Razorbacks, Thanksgiving, and GERMS!

I'm not sure if any of you watch college football.  So if you don't, let me just fill you in on a little something.   The Arkansas Razorbacks are #3 in the country!!!  HOLLA!!!  This is just so frickin' awesome!  Let me fill you in on a little something else.  We play the #1 team in the country on Friday...LSU.  I can't even tell you the excitement across our state right about now.  Hog fans are crazy!  Oh and the #2 team in the country is Alabama.  The top three teams are all in the SEC. So we are ranked third in the country and third in our conference...how weird is that?  Needless to say the game on Friday is HUGE.  If we win then we could go to the national championship game which is in New Orleans.  I very well might drag my two month old daughter there if it happens because, ya know, there is no way I could leave her over night yet.  She might be three months by then...that would be ok, right??

Image taken from Google images

We have Thanksgiving with my dad tonight.  His girlfriend is making the whole shebang.  Turkey, dressing, pies, everything.  We usually have it catered but not this year...I like her.  Not just because she is cooking either.  The fact that she is closer to his age than mine helps A LOT :)  I actually feel bad that I am not making anything.  But, in my defense, I didn't know she was doing this until like a week ago and I have a new baby.  This is a small Thanksgiving.  My dad, his girlfriend, my brother, my dad's brother and his two girls (age 19 and 18) and then my little family of three!  It should be fun.  I am actually looking forward to it.  This might have something to do with the fact that I have been starving myself today in order to chow down tonight.  Oh and I can't wait to put Blake in her Thanksgiving outfit....AND Lonnie says that he will stay with B tonight and let me sleep.  What a fab day!  


And last but not least.  I have become a FREAK about germs.  I am totally paranoid about her getting exposed to the flu.  I have used so much antibacterial stuff and washed my hands like crazy.  They are so dry they might bleed soon.  I am worried about taking her to my dad's tonight because I know people will want to hold her.  Makes me nervous even though I will make them scrub their hands to my liking.  It is so hard because I HAVE to get out of the house for my sanity but I feel bad for taking her places.  I am making everyone I know get their flu shot before they keep her.  And I haven't really taken her many places, just to this one breakfast place.  We keep her covered up the whole time too.  I do have a shopping trip planned next week with Sarah but I will keep her covered the whole time and I am prepared to  ask people not to touch her if they try.  Back away from the baby ;)


Any other new moms have this dilemma?  Stay home 24/7 and lose your flippin' mind????

Postpartum

I am a little late on this post but I just wanted to document. I went for my 4 week postpartum visit a week ago.  Anyway, I mentioned the other day that I was kinda nervous about it.  


He looked at my incision/tear and said that it was healing perfectly.  It does take longer for them to heal in breastfeeding moms...something about having more progesterone than estrogen.  He gave me some estrogen cream to put on it every other night and that should help it to finish healing sooner.  I have to say, during week four I started to feel like it might actually heal.  But during week five I have had sort of a set back.  I don't know what the deal is but it just started getting more sensitive.  I had my husband look at it (awesome, I know, but he is a doctor so whatever...).  It is doing fine just still healing.  He did say there was some sort of small piece of prominent tissue and that is right where I was hurting.  Hopefully it will get better soon.  Sorry for the TMI...


Oh and good news.  I've talked to two people that had worse tears than I had and they went on to have more kids....this means they had sex.  That gives me hope ;)


Also, I didn't cry!  I was pretty proud of myself for that.  I don't know what it is but I was just getting so emotional when I thought about going back there for the last time (hopefully not last time, but last time for this pregnancy).  I also thought I would cry when I saw Dr. C but I didn't....I may have teared up when he hugged me but just a little ;)  I took him a gift from Lonnie and I and I wanted to take his nurse a gift and cookies for the office but I couldn't carry it all!  I am due for my yearly at the end of December so I decided I will do it then.  His nurse is pregnant and due in February so I am going to get her a gift for her little one.  


So now for the post partum body.  I gained a total of 32 pounds during my pregnancy and I have lost all but 6 pounds.  This is the heaviest I have ever been (not pregnant, of course).  I gained about 10 pounds during our 3 IVF cycles.  So I would ideally like to lose 16 more pounds.  I am actually pretty happy about how I look...with clothes on HA!  But it is all squishy feeling.  I really need to start doing some sit ups and hopefully it will get less soft.  It is weird when you don't use your abs for such a long time and then you try to use them.  I want to get back in to running ASAP but my body is just so not ready for that.  I have been taking walks with her in the stroller and I really enjoy it...but can I just say so out of shape!  As soon as I heal a little more I might try some jogging.  If I really got into I might eventually get a jogging stroller.  We will see..


So here is a pic of me two days after I had Blakely.

This is 12 days after

This was 25 days after

This is five weeks after

And for the sake of complete honesty...
Here is a close up of my tummy the morning of my induction

And here I am now with my shirt up in all my stretch marked glory.  I can't believe I am posting this but for some reason I feel the need...so here it is...I might regret it later :)
You see why I said I feel pretty good...with clothes on!  They do seem to be getting lighter but I'm not sure.  They are totally worth it though...

We went to our wine dinner last night and had a great time!  I did miss her but it was so nice to get dressed up and get out.  It is amazing how good it can make you feel when you have lived in pajamas and no make up for over a month.  I wore heels and drank wine for the first time in a LONG time.  It was also nice to tell people about our daughter!  We definitely showed everyone pictures of her..that was fun!  A little surreal....

And let me just say...Spanx and a great dress will do wonders for the squishiness!!!  Also, this is the first time in my entire life I had cleavage!  I wish we would have taken a closer picture of that!  


And just because she is so dang cute...

Happy Friday!!!

TVT

Thought Vomit Thursday...here goes!

• It's Thursday?  I can't keep up with what day it is at all.  They are all the same to me!

• I can't decide if I want Blakely to go to bed early and wake up early or go to bed late and let me sleep in a little bit.  Not that I have that much say in it but ya know.  I have been up since 530 and I am so NOT a morning person.  Apparently she is. 

• I have the most amazing friends.  My BFF Sarah set up a schedule for them all to bring us dinner.  So we have had dinner brought to us three days a week for the last three weeks.  I think the schedule continues until mid December.  It is so awesome!  They just drop it off too.  They don't stick around and want to chat and hold the baby so there is no stress on my part!  The next time any of my friends has a baby I am so doing that for them....it is the best gift.

• I ordered a bouncy seat for Blakely and it arrived yesterday.  I put it together myself.  Why do they make that crap so complicated?  And the directions ALWAYS suck.  I did good though and I think I only cussed once...way to go me...

• Bouncy seat mentioned above is going to be great.  It is one that you can actually turn on to bounce...not just bounces from the baby movement.  I got it for that and because it sits her up at a good angle for her reflux.  The swing works pretty good for this too but it is still just a little big so she scoots down and gets hunched over...not good for reflux.  

• Our wine dinner is tonight!  I am excited...I found a pretty great dress and some SUPER great shoes.  I get to drink a few glasses of wine too...haven't done that in almost a year...how did I survive????

• On Tuesday I had a hair appointment.  My friend who cleans my house comes on Tuesday so I had it set up for her to watch B so I could get my hair done.  (This is her job...she watches kids and cleans houses...pretty sweet set up for her!  I only wish she wasn't so busy and could watch B when I go back to work.)  Oh and when I get my hair done it is like a 4.5 hour deal...I have a ton of hair.  Anyway, this was the first time I left Blakely with anyone besides Lonnie.  I was just going up the road like 2 minutes so I felt good about it.   I got to the place and my appointment was on Wednesday not Tuesday.  Yeah, so that was sweet..

• I really hate that every time I type Blakely spell check thinks I am spelling it wrong.  I know there is some way to fix that but I don't have time...I'll just let it annoy me.  

• My husband is off next week.  I CANNOT wait for this.  I am sending him downstairs with Blakely and some bottles and this momma is going to sleep all night long...ALL.NIGHT.LONG.  He doesn't know this yet....

• I think I have a shopping addiction.  Not only do I want to buy her clothes all the time but I now want to buy me stuff too!  I think this is because it has just been so long since I have been able to buy cute non-maternity clothes.  AND the season has changed and that always makes me wanna get new stuff.  I got two new pairs of jeans the other day and they are FAB!  

• I forgot to pay our water bill this month.  They are serious about the water...they don't send you another notice or anything...just shut your ass off after like 5 days.  This is the fifth day so I am about to drive down there and pay it.  If they shut me off I am going to flip out.  

• That means that I have to put B in her car seat...which should be oh so fun!  She really does like it once we get going but the process of strapping her in she HATES HATES HATES.  

Wish me luck!  Love you guys!  

One month old!

Blakely was one month old on Sunday November 13!  We celebrated by going to breakfast and then we went for a stroll in the park.  It was nice weather yesterday (a little on the warm side actually) so we had a great time.  Today we went for her one month check up and she is doing great!  She weighs in at 9 pounds 10 ounces and she is 21 inches long.  

I took her to the doctor by myself today for the first time.  It went well :)  When the nurse put her on the scale she felt like she was falling so she started doing this awful yell and had her legs and arms sticking straight out.  It wasn't even a cry it was a yell.  I felt so bad for her and wanted to pick her up right then and there.  That pretty much freaked little B out for a good five minutes.  The nurse left  the rom and I was left with a naked freaked out baby.  I finally got her calmed down and we had to wait for an hour.  I don't get upset when I have to wait at the doctor.  I totally understand they get behind and it is not their fault.  They don't want to be behind just as much as we don't want to sit there and wait.  So I never complain about this.  Seriously, one time at the fertility doctor I waited 2 1/2 hours with no pants on....

Anyway, Dr. W came in and checked her out and she is doing great.  She is above the 50th percentile in all categories.  I was so happy with her weight gain.  It just makes me feel good to know that she is gaining weight even though she was spitting up quite a bit for a while.  She has been doing better with that recently though.  

After he checked her out she had to get the second dose of her Hepatitis B vaccine.  I was not prepared for this.  I now know why they wait until the end of the appointment to do this.  Blakely was sound asleep when the nurse jabbed her with that needle.  Her eyes flew open so wide and her mouth did too.  She let out this huge wail and momma nearly lost it.  I was expecting her to cry but just seeing that look on her face...OMG...  I told Lonnie that he MUST come with me to her next appointment because I know she gets more shots then and I need some support to see that again!  

Here are some things that I want to remember about Blakely at one month

• She is a pretty easy baby so far.  She has her moments if she is sleepy or hungry but, in general, she is easy to figure out.  She only cries when she is hungry or in the evenings when she has her "fussy time". 
• She is eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day.  In the evening she will have one period where she will eat after just 2 hours.  This is normally during the fussy time...around 7-9 or so.  During the night it can vary.  Some nights she wakes me up after three hours, some nights she will go four.  A couple of times she has gone 5 and last night she slept from 1230 to 630!  It was awesome!  My boobs felt like they were going to explode when I woke up but I was so refreshed :)
• We gave her her first bottle on Friday 11-11.  Lonnie gave it to her and she did well with it.  She has gotten one a day since then...always from daddy.  

• Speaking of daddy...she LOVES him.  She is so going to be a daddy's girl.  She can just listen to him talk and be so content.  Her favorite thing to do is to listen to daddy sing.  She just looks at him mesmerized.  It is so adorable.  She can be crying crying crying in the evening and I can't seem to soothe her and just a few words from daddy and she is calm.  He sings anything and everything to her but I think her favorite is Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin. 

singing with daddy :)

staring at daddy while he sings...

• She wears a size 1 diaper.  She wore a newborn size for only about 2 weeks.  We had a few blow outs and they seemed pretty tight so we moved up.  
• She is just starting to outgrow her newborn clothes.  Some of the 0-3 month clothes fit and others are just totally huge.  I don't understand why there is such a difference in the brands?!?!?  She is starting to enjoy changing clothes more now.  She HATED it at first. 
• She has awesome head control.  She can lift it up and look around for quite a while.  She really likes to do this after she eats.
• She has a birthmark on the crown of her head...also called a stork bite.  You can't even see it and I actually didn't even know it was there until Dr. W pointed it out.  
• She loves looking at any type of light....the lamp and the window are her favorite. 
• She still has all of her hair so far.
• Her eyes are a very dark blue....almost a navy blue...you can't really tell where her pupil is unless you look really close
• She likes to take naps in her swing.  Sometimes I don't even turn the swing on just the vibrating seat and she will sleep well.  She doesn't nap very well in the pack n play for some reason.  Her favorite place to nap is in someone's arms...we are happy to oblige her :)

• She sleeps in her crib at night.  We moved her to the crib on Sunday Nov. 6, she was 3 weeks old.  This is working out so much better for many reasons.  We were all sleeping in our bedroom and she was sleeping in the pack n play.  It was killing my back to nurse her in the bed..no matter how many pillows I used.  Daddy was getting no sleep and always ended up on the couch.  So Blakely and I moved down to her room.  I sleep in the queen bed in her room and she sleeps so good in the crib!  I get to nurse her in the glider which is so.much.better!  Daddy gets more sleep so he can go to work all day too. It is working out for us right now.  We don't plan on doing this for a whole lot longer mostly because we miss each other!!!  When I am ready to leave her in her room by herself we will move into the master bedroom that is right next to her room.  I am getting there :)
• We don't really have a set schedule although she is pretty consistent each day.  She sleeps so well in her crib and she only sleeps there at night.  I am afraid to have her nap in the crib because as of right now it is like she knows that if she is in the crib then it is nighttime.  She hasn't stayed up after a middle of the night feeding in over a week.  I worry that if she naps in the crib too then she will get confused.  
• She sleeps swaddled in the miracle blanket.  Well sort of swaddled.  She LOVES her hands and will not tolerate it if she can't get to them.  So I use the blanket but leave her arms free.  This seems to be working.  

gotta have the hands by her face!

• My girl is a grunter...she grunts all the time.  This is how she wakes me up when she is ready to eat.  
• She wants to suck her thumb really bad.  Occasionally she will get it in her mouth and she is so happy.  Then she moves it and she gets very upset.  I have given her a passy a few times and she will use it for a bit but not always.  As soon as she figures it out I know she will be a thumb sucker
• She always smiles when she is falling asleep.  I have gotten some pretty cute pictures of this...

 This one came with giggles :)

Here are some shots from our little one month photo shoot

she wasn't so sure about soft bear at first...

 now she is tolerating him...

 and now they are buddies!

By the way, I have been trying to get this post published since Sunday.  Every time I sit down to do it she needs me.  It is like she doesn't want me to write it!  Right now she is napping in my lap listening to the lullaby station on Pandora....which is AWESOME!!!

TVT-Thought Vomit Thursday

Ok so I am doing Thought Vomit Thursday today!  If you haven't heard of this it is just where you throw all the things that are swimming in your head out on to the blog...bullet style so no need to form a cohesive post.  Perfect for me right now as I have given all of my brain cells to my daughter.  

• I should probably wash my hair more often.  I think I went 7 days this time without washing.  But just to be clear, I have washed my body in 7 days....
• I really hate cleaning the parts to my pump.  Seriously considering purchasing a months worth so I only have to do it once a month.  I kid...
• As much as I hate the pump I really love the sense of accomplishment I get when I see what I have produced.  What is up with that?  It's like because I can see it, it makes it more real.  I made that!
• My daughter has a fun new trick.  It is called the death nipple grip.  She clamps down on mommy's nipple and then throws her head back and rolls it in a circle.  It feels awesome!  I can't wait til she has teeth.....
• We just bought a memory foam pillow top for our beds.  OMG...why did we not do this when I was pregnant?  I think it would have helped my sleep a ton!!!
• We have our wine and gourmet dinner next Thursday.  I have RSVP'd and at first I was worried about leaving B.  I am still nervous about it but I am actually really looking forward to getting out of the house and dressing up...Oh and drinking wine as well!  I will be pumping and dumping for those who are concerned :)
• I really need to find a fabulous dress for this dinner...I should probably get on that soon.  I really just want to go shopping in general!    
• We are going to try to give B her first bottle of breast milk this weekend.  Why does this make me nervous?  Oh because of this totally irrational thing called mommy guilt.  I am worried that she is going to like it better and then not want to nurse and it will be all my fault for being selfish...UGH!
• I should really start figuring out who is going to watch Blakely when I go back to work.  Well, let's be honest, I need to figure out if I am really going to go back to work.  My plan was to go back two days a week.  I still want to do this but I have reservations.  My thought was that I would at least try working.  Then if I didn't like it I could always quit.  Well now I just don't know if that is the right thing.  But I also don't know if being a stay at home mom is my thing either.  Decisions...Decisions....
• My two dogs are driving me bonkers.  One of them is getting doggy dementia and the other one is just crazy
• Blakely LOVES her daddy.  She is just mesmerized by him.  It is seriously adorable. 
• I really want a blog makeover but have no idea how to go about doing that...I am so blog stupid!  
• I slept for three and a half hours straight last night....I felt like a new woman.  Thank you Blakely, thankyouverymuch!

Ok I think that is all for today

Newborn Pics and Doctor Appointments

We had Blakely's newborn pictures done on October 19th.  She was 6 days old.  We were supposed to go in on Tuesday the 18th which was my due date but we ended up having to take her back to the doctor that day.  

I don't think I have mentioned that yet.  We took her for her first appointment when she was 4 days old.  It was a Monday.  On Sunday night we noticed that she looked a little bit jaundiced.  We knew that a little bit was normal and since we were going in the morning we didn't worry too much about it.  Well when we got her to the doctor and undressed her she looked MAJOR jaundiced!  I guess it was the fluorescent lights but WOW...she looked like a pumpkin.  Lonnie and I just looked at each other like HOLY SHIT...we should have called last night.  

Her pediatrician was out of town so we saw his partner, who is wonderful as well.  He explained to us that if her bilirubin was 19 or 20 then she would have to be put in the hospital under the bili lights.  He guessed she was going to be very close to that number.  She had also lost close to 10% of her birth weight.  She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces at birth although it somehow got recorded as 8 pounds 6 ounces in her chart.  I know for sure it was eight seven because I have a video of when they weighed her!  Anyway, at four days old she weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces. They sent us home said they would call within an hour to let us know if we needed to go to the hospital.  

As you can imagine this led to a crying/boo hooing mommy.  Yeah...not good...  They finally called and said her level was 16 so no hospital...but come back in two days for another check and to check her weight.  We worried about this ALL NIGHT LONG.  In the morning my husband decided that we weren't going to wait until the next day, we were going in that morning.  He called and they got us in.  Her bilirubin had gone down to 14!  I was so relieved. She had also gained 2 ounces...so no formula for Miss B! 

It all ended up being fine but it was very stressful at the time!  I took her for an appointment when she was 2 weeks old and she weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces so that was great...almost back to her birth weight.  We go back on Monday for her one month check up and I am interested to see how much she weighs because she is starting to look much bigger.  Her newborn clothes are starting to be too small and I can get some 0-3 month stuff on her.  

Speaking of doctor appointments, I go for my post partum check up on Thursday.  For some reason I am nervous.  I am afraid that I am going to cry when I see Dr. C.  I am sure I will.  He just took such good care of me while I was pregnant and during labor and delivery.  He never made me feel like I was being difficult when I would ask him questions or when I would worry too much.  He was just awesome and I am so glad he delivered my Blakely.  Also, I am nervous about him messing around down there.  It still hurts and I am hoping he is just going to look at it...no touching!  It is going to go back to normal right????  My husband needs to know :)

So anyway, the next day we took her for her newborn pictures.  These are the few that she posted on Facebook.  I have ordered them all and I will post some more when they come in.  I think they turned out so good.  There are so many great ones on B and Lonnie...I love it!  

Our little family of 3!

 melts my heart...

 Jaundice?

I ordered a big one of this to go over the queen bed in her room...

Funny story....In the last pose that we put her in (I don't have a pic of that one yet) she was laying on her stomach with her legs tucked under her and her little booty stuck way up in the air.  I got her situated and then Melanie (photographer) would get the camera ready and then I would let go and get out of the way.  Well as I backed away Blakely pooted.  It made me a little nervous because I had fed her about 10 minutes before this.  Melanie started snapping away and before I knew it Blakely was projectile pooping!!!  I am not even kidding you it went all the way across the room....like I'm surprised it didn't hit the wall!  I can't really even explain what it looked like.  Sort of like a water gun...so much power behind that poop!  I was dying and Melanie just kept snapping because B wasn't bothered by it and the shot was so adorable...minus the poop :)  Melanie was so wonderful.  I kept apologizing and trying to clean it up.  She just told me to clean up B and she did all the rest.  Love her!  Anyway, it was hilarious...I couldn't stop laughing!  I am sure she has had her share of pee and poop with her newborns but I'm not sure she has had it quite like Miss B did it...

Pumpkin painting time!!!

I wrote this post a few days before I had Blakely and forgot to publish it.  But I wanted to share my pumpkins with you all so I am publishing it now :)


Have I ever mentioned that I love fall?  I really love spring better but it is pretty close.  My friend Sarah and I started painting pumpkins a couple of years ago around this time.  We have gotten progressively better at it each year.  This is because we learn new and easier ways to decorate the pumpkins.

We have such a great time doing it.  We spend forever going to buy the pumpkins...they have to be perfect and all go together!  Oh and we always paint real pumpkins.  Then we come to my house and decorate them...this is an all day event.  Well this year I wasn't sure if I was going to be up for painting pumpkins.  I thought about just letting her paint one or two for me.  But I was at Walmart 2 weeks ago and the pumpkins just kept calling my name.  So I bought 5 of them.  I thought I would try to paint them but if I didn't then I could just set them up outside, unpainted, and that would be that.  Well I got crazy and decorated them.  I swear my version of nesting is crafting.  I have been all over some crafts!  

So I want to show you some pics of what I did but first I will show you my pumpkins from 2009.  That way you can see what I mean by we get better at it every year!  I did these the fall that I was redecorating our living room.  The colors in my living room are brown and turquoise...not quite as bright as these pumpkins but that was my inspiration.  I don't know why I didn't take any pics of the pumpkins when they were set up everywhere but oh well.  I did keep these inside on my shelves and as a centerpiece for the kitchen table.   

2009 Pumpkins

So a few things that I learned that year

1. Spray paint your pumpkins!

2. Ribbon is so much easier than trying to paint a strait line!

3. Glossy paint looks so much better than flat paint.  The brown and cream are glossy and the blue is not.  Looks ok but just doesn't pop as well.  

So in 2010 I really wanted to do Halloween pumpkins.  We change our theme every year and I was really into Halloween and I wanted to do the arrangement outside.  

2010 Pumpkins

A few things that I learned that year.

1. Bigger bows are better.

2. Stickers rock!  (The bats are stickers and that is my fave pumpkin....maybe of all time)

3. Hot glue is your best friend.  (The rhinestones on the little black pumpkins are hot glued, the black dots on the yellow pumpkins, and the orange dots on the silver and black pumpkins are hot glued on and so are all of the bows)

4. The crazier the pumpkin stem the better.  I also like to paint the pumpkin stem but if you wanted to leave it au naturale then you could just cover it with foil while you spray paint.

This year I have really been into fall colors and decorations.  So I wanted to do my pumpkins that way!  I also saw some pumpkins on pinterest that were done using mod podge so I decided to try that as well.  I think they turned out pretty good.  There are things that I would add or do differently but I was just worn out and wanted to be finished with them.  

2011 Pumpkins

A few things I learned this year

1. I want to decorate some fake pumpkins in the fall colors to put around my house every year.     Then I can paint real pumpkins however I want

2. Mod Podge is super awesome and so so easy...I think I will try to do more things with it next year.  

3. Even though the pumpkin is already orange...paint it anyway...it looks better!

So there you have it!  All of my pumpkins :)