Lucy - 2 Months Old

Dear Lucy,

2 months old! It’s crazy for me to think that you are only 2 months old because it seems like you have been with us for such a long time already and sometimes I feel like you act so much older then your age.

You are such a big girl! You gained 3lbs since your last check up and are 12lbs 8oz now! You are still wearing 0-3 month old clothes and size 1 diapers. That is going to be changing soon. You are ready for size 2 diapers now which means it is time for cloth diapers for you! I imagine that your clothing size is going to go up now also.

In the past month we have discovered the Miracle Blanket (courtesy of Auntie Holly!) which has been a huge help with naps and sleeping. You are such an active alert child that you need a little help when it comes to relaxing. Speaking of sleep, we moved you out of the newborn napper this month and you are now sleeping in the Pack N Play. It won’t be long now till you move into your crib.

You have also moved up in your bathtub. No longer sitting in the newborn sling and no longer taking baths up on the counter! You fit in the tub and that tub is in the big tub now since you have discovered how much fun it is to splash in your bath. You really like bath time and are a little water baby.

You have started talking and smiling so much more this month. Every morning your dad and I look forward to seeing your face and the little happy dance that you do each morning. Well, you are happy most mornings :) We love “talking” to you and seeing how happy you are.

You do well at tummy time but don’t like laying on your belly for a long period of time. You will travel to Florida and North Carolina in the next month along with being baptized in front of many friends and family.  So many exciting things coming up for you!

You have such a big personality and are the sunshine of my life. We can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Reason Enough

 

 I don't really have any profound words for this post. I just have this sweet little 8 week old girl who looks crazy cute to share. I mean are words really necessary when you are this cute?

I didn't think so.

Happy Fall!

I'm pretty sure that if the seasons had a popularity contest that fall would win. It's the prom queen in the high school of seasons.  I really don't think I've ever heard too many people get all excited about winter or summer. Fall wins. And I have to admit I'm one of those people that does love fall.

Fall colors, fall inspired decor, and fall foods. It's the season of football, Halloween and every kind of pumpkin food imaginable.

These are just a few fall related things that inspire me or just make me happy during this popular season.

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I am LOVING this Glade Maple Pumpkin air freshener.  My house smells smells like Cracker Barrel and Yankee Candle put together.  I kid my husband he is going to wake up wanting pancakes and bacon because he will think he is at Cracker Barrel. Then again he probably wakes up wanting bacon even without this lovely homey scent in our home.  I really love this fragrance and I am in no way being sponsored to say all these nice things about this product.

I know one of the things many people look forward to come fall is the Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I was one of those people.  Was, as in no longer my friend. Unfortunately I can't really handle the caffeine and I've yet to find a Starbucks that will make me a decaf coffee version and it actually be decaf. I'm already up all night, or at least a couple times late at night, I don't need any other help with this.  My go to fall treat since I'm not visiting Starbucks are Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins.

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These turn out really great and I've made them a number of times.  I like to use dark chocolate chips in place of regular chips and sometimes I substitute the vegetable oil with applesauce as a healthier option also.


Happy Fall Y'all!

Thoughts on Being A Mom - 6 weeks in

We are just about 6 weeks in to this whole "mom" thing. Oh the lessons I have learned. I've probably learned more, especially about myself, in the last 6 weeks then I think I did in 4 years of college. 

I don't even begin to think I know it all now, I'm pretty sure I still haven't scratched the surface of what being a mom is really and truly all about. But in 6 weeks there are so many things that have changed my life and the way that I view life.  

• Watching her learn, try and realize new things makes me feel more proud then anything I've ever accomplished in my own life.

•  Labor and delivery, breastfeeding and taking care of a baby in general is much harder then I ever imagined. I've learned how much I want something and how much I will fight for it. I'm stronger then I ever really thought I could be.

•I've also cried much more then I ever thought I could cry. Happy tears, sad tears, stressed tears and successful tears. I am a water hazard.  

• Every new moment seems like it belongs in a Hallmark commercial with the way it tugs at my heart and my need for tissues.

•  Folgers got it all wrong. The best part of waking up is going into your baby's room and having them smile when they see your face. Day made.

  

• I was already a pretty efficient person before having a baby. I'm an incredibly efficient person now.

• Going along with efficiency, I sometimes look around for my little trophy that I feel like I must have won once I do get every single thing on my to do list done. Still haven't found it yet.

• Lighting is overrated. I can now feed, diaper and re-swaddle a baby in almost total darkness with ninja like precision. I'm sure the Army will be calling me soon to recruit me with this new ability. 

• Before baby I was always on time and usually early to things. If I was 5 minutes early it was late by my standards. If I'm only 5 minutes late now that is my new version of on time.  Even with this new standard, I'm rarely on time.

• Naptime is sooo important. Snuggling is very important too.
 

 • Sometimes you are just so happy that you can't wipe the smile off your face, even in your sleep.

• The only songs that will ever be stuck in my head anymore probably come from a Fisher Price toy.

• If you are talking to me and my baby is crying I can guarantee you that I will not hear a word you are saying. Once she cries that is all my brain can process while I try to figure out a way to make it stop.  Not because I hate the sound of crying but because I hate the idea of her being sad/ upset

 • I listened to the Beatles "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" a million times when I was pregnant. The first time I listened to it with her next to me she stopped crying and was just calm.  Realizing the Lucy that I dreamed about when pregnant was right next to me and was "real" was a huge "aha moment" for me. And of course, I cried.

• I was use to being the cute one in this house, I'm totally ok with giving up my title to her.

Hanging In There

I'm still trying to get a handle on this whole being a mom thing and certain things have suffered because of it. Like my hair and obviously this blog :) Hopefully a couple cute photos of my sweet little peanut will make up for that.

Lucy Grace's Birth Story

On August 23, 2012 at 1:46 pm we welcomed Lucy Grace into our life and our hearts.

7lbs, 12 oz and 20.5 inches long and she changed us in an instant.

Here is Lucy's story.

We were scheduled to be induced at 6am on August the 23rd. We didn’t really want to go the induction route but my OB highly suggested it. I ended up starting to feel labor contractions early Thursday morning. We ended up going to the hospital at 1:30am, a couple hours before my induction. I was in a ton of pain.  They asked if I wanted an epidural and I said hopefully I was far enough along that I could go without. They checked me and I was only 4cm. I was devastated. I was in more pain by the minute. I soon agreed to get the epidural and I have no regrets about that decision. Shortly after getting the epidural Lucy’s heart rate started to drop, nurses ran into the room, stabbed me with a shot of something and made me flip from side to side (while totally numb waist down) to get her heart rate up. The shot slowed my contractions down and then labor stalled for awhile. I got stuck at 7cm for a number of hours. By 9 am I was 9cm dilated and then by 10 am I was a full 10 cm dilated. We started practice pushing. I was going on 24 + hours of no sleep at this point and nearly fell asleep numerous times between pushing. I was having a lot of contractions but we had to skip every other one because after each push session her heart rate would drop. It’s really hard to push when you are numb from the waist down because you have no idea if you are doing it right or not. I pushed for a total of 3 hours. Into the 2nd hour my OB said that there was a good chance that I could be getting a C-Section because things were not advancing. I was to be prepared for an emergency C-section and things would happen very quickly if it came to that.  Things started to pick up but my OB told me that she was going to have to assist with the delivery and use the vacuum. Everyone got in place for delivery and at this point I had regained some feeling in my legs which helped a lot but I didn’t feel any pain. I was able to deliver Lucy on my own with my own body. The OB did use a vacuum to help get her out and had to give me a small episiotomy and I had 4th degree tears. I feel lucky that we were still able to have the delivery that I wanted even if it has come much differently then I imagined.






Being a new mom is so much harder then I ever could have prepared myself for. But this is my heart, and I'm so in love.

38 weeks and hitting the wall

This blog post isn't going to be the typical update with the bullet points like the previous ones have been. As the title indicates I've kind of hit the wall and am just kind of over things at this point and need to break out of the box of doing things the same way.  So please indulge me my some what random and scattered final thoughts on pregnancy. 

We've made it past the 1st and 2nd trimester. We got through the initial 13 weeks in the "safe zone" and had our 20 week ultrasound where they check all the parts to let you know that they are working as they should. And then you have the 3rd trimester and reaching 37 weeks and being "full term".  And then all the titles stop and you just have to wait until you hit your due date or maybe you have bad aim and you miss your due date and just keep going. I think the weeks after 37 weeks need to have an appropriate name assigned to them to portray how annoying they are. Cause man are they annoying. That speeding train that I felt like I was on has now stopped and I'm pretty sure something must be on the tracks because we are NOT moving anymore.

I'm really lucky in that my body still feels great and I'm not as uncomfortable as I'm sure many women are so it isn't that part of me that hit the wall. As much as I am so excited to meet her I also realize that I've had her with me (literally) for the last 9 months and I will actually have to share her with people, you know like with her father for example, once she is out in the big ol' world so not having the closeness makes me a wee bit sad and so that part of it isn't what has made me hit the wall either.

I think the thing that finally made me hit the wall (see I finally got to the point) was just thinking about how she could be here any moment. And after you've had that thought for about a million moments and the occasional comment about "you haven't had that baby yet?" it just gets really hard NOT to think about it all the time. Because trying to not think about it right now is about as easy as NOT thinking about food when you are starving and haven't eaten in 12 hours. 

Enough with my ranting, on to the good stuff. Or at least the stuff where I laugh at myself because that is all you can do at this point. Example:

38 week bump picture and I am the pinnacle of maternity fashion by wearing my husband's basketball shorts in these pictures. Yep, I never thought I would be that girl that started to raid her husband's clothes but comfort is key and pregnant in heels I am not.

 In other news, my husband has been practicing his swaddling so that he is a swaddling champ once she does decide to grace us with her presence. During that practice we had a silly moment where he decided to swaddle me with one of our large blankets. I was laughing so hard I was crying and thought I was going to laugh this little girl right out. Obviously that didn't work but hubby is a swaddling pro now and should feel quite confident with his skills after having a subject like me to deal with. Good job babe :)