Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas Morning

Saoirse's first Christmas went well. She was pretty much lost, being not quite 4 months old, but next year will surely be a bit of a different story. It was also Saoirse's aunt Hong's first Christmas.
Hong on Christmas morning

 She's 5 and had been with our family for one month as of Christmas. If you'd like to read the blog with details of that adoption, here's the link: http://kaijinsbigsis.blogspot.com/ 

Saoirse loves doing the monkey hold on her Daddy. The tutu was her Christmas morning outfit. 

My heart in one picture 

I got Saoirse a glow seahorse. I had a glow-worm when I was little that I really loved so I got her the more modern version. She loves things that light up. 


The bow then went from the seahorse onto her head. It stayed on pretty well and was very cute. My little present. :)


Saoirse and I Christmas morning. 

She got some soft blocks, a set of keys, some outfits, a panda that makes sounds, and the like. In addition to a jumper she got from her Papa Jim and Granny Barb, her great grandparents. 


Playing in her jumper on Christmas

We got it on the 23rd so here's some shots from her first time in it. 



And a final really cute picture of her. 

We love Wubbanubs around here. She's in a sucky phase where she doesn't always want milk, but she wants to suck and she gets annoyed when she gets milk. And then spits up. Everywhere. Wubbanubs are awesome. My cats don't think they're toys like they do the standalone pacis. 


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

From all of us at Rubber Ducky Regatta!

Also, here's some of the pics from our Christmas card. Only 4 made it on, but these were the options. :)












Sunday, December 22, 2013

Thirty Seconds To Mars

Thirty Seconds to Mars is my favorite band. When I found out they were going to be in Tulsa (about 4 hrs away)- the day after my 23rd birthday nonetheless- I was ecstatic. I saw my first concert of their's in Brady Theater on April 13, 2010, the day after my now-husband asked me out and 4 days before our first date (April 17). I introduced Joseph to 30STM, and he is a fan now too. I was so thrilled. Happy birthday to me!

I bought Joseph and I each a ticket, and I arranged for my mom to accompany us to Tulsa and watch Saoirse during the show. Well, an ice storm was headed for Tulsa, so there were major concerns. Would the show happen? Could we even get there between snow, ice, and flooding here in Arkansas? And then Joseph woke up sick the day of, so he stayed home. Mom and I trekked out with Saoirse, deciding if it was too bad anywhere we'd turn back. 

On the way there, we decided Mom could just go in to with Saoirse, so the ticket wouldn't be wasted. I had Joseph's noise canceling headphones for her. We made to Tulsa with no problems. There was ice on trees and all, but we made it safely. We went and ate at Mexicali nearby, so we didn't sit through the first 2 acts. Great food and good service there. I definitely recommend it. 

We went in after dinner and hung out in the lobby until the act was over and we went to find our seats. I bought some MARS pins and we attached them to Saoirse's hat. 

We hung out in there until the next act started and we put the headphones on her. She didn't care for them so Mom took her out to the lobby. You can still hear but it's at a more normal volume. 

Mom and Saoirse hung out at the merchandise table and Saoirse fell asleep. Mom came back in after the act just before 30 Seconds to Mars and we all hung out in our chairs. Saoirse got so many compliments about how cute she is and how awesome it was that she was there. 30STM started so we put the headphones on her and she was okay through "Birth" and part of "Night of the Hunter", then she decided she didn't dig the headphones so Mom took her back to the lobby. 

Asleep on Cheerio with headphones

So she got to hear her favorite band (I listened to 30STM all the time while I was pregnant, and I listened to them while I was in labor. She still likes to listen to them. She likes "City of Angels".) live at volumes okay for a baby, either in the lobby or with nearly $200 noise canceling headphones. Her hearing was protected. 

It was an amazing show. I got some good videos and all. And I GOT PICKED FROM THE AUDIENCE TO GO ON STAGE FOR "UP IN THE AIR"!!!!! Such a story to tell Saoirse about her first concert. My Mom got her to leave the headphones on so that they could see me on stage. 

((Seen in between those arms the arrow is pointing at. The little light pink blob is Saoirse.))

Those headphones just make those cheeks look even chubbier. 

It was an amazing night and really awesome. Saoirse was really good about being in her car seat, which she dislikes, for so much time in one day. She slept most of the way to Tulsa, with a couple stops to breastfeed, but by the time we made it to Sallisaw, OK, on the way home, she was done. She was bored and tired of being in the car seat. So we talked from Sallisaw to Russellville. She had a lot to coo about after such a concert so we talked which entertained her. We stopped and let her eat in Russellville and then she fell asleep from there til home. We kept her home today as I think she'd had enough car seat action for 24 hrs. 

Here's some pics of the show




Me on stage 



Friday, December 13, 2013

SoundSleeper

There's this app for iPhone called SoundSleeper (may have a space, I'm not sure). I am in love with this app. It is a true lifesaver, available for free, or $3.99, or $2.99. Let me explain the variety. 

SoundSleeper is a white noise app. Vacuum, car sounds, rain, thunderstorm, shhh, and a couple more available sounds. Now, for free, the sound will run for up to 30 minutes unattended. After several weeks of pulling this app out, I decided to upgrade. $3.99. Not too bad for the peace and amazing calm-down abilities it has. Better yet, share it on Facebook and you get 25% off, making it $2.99. Yes, please. 

Upgrading gives you the ability to have continuous play, as well as a "listen" feature. I haven't used it yet to see how well it works, but it's supposed to play for a bit, fade out, and if it hears your baby making noise, it starts back up.

This app has gotten Saoirse to calm down when nothing else seems to. When walking, nursing, rocking, and Gripe Water all fail, this will work. Most of the time. Sometimes we're just SOL, but that's by no fault of this app. Which I love. I just wish I could get it to play through my car's speakers. We use "rain" and that works for Saoirse. 

Disclaimer: I was not paid to do this review or anything. I just love this app. 

And some pictures cause I know what you're all here for. 

Holding my head up so well. 

Chatterbox

Today's outfit. Matching feet and hat. 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Pain

It's amazing to me how much pain I will go through for this child. And she's only 3 months old. Over those 3 months, I gave birth unmedicated (although I took 2 hits of stadol during labor), the first week of breast feeding was very painful as my boobs got used to it, we then battled a milk blister/plugged duct and thrush around Halloween and another milk blister/plugged duct just after Thanksgiving. She apparently absorbed some of my cats' DNA which caused her to have claws and a bizarre love of doing a kneading motion generally only done by my cats. She likes to slowly slough my skin off with her nails. She also some times likes to clamp down her gums on my nipple. 

Not to mention the 9 months prior of off-and-on nausea, hip, and back pain. 

And I love her more than anything, and I would do it all over again. 

This smile makes it all worth it. 


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Shots Part 2

Saoirse got her 2nd set of shots yesterday. Her first doses of HiB and Pc. She got DTaP and Rotavirus when she was 2 months old. Once again, the tears didn't start until the needles were removed. 


"I think I remember this place, and I don't recall liking it."

Overall, she took it very well. Cried for about 8 minutes, but I can't really blame her with one shot in each thigh. Poor girl. After that we went for some retail therapy at Target. Aka a run for some detergent and Gripe Water. Which is like some kind of heavenly baby booze, sans any alcohol. Target didn't have the brand we get (Mommy's Bliss), so that wasn't gotten there. Bah. 

She stayed with her paternal grandparents last night while her Daddy and I had some time alone. Which involved dinner and going to Walgreens for the Gripe Water that Target failed me on. Romantic, right? It was her first time to stay with them alone. She fought sleep  which is her most recent thing to do. She gets super sleepy, cries because she's sleepy, and doesn't go to sleep well or easily. Fortunately, she does eventually pass out and sleeps well after that usually. But oh can she fight it. I didn't know 3 month olds fought sleep. Now I do. 

Her stay went well though, all things considered. She had her 2nd bottle of breastmilk. It takes get a minute to figure out what is in the bottle, but once she gets a taste she's generally good. Thank goodness. 

Christmas picture!

Christmas is a strange beast with a baby who will be almost 4 months old at the time. Being her first Christmas, I want it to be special. I've got her a couple of presents. But it really occurs to me that she could care less. I could buy her nothing and she'd be thrilled with the lights on the Christmas tree. Opening presents will mean little to nothing to her. 
Oh well, we'll just cuddle and see lots of relatives. 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Shooters

I want this blog to be real. I want other new moms to read it and go 'oh good that's not just me.' Because there is so much you're not warned/told about. Like how the soundsleeper app is God for babies who like white noise. How your baby may start drooling like a St Bernard an indefinite amount of time before that first tooth (we've been drool-ridden for about 3 weeks now- no tooth) and how it's okay to be okay with the drooling and totally not be wishing for that first tooth. I'm okay with my baby/St Bernard. Not sure how I feel about teeth in the mouth that gets food from my boobs. 


On that note, I will say it: my boob sprayed my baby in the face the other day. The things no one tells you can/probably will happen while you're pregnant...

I had climbed into the back of the car to
do a feeding before we ran into Wal-Mart because she was a bit fussy and my boob was a bit full. These things together resulted in Saoirse having that area between your nose and lip covered in milk as she fussed, not quite latching on and triggered let down with her crying and slight sucking when she had latched on for .025 seconds. As a result a small geyser erupted onto her face. It was both funny and a little mortifying. I did my best to target it into her mouth, and she finally latched on and settled down. She ate, then I snuggled her up in the baby k'tan and we went shopping. She slept through the whole experience until the check out line. 

Welcome to motherhood. Where boobs spontaneously erupt. 


Her toes painted with piggy paint. They happen to match her diaper. 

I was not compensated to name drop SoundSleeper, Baby K'Tan, or Piggy Paint. 

Saoirse is 11 weeks, 6 days old. 

Sunday, November 17, 2013

High Lipase


Completely irrelevant to the post baby-cuteness. 


Looks like I got another awesome part of breastfeeding (you know, after thrush): high lipase activity.

I've been pumping since my milk came in (because, ow, my boobs, and she totally wasn't taking that much in at that point). I pump once every few days when a boob is full and she is completely content having finished the other one or if I have a moment free, I'll pump a bit. So it's not a huge stash (20-30 oz over 2.5 months), but it's something. Well, I've been reading about high lipase and decided to try my frozen milk.

Holy yuck.

Tasted gross to me. I managed to get her to take an ounce from a dropper with some acidophilus and Vitamin D last week but she looked none too thrilled about it and never latched on and sucked it down like she does with Gripe Water (which is mana from heaven, btw). I tried again today with a different bit of frozen milk. The faces she made were ones of disgust and roughly akin to that one makes when they get a mouth full of rank milk or durian (well, for most people). There was no enthusiam and the only reason any of it was going down was because I was lightly squeezing the dropper and all of it wouldn't roll out of her mouth. The milk I pumped yesterday that was still in the fridge tasted pretty gross too. I'm not throwing the milk I have out, I'm going to keep it for now for "emergencies", seeing as we can manage to get it down her throat, so if worse came to worst...

But for the newer milk, I'm going to need to start scalding. Given the small amounts of milk I tend to pump out (2 oz, roughly), scalding in a pot...well, I don't have a pot that tiny. Microwaving is not an option because it does even more damage to the milk than scalding alone. I'm going with the bottle warmer method. Which means I need to buy a bottle warmer. So I'm going to get one without an automatic shut off (so it can get to the requisite almost 180*) and invest in a stainless steel baby bottle at some point. The stainless steel bottle will allow me to heat the milk and quickly cool it in ice water without having to switch bottles. Until I get one of those, there may be some switching around, as I don't really want to heat plastic like that and glass going from 180* to ice water tends to not work out so well. Or it works out really well if you're going for wedding centerpiece decorations (like we did for my wedding- shattering off the bottoms of wine bottles to use for centerpieces, but that's a diy for another time). But I would like the glass to stay intact given the liquid gold it's holding.

But yeah, the milk was gross. And I have tickets to a 30 Seconds to Mars concert in Tulsa December 21, so Saoirse will be staying with Papa and Cheerio while her Daddy and I go to that, so I need to have a small valid stash for her to eat while we're gone for that. The pump will be accompanying me to the concert and hopefully my milk will stay valid from pumping until I get home and can scald it.



Saoirse is 11 weeks and 2 days old.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sleepy Baby



Saoirse sometimes decides that, despite being very sleepy, sleep is the last thing she wants to do. Yes, at 2 months old, this is already happening. But anyway. She will periodically burst out into tears from her sleepiness and nothing but sleep will make such outbursts cease. Breast feeding, no. She pops off of the boob before it can work its magic, at least unless I go and lie down in bed with her. 

Here's where the fact that I have decided everyone should own a baby carrier plays in. One thing I have found that is guaranteed to knock her out is putting her in the baby k'tan and plodding my way around the block a few times. She's usually unconscious before we've gone 1/3 of the way around the approximately half a mile that our block is in length. She just nearly can't stay awake in the baby k'tan if I can keep moving for a while. Once she's good and asleep I can remain in one location for small periods of time. But too long being still and she wakes right back up. However, this makes shopping way easier than it would be otherwise. I put her in and start walking around Target and she's gone. And my trips are virtually never cut short by an upset baby. 

I value this while it lasts, as some day that most likely won't be the case.

It frees my hands as well, to do things like post to this blog while getting a work out of walking 1+ miles (sometimes we do more, but always at least 2 laps) with a sleeping, roughly 12 lb baby strapped to my front.

We've had a cold snap lately (it was 70 degrees Monday, there's a high of 52 today), so I'm having to think of more brilliant ways to keep her warm during these walks. Socks are a must. Not uncommonly fleece sleep n plays are brought into use, which removes the need for socks. I bought her a Carter's outfit yesterday largely for the hooded jacket both to keep her warm and to not force the use of short sleeves out of her wardrobe if we left the house. I'm thinking of going back to the kangaroo set up on the k'tan, as it keeps her feet and legs inside the fabric, as opposed to the hug where her legs hang out. She's getting to be big enough to push out, but she generally falls asleep and that totally wouldn't be an issue. Otherwise, she may shortly be piled into a too-big (6-9 mos, she still wears 0-3/3 mos) fluffy penguin footed warm suit thing. I'm pondering a poncho type thing for myself, largely to provide an extra layer between her and the elements as I have jackets and coats. But I have yet to find one that I would wear. I just want something else to hold the heat close to us, as we do these walks 2-4 times a week, depending on when sleepy time hits, whether or not she falls asleep on me and I can get her into the swing and whether or not we're getting into the car, as that will generally put her to sleep as well if she's tired. 

But hey, it makes me get out and walk at least a little. 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Thrush Part 2

A week ago, Saoirse and I visited a lactation consultant. I was tired of gritting my teeth through feedings, and I wanted someone to tell me it wasn't my latch. 

Well, it wasn't. Latch is fine. But the LC did confirm thrush. She gave me the name of a stronger "azole" drug, ketaconazole, to ask my OB for. Which I did as soon as I left the building. She also said Saoirse appeared to have a small amount of thrush build up on her tongue. She told me what I already knew from the World Wide Web- that Saoirse needed to be treated as well or we'd most likely keep passing this back as forth. 

Yay. Not. Nursing a baby shark is totally an experience I want to keep replicating. At least that's what it felt like I was doing. Or cutting my nipple off with a razor blade or a hot laser. But I digress. 

Called her pediatrician per the LC's suggestion. I am once again told that they won't give her nystatin unless she's showing symptoms. Well, she is. Well, apparently thrush on the tongue only doesn't count as symptoms and the risks of tummy troubles outweighs any benefit. 

Obviously, this nurse has never had thrush. 

I was told to call back if she developed white spots on her gums or cheeks. Another sign she had thrush would be refusing to nurse as her mouth would "hurt like the dickens". Okay, so you want to wait until my baby is miserable to treat her? Love you too. 

It's a good thing I like her pediatrician, even if I'm not digging their stance on nystatin. 

Fortunately, Saoirse has yet to show any symptoms aside possibly from her incredible gassiness. Lots of burps and terribly uncomfortable farts. She'll cry hard for a moment, fart, then settle back down. I feel bad for her during those episodes. 

I, for one, am grateful the ketaconazole seems to be doing what the miconazole wasn't. Getting rid of this. Nursing on my right side is now only mildly uncomfortable some of the time. So we're heading in the right direction. Thank god. 

I leave you with photographic evidence of my baby. 



This is her "determined" face. This was taken about 1 minute before she got pissed at her inability to crawl at 10 weeks old. 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Happy Halloween!

Almost a week late, here are our pictures from Halloween. I was a black cat and Saoirse was my pink kitten. My sister, Reese, was an angry bird. 

By this point in the night, she was not digging the hood. 
So we took the hood off. 

And here's Reese dressed as an angry bird (she's adopted from China- you can read all about that here: http://kaijinsbigsis.blogspot.com/ )

Saoirse had her 2 month old appointment on Halloween as well. She's now 22 inches long (20 in at birth), 11 lbs 6 oz (8 lbs 1 oz), and has a head circumference of 16 inches (13 inches). We've also decided to do a delayed shot series, largely following Dr Sears' schedule. She got the DTaP and rotavirus vaccines. At the beginning of December, we'll go back and get the Pc and HiB vaccines. This was a decision we didn't take lightly, and we did research on it. Ultimately she will be fully vaccinated. She's just not getting them all in one visit. We did decline the Hepatitis B vaccine at birth, as no one in our family has the disease, so her risk of catching it is so ridiculously small. We will get her that series at some point later.