For the first time...

Today Sterling rolled over for the first time and luckily since J and I weren't around my wonderful friend and babysitter caught it on video. You can hear (and see) her trying to get him to do it.



She emailed me today at the office and said "I have a surpise for you! You need to hurry up and get here for lunch" so as soon as lunch time hit I high tailed it to her house (I go there daily for lunch) Once I got there she practically dragged me to the computer to watch my suprise.

He has really been attempting this over the last week or so but I could not get him to go all the way but I'm so glad she caught this for me.  Apparently, after the video he continued to roll over several more times, with each time it was getting easier for him. J and I cannot wait to see him do this in person.

Enjoy!

DiY- Wipes

Have you ever looked at the price of wipes or been changing a diaper and gone through 3-4 wipes on that one change then thought yikes Im killing my stash!?

Alright so they are not crazy expensive but they do add up. Quickly! And I tend to be on the frugaly side…

Here are 2 ways that I chose to remedy the situation.

1) DIY disposables

They are so simple and work wonderfully! J actually thought I was crazy at first but I seriously haven’t heard him complain once since I switched to these.

Here is what you need:

1 roll of Viva brand paper towels (they hold up best)2 drops of either tea tree oil OR essential lavender oil ( these oils gives your solution an anti fungal quality)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp baby wash (I like the natural stuff)
Either a Tupperware container or a empty plastic disposable container.

Take a large kitchen knife (not serrated) and cut your paper towel in thirds. place 1/3 of it in your container of choice ( you should see the center- like a donut)

Mix all of your ingredients together in cup or measuring cup, and pour half of it on the paper towel roll to moisten it, then turn over the roll and do the same to the other side. Let it sit for a moment or two until the whole roll is damp and almost appears to separate. Now, grab the cardboard center and it should lift right out.

Now from the center grab your end and pull outwards, it will roll out on it's own now!!! I have used both Tupperware and a empty disposable box and I prefer the box because it just pulls right through the hole.

These last me about a week – I wouldn’t keep this longer than a week. It just seems icky to me to let it go any longer than that.

2) Cloth wipes

I admit this, I fought cloth wipes. I’m not really sure why. I use cloth diapers all the time but cloth wipes seemed icky to me and a lot of work. I WAS WRONG! I have actual cloth wipes made from a bamboo/cotton combination which I bought when they were on sale recently and I also have some old t-shirts that I cut squares from and doubled them up and sewed the edges. They are by no means fancy, they aren’t sergerd or anything. I just did it so they at least stuck together. Anyway, what I’m getting at is that it doesn’t matter what you use. Old t-shirts, baby wash cloths, actual cloth wipes, doesn’t matter.

I use the same solution from above
2 drops of either tea tree oil OR essential lavender oil
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp baby wash (I like the natural stuff)

Then I dip my wipes in them and wring them out and sit enough for 2 days in tupperware or plastic baggie. I only make 2 days worth of these because I’m washing diapers every 2 days anyway and I just chuck my wipes in with my diaper load.

What my sitter and I discussed recently after asking all of my cloth diapering mom friends (including her) their reasoning behind either using or not using cloth diapers was that if your using cloth diapers, use cloth wipes, if you are using disposable diapers then use disposable wipes. It makes everything easy. But, Im first to admit, I have a habit of still reaching for my disposables even though I find cloth wipes to clean up things much better!

Here are my t-shirt wipes in a tiny on the go tupperware container...(Also here is Sterling looking at me like I'm crazy!)

Weeks 11-12

Sterling was 11 weeks old for my first Mothers Day. I have to admit, the day was pretty strange. my mom asked me what I wanted to do, then my parents gave me a sweet gift to sort of memorialize the day by. It was strange because I'm use to doing whatever my mom wanted to do even I it was sitting around her house. So all day I kept thinking, but aren't I supposed to appreciate my mom? Anyway, the day was nice. We went to http://www.shirleyplantation.com/ for a few hours then out to an early dinner. It was quiet and simple. Of course Sterling was the real star of the show. As my parents basically fought over who Stelings favorite out of the two of them were.

Week 12 hit, and it hit me, my little boy is no longer a newborn! Where did that time go?

We took him to the lake and dipped his toes in the water, he got a kick out if that. That boy loves bath time!

His big changes now are that he smiles when you smile at him now. He use to smile when he was happy but, now it's like an acknowledgment as well as happy grins. Baby, toothless grins are the sweetest things in the entire world by the way. He also talks ten times more than he use to. I say talk, I guess I mean he makes so many sounds and gets a kick out of it when we repeat then back to him.

he still has only slept 6+ hours in a row a handful of times but I think he's understanding that night time is sleep time. Even when he attempts to play around 3am I nurse him, and get him back into sleep mode. But I can't help but smile back at him when he looks at me with bright eyes and a grin. :)

Please ignore typos on this post! I did it from my phone when I realized it had been 2 weeks! :) I promise a better thought out one soon!

at 10 weeks...

So, I’m the mother of a 10 week old boy.

CRAZY TALK

But, it’s true. This weekend will be my first mother’s day. Today J called me at work and told me that he and Sterling had just picked out my first mothers day card. Oh, and that tonight my duty is to find the exact pressure canner that I want because that’s what Sterling is buying me with the help of daddy’s wallet.


But first let me back up and catch up on our lives of the last few weeks.

On April 23rd, I returned to work. It was a rough day, but we were lucky enough to have a friend offer to watch Sterling so I arrived at her house…after first having to turn around because I realized I forgot the milk. I immediately sat down to nurse my sweet, sweet boy and spend a little more quality time with him before heading back to corporate America. At work, I had lots of welcoming back and questions about the baby, which I answered enthusiastically and then figuring out my routine all over again. At lunch, I sped off to get to my baby and spend my lunch hour with him, after that it was just a few more hours until I got home where I immediately grabbed him from J’s arms and teared up because I missed him so much.


Since that first day back, the days have gotten easier. I still spend my lunch with him every day and I still tear up occasionally and just want to hold him for hours. I have completely let meals lag, and without the help of J, I highly doubt I would have eaten some nights.


Because J goes into work much earlier than I do, he also usually gets off earlier too. So most of the time he gets to pick up Sterling and spend some quality father son time before I get home. But J is wonderful and sends me photos and videos of Sterling to tide me over. I’m lucky to have him.


In the past 5 weeks, which I do apologize for letting 5 weeks go by, Sterling has really changed. He is no longer that newborn we brought home from the hospital that keeps his arms and legs near his body. No, he has found out he can grab things… intentionally. His arms flail and he kicks his legs like crazy. Bath time is no longer a scary thing, now it’s a place where we get to splash around. His changing table which is technically a travel bassinet is fun because it sort of echoes when he kicks around on it. Oh, and there is naked time as Mumma (that’s me) makes him have naked time after my bath every night before bed, he loves that because he has more freedom than any diaper can give me.

 My fairy tale...

 Quality father son time

 holding his teether while he chews on his hand.

 Milk Coma

 trying to roll over

speaks for its self.

Speaking of diapers, cloth is working wonderfully. We still have another case of disposables to get through but once that’s done we won’t be buying anymore. I’m slowly transitioning to using cloth wipes too. That’s a hard one even for me.. I’m not even sure why I find it so difficult. Okay well I do, and I just need to buck up and do it. It will not only save money but also save my handsome boys heiney from chemicals!

As J and I need to get back into our eating healthier habits Im getting back to eating preservative free. I feel like that’s the best “diet” for me. It keeps me from eating junk because Im forced to eat things that are good for me, and things that are more filling. After a couple of weeks of eating like that your body stops craving the other stuff… I’d also like to look more into eating less refined sugar. But I haven’t done a lot of research on that yet. Anyway, that’s the easiest way for me to go “healthy” and the easiest way for me to get J to do the same. He wont go 100% free like me, but he’ll do a lot better and feel a lot better.

Lots of catching up!

Well, I guess I have some updating to do...4 weeks worth.

 

As you may or may not have known, I had to be induced.  My last few weeks of pregnancy I wasnt progressing any and it began worrying my doctor.  She had me drinking tea, exercising and all sorts stuff trying to get going but nothing seemed to work.  I also then began swelling a lot and at 38 weeks she said if baby boy didnt by himself by week 40 she was going to induce me.  So we went ahead and scheduled it and hoped we wouldn't need it.  But week 40 came and I was still going strong so Sunday afternoon I entered the hospital and she began my inducement by gel.  Monday morning around 5am, I was still going strong so they removed the gel and began a pitocin drip.  By 8am, I still wasnt doing much so she broke my water.  By 11, still only dilated to 3. By 1, nothing had changed and she suggested a epidural because we were potentially looking at a c-section if nothing continued to happen.  So 2:45 I accepted the epidural (which had to be placed twice and I still didnt take it well- I just wasnt getting numb!) by 6pm, I still was stuck at 3cm and I was beginning to swell internally.  So my doctor came in and said she really wanted to do a c-section but I could wait if I wanted. Either way she had to deliver baby before 8am Tuesday.  So at 8pm, we decided to just accept it and did it.  My parents came in, and J called my best friend and she came up.  By 8:40, Sterling made his entrance to the world and I cried like a baby. 

Once home from the hospital is really when the fun began.  I no longer had the nurses to call when I had a question.  It was me, J and baby.  We requested no visitors the first few days we were home.  With my c-section I was very sore and moving extremely slow, on top of that, I was exhausted.  Nursing every 2-3 hours and still trying to care for myself was time consuming.  Then J went back to work, and my mom came over for a few days. Then she went back to work and between my best friends family and J's cousin and his wife they came and stocked up our freezer with food.  My mom even prepared food and would drop it off in the afternoons.   I can't tell you how amazing that really was for us.  Though J can make it around the kitchen with instruction, I am the one that primarily cooks.  So having all those meals ready to heat up really made things easy on us. 

Weeks 1-4 have been a whirlwind but here is a quick rundown:

Week 1-
Not doing a whole lot besides sleeping and eating. 

Week 2-
Staying awake for longer periods of time but still mostly sleeping and eating. 

Week 3-
Starting to look around at my surroudings.  I love to look outside so Mom and Dad have started taking me on daily walks where I fall asleep but I love the sunshine.  Mom has started letting me lay on my tummy so I can strengthen my neck up.  Only a few minutes at a time but I'm proving my strength! I'm also started to coo a bit. 

Week 4-
I'm finally beginning to pay a bit more attention to my hands.  I open and shut them especially when being held by mom and dad.  I have also started gripping moms hair much to her delight. (haha) Mom and Dad have also started introducing me to my toys a bit.  My current favorite is my caterpillar that has a little rattle inside.  I'm also beginning to nap in my crib during the day. 
I'm up to 9.12 pounds and have grown an inch since birth. 

The last trimester....

Wow! Its been a while. I'm here, and baby still isnt.

I'm going to give a update of the last trimester. 

We are officially entering the wonderful world of week 39.   Okay, I'm not kidding anyone.  By the time you hit week 36, you're done.  

The one good thing I can say as I begin entering week 39 is that as of today, my swelling is down tremendously, and I have had irregular pains.  I know the pains don't sound great, but to me, it means my body is actually doing something.

See, the last several weeks I haven't progressed.  I have tried everything the doctor has suggested - she tried to force things last week and still nothing.  At first, I thought okay, some people dont progress until the end, but baby boy hasn't even dropped.  At week 38, I was disapointed.  Not only was I still not progressing any, but my fluid retention was beginning to get out of hand, and my vision was starting to be affected by it.  So, my doctor made the call.  She said if I don't go into labor on my own by February 26th, she's going to induce me the following morning.  Not only is my swelling starting to worry her, but she seems to think baby is going to be on the bigger side. 

So there it is.  No matter what, Sterling should be here on or before February 27th.  But the exciting thing is that I think my body is attempting to prepare to go into labor naturally which I would much rather happen than have it medically forced. 

The idea of pitocin freaks me out.  Epidurals freak me out even more.  I had originially planned to do the majority of my labor of my home.  I had planned to go as long as I could and getting the epidural as a last resort.  But now, knowing that pitocin is a big possibility I know that an epidural is a bigger possibility.  Also, I'll be arriving at the hospital at 6:00 am and doing all of my labor there.  So everything I originally wanted, is now possibly out the window.  I am possibly at the mercy of inducing medications.  So when I say I get excited at irregular pains, I hope you understand that I am excited that I still may be able to have things my way. 

On other notes, the nursery is really coming together.  Dis made the quilt and various toys.  Katie made the crib skirt, and I made the curtains.  I still have some things to go up on the walls.  A photo of J's dad, Sterlings initials and a few other peices of decor.  Once it's completed I'll share photos with you.

Until then, here are two photos of my belly.  The one with the green dress is from today so 39 weeks. 
They are both taken in the mirror so just forgive the horrible camera position (phone) and also the quality.  I really just wanted to give you an idea of how big I am.  :)

Feeding your baby...

The last few weeks I've noticed more and more articles about breastfeeding. 

Maybe it's because I'm about to enter the phase of motherhood and though I have friends who have or who currently do breastfeed but I just don't get offended by it. 

Or maybe because its natural.  In the words of my OB "God created us to do this, our bodies are made for it." 

Either way, I just don't have a problem with it.  But I've been reading about stores that have asked women to leave.  Women that were covered up but someone complained so they were asked to leave.  Now in VA, we have a lot of rights.  Our state is totally friendly on it so I don't think I'll personally have to worry about it necessarily but what about other states?  And just because our state laws are okay with it, what about the general public?

I'm not saying that I will or will not breastfeed in public but today I got to thinking about what happened recently with Kasey Kahne. In case you didn't know he stated on his twitter account "Just walking through supermarket. See a mom breast feeding little kid. Took second look because I was obviously seeing things. I wasn't!"  He later apologized, after his sponsors apologized for him before hand but you have to wonder if it was really meant.  And granted, I have no idea what exactly he saw, but my first reaction was was he fed by fairies as a baby?  Because I'm pretty sure he had to eat somehow... 


Then I started thinking about the men and women out there who get offended by it.  I can SORT of see it when the mom isn't covered up but what about when she is?  Is it really that offensive?  I mean, this is what our bodies are for.  We grow children then we nourish them. 

Not only that but what about the women who think its too hard or too uncomfortable.  I can't tell you the amount of females in my life that have tried to ram down my throat the importance of having formula in my home when baby comes home just in case. 

But then I have my friends, family and most of all my doctor saying "give it a month...Don't get hung up on numbers...just give it a month.  If you don't think you can do it then buy the formula but don't give your self an easy out while you are getting use to it."  My doctor even followed up this by saying "In 3rd world countries, they don't have LC's or anyone else giving them tips.  They do it because its a necessity for their child to survive and move on.  You can certainly do it." 

Prior to preparing for SG I guess I never put much thought into either.  In the end its up to the mother, and sometimes medical reasons.  I grew up knowing that's how babies were fed and it wasn't a weird thing.  When I got pregnant I knew I wanted to breastfeed.  But I find it amazing to know there is such a split on opinions.  And strong opinions. 

Anyway, whats your opinion?

Are you for or against breastfeeding in public?
Are you for natural or formula?