Feel free to peruse the topics below of life at the Mac & PC home and skip or read whatever may be of interest:] Also, even though my son's name can be found in my blog, for the sake of keeping some anonymity I'm going to refer to him as LB (little bit/boy/blessing/baby, love bug... it works).
Pumping/Nursing/Solid Foods: I pump at or around 6 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and nurse twice in the evenings and through the night. Even with this, we use about 10-12 ounces of formula for supplementing and mixing with cereal. LB eats oatmeal, avocado & has juice at lunch and rice cereal and another (baby food) fruit at supper. These are all small portions but he (so far, knock on wood) is a really good eater with whatever is put in front of him. The constipation from introducing solids has not been so great. Prunes are usually the fruit choice for supper these days! I love the idea of making food or letting him try out what we are eating but that would mean lots of McD.onalds & C.hicFil.A, so cereals & mashed fruit it will be!
Avocados: Took me some practice to figure these out and I'm still looking for ideas. I let them ripen 2-3 days, then scoop out the insides, mash up and freeze in ice cube trays. He gets one cube mixed with a little formula for his lunch meal.
Sleeping: We've actually seemed to go backwards since introducing solids or since 5 months old. LB was waking around 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., nursing and going back to sleep. Now if he starts out in the crib by 9 p.m. he ends up in our bed by 12 a.m. and nurses randomly until getting up around 5 a.m., ready to play. If he's not nursing, he is wiggling, kicking or reaching out to hold my hair or touch my face. Sweet as that is, I am tired from all the rest-less-ness. I just keeping holding out for that one night when he starts out in the crib and stays in the crib all.night.long.
Babydancing: Do I still call it that? It's actually referred to more often as "nap" time around here! And we are not taking many naps because 1- when it is nap time we're too tired to nap, 2- scar tissue from giving birth means naps are painful, 3- no time for naps and 4- so many things to do when it really is nap time and 5- mood music for nap time is the humming of the baby monitor with lullabies in the background. Do they make a mobile that plays Chi.cago's Greatest Hits? Still it is great to be scheduling around nap times rather than OPK's! And the scar tissue... the ob/gyn says that will be fine again in time or there is a procedure. When he describes the procedure it sounds like it would just lead to more scar tissue, no thanks. Ke.gels before birth, Ke.gels after birth!
ART- Done. A family of three we will be and we're both beyond happy & blessed with that! I know that some would say "it can still happen" but I know my body and what we went through... it is broken when it comes to making a baby the "old fashioned" way. Those treatments were a part-time job and I'm turning in my resignation!
Marriage: Strained, but we both know that this is a season of life that comes with new challenges. We've talked about being a united front on decisions. We're seeing so many of our friends/colleagues (whose kids are much older of course because of our IF journey) navigate through the preteen years and some are taking sides with their kids when their spouse doesn't agree. We've seen some marriages almost come apart because of this. Our topics are diapers rather than dating but it's important to us for our child to see us as a team. On that note, I have improved in the area of turning baby duties over to dad and then letting them be. That was hard at first because I could anticipate some cues and cries and gave way too many instructions "try holding him this way, did you check his diaper, etc." and it just stressed all three of us out. LB is with his dad 2 hours every morning and they do their thing. It's all good.
Blogging: I miss it. I hope to read, post, and comment more when I have a few weeks off this summer. I can't wait to check out the new PAIL site!
LB: We're having more fun this month than ever. We have GIGGLES, and all it took was making a hacking-gag-type noise and tickling his tummy... odd, but I'm proud to get them even if it requires weird noises. We are spending a lot of time in the floor on a blanket just playing. A favorite new game is to hold this big red ball with hands & feet then kick or push it away and watch mom and dad go get it. I also think LB is going to be a champ at the "uh-oh" game... he drops it and we pick it up.
Summer plans and need ideas: Heading out for a weekend beach trip in a few weeks. What do I need to survive this trip with a six month old... especially for the 6 hour car ride? I am more worried about the ride than anything else. Some of it will be timed during a nap but that leaves about 4 hours to figure out how to be creative at keeping a very active baby confined to a seat that long. I've had one 20 minute back seat meltdown and it was awful! I only want to take essentials and just a stroller and beach stuff is going to take up much of the car! I stared out at the ocean on so many of our beach trips as a couple and dreamed of having a baby with us, it is going to be a surreal moment to experience the trip as a family of 3!
Working: I try not to dwell on the fact that I am away from this sweet baby 45 hours or more a week. He is with people who love him during the day and he is usually at our home. That is what keeps me going until I can get home and get my hands on him. Weekends have new meaning! I've known before and during IF that I would be a working mom outside of the home and it's just harder than I thought. I am fortunate that working in the education field means that I have holidays and a few weeks in the summer off... the goal is to make memories and make the most of every minute.
Life in general: Having
good great times. Yes, we're tired and this is the hardest job ever, but we're having fun and experiencing a love for each other and this child that is just amazing. LB and I recently walked to my grandparent's house (just up the hill from us) and we sat in the sun room and my granny said "These are the best days of your lives. My mama used to say your children first step on your toes and then on your heart. My children are grown and now my grandchildren are grown and here is LB... it goes by way too fast. Enjoy every day." Yes mam.
