Things we miss

You wouldn't think that a 4.5 month old would have already outgrown habits. Unfortunately, this is true and if you don't snap the photos often enough or turn on the video feature of your digital camera, you will miss them. Forever. For example, E used to sleep with us all the time, for his naps, at night, whenever he wanted to sleep, he would fall asleep on our chests or in our arms. He was easily transferred to his bassinet and would sleep some more. He would not dream of doing this anymore. We are too interesting, there is too much to see, too much to do. Every once in a while, he will fall asleep while we, or someone else, is holding him, but for the most part, he will not. Not anymore. Another thing he used to do when he was waking up after having a nap on one of us, he would raise his eyebrows, with his eyes closed and pucker his lips. It was SO CUTE! We never got a photo, but I think we will remember the face.

On the other hand, it is so exciting to see the new things he is learning every day. He is getting better at reaching for things. He is so good at doing push ups while on his tummy, and now he is bringing his knees up a little. His voice changes every day, from cooing to squealing, to back to cooing and now blowing raspberries. He learns so much and tries to copy us (like with the raspberries) it is amazing.

So, I try to take lots of photos and video (thank God for digital cameras - don't have to worry about batteries or wasting film!) And hopefully the things we miss will at least be captured somehow physically, but will always be captured in our hearts.

New things

Sorry for the lack of baby posts.  Facebook has kind of taken over as the updater vehicle, but I realize some of you may not be on fb and might be interested in what's going on with us.  Ethan is doing great!  He is 4.5 months old now which is crazy to me.  He is so amazing, every day he is learning something new, working on a new skill or something of the sort.  He has gone from cooing to squealing, from sucking his hands, to his fingers, to his lower lip and back to the fingers.  He can sit up with our help for a few seconds and then lists to the side or backwards.  He can hold things with a ferocious grip and is trying to get everything he can into his mouth.  He has the most wonderful smile and a little bit of a giggle when he is tickled.  He is a wonderful car traveller (we have yet to venture anywhere in a plane).  He seems to like the bath.

I am also doing well, fully enjoying this new role of mother and am so grateful to be able to stay home.  We have joined a few play groups and are taking a class with a couple other Blossoming Newborns so I get to have some adult interaction besides Sean.  We are surviving the winter well, and went for a walk yesterday with a friend and her 5 month old.  I am tackling the 45 minute naps a little at a time, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I am grateful for the at least 8 hours of sleep Ethan has at night.

We are starting to think about solid food, but not for another couple of months, he's still eating and growing well which is really reassuring to me that things are going as they should.

Sean is great.  Ethan always gives him a great smile when he comes home which is probably the highlight of his day.

Not to say, we don't have our moments.  Sometimes there are times when E is so upset and we just can't figure out what to do so we do have some crying, but overall, he is a really happy kid and so am I.

Feeling better!

Ethan is finally feeling better and his cough seems to only be horrible in the mornings (after all that post-nasal drip has settled in his throat.)  His demeanor is much better, he is eating better and all around, seems to be on the mend - YEAH!

On another note, I am so happy to have my little guy here in the outside world with us, but there is one thing I do miss about being pregnant - my pregnancy hair.  When I was pregnant, my ever-so-thin hair all seemed to stay on my head, giving the illusion that my hair was slightly thicker than it actually is.  Now that all the pregnancy hormones have gone, my hair is falling out like it did before (not that it's an abnormal amount), but there's always hair in the shower drain that I have to clean out.  Another weird thing, is that I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight (yeah!) but not my pre-pregnancy body.  My clothes still don't really fit.  My guess is that this is because fat weighs less than muscle and currently, I have more fat than muscle.  Since it's winter, it's been hard to get out and go for a walk or do any sort of exercise so I guess we will just have to wait until spring to see how my body reacts to some exercise.  We'll see!

Sick :(

Ethan has been sick for the past week.  He has had a terrible cough, a fever and runny nose, and has mostly been miserable.  Luckily, his fever only lasted about 2 days and his lungs were clear (as of Tuesday) so the doctor seemed to thing this is just a cold virus and it just seems worse because he is so little.  The cough is what bothers me the most.  It is like his whole body is vibrating from the bottoms of his toes throughout his whole being.  Today and yesterday he seemed much better, mostly because he doesn't have a fever anymore, but his throat is hoarse from coughing and when he cries it is even more sad because he hardly makes any sound.  

So this week has been tough for me.  I didn't want to take him anywhere for fear he would get another type of cold or pass on what he has to another baby.  Doing so has left me home alone all day for the past week.  Needless to say, I have been on facebook a lot, but it's hardly a replacement for adult interaction.  Sean and I have both been exhausted, making sure our sick one is eating enough, sleeping enough, still breathing, etc. during the night.  Two exhausted parents does not make for keen conversation.  It usually goes something like this:

me:  How was work?

Sean:  Exhausting (insert comment on crappy economy and how it is affecting his company here)

we watch TV for an hour or so and then attempt to sleep.

I have talked to my sister a few times on the phone which has been refreshing.

I never thought being a parent would be easy, but I did not anticipate the feeling of utter helplessness when your child is sick, especially when he can't tell you what's wrong.  I know he is a resilient kid and we have been so lucky with how mild mannered and well tempered he has been so far, so I know he will come through this with flying colors, it's just hard to wait that long.  For now, I'm trying to be the best comforter, sleep aid and meal provider I can be and hope that gets him through.

Video

This video is a little over 3 min. long.  It's probably not that interesting to anyone but me and Sean, but thought I would share it anyway.  I'm still figuring out iMovie.

Being a parent

Specifically a mom, is the best.  Even yesterday, when I got pooed on, woke up at 1 am and 4 am to feed my baby, took care of my husband who had literally passed out from exhaustion from a crazy work week and horrible cold, cleaned up the kitchen, and hosted a playgroup.  It made me so happy I wasn't going back to my insanely boring job and I felt more fulfilled than I have in a long time.  I know that sounds weird but I am so happy to have this life of dirty diapers, dirty dishes, a loving husband and a wonderful baby.

Oh Yeah, I have a blog.

Sorry it's been a while.  We have been a little busy, having a baby and all.  Ethan was born Oct. 27 and is absolutely amazing.  We love him so much it is ridiculous.  Sean was able to be home for 3 weeks straight which was great.  Today is his first day back at work.  We are managing ok, the biggest thing is that I have figured out that even though Ethan doesn't really like to sleep in his bassinet, he will sleep in his car seat so he is napping there right now, although I do anticipate he will be waking up shortly to eat and be changed.  He makes the most adorable sounds when he's sleeping and is a fairly easy baby, we can usually get him to calm down in a relatively short amount of time (knock on wood) and he seems curious when he's awake and has the most beautiful eyes.  We have gotten lots of great gifts from lots of people so thank you all again.  We've had great visitors and my mom will be coming up later in the week so that will be a help.  I would post a picture, but I am using my new computer and therefore have not had a chance to upload any software or anything to it yet.  It is my wonderful baby/anniversary gift from Sean.  Hope you are all well.  I'll try to post more as we get into more of a routine (if possible!!)

Baby setlist

The place we are planning on giving birth is going to be a brand new hospital wing with private rooms with jacuzzis, a bed for Sean, a TV, a music player, etc. Some people suggest you bring music to listen to while you are laboring. I have been thinking about this for a while and am not sure if I will want music playing or if I will want it to be quiet, but I figure I should be prepared either way. I have been trying to think of stuff to put on the birthing setlist. This is what I have so far:

The Ode to Joy choral section of Beethoven's 9th.
Music for Royal Fireworks by Handel
Hallelujah chorus by Handel (if I could time it right, it would be awesome for this to be playing when Baby makes his debut - and yes, I know this is completely unrealistic unless I just have it on repeat)
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart

I also like a lot of requiems, but that doesn't seem quite appropriate for a birth. I was trying to remember which Mass the Chorus sang that Bunky said was a Mass for the Living. Anyone have any ideas here? Bee. Mass in C? For some reason Gounod is sticking in my head, but I don't think that's correct. Google isn't helping me much in this matter.

I'm going for stuff that I am really familiar with since they say you should be able to distract your mind and let your body do the work it's supposed to do. This is going to be difficult for me, but I am just going to work on trusting my body and not being in control (insert laughs here). Since my brain will need something else to do, I guess it makes sense to have it concentrate on something else.

Any other suggestions? For you moms out there, what do you think about music playing? A good distraction or annoying? Do you wish you had music playing or glad you didn't?

Comments

Yesterday, someone at work (who doesn't have any kids) saw me and said, "You look hot and uncomfortable." To which I wanted to reply, "So do you." However, being a superior to me and me being the nicer person, I just responded, "I still have a Red Sox hangover from Sunday." SERIOUSLY?!?! Would anyone say that a non-pregnant person looked hot and uncomfortable? Is that supposed to be a compliment? A sympathy greeting? Come on people - as one of the books I read says - the only thing a pregnant person wants to hear is, "You look great!" Or, if we really don't look great, just don't say anything about our looks, just ask us how we are doing or how our weekend was.

The titty fairy cometh

I blogged a while ago about my new bra size. Currently, I am reading a book called the Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. It's pretty funny and seems to have some good advice in it. One chapter talks about the physical changes your body undergoes while pregnant. One of these is the fact that your boobs get bigger to accommodate for the milk glands and to prepare to feed the child you are carrying. She writes that some of her girlfriend's SO's (significant others) call this time the visit from the titty fairy. I told this to my husband and he thought it was hysterical. It is pretty hilarious. Especially for those of us who didn't have anything to begin with, it's a new and exciting feature to have. All those push-up bras now have something to work with and cleavage is a possibility. During this time I will be taking some advice from one of my own girlfriends and buying a couple of low cut shirts. (Hey, even though they're maternity shirts, I still look cute!)

Pregnancy and emotion

One of the side effects of being pregnant is that you can be extremely emotional. I remember hearing stories from my friends who, when they were pregnant, couldn't watch a Hallmark commercial without a box of kleenex. I heard these stories and thought to myself, "Ha! That won't happen to me! I am in complete control of my senses." Stupid me. The All-Star game was on Tuesday night and since I had to work, I TiVoed it. Before I went to work last night, I started watching the pre-game show and practically fell apart when Yogi Berra came on the screen. That's right, I started getting teary when I saw a Yankee. I literally had to turn it off so I didn't show up to work all bleary-eyed. Stupid hormones. God forbid they decide to tear down Fenway and I decide to get pregnant again. I will be a wreck.

The All-Star game was ridiculous. I added an hour to the recording and still didn't get it all. It lasted 15 innings and finally the AL came out on top thanks the JD Drew and no thanks to Papelbon. The game was played in Yankee Stadium. As I blogged about before, this is the last year of The Cathedral. It was a fitting tribute to the grand old park, especially with the AL win.

Bad smells, b-cups and babies, oh my!

So, I think the two people who actually read this blog already know my news that I am pregnant! About 20ish weeks along in fact. We are very excited about this new adventure that we will be embarking on. So far, my experience has been great. I wasn't sick, I haven't had any weird food cravings (yet), and in general, haven't had any pregnancy "symptoms." (I hate to use the word symptom as it makes pregnancy sound like a disease or something.) It's bad enough that insurance companies see it as a disability - if you want to get some paid time off to have your baby, you need short term disability insurance, and even then, it's only at 80% of your current salary for 6 weeks, after that, you're SOL.

A few short, funny stories to share:

A few weeks ago, the lab next to me was thawing and dissecting about 20 large cod. Needless to say, this created a big stink - literally. Even with my office door and the lab doors closed, the smell still got to me so I went home to work. Pee yew!

A few days ago, I bought my 1st ever B-cup bra. (Yeah, yeah, bring on the jokes). I think it still might be a little small, but I know the C will be too big.

I've also bought a few maternity items: a pair of jeans, a pair of capris and a couple of dresses. I also got a few things from my sister in law which will be a great help. The jeans currently keep falling down, but I'm sure I'll grow into them (how many times will I be able to say that and be happy about it?). The capris are great and at least one of the dresses is as well. It's weird how certain clothes definitely show off the fact that I am pregnant and others hide it fairly well. The dress, for example, is empire waisted, black and it is fairly obvious what is going on - as witnessed by the man in front of me at Versailles (more on that in another post) who asked if this was our first child (Bold!) - but he was very kind and told me his two daughters have 4.5 kids between them, so I figured he clearly knew what a pregnant lady looks like. I also bought this weird elastic band thing that I can use with my regular pants without having to button them. Who knew pregnancy came with gadgets too?!

I've told a few people at work, but I don't think I'll make a big announcement. I figure I'll just let people figure it out themselves and make them squirm a little if they ask me (hee, hee). Today I am actually wearing a top that makes it fairly obvious - we'll see if anyone says anything.

So I think we make the 10th or 11th couple I know this year who is expecting among our friends. There was one in Jan., two in Feb., one in April, there will be one this month, 3 or 4 in July, one the end of Oct and one the beginning of Nov (me).

Bring on the babies!