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Introduction
Can you believe that Max Jacob will be three months old on Sunday? My goodness how time is flying by!
Life as a mom…it’s just better then I could have ever imagined. My life has totally changed and for the better. I never knew love like this before. I want to spend every waking minute just loving and kissing my boy! He is really developing such a personality. He makes the funniest faces and has such a bright smile, it lights up the room for sure. The best part is that he has brought so much joy to so many lives. He’s totally changed our family dynamics. My heart feels like it is about to burst because I love just knowing that he is the light in so many people’s lives. He has the most doting grandparents. My sister has gone ga-ga for him. I am about to get a restraining order on Tammy because if I so much as blink she’s trying to walk off with him! LOL
Christmas…
I hope that everyone enjoyed the holiday. It was absolutely amazing for us. It’s so unbelievable how much our lives have changed over the course of just one year. Last Christmas we were going to the RE’s and wondering when and if we would ever have a child. This year we have been truly blessed. Just a few weeks ago a friend of Bryon’s asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I was holding my son and I just looked down at him and said I already have everything I want. That is just so true. I have my health, I have a job I absolutely love, I have my house, I have a wonderful group of friends, I have a husband who is my best friend and most importantly I have my son and he means the world to me. My heart is so full. What more could I possible need or want?
A little dose of reality…
I would like to forewarn new mothers out there. Prepare yourselves now for the first time you watch yourself on video caring for your child. There is just something absurd about seeing yourself on tape. My family video taped me giving Max a bath over Thanksgiving. It was early morning and I looked like a mom that got up twice in the middle of the night to nurse. I knew while I was giving Max his bath that I was to be as entertaining as possible so as to distract him from the fact that he was lying in a tub naked and vulnerable. No problem with that job! But what I wasn’t prepared to hear much less see was that episode played back for me on tape! I actually sound like that? It doesn’t sound so silly when you’re talking with you baby but when you are an outsider looking in- OMG! Max loves it and that’s all that counts.
I have also realized that I just traded in the college degree for mommy-talk. My conversations now consist of baby butt talk, infant sleeping patterns, how many times a day I have to change his clothes, blow outs (you mom’s know what I mean by that one, huh?) and what I just read in one of the many baby books in my library. When our new parent friends get together with us over dinner it’s just hilarious.
You know, we never planned it that way (obviously) but I am soooooo glad that I have L & S (my two girlfriends that were pg at the same time I was). S’s son is 4 days older then Max and L’s daughter is a week younger. It helps sooooo incredibly much to be able to go out to lunch with them, to be able to call them with questions and compare notes, etc. L & I both are nursing. S opted to bottle-feed. After seeing the ease I’ve had with Max she plans on nursing next go-around. She’s having so many problems with her son and his formula. She’s already had to switch it twice. The poor little guy has had such bad reactions to the Similac with Iron and the Lactose Free. UGH! I wouldn’t want to go through what she’s been through. I really feel for her.
Max and I were over L’s house a few days ago. We joke around that Max is her daughter’s 1st boyfriend. She is absolutely ADORABLE! Well, we were sitting together just laughing because for about 15 minutes Max and her daughter kept going back and forth making noises as if they were having a conversation. It was adorable! The cutest part was that they never cut each other off. Max would wait until she finished her “sentence” and then he’d say what he had to say and vice versa. It was just amazing.
Back to work I go…
I have to tell you it was hard the first day. I started back last week. Max slept in bed with me the night before because I already missed him. I cried as I was getting ready in the morning. I promised myself that I would at least give it a try. I don’t want to give up on going back to work without trying. The first day was definitely the hardest. Max cried and was very fussy for Bryon because Monday was the tail end of a cold he had. I went in at 9am and actually managed to stay until 11:30am before I had to come home and sooth my baby. Just knowing that he was inconsolable was enough for me. Not to mention another aside about nursing- all the thinking about him made me letdown.
I managed to get him to take his afternoon nap and he slept for almost three hours before waking up rejuvenated! Tuesday was a better day for him and dad. Wednesday was an even better day. They had so much fun on Thursday and Bryon didn’t want to go to work once I got home. So, things are looking up. Thankfully, I don’t have any kids at the center until the second week in January because of winter break. So, I can afford to leave at the drop of a hat should my guys need me. I can also work around Bryon’s schedule during that time so I can be home with Max when he can’t. After that, my MIL will start watching Max one day a week, Bryon will be home two, I’ll take him in with me one day and I’ll be home the other three. So, it all works out in the end and I count my blessings every day that I don’t have to go back to work full-time and I can have my MIL and Bryon watch him. I am sooooo incredibly glad that I don’t have to send him to daycare. I just couldn’t do it. I’m not knocking anyone for having to do that. I know as a mother it is not an easy decision to make. I’m just glad that I don’t have to make that decision.
I had my 6-week postpartum a while back. Am I the only emotional fool that actually cried during this appointment? My MW and I relived Max’s birth story and I must have thanked her fifty times for helping me create the best possible birthing experience I could have ever hoped for. As crazy as this sounds, I just can’t wait to do it all again! It is true, you do forget about the pain and discomfort. At least I have. As well, for me the pain wasn’t that bad. I was able to stay focused and all the relaxation and breathing techniques helped. Of course, I am not ready to TTC just yet. I am having too much fun with my son and want to enjoy his babyhood alone before I attempt to bring another bundle of joy into our family. So, as the plan stands I think I’m going to stay on my current form of BC until next January 2003 and then I’ll get off. That will allow my body plenty of time to figure out my cycles before we TTC that summer. I’d like for Max to be potty trained before I have another baby. I’m not going to pretend that TTC again won’t be scary but next time I’d like to relax more. So that is why we don’t plan on rushing it.
We are also shopping for a new car or truck I should say. My car is perfect for me right now. It’s 4-doors and has a huge trunk so I cannot only fit his stroller but my groceries. However, Bryon’s car is pathetic I tell you! He bought a 2001 Eclipse last winter and he got it knowing we were PG but I did not say a word because I knew I needed to hold back. Soon enough would come the day when I would say, “I told you so! What were you thinking?” Welcome to today! LOL So, he’s shopping for a truck. Tammy has an Expedition and I love it! I’ve driven it quite a few times and it’s nice. I think that’s what he’s leaning towards. Of course being Bryon he has to investigate and research everything, which I’m not complaining about at all. It’s just that it can sometimes be a drawn out process. You should have seen it when we bought our new computer! LOL
Max is a big boy…
What can I say? Nursing agrees with him. He weighed 7 lb 10 oz at birth and was 20 inches long. At his 2-month appt he weighed 12 lb 12 oz and was 23.5 inches! He’s outgrown his 0-3 month things several weeks ago. Was that an emotional day for me! I remember crying as I packed away a big Rubbermaid of his 0-3 month stuff because it was the first real sign that he was already growing up and wasn’t going to stay a baby for long. He’s now in his 3-6 month things and is even outgrowing some of them. He has such long legs that most of the one-piece sets are too short for him.
We also just started him on Rice cereal. He loves it! Breakfast time is soo much fun! He makes the cutest noises and gets so excited. He’ll open his mouth so wide when he sees the spoon coming his way. I am going to hold off introducing any other solids until he’s at least 4 months if not longer. I guess we’ll wait and see. But for now the Rice cereal is a big hit! It’s pretty diluted. I mix 1 tbsp with an ounce of breast milk and he likes it. I’ll start to thicken it up slowly for him.
I do have a question for nursing moms. When did your babies start to sleep through the night? Max usually goes down around 9 pm. He’ll sleep for four hours and wake for his first nighttime feeding. Then he’ll wake four hours later for another changing/feeding. Then he goes back to bed before waking for the day around 9am. So he’s still getting up twice at night for a feeding. I don’t feel sleep deprived because he is a quick nurser, but it would be nice to get longer stretches of sleep.
Also when did you start putting him in his crib? I know this is a much-debated topic. I have to admit that I truly enjoy having him sleep in the co-sleeper. It is so convenient for me. I don’t think we’re waking each other up at night because I have gotten better at waiting before I get him. Sometimes he’ll stir and then go back to sleep. Also, have any of you practiced attachment parenting and bed sharing? How did it work for you? I practice many of its ideals and am ready Dr. Sears baby book and love it!
When I was PG Bryon and I would dream about what Max would look like. We hoped he would have Bryon’s eyes and he does thankfully. His eyes are almond shaped like mine but they bug out like Bryon’s do. That isn’t meant to sound weird, it’s just the only way I can describe Bryon’s eyes and I truly love his eyes. Max also has his daddy’s deep blue eye color! He has Bryon’s lips and my nose so someone must have been listening in on our late night talks because he is the perfect blend of us.
For the life of me I cannot remember what my life was like before Max Jacob entered it. He has changed my life, my heart. He is the greatest joy and he brings so much to my life. I could squander away each day just holding him and kissing him but unfortunately laundry needs to get done! LOL.
Well, until next time! ++++++++ Vibes to all TTCers, belly rubs to all PGers, and give those babies a hug!
D & MJ
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