Smiling Through the Rain

Last night we went to sleep at 10:30 with our video monitor on the highest volume (the one that allows me to even hear her farts in clear detail).  I ensured this multiple times to avoid the same misshap from the previous night of it ending up muted and me ending up on the DHS Most Wanted List.   I woke up for the first time at 5:30 this morning and thought two things:  1.) that the monitor must be off again.  2.) that my breasts were likely about to explode since I decided to skip pumping before bed, but then I realized that they had already leaked on the sheets so we were okay.  :) Even though she's clearly doing fine on the monitor and is silent, I have to go check on her for my own peace of mind and maybe a little to try to make up for the night before.  She's asleep on her belly again and isn't with her pacifier.  I decide to pump and then lay back down.  I fed her at 7:15 and she didn't wake up until 9:15 this morning!  ...

Did I hear you ask how we slept last night? Well, I can only answer for myself because our monitor muted itself somehow!  I put her down at 11:30 (she is such a night owl) and I woke up wondering why in the world it was so bright in our room in the middle of the night.  Umm, maybe because it was 8:00 am...  So, I roll over to look at our video monitor which is on my nightstand and she is asleep on her belly.  I panic.  By the time I get to her room which seems 10 miles away now, I am imagining the worst.  What I find is a sleeping baby (on her belly) who has kicked off her socks, mittens (her hands get cold at night), and light blanket.  Her pacifier is nowhere close to her.  Yet, she's sleeping soundly. So, I feel like the world's worst mother this morning.  I slept 8 hours solid for the first time in 4 months, but my baby may have needed me.  I checked her face for dried tears and her eyes for puffiness but found neither ...

This is my first real participation in ICLW.  Let me explain.  I signed up to do the August edition, but Miss Paisley decided to enter the world on the day it started that month.  So, I could have tried to comment on other blogs that day during labor, but I'm just lazy I guess! Here's our story for those who are visiting...  My husband and I met in 1998, married in 2004, and decided to add a little person to our house in 2008.  Unfortunately for us, I ended up diagnosed with PCOS and he had a hydrocele causing MFI.  We tried metformin, clomid and IUI's without success.  In fact, I just wouldn't ovulate no matter what we did. That's when my RE recommended ovarian drilling.  Sounded like the craziest idea I'd ever heard to drill holes in my already non-functioning ovaries, but guess what?  It worked!  I started ovulating immediately after and became pregnant in August of 2009.  That baby wasn't meant to be for us and I had a D...

 We went in for Paisley's 4 month check-up today which is hard to believe!  HOW can my tiny new baby be 4 months old already????   This is her 1/3 birthday.  :)  I hate to brag- but that is one adorable baby!  :) We don't really have any great pictures together, but this one is close...  Paisley weighed 12 pounds, 5 ounces and is 24.5 inches long.  She's between the 25-50% now which is a little lower than she has been, but the pediatrician isn't concerned.  She said some babies start off a little bigger than their genetics planned for and then they seem to taper off into the range they belong.  Otherwise, everything is perfect and she's still eating like a horse!  Playing with her chi-chi, Tinkerbell. Hard to imagine life without this little princess.  This has been such a learning process and I'm finally in the position that I feel like I'm in control (or so she lets me believe).  Good bye restful n...

Just when you go bragging about how you have it all figured out, your baby is doing so good, yadayadayada, they go and make you look like a fool.  Trust me, the last 2 nights I have paid for talking about how Paisley was sleeping through the night in her crib.   She has woken up every 3 hours (on the dot) to eat a massive amount and then doesn't want to fall right back asleep.  She's still eating a lot during the day too, which makes me question what is going on??? We started giving her cereal a week ago when her nursing was getting out of control in frequency.  Like every hour.  My nipples were starting to rebel.  So, I added in cereal as well as avocados which she LOVES.  She's taken to eating really well.  She doesn't hardly waste any on her face or clothes, she just gulps it off the spoon, swallows and is ready for more.  In fact, she eats about 1/2 an avocado mixed with 2 ounces of breastmilk in one sitting. SOOOO...  I rea...

One year ago today, I went to work at the clinic.  Nothing unusual about the day, until I felt a familiar dizzy feeling while sitting down.  Only one other time in my life had I felt something like it and it was during my 1st pregnancy.  I knew immediately that I was pregnant again.  The month had been perfect.  I had a positive OPK, my cervical mucus finally did what it was supposed to, timing was just right.  It was my first real cycle following my D&C and I was so hopeful that we could get pregnant again right away.  I knew that it was the only thing that would help with the pain of losing my 1st pregnancy.  So, I nervously went and got one of our tests (I work as a PA) and took it.  A faint line appeared pretty quickly and my heart sank. That is my mom wearing the Christmas sweater in the background- not me  :) Why would I feel so sad about something so great?  Something I'd wanted so much?  Because I had so ...

Paisley fell asleep at 10:45 after nursing and slept soundly until 6:30!!!  I went in and nursed her then and she put herself back to sleep quickly and slept until 9:45.  I am amazed at how well she's doing with this considering that she slept in our bed and hated her cradle.  Now I wish I wouldn't have worried so much that I had screwed up.  Paisley was ready to go in her crib now and she's sleeping well in it.  And I wouldn't trade those precious 3 months with her snuggled up to me!

Just a quick update since I am supposed to be getting other things done, but I didn't want to leave you all in the dark about how our crib training is going. The 1st two nights were a breeze, she woke up once each night to eat, but otherwise did great.  Last night, she woke up every 3 hours to eat, tossed and turned, and continuously fussed for her binky.  I about wore the carpet out making the trek across the house to her room which seems 5 miles away at 4 am.  I finally brought her into our bed where she slept soundly until 10 am.  This allowed us all to get good sleep and I got some much-needed snuggle time with my princess. Tonight is a new night.  We'll see how it goes and where she ends up...

I went into this crib transitioning with a strong feeling that it would be a train-wreck.  As Aaron was going to bed, he even mentioned that he'd probably see us in a few hours as we creep back into the big bed.  Luckily, we were very wrong!!!  Here's a breakdown: 9:20 pm-  Breastfed her.  She falls asleep. 9:25 pm-  I lay her down asleep in her crib.  Feeling like this will be short-lived and disaster is only moments away.  Prepare for the worst. 10:00 pm-  She wakes back up already which makes me say, "yep, I knew she wasn't ready".  But I watch her on the monitor and she just happily plays in her crib.  I leave her alone even though I want to run in there to play with her.  I hate missing out on fun time!!! 10:20 pm-  I replace her binky which has fallen out wishing you could tape it to their face (only kidding) and she puts herself back to sleep.  I'm know amazed that she can do this and I begin ...

The time has come for Paisley to pack her stuff and get to moving into her own room.  This is far from easy for me to admit because I LOVE having her next to me.  Her sweet baby breath on my skin, the gentle way she snuggles in, the ease of nursing her without getting up.  Alot of it is laziness on my part and I get a full night of sleep because our bed keeps her sleeping peacefully.  Our bed = Baby Benadryl. BUT ... it's kinda like when someone buys a cuddly little cub and then suddenly can't figure out what to do with a big, crazy lion when it gets bigger.  Yeah, it's a stretch, but this child is starting to wrestle/abuse me.  She loves to grab parts of my face and pull/twist.  Not a good way to wake up.  And I always know when it's time to cut her nails by how many scratches I have on my face.  Her new favorite is to curl her freakishly strong legs up to her chest and kick me in the belly.  The princess had 9 months to k...

Seems to have been a BUSY week for Miss Paisley!  She is changing so quickly right now I can hardly believe it.  This week, she is smiling more than ever, giggling more (even though I can't ever get enough), and playing with things she'd previously been uninterested in.  She likes to sit in her exersaucer now even though her little legs don't touch and play with the toys.  She can grasp things now which is super sweet. Yesterday, she started rolling over from back to belly every time I'd try to change her diaper on our ottoman or the floor.  Then today, she started doing consecutive rolls from back to belly to back all the way across the floor!  Of course, I think she's a genius.  Probably she's just preparing to be a VERY busy baby.  And letting us know that we might start thinking about baby-proofing in the near future... She's becoming more talkative and makes lots of heartwarming noises.  She still says "ah-goo", but now also makes th...

I have several topics to talk about, so this is a hodge podge of mostly useless info! Weight:   I've lost some!!!  My weight had fallen quickly from 150 to 130 after Paisley exited the uterus, but then it froze there.  I started going to Zumba and step class three days a week last month and have lost 4 more pounds since then.  My goal is to get back to 120 before we get pregnant again (if we're that lucky), and I can start the whole cycle over...  My clothes are finally fitting a little more, but I did buy some jeans in the next size up which is MUCH more comfortable!  I just never knew this would be so tough. Sleep:   Totally jinxed us when I bragged about her.  That night she woke up twice to eat, but then slept through the night again last night.  So, who knows?  But she is back to only sleeping in our bed.  The night before last she only slept one hour in her cradle before waking up.  So, last night I just put her ...