Thunder thighs...

Sophie weighs 13 lb 4 oz!! That's a whole half pound HEAVIER than Will was at this same age!!! She is 23 1/2 inches long, which is the same length Will was at 2 months. It's funny because she was 2 inches shorter than him at birth and almost a pound lighter. She's a chunk! I make a ton of milk though and she's a good eater... plus I think I've just got genetics on my side. We make big babies! I thought she would be between 12 and 13 pounds, but now I know why my wrists are shot... she exceeded my expectations!

2 month update (9 weeks today!)

Things are starting to get a little bit better but not fast enough for this tired mama! Sophie is doing a lot better at night, she is finally agreeing to sleep during the time when she would otherwise be awake. And that is a huge relief for all of us. Now if I could actually sleep before 1 am or past 7:30 am or both, I'll be really happy! Otherwise she is doing great, she really looks big to me and is in quite a few of her 3-6 month outfits now. I will take her to the doctor on Wednesday and I'm guessing she is between 12 and 13 pounds. She is getting a little more predictable with her naps too so that makes life a little easier for me!

We set a date for her baptism, June 17th which is Father's Day. Will was baptized on Mother's Day 2005 so this is really cool! She will have two godmothers, my good friend Amy and Clane's sister! Both were just thrilled to be asked to be godparents!

We had some pictures taken at Sears this weekend... what a racket... wish I could take better pics or at least had better backgrounds because it's a rip off I think! They did come out nice, but I think once the kids are in school, we won't do Sears anymore! Will was near hysterical and refused to cooperate... the one shot she got of the 4 of us looks kind of harried but it's the best we could all do! Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow!

It was our 5th anniversary on the 20th and we had a nice dinner at the Italian place where we had our reception. I had a lemon chicken breast with capers and it was so good! We had some really awesome wine too, I'll be wanting to get more of that from somewhere! Will was a PITA but Sophie slept through most of it! I'm tellin ya, 2 1/2 is not for the faint of heart!! Clane bought me a really cool weather station, by Davis Instruments. I'm excited about it because once we get it up and running, and get the data online, we'll be sending it to the NOAA to help them with their forecasting! It's a really cool weather station and I'm really excited about it!

Clane also found Saturn this weekend through the telescope and it was the first time I ever saw it. It was very tiny but you could clearly see the rings. He didn't tell me what I was looking at but I knew right away, it was really neat... Hopefully he'll be able to find it again some clear night!

Just a little update...

I haven't posted here in a while so I thought I'd check in...

Nights have still been really hard. I think she is getting better, at least a little more predictable and she is stretching out her feedings a little more too. But it's not quick enough for her mama. I'm still sleep deprived and some days I feel crazy from lack of sleep. It's not even "tired" or even "exhausted" anymore, it's just completely insane. Any moms who have been there/done that will understand what I mean!

I got some information about my 20 year high school reunion today. I am thinking we will probably be in the UP for it, but I'm not sure yet how to work out the logistics. I will need to either go home to nurse Sophie or find a place to pump, because she will still be exclusively breastfed in July and I won't be able to go that long without either pumping or nursing. I am sure we will be able to work something out, I might attend part of it but not all of it. I actually don't even know yet if we'll be up there... but it might be nice, it's kind of a milestone year. I don't feel that old, it's funny! It's hard to imagine it's already been 20 years.

My husband has a 4 day weekend now for Easter. I've been waiting for this weekend ever since he went back to work after Sophie was born!

My dad is coming for a visit next week so that will be nice. I don't think we've seen him since last summer.

Sophie is 6 weeks old now and is just a chunk! I need to get more pictures of her. I just got some but she is sleeping so I'll need to get more once she wakes up again. She's got lots of chins and big meaty thunder thighs and I love them! She's definitely getting plenty to eat! I still have oversupply problems though, and she seems to struggle with that daily... poor baby. Oh well, I know that once she gets older she will come to expect it and probably even like it...

Oh and now my cat (the scabby one) is missing the tip of one of her ears. So it's off to see the vet tomorrow. It looks like it's healed up ok but since she doesn't go outside, I can't imagine what happened???

Yack three times Baby... yack some more today...

My poor daughter. Every time I try to nurse her laying down (so we can all sleep!) I flood her with milk, she swallows air, she starts to cry, then she yacks all over! I gave up trying to nap with her today because she spent the first 20 minutes of my son's (way too short) nap time crying and yacking because I nursed her side-lying while trying to get my son to fall asleep.

Sometimes I feel like this is never going to get better. I think I have resigned myself on the sleep thing though, I am just going to have to suffer and just expect no sleep and to be tired all the time. There just isn't anything we can do about it. We already sleep either with her or very close (in an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, side carred to the bed) and she can nurse as often as she needs to all night... there just isn't anything else we can do. I know it will get better but I also know we could be doing this for many months yet and I just don't have it in me to think about it.

I am even eliminating dairy from my diet in case that's the problem... I'm sure it will do no good but it's at least something I can do easily as I already don't eat much of it to begin with...

Also, my allergic cat, who still has fleas despite two (almost 3) months of Frontline, now is missing the tip of one of her ears. So it's back to the vet for us next week. Will anything ever get better around here?

Days turn into nights.... nights turn into days.....

Uggghhhhhhh sleep deprivation!! It sucks so bad! No wonder it's used as torture in some parts of the world, because it renders you unable to function! It seems like all my days have run together in one big blur, a pile of poopy diapers and endless sitting in the lazy boy nursing. Sophie is cute as heck (despite a bad case of baby acne) and she's growing like a weed... she weighed 11 pounds this Monday at the doctor's which is a gain of 2 pounds in 3 weeks! And, I can get one pair of old jeans on, buttoned and zipped. They are not comfortable, nor would I wear them out anywhere, but I can get them on! Otherwise I'm still in my stretchy stuff and one pair of maternity jeans when I feel the need to wear jeans. They are stretchy and more for early pregnancy or postpartum.

She still insists on being up in the middle of the night, often for hours... and trying to keep her awake more during the day really doesn't help. I guess this is one of those things that will pass, it will resolve itself one day, but it sure is hard now. I'm just so happy it's Friday, counting down to the weekend is the only thing keeping me going. And mercifully, Clane has 4 days off at Easter which is only a couple of weekends away.

On another note - I am attempting to make my life a little easier by actually planning my meals for the week ahead of time. I have never done that in my life, I like to cook and have usually made meals with little planning until that afternoon... unless it involves thawing out a large piece of meat. But I am hoping it will help streamline things. I will be able to pick one of the meals I planned on, get all the stuff out (because I sat with the cookbook and made a list before going to the store) and just make it without stressing about what to cook. I am using the America's Test Kitchens book right now, about everything I've made from that book has been really good. So I'll see how long I can keep this up!

We have crocuses blooming too, they came out this week!

3 weeks old!

Wow, it just doesn't seem like it's been that long already! I just can't wrap my brain around it! When I try to remember what it was like being pregnant and waiting for her, I can barely remember it, it just seems like a dream from long ago. It's kind of weird how that feels. I am sure being so darn tired isn't helping! Nights have been pretty brutal, she seems to have her usual "baby fuss" period from 1-3 am instead of in the evenings like most other babies. She was always awake in my belly at night, so I'm thinking she is still on her usual routine. I am hoping she gets it figured out... or at least I hope Clane and I can figure out how to work with it in such a way that we each get enough sleep to get by.

Breastfeeding is going well. I have oversupply problems (no surprise there) and actually had to block feed for 7-8 hours on one side to get rid of the green poop! And I'm leaking like a madwoman! If Sophie eats too much, up it comes... she actually got my face yesterday, ick!! At least breast milk doesn't stain and doesn't smell bad! (Even her poop smells like sour cream!)

Today I went through all the clothes we got as gifts and put them away. I also went through Will's clothes again and pulled out all the stuff that is either too small or will be too small come summer. I am going to need to do some serious clothes shopping for both of them! I know I am going to be donating a lot of Will's old clothes, we got a lot of them as hand me downs and a lot were for the wrong season. There is just no way I'd use them all, even if we had another boy.

It's my first whole day here alone with both creatures, and so far, it's going OK. Sophie is taking a nap and thank goodness for PBS, that's all I have to say!

I've got some pictures together but I would rather not post the link to them on my blog since it's public... if anyone wants to see the pictures and I haven't already sent them to you, just leave me a comment with your email in it and I'll send you the link!

Just a quick update...

I've got Sophie in the Moby wrap right now - it's about the only time I get computer time! Things are going fairly well... during the day she is pretty content, but nights have been really hard! Last night she screamed for several hours, was pretty much inconsolable! :( I finally swaddled her tightly, against her will, and she passed out after that, around 4:30 am!! I hope this is a short lived thing because it is really exhausting and heartbreaking! She is getting more used to sleeping in her bed rather than on us so that will help a little bit. I think if we can help her get her days and nights straight, that will be good. Of course she is only a little over a week old so it sounds par for the course!

Otherwise she is nursing well, she's got a different style than Will - he gets down to business and doesn't waste time... she has to make sure things are "just right", yells at it a bit, and that can take a few minutes before she finally latches and gets down to eating. She saw the doctor on Monday and had already gained back her birth weight plus 4 more ounces - she's 9 pounds already!

We really appreciate the emails and well wishes.. I haven't had much time to get photos uploaded but when I do, I'll be getting them out to everyone!

38 weeks

I tend to look at the 38 week point as the final countdown! Although it could still be several weeks until the big day, baby is pretty much done developing and the birth could really come any time and things would be fine. I am continuing to do well. I can feel that the baby has gone further into my pelvis, as I am having quite a bit more pain and pressure there. It feels like my joints are coming apart! But it's all normal, and it's a good thing at this point. I had some strong contractions last night, but I think I brought them on myself by just having a busy day and doing more than I probably should have. After a snack, a big glass of water and a nice long shower, they had mostly gone away and were completely gone by the time I went to sleep. They all help though, and I try to focus on that rather than thinking of it as a false alarm. Overall I really don't feel that anything is really happening, so we're just taking each day as it comes. Will lifts up my shirt and yells "BABY OUT!!" into my belly button so I am hoping one day soon, the baby will listen to him and come out to see us!

My blood pressure is good so that part will always make me happy!

Today was a pretty good day! I got together with some fellow La Leche League members to work on a few things and that went well. One of the girls has a son about my son's age and they were playing together so well, that we stayed for a good part of the day! Since we didn't have to run interference with them very often, we got a lot of work done. I'd been wanting to go through this stuff for a long time and it was good to be able to sit down and do it! It's getting me really excited to be breastfeeding an infant again! And the boys had a lot of fun, they played together exceptionally well, working out their own problems, cooperating, sharing, it was all really good!

We moved some furniture (well, my husband did the moving) in our room to make room for the baby's co-sleeper. It's neat, it's like a big bassinet that attaches to a regular bed. I am hoping that will make life easier for us for night nursing. Will still really needs to be in the crib and I don't really want to buy another one of those! Even though we didn't take any furniture out of our room, it still looks a lot bigger to me. It will be exciting to see the room all set up, although I'm not sure we'll leave it that way for now. The co-sleeper is pretty big and I need a lot of room to get out of bed in the night right now.

I feel like I'm in a pretty good mood today. I hope I still feel like this tomorrow! Seems like I'm irritated most of the time these days. That annoys me too! *sigh*