The Business of Baby

Its been quite a week!

On Wed, we took Beanie for her two month check up and shots.

The little poppet has grown! She is now 12.5lbs and 24 inches, so 88% for height and 83% for weight. Little wonder she no longer fits 0-3mos clothes since they are all too short. She is still in Pamper Level 1 diapers so far.

I had a ton of questions for the pediatrician reg. burping, feeding, pooping and spitting up - fun! All is normal even of it seems quite abnormal to me.

We decided to follow a delayed schedule of vaccines, so she got two shots and the oral rotovirus. The other two shots she will get in 30 days, since Month 3 there are no shots scheduled. Next set are at month 4.

This way we can space them out, plus I get the opportunity to see the ped again in another 30 days should I have any questions.

I gave Beanie some Tylenol after we got home as a precaution. She was really cranky all evening due to tiredness but refusing to sleep. Today she has slept a lot and this evening I think her leg was sore since she has been crying and not settling down. I gave her some Tylenol so hopefully she will be better tomorrow. Poor baby :-(

Today I went to the endodontist I was referred to by my dentist to check out that crown that is still not quite right one month later.

He did a root canal - of course!  Why did I think I could walk away with a "no, you don't need a root canal" response.

When he went in, he saw some stuff draining from the root which he thinks could be gunk from my sinus. I did have a lot of sinus pain for many days after the crown procedure and I am convinced that all the drilling aggravated my sinus. I could not take a decongestant since it reduces milk supply so I just grinned and bore the pain. Now I am wondering if it was all sinus-referred pain and not the tooth related at all.

I asked the endodontist that question, but he felt it was still the tooth. 

Whatever! 

Anyway because of this "drainage" issue, he could not finish up today since it was "wet" so he did some temporary job and I need to go back in 2 weeks for him to finish up. That is the right thing to do....

...still....

I am SO PISSED!!!

This saga is never ending. Its been going on since Apr 23 when I first went to my dentist for the crown work.

Now after this guy gets done, I still have to wait a bit before I can go back to my own dentist to seat the permanent crown. And hopefully she will do a good job and I will not have issue with that.

Plus since this guy is a "specialist" and out-of-network he is several hundreds of dollars more expensive than an in-network dentist. The in-network endodontists are further away from my place, and now with Beanie and with work, I don't want to leave her for 3-4 hours while I go and get all this done. Since this guy is literally across the street and very convenient, I decided to go with him and pay the extra $$.

Anyway I have to take a boatload of painkillers for the next three days, so I had to call the Pediatrician's office to make sure I can still breastfeed Beanie, which I can, thank goodness.

My anesthesia has worn off finally 6 hrs later, so I guess I should pop a pill soon before the pain kicks in :-(

I am adjusting to life with a baby. 

Beanie is doing well. There are days when she is super fussy and needing to be constantly burped, and not sleeping during the day. Then there are days when she is calm and takes her naps. So each day is an adventure.

Our normal routine is that we wake about 7-7:30am and I feed her, then get myself some tea. She is really chatty in the morning so we "talk" and then I sit her in the bouncy chair while I shower. I have mastered the 5 min shower!

Then we go downstairs.

She lays on her playmat while I make breakfast, eat while playing and checking my work emails. The nanny arrives at 10am.  She gets Beanie changed into her clothes that I have laid out. Once they are settled in, I go for a walk.

The nanny then plays with her, gets her to nap mid-day. I do all the feedings.  In the evening, my Mom comes at 4pm for a couple of hours after the nanny leaves and usually will stay for dinner. Either I cook dinner or my Mom does. My Dad comes over to eat and see Beanie.  Beanie gets a feed at 7-7:30pm and after I eat she gets in her PJs. So, we are normally ready for bed from 8-8:30ish.  Ready for bed does not mean sleep, that could be around 9:30ish or even 10pm.

In terms of feeding I do usually three -- one around 12pm, 3am and 5:30am. There are some nights where I only do two feedings and some like yesterdays when Beanie slept from 10pm to 3am - wow!!  Not sure if it was a fluke, but hoping its a new trend. I woke up at 1:40am and pumped since I was pretty full. My supply is doing okay. I stopped the Fenugreek but take Mother's Milk tea daily which helps.

Beanie turned 2 months yesterday so we celebrated with a lunch.

Just hot dogs and the usual Memorial Day BBQ type things. It was just my parents, Beanie and I.  Later in  the evening my niece and nephew came over to see her. No word from my Sis (not surprising).

In terms if firsts, yesterday I woke up to find Beanie sucking her thumb, so cute. She tends to sleep on me during the early hours of the morning, attached to me like a baby lemur. I wake up to this sucking sound and she had her head nestled in my neck and is happily sleeping and sucking away.

I also had my first day out alone with Beanie. We went to Target to run some errands. Normally I am lucky to have my Mom watch her while I do my grocery and other shopping, but yesterday I wanted to try it on my own.  Its not the logistics that concern me but how Beanie would behave. It was pretty good. She was awake sucking her binky and then fell asleep.

She is now smiling a lot and talks a LOT - boy, is she loud. Its really super cute!!! She has the sweetest smile ever - bet every Mom thinks that of their baby, right? She is also beginning to try to grab her mobile and making some very rudimentary attempts to roll over. We have been remiss with tummy time, so I am going to start doing that daily now. She does lift her head and hold it so I know that she does have that head control developing.

This week we have her 2 month check up so I am keen to know how much she weighs and how much she has grown. She will also get her shots. I have a long list of questions for the pediatrician.

*****For the SMC's reading, did you go with the CDC schedule or do a delayed schedule of vaccinations?  I am not worried about the whole autism link since that study has been discredited, but more just the fact that 5 shots in one day (Month 2) seems excessive. I mean I would not like to get 4 pokes in one day!!!! 

Today is our first weekend at home by ourselves.

I have no errands to run (that is a first!) and we have no plans, except a BBQ to go to in the evening.

The nanny (M) started on Wed.  She is very patient and gentle with Beanie, who took to her immediately and is happy to snuggle up to M and take naps.  M does a few things around the house, but mainly plays with Beanie and keeps her entertained while I work. 

I have started going for walks in the morning as soon as the nanny gets in. That way I can get my daily exercise out of the way.  Dropped another 1.5 lbs :-)

Today I wanted to just focus on Beanie and we have had a great day - snuggling, playing, reading books and listening to songs on U-Tube (she loves the song Wooden Heart by Elvis).

There is a line in that song that really touched my heart and got me teary-eyed. It goes something like "...it was always you from the start".  And it made me realize that Beanie was always meant to be my baby, right from the start! All those years of stark white pee sticks, my own egg failures all were leading up to her.  That was always the plan. I just did not know it then!

Beanie will be 8 weeks on Tue and I see changes in her everyday.

I just noticed that her eyelashes are now really obvious and are long and dark, before they were almost translucent. I am also seeing a hint of a dimple when she smiles.

She is now just beginning to smile back and laugh at things on purpose and not just randomly.

Last night during what felt like our 100th time up, I was changing her in a zombie state when I sneezed a couple of times. She started smiling and sort of laughing which in turn made me laugh. So, there we were giggling away at 3:30am.  It was so cute! 

She is also now tracking with her eyes and will follow me as I move around the room. She loves the ceiling fan so I usually turn it on/off and get it rotating when I am changing her so it keeps her busy.

Anyway, I ended up cancelling the BBQ this evening since she finally went down for a nap at 4pm and we had to leave at 5pm.  I swear my baby does not sleep during the day - at all!  She dozes on and off for 10-15 minutes to regenerate her energy but I am amazed that she can stay up that long. When she does nap she is a light sleeper, so I am always creeping around her. It does make it difficult for me to get anything done around the house.

Hopefully tomorrow it will not be rainy and we can get out and do something outdoors in the morning!

Happy Mother's Day to all my blogger friends.

For those who have babies or are pregnant, have a wonderful day today and hold your precious ones close.

To my readers who are still in the trenches, you all deserve to be Moms more than anything. Your determination and courage in this journey and your willingness to put yourself through endless procedures, shots, appointments and to leave no stone unturned in your pursuit of being a Mommy is what sets you apart and is what motherhood is all about. Do something special for yourselves today, you deserve it so much.

My wish, as I celebrate my first Mother's Day with Beanie, is that you all one day get to hold you precious babies.

Today my Mom, Beanie and I decided to go to shopping to one of my Mom's favorite department stores.

Last time we were there was for our portrait session and Beanie was not in a good mood so we did not get a chance to browse around much. I did buy a cute outfit for her and a pair of red sandals for myself in the 10 min we had before her meltdown.

Today it was all about Mom doing her shopping and I just wanted to browse the kids section. I ended up buying Beanie a pair of adorable white shoes to wear tomorrow for brunch, a creeper, a long onsie and a set of 6 white dress socks from 0-3mos size.

I also bough myself a tangerine skinny ankle-length pants - no idea what I will wear it with but it was too cute to pass up.

Anyway the parking lot outside the store is having construction so its closed off. As a result we needed to drive around the shopping area to get to the store and we passed a kids consignment store. I did not even know it was there!

We decided to visit there after we were done with the main shopping.

Wow...what a great find!

It was really big and open and had tons of things in really good condition, clothes, toys, books, furniture, etc. The shops closer to my home are small so its difficult to move around in them, especially now with a baby in tow. We did not have much time to browse, but I picked up several items pretty quickly, such as, footed sleepers, pants, etc.

Beanie is really long so we are now wearing 3-6mos clothes, simply because the others are not long enough. I have a ton of onsies that I had washed before she was born which she has not even worn and already outgrown. I expected that to happen which is why I did not want to shop too much early on especially newborn stuff, but my Mom sort of guilted me into it.

Anyway I will use this consignment store for her everyday home wear stuff that she can spit up on and outgrow with not much burden on the wallet. I had already been to Tar.get this week and bought her several things, so she is set for now.

In other news --

I had my 6 week post-partum check this week.  I am good to go and can go back to normal activity, including yoga. They will re-test my iron levels and let me know if I can stop the pills. I cannot wait - they are making me so constipated:-(

I am really happy with my recovery and weight loss. I dropped 21 lbs in the first 3-4 weeks and today I wore a pre-pregnancy pair of jean capris which fit perfectly, so I am thrilled. Anyone I meet cannot believe I had a baby 6 weeks ago.  In fact at my 2-week appt at my OB, the nurse commented too.

I am still 7 lbs over my starting weight, but that should go once I begin exercising in earnest. Here is a before and after --

Night before Beanie was born - 37w5d (caption on pic is incorrect)

4 Weeks Post Partum

I actually have a few minutes between work and the baby to write a short post.

Beanie and I are doing good. She is going through her 6 week growth spurt so basically wanting to nurse every couple of hours, not sleeping for long periods and generally fussy and restless, so its been a rough few nights.

Last night was a bit better in that I did get a 2 hr stretch of sleep at one point which felt wonderful, after that it was 30-45 min sleep at a time. Luckily I am able to fall asleep quickly and even dream in those short sleep sessions.

Motherhood is a journey and both Beanie and I are learning about each other.

I am beginning to understand some of her cues, although there are still times when she is crying and I sort of go down the list of - burp, tummy gas, diaper and/or hunger. Its invariably one of those. She does not cry for no reason which is good.

Last night she woke up from sleep crying since she had a burp stuck. I later massaged her little tummy for 15 min and she tooted a ton and felt better.

She is now only pottying infrequently which is apparently normal. She went 2.5 days without pooping and finally had a huge blowout. Thank goodness she was wearing pants at the time. I had 7 min before a conference call to clean her up!

The best coping mechanism is to have a sense of humor about all this...when she has be up for hours on end at night and I am exhausted, all I can do is look at her sweet face and laugh. She will only be so young for so long - so each day is an adventure.

She is liking falling asleep in our arms which I am complying with for now since she is too little. Later we will start putting her down sooner so she can hopefully learn to soother herself to sleep.

We still don't have a routine or schedule. I am doing baby-led feeding every 2-3 hours, but maintaining some general schedule of play time between 10am-12pm and getting into jammies around 8pm and an afternoon nap around 2pm. 

My Mom is still her helping me during the day until the nanny starts next week. I also have the workers coming to fix the closet ceiling so it will be a crazy week.

My tooth is still not quite right. I went back earlier this week and she made some adjustment and again mentioned root canal. I will give it a few days before I decide what to do. It does seem better...but then again I have not really chewed from that side yet so we shall see. What a pain!

Oh and in some funny news.

About 3-4 days ago I felt the water in the shower smelt really funny - chemical type smell and really strong. I ignored it, however, it continued the next day or two. I though it may be my water heater  or worse, the pipes. So I did some googling and they suggested checking the other faucets in the house to isolate the issue, but they all had the same smell. Also the cold water had it too which pointed to the city water.

I went to my parents house and their water had the same small. So, yesterday I called the city and they said there had been a problem with the water. It was safe to drink etc but they were flushing it out one neighbourhood at a time. It would be nice of they had posted something on their website!

At least, I was not imagining it....and its not my water heater or pipes - yay!

Just a quick bulleted update on what is going on at my end:

• Today my Mom, Beanie and I went to get Mother's Day professional pictures. I swore not to go overboard and spend tons of cash but to just get a couple of good shots. I ended up getting three pics - two of the three of us, and one of me and Beanie. 
• For Mother's Day I plan to give my Mom a double picture frame - with one pic of her and me taken during my pregnancy shoot, and the other of the three of us.
• Beanie cried her head off during the session but calmed down enough to get the pics we needed. Next professional shots will be at 6 mos! I am taking monthly and weekly pics on my own for my album.
• Beanie had her one month check up on Tue and is doing fine. She is now 10.2lbs (67%) and is 22.5 inches which is 87% - she will be a tall girl!
• I go back to work on Monday (sob!)...but working from home is better than having to leave her and go anyplace, right?
• This weekend I really must get strated on my baby book. It was on my "to do" list for my maternity leave and the whole leave is over and its not even started yet :-(

• I got a crown put on my cracked tooth 2 weeks back and its now way worse than before. I cannot chew from that side. On Monday they took out the temporary crown and re-attached it so at least its not paining all the time and I am not munching Advil, but I still cannot chew. They are thinking I may need a  root canal - I am so PISSED. All I went in for was hot/cold hurting my tooth which was cracked - now I am faced with so much more expense! I dislike dentists - don't trust them one bit!
• Also when it rain it pours ...financially I mean). I have seen a bit of mold in the ceiling of my guest room closet. Had a guy come out and look and it appears is a pipe in the attic that may be leaking water dripping in from the roof.   Given its mold, I cannot take a chance so we will be cutting out the ceiling to see what is going on in there. Hopefully its a simple fix.
• Oh and I have not got laid off as yet which is great, but the chance is still there. Oh well, at least I have been able to heal from my surgery and a more ready to tackle the situation now than I was right before giving birth.

Hope you all are doing well. I am reading your blogs but don't get time to comment.