Lachlan - 2 months

Last week Lachlan celebrated turning 2 months old (Feb. 13th)!  I feel like he has grown so much in the last month and has definitely started to develop a little personality and can play with him some now.

He still continues to fight off all the ghosts we apparently have in the house:

We got our first real smile from him while playing peek-a-boo just shy of 6 weeks.  This continues to be his favorite game at the moment and the best way to get smiles from him.

He went to the doctor at 6 weeks and received several shots-- cried a lot:(  He was around the 80th percentile for both length and weight.  His length was 23.25 inches and weight was 12 lbs 5 oz.  (By the way, when can we start calling it height rather than length??)

Dustin and I went out just ourselves for dinner for the first time since Lachlan was born.  I must say a part of me really misses the freedom we used to have and going out to dinner on the weekends.  So hopefully we'll continue to make time for this occasionally from now on.  It was a bit of work with getting everything packed up for Lachlan to take him to my in-laws and then we had a long wait at the restaurant, so it was a bit uncomfortable going for so long without being able to pump...breastfeeding just makes doing anything for a long period of time difficult!

At 8 weeks I tried putting Lachlan in his crib for a nap to see what would happen- he lasted 20 minutes and woke up very unhappy.  I tried doing this for a few days, but he never lasted more than 15-20 minutes, so I've given up trying for the time being-- it's more important to me that he gets good naps in, so be it if it's in his swing or bouncy seat.  I was trying to get him used to the crib for naps so transitioning to the crib at night will be easier since he still sleeps in our room.

And now for the most important milestone from this month.....drum roll please.....at 8 weeks Lachlan slept 8 hours and 45 minutes STRAIGHT... UNINTERRUPTED...  NONSTOP!!!!  After this point, he pretty much sleeps right around 7 hours for his first stretch, so pretty good!

He still loves being in the bathroom…whether it's just relaxing while we shower and get ready or he is in the tub!  Have started doing baths every night because he likes them so much and is better than listening to him fuss since the evenings are his crabby period. On 2/1 it was cute cause he had been in the tub for 30 minutes just completely relaxed and then just started falling asleep in the tub and could NOT keep his eyes open. 

We also use the vacuum cleaner A LOT to calm him down.  This has been a lifesaver when he cries uncontrollably.

We had our first "Parents as Teachers" visit.  This is a great program and recommend anyone with young kids to look into it with your school district.  Our district puts a lot of money towards it.  Basically once a month someone comes to our home and will assess where Lachlan is at developmentally and then let us know what we can work on with him.  They also have workshops and group meetings on different topics you can attend.  I think he passed everything and did well his first visit!  We've been doing tummy time and he doesn't seem to hate it, but mainly just lays there and sucks on his hands or blanket...so not much strength training going on there!

The weather was really nice for a few days so we went to a nearby park for a walk/stroller ride and took many strolls around the neighborhood.  For the most part he was good, but cried when the sun was in his eyes.

Just shy of turning 2 months, Lachlan got tears when he cried...which now makes it seem so much sadder when he cries.  And on his 2 month birthday, Dustin had to start travelling for work and was in California for the week.  I'm sure it killed him to be away...and luckily for me my mom came to help out, otherwise I think I would have been overwhelmed that week!

Here is a typical day at 2 months:

• EVERY night around 7:30 we give him a bath—we let him splash around in there for about 30 minutes.   
• Around 8:00 swaddle and give a bottle.
• Still sleeps in our room with the sound machine on waterfall. 
• I pump around 1am.
• Awake around 3-4am- change diaper and I give a bottle and pump again.  Usually he goes back to sleep pretty easily, but lately he sometimes doesn't want to.  In those cases I just stick him in the swing in the family room and he eventually goes back to sleep in there.
• Awake around 6am- change diaper and give you a bottle.  Pump again.  I usually put him in the swing (if he hasn't just been in there) so I can relax a bit longer.  Some days you’ll stay in the swing for a couple hours and fall back asleep.
• Around 9, I shower and get ready while he chills in the bathroom.
• Then the day is just filled with random feedings and sleeping here and there.  He takes a 4 oz. bottle almost every 2 hours— longer if he is sleeping.  There is NO napping schedule—some days it is all little catnaps while other days he’ll get some decent stretches.  Mostly naps in the swing or now really like to sleep in new vibrating bouncy chair.
• Dustin gets home around 6-6:30 usually, just in time for the cranky period…which is getting a little better or at least is shorter now that we started the bath earlier!

Some pics from last month:

Buffalo Mac-n-Cheese

While on maternity leave I've really enjoyed being able to cook some good dinners and eat a little healthier than we normally do.  It seemed lately that I kept seeing recipes for Buffalo Chicken Mac-n-Cheese...so I figured it was a sign I should make it!  I looked at many recipes on the web, but a lot were from scratch and just seemed too time consuming for me and too many ingredients to buy.  So I found this recipe on the Kraft site, but then made lots of changes...I really like how my version turned out:

Ingredients
3 boxes of the cheap Kraft Mac-n-Cheese with the powdered cheese
1 bunch of green onions
1 container of crumbled blue cheese (probably was about 1 cup)
1/3 cup buffalo wing sauce (use more or less depending on how spicy you want)
2 cups chicken (I used some frozen diced chicken pieces and defrosted in microwave)
1/2 block cream cheese
This will make a lot- probably 10 good serving sizes. 

Directions
I boiled my 3 boxes of pasta in a large pot.  Drain water and return to pot.  Add the powedered cheese from the mac-n-cheese box.  I also stirred in a little bit of water (maybe 1/4-1/3 of a cup) or you could use milk.  I then added about half a block of cream cheese cut into cubes.  Stir until all of the powder cheese is dissolved and cream cheese is melted.  Stir in chicken, buffalo sauce, half of the green onions, and half of the blue cheese.  Pour into a 9x13 pan (I lightly sprayed with non-stick oil).  Sprinkle remaining onions and blue cheese over the top.  I baked at 350 for about 20 minutes just to let it all come together.

I forgot to take a picture, so had to use a generic from the internet:

Lachlan - 1 Month

Lachlan turned 1 month on Jan 13, so just imagine this post was up a couple weeks ago :))  Here is a quick recap of his first month and some pictures:

We came home on the Saturday after he was born- as much as I actually really liked being in the hospital because we were so catered to, I was ready to come home.  On Sunday we had Jill from In the Moment Photography come over to take newborn pics.  Unfortunately Lachlan was cranky, but she was great with being patient and getting some awesome shots!  A few are shown below here:

Dustin was off work until after the holidays, so it was a huge help to have him available 24/7.  My heart goes out to new mom's who don't have someone around to help them because it is just exhausting!  We had many xmas celebrations where Lachlan got some really cute gifts.  I was able to get out a xmas card/birth announcement just in time.  I used a photo from our newborn photoshoot and then bought a pdf on Etsy to use.  Dustin then just took it to Office Depot to print and cut down to size.

Lachlan had his first doctor's appointment and everything looked good.  He had slightly surpassed his birth weight, so we no longer have to wake him at the 4-hour mark at night to feed him.

After New Years, Dustin was back to work, but my mom was here for a week to help out.  Then it was all on my own...which I actually enjoyed and wasn't too bad at all since he was almost a month old at this point!

Here is pic on 1-month birthday:

Here is a typical 24-Hour period for us at 1 month: 
·         Every other night Dustin gives Lachlan a bath
·         Around 9-9:30 swaddle in the miracle blanket and give a 3 oz. bottle to fill up that tummy
·        Lachlan sleeps in our bedroom in the Fisher-Price Rock and Play.  We play the sound of a waterfall on the sound machine, which basically just sounds like loud static.  I really think the success of his sleeping is due to the Swaddling, Sound machine, and Rock and Play.
·         I have to awake and pump around 1am.
·         Around 3am Lachlan wakes up- change diaper and give a bottle.  I pump again.  Usually Lachlan goes back to sleep pretty easily.
·         Around 5:30-6am- change diaper and give a bottle.  I pump again.
·         Normally will wake again between 7-8.  Some times I lay him in bed with me on boppy lounger for a while longer.  Sometimes I will nurse him so I can stay in bed longer.
·         Around 9, we get out of bed and I take a shower while Lachlan is on boppy lounger in the bathroom.  He LOVES just laying in there and listening to the shower!
·         Then the day is just filled with random feedings and sleeping here and there. 
·         The only toy he really uses is the swing and some days will nap in here for hours or just be content swinging away.  He really likes to be held and will sleep that way.  When there is any free time, I am pumping, washing bottles/pump accessories, doing laundry or some chore.
·         Dustin gets home around 6:30 usually, just in time for the cranky period!  We rarely can both eat dinner at the same time in peace and quiet.

Welcome Lachlan!

This post is WAY delayed because it turns out that having a baby around really occupies your time!  I'm going to try to be much better about posting (even if they are just short) so that way I can keep people updated and have something to look back on for myself.

This post will go through my labor and birth of Lachlan on 12/13/2011!  

5:37am:  The day started with a phone call that completely jolted me out of a deep sleep.  The hospital said they were ready for me, so Dustin and I had one last snuggle together in bed and then were up showering and getting ready!  I was not expecting to get called so early and were just told it would be sometime that day.  We snapped one last picture before leaving the house to capture me at 41 weeks.  It was a dreary, rainy morning and took us a while to get to the hospital cause was rush hour- I was just relieved we were going for an induction and I was not in labor stuck in the traffic! 

7:30am:  We checked in and they put me in my room, gave me the gown, and got the IV going.  I was dilated to 3cm.   The IV did not hurt, but just grossed me out to look at this tube going into my arm...so I actually covered it with a towel for the first few hours so I didn't have to look at it.

9:00am: They gave me Pitocin, which is a drug used to start contractions.  About 20 minutes later the doctor came by and broke my water.  There was an initial gush of fluid that came out and basically just feels like you peed the bed, but I was not prepared for it to continue to leak out for hours afterwards.  I frequently asked them to keep changing the pad I was laying on cause it just felt disgusting  laying in this wet fluid-- was not prepared for how that was all going to feel/work!  We had brought dvds to watch, so we popped in Season One of 30 Rock since we had not seen those episodes before.  The contractions were either not noticeable or not too bad at the beginning here.  However, then they started getting noticeable—they were not crazy painful, but on about the same level as menstrual cramps.  My back was killing me around this time and I wanted a heating pad we had brought from home, but that was not allowed- so they brought me a hot towel to put back there which helped some.   I wanted to get the epidural in BEFORE they got really bad, so I asked about getting the epidural at 10:40. The nurse recommended I wait just a bit more maybe until 11:00 and then she would have the doctor check to make sure I was progressing and had moved past 3cm.  I was a little skeptical of this because figured come 11:00 everyone would be busy and I'd be sitting around waiting long past that.   

11:00am:  Luckily the doctor came almost right on time and said I was at 4.5cm, so they called for the epidural and got that put in pretty quickly and was not a painful process.  After that point, I went back to feeling no contractions at all for a while.  Woo-hoo!  For the next few hours I'm thinking this delivery is going to be a breeze because of how well this epidural is working.  They said to plan on dilating about 1cm/hour.  I continued on slightly faster than that... 
12:30pm:  6 cm dilated

1:10pm:   7 cm dilated- the nurse and doctor comment on how well my body is responding to this and hopefully the delivery will be a breeze and go as smoothly as everything else has so far. 

2:45pm:  9-10 cm dialted and ready to start pushing soon.  So it seemed that I was well on my way to having a baby in the next couple hours and the pain was perfectly tolerable- I could only feel slight pressure when having contractions.  Life is great at this point!

3:00pm:  Now all hell starts breaking loose!  So the nurse explains to me how to push and I felt like I just could never do what she was asking.  As I’m laying on my back she wants me to basically do a stomach crunch and curl up around the baby and then push 3 times for 10 seconds each whenever I have a contraction.  My problem was that the baby was so big and I’d been uncomfortable for so many weeks, I just couldn’t hardly “curl up around the baby.”  And when I did that, I couldn’t breathe in adequately to effectively push for so long.  It felt like my lungs were crushed that I couldn't breathe.  So we just kept trying over and over and over.  It was discouraging cause the progress was so little each time-- she commented after lots of pushing that the baby had moved a few millimeters (yes, MILLIMETERS)...and I thnk she was just saying that to be nice and keep my spirits up! 

4:00pm:  Eventually the pain started getting horribly bad on my right side to the point where I couldn’t even attempt the pushes anymore.  The pain was extending down my right thigh.  So I keep telling the nurse that I’m having really bad pain- and she always comes back with asking if it is "pressure" or "pain" because I should be feeling pressure, but not pain.  Since I’ve never had a baby I didn’t know if I was just being a wimp and this was normal or not.  Finally it was so horrendous I just broke down crying and was borderline freaking out cause there was no way I could go on pushing under these conditions and didn’t know how I was going to get the baby out.  This was just the worst feelings and pain that I never want to live through again.  So she called the epidural people to come back and see if there was anything they could do.  Luckily, they were able to adjust some things and have me lay on my right side to get that numbed a little more.  I then went back to trying more pushing…I could tell from the nurse that still no progress was being made, but at least it was a little less painful. 
6:00pm:  Finally the nurse called the doctor in to look at things and the doctor said the baby’s head was at -1 and needed to move to a +3 to get out, so I wasn't even close.  She said basically no progress had been made in the baby’s position from the start—just what you want to hear after going through all that excruciating pain!  She said I was probably looking at like 3 more hours of pushing and maybe I would get to that point…or the other option would be to do a c-section.  Immediately I’m like- give me the c-section.  A huge sigh of relief came over me and I've never been so happy to have surgery before!

6:30pm:  A crew of people came in to give me drugs prepping me for the surgery.  Dustin got his scrubs.

7:00pm:  They wheel me down to the operating room.  Everything just seems now to start happening really fast and my memory may be slightly fuzzy for events in the room cause I wasn't feeling the best.  Dustin was by my side for the surgery and the main thing I remember is I started shaking really badly.  I look over at my arms and they are flopping around like a fish out of water- so this scared me some that I was going into some sort of shock of having some reaction.  However, they assured me this was common and okay.  I couldn't see or feel the lower part of my body, but I was scared it was shaking too and they weren't going to be able to do the surgery or I was going to jerk and then they would splice something open they shouldn't.

 7:13pm:  Lachlan is born and I hear his little cries!  However, the moment is not all joyous as I hear someone say, "Call the NICU" immediately when he is pulled out...so I am so scared that something is majorly wrong with him that they were able to determine that so quickly.  For those that don't know, NICU is basically where the babies go when they would have something wrong or born prematurely, so it is not good news.  The other 2 things I hear from the other side of the table are, "Whoa- he is such a big baby!" and "Look at all that red hair!"  I kept telling Dustin all along that I want a blonde kid and not a redhead....so was not happy to hear about the red hair at all...but was the least of my worries at the time!

So now they start the about 20 minute process to sew me back up.  They bring Lachlan over to the side to perform tests, weigh him, etc. so I can see him during this time and Dustin can be by him.  The first thing I do is just inspecting him head to toe trying to see what is wrong.  For a second I thought he was missing a finger, but it then popped up and was just folded back.  So I can't see anything wrong with him...and he looked HUGE....and his hair did not look very red to me- maybe strawberry blonde.  He weighed in at 9 lbs 4 oz and supposedly pooped twice before he hit the scale.

Finally a nurse tells me that they had to call someone from NICU because there was unexpected merconium, so they have to make sure he didn't swallow any...which he didn't.  I'm also feeling just very naseaus while they are sewing me up and feels like it is taking FOREVER.  They get me a bucket and I'm freaking out what is going to happen if I throw up. I'ts so hard on your stomach and body and obviously they are trying to do surgery, so this can't be good if I start puking.  I'm also still just shaking really badly.  Poor Dustin was over by Lachlan and taking all sorts of pictures that I had asked him to do...but I called for him to come over by me cause I just needed him there to hold my hand and be there in case I did get sick.  This time period was really the only downside to the whole c-section process.

8:00pm:  We go back to recovery room and it was kinda nice to just get some time for the 3 of us and to just relax and take a deep breath!  I got to hold Lachlan and I'll have to say that it really just was kind of weird...to be holding this little guy that is now our son and that just less than an hour ago was that painful thing inside me.  I thought he looked so adorable though and was so happy!  Dustin left for a few minutes to go out to the waiting room to tell his family and I called my mom and sister.  After a while, they took Lachlan to the nursery so they could clean him up and do tests, so Dustin went briefly with him, but then came back to hang out with me.

9:45pm:  Unsure of the time here, but they take me to our room and get us setup in there.  All I can think of is WHAT A DAY!  Was glad that it was over, we were all healthy, and just exhausted!

At the end of the day, I’ve had such a positive experience with the c-section and the recovery so am glad I got to go that route.  And if there are people like me that were very scared and apprehensive on the whole labor process, I would seek out a doctor that will voluntarily give you a c-section.  Who knows, maybe if the baby was smaller and that epidural had worked better, the labor would not have been bad….but I know I NEVER want to experience the pain and feelings like I had that day.  There was very little pain/discomfort with the c-section process.   They give you tons of drugs for the recovery and at the 1 week mark, I was completely off all medication and had essentially no pain.  The scar is down so low that no one will ever really see it- can still wear a bikini if I desire.  And I liked that we got to stay in the hospital longer- it gave us more time to get help breastfeeding and having the nurses monitor the baby. 

Here were our predictions vs. actuals-- we ended up in a tie :(
Time of phone call: Amy- 9am; Dustin- 6am; Actual- 5:37am (Dustin wins!)
Baby's Weight: Amy- 7 lbs 9 oz; Dustin- 8 lbs 5 oz; Actual- 9 lbs 4 oz (Dustin wins!)
Baby's Length: Amy- 21 inches; Dustin- 24 inches; Actual- 22 inches (Amy wins!)
Time Baby is Born: Amy 5:16pm 12/13; Dustin- 11pm 12/13; Actual- 7:13pm (Amy wins!)

Get ready for many more posts all centering around baby Lachlan now!

Tomorrow is THE DAY!

So, I'm sitting here tonight at 40 weeks and 6 days...so basically I have the dreaded 41-week post since this stubborn little guy refuses to come out!  However, I'm not using my normal format and just writing down some thoughts-- I'll have to take a bump picture tomorrow when I look better than now!

So as of last Tuesday, my doctor setup the induction for tomorrow 12/13 and I was 6th on the list to be called.  However, I'm sure some of the 5 people ahead of me had their baby this last week, so I've probably moved up a little.  They usually start phone calls around 5am and will just depend on how busy they are with people coming in for natural births.  If I haven't heard anything by noon, then I can call and get a status update.  So we sit around tomorrow and wait for THE CALL!

We are both really ready cause feel like our life has been on hold lately cause keep thinking the baby could be coming...so almost every day we have spent just sitting around the house...watching tv, playing some games, etc.  I've been working from home and Dustin is technically on vacation, but basically was working from home.  The one good thing with the baby coming late is that we had time to explore 3 daycares and think we have decided on one.  As much as we are ready and excited, it's also just really hitting me and kinda makes me sad that the life Dustin and I have known will come to an end and take a whole new direction starting tomorrow...although I know it will all be for the better!

This last week has been brutally uncomfortable, but some of it could just be in my head since I know I was overdue.  Sleeping has been really difficult and generally only sleep for about 2 hours at a time before I wake up and either my ribs or back is throbbing.  The heating pad has become my new best friend!  It's been tough cause it's so hard to get comfy-- if I sit too long, it's killer....if I stand or walk too much, it's killer...there is just no good position to be in!  Dustin has been so good to me the last few days cause there's been a few crying meltdowns when I'm so uncomfortable and don't know what to do....usually a good backrub cures that then!  I've already decided for the next baby that I will need to make sure I have a doctor that will induce a little earlier- like maybe 2 days after the due date or something.  Waiting a week was just too much!  And considering he was last measuring 9 days ahead of schedule, I'm paranoid now he's HUGE.

I must say that I'm not near as nervous as I thought I would be.  I've been dreading the actual labor FOREVER, but I think I've been so uncomfortable that I really am just ready to get it over with. I would be way more nervous if I was doing some sort of public speaking thing tomorrow, so just goes to show how much I hate that I guess!  I think I just know I gotta get through whatever pain...and hopefully in a few days I am feeling SO much better than right now :)

Just for fun, we made a few predictions so we'll see who gets the most right:
Time of phone call: Amy- 9am; Dustin- 6am
Baby's Weight: Amy- 7 lbs 9 oz; Dustin- 8 lbs 5 oz
Baby's Length: Amy- 21 inches; Dustin- 24 inches
Time Baby is Born: Amy 5:16pm 12/13; Dustin- 11pm 12/13

Hopefully next post is to share a POSITIVE birthing experience and the fact we have a HEALTHY baby!