Two months old!

Check out my smile!

Izzy turned two months old yesterday!

Height: At Monday's appointment she was 23.5 inches (90th percentile).

Weight: At Monday's appointment she was 11 lb, 9.9 oz (50th percentile).

Nicknames: Pumpkin (because she was born in the fall), Izzylicious, Kiddo

Milestones this month: lots of staring- at our faces, at toys, at CP on the iPad (when he was traveling), at lights, curtains, etc. She definitely started to smile which is quite adorable. She has started to make a few noises and get a louder cry. Lots of arm waving and kicking. She isn't aware of her body parts quite yet but keeps trying to find her thumb. She loves to "stand" on our laps- her leg muscles are quite strong!

Favorite toy: right now she loves the activity bar that came with the exersaucer (obviously she is not using this quite yet). She loves staring at the toucan and the dragonfly and the crinkle noises the butterfly and the palm tree leaves make. The other thing that she loves is the dining room- the red walls and the light fixture above the table usually help to stop her crying.

Whatcha talkin' bout Dragonfly??

Sleeping habits: her best night has been 7.5 hours (twice including last night!) but it is usually less than that. She had a string of longer sleeps starting two weeks ago but then reverted to every three hours for a week before last night. We can usually get her down by 10:30-11, wake up to change her diaper and nurse, then back down until 9 or 10am (depends on the night whether there is one wakeup or two). She moved from the Pack n Play bassinet in our room to the crib in the nursery this past weekend and hasn't seemed to mind the change. She is swaddled at night and depending on who swaddles her, sometimes she is able to Houdini an arm out (ahem *CP*).

Eating: she is nursing like a champ and I am still using the nipple shield.  I pump once a day and either freeze the previous day's milk or use the milk when I am out running errands/when I am away and CP needs to feed her. She usually takes between 100-120ml from the bottle (we use Born Free), so I'm guessing that is the amount that she gets per feeding when nursing. The pediatrician said that amount of milk is on the high side for this age. I use the iBabylog app and have figured out that almost 1/6th of my day (4 hours) is spent nursing!!!

Diapers: still in the cloth diapers and they are rock stars. She goes through about 75 diapers a week; I'm guessing that number may go down if she starts to sleep more through the night. 

Clothes: around 6 weeks old the newborn clothes were getting a little tight so we moved her up to 3 month clothing! I think part of it is the bulk of the cloth diapers but whoa!

Illness: thankfully nothing this month! She has some baby acne on her face, but that's normal for her age. She hiccups a lot and audibly farts/poops (hilarious). She doesn't spit up that often which is nice. We did have one night last week where she was up for 9 hours between 2pm and 11pm....we were worried she may be sick because she couldn't get to sleep so she unfortunately got the rectal thermometer. Thankfully she was fine but in retaliation she pooped during the process then peed before we could get a diaper on her. 

She did get her two month shots on Monday and I was unprepared for just how unhappy she was going to be! After the first shot she turned beet red and let out the loudest cry I have heard come out of her mouth! This continued for about 10 minutes....I tried to nurse her to calm her down but she wasn't having it. We ran home where she then nursed and slept for most of the afternoon.....until 4pm where she suddenly started screaming again. I also had to be careful of her thighs when changing her- she was very sensitive! I ran out to the store to grab the infant Tylenol the ped said I could give her. She slept most of the rest of the day and 5 straight hours that night and was back to being herself the next day. I read somewhere that the average infant cries about 3 hours a day but thankfully Iz only cries for short periods of time which do not add up to 3 hours.

Whoa.  I'm already two months old??

I can't wait to see how she will grow and change this next month!!

Day in the Life- 8 weeks old edition

Navigating the Mothership has done a quarterly "day in the life" series for a while now and I have always wanted to participate but the whole anonymous blog stuff got in the way. I don't know at what age I will stop posting pictures of Iz, but I thought it would be fun to have a record of a typical day with her around 8 weeks old. I will warn you, it might get a little repetitive! :-)

6am- Iz went to sleep right before midnight last night so she gave me my first six hour block of sleep in a loooooong time. Go Iz!

I pick her up from her Pack n' Play bassinet and we head to the nursery where I change her diaper, then she gets two boobs from the milk bar with burping in between and after. I swaddle her up once again, put the "air purifer" white noise on my iPhone app and try to lull her back to sleep. It's not too difficult today so back in the PNP she goes.

6:40am- I head downstairs with Buster to take him out. It's only 14 degrees out so my puffy North Face jacket is key. He decides to only pee and then runs inside, eager for breakfast. He gets his 2 1/4 cups of food which he gobbles up despite the bloat bowl that we use with him.

6:45am- I head back upstairs to nap with Iz; Buster heads to doggie daycare with CP.

9am- Iz starts to stir again so we are back up to change her and feed her; despite me wanting to stay in my nice, warm and cozy bed. Iz audibly farts while nursing and even 8 weeks into this, it is still hilarious.

9:45am- I finally get to eat something over 12 hours after dinner (sometimes I don't get to eat anything until noon so this is a good day). Chobani blueberry yogurt, banana with some peanut butter, and for kicks, hot chocolate. Izzy hangs out in the mamaroo.

10:15am- Playtime with Iz in the living room.

10:30am- Shower for me, vibrating bunny chair for Iz. Mumford & sons plays on my iPhone during my shower. The bunny chair is the best $5 spent at the consignment sale I went to this fall- it means I get to shower most days!

11am- Next door neighbor wants to come over to meet Iz, but Iz is hungry first.

11:30- Iz is awake and alert the entire time the neighbor visits until she falls asleep on me. After the neighbor leaves I put her in the mamaroo so that i can pee, put away clean dishes and wash some dishes.

1pm- Iz starts to stir so we head upstairs for 1 boob (didn't want the other) before I pump. She goes back in the vibrating bunny chair while I watch Friday Night Lights on Netflix and pump for 15 minutes. Left boob gives a sad output as that is the boob she nursed on but right boob is a champ. Milk gets put in a bottle in the fridge for CP's use over the weekend and pump parts are washed.

1:40pm- Iz starts to cry so we first walk around to try to get her to calm down. Then we change her diaper. She is still upset so we try to nurse but she is not interested. I head upstairs to rock her in the glider and make shushing noises. After a few minutes she calms down and falls asleep in my arms- maybe she was overtired from basically be up for the past 4.5 hrs? Still haven't heated up lunch- where did the day go?

2:15pm- Finally get up the nerve to move Iz from my arms to the MamaRoo so that I can heat up lunch. Stuffed peppers from our freezer full of food that CP stocked the first week home. Not CP's best effort, but all I had to do was stick it in the oven so I don't care! While lunch is heating up I take the bag of clean cloth diapers dropped off earlier that day and bring it upstairs to stock the diaper hanger in the nursery.

2:20pm- While eating lunch I hear from my good friend that her FET went great! I am so hopeful for her. We also discuss her possibly visiting with her son next month. :-) 

2:40- While Iz is still napping I clean the downstairs bathroom. I also drop a new roll of toilet paper in the toilet because I am awesome.

3pm- I catch up on Facebook, my email, and some blogs while she is still sleeping. Man I love the MamaRoo.

4pm- after an unheard of two hour nap, I decided to wake up Iz for a change/feeding. She was nice enough to gum my nipple during the feeding- yikes! She is still sleepy....

4:15pm- Soon after Izzy spits up and needs a new outfit.  We had to the downstairs changing table.

4:45pm- Now rocking her raccoon outfit, we go for a second round of playtime and tummy time today.  Iz loves checking out the toucan and the butterfly.

5:30pm- Iz and I run out for a quick errand tonight.  She sometimes cries right after I buckle her up but then stops soon afterwards.  The car is like a sleeping pill- she never stays awake once we get moving!

The rest of the night is more of the usual- feeding, burping, changing diapers with a quick few minutes to eat dinner- but it's quite nice to have an extra set of hands when CP gets home.  We head upstairs around 10pm and Iz is back in the Pack n Play and asleep by 11pm.  On to another day!

Cold weather is bad for running

This ridiculously cold and snowy weather we are having in Chicago this winter is making my journey back into running more difficult. I do have a gym that I could go to but I would have to wait until CP got home from work and while I think that he would be okay with that, I would feel bad. Iz is definitely not on any kind of schedule (although she did sleep 7.5 hours last night!!) so she could be sleepy, fussy, hungry, active, etc. It would be a crapshoot.

Instead I have brought back out 30 Day Shred. I know, I know. I was supposed to ease back into exercising, but I never do that. I always like to punish my body when I have taken time off from exercising. I get that having  baby is different than simply being lazy, but I'm not sure I can cure myself of this mindset.

I don't own that many exercise DVDs and frankly, I never know how much time I have to work out. Yesterday Iz slept through the 24 minute work out and then I was also able to eat lunch afterwards (her only nap after noon until bed was from 1-2)...today she was sleeping when I started but she woke up during the second circuit and I tried to distract her from crying by making funny faces and talking to her while doing the moves. I did get her to smile a couple of times, but that is most likely because I looked like an idiot jumping around while holding my breasts. She held off crying until I was finished but then immediately wanted to nurse.

So two days in and I am super sore- especially in my shoulders. During all of the jumping moves- jumping jacks, butt kicks, and jump rope I have to hold my boobs while doing the move. I ordered two Moving Comfort sports bras in my current size but my boobs still jump all over the place. Unless I hold my boobs it's pretty uncomfortable. So far my incision is just a little uncomfortable when I am jumping around but nothing too painful. I'm guessing that's okay?

I'm not sure when I will get out for my next run (or even a walk with Iz) so the strength training will hopefully help my running? I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle, the largest 8k (~5 miles) in the US on March 30th with a friend. I'm probably an idiot for jumping to an 8k as opposed to doing a 5k as my first run after giving birth, but oh well. I'll power through it somehow.

Any other exercise DVDs that you guys recommend?

Lactation cookies

As I have mentioned before, my milk supply has been a little iffy and I want to make sure that I have enough milk stockpiled before heading back to work next month.  I have been eating a ton of oatmeal, but half the time I don't eat breakfast and I'm also getting kind of sick of oatmeal!  I heard about lactation cookies and thought that I would give them a whirl.  I found this recipe from La Leche League and thought I would share it for anyone else wanting to boost their milk supply.

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbl water
2 tbl flaxseed meal (no substitution)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups thick cut oats
1 cup chocolate chips (I used raisins)
2-4 tbl brewers yeast (no substitution)- I used 3 tbl

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix flaxseed meal and water; set aside for 3-5 minutes.

Mix softened butter and sugar together.  Add eggs.

Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.  Beat until well blended.

Mix dry ingredients (except oats and chocolate chips/raisins) together.

Add butter mix to dry ingredients.  Stir in the oats and then the chocolate chips/raisins.

Drop on parchment paper on baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes.


Note: this recipe makes A LOT of cookies.  I only cooked half of the dough and froze the rest.

Almost wordless Friday

CP gets back tonight from his work trip and I am READY for his return.  We have done pretty well without him, but the first night was AWFUL.  Definitely the worst night of Izzy's short life.  I have a nice big bottle of expressed breast milk for CP to feed to Izzy tonight before she heads to bed so that I can head to bed nice and early.  I will still have to get up to feed her in the middle of the night, but this gives me at least a little break....  I will most definitely be enjoying my spa day tomorrow!!!

To send you off into the weekend, here are some cute baby pictures!  How is she already 7 weeks old??!!?

Dad is coming back tonight!!

Is Izzy going to grow up liking heavy metal?  Or will she want to be a Longhorn?

Mom, this is what I think of going to bed!

Baby leg warmers are the cutest

My seriously strong girl on top of the Boppy

And not to leave out Buster....he LOVES SNOW!  (This picture taken before we had to put Koda down as she is in the background doing her own thing.)

Birth control for an infertile?

Last Thursday I had my 6-week follow up with my doctor after giving birth. I was looking forward to the appointment because I was hoping that I would be officially cleared for everything- exercise, sex, etc.

The good news is that everything looks great and I am officially cleared. I am finally allowed to get waxed, participate in bedroom activities, exercise, and walk all 95 pounds of Buster! We did talk about a few other things as well....

*I am finally able to take my beloved charcoal pills again for any GERD/heartburn issues. Throughout pregnancy I had to work with only Tums so it's nice to finally be able to rely on the charcoal pills if I need them.

*The day before and the day of my doctor appointment I could have sworn that I had cervical mucus. I asked about it and my doctor said that while it is early and even though I am exclusively breastfeeding, it is possible that I could be starting my period again. (Dammit) On Sunday I did have some spotting, but no period yet.  UGH. After consulting with Dr Google there does seem to be something called the six week bleed. Maybe I have that?

*My doctor asked what we would like to use for pregnancy prevention. I'm not keen on condoms or a diaphragm.  In fact I am pretty sure that birth control is just silly for us, but I guess we should be safe just in case....

I asked about IUDs and got the following information:

•  the first kind uses hormones and can result in lighter periods.
• the second kind is the copper kind. It doesn't use any hormones, but it has been known to cause more    cramps and/or heavier periods. 
• I asked if IUDs affect future fertility and she said that in the past when people were not in a monogamous relationship and contracted certain STDs or if it wasn't inserted in a sterile environment, there was a problem. But nowadays, there is no issue.
• I mentioned that I had crazy heavy periods prior to my fibroid surgery and that we weren't sure whether that was from the fibroid or from the endometriosis. I'm not crazy about going back to that life so I asked if the copper IUD would create that issue. Endo is not present during pregnancy or during breastfeeding because you don't have the up and down from your hormone cycle (however, if I am getting my period again soon this may not be true) so maybe it wouldn't be too bad?

*Finally, we discussed when it is "safe" for me to get pregnant again if I am able to. While I don't think that we will be trying super duper soon, CP is 37 and as of last month, I am 35. It may take a while to get pregnant again so we don't want to wait too long.... Basically, the recommended amount of time is 18 months. So 18 months from the birth of Isabel to the birth of the next child.

Any thoughts from you guys on IUDs? Do you have one? Do you like it/would you recommend it? I am leaning towards it but waiting for my doctor's office to call my insurance company to see if it is covered.  I have also put in a call to my RE's office to see what she recommends.  It may be that I need to go on birth control to try to keep the endo from coming back.  I think that I would rather the drugs from birth control than to have to go through another surgery to remove endo before trying to get pregnant again....  And then there is still that damn fibroid still in my body...how to control that? Ugh.  It's all so complicated.

Feeling more normal

I wish that my last post, as a very sad one, was not post number 1000 for this blog, but I wasn't paying attention. Thank you so much for your kind comments on Koda. We miss her a lot, but it definitely helps to have Izzy and Buster as distractions. The vet made a clay print of her paw that we received late last week. I'm not sure where we are going to put it, but it's a nice reminder of her.

I can't believe that I have been posting since the summer of 2008! Frankly, I still can't believe that people read and comment on my blog! For that, I thank you as even though I have never met you, every single one of you has been helpful in the past 5.5 years. I know that I technically missed International De-Lurking Week, but pretty please leave a comment on this post? Even if it is just "here." And if you have a blog and I'm not reading it, leave it in the comments section!

On to bigger and better things. Now that I am six weeks out from giving birth and suddenly having a tiny infant needing me and my boobs all day and night, I am starting to feel more like myself. Saturday was a great example of this. My doctor gave me the go-ahead to start exercising and running again, so I was chomping at the bit to get back into my running shoes. CP agreed to watch Izzy while I took Buster for my first run in over a year. Getting ready for the run took more time than usual- Izzy was sleeping and didn't want to wake up so I pumped to relieve some of the weight from my boobs before going.

As I was getting Buster on his leash, my iPhone flew out of my hands and fell into his water bowl. I wouldn't be able to run without tunes so thankfully I was able to quickly wipe off the phone and it immediately started to work. Phew! After I finally got out the door, I had not even walked .2 of a mile (to warm-up) before I slipped and fell on ice. Boo. (I now sport a nice shin bruise from the fall.)

The run went well. I walked when the sidewalk got too icy but really did run for most of my time outside, which surprised me. I was glad that I did all of that walking during my pregnancy- maybe it helped keep up with some of my fitness? Despite a second fall on ice towards the end of our run, I ended up run/walking 2.4 miles! When I ran I was in the 11 minute mile range which also surprised me but I'll take it. :-) it was just so nice to get outside and exercise, and Buster quite enjoyed the run as well. As long as CP is not traveling I foresee more runs with Buster in my future as it kills two birds with one stone- we both get exercise!

After a quick shower I was then off to the hair salon to finally get my roots dyed! Between that and getting waxed the day before (Izzy was in tow for this appointment), I felt much better and more put together. It's amazing what a little pampering can do for someone who is getting spit up on and craving a full night's sleep.

Next weekend I am really looking forward to my birthday present from CP- a 4+ hour day at a local spa where I will enjoy a massage, a facial, a pedicure and a manicure. My boobs will be rock hard and hurting by the end, but it will be so worth it! Thank goodness for breast pumps so that I can pump out a bottle or two for CP to give Izzy while I am out. Plus it will be really nice to get out of the house without Izzy as I really won't have a chance to do that this week. CP left for his first work trip since Izzy's birth and I'm by myself all week long. I can do this!

Goodbye Koda

Thursday was a sad day for the NSC household. CP and I had to make the very difficult decision to put Koda, aka Fuzzy Britches, to sleep right before her 10th birthday.

While my MIL was in town the week before Christmas Koda suddenly fell as she was trying to get up. She lost control of her hind legs for a few hours. Thankfully CP slept downstairs with her and we waited to see how she was doing in the morning- amazingly, she bounced back. Koda tended to do that. She was a tough girl- she had powered through bloat surgery AND ACL surgery all in one year- but once in a while would look like there was something really wrong with her only to have her be okay a few hours later.

I had a sinking feeling that her losing control of her legs was the beginning of the end though. The right side of her head had really started to bulge out from the bone tumor. We are not sure if she could see through her right eye anymore because the third flap dogs have at the bottom of their eyes was sticking out and covering most of her eye. She was still wagging her tail and enjoying the snow, but right after we brought Izzy home CP had to start making Koda's meals as she couldn't open up her mouth very wide and couldn't chew hard food. She was pretty excited about the ground meat, sweet potato and rice concoction that CP made though; even Buster was jealous of her new food. For a while now it had been hard to get her outside- we would have to use a treat most of the time. But, we figured that it was okay to spoil her.  Not mention that even though it was wintertime, Koda randomly left large clumps of fur all over the place. 

From the moment I got downstairs Thursday morning though, she seemed different. CP takes the dogs out in the morning and before he left for work he informed me that Koda only ate a small portion of her breakfast. This was not a good sign as both dogs are very food motivated. Every hour or so throughout the day I would offer her the food simply to have her refuse.  Normally, she would sleep most of the day away, getting up to go outside, change position, eat, etc but this day she looked like she wanted to sleep but was too uncomfortable. It was hard to watch. I took the dogs out midday and instead of enjoying the snow by laying down in it or sticking her face in it, Koda peed then walked back towards the house.

I put the dogs' dinners down before CP got home. Buster gobbled his up as usual, Koda turned her head away. A few minutes later when she heard CP walk in the door she ate some of her food; I think she was really trying to please CP more than anything else. But after a few bites, she lay her head down and refused to eat. She walked over to CP and sat at his feet.

At that point, we both knew that she was not okay.  While both of us started crying, we started to discuss the night. Now that Izzy was here, she would complicate matters, but I wanted to be there. I couldn't imagine *not* going. Most of the car ride to the vet's office was in silence, but tears were streaming down my face the entire time. It was a good thing I had stuffed a bunch of Kleenex in my purse before leaving the house.

We both knew it had to be done but saying goodbye to her was so, so difficult. We elected to be in the room with her even though I debated on whether I could handle it. I remember watching a Celebrity Rehab where one of the "celebrities" had to put their dog down and just watching that had me bawling- and I didn't even know the dog.  The vet led us into a room with a big soft bed for Koda and told us to take as long as we wanted with her.  Once the vet came in, he administered the shot and within seconds her heart had stopped.  I had no idea it would happen so quickly.  I also don't think that I will ever get that last image of her out of my mind- her resting peacefully on that big dog bed.  She just looked like she was sleeping.  The rest of the night we were in shock that we were now a one-dog household.  When we got back to the house we put Koda's leash and collar in the regular bin and Buster came over to sniff it.  He seems a bit confused as to where she went....every time we put down food he waits for her to start eating first, even though she isn't there.  

Koda, you were a great dog and we will miss you very much.

Cloth diapering

A couple of you have asked about cloth diapering.  While I won't go into a long post and/or have a video (there are plenty on You Tube that I checked out), I have a few thoughts on how it is going.

Basically, awesome.

We are blessed with the choice of two different cloth diapering services here in Chicago and so far I am really happy with the one we picked.  The woman came out to my house to do a little demonstration on how to put on the cloth diapers, to show me a few of the different organic products (like shampoo, lotion, and butt cream), and to drop off the first batch of diapers.

We have changed what we are doing slightly, but I can talk about the two different ways to cloth diaper.  The first week we used the cloth diapers on the bottom right in the picture- the beige rectangular cloth.  This is how most people cloth diaper.  You can search You Tube for how to fold these into diapers but you use that piece of cloth and the snappies (the package on the upper left) to hold the diaper together (instead of pins).  You then put a diaper cover (any of the five shown on the upper right) over the cloth diaper.  My service had a bit of a discount for us to buy either Thirsties (pictured) or wool diaper covers.  The woman recommended the Thirsties while Izzy was in the beginning sizes of diapers.  Later on, she recommends the wool covers because they wick better (especially overnight) and keep the kids cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  However, they are more expensive and you have to take care of them.

Sorry for the sideways view, but stupid Blogger is being annoying and I can't fix it.

I had no problems folding the diapers but CP was not a big fan.  Luckily, the woman gave us one pre-fitted cloth diaper to try out (bottom left).  It has snaps on the front that you can use to make the diaper bigger or smaller, depending on the child.  CP liked these much better and frankly, they are much easier.  They are a few dollars more a week, but totally worth it.  So we get 80 of the pre-fitted diapers every week delivered to our door.  We have two bins for the cloth diapers, one upstairs in Izzy's room, and one downstairs with a changing table.  Every time we change Izzy we just drop the dirty diaper in the bin. Every week we put all of the dirty diapers in a wet bag that is given to us and leave it outside.  Usually around 12 or 1 the service picks up the bag of dirty diapers and leaves a new bag with clean diapers.  We don't have to clean or do anything to the diapers.  It's great.

And what do we do when we are out and about?  Well, I bought a small wet bag at Buy Buy Baby and just stick the dirty diaper in there until we get home and can drop them in the bin.  Easy peasy.

So would I recommend cloth diapering?  Absolutely.  Obviously it helps that we have a service instead of laundering them ourselves, but I am already doing laundry every 2-3 days for Izzy's clothes/burp clothes/etc. so if we were to go that route we would just need to buy enough diapers to last a few days.  So far no issues with blow-outs or diaper rash either.  And I get the satisfaction of not filling up trash bags every week with disposable diapers.  Win-win-win!

Did you cloth diaper or do you plan on cloth diapering?