5 month update

Holy cow - how is this little man 5 months old already? Some days it feels like it came out of nowhere then others I feel like he's been here forever. Life is not the same as it was before him - its new and so special with him as an addition. We all just love our Owen and his awesome spirit.

So rolling is simple and easy to do these days - every direction and all over the floor. Consequently he does the same in the crib. ALL OVER the place lol. But thats ok - he has fun with it. However this means he is not very safe in my bed anymore. He can squirm to the end of the bed SO quickly.

Owen has decided to get mad at me every time he sees anyone eating real food. He launches his body to plates of food and gets his hands in and on EVERYTHING he can reach. Not cool dude. But only a few more weeks and we will be starting solids.

He is sitting really well but has no real interest in it, he always goes to his belly within a minute or two. He manages to scoot backwards but hasn't figured out crawling just yet. He pushes up on his arms really well and tries to pull his legs under but if I try to place him on all 4's he gets mad and instantly flails outward. On his tummy he looks like he is swimming. Its adorable.

He still refuses all pacifiers but still loves his two fingers - everyone likes to comment on them. Most people ask if he's teething when no its just that he likes to suck his fingers. Its adorable as could be but I do not look forward to breaking the habit down the road. On a good note though he has taken 3 bottles in the last 2ish weeks. I gave the first one and he played for 20 minutes then finally took it. The next day we had a date night while he stayed with grandma - played a bit again but still took it. Then yesterday I gave another (because I would have to toss it soon otherwise) and he didn't even play but just drank it. The two I gave him he fell asleep to as well.

Because he's taken a few I have pumped a few times. I try to not over pump but I have been leaking lately so yesterday after he took the bottle I pumped. It seems to be mostly my right side that leaks, but they have both been known to embarrass me. Maybe I need some new breast pads.

Sleeping wise Owen is doing pretty good - he naps 2-3 times a day. 1/2 the time or so he lays in there awake and falls asleep on his own. At night he wakes once in the early morning and comes in my bed to nurse and sleep a little more. I think its usually between 4-6am that he wakes but I am usually really tired so I couldn't say for sure.

Lately Owen doesn't seem to be as talkative - not sure why but he just isn't talking too much. He drools insane amounts but still no teeth. He loves Leiland - man those two are so sweet together and Owen just adores his brother so much already (I know thats pretty common with siblings lol). He is the happiest baby I know - so easy to coax a smile. He will grab your face and try to eat you if you get close enough. LOVES to play with hair and will sit on your lap and just watch whats happening around him.

Right now Owen nurses every 3-4 hours. Usually right at 3 hours. He nurses just one side every feeding and for about 6-12 minutes. Sometimes he falls asleep and will go about 20 minutes but not always. He uses his top arm to cover his eyes up and never looks at me. If anyone is talking (especially Leiland) he can't stand to nurse and will just try to roll over and flip upside down in order to see what he is missing.

We've just started introducing a few baby signs. I use all done and milk through the days. I am reteaching Leiland as well so he can use them and understand what Owen is saying if Owen takes to them. Owen is also still on reflux meds. He can't miss more then a dose here and there or he is puking a significant amount more and it will take a few days to get back to his normal. I am taking him in tomorrow to weight him just to see if the dosing should be up any more because I always want to make sure he has the right dose. He is still on the zantac though. Leiland was moved off this much sooner than Owen - but I have always believed Owen's wasn't as bad as Leilands was.

Thats in for now. Now a few pictures. Sorry if they are out of order or not from month 4-5. Trying over here.

4 month update

So we missed 3 months, oops. I will make a bigger update, but we moved.

So yesterday was Owen's 4 month appt a few days early.
14 pounds 4 oz
25" long
head was 17"
3-6m clothes (just starting 9m onsies for length)
Size 3 diapers (just moved up this week)

So he is growing good. We upped his zantac prescription to 1.5ml based on his weight. He was starting to show some more signs of reflux getting worse, but I knew it was likely we just needed to revamp his prescription.

So things have been crazy so I will try to remember things and make it pretty quick.

Owen rolls, Front to back and back to belly. I think he forgot he could roll belly to back though. He likes playing on the floor and being under his toys not he activity mat. Because he can roll he has a habit of doing it the second you lay him down. He rolled back to belly July 12th for the first time. Just needed a few days of being able to try once we moved into this apartment. June 11 was the first time he rolled belly to back.

Now we have crazy belly laughs. First laugh was 25 June - eek.

Owen has fallen into being a great little napper. His schedule right now is waking around 730, up till 9sih and down for a nap till about 11-12. He gets up and then goes back down usually between 2-3. He will sleep till 4-530 usually then up till bedtime around 7-830 depending on the day. He rarely nurses to sleep. Although he doesn't usually use the pacifier anymore he will use it when I hold him to get him to sleep. I put it in and turn him in like he's nursing (to hold the pacifier in place) and he falls asleep usually within a few minutes. I just pat on his little bottom. Lately he nurses every 3-4 hours. Usually right on at 3 hours. At night he sleeps only waking 1 time is the norm. Last week there were a few nights of 3-4 wakings.

Owen is in the crib now for naps and bedtime. He is just too squirmy to keep in the bed anymore. The boys are sharing a room and so far it hasn't been as issue with Owen waking Leiland or Leiland waking Owen. I lay him on his back or side and he usually instantly rolls to his tummy. It took two days once he learned to do it for him to not freak about it. He didn't used to prefer being on his tummy but now he does like that for sleeping.

He doesn't take the pacifier much anymore because now he much prefers his fingers. He favors his right hand and his middle and ring finger. He has started sucking his thumb all the way to having the whole fist in his mouth. Its adorable and I love that he can soothe himself.

Like Leiland, he HATES the car. He is SO happy and easy going until you get in the farm its miserable. There could be worse things, but its gotten to the point that I avoid going anywhere I have to drive more then 10 minutes because its seriously miserable. He even begun a new cry that just tugs at me and makes me start to cry. He also no longer wants to go in the ergo unless he's going to sleep. If he isn't tired he just cries in it. I don't think he likes how constricted he feels. He wants to kick and move and I guess it doesn't give him that freedom he wants. Hopefully he grows to like it.

Lastly Owen is doing great holding onto his toys and chewing EVERYTHING. He loves fingers, toys, necklaces, and whatever he can get his little hands on. He won't play with them when on his tummy but loves them on his back.

Picture time.....
26 June

3 Months old

4th of July

Baby Owen 2 month update

Holy cow he's 2 months already? Sure is going fast. He's been doing better since being on reflux medication. I have reintroduced dairy and can say that maybe he is a little more gassy but not much difference so I'm not completely cutting it out but trying to limit quantity.

Owen really likes his play mat. He is just starting to swat at his toys. He listens intently when we read books. He is not a fan of the car seat. Still takes the pacifier but not as often. He really likes chewing his hands. When he is resting in a good mood he kicks his feet a ton. It's pretty adorable. 

Owen is beginning to chatter more often and I love baby talk. He will hold my finger when falling asleep and nursing. He loves being held and wakes most times when put down. We're working on that though. 

I'll have his height and weight on Wednesday. 

Size 3m clothes

Size 1 diapers

smiles at 4 weeks 4 days old

Owen and Austin

Leiland on the left and Owen on the right - both right at 8 weeks old

Long awaited update - 6 weeks

I'm going to do a quick update that kind of covers the last 6 weeks but I'll try to go back and give more updates. 

The weekend before I have birth I had a lot of timetable contractions but they stopped when I went to bed. Then Sunday night I laid for an hour to see if they would stop and they wouldn't. So I got up to get ready to head in. Went to the bathroom and saw blood. We left at 1140pm and first dropped leiland off at my good friends. Got checked in about 1am. I was 5cm, puking, shaking, unable to get relief in any position, and contractions were 1 min on 1 min break. No time to recover. So I got the epidural. It was light enough I could feel pressure with each contraction and to feel for pushing. About an hour after arriving they broke my water. Merconium was identified and they were going to have a team ready to suction when he was born. 

At 3:24am Owen Eugene was born. 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20" long. He was suctioned with the bulb syringe and put on me. I got to say hello and Tim cut the cord (I think) then he was taken to the team beside me. He had his cord around his neck as well when he was born. They suctioned him, cleaned him, and he just wasn't perking up enough. They declared low muscle tone. He was taken to the nicu and put under an oxygen hood. He had a chest X-ray that showed particulates from aspirating merconium. He began antibiotics and they ran a culture to see if there was an infection. 

I didn't get to see him, I didn't hold him or kiss him. I didn't even have a name for him. We were put in a room and we all slept some. When I woke they had brought breakfast but I wasn't very hungry. I wanted to see my baby. Tim went with him when first born and again after we woke. Once my catheter was out I wanted to go see him but I kept getting dizzy so they made me stay in bed. Eventually I got to go down and see him. I could barely stick my hand in to touch him. He was in an oxygen bubble with wires. I hated it. 

Tim and I agreed he looked most like an Owen or a Landon. We let a Leiland decide and he chose Owen.  Tim had brought leiland up around 4 to see me and grandma stayed with him in the room while Tim and I went to see leiland and take pumped milk in. 

The next time we saw Owen he was in an open bed. It was improvement. The initial estimate was he would need to be in the nicu 1-2 weeks. An absolute minimum of 4 days because of the antibiotics.  I had my heart set of the 4 days. It came and went and broke my heart all over again. I was discharged after two days. I stayed the extra to be close to him. The dr came in at one point and said he would most likely be there longer then they expected. I didn't know what that meant. 

Owen had his iv removed. He had a feeding tube but it wasn't for a long time as he caught on quickly to his feedings. While for me it felt like forever anytime I'd feed him and he wouldn't finish and needed the rest through the tube. At some point he was moved to a "satellite" nicu that was in a room of the nursery bit was overflow. I liked that it was less crazy in there but could be lonely too. 

Time went on and Owen was doing great except he just couldn't wean off the oxygen. They did an echocardiogram to rule out a heart issue and that was good. Then I requested another chest X-ray to see where he was at. He still had about 50% of the particulates in his lungs. About a day or two later the dr suggested he try a medication. It's used in preemies as well as asthma patients. Everything I read online - nothing came up in my searches to use theophylline for merconium aspiration. But I was desperate for him to be better. Within a day he was showing improvement. Within two he was off oxygen. Day 3 he was coming home. It was amazing. 

Now he hated the meds and I had a love hate relationship with them. I love that they helped him get over the hump and bring him hope. However they turned my calm happy baby into a crying and fussy boy. He would go stiff bodies, scream, shake, and just seemed miserable on the meds. However now he seems more used to it. 

18 days in thee nicu and my baby finally came home. Leiland welcomed him with open arms and seems to be doing fantastic with him this far. 

Owen is pretty fussy. He doesn't burp well. He started puking a lot and seemed in pain. Every night like clockwork 5-10 he would scream. It's still his fussiest period but not as bad. He saw the dr one week after leaving the hospital and he was 9 pounds. I took him in last Thursday questioning if he was colicky, had reflux, or maybe issues with dairy. He was 9 pounds 3.5 oz. he barely gained in 2 weeks. It made me sad. 

So she diagnosed him as being colicky. She also started him on Zantac. He took a dose that night, the next morning, he puked that day and hasn't since. We keep giving Zantac and he seems a ton better. I also haven't had dairy in a week. I'll reintroduce in a couple weeks. 

Owen seems to burp better and fight more. He seems to be able to get the bubbles out. So yesterday was just a weight check for him and he was at 9 pounds 8 oz. he gained more in 4 days than the previous 2 weeks. This made me so happy I took him in rather than waiting. 

So 6 weeks home and we are doing pretty good. He's only had one bottle since being home. He nurses fantastic and it makes me so happy he is doing well. Medicine 2x a day and he does good with it. He sleeps ok the majority of the days. Usually wakes 1-2 times at night to eat. Loves to cuddle me. He started smiling a little over 4 weeks. He coos and melts my heart and soul. 

Overall life is going well. I'll try to include pictures tomorrow. 

40 week update

Well it's my due date. Should I be excited? Maybe. I feel defeated still with no progress really. No contractions lately. But I have my induction scheduled and by this time next week I'll be holding my little man whose yet to be named. 

Weight 199.8 (weighed after a shower and again after drying my hair lol)

I feel ok. Pee 30 times a day, struggle to be comfortable, can't finish a full meal, wince with every kick and movement, and am emotional. I still love it. And I know it's almost over. It doesn't feel real yet. I feel a lot slower these days but in keeping up just with a few more breaks. I've been exhausted for about a week now. 

Yesterday I tried using my pump to induce contractions with minimal luck. Only had a couple contractions total. And my nipples were already sore so it didn't help any. Took a bath to relax too and that felt great. Today took a shower to get ready and sure enough at exactly 40 weeks I have stretch marks that are new. First ones this pregnancy. 

Trying to love the last few days. It can be hard. But I do love this belly and having him all to myself. Can't wait to see his little face and touch him. 

No progress

Today I had another NST. All looked good. Baby moved nicely and I even had a contraction. Babys HB spiked, then dropped, and steadied back out. It wasn't a strong contraction either. But dr was happy with it. My OB checked me, and no progress. Its so frustrating. He stripped my membranes Thursday and I had a lot of contractions that night, some Friday night but they stopped before I went to bed, all Saturday night and woke up several times to them, then all morning through early afternoon Sunday. Seriously I had a LOT of contractions and absolutely no progress.

I feel like my body is failing me yet again. Yes I can wait it out longer but why? My body fails me with getting pregnant. My body fails me to stay pregnant. I struggle so hard to have these babies, and now my body is failing to go into labor like it should. I know due dates are just an estimate, but still - no progress has me pretty bummed out right now.

The OB I like only does inductions on Wednesdays. He said he would induce me this week if I wanted, or next week. If I decide I want to go ahead this week, then he said just to call and set it up. I could hold my baby in just 2 days. Otherwise I will be holding my little man in 9 days. Either way he is close.

39 week update

Weight 199 bp 113/71

Everything's still hanging in there. Last night I finally felt some contractions and they were enough to time. Too bad I needed to go to bed rather than try to keep them going. We went for a mile walk then later in the evening did the deed to try and help. Seemed to help a little bit. 

Constipation has still been bothering me and the 3 colace a day aren't helping enough. But for the most part heartburn has been under control which is nice. In the previous ultrasounds they said he had hair and I really can't wait to see how much. I'd love a head full of dark hair on him. 

I'm sleeping ok. When leiland wakes at night I have to pee because in awake. Falling asleep is still hard but I've been so tired lately I'm falling asleep around 11. Could be worse. 

Yesterday I had the weirdest ailment. My left nipple both itched and hurt so bad. I don't know why and it was incredibly frustrating. It seems better today which is good. 

Saw the ob today. Nst went ok. Saw a couple contractions which excites me lol. The on checked me and I'm now 2cm and dr can feel his head. I don't know what that means exactly but he's low. I asked the dr to strip my membranes. He doesn't believe it does anything but I'll take it on the off chance it helps kick start things. I've had a lot more mucus today since this morning so that's good. Having a few contractions but nothing consistent at this point. Did a little shopping/ walking earlier and now I'm bouncing on my ball. Tonight I'll go to grocery shop and just keep going. I'm part energizer bunny right? 

One more week till due date. There is a good chance I'll go past that but really hoping he decides to show in the next week. I can't wait to meet him and hold him. Smell him and kiss his little cheeks and face. Not much longer. 

Blog moving

I've been working hard to transfer my blog over - still working on it, but all new postings will now only be found on the other site. I can see some people check this place out, but no one ever comments, so come on over to the new site.

http://ivfmommy.blogspot.com

Teething and potty training updates

The past few days Leiland has been kind of warm and yesterday he wasn't eating much at all. I also noticed yesterday morning he was chewing his fingers, hands, and his arm all morning. So last night I look in his mouth and sure enough the very last molar has one tiny speck that is through. I am amazed his mood has been so good. We have a bit to go before its "through" but its started. And I am praying it comes through before this baby arrives.

Potty training isn't anything we've been working on though. With baby just around the corner I don't feel like its smart to push it right now. BUT the other day he wanted to be nakid - fine. Well he peed in the potty. He started to pee on the floor but stopped, told me, and went to finish on the potty. The next day at night we took pants off because they were sagging, so was his diaper. So we took that off. But he wanted to slide so I put undies on him. He didn't want to go pee. He peed while brushing his teeth (running water) and peed a lot in those undies. No biggie - accidents is a way to learn. The next day he got naked when he woke and peed in the potty twice before nap. I didn't push it that afternoon. Then Wednesday he got naked after waking up, peed once and played. Before lunch I told him to go pee while I made lunch. He did with no fight then put undies on so his bum wasn't cold sitting at his chair. He ate lunch then went to play. I noticed him crouching behind the rocking chair and I asked if he had to pee. He said no he was pooping. I said don't poop in your undies put it in the potty. It seemed to click and he ran to the bathroom to go. I'm happy I caught him before he pooped in his underwear. Pulled them off and he pooped out a tiny turd. He was so proud and stood up. I told him he had to sit and put all his poops out. So he took a minute (too busy trying to see the one he got out) but eventually kicked me out. He pooped (a ton) and called me in when he was finished. I was SO proud of him. I told him he could have ice cream for pooping in the potty, but he didn't want that he wanted candy. He was all excited because the day before we bought more jelly beans and now had more pink ones lol. His favorite. So after pooping he put a diaper on and took a nap. When he woke dry I was SO excited and stripped him waist down. He was so mad and had a small fit about it. Finally 40 minutes later I convinced him to sit on the potty and he peed again!!! We were both so excited. A little bit later he asked for pizza for dinner. How could I deny a kid who went potty so well. I kept telling him how proud I was so YES he could have pizza for dinner. SO I put a diaper on him to go get pizza. When we got home he was dry so I took it off and put undies back on him again. He peed once more before bed and I was SO excited. I let him watch finding Nemo in my room and sleep in my bed.

I tried making a huge deal out of it because really it is. He had a diaper all day Thursday because we were gone all day, and today he seems like he could be getting sick. I am still not pushing it, but really excited he is getting the hint. So I am thinking maybe a month or so after baby comes (once we've all adjusted) we will take away diapers and spend a few days naked making it work. But right now we are gone so often for appts I am not ready to push it 100%. 

37 week update

Weight 195
BP 123/80 something if I remember right

My brain no longer works these days. Yesterday I had my NST and OB appt. NST looked good and OB went well. I was checked last Thursday and she said 1cm. Yesterday he said the outside is a fingertip/ 1cm dilated but inside its closed, and that I'm 50% effaced. Honestly I was hoping to be a little more dilated at this point. With Leiland I was 3cm by now. Also on Monday I noticed I could see my cervix from the vaginal opening - WEIRD. The only thing I could find online was that its the starting stages of a prolapsed uterus. When my dr checked he said no that my uterus and cervix are just really low from the baby. So thats good news.

I've been cleaning like crazy this week (Tim is out of town) and think I overdid it on Wednesday. I was having a lot of sharp pains low in my uterus and in my back. Then a few lingered to yesterday morning. Dr said they aren't contractions though. SO just need to not do AS much (yeah right). Tim gets home today and Im so excited. I hated him being gone so close to my due date. It was only a week and he was only 8 hours away, but still. He gets home tonight and we are both ready to have him back.

I've still been struggling with food now appealing to me. Wednesday we got pizza and I only ate one piece and struggled to eat that much. My favorite meal right now is seasoned chicken breasts and chicken rice. This rice but Chicken flavor not creamy chicken. I usually cook two breasts at a time and put half the rice and one chicken breast in the fridge for another day. I can't get enough of it. Nothing else is appealing and surprisingly I have a really hard time eating when nothing sounds good.

I still feel huge and well don't expect that to change anytime soon lol. I pee non stop. According to the dr the baby is low, and I think thats why. I seriously could go pee every 10 minutes. And I have to lift my belly and move around to make sure I get out the most possible at once while going to the potty. With that, WHY do you get the tiniest little cup to pee in at the dr? Seriously I can't see what I am doing down there, let alone see which direction pee is going (it likes to change direction mid pee). I have to catch it which usually includes getting SOME on me and yesterday included some getting on my pants (awesome). They really do need a better way to collect pregnant women's pee. Thats just a cruel joke. Geez its hard enough to write my name on the tiny cup.

I have been sleeping alight. Leiland is still waking up, but I've opened his door at night and when he wakes up crying I call to him to come in my room, and he does. He walks in and climbs in our bed happily. This helps me go back to sleep easier. But it also means I'm not getting up to pee at night, so I REALLY have to go when I wake up.

I've been watching closely and I still don't see any new stretch marks. I suppose thats good. I use lotion when I feel dry but its not every day or even every shower. Shaving is really hard, even shaving my thighs is tough. I struggle to put on socks as well. I either chance falling over or can't breath when I lift a foot up. When I sit at the kitchen table I have to keep my legs open now to make room for my belly to fall between or I can't breath and it hurts. My belly hits the steering wheel now when I drive, and I can't reach to put the GPS on without smashing my stomach. Definitely feeling huge these days lol. I think one of my favorites is Leiland will run to hug me and bounce off my belly. He thinks its funny, but it actually hurts a little.

So yes, 37 weeks. Only 3 more weeks till he is "due". I used to think this guy would come earlier but lack of dilation is making me think he is in no hurry to get here. Next week Tim's mom gets here, and at that point I am ready for baby to come. Everyone keeps telling me to relax but I really want this house clean so I can feel ready for him when he does come. I still also want to cook and freeze some meals before he comes. Also do some sewing. So much to do still. Some days I am NOT READY for him to come, but others I just feel like I want him. NOW! So unsure lol.

Yesterday I installed his car seat - thats was a big deal. A little bummed it doesn't fit beside Leilands seat though. So he is on the opposite side of the car as me. I may switch the boys and have baby behind me, but we will see, not sure yet. Now I just need to pack the hospital bag. Still need to make the hat for little man coming home. Better get moving lol.