Sleeping in her crib

I feel like a lazy parent, but I also feel like I did what was best for us.  Caylee has been sleeping in the rock & play in our bedroom since she was born.  Since she's been sleeping through the night, why not? I'm working full time, I'm tired, and I want Connor to be able to sleep well too.  Now that she's 9 months, we really need to get her in her crib.  She sleeps in a crib at daycare, so at least she's had some experience with it. 

We waited until we knew her ear infection was gone and she was healthy.  Last weekend, she had a successful, but short, nap in there.  (So tiny in a big bed!)  She was able to make it through the night with 4 wake ups for a pacifier which wasn't too bad.  But after that night, she started to get a cold and she would cry every time we put her down in her crib.

So we brought in the marshmallow suit!

This thing cracks me up, but hey, whatever works.  So she still has a runny nose, but we need to try again this weekend.  This is the start of getting her out of her swaddle, so it's going to be a slow transition.  I figured she could at least attempt to reach her own pacifier wearing this, but it's pretty hard to move around. Sleep, girl!

Baby Acne

Poor girl :(  Her baby acne started up this week and it's just so sad to see.  I've tried breast milk and coconut oil, but nothing really seems to be helping.  I feel even worse because my skin looks amazing and hers is horrible!  WTF, hormones?!?

I told Daddy it was just a good excuse to wear more hair bows to distract from the skin!

Double ear infection

Surprise!

We predicted this last night when we realized his ears were getting all crusty and gross again.  It looks like the medicine from the first ear infection (with tubes) didn't work so well since he has another one already.  Luckily, he seems to be in a better mood and he's starting to eat more.  I hope this weekend he can rest up and he'll be ready and healthy for Thanksgiving.

Can we be healthy?

:::sigh:::

We got a call yesterday that Connor had a fever at daycare.  He wouldn't eat and he wouldn't stop crying.  See evidence below.  He looks like he was having a blast, right?

Daddy took the afternoon off of work and stayed home with our sick little boy.  His fever got up to 101.9, but it went down around dinner time.  He ate a huge dinner for a sick boy and then we got his mind off being sick and had special Mommy & Daddy play time with lots of cardboard boxes. (Best toy ever!)

But this morning, he woke up and he was boiling.  He wouldn't stop crying all morning and he just wanted to snuggle.  :(  Grandma stayed home with him today.

Can we just get a few days of being healthy? I'm worried he might have pneumonia or another ear infection.  I feel like he's sick or I'm sick all the time!

Mommy and Daddy are sick

It's been a long and difficult weekend for our family.  While Connor has been recovering from his ear infection and cold, Mommy and Daddy got much worse.  I had a cough for about 3 weeks, but it really started to hurt my chest a lot on Wednesday and Thursday.  Thursday night, I ended up going to a chest x-ray and I found out that I had pneumonia.  The news was a little overwhelming and I was in so much pain, but I figured the medicine and penicillin shot they gave me would help.  The next day, the pain was even worse and I had to go back for a second penicillin shot and more medicine.  I was in so much pain that I could hardly move and there was no way I could pick up Connor.

Unfortunately, Daddy also started getting worse and his cough was beginning to sound like mine.  Friday night, he wasn't feeling good and I had to be strong and hang out with Connor while I was sick.  On Saturday morning, Connor went over to Grandma & Grandpa's so Daddy and I could go back to the doctor.  At my follow-up, the doctor said the medicine should be helping and I'll start to feel better soon.  My cough was much better so it was really just the pain that was horrible.  Daddy got a check-up and chest x-ray, and luckily, he doesn't have pneumonia.  He just has a bad cough and cold, so he got some meds.  This wasn't really my idea of a child-free date, but it was nice to spend some time together even if we were at the doctor :)  We picked up our meds and then went home to nap.  That nap was the best nap I've had in years!  (And probably one of the only naps I've had in a long, long time!)  We rested all afternoon although I did miss Connor and his little giggles all day.

Connor came home for dinner and we played while Daddy rested in bed.  I'm sad that we hardly got any photos during the past week, but I was so busy with being sick and spending time in doctor's offices.  I think I spent about 8 hours total just in the past week!

Playing with the dinosaur ball popper...

Adventures with an empty diaper box...

On Sunday, we went over to the grocery store in the morning.  Mommy and Daddy haven't had much of an appetite so we kept putting it off!  Since Mommy was feeling a little better and wanted to get out, I took Connor over to a little craft fair.  I took some photos, but he looks mad in them, so I deleted them.  He was really tired, but he was very patient while we walked around and looked at crafts.  He tried on a bunch of fun crocheted hats, but we didn't buy any because they didn't look very warm for winter.

When we got home, he took a LONG 3 hour nap (!!) and then got picked up by Grandma & Grandpa again.  They drove over to visit Great Grandma & Grandpa, so that was a big treat for them!  I heard he played with tupperware and a plastic ladle in the floor and had a blast!  While Connor was away, we got more time to rest and start to feel better.

Now that it's Sunday night, I think we're both starting to feel better.  I'm still on a ton of medicine, but I'm happy to be able to go back to work and be able to move around again.  Daddy is still not feeling so good, but I think he's feeling good enough for work.  Times like these are really nice to have family nearby because we really needed that rest time to recuperate.

4 Stitches

Yep, Connor is the proud owner of 4 brand new stitches on his forehead.

Yesterday was a hard day in our family.  Connor was in daycare for not even 10 minutes when he climbed on a little table and fell off.  As soon as Daddy got the phone call, he rushed over to check on the little guy.  He called me at work and we met over at the emergency clinic.  

I gave him a big hug as soon as I saw him!  My poor baby!  (I don't want to get into the fact that the clinic made us wait over 2 hours with a bleeding head injury on a baby while they let all the people with coughs in first)  He was a little crabby while we waited, but we did laps of crawling and walking down the hallways to keep him occupied.  

About an hour into the wait, he bumped his head on Daddy's shoulder and started bleeding everywhere!  Once we got that under control with tons of gauze, we gave him a little snack (saved by Mommy's purse of good stuff!) and waited for the doctor.  The doctor confirmed that he did need stitches or glue, but stitches would be a better option for a baby who might pick at the wound. 

It was awful watching as they had to strap him into this little baby straight jacket swaddle thing and he screamed.  I gently rubbed his tummy and shushed him while the doctor stitched him up and the nurse held his head.  He got 4 little stitches and a nice big band-aid to cover them up.  When we let him out of the "swaddle,"  he reached right for me and wanted to snuggle.

He passed out on the drive home and then took a long nap in his bed and still wearing his coat!  To make him feel better, we took a long walk on his bike and stopped at the playground.  He really didn't even notice the band-aid, but I was freaked out that he would bump it and it would start bleeding again.

We spent the afternoon together and I felt a little better about everything that happened.  I don't blame the daycare at all, but I'm just sad that he had to go through that trauma.

Waiting for Daddy to get home (with a Kitty photo bomb)

Waiting at the clinic before stitches...

Our sick family

Two words to describe our weekend: horribly sick

After Connor got the flu on Thursday, I got it Friday, my parents got it Saturday, Hubby got it Sunday, and his dad also got it over the weekend.

You can just imagine how lovely it was to have every person suffering from the flu at the same time, diaper blowouts every couple hours, completely out of bed sheets and diapers, and no one was healthy enough to help.

Luckily, Connor seemed to be feeling better over the weekend despite the ear infection medication blowouts and a little less appetite.  We had to resort to the "nightgown" when we completely ran out of clothes for him to wear and dirty in less than 30 minutes. 

I'm just glad Kitty didn't catch the flu as well or I might have pulled my hair out.

And of Monday morning, Daddy is still at home resting, Connor is at daycare (flu-free for 3 days) and I am at work, but feel icky.

My poor sick boy...and a tired Mommy

Wow.

It's been quite a day in our household.

Daddy went to Boston for two days so Mommy was in charge.  But unfortunately, things did not go as planned when Connor threw up three times while I was nursing him.  It shot out like I've never seen before and I just sat there stunned.  It was all over the bed, the wall, the mattress, the boppy, and both of us.  But he was acting completely normal, so I figured we'd try to keep going and get ready to go.  I was so stressed and there was no way I could move the bed on my own, so I left it.  Oh well.

When we got to daycare and waited for it to open, he threw up all over himself in the car.  It smelled fabulous since he'd just had his ear infection meds and a little more milk before we left.  We went into daycare and took his temperature, but it was normal.  They were perfectly fine with him staying since he didn't have a fever and I said I'd come pick him up if he was feeling sick.

Two hours later, I got the call.  I rushed back to daycare to pick up my sick baby.  He seemed to be acting happy, so we stopped at Target to pick up some pedialyte and a new FAST thermometer.  Ours is just not working for a toddler that won't sit still!

We had some lunch and then he napped for awhile.  I tried to get some work done remotely to catch up on all the crap I was missing at work.  Right after he woke up, I nursed him and then he puked two more times in his room ALL over me, the clean laundry I was putting away, and himself.  :::Sigh:::

I cleaned both of us up, but the floor of his room was disgusting.  My dad came over to play with Connor so I could start trying to clean the huge mess he created throughout the day.  It was laundry, carpet cleaner, steam cleaning vac, etc. for hours!  My parents both took turns stayed with us so I could try to get some cleaning done. 

Just as everything was getting finished and he was getting tired, Connor threw up two more times all over the carpet, hallway, and himself.  Clean up again!  I nursed him and put him to bed.  Now it's cookies and beer for dinner.  I am praying he sleeps through the night and feels better in the morning.  I can't take another day of this!  Daddy was very lucky to miss all the fun!

Another doctor visit

Poor Connor was back at the doctor last night. His nose started getting runny and I knew it was another ear infection. We waited almost an hour to see the doctor, but he was very patient and kept busy playing in the waiting room. He entertained the others that were waiting with his giggles, showing off how he stands, and crawling to the nurses.

Once we got in, the doctor confirmed that it was another minor ear infection in both ears. She said if he gets another one, we're going to have to meet to discuss tubes. If he can go 3 months without one, he's fine. Judging from past experience, he's never gone 3 months without one unless you count birth to the first 3 months of his life.

I figured this news was coming, but now it feels more real. I can't get the imagine of seeing him cry in a little hospital gown out of my head. I know it's going to help him, but it's going to be hard to see him so upset and in pain...

The latest illness...

Hand, foot & mouth has invaded our little guy.

It's going around daycare and he caught it. Luckily, we had an appointment at the pediatrician this morning anyway, so she confirmed that he's got it. Since it's contagious, he's quarantined for the next few days while his red bumps heal.

Poor baby :(

Baby clothes FAIL

We got this Marc Jacobs sleeper that was handed down from our nephew. I was all excited when I saw it. Designer outfit for Connor!

Here's how you're supposed to snap it.

Really, Marc Jacobs?
You think this is easy for parents to do?

Cute, but total FAIL.

Post-partum hair loss

It's here.

I thought maybe I got lucky and would just be able to keep my extra thick hair forever.

But no, 8 months later and I think my body finally decided to let it go. I'm a little sad. I loved my thicker hair because my hair was so thin to begin with. I also think this might mean AF is on its way too. Also, I feel like my eyesight has gotten worse in the last few weeks. I feel old now.

A Sick Little Boy

Poor guy has a smile here, but he was sick and not himself last week. He had a fever on Monday and then daycare ended up calling us to come pick him up on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he had a fever all day, was extra cranky, and wasn't eating very much. I took off work on Thursday and Friday to take him to the doctor. Turns out, he had an ear infection (again) and his fever finally went down after 3 days. It was so sad to see him not all smiley like he usually is. There were times when he didn't even want to play with his toys! I think he lost some weight from not eating, but I really tried to force him to at least drink milk as much as he could.

Anyway, we played a lot to keep him distracted. We pulled out his new light-up and singing stacking toy that he enjoyed.

We were giving him lots of baths during the week to cool him off, so I bought him a rubber ducky to play with. He's just starting to get more comfortable in the water where he'll play with a toy.

Here's Connor waiting at the doctor. Poor guy was so tired from being sick...

And even though he was sick, we took some walks for some fresh air and stopped at the park. Pajamas and a sunhat on the swing!

Lessons learned today

1. If your child is standing at just the right angle, he can spit up into the front of his diaper.

2. Don't forget to close the bottle of your child's medicine.

3. If you spill amoxicillan on your carpet and spray it with carpet cleaner, it will stain your carpet orange.

Daycare highlights & Goodbye!

Today is Connor's last day of daycare at this location. After a 13 month waiting list, we got into the daycare on the Walgreens campus so Daddy will be very close by. It's a little bittersweet for me because I got to know the teachers and liked them a lot. Connor had his own little fan club of people who came to see him and his eyelashes! Everyone there has been so sweet to us especially when it was so hard to start him there at only 3 months old. But we're going to be saving about $400 a month with the new place, so that's a great benefit. It's still the same company so the programs will be almost the same. He also has a friend who will be transferring with him so he'll have a familiar face.

I was so happy to see some great photos of him on his last day! Could he be sitting unassisted here? Hubby called me as soon as he saw it!

Here he is with Miss Sue who has been his caretaker for the last few months. I think the girl in the orange shirt is Lisa, his girlfriend, who always comes to see him when I'm there. He must have a love for girls named Lisa!

I love the little note to him:
All of the infant unit would like to say goodbye to Connor, today is his last day!

Hopefully, he won't notice the transition too much and Mama will just have to make friends with the new teachers!

Hold him close

A mom from my August 2011 board lost her baby yesterday. There are no words to explain how absolutely horrible and devastated I am with this news. I can't stop thinking about how awful it would be to get that news and how it will affect her life forever. I'm sick even thinking about the pain she's going through. I can't help but think about my little one and how he's doing every minute of the day now. I don't know how to move forward with these painful thoughts in my head.

Treasure every single moment you have with your baby.

Accepting reality

I put a lot of pressure on myself to continue to breastfeed as long as I can. I've had some really great role models (friends) who have done it and it really inspired me to keep going. Before Connor was born, I figured I'd try it and see how it went. But I've been very lucky that Connor has never had a problem with nursing at all, so I just kept going with it. Going back to work made things more difficult, but I've been able to keep up with pumping for the most part.

But for the last month or so, it's getting harder. I've been sick 3 times in less than two months and it made my supply go down. I've been stressed and busy at work which cut down on my milk and I've had to skip a few pumping sessions. I gave up pumping on most nights because I was so tired and couldn't stay awake long enough. It's getting hard for me to pump enough milk at work and we've had to dive into my freezer stash.

The three times a day I have to pump at work gives me a lot of time to think. I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep this going. If I don't pump the ideal 21 oz. per day, I get mad at myself. I'm constantly worried about not having enough and being forced to supplement with formula. I guess I really need to focus on the fact that this is not the worst thing in the world. I'm trying my best and that should be enough. I just wish I could remember that.

Not feeling it this week

For the most part, I've accepted my life as a working mom and I'm used to the routine. But I have random days when I get sad and wish I could be at home. This week is just particularly hard for some reason.

I've been chatting with a few SAHMs in the past few days and that's probably making this feeling worse. Today, I just wish I could be one of them. I'm jealous that they get to snuggle all day with their babies and do whatever they want. Even cleaning and cooking sounds great right now. I'm jealous of the playdates and photos they post online. Why we be a part of that? Whoever says the weekends are a great way to recharge and spend time with your child doesn't understand how weekends work now. Weekends are the time when you have to catch up on all the crap you didn't get to during the week because you work and you're constantly sick or tired. When do we get to just have fun?

Anyway, I have no motivation to work today. Being creative is not even an option when I feel like this. Would anyone notice if I take a nap in the pumping room today?

How to give yourself a heart attack

1. Accidentally erase 40 gigs of important images on the server. Then attempt to get them back without anyone noticing.

2. Skip a pumping session due to a stressful meeting and be short 8 oz. of milk

3. Leave pumped milk at work and don't realize it until you are almost home.

4. Have a computer program that shut down on its own, have another that stops and must be restarted every time you use it, and have one more that is so freaking slow that you want to tear your hair out

5. Get sick for the 3rd time in less than 2 months. Yay for daycare babies.


Yes, it's been a bad couple of days...

Loves & Hates for the New Mom

I loved reading reviews of baby items while I was pregnant to try to figure out what we really needed and what was a waste of money. I started this post months ago, but I finally got around to finishing it. Hopefully, it will help at least a few people out!

1. Velcro swaddle suits
Everyone told me how awesome these were. I made sure to register for a bunch and I ended up with 3 different kinds so I'd be prepared. Turns out, Connor needed his hands free at all times so he didn't like being swaddled. Now that he's 10 weeks old and we're transitioning him to his crib, I started to realize that swaddling is necessary now. His hands are keeping him awake! So I'm glad to finally be able to use all the different swaddling products we have. I'd suggest getting a few, but don't wash them all ahead of time like I did in case you don't need them.


2. Hands-free bra for pumping
I didn't even buy a pump ahead of time because I figured I didn't need it right away. But engorgement kicked my butt and I was crying in pain for 3 days. The pump did wonders for me, but it was hard to sit and hold the bottles still. I finally invested in a hands-free bra with a BRU coupon and it was amazing! Best invention ever! It's so nice to be able to do other things while I pump (like hold a cranky baby) and it will be great when I'm at work and need to get finished quickly. You look ridiculous wearing it, but who cares?!

3. Pacifiers
I didn't want to have to use them, but I caved in. Connor must have something in his mouth at all times. Because I didn't want to use them, I only registered for the Avent Soothie Pacifier because I heard it was the best and it's what they use the in the hospital. Turns out, when we got home and tried to use it, it seemed too big for his mouth! Fortunately, I was given some Gerber First Essentials Pacifiers that we were able to grab quickly in the middle of the night. After about a week, he was able to use the Soothie as well. However, I started to get annoyed of the "pacifier game" when it would fall out and I'd put it back in for hours at a time. After some research, I found out a lot of moms loved the MAM brand because it stayed in better. I ran out to Target to buy some and I'm very glad I did. While they do fall out, they stay in a lot better. Very important!

4. Snap or zipper pajamas with feet
I did not understand this until I had a baby. When I was shopping while pregnant, I just wanted the cutest baby clothes I could find. I didn't care about buttons, snaps, or how the clothes would have to be put on the baby. Now I get it. You want something easy to take on and off especially in the middle of the night when you're tired. I also realized that baby boys tend to pee on themselves and their clothes. So when you change their diaper, you need to take of their clothes too. After a few days, I realized that over-the-head nightgown type pajamas are nice because they're easy to get to the diaper. But, if you have to take it off every time you change them, it gets old really quickly. For baby girls, I'm guessing this isn't an issue and the parents are lucky! The nightgown also leaves a baby's feet out and they tend to get cold easily. And again, I learned that socks don't stay on a baby's feet, so those don't work too well. So the snap and zipper pajamas with feet are the best bet for baby boys. Buy a lot of these!
5. Fisher Price Rock & Play
I didn't want a bassinet because they seemed like a waste of money and you couldn't use them for very long. I heard a lot of great things about the Rock & Play and it seemed like the perfect thing to put in our bedroom with a newborn. It's great that you can rock it while laying in bed during those first few weeks when you're super tired. It's also really easy to travel with because it folds up and it's lightweight. People say a pack & play is easy to travel with, but really, have you ever picked one up and carried it around? Heavy and bulky. The other great thing is that the Rock & Play is on an incline so it works well for a spitter. We've gotten so much use out of ours and we still use it all the time for naps.


6. Waterproof mattress pad for your bed
I should have done this earlier, but it's never too late. The best time to get one of these is when you're almost due and you're worried that your water is going to break when you're in bed. Then keep it on because you'll need it once you give birth and have quite a mess to deal with. Between the post-partum recovery, baby spit, and baby pee, your bed will get very dirty. The mattress pad has saved us from a ton of laundry and completely ruining our bed.

7. Maternity pants
I was able to wear my normal pants until about 12-14 weeks when I couldn't take it anymore. At that time, the pants with the low rise smaller band fit great and felt SO good! The pants with the high panel wouldn't stay on and they were all too big on me. But as time went by, those low rise pants started to get tight and the high panel pants fit much better. By the end, I couldn't even wear the low rise pants because they were too tight. Even some of the higher panel pants were killing me. So the moral to my story is: buy different styles of pants because you'll need them and don't buy everything at the beginning because your body will continue to change throughout your pregnancy.8. Burp Cloths
I started out with only a few of these. I didn't really think too many were necessary. I quickly learned that you go through a LOT of these if your baby spits up a lot. I had 9 when we got home from the hospital and I ended up making 10 more. I end up having to do laundry just because I run out of burp clothes before anything else. I'd say you need about 20 to last about 5-7 days. Also, I learned that the larger burp cloths are much better because they cover more of your shirt. The thin ones shown below are not as easy to use because they're so small. The larger ones (cloth diaper size) work much better.