I'm not trying to jinx us, but the last 4 nights in a row, I have put Luke in his bed awake and he has fallen asleep on his own (without crying). It's so awesome. This was our ultimate goal, but I expected several nights of crying like we had with Grace and I didn't expect to start the sleep training until he was at least 4 months old. I guess this boy may not need to be trained. He's still not going all night yet, but an early bedtime and going down awake is definately a start. The key has been the amazing swaddling blanket. I just bought it last weekend and it's really too small for him (his shoulders don't really sit below the top of the blanket so he gets his arms out easily), but I wrap him up and he settles down immediately.
Other amazing news. He took 3 naps in his crib this weekend. All lasting at least an hour, one was 2 hours. Two were put down while he was awake, but sleepy. So different than Grace.
The overnight thing is getting better too. For the last week or so, he has been stretching the feedings to about 4 hours overnight, meaning he wakes up around 10 or 11 (depending on when his last feeding was) and then again around 2 am and then makes it until 6. However last night, he ate at 10:30 p.m. and then slept until 4 a.m. (in his crib)! Too bad I didn't go to bed until 12:30 a.m. It was awesome and then he went back to sleep until we got up at 8 a.m. (in my bed) Although my boob was complaining. I was so engorged at 8 that I even had to pump a little after he finished his breakfast. So, I'm willing to take this slow, but I love that he's stretching this out on his own. It just feels so natural to let him get into his own routine. Although if he's still waking at night in another 2 or 3 months, we may have to help him out a little.
I just love this little guy.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thumb Sucker
Luke has found his hands and is very attached to his thumb. The nice thing is that if he loses his pacifier, he'll just search for his hand until he finds that thumb and then goes to town. It's kind of cute and convenient!
Things keep improving at Amy's for him as they get used to each other and he starts getting more of a routine. She's even getting him to nap in a crib thanks to her amazing swaddling skills. My skills aren't as great, so I bought a swaddling blanket with the velcro to try it. Works ok except he gets an arm out in about 30 seconds. He's just too long to get his feet in the pocket and his shoulders below the top of the blanket. Oh well, he seems to like it anyway.
He's been getting progressively better at night. He routinely has been falling asleep between 7 and 8 pm. Usually on the couch, but tonight I put him in his crib at 7:45 p.m. (awake) and after one fussy time and I checked on him (didn't pick him up) he fell asleep without even crying. We're at about 35 minutes later and he's still asleep. He's started spacing the evening/overnight feedings to 4 hours regularly and sometimes even 5. Not sure we're close to going all night yet, but hopefully not much longer.
Since he's asleep in the crib, I'm considering trying to keep him there all night. I've been bringing him to bed for his overnight feeding and then just keeping him there. I need to get him used to his crib because as of now, I anticipate that I will have an overnight trip away from him for at least one night in August, a whole weekend in September, and a work trip to Alabama in October. Eric needs to be able to get him to sleep in his bed.
Ok, Grace is in the bathtub and I gotta get her ready for bed. Goodnight!
Things keep improving at Amy's for him as they get used to each other and he starts getting more of a routine. She's even getting him to nap in a crib thanks to her amazing swaddling skills. My skills aren't as great, so I bought a swaddling blanket with the velcro to try it. Works ok except he gets an arm out in about 30 seconds. He's just too long to get his feet in the pocket and his shoulders below the top of the blanket. Oh well, he seems to like it anyway.
He's been getting progressively better at night. He routinely has been falling asleep between 7 and 8 pm. Usually on the couch, but tonight I put him in his crib at 7:45 p.m. (awake) and after one fussy time and I checked on him (didn't pick him up) he fell asleep without even crying. We're at about 35 minutes later and he's still asleep. He's started spacing the evening/overnight feedings to 4 hours regularly and sometimes even 5. Not sure we're close to going all night yet, but hopefully not much longer.
Since he's asleep in the crib, I'm considering trying to keep him there all night. I've been bringing him to bed for his overnight feeding and then just keeping him there. I need to get him used to his crib because as of now, I anticipate that I will have an overnight trip away from him for at least one night in August, a whole weekend in September, and a work trip to Alabama in October. Eric needs to be able to get him to sleep in his bed.
Ok, Grace is in the bathtub and I gotta get her ready for bed. Goodnight!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Back To Work
I went back to work on Thursday. I think it was a good idea to go back for 2 days before going back for a full week.
The work part was ok. I wasn't overly productive, but I did manage to go through and read the 775 e-mails that were waiting on me. I also had meetings with my manager and another coworker to get back in the loop on what's going on on my accounts. I started putting together my personal open items lists to help get me on track. I still need to get up to speed on my 5 new accounts that I inherited when another coworker left the firm July 1st. I found that I really have to pay attention to the time or I could easily forget to go pump. I'm attempting to pump during Luke's normal feeding times, so I can make his meals for the next day. Monday, I got 4 ounces each time, but Tuesday I got 6 ounces each time! I wonder if that means Luke's going through a growth spurt. I did really miss him though. It's different this time. I think I enjoyed my maternity leave more, so it was harder to go back this time. But, I'm back.
Luke had a rough two days at Amy's. I think they just need to get used to each other and hopefully Luke will start to adjust to a routine to give her a break. The first day, she had trouble getting him to stay awake for the whole bottle and said it took 25 to 30 minutes to feed him. Considering he only nurses for about 10 minutes (or less) and gets his whole meal in, I wondered if he needed a faster flow nipple. I sent the "slow flow" newborn nipples. She also thought he acted hungry alot, but she was trying to keep him to a 3 hour schedule as he'd been on at home. I think over all he was pretty fussy all day. Tuesday I changed the nipples and she said that worked much better. He was able to take the bottle in about 10 minutes and didn't fall asleep. However, she couldn't make him wait 3 hours for any of his feedings. I wonder if he was just hungry because I sent his 4 ounce bottles from Monday, but on Tuesday, I was producing 6 ounces. I decided next week to send an extra frozen bag of milk, so if he acts more hungry, she can just give him more. I also said that if he acts like he can't go 3 hours, just feed him. I find sometimes at home that we only do 2 1/2 if he's hungry. She also said his longest nap on Tuesday was about 45 minutes. I think he just has to get used to the new environment. Even at home if he's fussy, Eric has trouble soothing him, but if I take him, he calms immediately. I think a little more time with Amy should help him get settled and hopefully he'll be less fussy and the happy baby I have at home. (I REALLY hope so.)
So, Friday afternoon I picked up the kids and Amy seemed very cool. We discussed the challenges with Luke and she also mentioned that Grace has seemed a bit jealous and has been acting up to get attention. I mentioned that hopefully this is all just transition and soon things will be easier for everyone. She agreed and said Luke is just still so little that we shouldn't get too caught up on him sticking to a schedule. I said, "You're not going to quit on me are you." She just laughed and said, "Oh, no!" Then I got home and cleaned out the diaper bag and found a note from Amy telling us that as of Monday, she will need to raise our rates by $20 per child per week. I was a little hurt that she couldn't just talk to us about it, but I think she's a bit shy and was probably afraid that she wouldn't be as strong/forecful about it if we talked. In writing she could get her point across. Anyway, it's still a good deal, so I'm sure we'll pay it. It's still about $80 per week (total) cheaper than the daycare center. Although, Grace's rate is now only $15 less than the daycare center. I think we may consider moving her back in the fall, so she can get more of a pre-school curriculum rather than all the "free-play" she gets right now. She's the oldest at Amy's and they don't do much working on pre-school type things and with the little ones, she doesn't get to do craft-type projects because Amy's son still tries to eat crayons, etc. Now that the price difference is $15 per week, rather than $35 per week, it may be worth it. Also, the old daycare and Amy's house are pretty close together, so it wouldn't be that much more hassle to do separate drop-offs and pick-ups.
Our other Friday afternoon news was with Eric. Several of the high-level management team was in his office on Friday doing an audit. I talked to him throughout the day and he thought it was going well. But sometime between 4:30 and 7:30 when he got home, he found out that it's highly likely that he will be fired next week. His district manager will be in the office on Monday to review some of his books and see if his numbers have improved enough, but Eric says that he's 90% sure that they won't be good enough. He was given 3 months to turn around his branch's numbers, but with the current mortgage market, it's been really tough for him to get loans in and he just doesn't think it's going to be good. I'm actually not that upset. Eric's hated his job for years and I think this will be what is has to take for him to go out and figure out that he can have a job that he doesn't dread going to daily. We have enough in savings to keep afloat for probably 6 weeks (although the money was set aside for other things like my school and Christmas shopping), but starting today, we are cutting out all unnecessary spending. No more eating out or blowing money on other things that can wait. Also, cutting out any trips out of town with gas prices high. Hopefully, he'll find something else quickly and we won't have to use much of our savings.
Ok, Luke's ready for his mid-morning meal, so I gotta go!
The work part was ok. I wasn't overly productive, but I did manage to go through and read the 775 e-mails that were waiting on me. I also had meetings with my manager and another coworker to get back in the loop on what's going on on my accounts. I started putting together my personal open items lists to help get me on track. I still need to get up to speed on my 5 new accounts that I inherited when another coworker left the firm July 1st. I found that I really have to pay attention to the time or I could easily forget to go pump. I'm attempting to pump during Luke's normal feeding times, so I can make his meals for the next day. Monday, I got 4 ounces each time, but Tuesday I got 6 ounces each time! I wonder if that means Luke's going through a growth spurt. I did really miss him though. It's different this time. I think I enjoyed my maternity leave more, so it was harder to go back this time. But, I'm back.
Luke had a rough two days at Amy's. I think they just need to get used to each other and hopefully Luke will start to adjust to a routine to give her a break. The first day, she had trouble getting him to stay awake for the whole bottle and said it took 25 to 30 minutes to feed him. Considering he only nurses for about 10 minutes (or less) and gets his whole meal in, I wondered if he needed a faster flow nipple. I sent the "slow flow" newborn nipples. She also thought he acted hungry alot, but she was trying to keep him to a 3 hour schedule as he'd been on at home. I think over all he was pretty fussy all day. Tuesday I changed the nipples and she said that worked much better. He was able to take the bottle in about 10 minutes and didn't fall asleep. However, she couldn't make him wait 3 hours for any of his feedings. I wonder if he was just hungry because I sent his 4 ounce bottles from Monday, but on Tuesday, I was producing 6 ounces. I decided next week to send an extra frozen bag of milk, so if he acts more hungry, she can just give him more. I also said that if he acts like he can't go 3 hours, just feed him. I find sometimes at home that we only do 2 1/2 if he's hungry. She also said his longest nap on Tuesday was about 45 minutes. I think he just has to get used to the new environment. Even at home if he's fussy, Eric has trouble soothing him, but if I take him, he calms immediately. I think a little more time with Amy should help him get settled and hopefully he'll be less fussy and the happy baby I have at home. (I REALLY hope so.)
So, Friday afternoon I picked up the kids and Amy seemed very cool. We discussed the challenges with Luke and she also mentioned that Grace has seemed a bit jealous and has been acting up to get attention. I mentioned that hopefully this is all just transition and soon things will be easier for everyone. She agreed and said Luke is just still so little that we shouldn't get too caught up on him sticking to a schedule. I said, "You're not going to quit on me are you." She just laughed and said, "Oh, no!" Then I got home and cleaned out the diaper bag and found a note from Amy telling us that as of Monday, she will need to raise our rates by $20 per child per week. I was a little hurt that she couldn't just talk to us about it, but I think she's a bit shy and was probably afraid that she wouldn't be as strong/forecful about it if we talked. In writing she could get her point across. Anyway, it's still a good deal, so I'm sure we'll pay it. It's still about $80 per week (total) cheaper than the daycare center. Although, Grace's rate is now only $15 less than the daycare center. I think we may consider moving her back in the fall, so she can get more of a pre-school curriculum rather than all the "free-play" she gets right now. She's the oldest at Amy's and they don't do much working on pre-school type things and with the little ones, she doesn't get to do craft-type projects because Amy's son still tries to eat crayons, etc. Now that the price difference is $15 per week, rather than $35 per week, it may be worth it. Also, the old daycare and Amy's house are pretty close together, so it wouldn't be that much more hassle to do separate drop-offs and pick-ups.
Our other Friday afternoon news was with Eric. Several of the high-level management team was in his office on Friday doing an audit. I talked to him throughout the day and he thought it was going well. But sometime between 4:30 and 7:30 when he got home, he found out that it's highly likely that he will be fired next week. His district manager will be in the office on Monday to review some of his books and see if his numbers have improved enough, but Eric says that he's 90% sure that they won't be good enough. He was given 3 months to turn around his branch's numbers, but with the current mortgage market, it's been really tough for him to get loans in and he just doesn't think it's going to be good. I'm actually not that upset. Eric's hated his job for years and I think this will be what is has to take for him to go out and figure out that he can have a job that he doesn't dread going to daily. We have enough in savings to keep afloat for probably 6 weeks (although the money was set aside for other things like my school and Christmas shopping), but starting today, we are cutting out all unnecessary spending. No more eating out or blowing money on other things that can wait. Also, cutting out any trips out of town with gas prices high. Hopefully, he'll find something else quickly and we won't have to use much of our savings.
Ok, Luke's ready for his mid-morning meal, so I gotta go!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
2 Months Old
As of yesterday, we have been a family of four for 2 months. Relatively speaking, it's been a great two months. Still so much easier than those first two months with Grace. I think some of it is Luke's temperment, but even more important is how relaxed I am. I know that this stage will pass quickly and we'll survive and he's never going to be this small again.
At two months old, Luke can smile. Haven't had a real laugh yet, but I'm guessing that will be soon. He can hold his head upright pretty good without too much wobble. On his belly, he's started using his arms to get part of his chest off the ground and he can lift his head up all the way. He hasn't rolled yet, but he can get to his side from his back. And if I place him on his side, he can roll either back to his back or to his belly, so I'm guessing a real roll isn't too far away. He is very vocal and likes to coo and gurgle at us. I also can tell the difference between some of his crys. Grace just screamed for everything, but Luke's hungry cry is very different from his tired cry or his bored cry. He also seems to be gaining more control of his hands. He can't really aim yet, but he will grab onto shirts, hair or glasses if he gets close enough.
Eating is going well. Luke usually eats every three hours. Some days he reverts to 2 or 2 1/2 hours, but most of the time he goes three. When he does nurse, he's all business. He can get his whole meal in in about 7 minutes. At first I thought maybe he wasn't get enough, but once he pulls off he acts like he has trouble getting latched back on. If I force it and he does go back on, he usually will spit up all over me. So, now when he comes off, I just burp him and he's done. Unfortunately at night he's also still only going about 3 hours. We've had a couple of 4 or 5 hour stretches, but not on a regular basis. Although, I usually feed him around midnight, he wakes around 3 and then again at 6, so that's really only one night waking.
Sleeping is so so. He hasn't really fell into a predictable napping schedule yet. He does usually sleep around 9:30 or 10 am after a longish awake time of an hour or two, but I haven't been putting him in his crib or a bed, so I'm not sure how restful the sleep is. For example, he's napping now, but laying on a blanket on the couch beside me. He does take a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon (around 1 pm), but I will lay down with him and get up after 1 1/2 or 2 hours, so I'm not sure how good this nap will be at the baby sitters. He also usually dozes a bit while I'm getting dinner ready (after his 6 pm feeding), but we have bath time sometime between 7 and 8 pm and then he usually falls asleep until his night time feeding around 9 or 10 pm. Then we head up for bed between 11 and 12 (sometimes I'll wake and feed him again before we go).
I discussed the overnight process with the doctor yesterday and she suggested I start trying to get him to sleep in his crib in his room, so I will be able to judge if he needs to nurse overnight and start working towards sleeping through the night. Grace stopped taking her overnight bottle around 2 months old, so I'm guessing he should be ready soon. He's much bigger than she was at this age. Up until now, I've been putting him in the cosleeper beside the bed when we go to bed. He usually wakes on the trip up the stairs, but will lay quietly until he falls back to sleep (while I play Tetris on my Gameboy and make sure the pacifier is in place until he's asleep). Then we both sleep until his 3 am feeding. At that point I put him in bed with me and nurse him while we both doze. I usually wake up around 4:30 am and realize we both fell asleep. He usually starts figeting (I kind of think it's because we sleep and don't get a good burp after the 3 am feeding) and I cuddle him and give him the pacifier until 6 when I feed him, wake up Eric, and get Grace ready for the babysitter.
Last night we tried the crib. I fed him at 10 p.m. and then took him up to the crib around 11 p.m. I had trouble sleeping in my room without him being an arms length away. Around 1:20 a.m. I heard him start moving and by 1:30 a.m. he let me know he wanted to eat (3 1/2 hours). I went to his room and fed him in the rocker. By 1:45 a.m. he had nursed, had a diaper change, burped, and fallen back to sleep. (That never happened with big sister). I returned him to the crib and headed back to my room. I slept better this time. However, at 4:15 a.m. he woke again. I got up and this time was really sleepy, so I took him back to my room and nursed him in bed. I stayed awake though and put him in the cosleeper when finished and he stayed there until he started fidgeting at 5:30 a.m. and I cuddled him in bed until 6:30 a.m. when I dragged myself out of bed to get the rest of the family ready for their day. Although I did go back to sleep until after the 7:30 a.m. nursing session.
Luke's doctors appointment went well. He's growing well (Ha!). He weighed in at 15 pounds 8 ounces which is off the top of the growth chart. I checked Grace's baby book and she weighed 15 pounds at her 4 month appointment. He was 23 inches long (50th percentile). I didn't think breastfeeding was so important to me, but I really feel proud that he's thriving and he is getting all of his meals from me. Cancer didn't take my life, it didn't take my ability to have a baby, and it didn't take away my ability to breastfeed (although I am lopsided). Luke also got 4 shots and an oral vaccine. He screamed, but stopped quickly and was asleep before we left the doctor.
Grace is still doing awesome with Luke. Sometimes she tries to take him away from me when she wants to hold him. Also, now that he smiles she is constantly in his face. It was very sweet yesterday when I told her that he had shots she wanted to make him feel better. She gave him her giraffe and said he could keep him "forever." She said she didn't need him anymore and that Luke could have him. That's a huge deal. She didn't take giraffe to Amy's today either, so this is progress.
Eric is warming up to Luke too. He's not much of an infant person, so at the beginning (especially because I was breastfeeding) he pretty much left me to take care of Luke and he did more with keeping Grace entertained and getting her ready for bed, etc. I am trying to get him to take Luke more now though because Luke is becoming a momma's boy and I need to know that Eric can soothe him too. I'm supposed to have an overnight trip for work in a few weeks and right now, I'm not sure that I could leave overnight.
As for me, I'm doing well. I had my postpartum checkup and all was well (except I have to wait until 12 weeks to get my IUD back). Breastfeeding is pleasant. I don't pump as much as I should be (to get my reserve supply), but it's nice to know that if I don't feel like pumping, I can still feed my baby today. I have pumped a full feeding twice (while someone else fed him a bottle of previously pumped milk) and I get betwen 4 1/2 and 5 ounces in 10 minutes. Otherwise, I get about 1 to 2 ounces if I pump after he's done eating. We did a trial day hanging out at the babysitters for the morning. I'm going to go back to work on Thursday this week. Hoping that pumping at work will go ok. I also think I may start following the weight watchers plan next week (adding points for breastfeeding). I'm hanging out at 5-7 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight. I'd like to lose about 10 pounds. Well, I'd love to lose 15 to 20, but I'm being realistic and I'd be happy at 10 pounds. To treat myself to going back to work, I went shopping last week and used some left over Christmas gift cards and spent about $50 of my own money. I bought a new pair of work pants (need to hem them), a skirt, a white cami, and 4 other tops, plus a new pair of black slingbacks. Grace flipped out that I didn't buy her any new clothes. She's such a girl.
That's enough for now. I should probably attempt to do something productive today.
At two months old, Luke can smile. Haven't had a real laugh yet, but I'm guessing that will be soon. He can hold his head upright pretty good without too much wobble. On his belly, he's started using his arms to get part of his chest off the ground and he can lift his head up all the way. He hasn't rolled yet, but he can get to his side from his back. And if I place him on his side, he can roll either back to his back or to his belly, so I'm guessing a real roll isn't too far away. He is very vocal and likes to coo and gurgle at us. I also can tell the difference between some of his crys. Grace just screamed for everything, but Luke's hungry cry is very different from his tired cry or his bored cry. He also seems to be gaining more control of his hands. He can't really aim yet, but he will grab onto shirts, hair or glasses if he gets close enough.
Eating is going well. Luke usually eats every three hours. Some days he reverts to 2 or 2 1/2 hours, but most of the time he goes three. When he does nurse, he's all business. He can get his whole meal in in about 7 minutes. At first I thought maybe he wasn't get enough, but once he pulls off he acts like he has trouble getting latched back on. If I force it and he does go back on, he usually will spit up all over me. So, now when he comes off, I just burp him and he's done. Unfortunately at night he's also still only going about 3 hours. We've had a couple of 4 or 5 hour stretches, but not on a regular basis. Although, I usually feed him around midnight, he wakes around 3 and then again at 6, so that's really only one night waking.
Sleeping is so so. He hasn't really fell into a predictable napping schedule yet. He does usually sleep around 9:30 or 10 am after a longish awake time of an hour or two, but I haven't been putting him in his crib or a bed, so I'm not sure how restful the sleep is. For example, he's napping now, but laying on a blanket on the couch beside me. He does take a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon (around 1 pm), but I will lay down with him and get up after 1 1/2 or 2 hours, so I'm not sure how good this nap will be at the baby sitters. He also usually dozes a bit while I'm getting dinner ready (after his 6 pm feeding), but we have bath time sometime between 7 and 8 pm and then he usually falls asleep until his night time feeding around 9 or 10 pm. Then we head up for bed between 11 and 12 (sometimes I'll wake and feed him again before we go).
I discussed the overnight process with the doctor yesterday and she suggested I start trying to get him to sleep in his crib in his room, so I will be able to judge if he needs to nurse overnight and start working towards sleeping through the night. Grace stopped taking her overnight bottle around 2 months old, so I'm guessing he should be ready soon. He's much bigger than she was at this age. Up until now, I've been putting him in the cosleeper beside the bed when we go to bed. He usually wakes on the trip up the stairs, but will lay quietly until he falls back to sleep (while I play Tetris on my Gameboy and make sure the pacifier is in place until he's asleep). Then we both sleep until his 3 am feeding. At that point I put him in bed with me and nurse him while we both doze. I usually wake up around 4:30 am and realize we both fell asleep. He usually starts figeting (I kind of think it's because we sleep and don't get a good burp after the 3 am feeding) and I cuddle him and give him the pacifier until 6 when I feed him, wake up Eric, and get Grace ready for the babysitter.
Last night we tried the crib. I fed him at 10 p.m. and then took him up to the crib around 11 p.m. I had trouble sleeping in my room without him being an arms length away. Around 1:20 a.m. I heard him start moving and by 1:30 a.m. he let me know he wanted to eat (3 1/2 hours). I went to his room and fed him in the rocker. By 1:45 a.m. he had nursed, had a diaper change, burped, and fallen back to sleep. (That never happened with big sister). I returned him to the crib and headed back to my room. I slept better this time. However, at 4:15 a.m. he woke again. I got up and this time was really sleepy, so I took him back to my room and nursed him in bed. I stayed awake though and put him in the cosleeper when finished and he stayed there until he started fidgeting at 5:30 a.m. and I cuddled him in bed until 6:30 a.m. when I dragged myself out of bed to get the rest of the family ready for their day. Although I did go back to sleep until after the 7:30 a.m. nursing session.
Luke's doctors appointment went well. He's growing well (Ha!). He weighed in at 15 pounds 8 ounces which is off the top of the growth chart. I checked Grace's baby book and she weighed 15 pounds at her 4 month appointment. He was 23 inches long (50th percentile). I didn't think breastfeeding was so important to me, but I really feel proud that he's thriving and he is getting all of his meals from me. Cancer didn't take my life, it didn't take my ability to have a baby, and it didn't take away my ability to breastfeed (although I am lopsided). Luke also got 4 shots and an oral vaccine. He screamed, but stopped quickly and was asleep before we left the doctor.
Grace is still doing awesome with Luke. Sometimes she tries to take him away from me when she wants to hold him. Also, now that he smiles she is constantly in his face. It was very sweet yesterday when I told her that he had shots she wanted to make him feel better. She gave him her giraffe and said he could keep him "forever." She said she didn't need him anymore and that Luke could have him. That's a huge deal. She didn't take giraffe to Amy's today either, so this is progress.
Eric is warming up to Luke too. He's not much of an infant person, so at the beginning (especially because I was breastfeeding) he pretty much left me to take care of Luke and he did more with keeping Grace entertained and getting her ready for bed, etc. I am trying to get him to take Luke more now though because Luke is becoming a momma's boy and I need to know that Eric can soothe him too. I'm supposed to have an overnight trip for work in a few weeks and right now, I'm not sure that I could leave overnight.
As for me, I'm doing well. I had my postpartum checkup and all was well (except I have to wait until 12 weeks to get my IUD back). Breastfeeding is pleasant. I don't pump as much as I should be (to get my reserve supply), but it's nice to know that if I don't feel like pumping, I can still feed my baby today. I have pumped a full feeding twice (while someone else fed him a bottle of previously pumped milk) and I get betwen 4 1/2 and 5 ounces in 10 minutes. Otherwise, I get about 1 to 2 ounces if I pump after he's done eating. We did a trial day hanging out at the babysitters for the morning. I'm going to go back to work on Thursday this week. Hoping that pumping at work will go ok. I also think I may start following the weight watchers plan next week (adding points for breastfeeding). I'm hanging out at 5-7 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight. I'd like to lose about 10 pounds. Well, I'd love to lose 15 to 20, but I'm being realistic and I'd be happy at 10 pounds. To treat myself to going back to work, I went shopping last week and used some left over Christmas gift cards and spent about $50 of my own money. I bought a new pair of work pants (need to hem them), a skirt, a white cami, and 4 other tops, plus a new pair of black slingbacks. Grace flipped out that I didn't buy her any new clothes. She's such a girl.
That's enough for now. I should probably attempt to do something productive today.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Iowa Visit
I've been home for a week, but just getting around to updating about the trip. I've got lots of pictures in Flickr.
We took a trip to Iowa to visit my parents. Eric, Grace, Luke and I left on Thursday morning to fly out. Luke's first plane trip went reasonably well and we made it to Iowa in early afternoon. We went back to my parents house and then Thursday evening went to "Thursday Nights in Pella." Every Thursday in the summer, the community hosts some sort of gathering with booths/vendors, etc. This week was "Inflatables" so Grace had tons of fun jumping in the bouncy house, going down the giant slide etc. Check out the pictures.
I can't really remember what we did on Friday except for grocery shopping and Mom and I and the kids took a trip to the library to get some books for Grace for the week and I got three books which I finished before coming home. Eric spent lots of time fishing and caught lots of big ones (see pictures).
Saturday Eric and I went on a date alone! I pumped while I was there and had enough for a bottle, so Eric and I went to see "What Happens in Vegas" and then to dinner before heading home to find that both kids survived nicely.
Sunday we went to church, Eric did a lot of fishing. We let Grace have a special night. She took her bath and got her PJs on and then got to come downstairs and watch "Enchanted" before going to bed. She LOVED it.
Monday, Eric went home and the rest of us stayed. I can't remember anything else specifically that we did.
Tuesday, we went to the Pella Aquatic Center and went swimming. They had a really nice family/kid area that Grace could play in. They also had some really cool tube slides and an Adventure River. Grace loved the adventure river and I think went on it 6 times with various family members.
Wednesday, my brother had a ceremony to re-enlist in the Army, so we went to his reserve unit in Des Moines to see it. It was really cool and we got to hear lots of compliments about what great work he does. We then had a little detour to the mall and went to dinner.
I don't really remember any other details on Thursday or Friday, except Mom and I went to breakfast on Friday and Dad stayed home with both kiddos. He was a little nervous to have Luke on his own, but I fed him before we left and got home before the next feeding was due, so they did just fine.
Throughout the week Grace had tons of fun with the following activities. Many are captured in the pictures:
- Playing with the cat and dog.
- Picking flowers outside
- Grandpa bought her a motorized Jeep that she drove around the yard
- Riding on the 4-wheeler with Grandpa to see the cows
- Fishing in the pond
- Playing in the kiddie pool in the yard
- Play-doh with Grandma in the sunroom
- She had a picnic lunch with Grandpa one day
- Helping Grandma make cookies for church
Saturday I came home with the kids. It was tough to travel with two kids on my own, but we survived and got home around 9 p.m. I think Eric was glad to see us.
All in all it was a wonderful trip. I definately prefer visiting in the summer. Not nearly as many fun things to do in the winter months. We did have a scary moment the first night. Grace was sleeping in a room upstairs and we left the door open. We showed her where my parents bedroom was in case she needed them. For some reason Grace got up around midnight and was looking for someone (we think), but she wandered into the office instead of my parents bedroom. We think she wasn't used to doors being open, so she tried to open a door. There was a closet door off the hinges leaning against the wall in that room and it fell. Thankfully there was a bookshelf against the other wall and when the door fell it landed on the bookshelf and didn't fall all the way to the floor (or on Grace). It was a big heavy door so that could have been bad news.
Well, the pictures tell most of the story. It was such a good time.
Tomorrow Luke has his 2 month checkup and I hope to update on all his milestones.
We took a trip to Iowa to visit my parents. Eric, Grace, Luke and I left on Thursday morning to fly out. Luke's first plane trip went reasonably well and we made it to Iowa in early afternoon. We went back to my parents house and then Thursday evening went to "Thursday Nights in Pella." Every Thursday in the summer, the community hosts some sort of gathering with booths/vendors, etc. This week was "Inflatables" so Grace had tons of fun jumping in the bouncy house, going down the giant slide etc. Check out the pictures.
I can't really remember what we did on Friday except for grocery shopping and Mom and I and the kids took a trip to the library to get some books for Grace for the week and I got three books which I finished before coming home. Eric spent lots of time fishing and caught lots of big ones (see pictures).
Saturday Eric and I went on a date alone! I pumped while I was there and had enough for a bottle, so Eric and I went to see "What Happens in Vegas" and then to dinner before heading home to find that both kids survived nicely.
Sunday we went to church, Eric did a lot of fishing. We let Grace have a special night. She took her bath and got her PJs on and then got to come downstairs and watch "Enchanted" before going to bed. She LOVED it.
Monday, Eric went home and the rest of us stayed. I can't remember anything else specifically that we did.
Tuesday, we went to the Pella Aquatic Center and went swimming. They had a really nice family/kid area that Grace could play in. They also had some really cool tube slides and an Adventure River. Grace loved the adventure river and I think went on it 6 times with various family members.
Wednesday, my brother had a ceremony to re-enlist in the Army, so we went to his reserve unit in Des Moines to see it. It was really cool and we got to hear lots of compliments about what great work he does. We then had a little detour to the mall and went to dinner.
I don't really remember any other details on Thursday or Friday, except Mom and I went to breakfast on Friday and Dad stayed home with both kiddos. He was a little nervous to have Luke on his own, but I fed him before we left and got home before the next feeding was due, so they did just fine.
Throughout the week Grace had tons of fun with the following activities. Many are captured in the pictures:
- Playing with the cat and dog.
- Picking flowers outside
- Grandpa bought her a motorized Jeep that she drove around the yard
- Riding on the 4-wheeler with Grandpa to see the cows
- Fishing in the pond
- Playing in the kiddie pool in the yard
- Play-doh with Grandma in the sunroom
- She had a picnic lunch with Grandpa one day
- Helping Grandma make cookies for church
Saturday I came home with the kids. It was tough to travel with two kids on my own, but we survived and got home around 9 p.m. I think Eric was glad to see us.
All in all it was a wonderful trip. I definately prefer visiting in the summer. Not nearly as many fun things to do in the winter months. We did have a scary moment the first night. Grace was sleeping in a room upstairs and we left the door open. We showed her where my parents bedroom was in case she needed them. For some reason Grace got up around midnight and was looking for someone (we think), but she wandered into the office instead of my parents bedroom. We think she wasn't used to doors being open, so she tried to open a door. There was a closet door off the hinges leaning against the wall in that room and it fell. Thankfully there was a bookshelf against the other wall and when the door fell it landed on the bookshelf and didn't fall all the way to the floor (or on Grace). It was a big heavy door so that could have been bad news.
Well, the pictures tell most of the story. It was such a good time.
Tomorrow Luke has his 2 month checkup and I hope to update on all his milestones.
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