Two Months

Since February doesn't have a 30th I'm posting Hunter's two month update on March 1. 

My Sweet Hunter,

You are two months old now! I still cannot get over how fast time is flying and how much bigger you get everyday. Every morning I wake up to your sweet smiles and it is by far the best way to start each day. This past month has been full of changes and milestones and we get so excited to see you grow and change each day. Mommy had to go back to work this month which meant that you started daycare! It was so hard to leave you that first day and I cried all the way to work but I know that you are in good hands and I can already see how it's been helping with your development. I miss you so much during the day but try to make up for it each night by showering you with kisses and attention. You continue to bring so much joy into our lives and we can't wait to see all the new things you do this coming month.


 Here are some of your two month stats:

Weight/Length- We will get your most up to date weight and length at your two month check-up later today but at 7 weeks on Feb. 16th you weighed 11lbs12ozs and were 22.5 inches long. I suspect you are now well over 12 pounds!

Eating- You still LOVE to eat. You are still getting primarily breastmilk but typically get one bottle of formula a day since it's hard for mommy to keep up with your appetite. Thankfully you've been great about switching back and forth between nursing and the bottle and breastmilk and formula. You typically eat around 4ozs every three hours or so with a 5-6oz bottle right before bed. I think we may need to increase you to 5ozs soon for your daily feedings.
Sleep- Overall you've been doing better with your sleeping at night. We typically put you to bed around 9:30-10pm and you wake up around 2am to be changed and fed and fall back asleep pretty easily and then wake up again between 6-7am. A lot of times I need to actually wake you up to get you ready for daycare. Of course you still have bad nights (like last night) where you wake up every two hours! You've almost slept through the night twice so far from about 10pm-4am. Mommy liked those nights!

 Clothes- You are growing out of your clothes quickly. You've pretty much outgrown all your newborn clothes (there a still a couple things I can squeeze you into) and there are a few three month items that are even getting snug. You have long legs and some of the pants are getting a bit short. You wore your first pair of jeans last weekend and I will probably start putting shoes on you soon.

Personality- You are still a pretty chill baby except for the evenings when you will often fuss for a while. You love to be held and snuggled and don't like it when we leave you alone. You've become VERY smiley and have started to smile more when we do something funny. I can't wait to hear you actually laugh! You are not scared of strangers and don't mind other people holding you. You also are not scared of the dog or cat and when you are tired you have no problem sleeping through a lot of noise during the day. So long as you are fed and have a dry diaper you are happy.
Milestones-
-You started daycare on Feb. 14th at 6 weeks old
-You did your first art project at daycare
-You had your first playdate on Feb. 25th
-You moved from the bassinet in our room to your crib in the nursery on Feb. 24th
-You slept for your longest stretch (so far) from 10pm-4am
-You met your great-grandmother Jo for the first time as well as some more cousins
-You went out to your first restaurant LosTeltecos on Feb. 17th

Two Month photos

(doing your first art project at daycare, you refused to look at the camera)

We love you Hunter!!

Playdates

This past weekend was a busy one for me and Mr. Hunter. He had his first official playdate on Saturday and then another one with family on Sunday.

In the past year or so there was a large number of girls that I graduated high school with that had babies, starting at the end of 2010 up to the end of 2011 with Hunter being the youngest. We decided to have a playdate with all the girls and babies that are still in the area so that the moms could catch up and the babies could meet.

It was great being able to see some these girls, most of whom I haven't seen since our high school reunion 3 years ago. It was also nice being around other new moms with babies a little older than mine to get advice from and compare notes with. One interesting thing we discovered was that out of the 9 of us 7 ended up needing to have C-sections!

Hunter did great! He slept most of the time but even when he was awake he would just look around and check out the scene. He only fussed a bit when he got hungry. I think being in daycare has helped him get use to the noise of other babies. In fact all of the babies did great. No major meltdowns. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

My little man wearing his first pair of jeans!

Hunter and my good friend Kelli meeting for the first time. I've known Kelli since 7th grade.

Hunter and Andrea. She was one of my best friends back in high school and now has an adorable 3 year old little girl and 5 month old son.

Hunter looking a bit terrified by the whole situation.

Trying to pose all the babies. Andrea's 3 year old was like a mini babysitter.

The whole group.

On Sunday we took Hunter over to visit with both of his great-grandmothers. At the first grandmothers house we met up with Kristian's cousin, his wife and their 4 children. They have an 8 month old little girl and we wanted to get the babies together.

Me and my little stud. Check out his cute socks.

Family photo

Hunter and his cousin Genevieve. He kept smiling at her and I had to remind him that she's family and not to get any ideas!!

Baby Swap

Hunter and Genny with their great-grandmother.

Smiley Boy!

Damn my kid is cute!

We then headed to Kristian's other grandmothers house so that she could meet Hunter for the first time. Unfortunately her first introduction to him included his biggest blowout to date with poop ALL up his back. We had to just throw out his onesie. Thank God I brought a spare set of clothes!

Hunter and his other great-grandmother. Both women are in their 90's!!

Such a great picture of three generations.

We had such a nice and busy weekend which helped me take my mind off my father's passing. It was so nice to catch up with old friends and spend time with family. Hunter was so worn out that on Sunday night he slept from 9:30pm-4am!!

Q&A

Thanks to everyone who sent in a question. Definitely a few in the bunch that made me really have to think. Let's get to it!

**From Stephanie at Creating Mrs. Cox:
-What is one piece of advance you would give someone who is about to become a first time Mommy??
Well I wouldn't give the standard "get your sleep now" advice because let's be real, you can't bank sleep, once your in the throws of taking care of a newborn it doesn't matter how much sleep you got pre-baby you're exhausted!

So my main advice would be to go into the whole labor/delivery with an open mind. I'm not a fan of strict birth plans because you just never know what will happen or what potential complications may arise and the more you have your heart set on a particular way of delivering the more you set yourself up for potential disappointment if it doesn't all go according to plan. Definitely have a preference for what you want but realize it may need to change.


Also, to try to enjoy every moment, even the sleep deprived, tears inducing, anxiety filled moments because they go by so quickly.

 -What is one thing you wish you would have done differently in preparing for Hunter's arrival?
Nothing really. I think we were as prepared as any first time parent can be. Every baby is different so there is only really so much you can do to prepare in advance.


**From Kristen at First Name Smith
-What is the most surprising thing you have come to learn since being a mommy?
How little sleep I can actually function on! I've always been a lover of sleep and use to need a solid 8 or more hours of sleep to feel human. Now I'm lucky to get 4 consecutive hours of sleep or even 4 hours of total sleep some nights yet I still get up, get dressed, go to work and then come home and take care of my son. Granted I sometimes feel like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown but I'm still standing (for now). You'll be surprised how quickly your body adjusts to lack of sleep.

**From Beka at Only Three Times
-How has your marriage changed since you got pregnant, and since he was born?
I think overall our marriage has changed for the better. Granted we get irritated with each other a lot easier now thanks to the sleep deprivation and I definitely get a little bitter when I wake up every night for the 2am feedings while he sleeps but that just comes with the territory and I think is pretty common to most couples. Also, we have much less sexy-time which kinda sucks but I'm trying to remember to make that a priority even when I'm exhausted.

Having a child has definitely brought us closer. After all we made this amazing little human that is part him and part me and that's pretty freaking cool. Also, any modesty that I had before flew out the window during the pregnancy/delivery/recovery. He had to help me with EVERYTHING while I recovered even the gross stuff so that definitely brought us closer. We've also learned more about teamwork, it's amazing how this tiny human requires SO much. I really don't know how single mothers do it. One of us has to be taking care of Hunter while the other is cooking or doing the housework so we're constantly having to work as a team to get it all done and make sure neither person gets too overwhelmed.

Do you feel more "family" now that there are 3 of you instead of 2?
I do actually. Before Hunter came I considered Kristian and I (and our fur-children) to be a family but for me at least, there is something about having a child that just changes things. My mother and my brothers are still my family but when I think of my immediate family that's Hunter and Kristian.

Has having a baby changed your relationships with any family members? With friends?
Not really, though I guess it brought me a bit closer to my dad before he passed away since having Hunter was one of the things that made me get back in touch with him. As for everyone else I think my relationships are basically the same.

Is it all worth it? Especially the sleep thing... I really like sleep... :)
100%. Believe me I LOVE sleep but like I said you adjust pretty quickly to the lack of sleep and if you're lucky that phase doesn't last too long and you're left with this amazing little person that you love more than life. It's hard...no doubt...but totally worth it, especially when they smile at you. Melts your heart every time.


**From Heather at High Heels and Flip Flops
What's your advice for someone (me) who is absolutely terrified of being pregnant and giving birth?
My advice is to remember that all of the pain/discomfort is temporary and the prize at the end is totally worth it. I have a very low tolerance for pain/nausea/discomfort etc and I'm not gonna lie there were times when being pregnant absolutely sucked but 9 months isn't very long in the grand scheme of life. As for giving birth, that's what the drugs are for :)

Were you able to work through any fears you had, and how did the physical aspects influence your views about motherhood?
I was pretty freaked out about giving birth and the pain of it all but I kept reminding myself that there is pain medicine and that it would all be over in a day or so. Now that I've been through it and know what to expect I'm actually more nervous about giving birth next time but that's because I didn't have a very good birth experience but that fear doesn't stop me for still wanting to have another...eventually.


**From Venassa at These are the best days of your life
How old were you when you first got your heart broken?
My first real heartbreak was when I was 18 right after I got to college. I found out about a week after breaking up with my boyfriend that he had cheated on me while we were still together. That pretty much sucked. The sad thing is that I still got back together with him a few months later. Yeah I was young and dumb.

How long have you known the (non-family) person you are closest to?
I would say there are a few of my sorority sisters that I'm the closest to and I've known them now for 14 years! God I'm old.

**From April at Adventures with April
Now that you've gone through the first month or two and have some semblance of a routine down, what has been different than expected (other than your birth story as no birth ever goes exactly as imagined I don't think)?  Have you found things easier or harder than anticipated?
Certain things are easier than I expected like breastfeeding. I was convinced after all the horror stories I've read of the difficulties of breastfeeding that we would have a tough time but I've been very lucky that Hunter is a great eater and has never had a problem with nursing or going back and forth between nursing and bottle feeding. Also, the poopy diapers aren't as gross as I thought they would be (though I hear once he's on solids they get really nasty)

Juggling all the responsibilities that come with being a working mother has been harder than I thought and I already knew it would be hard. There truly are not enough hours in the day to manage it all and I already don't get any breaks from when I wake up at 6am to when I go to bed around 10 (plus the middle of the night wake up calls).

As for what's been different than expected, I thought I would lose the baby weight easier/faster than I have. My body looks totally different now and that's been an adjustment as well.

How many times already have people asked if you're going to have another and how do you NOT punch those people in the face?
I've lost count, in fact Kristian's cousin just asked us this over the weekend. I've learned to just laugh at them.


**From Krysten at Why Girls Are Weird
Were there any fears you had before becoming a mom? What were they? Do you still have these fears now?
I had pretty much all the typical new mom fears like having a healthy baby and keeping him healthy and happy. And yes I still have those fears and probably will for the rest of my life. I also had a fear that having a baby would somehow hurt my marriage and even though we've had our moments of getting irritated or frustrated with each other our marriage is still solid.

Thanks again for the questions, this was fun. If anyone else has any questions feel free to ask and I'll answer those as well.

My father

When I was 8 years old my parents divorced. Prior to my parents divorce I was never particularly close to my father, I was a mama's girl. When they split up I had a very up and down relationship with my father as did both of my brothers. Without getting into the nitty gritty details and whole family history I'll just say that for many reasons I chose to distance myself from my father. I haven't seen him in person in probably 6 years though that's due in large part to his moving to Florida. We stayed in contact on and off throughout the years via email. We went through periods where we would talk somewhat regularly and then he would do or say something and I would back away again.

I did not invite him to my wedding and in fact didn't tell him I was even getting married until after the fact. I explained my reasons why and he was upset but happy for me so things were okay for a short time. Then he started reverting back to his old ways so I pulled back again. I hadn't spoken to him in probably a year but right around Christmas, right before I gave birth, Kristian convinced me to contact him again. So I did. I gave him an update on my life and let him know about his grandson that was due any day.

After Hunter's birth I emailed with him a few times and gave him updates. I knew it made him happy to be back in contact with me and to hear about his new grandchild. I was hoping that maybe we could finally put things behind us and slowly get to a better place. I was cautious but optimistic.

My father passed away this past Saturday, February 25th. It wasn't a surprise to us. He had been in the hospital for close to a month due to a large ulcer that was left untreated and perforated his stomach. He had surgery and even though he was in bad shape we had hoped he would be able to recover. The doctors told us last week that he had taken a turn for the worse and there was really nothing left that they could do. He had never been in very good health and his body just wasn't able to recover from this. We made the decision to have him moved to hospice care however he ended up passing on Saturday before they could move him.

After his surgery my brother had flown down to FL to be with him in the hospital. I couldn't go because I didn't feel comfortable leaving Hunter when he was only a month old, especially since I'm still breastfeeding and he was far too young to go with me. However, my brother would put me on speaker phone so that I could talk to my dad. He was on a ventilator so he couldn't talk back but my brother said he could hear me and was responsive when he asked my dad if he understood. He was also able to hear Hunter cry.

The whole thing is very surreal. Even though I wasn't close to my father and we've had a difficult relationship I'm still of course very sad about his death. After all, he is my father and if it weren't for him I wouldn't be here. I'm sad that we didn't have time to fully repair our relationship. I'm sad that we never had that super close father/daughter relationship that I've been envious of from my friends. But I am happy that I had been back in touch with him and that he knew about his grandson before he died. I know that brought him great joy and that gives me comfort. I just hope that he's now finally at peace.

Opening up the floor

Since this week I've felt (and according to my husband looked) liked a cast member from The Walking Dead I haven't been able to come up with anything interesting to write on this here 'ol blog of mine. Hunter has been sleeping great however my child is a VERY noisy sleeper. He's constantly grunting and cooing and sighing in his sleep and since he's still currently in the bassinet next to the bed that makes getting some sleep a tad challenging. He WILL be going into the nursery this weekend. Now that's he's sleeping better and almost outgrown the bassinet it's time. And hopefully the baby monitor won't pick up every teeny little sound that he makes so that this light sleeping mama can get more than a few hours of sleep at night.

With all that said, I've decided to do something I haven't done in the 3 years I've been writing this blog and that's opening up the floor for any questions that you lovely folks might have for me. I'm a pretty open book and there isn't much I won't answer except maybe what my social security number is so ask away and I'll post the answers sometime next week.

Seven

Seven...that's the number of hours my child slept last night...yep he slept through the night for the very first time from 10pm-5am!! And that doesn't count the hour before we officially put him to bed that he was basically sleeping through his last feeding and diaper change.

While I'm incredibly happy that Hunter proved it is possible for him to sleep longer than 4 hours at a time unfortunately I feel even less rested than usual. Both Kristian and I woke up around 2:30am, I think from habit since that's Hunters typical wake up call and both of us spent the rest of the night tossing and turning. I did not sleep again AT ALL. Ugh. So I couldn't even enjoy the 7 blissful hours of potential sleep. FML.

On top of that we both feel like we're coming down with a cold. Sore throat, congested head, stuffy nose etc. My child has been in daycare for one week and already we've been infected with the sickies. So far Hunter seems to be okay. He seemed a little congested last night which we noticed mainly when he would cry but he doesn't have a fever and was eating and pooping like normal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he doesn't catch whatever we seem to have caught. And I'm praying that his seven hour stretch of sleep wasn't just a fluke but rather the beginning of some much needed sleep relief for us.

Scary Spots

Yesterday we took Hunter to the doctors so that he could take a look at a spot that Hunter has on the top of his head. It's a spot that he's had since birth and it started out as a small, flat, red little circle. At his one month checkup we asked about it and the doctor said it was probably just a birthmark.

Well since that appointment the spot has gotten bigger and gone from flat to raised with jagged edges. It looks like a potentially cancerous mole. Needless to say we were concerned and rather than wait for his two month check-up we decided to take him in now to get it looked at. Better to be safe than sorry.  I didn't really think it was Cancer but I did think they would tell us that it needed to be removed to prevent it from turning into something serious.

I'm VERY happy to say that not only is the spot NOT cancerous but it doesn't even need to be removed. Turns out that Hunter has a Hemangioma which is basically a red patch of blood vessels that grows during their first year but eventually fades away on it's own. As soon as the doctor saw it he immediately knew what it was and put us at ease.

Here's a picture of Hunter's Hemangioma

Fortunately it's on the top of his head and his hair covers it so it's not really noticeable.

I'm very happy we went ahead and took him in so that we didn't have to spend the next two weeks until his two month checkup worrying. I don't think anyone wants to be one of those hypochondriac type of parents but with a baby, especially your first, if you ever have any concerns about their health better to call or take them in and get it checked out.

We also found out when we took him in that our little 7 week old has gained FOUR pounds and grown two inches since birth. He was 7lbs12ozs when he was born and yesterday weighed in at 11lbs 12ozs he's also now 22.5 inches long. Kid has a hearty appetite! It does make me a bit sad that he's getting so big so fast!

Also, for your viewing pleasure he's a video I took this morning of my little guy full of smiles.