Shmorgishborg!!!

It has been a long time since I've blogged. I'm actually going to wait until the end to title it... I also just looked over all my labeled and selected all the ones I should topic this blog around because it seriously has been so long since I've produced any meat and potatoes for you all. So, here we go...

Zoey was the size of a 9 month old at her 6 month appointment... we were told she's so tall, she's off the percentile chart (which was meant for full-term babies, by the way)... so we're always like, "What preemie? Was that a dream?" Hmmm...

She has two teeth now. They came in during the same week, just a couple days apart, when she was 6.5 months old. She also started sitting up on her own around the same time. Teething has been... fun. Not really. Especially since her teething tablets were recalled. Losers. Get it right the first time, people... instead, we've had to resort to Infant Advil (which takes 20 minutes to kick in, which equals forever to an infant) paired with Orajel (she hates it). Some days are downright horrid and I feel awful for her... but lately, it's gotten a tad better. She's a wonderful baby, starting to get mobile in her 7th month, which terrifies me... is my home baby-proofed enough? What is she going to get into now?! And why is she so grabby?! She and I need to have a talk about what belongs to her and what doesn't... something tells me it won't go so well.
My new job... it rocks. I don't know what else to say about it yet except that I. LOVE. IT. I love the people, the work we do, the additional education they offer us for free (InDesign training!)... everything about it is everything I needed to move toward a happier life. We're not made to feel guilty for taking a lunch (yeah, I said it... stupid, eh?)... we're encouraged to play as hard as we work and to love our environment. All this love makes me happy :)

The holidays... oh, the holidays. Zoey is going to be a peach for Halloween. Well, kind of... I dropped the ball on getting her costume made because of everything with the job transition and vacation... so I got a little creative and made her costume. I found a fabulous tutorial online and made her a tutu myself... took about an hour total. I bought a long-sleeve onesie and dressed it up a bit with a couple buttons and ribbon. She already had a peach hat to wear. I also got her some peachy tights, but I'm thinking (thank you cold weather) she's going to end up in velvety brown pants instead, which is just fine, right?! Peaches have brown on them... they're fuzzy... see, it all works out. :) Of course I will post pics after. I'm too proud of my crafting not to.
Zoey is loving oatmeal now... we buy her the kind with fruit mixed in. Oatmeal and apples make her veeeery happy. She also loves yogurt. I think one thing I look forward to the most is Thanksgiving... she's going to get to try real sweet potatoes for the first time. :) I may even puree some turkey and gravy... we'll see. ;)

I am so stinking excited about Christmas, too! I've started looking on Etsy for her first ornaments and I found a birdie one I probably have to have because she has birdies everywhere... but I was also inspired to make them myself. Kristin and I are plotting a decoupage session in the near future...

I love crafting. I finally bought a glue gun today (I know, what the heck took so long?!) and I want to glue everything... this could get dangerous. My cats better not get in the way because I'm half tempted to glue ribbon and embellishments on their fur... but I digress.

Infertility.

Lately, I've been thinking about people I know who are carrying a heavy heart due to infertility or pregnancy loss. I often look at my baby girl and thank God, through many tears, that I have her... even though it was a hard fight just to conceive and eventually deliver... I'd do it all over again. People have asked me, and I've wondered as well, if I will face the same battle when we decide to TTC again. I really don't have an answer, although I do find it highly likely based on my body's behavior since having Zoey. Instead of focusing on the hard road I traveled to get where I am today, I'm going to focus on the blessing. I wish I could wave my hand and change infertility. I wish those who would be great mothers would have happy ovaries and a joyful uterus... I wish those who abandon, abuse and neglect their children would be the ones stricken with infertility. Unfortunately, it isn't up to me. But I can promise you all one thing... if you're suffering with infertility, I am praying for you. Whether or not you believe in prayer, I am praying for you and will keep praying for you. Although we do not understand God's plan sometimes, we have to trust that He is bigger than everything we are and has a reason for every trial we face in our walk of life.

The fire is refining you to gold. Please let me know how I can specifically pray for you...

Giggles.

Zoey is starting to Giggle now... she's had a squealing laugh for about a month now, but last night we captured an adorable moment I just had to share. Note that the video quality is very poor since this was recorded on my BlackBerry, but it's what you can hear that will melt your heart.

Zoey's 4 month appointment

14lb 5oz
26" long

97th percentile for height
75th percentile for weight (because she's so tall)

How in the world did she get so stinking tall?!
She sure didn't get it from me. I'm 5'1"....

Solids & Oozy Poop Explosions...

Zoey is now experiencing new foods. She's 4 months old and very ready. When she was 3.5 months I gave her a taste of cereal for the first time and she did really well with it. We also did bananas mixed with breast milk. Last week, she tasted a bit of smashed avocado and after making a hilarious face, she tried to suck my finger off my hand. That's my girl. :)

This weekend we spoiled her and gave her pear baby food in her cereal and she definitely liked it a lot more... but then we gave her straight pears. Big mistake because now she doesn't want cereal, she only wants the fruit. Oh well, I suppose that isn't a bad thing... they don't have to have cereal right? I'm guessing it's the first solid they're started on because it's mild...

This morning was the first "solid food" explosion. Zoey had the biggest oozy/drippy poop I've ever seen. It was dripping out of her onesie and was all over my arm. What did I do? Laugh hysterically. It was quite funny and it didn't really smell very bad... it was just oozy and gross looking. We pulled the onesie down instead of over her head to avoid it going in her hair. I just threw the onesie away. I couldn't bring myself to clean it. Zoey just smiled the whole time.

Looks like we're in a whole new world of feeding! She's getting a little bit of solids every night between her last 2 feeds as a snack until she's a pro at eating and we can replace a bottle with baby food. Four month check-up tomorrow!

3 months old

Zoey is 3 months old (14 weeks to be exact) and she is just blossoming. She is 12lb 11oz right now. Her colic is finally getting under control... she's happier and so interested in the world around her. She has thrush right now but it's not really bothering her. It's not spreading at all, it's just thickening in the same spot on the back of her tongue... no diaper rash to go with it either. She's on some meds for 10 days and she loves how they taste. She's so funny. :)

I am excited to start her on food, although I'll [probably] wait until the 4 month mark... I am toying with the idea of pureeing some bananas with breast milk, per my mother-in-law's recommendation! I just want to be sure she is sitting up even better in her bumbo before we do this. She is very strong, but I don't want to risk her choking. It excites me to think of introducing Zoey to new foods... seeing if she is as adventurous of an eater as Glenn and I are. So far she's pretty open to any type of nipple and whatever substance we give her, be it breast milk or a specific type of formula. She hasn't had any bad reactions yet and she just goes with the flow! (ha ha... "the flow"... get it?)

She is putting weight on her legs all the time right now. She likes to arch her back so that I will stand her up... I wish she'd slow down. She's soooo strong for her age. I'm definitely proud of her... you wouldn't know she was a preemie. I just wish she'd stop advancing so quickly, haha. She is pretty closing to rolling over in both directions... belly-to-back and back-to-belly... she can get on her sides pretty well in both directions, she just can't figure out how to move her arm out of the way. Right now, she just loves to stand and look around at everyone. She's adorable and I love her.

It feels like just yesterday...

It feels like just yesterday I was laying in the hospital just waiting... waiting and not knowing what was going to happen and when it was going to happen. I still feel like a large chunk of my life has been taken away, even though it has been 3 months since Zoey was born... but in reality, I've only had her home for 2 of those months. Really, really hard to believe...

I've come to the realization that placentas are evil little things. A necessary evil... I can't even count on both hands how many people have issues with it... low-lying, completely lying, splitting in half, lol... I mean, wow! Maybe I just never noticed it before because I never knew what to worry about... but it seems like it's everywhere now... I only hope to God that no one I know has to go through the same thing I did.

It still feels like yesterday that I was fainting in the bathroom, with four nurses hovering over me... like yesterday that I was crying in pain when the pain meds weren't kicking in fast enough... crying because my baby was regressing in NICU instead of progressing.

I've said this 100 times and I'll say it again. I would do it all over again. This baby girl is truly a miracle and was worth every fight during the TTC process, every tear shed, and every long night in the hospital. I'm getting back in the swing of life, but I still feel drained at the thought that most of my 2010 was spent dealing with the hospital. I look forward to it being a distant memory so I don't remember the fight as vividly. I still feel like I just got home.

Sometimes I just stare at her and cry a little. What a precious gift she is... and she is mine.

12 Weeks Old: Pictures Worth 1,000 Words!

I have nothing to say. This little girl has stolen my heart! I can't believe she turns 3 months old 1 week from today....

11 weeks and counting...

How can you not just L O V E that face?! This is what I get to wake up to every morning... I couldn't be happier with her. At 11 weeks old she is smiling more often, holding her head up for longer intervals, and even sleeping a little longer at night. We're not quite at the "sleeping through the night" phase but I'm sure it's close. She's still sleeping in our room but that will soon change. Three months old will mean moving to the crib. I'm sure I won't get a wink of sleep the first few nights as I get up to go check on her. Even with a baby monitor, I don't see myself just snoozing comfortably...
She is starting to observe the world around her with brighter eyes. She's noticing that she can actually make things move and hold them, too. I love the surprised look on her face when she realizes I've put something in her hand... or when she swings her arm and her toy sways above her head. You can see she is thisclose to actually grabbing on her own will... I love it. :)
Everything else is pretty much the same... she's on breast milk during the day and spit-up formula at night. She's had her first taste of pineapple... well... kinda. I had some juice on my fingers and I wiped it on her paci instead of her napkin. She sucked on that paci like it was trying to escape! She liked it... ;) I know, I probably shouldn't do such things but I just had to share the sweetness with her. I can't wait until she is starting baby food... it'll be fun to see what she likes. She's very expressive with her eyebrows so I am sure I'll have many photos worth giggling at when the time comes.

So... it's been a while...

Heh, sorry. I have been a bit pre-occupied as of late. Zoey is 8 weeks old and doing awesomely... she has some acid reflux so she's on baby Zantac, which typically works great, but every once in a while she'll still completely soak through the thickest burp cloths and bibs... she likes to do this in public... she really likes to miss the burp cloth and cover the front of my shirt.

She's in her colic stage, but I'm counting my blessings. Breastfeeding has slowed waaaaay down... I still do it periodically but the milk machine is coming to a halt. Yes, it's true... it's my fault though. I started pumping less often to purposely pull back the supply because we had no room left to store the milk, plus I was hurting from creating 10oz every 3 hours... I mean, seriously, it's difficult to lug that around... pumping less meant the supply went down to 10oz every 6 hours... and now I'm at about 7oz every 7 hours. I pump enough for 2 meals each time I pump so I am just scraping by without dipping into our freezer... but it works. On top of cutting down the pumping sessions, I started birth control to keep the PCOS... well... under control. Happy ovaries mean a happy mommy. We finally did buy a deep freezer so now we can put big people food in our regular freezer. I've decided I'm going to start doing formula at night to help her sleep better and keep the breast milk going during the day... stretch that stuff out longer before we have to do exclusive formula. Zoey eats better... she no longer has these feeding spells... just the reflux problems, but she'll eventually get over it. I wish I could have exclusively breast fed from her day one, but I'm just thankful I've produced as much milk as I have and that I'm able to give it to her. It saves us money and gives her the live antibodies she needs.

I'm now only 5 lb away from my pre-pregnancy weight! This means I only have 25 lbs to go before I'm where I want to be weight wise. Instead of buying Shape Ups, I bought Tone Ups... these are SO cute... I got them in the mail and ended up having to send them back for being too small, but I'm waiting for my new pair right now... what do you think?
They're half the price of Shape Ups, perform the same, and perfect for summer weather. Who wants to wear socks and heavy shoes in 90 degree humid weather? Not me.

Okay so that's about it on the baby front... here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment...

...at a friend's house...

...having an underwater adventure!

...hanging out on daddy's lap...

Mothers Day!

Best Friends :)

Mommy Products - A Review

I've been a mother for a little over 5 weeks now, but only actively for almost 2. As I go along, I learn by doing and using. There are some products I have fallen in love with and I have to recommend them to all of you who are looking to enter motherhood in the future. I also included a link to purchase them. I'll add more to these lists as I trek through motherhood. For now, here are 4 items that are must-haves...

1. Medela Quick Clean Micro-Steam Bags.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2735035
Oh my goodness, there couldn't be a quicker or more efficient way to sterilize everything your baby needs to put in his/her mouth. Each bag can be used up to 20 times... for just $4.99 you can get a box of 5 bags. I use them for literally everything... pumping supplies, bottles, nipples, pacifiers... you name it! You just rinse everything really well, add 2oz of water to the bag, then 3 minutes in the microwave and you're ready to rock! This is great if you only have so many items and don't want to run the dishwasher 10 times a day... they're easily portable, too.

2. Summer Infant SwaddleMe.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3726424
These make swaddling your baby a piece of pie! Zoey doesn't really like to be tightly swaddled, she likes some freedom to move her arms and legs, so we have one that is a size bigger than we need so she can still extend her legs and poke her arms out the top, but be kept nice and warm at night.

3. Soothie Bottles.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/The-First-Years-Soothie-Bottle-Starter-Set-BPA-Free/10877976
Soothie pacifiers are quite possibly the best pacis out there. If your baby loves his/her Soothie paci, try this bottle. I have a collection of Dr. Brown's I use regularly as well, but Zoey (as you all know) has some suck+swallow issues as a preemie, and sometimes even the Dr. Brown's choke her because even when she isn't sucking, the milk is leaking through. I only have one 5oz Soothie bottle someone gave me. The Soothie nipple doesn't leak... she has to actually suck on it to get the milk to flow. This is what we needed right now. Less choking is always a good thing. She loves her Soothie pacis, now she loves her bottles, too. While the Dr. Browns are much better for gas, I'd rather her have a little more gas than choke and turn blue... which brings me to my next product...

4. Mylicon.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2435248
These are gas relief drops that apparently taste good because Zoey really enjoys them! They work, too. I even give her some before I breastfeed. Now, there is much less of her arching her back in pain before she gets out that burp.