As of lately...

We officially moved Silas into his crib over the weekend, and started sleep training along with the transition.  For those unsure of what sleep training is (I didn't know myself until about a month ago), it is basically the process of trying to get your little one to sleep through the night, or at least sleep longer than what they normally do so you as a parent are getting up less. 

We usually put Silas to bed somewhere between 9 and 10.  We have a little routine we go through but nothing crazy (diaper change, sleepwear, sleep bag, bottle - bath first if it is a bath night).  Jordan always feeds him the bottle before bed and majority of the time Silas starts falling asleep while drinking the bottle so he goes down for bed pretty easily after a good burp.

Silas had been sleeping a good 6 or 7 hours straight for awhile, but over the past month he seemed to revert back to waking up more often and sleeping shorter amounts (I guess this is pretty common), but waking up three times a night to feed him was getting pretty old for me.  First night of sleep training he woke up around 2:30 and instead of getting up and feeding him, we just let him go.  He fussed for a few minutes, and Jordan was just about to try giving him the pacifier when we heard him sucking on his hand, which he was able to soothe himself back to sleep with! Great!  He woke again around 4:30, and I decided to get up and feed and change him at this point.  He went back to sleep easily, and woke again at 7.  We could have gotten up with him at this point to start the day, but hey, it was the weekend, and we are going to try and sleep in a little longer if we could!  We let Silas fuss for a bit, and again, Jordan was about to give the pacifier, but before he could, baby was asleep again.  He slept for about another hour and a half and woke around 8:30.  Overall a pretty good night!  The next night was similar, but instead of waking up at 7, he slept right up until about 8.

The end goal of this is to try not to get up at all, but as of right now Silas is sleeping around 10-12 hours a night and I feel getting up once to feed him during that time is quite reasonable.  I am sure he could probably go eight hours without a feeding, but timing-wise getting up once in the middle of a 12 hour period works just as well for now.

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This past weekend was also the first time we got a significant amount of snow, and the temperatures were absolutely frigid out there.  It definitely gets you in the holiday spirit though and I think we are all excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

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As far as things go with me, I am recovering quite well from my procedure/mini-surgery that I had on Tuesday.  I actually felt great the next day already and seemed to have a burst of energy, vacuuming the house and painting furniture.  The pain that I was having before the procedure immediately vanished and I have high hopes for being totally pain free very soon!  Yay!  My check up is December 17 and if everything checks out okay, I can start moving around like I used to and hopefully be able to shed these last pounds of baby weight!!  (I might as well wait until the new year though because I know all the holiday food will counteract with any working out I may or may not be doing ;)

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I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

Birth story featured!

A cherubic boy: The birth of Silas | Pregnancy & Newborn MagazinePregnancy & Newborn Magazine 

My grandma, the centenarian!

My grandmother, Nelda Dome, experienced something that not many people get to experience.  On Tuesday (11/12/13) she had a birthday, and not just any birthday, her 100th birthday.  We all traveled down to the town of Tell City, Indiana over the weekend to celebrate.

My grandma and Silas, her great grandson (100 years apart)

My cousins daughter, Amelia "Mimi"

Four Generations

And bravo to Silas on his first road trip... ya done good boy.

3 months old

Wednesday Silas turned 3 months old!!

And what an exciting, challenging, joyful, exhausting, adventurous, unpredictable 3 months it has been!

Things I have learned these past few months....

All babies are different.  I have learned this not because of my experience with babies (which was virtually none before Silas came along) but because of what I have heard, read and seen.  Many parents who have more than one child would explain that one of their children was such a good baby, while the other was a complete opposite.  I look at other parents in the grocery store with jealousy as their young babies are sound asleep in car seats, strollers, and carriers, while I am making a mad-dash through the store before Silas may or may not have a complete meltdown (and yes I just fed and changed him right before I left the house).  I can say I am pretty sure Silas has not been the easiest baby... not an absolute terror, but definitely challenging, and often inconsolable.  And we are not failing as parents because of this.

Feeding a newborn is more intensive than expected.  I feel like I was pretty well prepared for life as a new mom from all the books, blogs, magazines, websites etc.  I knew it would be hard, I knew breastfeeding would be challenging, I knew an eight hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep would be something I would soon know nothing of, but I did not realize how often I would have to feed this baby.  Every 2 to 3 hours in their first weeks of life even if the baby is sleeping, WHAT, I thought you never wake a sleeping baby?  It seems there were times when we FINALLY got Silas to sleep, we would look at the clock, and realize he needs to feed again soon.  AAHHH.  When the baby starts to put on weight and is sleeping longer stretches it is not quite as critical and there is no need to wake them, but guess what!?  if you are breastfeeding you will probably still need to pump regularly to keep up your supply.  I was looking forward to the sleep I would get our first night away from baby, forgetting that I could not sleep TOO long without a pump session.

Fragmented sleep can feel just as bad as no sleep. I can say there was never a night in those first weeks that I didn't get any sleep and usually we actually ended up getting about six or seven hours a night. But it was an hour here, two hours there, and once awake, its not always easy to fall to sleep right away again (even if baby is).  A night of this is exhausting and makes for stressed out parents in the morning.  Being able to stay at home helps because I could always nap when Silas does (but I found this very difficult as I just wanted to get things done around the house when he slept).  It seemed as he started to sleep longer stretches at night, he also became more restless in his sleep, grunting, and straining, and tooting, and wiggling and making all sorts of noises, all while he was still asleep.  I recall one morning in particular... it was about 6:30, I had JUST fallen back asleep after a 5 AM feeding, but awoke shortly after to his "noises" and promptly picked up the bassinet, with Silas in it, angrily plopped it in his nursery and slammed the door shut.  I had had enough!  But then I proceeded to have a nightmare about forgetting about him and leaving him somewhere.  He was brought back in our room that night...

It helps to get out (sans baby).  If someone offers to babysit, take them up on it.  As much as we love our new baby boy, it really does give you back a sense of that freedom you once had when you can get out of the house once and while without the baby.  It kind of revives you.  I remember when Silas had just turned a month old, it was Friday morning, and I was on the verge of a breakdown (baby wanted to wake before I did and exhaustion and anger was setting in hardcore).  My phone rang, it was my mom offering to babysit that night if Jordan and I wanted to go out for dinner (almost like she knew what was happening at that very moment).  Yes YES YES!! Getting out once in awhile also gave me back that sense normalcy again, like a real human being out in society...not in pajamas or sweats, hair actually somewhat done, no-spit up on my shirt...

Through everything though, nothing has been quite as great as those first smiles, those first coos, seeing every new little development and seeing him change everyday.  And just thinking about the fact that we created this super cute baby (yes, he IS the cutest baby on earth) is an amazing feeling!!!

1. aden + anais swaddle wraps we use these for swaddling during naps; also great just to have to lay on the floor or a couch for the little one to play on.  we always have one in the diaper bag.

2. sassy Playmat we got this as a gift by recommendation (thanks Jamie and Amy!) and it has been great at entertaining Silas, as well as building his developmental skills.  he loves batting at all the hanging doodads! (any playmat would do, this is just the particular one we have-- there is another great one out there that had a keyboard for kicking).

3. Fisher Price Rock n Play another gift we did not register for but has been a lifesaver (thanks Melissa!).  we kind of broke the rules of safe sleep by letting Silas sleep in here during the night occasionally his first few weeks, but he did not want to sleep on his back and was dealing a bit with acid reflux.  now we just use it for daytime catnaps and just to hang out in.  we also bring it with us if we are going to be at someone's  house for awhile for a place for him to rest when not being held.

4. Halo Sleep Sack these have been great for nighttime sleep, as he tends to wiggle himself out of the swaddle blankets (the sacks keep him in tighter).  we got a free one from the hospital, and another free one from another program.  we have gotten so much use out of these (but he grew out of them quickly).

5. Boppy i use this for just about every feeding at home. also can be used for propping to sit, and tummy time.  different stages of use are diagrammed right on the tag.  voted number 1 for products mommys can't live without!

6. Summer Infant Swaddle Me it was easier to find these in larger sizes than the Halo sleep sacks so we transitioned to these after he outgrew the sacks.  they come in a bunch of fun prints as well!

7. NUK Pacifiers i remember our first night at home was rough.... Jordan and I took turns between trying to get Silas to sleep and try to get some sleep ourselves.  at one point I awoke and was surprised to not hear a crying baby.  it was the pacifier that saved us those first few weeks.  the Nuks worked best!

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The 4th Trimester

I recently stumbled upon a photographic documentary called "The 4th Trimester Bodies Project" focusing on women's bodies postpartum, and the extraordinary changes they go through.

This made me want to share my personal thoughts and brutal truths on these changes, especially since, almost 3 months after giving birth, I am still dealing with some "postpartum" body issues.

Weight Gain:  The recommended weight gain for women during pregnancy is 25-35 pounds if your starting weight is considered normal.  If you gain a little less or a little more, it is perfectly fine as long as it isn't anything too drastic as you could be putting your baby (and you) at risk for problems.  I, of course, fell in the "gained a little more" category.  As a result, 3 months later, I still have about 10-15 pounds to go.  Nursing has helped tremendously, and once I can start exercising again (see below) I am sure I will be able to shed off those last pounds.  What surprised me about the weight loss is how little I lost right away. I wasn't expecting to be back to normal that soon by any means, but I was shocked to see the scale reveal that I had only lost about 8 pounds a day or two after getting home (Silas weighed 8lbs 11oz).  What about all those amniotic fluids?  The placenta?  I realized that they pumped me so full of fluids during labor and delivery, that it was showing on the scale.  My weight slowly went down in the next several weeks, and after about 6 weeks I had lost 25 pounds.  I have plateaued at my current weight and I am sure I will be stuck here until I get my body active.  In all honesty though, if you breastfeed, exercise, and don't eat too unhealthy, the weight should not be that hard to lose (the loose flabby belly skin however, may take some extra time and effort).

Stretch marks:  I was very diligent about the applying of the cocoa butter on the belly during pregnancy (not really sure if this actually works or not, but it doesn't hurt to try).  For the first 8 months I was ALMOST stretch mark free besides a few in the hip areas.  I pretty much thought I was clear of those wicked front-of the-belly stretch marks that I see so often on women after being pregnant.... I thought I was one of the lucky ones.  I also thought that at a little over 8 months in, my belly was already stretched out as far as it was going to stretch and wouldn't (or couldn't) get much bigger than it was.  Apparently I was wrong, as those devilish little marks slowly made their appearance in the last several weeks of my pregnancy.  And now will be my forever "stripes and scars".

The other stuff:  so there is the bleeding, the pain, the actual physical recovery (whether a vaginal birth or cesarean) that also is part of the postpartum life.  I hope Silas has lots of brains in that big head of his because he sure did a number on me coming out (and I am grateful the epidural was in full force at this time (and I of course love him dearly despite what he did to me)).  Recovering from a third degree perineal tear has taken longer than I had hoped, and I am still dealing with some issues related to the healing, which in turn is preventing me from being too physically active.

If you want a rundown of not so pleasant details

More fall fun!

Last Sunday we picked out our carving pumpkins and took little boo to another orchard 

(and obviously got more doughnuts).

Trying to soak in all this Autumn goodness while it is still nice out!!

 

And look who unknowingly had matching Halloween costumes!  

Too cute.  (Thanks L for the image)