JD: Four months!

Time sure is flying, I've had the notes for this but just now figured I best get it posted since we are closer to four months than five - what?!?! I'm a bit shocked because I thought there was a deal that my little man isn't supposed to grow up :)

At his checkup, JD weighed 16 lbs. 14 oz. and was 26 inches. I think that was 74th percentile on weight and 96th on height. He's a tall baby, already the same height Cooper was at 6 months and in a lot of 9 month clothing for the height.

About a week before he turned 4 months, JD started rolling from back to belly. He's so silly ... typically babies roll belly to back first, but he rolls to his belly, gets stuck and then cries. Ha.



JD has impressive neck strength. We put him in the bumbo quite a bit and he does well.

He is up to 6 oz. bottles and nurses 2-4 times at home on a typical work day. Anytime he is around me, he seems to want to eat every two hours (other than night time, haha). JD still isn't the world's greatest napper, but he sleeps from around 8:30/9 p.m. until about 6:45 a.m. Great sleeper.

His eyes are still blue and beautiful. He has fair skin and the roundest little head. I say he and Cooper look so alike, yet so different at the same time.

During his third month he attended his first Benton Neighbor Days and got to help his PaPa combine corn.

This month, JD also started smiling and "talking" a lot more.



Our little man really loves being outside and watching the TV. Always likes to cuddle and be around others. JD lights up when he sees his big brother. Cooper does so many annoying things but JD just basks in the attention.

Haha. Poor baby had shots that day and wasn't feeling it.

He really is the happiest, sweetest guy and we love him so much. We will keep him forever :)

Pin It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breastfeeding Round Two

Now that I'm more than a quarter of the way through breastfeeding this time around (how is that even possible?) I thought it would be a good time to do an update on how things are going, what's different, etc.

First off, my supply is out of this world! I had read it typically is for the second baby, and I'm sure that my knowing what I'm doing this time helps quite a bit as well. Both my boys were born on Wednesdays, and my milk came in on Saturday with Cooper but Friday with JD. I used the manual pump at the hospital following feedings to help take the edge off and that helped tremendously.

I remember my n*pples really hurting those first couple weeks with Cooper, but not so much with JD. It was more of a discomfort if you will but nothing horrible. Honestly the worst pain for me this time was the contractions, especially combined with healing from a C-section.

So as of now, with JD being about 3.5 months, I have approximately 1500 oz. frozen. Which sounds like a ton, but if I suddenly dried up, would only feed him for about two months. I'm essentially pumping enough every day right now to not only feed him, but freeze 15-18 oz. daily. I suppose it's a good problem to have, and he's growing well.

I obviously credit being home with him for a longer maternity leave for a big part of my great supply. I also knew what I was doing and am still a bit terrified of my supply tanking around 9 months like it did with Coop so this gives me a much better cushion!

While on maternity leave, I would obviously feed on demand. Then once he started sleeping in better blocks of time, I pumped before bed. Like most women, I produce a lot overnight while sleeping, so I would pump after any night/morning feeds. Once he started sleeping through the night (and now) I still pump before I go to bed, and after his first two morning feeds. On days that I work, it's typically just once that I get to nurse him in the morning. I send about 16.5 oz in bottles to daycare and he typically finishes them.

At work, I try to pump three times - around 9/9:30, 1 and again at 3:30 - approximately the same time he takes his bottles. He actually doesn't typically take his last bottle until 4:15 or so - which would have bothered me with Cooper but since I have a healthy supply is OK in this case. When I went back to work, he typically wanted to nurse almost immediately once we got home, but now he gives me until about 6 - long enough to get bottles made and supper prepped.

He usually nurses 2-3 times total before bed. It just depends and since JD began sleeping 9-10 hour stretches pretty early on I don't worry too much about it.

We aren't on a real schedule as he definitely wants to eat more often when I'm around :) But he's growing and my body is keeping up with the demand so I figure we are good!

I did try to cut back on my pumping a couple weeks ago and was dropping the night pump. But I ended up with mastitis because we had a busy day and I skipped two pumps, so I've picked it up again. Once I'm done with the antibiotics I'll probably try to drop it again. I would like to continue adding to my freezer stash, but honestly, I'd be happy with just an extra 9-12 oz. a day at this point. I've been doing some reading on WHO and am leaning toward continuing with breastmilk past the age of 1 - I'll definitely drop my pumping at or before then, but may continue bedtime nursing, as well as stretch out the frozen stash, to help my little guy continue to get his mommy milk daily for as long as possible. But right now, the goal is to make it to a year, and fingers crossed, we will get there and then figure things out!

In terms of eating/drinking, I don't have any real limitations other than being very conservative with alcohol. I did pump and dump one night and it was sad but vital :) I do still drink occasionally, but try to do so immediately after feeding and only one beverage every few hours, based on my weight. I drink a ton of water (80+ oz. daily) and have nuts or a nutty granola bar at least once a day.

I was concerned that working out/running again would hurt my supply but that hasn't been the case! I have to schedule things around feeding times and wear good bras, but that's it. I actually felt like I started producing MORE once I began increasing activity, so that was good. I do feel like my body is holding on to more flab and I'm starving ALL THE TIME but I also weigh 20 lbs. less than I did postpartum with Coop.

So basically, it is easier the second time around, and in my experience, there's a much better supply! We are just cruising right through and I'm glad - 3 bottles, etc. a day is more than enough to wash.

Pin It

 

 

Weekend rewind

Just like that, another weekend is over. Time sure is flying. I can't believe September is practically halfway over, and I sure can't believe I've already been back to work more than five weeks! Next thing I know I'll be enrolling my kids in college!

Don't you wish you had a muffin top cute as this one?

It was a pretty typical weekend in our hood. I had plans to do a chicken/rice bake on Friday, but Cooper requested pizza and obviously that's 10X easier so of course we went with that. I haven't cleaned house in about three weeks and needed to do that but instead decided to just chill and we watched a movie.

Saturday morning JD woke up around 6:30 and was the first in the house to stir. So after feeding him and pumping, I decided to hit the pavement for a run. The weather was in the 50s and it was absolutely gorgeous. It's really hard for me to get in a good run any day other than the weekend because mornings are so hectic and I can't get up early or I'd have to pump first, so I always try to run both Saturday morning and Sunday evening. I've been wanting to take the plunge and do the 5K distance for a few weeks but have been chicken shit ... and let's face it, it's been hot. I started out strong and feeling good, and about a half mile in decided to go for it, not to worry about pace, just run. I ended up doing 3.3 miles and felt great!

After I got home we got to cleaning, my FIL's birthday was last week and we had intended to go to their house (about an hour away) to visit, but they were planning to come through, so we just told them we would grill. So we got the kitchen/living room tidy and Cooper and I made a cake. Once again, the weather was gorgeous so wen just chilled outside. After they left, we changed clothes and went up to my parents'. My dad farms and is in the middle of corn harvest. My cousin used to help him, but changed jobs and actually works for a farm now, so of course he can't help, and my dad needed help running the grain cart from the field to the grain bins again. It was a shorter day since we didn't make it up there until around 4, but helped free up my dad a bit. After that, we went to Cape to look at a used deep freeze - my milk supply is great, but mine and my parents' freezers are now filled with it, so I needed some extra storage space. This is an older model but works great and I got a good deal on it so I don't feel bad that we will likely just use it for a year and then I will resell it.

Sunday morning after breakfast, hubs went outside to do some bush hogging while I worked on laundry and more house work. We needed more groceries and he was planning to help my dad again, but there was a couple hours before he needed to leave, so I fed JD, put him down for a nap and hightailed it. Poor little JD didn't have the best weekend (growth spurt?) and hubby actually ended up giving him a bottle in the 1.5 hours I was gone! Thankfully that seemed to make things a bit better for the rest of the day.



After a quick lunch, hubs went up north while I stayed back with the boys, since Cooper needed a nap and I needed to clean. Once we got to my parents' house, I helped them do a few things while the guys finished up in the field and moved the equipment! I was getting changed for a run when they got home. I'd rather pound the pavement but decided to just run the field row across from my parents, as well as a little on the highway to make for a two mile run. Running in the grass sure is a challenge, my calves/ankles were sore this morning! But it was a great run and I enjoyed it.

Since we didn't know how late they would work, my mom planned supper for all of us, which definitely helped me in the cooking/dishes department :) Then once we got home it was time for some Big Brother, baths and bed. All in time for another Monday!

I've gotten back into meal planning and actually did a little prep yesterday (I'm sooo ready to lose the last 2 lbs. of pregnancy weight) so thought I would share :)

Sunday: Pizza and chips
Monday: Pinto beans in the crock pot, cornbread muffins
Tuesday: Chicken, rice, black beans and corn casserole, tomatoes (eat plain or burrito-style)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Baked salmon, rice, salad
Saturday: Leftovers/TBA



Pin It

 

 

 

 

Cooper's first broken bone

Alternative title: How my entire family got poked and prodded by doctors in an eight-week time period.

When JD was 1.5 weeks old, Cooper broke his collarbone.

It was a Saturday and we were at the park for a family event and it began sprinkling. Cooper was climbing up a piece of playground equipment, slipped and fell.

Poor thing couldn't lift his arm at first and we weren't sure what was going on, but it looked like his collarbone had a point in it and he complained it was "bumpy." Urgent Care was only open for about another hour and costs us quite a bit less out of pocket, so we loaded up and went that way.

Mind you, there was no way I was leaving my 1.5 week old with ANYONE (no bottles yet and just too little for this mama to feel OK) but he also wasn't sitting in a hospital waiting room. So while the big boys went inside to wait, I sat in the car, then headed in with JD once I got a text that they were in a room.

First day home alone with both boys

An X-ray confirmed what, unfortunately, we already knew. Collarbone breaks are actually the most common in kids, which isn't surprising as much as they fall. Thankfully it was a clean break and they said to just do Tylenol and it would heal on its own.

Poor little Cooper was miserable though and would sometimes put pressure on his arm, forgetting about the break. So the following Monday, I called our family doctor to get him in. She confirmed what the NP at Urgent Care said. They do make immobilizers, but nothing that small. However, we decided to get a small sling for him. It helped to hold up the arm, but more importantly, reminded Cooper (and the kids at daycare) that he was hurt so not to use the arm.

Meanwhile, my little buddy didn't want to do much other than walk, so less than 2 weeks out from my C-section (and that Monday was actually hubby's first day back to work, so I was alone with both kids, one injured) I was lifting the 34 lb toddler and such. When I technically wasn't supposed to lift more than 10 lbs. Or drive. Whoops. Thankfully I know how to lift with my legs and had stopped taking pain medication. I actually told my dr at my 2 week follow up that week after getting the all clear and her response? You're a mom. You've got to do what you've got to do.

Thankfully after a couple weeks Cooper felt much better! We did swim lessons and he did great and I think he's all healed and will hopefully forget the broken bone ever happened.

Me? I'm telling God to stop testing me. A husband with a broken foot was bad enough, but add in a C-section, low blood sugar/partially jaundice baby and a toddler with a broken collarbone, and it was all I could handle. Wine, anyone?

Pin It

 

Labor Day weekend

We had a nice, long weekend, but as per usual, it passed by much too quickly!

My hometown does a big festival called Neighbor Days over the Labor Day weekend. This year, I planned to just take the boys up for the parade and a bit of socializing on Saturday. But, since Cooper won the Tiny Mister last year, he had to go and "retire" his crown on Friday night - ha! So we ended up letting him ride a few rides before heading home.

Saturday morning hubby and I got up and ran. We've figured out a system where we let the boys wake us up on the weekends. Hubby will go for his run while I feed JD and pump, then I'll get ready. We live in the country so it can be a little sketchy but I run with mace and always end my Map My Run app immediately so he knows that I'm done. I felt pretty accomplished to get 2 miles in before 8 a.m.

 

 

Afterwards we got cleaned up and headed back up north for the parade and some more rides.

 

Cooper got me to get on a couple rides with him. I'm pretty sure they are scarier as a 30 year old than a kid, but then again, as a 30 year old I'm a scared mama who is aware that the people putting those rides together basically make minimum wage. I tried to get out of it but he was willing to use his last ticket for me to ride the swings with him, how does a mama say no to that?

We went home and had naps and cleaning all around on Saturday! It was in the 90s here and we were all hot and tired.

Sunday morning I woke up around 4 a.m. and felt like my left boob was about to burst (sorry if that's TMI). I went back to bed after pumping 14.5 oz. (yowza) and had chills so I was pretty sure it was mastitis. I've had a very healthy supply this time around and have been eliminating the before bed pump, but since I'd also skipped a pump that morning, apparently it got to me. I ended up taking both a morning and afternoon nap. Tylenol helped but I still had an ache so we went to Urgent Care later in the day. I say we, but actually mean that hubby and the boys dropped me off then went to pick up groceries - no way my babies were sitting in that germy waiting room! About three hours later, I got the script, but we had to drive about 40 minutes to get it filled as all the pharmacies in our town close at 6 on Sundays. But it was an easy process and we just stopped to have pizza for supper. We went home and watched Big Brother and I passed out in the recliner with my littlest love.

Thankfully I felt much better Monday morning (they said it was good that I caught it before fever so it didn't get too bad) so I went for a run after feeding JD. My dad farms and was beginning his corn harvest but needed hubby to help him get a few things started, so he and Cooper went up and I met them at my parents house later.

The boys both got to ride the combine and Cooper has now declared he wants to be a farmer when he grows up.

Mom and I did some things around their house, including me going through Cooper's old clothes - I washed up the 6-9 month stuff and a lot of it already fits. My baby is so tall! We ended up just eating supper with them since it was about 8 by the time the guys finished up in the field.

And now it's somehow Tuesday and back to work. Whew. How was your holiday weekend?


Pin It

 

 

 

 

What's in a name?

I always think its fun to hear how people arrived at their baby's name, so wanted to share. As has become our tradition, it took about two days to name our kid.

 

Our girl name was set ... Chelsea Danielle. Hailey was our backup name just in case, but we had nothing for a boy, other than the middle name, Daniel (that's hubby's middle name so since Coop's middle name is Michael for Michelle, we had to incorporate hubs in some way for this one.)Throughout the pregnancy I joked that if R2 was a boy, his name may be Baby Boy, and it was almost that!

 

We had so many lists, marking off names, etc. it was insane. A couple weeks before I was due, we narrowed it down to three names: Wade, Ryan and Jacob. Ethan was on the fence, but there were, of course, drawbacks to each.

 

Wade: My husband wasn't really sold on, said it wasn't a name. Ryan: Our last name is the same as a famous actor with the first name of Ryan. Jacob: I have a cousin named Jacob (we call him Jake) but we liked it because I wanted to do an initial name like JD. Ethan I was never sure on because it seems super popular and then his initials would be ER (or ED if you consider first/middle names.)

 

So I had basically settled on Wade but was keeping Jacob and Ryan as runners-up, just in case he came out and didn't look like a Wade. I was ready for a boy, until we were driving to the hospital. At 5:15 a.m., when I was scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. C-section, my husband vetoed the name Wade, saying he just didn't feel right about it. At that point, I told him he better pray we were having a girl, because if not we were screwed and would be bringing home Baby Boy.

 

Well, we all know how it turned out - we had a boy and had to come up with a name. On his birth day, I actually didn't feel any of the three names were right and went back to Ethan for a bit. But I decided to sleep on it, and the next morning woke up considering Jacob again. After much deliberation/weighing the pros and cons (and asking the baby for his opinion, duh) I settled on Jacob Daniel. My little JD.

 

Funny side note: For the first bit, Cooper insisted his brother's name was Daniel. We'd say "Jacob ..." and Cooper would be like no, call him Daniel. Sometimes it was even Daniel Tiger. Ha!



C-section

One of my biggest fears since my first prenatal visit (actually since my postpartum check with Cooper when they commented had they known he was so big we would have scheduled a section) was a C-section.

Cooper was huge ... 9 lbs. 13 oz. ... and they say most of the time, subsequent babies are bigger. So at my 10 week appt., they set the stage for a section if it were another big baby, and it didn't go very well. I cried and basically told them I didn't see why I couldn't push out another since I already had and we were both fine.

However, at that point, my hubby told me to calm down and not worry about it yet. I still had six months of pregnancy and we would wait and see what happened. Additionally, my OB was totally on board to wait and see as well - she even noted that her first was almost 9 lbs. while the other two were in the 7s so it was totally possible to have a smaller baby.

Husband told me that, if push came to shove, that he would handle everything for me and be the voice of reason to respect my wishes. At that point, I specifically began praying that if I needed a C-section, it wouldn't be based off of size alone, but that God would make it very clear by making the baby breech or some other medical reason.

I went through the pregnancy thinking I would be like her and have a smaller baby this time around. With Cooper, I measured 2-3 weeks ahead consistently once I hit the third trimester, but I was pretty much on track the entire time with JD. At every appointment when they checked, he was head down and ready to go.

To get a better idea of baby's size, we scheduled an ultrasound at 36 weeks. I totally went in thinking that since I was measuring on track, it would really just be a chance to get to see the baby's face, and I was totally cool with that.

So imagine my surprise when she said the baby was breech. Oh and that the head was like the 90th percentile. Geez.

In between the ultrasound and appointment, my heart kind of sank. It totally wasn't the news I had anticipated. But I also couldn't help but laugh. Here God gave me EXACTLY what I asked for, and who am I to dispute that?

Unfortunately my doctor was out that day, so we met with one of the nurse practitioners. We were essentially told that it was very unlikely the baby would flip on its own at that point, especially since the weight was already about 7.5 lbs. There is a procedure called an external version where they can try to get the baby to flip while still in utero. It has a decent success rate, and you are hooked up to monitors the whole time so if the baby is in distress, you quit and do a C-section. It was our understanding that if we went that route, it would need to be done around 37/38 weeks. If successful, we would go home, if not, the baby would be born that day. Crazy, and a lot to process.

Over the course of the next week, I did a ton of research about the external version, etc. And I just never felt at peace with it and felt that God had spoken very clearly to me that I was meant to have a C-section, which is what I decided I was going to favor when talking to the doctor.

Thankfully, when I saw her at 37 weeks, she came in the room and point blank said that was the best thing, due to baby's positioning and size. I absolutely love this doctor so I was thrilled that we were on the same page. Within 15 minutes, we had a date and time set for two weeks later, at 39 weeks, 1 day. She said it was always possible for baby to flip, which I would feel, and if that happened, we would go back to the drawing board.

Having now experienced both a v@ginal and C-section birth, I can tell you that there are pros and cons of each. Thankfully with mine being scheduled, I knew what was happening and had time to plan and get all my ducks in a row. For instance, I took primarily high-waist maternity pants to the hospital to help hold my binder. We bought a recliner which was the best thing I could have done, considering that it greatly pained me to get in/out of bed.

Here are a few of the other advantages/disadvantages

• Recovery time: Obviously the C-section has been harder and took longer, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Right now I still have some soreness and inflammation, but it hasn't been too horrible. I began running again at 6 weeks and stopped wearing the band around 9 weeks.
• Labor: Total C-section win here. There's no labor. I had my hair done the day before, did my makeup and felt amazing the whole time. It also takes away the guessing game of when to go to the hospital, to an extent.
• Leave: I had enough time built up to actually take 11 weeks paid and still have some time when I returned. However; you are given 8 weeks recovery for C-section compared to 6. I also ended up with more short-term disability pay per my policy.
• Baby's health: Believe it or not, Jacob was in much better shape that Cooper after birth. Coop's APGAR was a 3, JD's was a 9. Birth was quite traumatic for Coop and it was like 3 hours until I really got to hold him, and honestly I was exhausted and didn't care. We got to keep JD with us pretty much the whole time.
• Hospital stay: Insurance pays 48 hours with a vaginal or 96 hours with a C-section. Since we had hit our out of pocket max either way, we stayed the full time allowed because it was nice to have the extra hands to help, prepared meals, no house to clean, etc.
• The day of: I would push kids out 100 times over to avoid that first time out of the hospital bed post C-section. It was all I could do to roll over and get out of the bed, not to mention walk about 16 feet to the bathroom. That night we went down the hall and I questioned if I would ever walk normal again. I pushed myself too hard and ended up getting hot and dizzy and needing a wheelchair to take me back to the room. Talk about embarrassing! However, after a good night's sleep, I felt 10 times better and moved with much more ease the following day.

Reading this, it looks like I would prefer a C-section but seriously, I would push out 10 kids to having one C-section. However, the most important part is that my baby and I are both healthy. How he got here doesn't matter, it's that he is here.

Pin It

JD is three months!

I realize I'm posting the three month update before 1 and 2, but I'll be writing them soon (I hope) and post dating them :)

Jacob Daniel, you are now a quarter of a year! The cliché saying is true - I feel like you were just born last week, but also feel like you've always been a part of our little family. I forget what life was like without you.

You definitely mimic when we wave at you and it's sweet

I like you the most right now. Ha! I'm sure there will come a day when you are a mean little 3.5 year old and I don't like you much either. But I'll always love you the same.

Despite everyone telling me not to, I feel like I totally wished away your brother's first year of life wanting him to grow up and reach the next milestone, so I've learned my lesson. You will roll over and all that jazz when the time is right. But if I keep you from too much tummy time to keep that from happening, that's OK too :)

You sleep like this a lot, I say it's your imaginary girlfriend :)

You are the sweetest little thing. You just love to be held and cuddle. Although you are on a decent schedule when away from me, you still like to nurse every 1-2 hours during the day when I'm home, and that's, for the most part, OK. Except when you decide you are starving when I'm sitting down to eat supper.

You coo, smile so much, and have started to giggle. You are a ticklish little thing!

Your hair is getting thinner on top, and I think some is coming back in blonde. Your eyes are still blue. Everyone agrees that you and your brother have a lot of similarities, but you resemble me more. I'll take it.

You are very tall, and can wear some 9 month clothes based on the height. I'd guess you weigh about 15 lbs, but we don't go to the doctor for another month. You have fat rolls on your arms and legs and no neck, and I love it.

Those shoes just slay me

This month, mama had to go back to work and you started day care. It broke my heart to leave you. I wish we had a year of maternity leave. I'm back in the swing of things and enjoying work and know it's the best possible thing I can do for my family, but still so unbelievably difficult to do. I need a maid, nanny and chef it sometimes seems.

But you are doing great - all the kids seem to love you, and big brother likes you going with him. You take 3 bottles at day care - you started with 4.5 oz. but are now up to 5.5 oz. You prefer nursing and while it ties me down, I love having you as my little man and getting that quality time. Right now I wake you to nurse around 6:45, then you take a bottle between 9-10; 12:30-1:30 and the last one between 3:30-4:30. You are very slow with the bottles but an efficient nurser. You like to have a little snack around 6 p.m., then will usually nurse again around 8:30. If we are busy and you stay up later, I'll give you a little snack before bed as well. I am producing well so you are gaining great and I'm still freezing quite a bit. I try to put you to bed no later than 10, and you sleep great for the most part. We still swaddle, but you scoot a lot. On weekends you often sleep until around 8 a.m.

You've started gnawing on your hands, blankets, etc. I guess I'll have to dig out some sort of teether-type items for you.

Slack at your first rodeo

Big brother is in love with you. He always wants to hold you, play with you, kiss you goodnight, etc. He still calls you Baby Toots sometimes - ha!

Anytime we go outside, it seems to calm you. You continue to be my running buddy - I found a new to us jogging stroller so we've gone on a few runs together and you like to just chill and typically fall asleep. You really like looking at the light or contrasts.

We took you swimming one day and you seemed to really like the water. I hope you are a fish like your big brother.

You aren't a huge fan of your pack & play, but like the swing, bouncer and play mat. You tolerate tummy time rather well. We have pulled out the bumbo and it just depends on your mood, and likely how tired you are, whether you sit up tall or slump over.

 

I love you so much. I think you are the absolutely perfect addition to our family.

Cooper on the left, JD on the right

Pin It