2007....

wow. today is the last day of 2007. i looked back at my post last year:

now its time for me to imagine where i might be NEXT year. good lord!! i know i wont be babysitting, thats for sure :) but other than that... who knows?? i'll have a 6 month old, how insane is that?!? i'll already be "old hat" at the whole "mommy" business :) and hopefully offering up some "new mom" advice to all the other new moms out there who are maybe still in the TTC game. :)

LOL ooh man. and the year before? 2005?? :

this morning when i checked my email i literally squealed with delight! the "bank" has received my registration papers and im ready to go!! of course, i cant call to order anything for a week or so... and that's going to kill me!

so 2007 - in review. briefly, because i DO have a 6 month old (and very little time):

i had a baby!

okay - that about sums it up LOL seriously though... ive made even MORE new friends and ive had some older friends go in other directions. im thrilled with my new friends and im sad to see the older ones go, but its a time of change and we all need to grow and branch out. ive also gotten so much closer to some old AND new friends :)

my family has grown!! and will continue to grow! both with added family members due to marriage and babies... and to new friends who are as close as fmaily will ever be :) i am so blessed to have so many new babies in my life, and in calebs life... he'll have so many cousins to grow up with and play with. :)

i havent been to work since may 12th (i think... whatever that friday was) and i dread going back this week. its been an absolutel JOY to have this much time off to bond with my son... and of course, just hang out with him :) caleb is an absolute delight and i cant wait for all of my TTC and preggo friends to be writing a very similar entry to this one year very very soon! :)

im SO excited to see what 2008 will bring. caleb will turn one (im SO emotionally not ready for that...) and at least 3 new cousins will be born.

so where do i see myself next year at this time?? i'll have an 18 month old who im sure will be walking around and tearing into everyhting he can get his little monkey hands on :) i'll most likely still be living here with my parents (but maybe with plans to move??) and reflecting on 2008 with as many fond memories and new BFPs to celebrate :)

take care of yourself in this new year... hold on tight - here we go!!!

6 months!!

i took caleb for his 6 month portraits today! he did SO well... especially considering he was sick. we were the first ones there when they opened so we didnt have to wait (man, thats the way to do it!) and he was all smiles for the photographers! :) it was adorable! they kept saying how easy he was to work with and if all babies were that easy to get to smile they could double their business LOL seriously - the whole sitting only took about 10 mins as opposed to the 15-20 that they expected.

we, of course, ordered a crapload of photos so we'll have enough for everyone (not to mention our walls!) but it was so hard to choose which photos to get blown up, and which for the "perfect treasure" portrait and all of that. *sigh* :)

he's doing better now, but he still sounds all yucky in the chest :( we have a follow up appointment on thursday morning with his ped to get re-checked and all of that. OH! i forgot to mention - we went to the ER on thursday because he sounded just awful in the morning :( they gave him a breathing treatment there and took chest x-rays. they said his lungs looked great - no fluid, so its not pneumonia (thank GOD!) but that we needed to keep up his treatments... so we have, but i wish there was a bigger improvement. if he's still sounding this nasty next week i'll extend my leave and go back a week later. i cant send him to daycare like this.

but anyway - he IS improving. he's slept so much better the last two nights :) and he's coughing a lot and bringing up all the nasties... so thats a good thing. and i think we've worn out the batteries in his jumperoo! LOL

today i met another SMBC (she has a set of boy/girl twins who are 8 months old) and it was so nice to be able to talk to someone who is in my shoes and who understands what i am going through - times 2! seriously, i dont know how she does it with twins... but she does! for all of the SMBCs out there - or soon to be SMBCs out there... check out the SMBC groups in your area!! get to know them now, they can give you all kinds of advice. i wish i'd thought about that before! :) try meetup.com and there's also a SMBC site that has a membership fee (blah) but can hook ou up with groups in your area. worth it!! :)

i hope everyone is well... bring on 2008!!!

christmas!!

well okay - christmas eve and christmas... pictures!! first - 12/23 he woke up sounding NASTY in the chest so we made an appt and on christmas eve he saw his pediatrician. i was expecting her to smile and say, "oh he has a cold. use the humidifier, elevate his mattress, lots of fluid and sleep, saline drops and nose sucker." instead she gave him a dose of steroids to open his bronchial passageways and two breathign treatments :( then sent us home with a nebulizer to use as needed. *sigh* he sounded better after the treatments, but it only lasts a few hours and he's coughing like a MADMAN. which is good, because it gets the gunk out... but it sounds awful :(

other than caleb being sick... we had a nice christmas!! we went to my dads work on christmas eve because santa came!! we only stayed long enough to get the picture - but it was nice to see everyone ( i used to work there too). then christmas eve night we had dinner and gifts with my moms side of the family and our neighbors. christmas morning we did santa presents and our immediate family :) it was so nice!! then we headed to my grandmothers house for christmas with my dads side of the family :)

it was a very busy few days... but they are over! *whew* and we made it! and today caleb is officially 6 months old!! i cant believe half a year has past. amazing!! we're going to do his 6 month portraits this weekend i think so my parents can come with us. he smiles so much better for them! LOL

i hope everyone had a nice christmas and i hope to see many more babies with you guys next year!

OH!! and christmas night calebs second tooth came in!! :) so all of his crankiness wasnt just him being sick... poor kid was cutting a tooth on top of it all.

2 more days!

i can hardly believe christmas is in two more days! woo hoo! we're going to have so much fun, i can tell. he digs wrapping paper and chewing on boxes. he won't know what hit him come christmas morning!! :)

i'll have pictures to post later in the week... i just wanted to take a minute (thats about all i have!) to wish everyone out there a wonderful christmas and a very safe and productive new year!! :)

next year at this time i know i'll be seeing many MANY new babies enjoying their first christmas. :)

ho ho ho!

all righty! well ive been making baby blankets for a while (since my first BFP actually!) and i sold some at work last year - so i decided to try my hand at ebay :) i have myself an ebay store now: http://stores.ebay.com/Cuddle-Blankies

so if youre in the market for a handmade baby blanket - i have a bunch there :) i have three of four for caleb and i use them ALL THE TIME in the stroller and in the car... its been so cold around here!

they're great for shower gifts, or if you still have some christmas shopping to do!

anyway - thats all for now :) i'll update more probably after christmas... its a little crazy around here!

here we go again...

my aunt just called. another cousin is pregnant... but on the other side of the family. :) so let me update a little:

cousin J - had a girl in july
cousin H - had a boy in august
cousin C - had a boy in october
cousin T - had a girl in january
friend T - due in feb - boy!
friend C - due in march - (i think shes having a boy) - she IS having a boy!
friend L - due in april - (i think shes having a boy) - she IS having a boy!
cousin A - due end of april/early may (i think shes having a boy) -she IS having a boy!
cousin I - due end of may (i think shes having a girl) - i was wrong! it's a boy!
cousin S - due early august (i think shes having a girl) - i was wrong! it's a boy!

(updated 2/18/08 - look at all of these boys!)

first tooth!!!

caleb has his first tooth!!! :) AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! i can hardly believe it! :)

he's been fussyand cranky and prety much unbearable for the last few days. i knew he was teething so i've been hitting him with the hyland teething tablets (lifesavers!) and orajel at night. last night - nothing. tonight - a tooth!! i can fel the ridges - his lower right tooth :) it's broken through the skin and everything!! :)

all that hard work gnawing on those rings has finally paid off :) my baby has a tooth *sniff*

december!

wow... i cant believe its december already. where on earth has this year gone?!?! i checked my blog fo this time last year... i was almost 12 weeks pregnant. :)

it has been raining cats and dogs here since yesterday. its insane! seriously - SO MUCH RAIN. we went to the indoor mall yesterday and just getting to the car from the house and from the car to the mall we got soaked. it was the first time caleb was out in the rain, he kind of looked confused when the raindrops hit him on the head LOL

it wasnt too cold though, so thats good. of course, that means he coldfront is coming and it'll be SUPER cold over the next few weeks. joy.

i am DONE christmas shopping and i have i think 2 gifts left to wrap. ta-da!! :)

on that note, i'm going to go see about wrapping those two gifts. if i can remember where i put them....

happy thanksgiving!

we took caleb to see santa last night! he did so incredibly well, it was amazing! he just sat there and stared at santa and didnt cry. but he wouldnt look at the camera... santa was just too darn interesting! :) we tried for several minutes to get him to look at the camera and the only time he did was when he turned to the camera and his face crumpled and the crocodile tears started. poor kid... and dont think i didnt want to buy that picture for the christmas cards! theres nothing cuter than a baby crying on santas lap :) oh well... next year!

today we are going to my grandmothers house for thnaksgiving, but not until later. caleband i get to spend the morning alone - yay!

we went to the movies for the first time yesterday... we saw "mr magoriums wonder emproium" - it was so cute! we did the parents movie morning thing at our local theater which was so awesome! :) they keep the lights on low, turn the volume down a tad and have a whole diaper changing station set up in the back so you dont have to miss a minute of the show. kids talk and babies cry and no one cares. i got to watch the whole movie and still interact with caleb. it was like watching a movie at home, but better! :) they do it every week, and i think we'll be there every week! i havent been to the movies in over a year, probably closer to two years... so this was nice! next week we get to see "enchanted" - hello mc dreamy!

and before i forget:

i am thankful for...

a young annonymous donor :)
my happy, healthy and wonderful son :)
great friends who have surprised me so much this year!
my ever growing family!
the chance to stay home with caleb for 6 whole months :)
starbucks. egg nog lattes *drool*
the rainforest jumperoo

4 months!

caleb had his 4 month check up today! :) he is 19lbs 9oz and 27 inches long. dang!! has he grown, or what?? we were also given the "ok" to start solids... but i think we'll wait another week or so. i want to put it off as long as i can to help avoid possible allergies. and because bottles are so much easier than lugging food around :) i do, however, want him to have bene on solids for a while before he starts daycare in january... so we've gotta start pretty soon :)

we've had a busy week - on sunday he was baptized and on monday he woke up with a horible red blistered rash/line thing on his leg :( the doctor said it looked like poisin oak (?!?!?!?) but it was probably an allergic reaction to one of the plants in my backyard (we just did a lot of landscaping). then on tuesday i woke up with a horrible cold and it's rapidly spread to my chest (good fun) and yesterday im pretty sure i broke my toe. not the little toe but the one right next to it. its all purple and swollen today.

fun fun fun.

and then of course today at his appt he got shots :( so he's sleeping right now and probably will sleep msot of the afternoon away.

tomorrow we get to go with my friend and her husband to help them register at babies r us :) they are due in march and dont really know what they will need... so yay! i get to go (kinda) shopping! :)

i cant believe thanksgiving is next week :( that means i go back to work in less than 2 months. in fact, in 2 months i will have been back at work for a few weeks. :( i dont wanna go!!!

ribbit!

happy halloween!! okay okay... we're a little late. :) but we're here! and here are the pictures as well :) caleb wasnt too sure about the costume, but it was warm and he had his pacifier, so all was good.

we've been doing well, but super busy. little dude came down with pink eye last week so ive been having to put drops in his eyes 3 times a day. he doesnt love it. but then again... neither would i. :( poor kid!

its been getting cold around here so i got to go buy him big soft and fuzzy blanket sleepers. heaven! i wish they made them in grown up sizes, i'd totally wear them. the only problem is that its not too cold when he goes down so i think just the blanket sleeper would be fine. but when he gets up its freezing!! when he got up this morning for his snack at 5:45 his hands were like popsicles and his legs were cold! :( but if i put him in the sleep sack at bedtime i think it'll be too hot we have to figure this out. :)

anyway - we're hanging in there and counting down the days till auntie jen gets here!! :)

quick update and tickers!!

nothing much to report - caleb is doing great! he's rolling over a lot more now... only he'll get to his tummy then remember that he doesnt LIKE his tummy and get all upset. ugh! :) he's been sleeping really well though, so really i cant complain!

my cousin I went for her first prenatal appt and got to see the baby and the heartbeat! i ran into her at the doctors office so i got to be the first person to see the pictures... man, i remmeber that day for me! :) incredible!

i'm making tickers to remind myself...

cousin I


till cousin I finds out what they are having:


friend C:


friend L:


friend L finds out what they are having:


cousin T:


cousin A:


friend T:

oh boy!

my friend C found out today that shes having a boy... just like i guessed! :) waa hoo!!

caleb is doing good - the cold is all but gone :) i put a mirror up in his crib and he LOVES to look at the handsome little boy looking back at him. LOL its so funny! i'll put him in there and he'll stare at himself for a minute then get this HUGE smile and laugh. its so great! :) i wish i had thought of that earlier!

note to all of my friends expecting or hoping to be expecting - mirror in the crib = great idea!! :)

my mom goes back to work on monday so caleb and i can get back in to our groove. i cant wait to go back to what little schedule we seemed to have. i hate hate HATE whenhis schedule gets honked up :( i mean, we dont havea GREAT strict schedule or anything, but i have somewhat of a "groove" (since its not a schedule really) blah.

isnt it sad that i hate the weekends now? our "groove" goes to shit on the weekend. my parents dont seem to understand that he needs floor time and quiet time and sleeping time with a pattern. he doesnt need to be in the carseat and/or stroller all day, or held all day... *sigh* tomorrow they have a full day planned for us but i think we'll just do our pictures in the morning then go home. nothing else is required of us. :)

anyway. friend C is having a boy - yay!!

he did it!!

caleb rolled over today!! :) he's been so flippin close for more than a week now - he'd get all the way onto his side with his hips all the way over - he just couldnt get his upper body - and his arms kept getting in the way... but today he did it!!

he was laying on his back on his playmat batting at his animals and his rings, then he tried to roll over and i was cheering him on (as i do everytime he gets close) my mom sat on the floor in front of him and we were both watching and he just rolled right over!! :) he went from his back to his tummy... then realized that he was on his tummy and didnt like it much, so he rolled back over onto his back.

i dont think he'll be doing it again any time soon - it took SO MUCH work for him to do it this once... poor kid is tired.

but he did it!! :) yay!!!

new cousin!

new cousin soon!! my cousin C (due end of october) is in labor! her water broke early this morning, so her baby boy E will be here today, or early tomorrow! they are starting pitocin pretty much right now.

yay!!




edited: he has arrived! 10:00p on 10/13/07 EJ showed up! 7lb 10oz and 20in long :) i think those are right, i got them from my dad... :) all is well, mom and baby are good. we'll try to go visit them this afternoon. yay!! :) 1 down, 8 to go!

i made it :)

i survived! and im home. i went in at 5:00a, was taken to the OR at 7:45a, woke up in recovery at about 9:30a and was in the car on my way home at 12:30p. they were able to do it laproscopically - thank GOD! and so far, so good. im a little sore at the incision sites (duh!)and one seems to be bleeding more than it should - i'll be keeping an eye on it and i'll call tomorrow if its still bothering me.

anyway... ive been sleeping most of the day. i cant pick up or hold caleb for the first 2-3 days. the incisions are right across my belly where he kicks and wiggles... :( thats harder than you may think, i just want to scoop him up!

but *sigh* i know that in a few days i'll feel better and i can hold my monkey all day if i want :)

thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

tomorrow. ugh.

well tomorrow is the day. i check in at 5:00a for my gallbladder surgery. i am not looking forward to it at all. :( ive never had surgery before - not really anyway. i had my c-section but i was (of course) awake. i had my tonsils out when i was 5 but i dont remember much from that.

i guess the whole "going to sleep" thing is freaking me out a bit. and not knowing if they will be able to do it laproscopically. they are going to try but they said once they get in there they may have to cut me open if they cant get a good visual of the bile duct of gallbladder. or if things go sideways.

if they are able to do it lap. then i'll be home tomorrow evening and good as new in just a matter of days. if they have to cut me open i'll be in the hospital a minimum of 3 days with an expected recovery of 4-6 weeks. i cant do that!! i have a baby i have to take care of and i just finished recovering from my c-section. truth be told, i still feel the soreness from the c-section sometimes.

and of course, ive never been away from caleb that long either. :( HE wont know the difference i dont think, but i will. and then when i DO come home i wont be able to pick him up for the first week (nothing over 10 pounds) and i probably wont be able to hold him even for the fist day or two. :(

anyway. im just freaking out a little. i could use some good thoughts or prayers - whatever youve got - for them to do it laproscopically. and for a quick recovery :)

poor me. :(

:)

ROFL

i would like to point out this part of my last post:

im scared to think of who (out of my remaining cousins) will be next!! i'll bet its my cousin A though... she just got married and has baby fever. hrm... we'll see! :)

um. grandma found out today that cousin A is pregnant. i shit you not.

I COULDNT MAKE THIS UP IF I TRIED!!!

so... to recap:

cousin J - had a girl in july
cousin H - had a boy in august
cousin C - due late oct early nov - boy!
cousin T - due in january - girl!
friend T - due in feb - boy!
friend C - due in march - finding out in about 3 weeks (i think shes having a boy)
friend L - due in april - finding out in november (i think shes having a boy too LOL)
cousin A - due end of april/early may (i think shes having a boy)
cousin I - due end of may (i think shes having a girl)

oh. my. GOD.

okay guys. this is almost SPOOKY. today i went to starbucks with my cousin J and her daughter A who is 10 days younger than caleb. her step-sister C is due in october and her step-sister T is due in january. she told me today that her brothers wife I is pregnant! due at the end of may!

so. adding one more cousin to the ever growing list... and all on my dads side of the family. one year ago my grandmother was complaining that she would never have ANY grand children, and by this time next year, she'll have 6 babies. *blink*

im scared to think of who (out of my remaining cousins) will be next!! i'll bet its my cousin A though... she just got married and has baby fever. hrm... we'll see! :)

holy macaroni!!

so i took the boy to the docs today because his cold has migrated to his chest - still no fever and he's acting just as happy as can be - but i thought *I* would feel better if i had the doctor listen to his chest and check his ears. (he's fine, and i did feel better!)

well they weighed him so that she could put the right dosage on his rx and *BLINK* he is... *gulp* EIGHTEEN POUNDS! oooooooooh man. and i measured him when we got home and by my dads tape measure, he's 26.5 inches long.

dude. thats one big baby!! :) 97% percentile all around.

lordy!

and uh.... dont you love his shirt??? SO wrong, and yet SO funny. and oddly appropriate :)

the PG bunch

okay, i know ive said it here several times... i have a lot of people around me who are (or were) pregnant:

cousin J - had a girl in july
cousin H - had a boy in august
cousin C - due late oct early nov - boy!
cousin T - due in january - girl!
friend T - due in feb - boy!
friend C - due in march - finding out in about 3 weeks (i think shes having a boy)
friend L - due in april - finding out in november (i think shes having a boy too LOL)

i mean, thats crazy. and those are just the people i know in real life. if i start adding in my online friends it could go on for days. :)

the cool thing is that since friend T is having a boy in feb, i can regift her some of the boy stuff i have that caleb was never able to fit into... or that he's not going to be able to wear due to the weather here. :)

anyway. for those of you keeping track... thats the PG status of my family/friends. :) im hoping to add to this list soon!! i want to have a friend T2 and a friend J on there soon! :)

3 months!

caleb is 3 months old today... and was conceived one year ago yesterday. how crazy is that? he was born almost exactly 9 months from the day he was conceived. :) that rocks!

my boy is sick though :( he has his first cold. he's all stuffed up and he's coughing and just super tired (he's been asleep 2.5 hours right now, he never naps this long during the day!) but other than that he's happy and smiley as ever, eating well and having the right number of diapers and all that. its just a lot harder for ME to watch him not feeling well... than it is for him to not feel well. i cried on the phone with the pediatrician today. she said it was okay for me to cry and that it gets easier for the mommies :) she's such a sweet heart!!

tonight im supposed to go check out the daycare i want to put him in - its a home day care - but it'll depend on how he's feeling. im pretty sure i want him to go there, its the same place myneighbor goes and she loves it! so this meeting is just a technicality so i can meet the woman officially :)

im going to see about getting caleb up though. i know, i know... dont wake a sleeping baby! im not, i promise. im just going to turn the swing off and let nature take its course. :)

woobie!

okay first let me just say that i cannot stop taking pictures of this kid... LOL he's 3 months old (almost!!) and i have over 500 pictures of him. its almost embarassing :)

here's him tonight with his giraffe woobie. he has a vice grip on it - he wont let it go! :) he was just giggling and hugging it and trying to get it in his mouth. i went to take it away to give him his bottle and he just grabbed it tight :)

we had a good weekend - we baby sat my cousins kids on saturday (ages 10, 7 and 3) and we took them to the park and to 7-11 to get slurpees (gotta load 'em up with sugar before we send them home!) LOL caleb hung out in the babyhawk carrier and we went on the swings and the see-saw (kind of) and watched the big kids play. he had a blast!! :) we all did :)

this week we're taking him to get his official 3 month portraits - i can hardly wait! ive been combing his closet trying to find something for him to wear... *sigh* so many clothes! and we've set a date for his baptism, its not till november so we have a few months to find MY baptism gown that my mom swears is in the garage somewhere. im just worried that if/when we find it, it wont fit him... because dang - he's a big boy! i dont have my heart set on it - our church is more casual than that - but itd be a neat sentimental thing. if we cant find it, or if it doesnt fit, i think we'll try to find him a little suit or something :) like i said... we have time.

wanna hear something sick?? ive started my christmas shopping already. of the 22 (i think) people i have to buy for, i have 3 done. and i'm going to get 2 more done tomorrow now that i know what i want to get - i saw it this weekend. yay!

okay, calebs asleep which means i should be too. g'night! :)

a girl!

my cousin T found out today that she is having a girl! :) so that'll be 3 boys and 2 girls this year... boy (caleb) in june, girl in july, boy in august, boy in october, girl in january. :)

this is the cousin that tried for over 7 years to get pregnant... they did IUIs, IVF... the whole shebang. they did everything. they finally decided that they couldnt afford it any more and went to do the foster/adopt program. the first children they got were a brother and sister and they were hooked! they got the kids 4 years ago and the adoption was final almost 2 years ago. the kids are now 5 and 6 years old... then a few months ago she called her sister (due in october) and was complaining about gagging on her toothbrush. my cousin C said "um. you should take a pregnancy test..." she did - it was DARK positive! she hadn't had a period in a few months (not uncommon for her) so she had no idea how far along she was!!

talk about a miracle! she conceived naturally and basically on "accident". they were not trying... they figured it couldnt happen since they tried so hard for so long. the baby is perfectly healthy and measuring right on target - and a girl! :)

im so incredibly happy for them - and now M (their 5 year old daughter) is over the moon because she gets to share her room with the baby LOL

anyway - just wanted to share that info here since i know that some of my friends have been following the crazyness that IS my family this year, when it comes to babies. :)

napping and blow outs.

my boy has been a napping machine! im diggin it. :) now... if only he could nap well all day and sleep all night. oh well, baby steps! :)

i have several friends in the TWW right now. wouldnt it be amazing if they all came up pregnant?? i complain about all my PG friends and how i'll be spending assloads of $$ on showers... but of course i am only kidding (mostly) because i want all of my friends to experience getting up 6 times a night and getting peed on first thing in the morning and spit up hiding on the back of your shirt that another mom at the mall points out to you... and of course... OF COURSE i want them all to experience the mother of all blow outs. in a public restroom. with a giggly baby and 2 wipes.

:)

baby dust!

thats for my friend J! :) she is inseming tonight and tomorrow... first time ever! :) here's hoping for beginners luck!

giggle monster!

oh. my. goodness!! caleb is a giggle monster tonight! :) my dad was giving him a bottle and he was smiling and laughing around the bottle (and almost choking himself!) so dad stopped and i grabbed the camera. check him out! thats caleb giggling and me and dad laughing.

oh man, this is so much fun!

big pimpin'

my boys big pimpin' LOL :) check out the bling. the baggy shorts. the kickin' shoes. the non-committed look. ROFL

thank you for letting me rant last night - i was just frustrated. :) i know in my heart what you guys said - caleb wont remember and its great that he HAS a grandpa that wants to spend time with him. and yes - it is frustrating when others dont do it the way id do it LOL im very controlling like that. it just seems like the poor guy cant do anything right. the two times he's taken over night time duties to put caleb down, he's been up past 10:30! and dads excuse? "he's not tired" dude - in the 10 weeks he's been here he's only been up past 9:30 twice. when you have him. what are the chances THOSE are the two nights he's just not tired? LOL seriously. and he doesnt mind (and caleb im sure doesnt mind) but *I* am the one that has to get up with him when he wakes up at 2 because he's over tired (and yes, he does that *sigh*)

aaaaaaaaaaaanyway. he's taking the place of a DH i think, and he makes me cranky... as DHs, i guess, are supposed to :)

we tried his bumbo seat today - he totally loves it! he can sit up well in it and has great head control. i only let him sit for a few mintues though, i didnt want to strain his neck or whatever (hey, im new!) so we'll work on it throughout the week. but he liked it! yay!

rant

okay - here comes a rant. i dont have a DH, so this is about my DF (dear father). and im sure he's acting like most DH's and its so flipping annoying.

he comes home tonight (after not seeing caleb for about 2 days due to the fact that he leaves before caleb wakes up and comes home either after caleb is asleep or he'll come home and pat calebs head and go to his room to read his trashy romance novels) and he comes and tickles caleb while im trying to change his diaper. ARGH. then i get him changed and i hand him to my dad so i can fix myself some dinner (yes, at almost 8:00p) because he forgot to pick up my "to go" order from where he went to dinner *sigh*. so he takes caleb, turns on the TV and sits with caleb on his lap with a paci in his mouth since caleb was "being loud" and he couldnt hear the TV. the TV, by the way, that was playing a movie that started at 6:00p and ends at 8:00p and its 7:40. he's never seen this movie - but he has to pay attention to the last 20 mins, because he's "into" it. how??? its been on for 3 mins and youve never seen it! you have no idea whats going ON in the damn movie.

and caleb wasnt "being loud" he was talking - he's 10 weeks old! thats what they do! so i took caleb and put him on his playmat (that he loves) and dad was all "you dont want me to hold him?" and i said "well not if he's just going to stare blankly at the TV... at least on the play mat he can play with his animals." i mean really - if its too much to ask to talk to and play with your grandson that you havent seen in days... then im sorry.

oh AND he has to listen to the TV on 45 (the volume i mean). all day when i watch tv its on 25-30. he swears theres nothing wrong with his hearing - but there has to be. he has it blaring, and when i turn it down to 25 or 30 he complains he cant hear it - though everyone else can hear it fine.

so calebs out there watching TV (not what i want him to do) with the volume all the way up... being ignored.

*SIGH* if he was my DH i'd be asking for a damn divorce.

10w2d

waa hoo!! 10 weeks :)

caleb is a chatter box! he's found his "Guh" sound and his "ooooh" sound... when he does that he sounds like a hoot owl. he'll do one at a time - "ing-guh. ing-guh." then later he'll go "ooo-oh" too cute! and when he cries sometimes he goes "mmmmeh! mmmmeh!"

and he's found his hands! he'll chew on his fists and occasionally he'll be chewing on his fist and open his hand so his fingers are in his mouth and he'll look TOTALLY surprised. as if the hand didnt even belong to him! :) its so cute to see him noticing his hands, "oh hey wait... whats THAT?!"

he's also smiling and laughing up a storm - and he totally doesnt care who you are. strangers will look at him in the store and say "how old is your baby?" or "he's so cute" and he'll ham it up for them. its a riot - he's such a flirt. im gonna have to watch out for that! :)

i'll have to see if i can get a video of him "talking"... as soon as he sees the camera though, he clams up. *sigh* typical!

the heat has let up (thank GOD!) it was in the 90-100's here for about a week... wanna talk about miserable?? we'd literally break a sweat just changing his diaper. then dad gave in and bought a window a/c for his room (and my room and their room!) and we all slept better. heaven!! but now its down in the 70-80s during the day, and thats do-able. :)

all is well here - i hope everyone has made it through the heat of the summer and is getting ready for fall! :) i cant wait for halloween! we got caleb a costume - he's going to be a frog! i cant wait to post a picture. :)

infatuation

okay guys - i am 100% totally... completely... infatuated with my boy. its crazy. i could stare at him all day. i watch him sleep. and when he's sleeping and im not watching him, im flipping through pictures of him. and now that he's smiling and giggling and gurgling and "talking"more, he's just THAT much more fun to stare at and talk to. :)

i dont have to go back to work till january, but just thinking about it makes me nuts. i spend so much time just in awe of him, what will i do when i have to leave him for 8 hours a day? i'm going to go nuts. i need to start weaning myself off the staring i think LOL

he's been kinda sleeping through thenight for a few weeks now - which ROCKS. but he still has some nights where he gets up (last night he went down at 9ish, got up at 2ish and again at 5:30 - UGH)... and while its frustrating to have to get up after so many "good sleep" nights, i still love the quiet midnight feedings just rocking him and whispering. *sigh*

i know there are a lot of my friends out there who are trying to conceive, whether this is their first cycle or 100th cycle ... please please please dont give up :) this is SO worth it. i know that when i was TTC (i was blessed with a short journey) i thought i knew how this would be. and in my head i thought "it'll be bigger than i can imagine" and it is. it is so much bigger and better than you can imagine :) i wish there was a way to share this feeling with everyone.

when you are holding your baby at 2 in the morning after only a few hours of sleep (if that!) and they look up at you and smile before dozing off... every TWW, every -HPT and "in your head" symptom, every financial and timing worry you had... all of that... is forgotten. :)

question?

all righty - this has nothing to do with caleb :) but i have a question...

i was checking out other peoples blogs and i noticed that a lot of people put *'s in the middle of certain words. whats that about? im assuming it has something to do with being able to search the blogs or something... but if you do it, why? and what words? and how do you choose the words?

i feel like ive missed the bus or something :(

:)

2 months! (and one day)

caleb was 2 months old yesterday! :) and today was his first round of shots :( he was not impressed. and i cried. well of course i cried! he did really well though... he cried with the first one, then he calmed down really quick while she wiped it and put a band aid on him. but when she did the second and third shot he lost it. his face was all red and his frown lines were stark white. poor punkin :( but he calmed down after that too... and he was asleep before we got him in the car. he's pretty much been asleep since then - waking up only to eat real fast. its been almost 3 hours. but its over - no more shots for 2 more months!

and guess what?!?!!? he grew! i mean, duh... but WHOA did he grow :) check it out:

...............birth .......2 months
weight ...9lb 5oz....... 14lb 8oz
length ...21.25in....... 24.25in
head .....15.25in....... 16.5in

he's a chunk! but you know what? now i have confirmation of what i already knew. my pediatrician (who came highly recommended) who went to like, 2394082 years of school and has been doing this a long time... who sees thousands of kids a year... she said, "he's perfect!"

see?!?!?! i KNEW it. he is perfect. i feel justified. :) seriously though - she was surprised at how much he's "talking", and how active he was just laying on the table. she said his head support and control was "fantastic" and when she picked him up to see if he'd try to stand he did immediately and she was surprised, "no noodle legs here!" his tracking is right on target and when i told her he sleeps through the night she was impressed! thats my boy... i tell ya... *sigh* i was so proud! and he smiled and giggled for her! before the shots, of course.

i cant believe its been 2 months. :)

just seeing if the video option works... if so - thats caleb playing on his playmat this morning - he LOVES it :)

one more day!

WHOA!! look at how much he's grown! :) the top picture is his first big boy bath at i think 3w1d and the bottom is his bath last night at 8w2d. he's HUGE! :) he almost doesnt fit in his bath any more! LOL and he's discovered that if he flails his hands it makes mommy squeek and laugh. he SOAKED the counter last night slapping and kicking the water as i danced around laughing, trying to keep myself dry :) the more i freaked the more excited he got the more water got on the counter.

i think its safe to say that its a good thing the toaster wasnt plugged in! i need to find a new location for his bath...

mom and dad get home tomorrow night! :) they are having a wonderful time and plan to do a lot of shopping today. okay - mom, grandma and katie will be doing shopping today. dad and jason will be pack mules. LOL

i went to the doctors yesterday - i had some severe abdominal pain wednesday night, come to find out i have gall stones. apparently its fairly common after pregnancy (i wish someone had told me what to look for!) and can be very painful. yeah, no shit! it was so bad the other night that had my parents been home, i would have gone to the ER. as it was, i didnt want to load caleb up n the car at 2am to hang out in the ER with me... where undoubtedly i'd be here for hours and not really able to watch him. and i didnt want to wake my neighbors to come watch him. which is silly - thats what they are there for (and they told me i had better call next time!) but at 2am i wasnt thinking about that. anyway - it looks like i might have to have my gallbladder removed, but not right now. joy.

and yesterday was the first day i left caleb with anone other than my dad. he stayed with my cousin while i went to the doctors. i cried when i left him... :) keep in mind she has 3 kids of her own - 3 GREAT kids who have turned out perfect! if theres anyone i trust him with completely - its her. and i still cried LOL then when i called to tell her my appt was over - she said 'go home and take a nap. im taking the kids to target. come get him around 5." it was just after 2. she was having a BLAST with him :) so i got a little rest and she got to see what it would be like to have 4 kids. i think she'll stick to babysitting. :)

this week he's definitely hit a growth spurt... i can tell he's grown in length just in the past week! which is good... maybe he'll start sleeping at night again :)

8w1w

yesterday caleb turned 8 weeks!! but... thats not 2 months. so no party yet! apparently, once they gET here you have to start with the "months" - which means he wont be 2 months until august 26th. which is actually almost 9 weeks. so i got to thinking about how that was all kinds of f'd up... and i thought "hey! a year has 52 weeks, thats 12 months, right?" ha!! its not!! if every "month" is 4 weeks... then divide 52 by 4 - it should be 12, right? WRONG. its 13. so if 4 weeks is a month, then we have 13 month years. and i wanna be the one to name that new month!

anyway. 8 weeks, but not quite 2 months. he has his shots next monday - i AM NOT looking forward to that. i hate to see him cry and i know that i am going to cry. i mean, i cry all the time anyway - but this will be in front of people! :)

he's had a fussy last couple of days. i think it must be his 2 month growth spurt or something. overall he's a very happy boy, but yesterday (and so far today) he's just been super fussy. :( theres just not enough coffee ice cream and chocolate sauce to deal with this. AND... we've been up since 4:30am. WOOT!

im doing very VERY well with mom and dad being gone... much better than i expected! and i havent had to call anyone in for help, so im doing it! im being a mommy for real! and then now all i want is my parents back. today is too hard - i'd like you to come back from ireland, please?

okay okay... i know i just need to get through today and i'll be fine. one or two crummy days out of 11 isnt that bad. oh! and my moby wrap arrived yesterday and he likes it (for a litle while) so maybe i'll just wrap him up and keep him on me all day today. i dont need my back, do i?? i can wreck it today... tomorrow will be better. and if its not then caleb will have to get used to the swing. LOL kidding!!

7w4d

well thats what i get for bragging! the other night caleb went ahead and woke up at 2am LOL oh lordy! but last night he did over 8 hours, so that counts as all night! i just need to work on him going gown later. going down at 8:00p sucks for me, because then he's up at around 4. if i could bump it out to 9 or 10 i'd be happier, since i dont go to bed till 9 or 10 anyway. hrm... yeah,i have to work on that!

my parents have been gone since wednesday morning, and so far we're doing great! :) i thought it was going to be a lot harder than it is. then again.... you may want to ask me again next friday! today is day 4, we've got one more week to go!

here are some smiling pics - as well as one of him not so smiley :) just to prove to everyone that he's not happy ALL the time :)

not a fluke!

caleb has slept 7+ hours (all night!) since sunday night... and its thursday! he's averaging 8 hours a night - anywhere from 8-9.

dude. im loving it!!

mom and dad left yesterday morning so yesterday was our first full day alone. so far so good - it just feels like they are at work or something. ask me again next thursday! :) i gave caleb a bath last night and he didnt cry at all! he usually screams bloody murder when i get his head wet... but he just looked at me and kicked his feet :) im in heaven!

AND. my good friend J will be AIing this weekend, so lots of baby dust for her! and my friend T got some great TTC news about hormone levels and other tests. :) yay!! i am well on my way to having even MORE friends getting pregnant! so far there are 2 friends at work due in march and then one of my oldest friends (ive known her since i was 8) found out she's expecting #2 in april :) woo hoo!

ahh... he's up again now. i thought he'd sleep through till 8. i was wrong. :) off to get my boy!

all night!

well after the 7 hour stretch the other night caleb pulled out a doozer - he slept ALL NIGHT last night! WAA HOO!!! he went down at 9:00p and got up at 6:00a! hot doggin!!

now i know better than to expect that every night - this may very well be a fluke... but i'll take it! i got two nights of good sleep, which is okay with me! i'll take what i can get. :)

if he happens to sleep all night for me again, then i'll be thrilled :) if not, well thats okay too. but yay!! i got a full night sleep! a real and true full nights sleep! :)

and one day before his 7 week birthday. what a little overachiever! :)

7 hours!

dude. last night caleb slept for 7 hours!! i just about had a heart attack! he's never gone more than 5 hours at night, so when i put him down at 9:00p i thought he'd be up again around 1 or 2. well *I* woke up at 3:00a with a start - caleb!! i turned on my video monitor and watched to see if he moved or anything - he didnt so i jumped out of bed to go poke him, but then he squeaked. so i went back and saw him move his arm and kick his legs... so i knew he was okay.

i figured that it had been 6 hours and he'd be up any minute, but i dozed off again and woke up when HE did at 4:00a! i got 6 straight hours of sleep last night, i cant believe it! and THEN!! then he went back to sleep around 4:30 and slept till 7:30! almost too good to be true, isnt it?

next stop - all night!

im not expecting a replay tonight, but if it happens i wont freak out. promise. :) honestly - im just happy for the one night. it felt good to wake up and not feel too tired. :)

yay!!

mom and dad leave for their trip on wednesday. then the real hard stuff begins - i have to be full time "single mom" - dun dun dun!

6 weeks!

he boy is 6 weeks old! :) i took him to the doctors today because he'sbeen projectile vomiting once or twice a day since we started on this whole "formula" thing... and he's been having trouble on the other end as well *ahem* so we went. and he weighs 12lbs 12oz - holey smokes!

alls well though. she said he was probably eating too much (i dont think so, but i didnt go to school for a billion years either) so we're going to be giving him 4oz each feeding and feeding on demand - which is what we do anyway. i dont MAKE him wait... he eats when he's hungry and that just so happens to be every 3-4 hours, which is what it should be. :)

she also gave me some "sensitive" formula - i always knew my boy was sensitive! - in case he's lactose intolerant like the rest of the family. so we'll see if he starts to feel better over the next few days. actually HE is probably feeling fine, its me that has the problem. i dont like to see him straining to poop... and i dont like being projectile vomited on :)

send positive thoughts this way though - he's been doing SO well at night i almost dont want to monkey with things... but if this will help his tummy, im all for it!

almost 6 weeks!

well im not going to brag on caleb any more because just when i do everything goes sideways LOL i'll just say that things are going well!! and i cant wait for the 6 week mark. every week now brings us close to sleeping through the night... and i cant wait for that. even if its just one night a week, its be niiiiice! :)

i got a book for my birthday a few weeks ago and guess what?!?!?! i actually sat down and READ some of it! *gasp* *thud* i havent read a book that didnt have to do with pregnancy or babies in probably a year LOL i read 40 pages while caleb napped the other day. hey - it was either read or shower. i havent read in a year... i showered the other day. no contest! :)

well its 12:00p here and im going to go make me some lunch! its been great the last few days - we're getting more predictable with the eating/sleeping thing. but again - i dont want to jinx anything!!

5 weeks tomorrow :)

caleb will be 5 weeks tomorrow - yay! :) our weekend was a little rough, but we made it through. honestl, its not that bad. im getting a total of about 6 hours of sleep a night (all in small doses, but still) - however instead of going to bed at 8 or 9 and getting up at 4 or 5a... i'd rather he went to bed around 9 or 10 and get up at 5 or 6a :) LOL

but you know... you take what you can get. he's been great during the day!! we went to a baby shower yesterday and he was a champ (and the biggest hit!) this week we're taking his great-grandma out for her birthday with my mom, so that'll be fun. just a wuick breakfast or lunch then they will go to the movies. im not quite brave enough to try going to the movies with an infant. :)

my parents are going on vacation for a week in about 2 weeks. they will be out of the country and virtually unreachable. im not looking forward to that week... they help out so much in the evening. its nice to know that around 5:00p i can hand myhappy baby boy to grandma for 20 mins so i can take a shower (if i dont take one in the morning) or just do something else. when he gets fussy (not hungry) when i hold him he smells the buffet and tried to nurse on my shirt or chest or arm... and gets all kinds of pissed off. which sucks because he has over an hour to wait to eat usually - so my mom or dad will hold him and he's totally calm. :)

yeah. its going to be a rough week. i just hope the whole "sleeping at night" thing is more under control. i dont think he'll be sleeping through the night - im not THAT optimistic LOL but just more predictable. we'll see. :)

theres not really much else going on in my life. i feel like all i ever update about now is caleb, but honestly theres nothing else i do! :) i got 2 new books for my birthday, books that ive wanted for a while but never went to get... and i cant wait to get started on them! one day... soon!

he's perfect!

heres how i know my little boy is perfect - even when he isnt :)

last night we had a really REALLY rough night. for whatever reason, he went to bed at 9:30 like he usually does... then he woke up at 12:30 - a little early for him, but thats okay :) he was up for about 30 mins eatting, then he went to sleep. and was up again at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30. the last time he was up till almost 5. he wasnt hungry or anything, he was just UP. and just when i'd start to get comfortable and head off to dreamland, he'd wake up. so i was up from 12:30 to 5:00. i was unhappy this morning, i cried quite a bit... i begged and pleaded with him and completely resented my parents because they got to go to work.

and then all day he's been an angel. :) he slept well, ate well, he sat in his bouncy for 45 mins! yes!!! 45 mins!!! he dozed off for the last about 10 mins... and he was watching some TV and staring out the front door and watching the dog pace by the screen door, so he wasnt totally bored.

THEN. he ate and napped again (and i caught about a 40 min nap!) and then we hng out on the couch and chatted for a bit... and then i put him in the swing so i could go pump for 10 mins, and when i came out he was in there all content and wide awake :) so im leaving him be! i folded and put away my laundry, i talked to my mom on the phone (to make dinner plans) and now im updating! :) he's been in there almost 30 mins now and he's just wide awake watching the fan.

see? he's perfect! he knows when his mommy needs a break :) i just hope he knows that we're not having a repeat of last night. mommy wont be happy at all if we do! :)

he's a month old *sigh* where oh where has the time gone? :) i think i'll be saying that a lot over the next few months. he's growing so much - i KNOW he's over 10 lbs now. his next appt is on 8/27, and i cant wait to see how big he's gotten. at birth he was in the 95 percentile! if that follows, he could be 12-13 lbs at 2 months. dun dun dun dun!! :)

woo hoo!

okay - i hope nd pray im not jinxing anything... but last night caleb ate at 9:00ish, went down at almost 10:00p and slept till 2:30a!! he then got up and ate and was back in bed and asleep by 3:05a and slept till 6:00a!!!

WOO HOO!!! it was such a good night :) all kinds of sleep for this tired mama! :)

oh MAN.

so i think i hoesed his schedule yesterday. all in all, it was my fault. yesterday afternoon our schedule went out the window :( and last night when we got home from the game after 10:00p, caleb was still up and acting hungry. *sigh*

so it took a while for me to get him settled and into bed, then he slept till aound 2:00a - yay!!! awesome!! then he went back to sleep and he woke up at 5:00a - yay!!! awesome!! then he went back to sleep and woke up at 6:00a. ooooooooooh nooooooooo. and that has set the tone for today. i hada mini breakdown on the phone with my cousin... no matter what the lactation nurse says, i donthtink im making enough milk for him. he needs about 4 or 4.5 oz per feeding (which is what he takes in formula when we give it to him)... so i pumped this morning at his feeding time to see what he's getting. i got BARELY 2.5 oz. its more like just above 2oz. poor kid! no wonder he's hungry.

and i know the pump doesnt get as much as the baby, but i cant imagine its THAT far off. so i think what i may end up doing is nursing him, then offering a 2oz bottle to top him off. but ugh. i wish this was easier. :(

i could increase my supply with a bunch of stuff - but i have to start weaning him in about 3 weeks anyway (so that he'll be on full bottle/formula when i go back to work) so it doesnt make sense to me to increase my supply only to try to stop it. thats gonna hurt anyway, no sense in making it worse.

anyway - i had a great time at the game and i think we won!! we left at the top of the 9th to beat the traffic and we were winning 1-0 at that time... but i had fun and only cried a little bit. and only called twice to check on the baby :) not too shabby!

im hoping that i can get him back on the 3 hour schedule today. we were doing so good!! i just need to pick up the pieces and get back in the groove. i'll feel much better when we're back to "normal" :)

going out!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

im not on my own tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *happy dance* mom and dad had tickets to the baseball game tonight so i was going to be on my own from 5:30p till after 11:00p... aaaaaaaalllll through calebs fussy time and bed time. but dad called today to see if i wanted to go to the game and he'd stay home with caleb!

oh MAN. so i pumped this afternoon so theres 5oz of breastmilk and theres always formula for before bed... the kid is covered! i nursed him at 4:30p, so no matter what, he's covered! i get to go out!!

of course, i havent really decided how i feel about this yet. im glad to get the night "off", but at the same time im not sure if i want to leave him. i mean sheesh - its my dad... caleb will be FINE. but still - im leaving him. ugh. its gonna have to happen sooner or later! :)

and we'll have to leave the game early becase i cant be going to bed at 11:30 or 12:00... SOMEONE still has to get up at 2:00a and feed the baby, and unfortunates my dad didnt volunteer for THAT duty. LOL :)

but anyway - i get the night off. here's hoping i dont cry my way through it! :)

pics :)

caleb had his first big boy bath today. i figured, if he was gonna be fussy all day, he was at least gonna be CLEAN. of course i put him in the bath and he loved it. *sigh* seirously... :)

and yeah - thats a censored bar... im not putting a picture of my boys junk on the web! so now grandma is holding him and he's as calm as can be. this is so typical. if i didnt know any beter id say he didnt like me! LOL

i said that to my mom when he calmed down in her arms and she says "well when youre tense he can tell!" okay... i didnt start off tense. i did remarkably well all day, being calm and talking to him in my soft voice and not really stressing. i didnt start getting tense until hour 10 of the fussiness. but really - who WOULDNT be tense after hours of a screaming baby and sore boobs? BLAH.

but yeah - he's all calm now. and awaiting his bottle... so hopefully he'll sleep well tonight. because really, mama needs a break!

ugh - mom just told me that tomorrow night im on my own - they're going to the baseball game. ooooooooooooooh lord, please let tomorrow be better than today!!

he's growing.

he MUST be growing. caleb has pretty much been at the boob ALL DAY today. and i may be exagerating a little bit, but really... only a little. he nursed from 1:00p-3:00p... switching boobs every ten mins or so. then i gave him 3oz of formula from a bottle because he was getting fussy at the boob because the milk wasnt coming fast enough i guess.

i tried everything under the sun to entertain him or comfort him - the swing, the bouncy seat, a car ride, rocking, pacifier, playing the mobile, tummy time (ooooh bad idea), gas drops, diaper changes... everything!! he screamed like a banshee unless he was on my boob sucking like he was STARVING, or for the 3 mins it took him to gulp down the bottle.

he finally crashed in the car on the way to get my dad from work... so right now he's sitting in the car seat sound asleep. im leaving him ther,e i dont care that his head is all flopped over. if he's uncomforable he'll move it (and he has, im not being a negligent mother over here). im not moving the child!! he can sleep right where he is for the moment! mama needs to eat and drink some water to build up more milk to feed the bottomless pit.

and the part thats bumming me out is that i've dealt with "fussy time" from 1:00p until 4:30 today - and his usual fussy time is 6:00p-9:00p. so what am i going to do if he's still fussy for his fussy time?!?!?! i'll go crazy, that's what i'll do! :) and of course, he picks the night that my parents - who are incredible lifesavers in the evening - are going to be out until around 8:00p.

i wonder what i'll look like bald?? :) LOL

1st day home alone

well my mom went back to work today... and it was way less traumatic than i was expecting LOL i almost got to take a shower (i decided to eat breakfast and watch TV instead *sigh*) so yay!!

caleb had a lot of awake time this morning which turned him into a cranky monster around 10:00a so i loaded him up in the car and headed for the mall! he was awake while we were there (for a little while anyway) then crashed out and slept till we got him at 12:30p :) so it was nice! i got to do some shopping and browse at hallmark - one of my favorite stores to browse in - and i went to see's candy and bought a few pieces of chocolate *drool*

then we came home and he ate and we hung out and now he's napping again... kind of... :) all in all, it went well! i think the TRUE test will be when my parents leave for ireland in august. i'll be 100% alone with caleb for over a week! ack! no one in the evening to relieve me! a true "single mom" :) but of course i have friends and family in town who are more than willing to come hang out - or let me hang out with them - so i wont be really "alone", but overnight i will be. hopefully by then he'll be on a good schedule and it'll be a breeze. :) positive thinking!!

i havent been at work since early may... and over the weekend two work friends came to visit us and i found out that two of my other work friends (well, one who came to visit and another one) are pregnant!!! YAHOO!! im so so SO terribly excited for both of them :) and when i get back to work in october... they'll be halfway done and i will get to enjoy the last half of their pregnancies with them. :) so now there are SEVEN of my lady friends/cousins that are pregnant and due between october and march. hot diggity dog!! caleb was first though. neener neener neener!!

2 week check up

caleb had his 2 week check up today! he's 9lbs 6oz - so he's 1oz above his birth weight and thats right on target! :) yay! his circumcision has healed up real well and his bellybutton is looking good... she showed me that i can pull it to the side to put alcohol on the underside so that it will fall off sooner :)

he was incredibly calm through the whole exam - he didnt even cry when they put him on the scale naked! woo hoo! he didnt start to fuss till she went to look in his ears because she had to hold his head still and he didnt like that. he's such a little peach!!

we went to dinner tonight with my mom and her sisters and my grandma - its their "girls night out". caleb slept through the whole thing (dinner at chilis) but he was there, so it counts as an outting :) we also went to see his great grandma after the doctors appt and my moms work. *whew* i think tomorrow we'll just hang out at home and nap a little bit. we've been busy this week!

next week my mom goes back to work so i'll be on my own. i keep thinking that next week is going to make or break me. im betting a little of both LOL :) i'll have to do the whole "mommy" thing without any help - no one to hold him so i can go to the bathroom or make breakfast... no one to play with him for 40 mins while he's awake so i can take a quick nap... no one to crawl into the back seat when caleb is crying and im driving.

oh man. im doomed!! :)

2 weeks!

caleb is 2 weeks old today! we went to the hospital and met with a lactation consultant and she told me that caleb is a lazy eater *sigh* he'll nurse GREAT until the milk lets down and when it becomes "work" he just fiddle farts around for 20 mins... what a slacker!! :) so she's hooked me up with a medical grade pump and some other litle tricks of the trade. we'll try them out and see where that takes us - we tried a new thing this afternoon and so far so good... lets just see if he stays asleep!

they gave me this bottle with a little feeder tube thing attached that i lay against my nipple so that he can suck and "nurse" but still get the extra food from the bottle. so when we got home he ate whatever he got from me PLUS almost 2oz of milk from the bottle! hot doggin! he's ALSO going through a growth spurt, so every little bit "extra" counts.

he's back up to his birth weight at 2 weeks, so thats good - right where they want him to be! he has his 2 weeks check up with his pediatrician on thursday, so i'll have more info then maybe.

i also went to have my incision looked at because this morning it was weepy and looked yucky. :( the doctor said it didnt look bad but that the skin had separated (not the incision) and while it looked bad, it was pretty common. he dabbed some silver stuff on it to stop the leaking/bleeding and i have to wash it three times a day (like i have time!). all in all though, its healing VERY well, much better than i expected. and let me tell you - that first week was BAD. every time i stood up or walked it felt like all my insides were going to fall out. :(

but yeah - its all good now! we've taken severl trips out lately - we went and saw grandpa at work and he got to show caleb off to all his coworkers (as if they hadnt heard enough already!!), then we went to target and today we went to the lactation nurse and my doctor and tonight we may go to taco tuesday at the local mexican food place (depends on how the feeding goes)... tomorrow we dont have any plans yet, but thursday we're going to grandmas work to show him off, then to his doctors appt. and maybe to lunch. *whew* he's a busy little boy!! of course i have YET to let just anyone hold/touch him. who would have thought i'd be one of THOSE mothers. NOT ME!! :) LOL

seirously though... people are covered with cooties. dont touch my baby! :)

a new cousin!

woo hoo! to refresh everyones memories... one my dads side of the family i was the first "kid" to have a baby. my grandmother complained that she didnt have any great grand babies... so i helped her out LOL well... i announced i was pregnant, then my cousin J announced she was pregnant and due exactly one month after me... then my cousin H announced she was pregnant and due in august... then my cousin C announced that SHE was pregnant and due in october... and finally, just a few weeks ago my other cousin T found out she was pregnant and due in january. so within 6 months grandma is going from 0 great grand babies to 5 great grand babies!! be careful what you wish for!

aaaaaanyway... cousin J had her baby this morning at 6:59a and she's 7lbs 1oz and 19 inches long. yay!!!! we're going to go visit her this afternoon i think :) so her and caleb are 10 days apart and caleb has 2 inches and 2 pounds on her LOL

its an exciting day for the family... but caleb is getting upstaged. *sigh* he's not the only one any more. :)

yesterday was a very very difficult day. after coming online and bragging on him about being such a good baby - the wheels came off. he wouldnt eat, he wouldnt sleep... i cried and cried and cried some more :) hahah its funny almot, looking back. but at the time i was miserable. but last night he redeemed himself. grandma gave him a formula bottle (and he didnt like it at all!) and he ended up sleeping for 4+ hours at a stretch... then he got up and ate for about an hour, then slept for another 4 hours! he let mama sleep for a bit! then of course, after his last feeding he only slept for an hour. *sigh* here's hoping today shapes up better than yesterday!

9 days.

okay kids. caleb is 9 days old today! he had his first holiday yesterday - he got all dressed up for 4th of july and didnt even seem to notice it. LOL :) AND he slept through the fireworks! yay!

he's been doing well *sigh* sleeping pretty good and eating pretty good. there are still many MANY moments of frustration - especially when he's not due to eat until 9:30 and he wakes up and is screaming and rooting on anything that will stand still at 7:45. *SIGH* im not even kidding. i WANT to get him on something even close to a schedule... or at least eat every 2-3 hours... but i always end up caving in and nursing him. its a catch 22. i feel awful if i let him cry and root on everything when he's obviously hungry (and he'll eat well at that point too!)and i feel awful if i go ahead and nurse him because it's throwing everything off.

blaaaaaaaaah.

we finally put him in the swing this morning and he's sound asleep. however, his face is down by his butt. that cant possibly be comfortable. but im not sure if i want to move him either.

man, no one said this stuff was easy... but no one EVER said it was this hard.

he's here!!! 6/26/07

wowzers!! he's here!! i cant believe i forgot to post here with my birth story... but here's what i posted everywhere else (i cant type it all up again LOL)

*whew* well... he's finally here! man, i thought i could type this up without crying, but here i am getting teary eyed just at the subject LOL hormones!!

all righty, well i went in on 6/25 at 5:00p for my induction. i had NOTHING going... no contractions or anything. at 6:00p they gave me my first of what they thought would be many doses of "miso" (cytotec? its a pill that goes on/in the cervix) i could have 6 in 24 hours. i wasnt liking that! i took a few doses, and finally at about 3:00a my nurse came to check on me and i said "i dont know if the monitor is tracking it or not, but im getting cramps about every 3 minutes..." and she informed me that i WAS in fact contracting!! yay!!

so they werent going to give me any more "miso" but they WERE going to get me started on pitocin since at that point i was only dilated to 3cm. since i was going to get an epidural anyway (i wasnt passing THAT up!) she said i may as well get it now, no sense in waiting. so i called my parents back to the hospital (at 11p when it looked like i'd be getting the "miso" all night i sent them home) they showed up around 3:30a along with everyone else who wanted to be there LOL

i got my epidural around 5:00a (i wanted to "labor" so that i could say that i did... i wanted that experience) and after 3 tries and 2 doctors... they finally got it. then they started pitocin and the show was on the road! i was 4cm and ready to go!

they checked me at 7:00a and i was 6cm - right on target! they checked again around 9:00a and i was 6cm! wait... yeah... i stalled at 6cm for a bit. they said if at 11:00a i was still 6cm that they would do a c-section, because with pitocin i should be moving along. well at 9:45 i had her check again, i was 7-8cm! i caught up! at almost 12:00p i was 9 or 9.5cm! hot doggin!! i couldnt feel the contractions - but i felt a lot of pain with the pressure in my girlie bits, which apparently sometimes happens. i was having to do some serious breathing to get through the contractions and had stopped having fun (and food, and water) a long time ago.

at about 1:00p i was fully dilated and effaced and ready to push! now is when i started to get antsy/scared/nervous. we went over how to breathe and push and got to it. i pushed for 50 mins and 39 pushes (according to my note taking father LOL) and caleb was stuck at 0 station...he was THERE, but not heading for the exit. *sigh* the doctor came in and said his heartrate was dipping too low for too long with the pushing and because he hadn't progressed and because i was now running a fever... i got a c-section.

honey? 20+ hours of labor, almost an hour of pushing, and NOW you tell me i get a section??? ARGH! and there was one woman ahead of me in line so i had to try to breathe and NOT PUSH through the contractions that are made to tell my body to PUSH. its a lot harder than you might think. i was prepped and taken back to the OR at about 4:00p and he came into the world at 4:21p!!

the section wasnt as bad as i expected - i truly didnt feel a thing! i cried the whole time, hormones, adrenaline, endorphines... whatever... i cried and shook. my mom got to be there and she took (no joke!) 98 pictures. she didnt want anyone to miss anything! they put caleb on my chest for about 5 mins before he was taken to the nursery (with my mom in tow) and i was taken to recovery.

so here he is! 9lbs 5oz 21.25in as soon as i saw him i said "oh my god! he looks just like ME!" he looks eerily like MY newborn pictures. its awesome. i had him on tuesday and came home on thursday. our first night home was a bit rough, but we're working out the kinks and getting to know each other. he's in his swing for the first time right now and sleeping away (giving me a few minutes to update!) nursing is going great - my boobs hurt like no ones business, but he's got it down pat. he knows JUST what to do!

i still sometimes cant believe he's here!!

3:45 update!!

they got me in!!!!! i go in at 5:00 for my induction!!! :) the nurse i spoke to today has been WONDERFUL and so helpful with getting me in :) im going to have to send them all flowers or something LOL she said that she'd get the room all cleaned up for me and try to get me a room with a window! :) hot diggity dog!! :)

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i wont be able to post an update here any time soon - but if you are from the NW boards, an update will be posted there as soon as there is anynews... and if youre from the FF boards - my labor buddy will get information as soon as there is anything to share and im sure she'll update you all as well :)

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

induction day??!!?!?

well its here and i cant sleep. ive been up pretty much since about 2:40 this morning. i dozed for a tiny bit... but not much.

its about 6:00 now and i cant even cal for another two and a half hours. *sigh* i'll be updating here as i get more info. please please PLEASE let me get induced today!!

8:30a update: i just called and spoke to the charge nurse. she said they JUST had a couple deliveries and i should be able to get in around 11:00-11:30. then she asked the magic question and it went something like this:

her: when is your due date?
me: june 18th
her: you mean july?...*checks chart*..... oh.... oh youre WAY overdue.
me: ........... yeah.
her: what number baby is this for you?
me: number one
her: oh honey. yeah, you're first on my list. we'll probably have you come in around 11 or 11:30
me: so it looks good that it'll be today?
her: oh yeah. we're gonna get you in today. i'm going to do all i can to make sure of that!

yay!!! she's going to call me back when she knows better what time to have me come in - i'll update when she calls! :)


11:15a - UPDATE - well i just spoke to the nurse and she said the beds are filling up and they might actually have to go on bypass, which means that if women COME IN in labor, they may have to be sent to another hospital. *sigh* so i have to call back "every few hours" to check. :( :( :( i may have said some naughty words after hanging up. *SIGH*

quick update...

im still here :) waiting anxiously for monday... ive decided that he's going to be stubborn and wait - so monday it is! i will try to update again before i head for the hospital. im just hoping they can take me on monday - rumor has it that the hospital has been super busy and has bumped some inductions. oooooooh lordy - if they bump me i'll lose my mind!

anyway. caleb is hanging in there - moving around like normal and just getting settled in. HA! little does he know that in a few days we'll be forcing him out!!

due date!! 40 weeks

it is finally june 18th!! the day i have been waiting for since october 8th when i got my BFP!! i thought for sure "the baby" would be here by now... but now i know its caleb. and he's taking his sweet time!

im feeling pretty good - nothing more than the usual aches and pains... only more intensified i guess. i wasnt sure it was possible to be more uncomfortable than before, but let me assure you - IT IS. on saturday night i had some contractions though, so thats cool! at first i had some braxton hicks, where my tummyjust got tight and it felt hard to breathe... then a few hours later i had what felt like AF cramps down low that slowly spread to the top of my uterus as it got harder and harder, that would last for about a minute or so then go away for a bit... then come back. i started to get a little excited, then fell asleep and woke up a few hours later with nothing. *sigh* false start? perhaps. i promise if they start again i wont go to sleep!

aaaaaaaaaaaaanyway. everything feels lower when i stand or walk. it doesnt hurt really, it just feels like a lot of pressure when i stand up or walk around. and becuase im walkig like im getting paid by he step, that means i feel that almost all day. fun fun fun.

my next appt is wednesday and i hope that my midwife will check me. and good lord, i hope i have something to show for all of this!

if youve got "lets get labor started!" vibes laying around, i sure could use some! LOL