So AJ and I have been attending a music class for babies 0-6 months for 9 weeks now. I know that some of you are thinking I am crazy for taking a 1 month old to a music class, but I enjoy singing and it is a great way to get out of the house in cold or rainy chicago weather. Anyways, for the first 8 week session AJ either slept, nursed, or cried pretty much the entire 1/2 hour class. While the other babies looked at the teacher, smiled, laid on their belly, etc. (mind you these babies were 4-6 months). So on Monday, the first day of the new session, AJ had her best music class ever! She was awake, not hungry, and actually smiling at me and the teacher. I was absolutely beaming with joy for the rest of the day because I was so proud of her for simply enjoying her music class. One would have thought my daughter had just won an olympic gold medal the way I was so proud. This makes me think how crazy will I be when she does win a medal :)
Who knows what will happen next week at music class, but 1 in 9 are good odds. Right? :) Anyone else have crazy things that made them really proud?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Does my child have big nostrils?
Silly question, I know. Let me explain how I came to this question. AJ has been fighting a stuffy nose. I have been using the suction bulb thingy and it only works ok, so at my mom's group I asked if anyone knows of a better way to help a stuffy nose. One mom suggested the Nose Frida. For those of you who do not know about this it basically is a snot sucker where you put a tube over your baby's nostril that is connected to a straw like thing and you literally suck out the snot. My first reaction was gross! But then if it helps AJ I guess I will try it, so I sent my husband to whole foods to pick it up.
I read the directions and was ready to do this, but when I put the tube to AJ's nostril it did not create a seal over it, the tube fit inside of her nostril! So this is why I ask if my daughter's nostrils are too big?
The Nose Frida does not work for us. Any other suggestions?
I read the directions and was ready to do this, but when I put the tube to AJ's nostril it did not create a seal over it, the tube fit inside of her nostril! So this is why I ask if my daughter's nostrils are too big?
The Nose Frida does not work for us. Any other suggestions?
This is not what I expected
So my body decided that AJ needed to come 3 weeks early. I made an appointment to see my OBGYN thinking that I was going to get a prescription and be back to work in the afternoon, but that was not the case. While at the Dr. she tells me to go over to triage to check things out. I walk over to the hospital while calling my husband and then about an hour later I am in labor and delivery. To say we were not ready is an understatement. Both my husband and I have our cars in every parking lot but the hospital lot and my overnight bag, well let's just say I was going to pack it that weekend. Next time I will listen about packing the bag early and putting in the car. And my whole natural birth plan went out the window as well. The epidural needed to be put in as soon as we checked in because of my platelet count. That is why I said in my previous post be sure to keep an open mind. After 24 hours of inducing my labor with no luck the decision was made to get a C-section. Everything went fine during the c-section and a healthy AJ was born.
Physical recovery from my C-section was great. But emotionally I felt like I was a little out of control and overwhelmed. I did not like how I was feeling and almost was a little embarassed about it because of my expectation that I would be loving every minute of motherhood. I laughed with the nurse at my 2 week check up that I was sure I had a red flag that said watch this one. This is a good thing though. And because I did my best to let people around me know that I was a little emotionally unstable I feel like maybe I recovered quicker. I will say I still had some crying outbursts even a few weeks into motherhood. I did not love motherhood right when AJ was born or even the next few weeks. It took me awhile to adjust to the huge life change, but I can say now almost four months into it now I do love being a mom.
Physical recovery from my C-section was great. But emotionally I felt like I was a little out of control and overwhelmed. I did not like how I was feeling and almost was a little embarassed about it because of my expectation that I would be loving every minute of motherhood. I laughed with the nurse at my 2 week check up that I was sure I had a red flag that said watch this one. This is a good thing though. And because I did my best to let people around me know that I was a little emotionally unstable I feel like maybe I recovered quicker. I will say I still had some crying outbursts even a few weeks into motherhood. I did not love motherhood right when AJ was born or even the next few weeks. It took me awhile to adjust to the huge life change, but I can say now almost four months into it now I do love being a mom.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
My Pregnancy
After all the struggle with getting pregnant I was a very happy pregnant person. I enjoyed having my baby bump and the attention it got me. At first I could not figure out why everyone was always opening doors for me (even strangers) and then at a pre-natal exercise class another pregnant mom was talking about how doors were being opened for her as well and as I looked down at my bump I put two and two together.
I read a few books to get ready for baby and my husband an I took a class at the hospital where we would deliver. At the beginning of the class the nurse had all the pregnant moms go around and share their doctor and how they wanted their delivery to go. I shared with the groups that I wanted to try and use no drugs for my delivery. A little bit into the presentation the nurse went over all of your drug options. My husband than raises his hand and asks Why would anyone not get an epidural? I was now questioning if we were on the same page with our birth plan. The nurse's response was I am not sure, but I guess it is the same as why would anyone run a marathon. I have ran two marathons, so maybe now my husband understands. Although I later found out that just because you have a birth plan you better still keep an open mind about it.
I read a few books to get ready for baby and my husband an I took a class at the hospital where we would deliver. At the beginning of the class the nurse had all the pregnant moms go around and share their doctor and how they wanted their delivery to go. I shared with the groups that I wanted to try and use no drugs for my delivery. A little bit into the presentation the nurse went over all of your drug options. My husband than raises his hand and asks Why would anyone not get an epidural? I was now questioning if we were on the same page with our birth plan. The nurse's response was I am not sure, but I guess it is the same as why would anyone run a marathon. I have ran two marathons, so maybe now my husband understands. Although I later found out that just because you have a birth plan you better still keep an open mind about it.
What I wanted to be more than anything...
I have wanted to be a mom since forever. I played house and babysat while I was a little girl, became a teacher, and married a wonderful husband. I was ready to be a mom and everyone who knew me agreed. So when my husband and I decided it was time to start our family we were surprised to have some infertility problems. After many unsuccessful IUI attempts we found success with IVF and we were on our way to starting our family.
Although going through infertility was not easy for me I think it has made me a better person and wife. Infertility taught me a lot about the importance of expressing your feelings. I have never been one to share my feelings freely with others, I tended to keep everything bottled up inside and felt I can handle this on my own. I started off sharing my feelings with my husband about how sad I was about the failed pregnancy attempt and guess what although I was still sad I felt a little bit better knowing that I was not alone.
Infertility also showed me the importance of communication. At first the only people who knew that we were struggling were my husband and I. We had family members asking us about when we were going to have a child and we would just kind of laugh it off. After a while it was very hard and painful to keep being reminded that we were not pregnant, so we decided to tell our parents about what was going on and that we would let them know when anything changed. It was the best thing we could have done the questions were gone and we were in charge of what information we wanted to share. I probably shared more of what we were going through than my husband, but talking about it made me feel better. By the time we started IVF I was also talking about it with my close friends and it was very nice to have their support.
Although going through infertility was not easy for me I think it has made me a better person and wife. Infertility taught me a lot about the importance of expressing your feelings. I have never been one to share my feelings freely with others, I tended to keep everything bottled up inside and felt I can handle this on my own. I started off sharing my feelings with my husband about how sad I was about the failed pregnancy attempt and guess what although I was still sad I felt a little bit better knowing that I was not alone.
Infertility also showed me the importance of communication. At first the only people who knew that we were struggling were my husband and I. We had family members asking us about when we were going to have a child and we would just kind of laugh it off. After a while it was very hard and painful to keep being reminded that we were not pregnant, so we decided to tell our parents about what was going on and that we would let them know when anything changed. It was the best thing we could have done the questions were gone and we were in charge of what information we wanted to share. I probably shared more of what we were going through than my husband, but talking about it made me feel better. By the time we started IVF I was also talking about it with my close friends and it was very nice to have their support.
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