A photo session with Mommy

I took these when D was 6 weeks old. Well, I took MANY more than these, but I finally narrowed it down and made a slideshow! He's 11 weeks today, and I want to have a 12 week photo shoot, so anticipate some more! The blankets that he is on were all made by wonderful friends and family. Thank you Stephanie, Kendra, and Grandma Spice!

Bumbo Time!

I promised videos and pictures, but when I got down to it, there was a lot more work involved than I had anticipated! So, here you go for now. This was Declan when he was almost 2 months, and I tried him in the bumbo chair for the first time. Please enjoy the adorableness that is my son!

You have got to be kidding me!!!

I have another breast infection!! What the crap? So I have to take antibiotics again, and the best kind for this type of infection is one that I have to take 4(!) times a day and I have to take it on an empty stomach! GRRRR, I'm bitter. If breastfeeding wasn't the best thing I could do for D, I would SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO quit right now! Having to go through all this is worth it for my son's sake, but sometimes....I just wish.....

Boo. :(

What was I thinking?!?!

You know how I didn't want to jinx anything by puplishing that Declan hass been sleeping through the night? Well, I should have know. Last night at about 4:30, Declan woke up! I tried to let him lie there as long as possible to make sure it was for real that he wanted to be awake, but by 5 there was no questioning it! He was up! I think he was probably woken up (is that proper grammer?) by a wet daiper and then realized that he was probably hungry too! Dangit! Well, all we can do now is hope it was a fluke in his new pattern.....yes, we can only hope now......

Moms: learn from my mistake! Don't get your hopes too high. :)

2 month checkup....and boobs

Declan had his 2 month checkup yesterday, and I figured it would be a good time for an update! He is absolutely wonderful! I was nervous for his weight gain because we haven't had the best time with breastfeeding.....I have eluded to these hard times before, so perhaps I should explain more? Why not, what else is this blog for, you know? :)

*Disclaimer: the following paragraph gets kinda personal, and possibly a little graphic. Continue reading at your own risk. :)

Basically my son sucks at sucking! Within the first couple weeks my left nipple had gotten so damaged, I basically had a chunk missing! And instead of being smart and going to the free lactation consultant at the hospital, I tried to fix the problem myself with the combination of pumping only on my left and feeding D only on my right. Well, I would start to heal and think I could nurse him again on lefty and we'd go right back to being "cratered". (that's what the lactation consultant called it when I finally went. Eww.) Finally, I couldn't take it anymore (and neither could Trevor) and I called the consultant. When I went in to see her, she observed Declan nursing and dertmined that he was a choppy sucker. She also thought that I had a breast yeast infection (*didn't I say it was at your own risk?! :) ) She told me to go to the Dr. to have the infection confirmed. That was a Friday. On Sunday (Father's Day, poor Trevor) I woke up with a fever and felt horrible ALL DAY!! So Monday morning I got the first appt I could. At the appt, the doc took one look and said, "Yup, that's infected." Not yeast though, thank goodness!! Treating the yeast all weekend was crap, boiling EVERYTHING (bottles, pump equipment, pacifiers) in vinegar water after EVERY use. Like I said, crap! Not to mention, D could have gotten the yeast in his mouth and that would have been so much worse! So then I went on antibiotics. I had to take it 4 times a day.....on an empty stomache! What?! Seriously?! What a pain, I was so happy to have that over with 10 days later. Along with taking the antibiotics, the Dr. also had me constantly nurse D on my infected side and pump as little as possible on that side. More crap if you ask me. All you moms know how painful nursing can be, and the last thing you want to do is nurse on a craked nipple! Boo! During all this time I was still seeing the lac consultant. All her tools and tricks though just wouldn't change his suck. He sucks....or rather he doesn't suck. He apparently chews. So then for awhile I just pumped, and bottle fed him. And then I FINALLY healed....entirely! After a week of only pumping, I decided I didn't want him to forget or have a hard time going back to the boob. At this point, I still do a lot of pumping, I am back at work so I really have to. But I've started to nurse several times a day, which has helped keep my milk stock! I had a 12 hour day the second week back at work and I lost the majority of what I had stored. We have had to use formula a little bit more than I'd like, but I know it won't kill him. :)

I never thought I would have done what I just did: write a stinking long paragraph about my boobs. Ahh, what motherhood does to your modesty! :) I know I could have been more brief and discreet, but, I'm never brief, and.....well....why not!

After seeing the lactation consultant for 3 weeks, Declan had only gained a few ounces each week. Then I took a 12 day break, and did the pump/bottle thing. In 12 days Declan gained 1lb 2 oz!! He was 9lbs 12oz. That was last Wednesday. Yesterday, Tuesday, he weighed 10lbs 9 oz!! Now that's still only in the 22nd percentile, but to us that's huge!! :) He's just gained so much this last month! And you can totally see it in his face and thighs. I love it. I love him!

So Dec got his 2 months shots, too. I always thought I'd be able to handle it when my children got shots, I wasn't the one getting them! But as we got closer to the appt, I kept getting more and more nervous. And then when the nurse finally walked in with the shots, I started to lose it. I must have cried just as much as D. I think I had on my mind how much I hate shots and my poor little boy was having to go through it and have no idea why! But they are important. Horrible, but important. D recovered well, only cried for about 10 minutes, and was asleep soon after. He never ran a fever and we only gave him Tylenol right before bed just in case. He was fine today to. I am a lucky momma!

As you saw from the last batch of pictures, he's already smiling and holding his head up. He is seriously so strong. One of his favorite games to play right now is the standing up game. He'll be propped up on our laps at about a 45 degree angle (I sound like an engineer!) We'll then hold his hand and without pulling him ourselves, just giving him resistance, he'll pull himself to a standing position! He LOVES it! I have video of it, I have a few videos to post, and then you can see for yourself!

I have the most amazing announcements that my wonderful sister-in-law designed and put together and sent to me, I think, almost 3 weeks ago. I finally have most of the addresses and I made labels. So I should be able to get them out soon.....I hope!

I don't want to jinx anything, but for the last two weeks or so, Declan has been sleeping through the night! He usually gets his last feeding by 11, asleep by 11:15, and he doesn't wake up until 6 or 7. We've been reading through a book called Babywise and we've really liked how it works for us! There seems to be a little controversy about the book and it's practices, but we're happy with it. It suggests using a pattern throughout the day of feeding/waketime/naptime in that order, with a 2 1/2 to 3 hour time difference between feedings. It also encourages making a schedule/routine to stick with....sounds good to me! I like routine! I know some people don't agree with the rigidity of the schedule, they feel it's not natural or healthy, but my son has gained weight and has been sleeping through the night, so I'm gonna keep doing what I've been doing!! :)

I think that's everything for now. I love him more and more everyday! I still can't believe he's mine, but he reminds me whenever he smiles his giant smile for me! He's so wonderful! Videos and more pictures to come!