my pregnancy

Sean put this together for us to have as a memory of my pregnancy with Coen.  It's very sweet to have it all in one spot and a memento that will last a lifetime.

things I've learned

All things that I've learned in the few weeks of motherhood...

•  There really is a difference between a hungry cry and a sleepy cry.
• Whoever said to use some sort nipple cream from the get go was a life saver.  I was able to use it for only 2 weeks before I no longer needed it.
• You really can survive on little to no sleep.
• Maternity leave FLIES by.
• Breastfeeding dehydrates you, enough so that it can cause headaches.
• I love my Moby Wrap much more than my bjorn
• Gerber onesies are about 1 whole size smaller than what they are marked.  Found this out the hard way when I had one in my diaper bag as a back up and I put it on him and it looked like a muscle shirt.
• Even though you might birth a 7 lb baby, you will need newborn clothes.
• You can spend HOURS just staring at your baby because you want to soak up every second of their lives.
• Your animals do know what's going on and in our case it was really noticeable.  Our dog is always by my side and while that sounds really sweet, it's a little obnoxious.  Our cat is social and much more vocal.
• You will miss visiting your OB and hearing her advice.
• Your house will be consumed with baby things and you will run out of storage FAST.
• You feel great when you've had a shower but it doesn't happen everyday.
• Sleep when the baby sleeps.  I'm serious.

So far these are some things that I've learned or experienced.  Mommyhood is just amazing and I thank my lucky stars that we are here loving on Coen daily.  He's such a great baby and we are extremely lucky parents.

cried, big time.

I could not pass this video up.

Makes me remember that no matter what, you have to have hope.

There's not a day that doesn't go by that I don't thank my lucky stars for my short pregnancy with spud and my life with Coen.  It's just a blessing and you better believe that I also don't forget the 4 years of heartbreak it took to get here.


Found this video here.

productive

First off, I'm going to start by saying that today is one of those days where we just stayed in what we slept in the night before and we both went to bed in the clothes we wore the day before.  It's just one of those things and it's better for the both of us. 

I don't know what got under my tail today, but I've been a cleaning fool.

This morning started off a little rough.  We had to go to the sick bay at the doctor because Coen had some serious flem/mucus that he just couldn't get over.  He was choking on it and it was also making him throw up a few times as well.  He was even having some trouble breathing because of it and it was just a little scary.  I know that if I had that in my system, I would just blow it out... but he's a baby.  The doc just told us to do a few easy things (cool mist humidifier and saline drops for infants) and he should be all set in a few days.   Luckily it's nothing connected to a fever... just some mucus.

In visiting the doctor, we learned that he had gained another 2 lbs since we were there 2 weeks ago.  That means he's up to 11.2lbs now!  That's huge growth and I'm just loving it!

So what did we do today?

Well, I read this LIFE SAVING post on babywearing this morning that motivated me to not only wear Coen today but also crank out some things around the house.  It was great for about an hour and then I was just too hot to keep wearing him so I took him off.

Before I put him on, I cleaned and organized my bathroom cabinet.

Then I put him on, like this...

And then I organized our "plastics" cabinet to move the large plastic cups up and the baby stuff in.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  The only obstacle now will be to add the pieces that are in the dishwasher.  Hopefully they don't fudge up my work!

It has all my breastfeeding items on the left...

And all the other items on the right.  I'm still cleaning all my bottles and hope to get them in there when they are ready!

See this is my bottle mess...

After all of that, I put Coen in his swing so I could get a few more things done.

 Then I refilled all of our soap dispensers, fliped the couch cushions around, took some baby things back up the nursery, folded some baby clothes, cleaned out two canvas baskets for baby things in our living room and washed a few baby items by hand...

By that time, mama was hungry so I made a snack.  Best news about my eating and weight loss is that I've kept my weight down and even dropped 3 more pounds on the day that I had a McFlurry and a small fry!  I joked that it meant I was to have a McFlurry and small fry every day for a snack!  Ha!  

And then I remembered I hadn't posted my three of my most favorite baby gifts...

The first one I don't have a picture of, but thanks to my sister for researching it and my husband, I will soon be the owner of a new Chamilia charm.  It's going to be extra special because it will actually have Coen's finger print on it and his birthday.

The next one is this little onesie that just says it all.  So sweet.

And lastly, my necklace that is just so special to me...

The last two things are from my friend Lori who visited with her family a few days ago.  It was great to have them out and to have them all meet Coen.  Here's a few pictures from their visit...

Last but not least, Coen is starting to smile and we think it's pretty darn cute.

Sunday marked the first day of the last full week of maternity leave.  Next week, I will go back to work on Friday and gradually start the process of returning full time.  I'm nervous about the whole thing but know that when I'm not home during the next few weeks my husband will be to do the whole trial-and-error thing before we send him off to our sitter.  It will work out, there's just a lot of little things that I worry about but I know that working is not only good for me but good for him.  It allows me to make money to spend on him and give him the best life. 

More on that another time...

Happy Monday!

layers

I've learned that sometimes, even the right bra, the right amount of breast pads and the right about of clothing layers, will still not stop a leak.

We went on a little day trip adventure and while we were there I not only leaked through my breast pad, my tank and another layer.  But baby C got too much to eat too quickly that he threw up all over me and himself.

Thank God for baby wipes, spare outfits and bags for dirty clothes...

We were back in business in no time!

It's funny how (now I sort of enjoy) the idea of having spit up on my shoulder (or lap) because it came from my baby and it's actually sort of cute...

not so bright

I've heard that pregnancy brain isn't as nearly as bad as mommy brain and today I'm here to tell you that they were so right.

My not so bright moment of mommyhood so far was...

When my drivers license expired and it wasn't until I receive a card in the mail that I became aware of the issue.  Not only was it expired, but it was almost a month overdue.

Luckily for me, they don't have an penalty for renewing it late, however if I were to have been caught, my license would've been suspended for a year!  Yikes!

Hopefully this is the last big mistake I make for a while.  That could've been really bad!

fear

Going into labor, I had this thought in the back of my mind.  A thought that I never expressed until after it was all said and done.  A thought that has to do with when I wrote this post and unfortunately the closer my time came to delivery the more I thought about how their life panned out.

I'm not going to lie.  Like all things along this road, if they were negative or brought on anxiety, I tried to just not talk about them for fear that it would make those things actually happen.  So I didn't talk about this with anyone.  I just told my husband that I didn't want to see or find the book until after Coen was here and I was with the both of them.


As my labor progressed, I forgot all about their story and my fear.  I had forgotten about what happened when Liz went to hold Maddy for the first time until it was my turn.  Thinking about the moment I had Coen in my arms for the first time is very emotional.  I wasn't really emotional then, I was just aware (and on a lot of drugs).  I was completely aware that things had worked out for us, that I wasn't having happen to me what happen to Liz.  It was a miracle.

Thinking about that moment now, I'm a wreck.  It was 4 hours after he was born and I was completely out of it, only remembering a few moments from that day.  But seeing him up close and looking into his eyes is a moment I will never forget, no matter how many drugs I was on.  Having him latch for the first time without any problems is another moment I won't ever forget. Those moment I'm completely grateful for and am so lucky I got to experience them with just my husband, my child and our favorite nurse. It's overwhelming, but I'm glad I made it through.

As my time progressed in the hospital, everything seemed to be going well.  Until my blood pressure went way up and wouldn't come back down.  In the same moment, I was also told I had a fever and had an infection on my stomach (cellulitis).  This all was discovered very quickly and while the nurses and staff were great in figuring out what was going on.  I was unfortunately reminded of that fear again.

What was happening to me was new, completely out of my control and scary.  I was being checked for my blood pressure every hour and sometimes sooner.  I was on two different antibiotics and my blood pressure medicine was increased from one dose to the next in about 40 minutes.  It was a little hectic and I couldn't help but worry.

The most worrisome moment was when I was told that I could go home.  I couldn't help but think that once I was home that I was going to have more problems and no nurses to help me.  Or us.

All in all it worked out and about 5 days after being home, I did express this concern.  It was just a fear that I couldn't get over and I couldn't stop thinking about.  Fortunately, it all worked out and about 2 weeks after Coen arrived, my blood pressure was down and my doctor was okay with me stopping my medicine.

Also, my infection was gone around that time too.  It all worked out and my fear has been depleted.

Medicine is scary but like I've told my friends and what I tried to remind myself over and over again...

Labor is something they've been doing for years and I'm not the first to do it.  Doctors do this every day and know what to do.  And they will take care of you.  You just have to trust them.

bring it back to the blog

Well, if you haven't already done so, you need to check out Pinterest.  I've been playing around with it for about 48 hours and I cannot step away from it.

If you want to follow along with my boards, you can find me here.

Since I'm not doing much blogging, I wanted to share a few pictures from what we've been doing.

My sister got married.  It was really nice and Coen did really well.

Coen, his Great Aunt and myself at the wedding.  Sadly, I was a little overwhelmed at the wedding and didn't take any pictures myself during the wedding.  My brother had my camera and got some good shots, just none as a family.  Should've could've would've.  Darnit.

 The next night we were at another wedding and he did a great job!  Couldn't believe how well he did.  Only mad a fuss to eat while we were eating but did very well otherwise.  What a great baby.

The beautiful bride and groom.

We watched our first fireworks with Coen at the end of our street.  Unfortunately, he slept through the whole thing, but I think he enjoyed them.

Coen was held by his first young friend, Jack.  He's one of the little boys I babysit for, however, I don't know that I'll be doing much babysitting since I have my own now.  Very sweet to see the boys so excited to meet Coen.  Jake was a little more hesitant and just wanted to look at him from a distance.

He turned 3 weeks old since the last time I posted and now he's actually 5 weeks old.  Just have to get those other pictures loaded and this is all I had for right now.

Just a picture of Coen hanging out at home.

Little toes... I love them.

He told stories to his dad about his day...

And the we went to our first Clipper's game as a family.  It was part of my company event that I actually planned and had someone in charge of while I am out.  I wasn't sure that we were going to make it, but we did.  It was great weather for a game and the breeze was extra enjoyable as well.  I think the Clipper's ended up loosing, but we didn't care.  It was just nice to get out!

A picture with the mascot!

And lastly, just at home in his jammies.

We're in love and cannot believe how time is passing us by...

weight

I want to be real, about my weight gain and not fabricate it at all, so... here ya go!

Throughout my entire pregnancy, I ate what I wanted.  I had little food aversions that kept me from eating some of the things that were better for me, but within reason, I ate whatever sounded good.  I also didn't skip dessert and took part in a $1 sundae from McD's just about 3 times a week.  I have a new found LOVE for ice cream and if it's chocolate or peanut butter related, I'M ALL OVER IT!

Anyway, let's be reminded of something.

I went from this....

To this...

And now I look like this.

I went from about 182lbs to 222lbs in about 27 weeks and in 3 weeks, I lost it all.

When Coen was 7 days old we got on the scale together and I weighed 196lbs.  Then about 5 days later I got up the courage to just weigh myself and I was down to 189lbs and then another week or so later, I was at 183lbs.  Now I'm hovering at 182 to 186, but it's basically my starting pregnancy weight and I cannot believe it!

Looking back at my pictures now, it's CRAZY how much water I retained and how swollen I was EVERYWHERE.  The water I was retaining wasn't just in my feet.

Anyway, that's where I'm at... just wanted to reveal the truth.

my loves

I love that when Coen is startled by something, he throws his hands up in "stop sign" fashion to express his startled-ness.

I love his little yawns.

I love that when he eats, he grunts through the whole thing and then stops for air in an over exaggerated way.

I love when he's wailing and I pick him up and he automatically calms down.

I love to watch him and my husband have cuddle time.

I love my cuddle time with him after he's eaten.

I love his toes.

I love his facial expressions when he's got his soothie in his mouth.

I love this expression because it just looks like he's saying... "ohhhhhh...."

I love listening to him sleep.

I love that he'll fall asleep with his hands above his head or just resting near his head.

I love that the animals love and care for you and aren't too jealous of our time that we spend with you.

I just love this little man to pieces...  It's an overwhelming feeling that I just cannot get over.  It's absolutely amazing.