Six Months of Loving Victoria

Victoria LOVES Klamata Olives... one of the only things I could eat that would stop my morning sickness with her. She also really likes liver pate, not sure where that came from, but I'm glad she's getting her iron. Not going to fight that!

 

We are slowly cutting out co-sleeping, which I am comflicted about. I am happy I get some me time, but one of the best things is watching her wake up, take a look around and then giving you a HUGE smile, because it's like that that's exactly where she wants to be.

We are SO lucky to be living so much closer to family now that we've moved. I didn't realize it before, but we really needed it. Almost desperately.

I hope that you don't have anything really terrible happen to you in your life, but I hope you have serious challenges that you need to learn how to overcome and rise above.

Bathtime is one of my our favourite times in the day. Little Miss laughs and smiles SO much during our baths. She loves to relax and lay back in the deep water while she rests her little (and growing) feet on my belly while I hold her under her armpits and support her head and neck so she doesn't tip back so far.

We've started using Burt's Bees products. The Baby Bee bubble bath and the Baby Bee lotion smells AMAZING! I really like that it's 98%-99% natural, tear free, not tested on animals and that the bottles are mostly from recycled materials.

 

She took her very first photo this month. (With some assistance, but I was surprised to see that I got in there. I fully expected it to be a full on picture of the ceiling.)

And she took her very first selfie, too! (Again, with some assistance.)

I am SO choked up (and unbelievably proud) that she will be 7 months old tomorrow... and shortly after, eek! Let's not go there!

Awesome Discovery!

Okay! I discovered this tonight and I'm SUPER excited about it! I made some steamed carrot baby food last night, tossed it into an ice cube tray and froze them. Tonight, I went to take one out of the zip lock bag for Little Misses big girl food breakfast tomorrow, but instead of putting it in the fridge, I wrapped a bib around one end and let her suck on the other end.

 

SHE LOVED IT! She got MAD at me when I tried to take it away! She GRABBED for it when it was within reach!

I understand why she loved it so much though, she *is* teething something fierce (5 teeth now, one more coming in the next day or two, and it feels like a few more soon after that) and she really likes carrots... and broccoli... and chicken... and, well, let's say I figured out early that I don't have a fussy eater.

So a love of food (she loves ice too) + not being able to feel gums = awesome

 

 

 

And once it got too small to hold in the bib, I simply broke it up into tiny pieces and fed them to her like I would any normal solid food.

I was pretty happy to come upon this discovery, and I think I'll try it with her sweet potatoes and maybe some green beans. What a great idea for teething babies and an awesome way to get some extra nutrition in! I think it would a fantastic summer treat idea too... maybe with some apple sauce?

Hope you give it a try!

 

What is an awesome discovery you've made recently?

Oh! And won't you scroll on down past the comments and feed the goldfish?

A 3AM Trip to the ER

*Just a note, this was written RIGHT before I got on the plane with Little Miss to move back to our home province, and since then things have been crazy with trying to unpack with a baby. Sorry for the delay, but I *did* want to publish this, because I think the content is important.*

So, let me start off by saying, trips to the ER are never fun. Especially when you have to head out at 3 in the morning. Especially if you are making the trip for your child.

Let me also be very forthcoming and say, Little Miss and I usually co-sleep on the couch. I know, not exactly safe in terms of co-sleeping and many nurses and doctors would be giving me a lecture right now if they could and that they can't really support co-sleeping because it's not recommended by health Canada. Up until now, we haven't had any issues. Usually I wrap a large swaddling blanket around LM and then around me so there is no risk of falling (obviously didn't do that last night). I used to have her between myself and the cushions on the couch, but stopped at the advise of my midwife who as worried she might get overheated.

SO! Last night...
It was about 2:45ish when I woke up to a "THUD!" Like the sound of a poundcake falling to the ground - and then a wail from my very startled little girl. I scooped her up from the floor and cradled her in my arms. And surprisingly, she calmed down MUCH sooner than I thought she would. And she nodded off to sleep again. I grabbed the diaper bag, made sure that there were plenty of supplies in case we were at the hospital for a longer than desirable period of time, packed up Victoria in her car seat and we were off.

On the way, I sat in my seat and then my mind was going a mile a minute. "What if the nurses and doctor were mean to me?", "What if they had to keep her under observation for a ridiculously long time and we miss our flight for our move back home?", "What if they think I'm a bad mother?"

"What if they think I'm a bad mother and call Child Protective Services?"

On the drive I came the the resolution that I certainly am NOT a bad mother, no matter what anybody thought. I am only a mother who made a choice. A bad and unsafe choice, with an outcome that could have been prevented, but not a bad mother. I am a mother whose stomach turned in knots as I was rocking my baby to comfort her. I am a mother who decided right away that the right thing to do was take my daughter to the hospital. A mother who was praying that everything was okay.

Thankfully, the ER was empty and we were seen pretty much right away. The staff were surprisingly nice and didn't judge me. The doctor was so pleasant - even at 3:45 in the morning. She was kind, and thorough in checking LM out for an injuries, in her questions to see if any behaviors have changed and detailed in what we should look out for in case we though things were taking a turn for the worse at home. Good news, Victoria is great, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with her. YAY! She said that she was just startled which is why she calmed down so quickly and usually babies stay limp when they fall. She once saw a kid in the ER who fell two stories and was perfectly fine - no scratches, bruises or broken bones.

I walked out those double sliding doors out to the car feeling better and holding my babe just a little closer and tighter.

SO! Needless to say, we won't be co-sleeping on the couch anymore. In the new house, we will have a bed that we can use for co-sleeping.

Do you co-sleep and want to do it safely?

• Make sure your baby is on their back. If you breastfeed while lying down and your baby is on her side, make sure you return her to her back after she’s finished eating.
•  A lot of families find that the best position for baby is on the side of mom, not in the center, since mom is often more responsive in the middle of the night
• Control the temperature. You don't want your baby to overheat, turn down the heat. Dress yourself in a long-sleeve shirt and dress your baby in a night outfit in which she doesn’t need a blanket. That way you can keep the covers safely down, and your arms won’t get cold.
• Those who should not cosleep with an infant, however, include: other children, particularly toddlers, because they might not be aware of the baby's presence; parents who are under the influence of alcohol or any drug because that could diminish their awareness of the baby; parents who smoke because the risk of SIDS is greater.
• Make sure your mattress fits snugly in the bed frame so that your baby won't become trapped in between the frame and the mattress.
• Don't place a baby to sleep in an adult bed alone.
• Do not place a baby on a soft surface to sleep such as a soft mattress, sofa, or waterbed.
• Get a "Co-Sleeper". A bassinet that attaches to your bed. No worried of rolling over your baby; you get your space so you can stretch out and your baby gets the benefit of being near you.
• NEVER co-sleep if your baby was born premature or had a low birth weight
• Never co-sleep if you are extremely tired, or have a sleep disorder, such as sleep apnoea. You may be in such a deep sleep that you don't wake up if you roll onto your baby

Five Months of Loving Victoria

Moving with a baby is HARD work! Very time consuming indeed.

I feel like I have a lot less time to do things in, but I still very much want my focus to be there for Little Miss when she needs me - all the time

Flying with her wasn't as NEARLY as difficult as I thought it might be. She really surprised me and slept on most of the two flights. Only got a little scared when there was some turbulance as the second plane was landing - and then she laughed because she got butterflies

She LOVES big, fun moustaches!

I'm FINALLY able to get some pictures of her smiling, since she doesn't always get super distracted by the camera anymore.

It is SO nice to be near family again. In this picture I'm sitting with my brother (6 years my senior) and his little girl, about 10 months older than LM

She has 4 teeth now, and my guess is, that by the end of the week, she will be crawling. She is SO close!

(I know this isn't about her, but I have bangs again! And I am LOVING the change)

Time is going MUCH quicker than I would like.

Four Months of Loving Victoria

Little Miss has a new favourite thing to do recently. Sticking out her tongue as well as pppppthhhffffttt sounds.

I always want to be there for her to depend on. I can also see myself losing jobs in the future due to taking time off last minute so I can be there for her. (Hopefully that won't be the case though)

I'm not looking forward to sleep training or getting her on the bottle very much.

Time is running through my fingers MUCH too quickly!

Three Months of Loving Victoria

My little turtle <3

I can see time slipping through my fingers much too quickly. In just a few days, my little girl will be 4 months old, and then it's only 8 months until she's a year old... where does the time go?

Her hand eye coordination is improving at a phenominal rate. I love it when she puts her hands together like in the above photo... so precious.

Sept the 14th, she had her first two teeth pop out. This picture wasn't taken on the same day... you try putting your fingers in your babies mouth to take a picture of teeth. Bubbles and a tongue easily get in the way.

 

 

It seems like I can never get over those moments of Mama Pride... and I love that.

 

 

 

I can't wait until she is old enough so we can go on Mommy Daughter Dates. We can go out for brunch or lunch, go to the spa to get a pedicure and our hair done together. And if money is tight for whatever reason, I can make us a special snack, grab my nail polish and buffing brush and we can do each other nails. I can fix up her hair, and she can mess around with mine :)

 

 

In quiet moments like this, it nearly breaks my heart (and fills it with joy) that one day, my Little Miss will be a confident, amazing young woman who will have her own wings and won't need her mama anymore. So I snuggle in real close, breathe her in and try to soak up every second of her.

 

 

 

It's a challenge to be a good mom and let her be daring and explore her new world, try new things and take chances. I *HAVE* to let her be daring to grow and develope. I want so much to be there to catch her when she falls, but I think that sometimes, I have to pick her up after she stumbles to be able to learn what she needs to.

 



 



This amazing little person is mine, and I am OVERWHELMED with how much I love her.

Body Image - (My) New Mom Perspective

I know there is a HUGE range of perspective on the new mom and body image, and I know that we often hear about the negatives. The stretch marks, the extra belly skin, how NONE of our clothes fit, how our tits HURT!

And the list goes on.

My experience is quite different from the tales we so often hear. Like much of my pregnancy, life post pregnancy for me has been quite easy.

My stuff
stretch marks? Yes.
Still wearing mat pants? Nope.
Two pairs of pre-preg pants. Sometimes my pre-preggo jeans.
Still have a bit of a paunch.

Feeling good
Eating healthy (for the most part)
I was resting for quite some time, partially thanks to my c-section infection and time needed to heal. It was PRET-TY bad!
Perspective. The weight won't stay on forever. My priority is being mama and not losing weight and getting back into shape so shortly after giving birth.

During my pregnancy I gained 38 pounds. 20 pounds of that I lost in the hospital. 9 pounds of that was baby, the rest was fluids, water weight (that went straight to my boobs) and placenta. I lost 10 pounds pretty quickly by breastfeeding, but as I said previously, I had a c-section, so I had to take it easy. Then my incision got infected (while I was still in hospital. Yes, I brought up with all nurses and anyone who came into my room that it felt weird, everyone said it was fine... until I walked into the ER 11 days later... turns out, I was right, there was something weird!) so I had to take it easy for much longer.

Right now, I am 5-ish pounds away from my pre-preggo weight. And I'm not sweating about it. My priority is still being a mom rather than getting back into shape. I don't want to be fixated about a number on a scale.

Today, I woke up feeling tired, but a few minutes into the morning, I felt awesome. I felt energized, I fit into my pre-preggo jeans, my babe slept until 8:45 in contrast to her normal 6:30, I got my makeup done. And I had a good poop. Yup, I said it, deal with it.

Most days, I feel pretty good. Some days I wake up feeling exhausted and I really don't know how I'm going to get through the day. Most of the time it's with coffee and ice coffee. How I feel about my body image changes with each of those feelings. For the most part, I'm super comfortable and confident about my body.

My body is freaking awesome. I grew a child. I never felt more beautiful than when I Was pregnant. I felt freaking gorgeous, and I think that showed. And well, I still feel pretty awesome. I feel pretty... and, I have to say, I have the cutest kid ever. How can I EVER hate anything about my body when it housed her, kept her safe and nurtured her?

Yes, I have stretch marks, I have a scar above my pubic bone, I still have a bit of a mummy tummy.

My body is the only one I have and I have made a choice to love my body. The way it is right now. Flaws and all. Because the way it is right now, is perfect in my daughters eyes. And I want to take a lesson from her, to teach her a very important lesson later on. That our bodies are beautiful the way they are. I don't want her to hear me say "I'm fat and ugly and wrong." Because she will believe it, and she will learn it, and she will live it.

I want my daughter to learn the lesson later, that she already knows now. Her mommy's body is perfect the way it is. And so is hers.

Two Months of Loving Victoria

Time is slipping through my fingers far too quickly. I see her growing out of her cute clothes, and I remind myself to love every second of my time with her.

 

She is getting SO big. Her feet. Her hands. She's bulked up. She's grown longer. It's hard to remember how small she was before.

 

 Her hair is getting thicker and darker, and her eyebrows are darker than they used to be.

 

 One of my favourite things is when she smiles in her sleep. Possibly the cutest thing ever.

 

 

 

I love seeing my Little Miss with my mom.

 

 I recently learned that Victoria is a snake according to the Chinese zodiac

 

I also recently learned that her birthstone is emerald

Her cry is constantly changing pitch and tone. She is starting to babble more and more. The cutest is when she babbles while smiling REALLY big!

 

One Month Of Loving Victoria

This little girl is really laid back and quiet so far... so far.

I love the smell of Victoria's breath. Since she's breastfeeding, it smells sweet <3

She didn't sleep in her bassinet for ages. She slept next to me in bed or on the couch. Now she starts out the night in her bassinet, and when she wakes up she either  comes to bed with me or we head to the couch.

In 5 days in her second week of life, she gained 11 oz and was almost 1 full lb over her birth weight already... only 1 oz off.

She is really good in social situations. We had our first social outting and she was spectacular!

This kid is NOISY when she eats! She is constantly making sounds while nursing... she's especially vocal when she is nursing while tired or half asleep.

 I am amazed at how soft her skin is

There is constantly milk in her neck folds

Even when I'm exhausted, I'm content to just hold her - even during the rare fussy times (and more often as she is more awake and aware of the world)

I have mastered the art of eating with one hand while holding my babe