Gluten Free Baby

I am one lucky mommy. My little man is almost 5 months and is the happiest little guy ever. He is so generous with his sweet smiles that it makes my heart ache. He lets anyone and everyone hold him, and is pretty content to sit in anyone's arms as long as he is facing towards the action. He. Is. So. Precious.

We have seen a lot of firsts these past few months. We took Liam's first trip to Austin over the Fourth of July. I was pretty nervous about the car ride but Liam did absolutely amazing. I had been getting in the normal bath tub with him for his bath time to get him used to the water, but Austin was the first time we introduced him to a pool. He humored us but I'm not sure how much he really enjoyed it. We have also started putting him in his walker more so that he can work on his back muscles. His little legs are so strong he scoots all around. He's still a little too short so we have to put a phone book under his feet so he can reach the ground. Only problem with that is I'm constantly having to move the phone book back under his feet after he pushes off.

                                                                Liam's first "swim"

                                                                  Lovin his walker

He's also gotten better at tummy time. Now he holds himself up for minutes at a time without fussing at us. He's rolled over from his tummy to his back (on July 27th) and on (August 6th) he rolled over from his back to his tummy. 

                                                                     Tummy Time Fun!

Since I have Celiac disease there is a really good change he will have it also. *Sigh* So I've started discussing a plan with his pediatrician regarding his eating. So far the plan is to keep him gluten free for the first year and then slowly introduce him to gluten so we can get him tested. I'm hoping and praying he doesn't have Celiac, but if that's the worst that we have to deal with than we will be lucky. Right now he's eating gluten free rice cereal every night, but we are going to wait until he is closer to 6 months before introducing him to baby food. I've looked for baby food here and there but so far I haven't been able to find any that are gluten free. I'm crossing my fingers I find some, otherwise I will be investing in a really good food processor and making it myself!

He's still not sleeping through the night. Some nights he will sleep from 7pm -6am with only one midnight to 1am wake up. Other nights he's up every few hours with pretty intense stomach aches. Poor little guy has definitely inherited my terrible stomach. I can't really complain because even when he's feeling crappy he's still giving me the biggest, sweetest smiles. I've started trying the whole let him fuss it out tactic, but it doesn't last very long and I'm terrible at it. I know.....I'm weak.
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Every day we get to see more and more of his personality and I can't wait for him to show us more of it.

                                               He loves to hold my hand when he sleeps <3

Giggles, Screams, and Reflux

Liam will be 15 weeks (about 3.5 months) this Thursday, and it has definitely been a journey. His second month was a tough one. When he hit about six weeks, (right when I went back to work) he would scream from the moment he woke up until the moment he passed out from exhaustion. Brandon and I took turns pacing the house and practically standing on our heads for him and nothing seemed to be working. It broke my heart and made me feel like a terrible mother because I dreaded him being awake.  I was worried, a little scared, and BEYOND sleep deprived. I couldn't go to the store, go out to eat, or do anything because Liam would scream the entire time.

(On a side note: the next time you see someone with a screaming infant and/or child... take pity on them if they are doing everything they can to get it under control. Your dirty looks are NOT going to make the child stop crying..so why make the parent feel any worse than they probably already do? I can not count the amount of dirty looks I've gotten from people when Liam has started crying at the grocery store or Target. First of all, he was two months old. Second of all, for those of you that haven't experienced the joys of parenting and think your child will never cry in public...BUCKLE UP. You are in for a rough ride. lol. There was a period where I walked away from full carts more times than I actually got through the check out line.)

When I finally realized I needed to take Liam to the doctor, he screamed so loud the whole time we were there that I had to call the doctor when I got home just so that she could tell me what was wrong. Poor little guy had colic AND acid reflux, and was screaming non-stop because his insides felt like they were on fire. She gave me medicine and told me that the acid reflux would more than likely go away when he started walking (to which I almost started crying), and that he would grow out of the colic in a few weeks.

For those of you who (blissfully) know nothing about colic...there is a witching hour each night when the colic sets in. Liam's started at 6:30pm (almost to the second) and would typically last until 9 or 9:30pm. During this time, Brandon and I took turns holding him while he screamed and kicked and twisted in our arms. Nothing would soothe him for longer than a minute or two. We would run bath water, dance with him, bounce him.. pretty much anything you could think of doing. I was constantly amazed at how long he could scream without getting tired. Gripe water helped at times, but for the most part we just had to ride it out. It. Was. Brutal. Thankfully his colic is gone now, and after a month's worth of medicine his acid reflux is more manageable. He still has trouble sleeping and eating, but his good days out number his bad.

                                              
                                                                     Mr. Cool

Lately, he has become such an easy going sweetheart. A couple of weeks ago he started laughing, talking, and squealing at us. I realize I'm a little biased, but it is THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!! I've tried several times to get it on camera, but the second any phone or camera comes near him he stops whatever he is doing and just stares into the phone with his big blue eyes. Its incredibly cute AND frustrating!!!!! He was over 14lbs two weeks ago, and seems to be getting chunkier by the day. His little wrists and ankles have all but disappeared from all the baby fat. It's soooo cute <3 Next week we are going on a little mini vacation for the Fourth of July and I'm so excited to take Liam with us. I get five whole days with him and Brandon without having to go to work :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Months and Counting...

I am now the proud mommy of a two month old! I love him. I love him. I love him. I have officially become that person who whips out pictures of my kid to anyone and everyone. Yes, I am that annoying person now. I probably take an average of 6-10 pictures of him a day. I have tried to limit the amount of pictures I post of him on facebook so that I don't completely lose all of my friends, but it's getting harder and harder to resist. So consider this your warning if you are one of those people who get annoyed with kid pictures clogging up their newsfeeds. I don't know how much longer I can contain myself.

Our lives have changed so drastically in such a short time. I would love to share all the new and exciting events that have happened in the past two months... but no one wants to read a 30 page blog entry. So instead, I thought I would focus on a few things that have changed since Liam entered our lives. Warning: I'm going to be completely honest, so if you don't want to hear about getting poop on, etc. do yourself a favor and stop reading now. Here we go...

1. I will be late. Everywhere. Before Liam, I was always 15 minutes (at least) early to every appointment or event. We are talking OCD early. I used to have to drive around just so that I wouldn't be the first person everywhere. This is no longer a problem. I will probably never be early anywhere again. Ever. Or at least for a long time. At first it really stressed me out. But after the first few weeks of Liam playing the "It's time to leave so I'm going to demand food game", or the "It's time to leave so I'm going to poop or pee all over Mommy" game, I've pretty much learned to accept it.

2. We can no longer go anywhere with the phrase "real quick" attached to it. Brandon and I have gotten pretty good at dividing and conquering when it comes to leaving the house. But even going to the grocery store takes a lot more effort and planning than I would have ever imagined.

3. Boogers, poop, and throw up don't phase me.
I would have laughed at anyone who told me I would grab boogers out of someone else's nose  with my bare hands a few months ago. (yes, even my own child's). Now I do it happily. We are not talking cute little baby boogers either. This kid has grown man-sized boogs.

4. I don't sleep.
I can function on as few as two hours of sleep several days in a row. I may be a complete ding-bat, but I'm somehow still fully capable of taking care of my baby.

5. I have spit up or poop in my hair at least once a week. I am not exaggerating this either. And I will more than likely leave the house with it that way. There's nothing quite like having someone ask you if you knew you had poop in your hair. Yes, this has happened to me multiple times. At first I was mortified. Now it doesn't phase me. That's just how I roll.

6. More poop fun. I get pooped on at least once a week. Sometimes I feel like I should develop a training game for new parents to give them practice on how to quickly change a diaper before getting blasted by their child. I think I'll call it "Diaper Wars". Unfortunately for Brandon and I, our kid has a very active stomach. Sometimes even when he has just blessed us with a present, he still has some more to share, and has successfully gotten his timing down. Sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it's not. It's particularly funny when it happens to Brandon. But it's hard to get mad when I look down and see my little man smiling after letting loose on Mommy or Daddy.

7. I don't sleep.
I know I've already mentioned this but I think it's a big enough deal that I should get to put it down twice. That and I'm having a hard time remembering all the brilliant ideas I had when I first started writing this entry :(

8. Friends and Family. One of my friends once told me that having a child made her prioritize relationships. I always thought this was a bunch of hooey. Or at least an excuse to bail on people more often. But now I completely understand. Brandon and I have both become a little bit more selective with whom we spend our free time with.

9. My career is no longer my top priority. Before Liam, I would have rolled my eyes at anyone telling me that I wouldn't be ready and excited to go back to work from my maternity leave. I knew I would miss him, but I never thought it would be so tough. But now after having to do it, I can honestly say that leaving him is the HARDEST thing I have ever had to do in my entire life. I was a wreck the first week I was away from him. I walked around swallowing back tears, and cried it out on my lunch breaks. And to be completely honest, I still secretly cry EVERY morning on my way to work after I leave him. Guess it's no longer a secret. You would think after the second week this would no longer be an issue. (*Sigh*)  Everyone keeps telling me it's going to get easier, so all I can do is cross my fingers and wait for it.

10. I am on Liam's schedule. I am a planner. I like to plan out my day, my week, etc. Brandon can attest to this because I think it not-so-secretly drives him crazy sometimes. But now even if I plan something, it most likely won't get done unless Liam allows it. Take my thank you cards for example. It has been almost two months since some generous people have given Liam a gift and they still haven't received anything from me. I had hoped to get it done this week but it's not looking good. Guess I'll just have to be rude for one more week....

I'm sure there are a lot more things I will remember later...but as I mentioned before...I don't sleep.

Liam is growing so fast and getting chunkier by the day.  I'm trying to soak up every second I have with him and be grateful that we have such a healthy and happy baby. He is the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. All in all, I'd say Brandon and I are two lucky parents so far.

My little Chunker. This Pic is kinda distorted. But it's my Fav.

                         Liam anxiously awaiting his cousin Leighton's arrival. He was really pumped.

                                               Another favorite that is a little distorted...

Jailbreak Baby - Welcoming Liam Adam McGee

I thought I'd start this blog update out with a warning. I am a bit sleep deprived, and I've had to stop writing this 4 or 5 different times for diaper changes, feeding, and bath time. But the longer I go without writing this, the more I'm afraid that I will forget something. So this entry is going to be more of a memory dump than anything else.....

We. Are. In. Love.  Our little man made his appearance in dramatic fashion last Thursday, March 14th. I was 35 weeks and 1 day. I had been experiencing pretty intense contractions the day before, and that night around midnight we headed into the hospital. I was a little nervous that he might be trying to come too early. Boy's lungs develop later than girls, especially "wimpy white boys" as the nurses referred to them, and I knew there was a good chance that he would have to spend some time in the NICU. I remember silently saying a prayer in the car on the way to the hospital, when Brandon and I saw a shooting star light across the sky. My first shooting star ever. I know this might sound a little ridiculous or hokey (sp?), but after that I began to calm down. 

After a few hours in the labor and delivery room, I was told that I was experiencing what they referred to as "titanic contractions". These suckers were lasting 7 and 8 minutes long. Pretty uncomfortable too. Since I wasn't dilating, aka in "active labor", the plan was to discharge me and have us come back when my contractions became more steady and were closer together. I thank God every day that they didn't discharge me. I shutter to think of the horribleness that could have followed. Fifteen minutes before I was set to be discharged, I had another one of these titantic contractions, except this time his heart rate dropped dangerously low for five minutes. After that, every time I had a contraction his heart rate dropped. One time it got as low as 60. (His regular heart rate was between 155 - 160 so you can imagine how scary this was for all of us.) This was a game changer and we were told I had to stay for observation until my high risk doctor could come in and do a sonogram...5 hours later. What's strange, is that during those five hours I kept thinking that everything was going to be okay and that we were going to be sent home. 

The doctor arrived a little before 2pm and began the sonogram. I had another contraction while she was performing it, and the next thing I know she abruptly stopped and stepped aside to make a call to my doctor who was on her way to the hospital. It was at that point that several nurses walked into the room and started moving around and unhooking me from the machines. After everything was said and done, Brandon later told me he saw the head nurse make a cutting motion across her stomach to let the other nurses know that they had to prep for a c-section. The nurse calmly told me that everything was okay at the moment, but that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Liam's neck TWICE. Every time I had one of these contractions it was squeezing around his throat causing his heart rate to drop. Within five minutes they threw cover ups to Brandon and told him to put them on, and started wheeling me into the O.R. to start an epidural. 

I was terrified. First of all, the last thing I wanted was a c-section. Second of all, I wasn't sure what to think about Liam's safety. Everyone around me had a chaotic calm about them, and I could tell that they were purposefully not talking to each other about what was happening in front of me. All of the nurses kept assuring me that Liam was still breathing fine "for the moment" and not to worry. They must have repeated it 5 or 6 times in about a 3 minute period before I told them that their constant assurance was telling me that things could not be fine at any minute and asked them to stop saying it before Brandon came in the room. I suddenly went from not wanting a c-section to holding back the urge to scream at everyone to hurry up and get him out of me before something bad happened. The next thing I know, Brandon is in the room telling me that everything is going to be okay and being INCREDIBLY calming and supportive. I think that we were both so scared of showing the other person how worried we were, that we both ended up being stronger for it. I remember slightly panicking because I could feel the doctor touching my lower body, and told her that I didn't think I was numb enough yet. That's when she told me that she had been "pinching the you know what out of me" and that I had nothing to worry about. Within minutes I could smell the burning of the laser cutting through my muscles, and felt the most intense pressure I've ever felt that almost took my breath away. Then I remember hearing my doctor say the words "well hey there little guy", followed by the most amazing noise I have ever heard. My sweet little boy started crying. I got to see him for a total of 2 seconds before the NICU team had him and began their check to make sure he was breathing on his own and didn't have any major problems for being a premie. Thankfully, my doctor stopped what she was doing to come over and tell me when the NICU team had left and that he was doing fine. I honestly don't think I have prayed so much in my entire life. While all this was happening, my anesthesiologist decided Brandon was slacking on the picture taking, and grabbed my phone and camera and started acting like a photographer in the middle of a photo shoot. Looking back I'm thankful that she did this, but at the time I was a little disturbed that she was so busy taking pictures and not watching my vitals. 

Before I knew it, we were all back in the hospital room and I had my little angel sleeping on my chest. He was born at 2:47pm weighing 5 lbs 10 oz, and measuring 17 inches long.

I can't say this enough, but we are so blessed, and so eternally grateful that our little man is so healthy. During our stay, every nurse told us how just how lucky we were that he was so strong. They kept telling us that white boys have the most complications as premies and that we were incredibly lucky. The only obstacle we had with his health was a slight case of jaundice. We had to have him lay under a UV light for 24 hours the second day to help get his color back and get rid of all the toxins in his body. That was pretty rough because he hated it, but in the grand scheme of things it was a small price to pay. Other than that, he has been absolutely perfect. Brandon and I are obsessed. I never knew it was possible to love someone so much. I've had little sleep, I've been peed and pooped on more times than I can count..and I could care less. I have to force myself to give him to Brandon, or to let him sit in his swing instead of holding him 24 hours a day. 

And to top it all off, Brandon has been an amazing dad and husband through it all. He kept me calm during the c-section, and was so involved in the hospital that the nurses would comment on how lucky Liam and I are. He has helped keep the house clean, and has been great at giving me a break so that I can shower and do whatever it is that I want to do around the house when I want to do it. Now if only I can get him to change more diapers :) 

I've never been so happy in my whole life. So much so that sometimes it scares me. Last Thursday was the best day of our lives, and I honestly don't know how anything will ever compare.

December-ary Craziness

I thought I would combine the last few month's happenings into one post because (1) I've been a slacker and haven't written anything and (2) my memory has become TERRIBLE and I can't remember enough to make two different blog entries.

 In December, (6th month of pregnancy) Brandon and I ran around like crazy people. We had decided that we would hold off on baby stuff until after the holidays, and spent every weekend getting settled into our house and preparing for Christmas with our families. I had a lot of energy and felt pretty amazing for the most part. I was finally starting to show a bit, and started to notice that perfect strangers were so much friendlier to me. I even had one guy offer to give up his chair one morning when we were waiting to be seated for breakfast! Who knew that all you had to do was get pregnant for people to be friendly to you?

But of course, along with the friendliness, came some nastiness... And most of it went a little something like this:

"How far along are you? WHAT?!? Are you sure you're that far along? You look awfully small. Is there something wrong with your baby? Are you sure you are eating enough? You shouldn't be worrying about your calories you know.. how much are you eating?. You look awfully skinny still. When I was as far along as you I was MUCH bigger BLA BLA BLA".

I was pretty good at taking these comments in stride and would smile and refrain from responding with a snarky comment. [Side note: If you know me at all, you will know that not speaking my mind to these people was a minor miracle.] But I always felt like I had to justify my size (or lack thereof) by responding with the usual "I eat plenty and my doctor says that my weight and baby are perfectly healthy and on-track".  Then one day, a not-so-stranger made a similar comment to me, and I completely lost it. I managed to suck it up during the conversation, and then went home and had a pregnancy sized meltdown to Brandon about how much I hated the world. He was patient. I was dramatic. There were lots of tears.

I know that some people may think that telling me I'm too small is a compliment, and that I shouldn't take it personally or get upset. They would be wrong. There is a difference between telling me I look great, and telling me I'm too small and questioning if I'm eating enough. By accusing me of not eating enough, you might as well accuse me of starving my baby. It is hurtful. It is rude. And people need to learn to keep certain opinions to themselves. I shouldn't have to feel horrible about myself because I eat healthy. Is it okay to walk up to a woman that is pregnant and say "Damn, you are HUUUUGE, are you sure you should be eating that? You look like you have gained too much weight!" I don't think so. So why is it okay to say the opposite? It shouldn't be.

Now thankfully, I am seven months (29 weeks), and I am DEFINITELY showing/no longer getting the too small comments. My stomach is getting bigger by the day, and Liam is getting painfully strong. My skin feels like it's going to burst, and it's getting hard to breathe. I'm starting to worry that he has no more space to grow, but I'm constantly reminded by everyone that he will find a way :)

We have started to get into the nesting mode these past few weeks and IT IS SO EXCITING!! Two weeks ago we spent the weekend registering for Liam. After we finished we were completely exhausted and overwhelmed. Who knew a baby needed so much stuff?!?!  Brandon also did an amazing job painting Liam's nursery :)  This past weekend we picked up our nursery furniture and set it all up. Since then, I've caught Brandon sneaking upstairs a few times just to look at the nursery again :) It's these moments that make me love him even more than I already do. We've started imagining about what things will be like with Liam. What he will look like, his personality, etc. These next few months are going to be pretty tough to wait for his arrival. But if we can just get through them, I know that all of the waiting will be more than worth it :)

(6 months)

                                                                 (7 months)