Monday, August 29, 2011

Wedding Survival

It doesn't stop surprising me how different life is as a parent. Just when I was getting the hang of the day to day stuff with a new baby I get a whole series of curve-balls thrown at me forcing me to make huge adjustments to my way of being.

I can't seem to get over how much more difficult it is to do all the things that used to be no big deal. This last week has been the ultimate example. In the past when we've moved it usually takes a couple days to get everything moved and then about a week to get everything unpacked and situated. This move has taken over a week already and I haven't even put all my clothes away.

This last weekend was filled to the brim with activities. It started with a mani/pedi that had to be shortened to just a pedi because I kept having to take care of the baby. Then I embarked on a 2 hour drive that turned into a 4 hour drive when my navigator took me 45 minutes south of the beach I was trying to find and I had to stop multiple times to feed and quiet the baby. I ended up missing the ceremony of Paul's cousin's wedding. Sunday was a flurry of get dressed, feed the baby, get my hair done, feed the baby, do my makeup, feed the baby, get pictures taken, feed the baby, participate in the ceremony, feed the baby, eat dinner, feed the baby...you get the idea. My whole existence is peppered with feeding my baby.

It's most definitely worth having my beautiful baby girl in my life. She's pretty much the cutest baby alive. But it's still a huge adjustment. I feel like I'm learning more and more how to set my boundaries around my activity level. I get it now why parents don't do as much after they have kids. It's not even a matter of being too tired or wanting to spend more time with their kids, it's more about how much frickin work it is!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Day of Firsts


 Yesterday was quite the day for little miss Charlotte. We started pretty early with her first trip to the pediatrician. She got weighed and measured. She is 9 pounds, 5.5 ounces and 22 inches now. I had just fed her when Dr. Paul came in to examine her and she was spitting up everywhere. He told me she was in the 15th percentile and that she was underweight, but he did say that she was healthy and gaining which was impressive considering how much she spits up. He recommended I feed her breast milk mixed with some rice cereal a couple times a day and that I feed her more often otherwise. She also had her first round of vaccines. Paul and I decided to have her vaccinated on Dr. Paul's recommended schedule. Dr. Paul's Schedule

I was  bit baffled with the rice cereal. She's only two months old! He told me that researcher are starting to recommend solid foods at 4 months instead of 6 for infants and that our great grandparents would have fed babies solids at 2 months. He also said to do the cereal instead of formula because he hates baby formula. I agree with that part. He comes very highly recommended from multiple trusted sources and I trust him. So last night was also Charlotte's first encounter with solid foods.

He told me to feed her with a coated spoon. I didn't expect her to be able to eat very well from a spoon, but she handled it pretty well. I was really surprised actually at how easily she adjusted, and how quickly she caught on and kept opening her mouth for more! After she finished the cereal I fed her normally and she latched on just fine for that too. I was a bit relieved. Paul took a video.



After her appointment I stopped at the post office to pick up the package with her baltic amber teething necklace. She's been rather drooly and wants to chew so I figured it couldn't hurt to try it. It's really pretty! I guess the idea is that wearing the necklace on your skin warms the amber and it releases oils into your skin and then to your bloodstream that have natural pain and healing properties. The website has more detailed information if anyone's interested: Baltic Amber - Alternative Medicine I figure if it doesn't help with the teething, at least it's a cute keepsake. 

Then we went to visit the in-laws. Charlotte got to meet her Grandpa George and Grandma Carol for the first time. Charlotte fell asleep in Grandma's arms.  It was somewhat challenging spending the day at James & Dori's with the baby. I got up so early to go to the pediatrician that I was in a sleep deprived haze and didn't really pack her diaper bag very well before I left. I ended up with only one diaper pant all day and two burp clothes that quickly became pretty saturated. I managed to get by with hand-washing the diapers, running to the store for disposable diaper pads, and using paper towels instead of burp cloths. We got home pretty late, around 9:30 and then I was reminded of the massive amount of work I still need to get done with the moving stuff. Today I need to finish unpacking boxes so I can take them back to the apartment and fill them again. My mom and I are going to go over this evening and try to finish packing up the pod. 

Sunday, August 21, 2011

2 Months Old!

Today Charlotte is 2 months old. The last few hours I've been just staring at her in awe of how much bigger she's gotten. It's like I have a whole different baby. She's so much more responsive and she likes to talk. Sadly her good moods are rather fleeting so you can be in the midst of a great happy conversation and all of sudden she starts to frown and protest.

We are in the thick of being super busy. Yesterday we started moving. We ended up getting our trailer several hours later than planned and it was the hottest day of the summer so far. Go figure. On top of that I was making mad phone calls to try to get details planned for the bachelorette party that had me out until 4:30am. We had to be at the mall at noon today to get family photographs with a fussy baby that had been kept up all night and then finish moving before we had to turn the trailer in. In summary, I'm completely exhausted.

Unfortunately this is the first leg of activity. Paul's parents arrive tomorrow. We have the rest of the week to finish moving the smaller stuff and to finish packing our pod let alone getting settled at my parents. Friday is the beginning of the wedding bonanza weekend and then I have to start thinking about teaching at the high school again. I'm excited for all of the things we're doing I just wish they weren't all happening at the same time! What doesn't kill us right?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Warp Speed Ahead!

Well, we have successfully returned from Charlotte's first trip to the beach. It was so nice to spend two nights with my parents, grandpa, sister, cousin's daughter Pandora, Paul and Charlotte in Seaside. Highlights included roasting marshmallows on the patio, wetting my pants while chasing my sister, eating a clam chowder bread bowl at Moe's and riding the bumper cars with Panda. We did lots of eating and lots of walking. It was very interesting spending so much time with a 6-year-old. It was like a preview of parenting, and I'm really looking forward to it. She's not even mine and it was really nice to feel the reciprocation of affection. Charlotte's just starting to show me that she loves me back, but it's pretty fleeting. I can't wait to love her and have her understand it.

In the midst of so much activity paired with the realization of what the next couple of weeks holds I totally forgot that Charlotte turned 8 weeks old last Tuesday. She'll be two months old on Sunday. I think she's going through a growth spurt. She's still just in newborn sizes, and 3 month sizes are huge, but the newborn stuff is starting to get a little snug.

As far as the next few weeks go, we have our hands completely full. In the next week and half I have to move, pack our storage unit, help throw a bachelorette party, attend a rehearsal dinner, two weddings, Charlotte's first visit to the pediatrician, a photo session, and Paul's parents will be here next Monday.

Moving kind of snuck up on me even though I've been anticipating it for weeks now. There's only so much you can pack and not use I suppose and it's been rather difficult to get much done when I've been so busy with the baby and a plethora of other things. It didn't really occur to me that this coming weekend is the only weekend we have to get everything moved before the end of the month until Monday. Now I have two days to get everything divided between my parents house and storage and then we have to get it all moved. I'll be spending the next couple of days envisioning unpacking my things in our new house as it all goes into storage boxes. I'll also be enjoying our last couple of nights in our own home. It's going to be hard not to have my own home for awhile.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Stationery card

Square Pink Collage Birth Announcement
To see Shutterfly's birth announcement designs, click here.
View the entire collection of cards.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

New Model Trade In!

So, since I've taken Charlotte in to therapy I've noticed some pretty significant difference. First of all, she slept for 6 hours the first night and 5 the second. I have gotten sleep!!! This makes a world of difference in how much stress I can deal with. When I woke up and saw her grunting and kicking at 6am she was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen in my life, hands down. Sorry other moms. Mine wins!

Besides sleep, she seems to be eating better, she's smiled a whole bunch and she's a bit less fussy. She does spit up quite a bit still, but it's definitely less than it was. Today's been a bit tougher but I did mess with her sleep patterns last night by going to bed pretty late. Hopefully if we go to bed when we normally do it will be like yesterday. I just love that my baby is so smiley and happy and I love that longer chunks of sleep make me a smiley happy momma!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Teething & Hope

It seems that Charlotte is starting to teethe. Last night she took great pleasure in drooling all over my finger rather than sucking on it. So I got out her raspberry teether and she seemed pretty happy to gnaw on it. I ordered an amber teething necklace for her online so hopefully when she starts to actually feel pain it will help. Right now I think she just enjoys chewing.

I took her for cranial sacral therapy this morning. It's been recommended to me by several midwives, apprentices, and other moms. I took her to Tia Rich, who I'm sure I will be seeing more of. I was so impressed! Charlotte fussed for a bit but by the time Tia was done she was limp as a rag doll and passed out in her arms. I have never seen my baby so relaxed. Tia showed me some things I can do with Charlotte to help continue to improve her latching and growth. She told me Charlotte has a really small hard palate and that her jaw was really tense thus the difficulties with breastfeeding. She also said that she had a bunch of tension in her torso and tummy that explained the massive amounts of spit up. She's still spitting up today, but it's definitely better and she seems to have a calmer overall disposition. So worth the money. Honestly I think it would be cool if Andaluz included this feature as part of their birth package. I probably wouldn't have even noticed the extra expense and boy do I wish I'd done it sooner!

Here's a link for her website if you're at all interested.

Tia's Website

If you're not sure about spending the money on it, Carol Gray offers free workshops pretty frequently. You just have to e-mail her to sign up for a time slot. Here's her website:

Carol's Website


Friday, August 5, 2011

No Time for Humble Pie

Most people that know me find out pretty quickly that I like to be good at stuff. I like to be organized, I like things clean, I have a system for everything, and I like to feel in control, even if everything is chaos. I've managed to rise to many challenges by employing my many methods of organization. I educate myself, I read everything I can find, I consult with lots of people to understand better, I talk through stuff and teach it to other people so I can really fully understand it. I create a system, lists, databases, computer programs, groups, support systems. This has worked for all of my undergrad classes, a stressful masters program, my wedding, other people's weddings, and my pregnancy.

But babies are different. Today was one of those days that reminded me that I can't be good at everything, and that I can't have things on my terms. For some reason Charlotte just decided today and yesterday that she wasn't going to sleep and that she was going to fuss and spit up constantly. I've gone through every single one of my 18 burp cloths in the last two days. There is no system of feeding or laundry, or changing that is consistent. No book can convince my 6-week-old to stay latched longer or sleep more. I can't get her to do anything that is convenient or predictable. This has me thrown for a loop! Usually I can at least convince other people to meet me half way to an arrangement that is somewhat comfortable for me. I have no power here.

I had intended to spend my day today going through more of our stuff and packing, perhaps cleaning and putting laundry away. I don't feel "okay" if things are in disarray. Instead I spent the day in my recliner in my spit-up-soaked pajamas wishing I had the energy to even make myself a meal. Luckily I had a tray of chocolates to sustain me until around 2 this afternoon. I've never felt so utterly defeated in my entire life...and I've had some pretty low points before. I considered myself fairly patient before, but being a parent has pushed me to a whole new level. I feel my death grip on my sense of "normality" being broken little by little. I hate how out of control I feel. I'm sure my tears and sobs aren't just a sign a stress but also a form of mourning. I have to learn to let go of what feels like "okay" and it's hard when you spend such a huge amount of time establishing it.

If I seem extra preachy lately, be patient with me. It's probably a symptom of my trying to validate what feel like incredibly lacking parenting skills. I know I'm probably better than I think I am. My baby girl is still thriving and doing all the things she's supposed to do. It's just a huge adjustment for me to have to do it her way instead of my own.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

All Smiles

My sleepy girl.
Charlotte's had a long day. She's passed out on my arm right now.

I went to visit Cristy today. We ended up walking probably something like 3 miles total. Needless to say, I'm wiped out. Charlotte was so good! She gave me a big grin a few times today. So far her smiles have been pretty fleeting - as in, is that a smile or gas? - but this was the real deal! I have a feeling now that the majority of her awake time will be spent trying to get her to smile again.

This month is starting to feel crazy. I have three weddings, family in town to visit on both sides, two trips to the beach, and we have to be out of our apartment by the end of the month. We've decided that we're going to move in for a few months with my parents to pay down our debt and save some money so we can buy a house next year.

Thank you Andrew, Nicole & Lucy for the
awesome PJ's!
I started to go through some stuff today and I felt a bit overwhelmed. Paul's been working crazy long hours so it's basically up to me to get our stuff organized and packed. We're on a funky time frame because of the weddings and the family visiting so we really have to get moved sooner than the 31st and we have to do most of it during the week. I ordered a pod so that I can pack it over the course of a couple of weeks before we have it moved. The reality of living with my parents started to seep in a bit too. I think it will be great to have so many extra hands to help with the baby, but its also going to be a bit of an adjustment. Paul and I haven't had to live with other people for a really long time, and neither of us is particularly good at it. It will be hard not having our own things and our own space, but worth it to have a house as a result.

 I am on a mission to get rid of the baby weight now! I started water aerobics again last night. I won't be able to go anymore after we move so I want to take advantage and go as much as I can. It's nice having some time for myself when I spend so much time being mommy. After we move I'm debating if it will be more beneficial to go back to weight watchers for a month or to join 24-hour-fitness. I'm thinking the gym membership might be nice to get out of the house, but I seriously need to get my eating back in check. I've developed some mighty bad habits! I will be chronicling all of this business in my weight loss blog rather than here I think.

Tuesday was Charlotte's last appointment at Andaluz. She weighed in at 9 pounds exactly. She's still in newborn sizes because she's so petite in the shoulders, but she's definitely bigger. Hopefully she'll get big enough to wear all her summer clothes in 3 months sizes! I'm sad that I won't get to see my midwives all the time anymore. They become part of your life and are there for one of the most life changing experiences you'll ever go through. I take solace in the fact that I can go to new mom groupsand that we will likely go back to share our birth story for Dana's birth class. Hopefully that will tie me over until the next baby!