In sickness and in health

Last week Emma came down with her first real illness.  It was terrifying and exhausting, but I am happy to say we are all on the mend now.  Let me break it down for you:

Tuesday night last week:  Randy and I decide to order Chinese for dinner.  As I'm getting ready to put Emma down to bed I say to him, "my stomach doesn't feel good".  Shortly after I get Emma down for the night I am violently vomiting in the bathroom (sorry not sorry).  At first I think it's food poisoning.  I soon realize as I continue to get sick that it's something else.

Wednesday:  Randy stays home from work to help out.  I am weak and miserable and need him to take over with Emma for a while so I can sleep.  He takes her to a playdate.  I lie in the recliner in front of the tv and sleep and generally feel like I am dying.  Randy and Emma come back from the playdate that afternoon.  As I'm holding Emma on my lap she coughs and projectile vomit comes shooting out of her.  I attempt to nurse her.  Vomit, vomit everywhere.  I get really scared and start crying.  Randy was calm (or pretending to be) and we call the nurses line.  Get in to see the doc and the doc is like, oh, it's a gastro intestinal virus, aka norovirus.  Nothing you can do but let it run it's course.  Awesome.

Thursday:  Emma and I are starting to feel a tad better.  And then Randy gets struck down.  Vomit everywhere, again.

It has taken a whole week to recover from this virus.  And now on top of it Emma has a little cold.  Really?! To say this has been exhausting is an understatement. Emma has (understandably) been super fussy.  Her sleep is totally off with her waking multiple times a night.  And guess what?  You don't get to call in sick when you're a mom.  Still gotta show up, even when you are recovering as well.  It's the saddest thing in the world for your baby to be sick.  I just want everyone to be well and back to normal!  Also I would like to sleep.  I would always like to sleep.

In other news, I made some changes to my school schedule for the upcoming semester.  I'll be taking two classes on Saturday, back to back.  This works out much better for everyone.  I won't be home late on a weeknight, forcing Randy to either do bedtime by himself or keep Emma up.  And Emma is much less crabby pants during the daytime.  Randy will have fun daddy/daughter bonding time while I'm at class.  I'm sure they'll enjoy their Saturdays together.

4 months 'till I'm done with school.  4 months 'till I (hopefully) find a job and go back to work.  4 months 'till Em goes to daycare.  4 months to hold my little girl and make memories.

6 MONTHS OLD

Emma is 6 months old today!  How quickly this day has come.  I really do think time speeds up once you have kids.  Look at that chunk a monk up there.  She is my world.

Well I'm proud to say I made it though this semester, with a brand new baby no less.  I received an A- in both of my classes!  One more semester to go and I'm done with grad school.  I will be graduating this May.  I am so, so, grateful that I have this year at home with Em.  I don't think I would have ever finished my degree otherwise.  And it's so great to watch Emma grow and change every day.  I'm also very lucky to be able to breastfeed her for the entire year.  I'm not sure if I would have continued breastfeeding if I had gone back to work.  As hard as it is sometimes being a stay at home mom, these past 6 months have been the most amazing time of my life.  It still blows my mind that we made this little girl, and I am able to feed her with my own body.  Science is amazing!  I am also astounded almost daily at my capacity to love.  There is no way to describe the love you feel for your own child.  It humbles me.

Enough with the mushy stuff!  Here's what's new with Em:

•  she is eating solid food for lunch and dinner now.  Breastmilk is still her main form of nutrition.  However this little girl loves to eat.  She gets really excited at "mealtime". She loves sitting at the table in her high chair with mom and dad and having "dinner" with us.  Her favorites so far are pears and carrots.  

• no crawling yet, but I think we are getting close.  She moves her legs, and then her arms, in a crawling fashion.  But she can't figure out how to do both at the same time, and lift her torso.

• she sits up like a champ, all the time.  In fact she hates laying down now and always wants to be sitting like a big girl

• she "talks" a lot too, constantly babbling and screeching and making sounds at us

• she grabs her toys, my hair, my phone, anything within reach.  She is very strong and loves to grab things and explore them and put them in her mouth

• she loves to bounce and will jump in her jumparoo or johnny jump up for a long time

• she is very interested in both the cat and the dog.  When either of the pets comes in to the room Emma kicks her legs and flaps her arms and makes screeching excited sounds.  Can't wait 'till toddlerhood, the pets are in for a world of pain.  

• sleeping is going okay.  Some nights she sleeps the whole night.  Some nights she still wakes up for 1 or 2 feedings.  But on the whole it's not too bad.  She's also forming a solid nap schedule for herself.  She takes a big nap in the afternoon, so we have to make sure all activities are done in the morning and we are home or in the car by noon or 1:00.  I'm learning to schedule things around nap time now.  

• She loves her daddy, and her Nana and Grandpa and Auntie K.  We've gone out a couple times now and they have babysat.  She does okay, still cries and has meltdowns, but is getting better.

• she is long and chubby, and all her 6 month clothes are too short for her.  We're in 6-9 month size clothes now!

I'm enjoying being on winter break from school and spending lots of time with family.  Classes start up again in February and we will be busy, busy, busy.  Until then we plan on having lots of fun adventures!

Sleep progress

I apologize to any readers I have left, I have kind of abandoned this blog haven't I?  School got really hard and busy.  My only time to get schoolwork done is in the early morning after Emma's first feeding, when (and if) she naps, or if her Dad takes over for a while.  So all free time was devoted to getting stuff done for school.  But now I am nearing the end of the semester; hallelujah! I am looking forward to a nice long break before spring semester starts.  

I titled this blog post "Sleep progress" because I am refusing to label it as a "sleep regression". You see, Em has stopped sleeping through the night.  All of you that have children are nodding knowingly right now.  My awesome little sleeper who would go down between 8:30 and 9:00pm every night and sleep all the way through 'till 6:00 or 7:00am the next morning is gone.  She now wakes up 2 times a night for feedings.  And they are long feedings.  Like half hour or longer feedings.  So of course I spent an exorbitantly large amount of time talking about it with my mama friends and Googling it incessantly.  I spent a lot of time complaining that my "good" sleeper was gone.  I spent some time crying in her nursery at 5:00am because I was just so tired.  But I'm done with all of that (well, probably not with the crying).  Because I know that Emma is not a good or bad sleeper, she's a baby that is developing at a crazy ridiculous rate right now.  And that it won't be this way forever.  And that the reason she is waking up is because she is hungry and needs food to continue to develop.  This all started a few days after her 4 month birthday (November 1).  Since then she has hit all of these developmental milestones:

• rolling over
• blowing raspberries
• sitting up
• grabbing her toys
• shaking her head back and forth
• "screeching" and talking
• popping off the nipple because she is distracted by the world around her
• recognizing mom and dad, our voices, when we leave the room, when we come back in the room
• eating a few solids

So yeah.  That is A LOT of stuff for a wee babe in a matter of 3 weeks.  Of course she is waking up at night to eat.  I am glad that I am not working right now, because I don't know how I would be able to function at a job all day and then take care of her at night.  It's hard enough with grad school.  

One advantage of all these developments is that she is taking naps like a champ.  She takes a 30 minute morning nap and then a 2-3 hour mega nap in the afternoon.  I know this won't last and will change over time.  I am enjoying it while I can.  Currently she is napping in her car seat on the kitchen table.  

So we soldier on.  If I get a good night's sleep I feel like super mom the next day.  I get an amazing amount done and sometimes even throw in a workout**.  If it's a crap night of sleep everything is horrible and awful the next day, I can't concentrate on anything and I just want to lay in front of the tv.  Today is one of those days.  But then Emma's whole face lights up when she sees me and she gives me the biggest grin and my heart bursts and all is right with the world.

"this too shall pass"

**I took Emma to childcare at the gym again and it went ok!  I think she might be getting a little better around other people.

4 months old

   Today Emma is 4 months old!  I can't believe it.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was crying over only sleeping 2 hours at a time and being tethered to the couch all day breastfeeding.  Now my little girl is sleeping through the night, rolling over, and just wants to play, play, play.  Sometimes I look at her and wonder who she is going to be.  I fall in love with her more and more every day.  And then there are the days when she won't stop screaming so I start screaming right along with her, or when her dad comes home and I hand her over and announce "I NEED A BREAK", or when she won't take a nap and I can't get any school work done, or when I try to leave her in childcare for 30 minutes so I can workout and attempt to lose this frigging baby weight and she cries the whole time.  Yep, it's not all sunshine and unicorns.  It's parenthood.  It's a roller coaster.  In addition to parenthood I still have this amazing husband that I love so much, and we never hang out just the two of us any more.  And then we talk about Emma all the time.  For couples that have more than one kid I don't know how you do it.  I'm looking forward to hitting up some relatives for babysitting soon so that I can go out on a date with my husband.  We agreed that we aren't allowed to talk about Emma the entire time on the date.  So....we'll probably just be sitting there in silence. Hah!

   Let's be honest, you're reading this blog post because you want to hear about Emma.  Okay!  Here's what's new with her:

• she is working really hard at rolling over.  She can roll from her tummy to her back.  She can roll from her back to her side, but hasn't managed to roll all the way yet.  If I lay her down on the floor she immediately starts to roll though, so I have to keep my eye on her at all times.  It's really cute how hard she tries to roll to her tummy, she gets so frustrated when it doesn't work.  I'm sure she'll figure it out in the next few weeks
• she is also getting better and better at sitting up.  She is still pretty wobbly and topples over, but we work at it every day.
• she LOVES looking at other babies, she screeches at them so excitedly
• I think she is starting to learn object permanence and who "mommy" is.  Twice now she has reached out for me.  I came home early from class the other night and she was so happy to see me!  
• she loves hanging out with her Dad and they have the best time together while I'm at school
• she is sucking her thumb!  great for self-soothing
• she reaches out and grabs toys now
• her giggles and laughs are the best sound in the world

   Unfortunately Emma is still having some major separation anxiety when she's not with me or her Dad.  If anyone else attempts to hold her she cries.  This includes her aunt, Nana, grandpa, people at childcare, anyone.  It's very frustrating.  Not sure what to do but just keep working at it and hopefully she will grow out of it.

   As for me I am very busy with school right now as we are approaching the end of the semester.  It's getting harder to get school work done, with Emma being so mobile now and wanting to play.  Randy is great about helping out so I can get some work done.  I just keep telling myself, I just need to pass so I can graduate. Before I know it it will be May, I will be done with school, looking for a job, and Em will be going to daycare.  Need to enjoy this time while it lasts....

3 Months Old!

Emma is 3 months old today!  Look at those chunky thighs.  As of today she weighs 12 pounds!! Here's what's new with her:

Sleep
She is still sleeping through the night, and takes a morning and afternoon nap every day.  However, she is still sleeping at night in her rock 'n play and napping out in the living room in her vibrating chair during the day. We are also still swaddling her in the Miracle Blanket at night.  The clocks ticking though, 'cause she is going to outgrow the rock 'n play soon and 6 months is the longest we can swaddle.  I am scared.  However, I have a plan!  I plan on purchasing Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit when we have to transition to the crib.  I plan on waiting as long as possible.  And I'm going to do the transition on a weekend (in case we're up all night) and just do it cold turkey.  Stay tuned.  (hopefully we can avoid it for another 2 months).

Developments
I swear Emma does something new almost every day.  She is really into her hands now and will stare at them and shove her fists into her mouth.  She likes to look at them while opening and closing them.  She's starting to reach out and grab things too, including my hair.  She can roll over on to her side, but hasn't really figured out how to roll back.  Tummy time is not her favorite, but I make her do it a little bit every day.  She has gotten so strong, we have to be really careful when she's in the boppy now because she kicks out her legs and arches backwards.  One of our favorite games to play is "wrestling", where I put her on my chest and she climbs up me.  She is talking a lot, and we always make sure to talk back with her.  Also there is lots of laughing!  One of the best things is that she recognizes us and our voices when we come in to the room now.  She gets SO excited when Randy comes home from work; it's adorable.

Feeding
Emma is taking a bottle like a champ!  She sucks them down now no problem.  She even took a bottle from her Bapa and her Nana.  Of course she always prefers the boob, but now I know she won't go hungry when I'm not around.

School and taking care of Emma is keeping me busy; the weeks are flying by.  We treasure our time with Randy on the weekends.  We are also looking forward to spending Sunday afternoons this fall with Nana, Grandpa, and Auntie K.  Before I know it the semester will be over!

11 1/2 weeks

Little Em is 11 1/2 weeks old!  Here's what's new with her:

• She's over 11 pounds now, getting close to 12
• Her head and neck control is phenomenal.  When I hold her on my shoulder she always holds her head up and looks around.  She can also go into full "cobra" pose while doing tummy time on her mat.
• She has started drooling a lot and now loves to suck and gum things, including her pacifier.  Perhaps she's an early teether?
• Emma is taking the bottle like a champ!  She sucks them down now.  I don't know how it happened, I think something just clicked for her.  Maybe because she's older?  I think it really helped that we gave her a bottle every day so that she got used to it.  She won't drink breastmilk out of the bottle, only formula.  She's a real boob snob.
• She's been "talking" a lot with us and we always talk back.  Working on language skills! In addition to "talking" she loves to laugh.  
• Randy is doing a great job of taking care of her while I'm at school.  It was rough at first but has got much better.  Last night when Randy came home from work she was so happy to see him!  They are having lots of daddy daughter moments together.

In typical Megan fashion, I've got her signed up for a bunch of classes.  On Wednesdays we go to our Beyond Newborn class at Amma, Thursdays is our ECFE class, and Friday is baby storytime at the library and lunch with Daddy afterwards.  Emma really enjoys all of it; she wants to see everything and be out doing stuff.  I truly think she gets bored at home with me all day!  Plus it's hard to be a one man entertainment center all the time.

Personally I've been busy with school and trying to be an active stay at home mom.  I miss the structure of work, but getting to be with Emma every day is a blessing.  If I had kept working I would be going back this week and she would be in daycare.  I would miss so much!  I really am grateful to have this year to spend with her and watch her grow.

We've got family coming up in a couple of weeks for the Hawkeye Gopher game.  It's going to be great!  Can't wait to see everyone.  I already bought a Halloween costume for the Ems, even though she won't be trick or treating.  And in November we are headed down to Iowa for Thanksgiving.  Looking forward to spending time with family then too.  Christmas of course will be all about Emma this year.  We will be in town as we want Emma to have her first Christmas in her own house.  Looking forward to a busy and fun Fall.

2 months old

Emma is 2 months old!  I know I say this often, but time is really going by so fast.  Here's what's new with her:

- she is talking a LOT. We don't know what she is saying but we always engage in conversation with her.  This helps her language skills down the road
- she loves to play.  It's so fun for Randy and I to interact with her.  When we play with her she smiles and laughs.
- she is still sleeping well at night. She goes to bed around 9:00pm, wakes up at 4:00am for a feeding, and then goes back to sleep until 6:30am.
- she is so strong!  She can roll on to her side, hold her head up, and support her weight on her chubby little legs.  One of our favorite games is for me to hold her under her armpits whiles she stands on my stomach.

We took Emma up to the cabin for the first time over Labor Day weekend.  This was also our first time traveling with her.  She did great!  She slept the whole way in the car, only waking up when we stopped for gas and groceries.   I changed her and nursed her when we stopped, and she would be out again as soon as we got back on the road.  She loved being at the cabin, looking at all the trees and feeling the breeze on her skin.  I was worried about nighttime but she slept fairly well.  We only had one bad night, and I think that happened because she was over stimulated and did not have enough quiet time before bed.  It was great to spend time with family and relax at the cabin.  However it was also really nice to be back at home and in our routine.

This week school starts for me.  I will be in class on Wednesday night and Saturday morning.  Randy will be taking care of Emma while I'm in class.  I have been pumping in preparation for this, so he will have at least one full bottle of breastmilk to give her.  If she eats all of that then we supplement with formula.  I just keep telling myself she's not going to starve and she will be okay even if she's crying.  Randy is amazing and I know that he will get into his own routine with her.  I'll be sure to report back to update you all on how it's going!