MIL surprise and 6 month check up

Yesterday was Coopers 6 month check up. He weighs 15 lbs and is 26 inches long. My boy is growing!

Anyone who knows me knows that we don't go to well baby visits. We're not vaxing so it's not necessary IMO, *I* don't need a doctor to tell me that my baby is growing just fine, getting big, doing what he's supposed to etc. when I can see this for myself. But I decided to do the 6 month check up just to see how much he weighs... literally that's all I wanted to know lol...

So as I was saying - 15 lbs and 26 inches long!!! WOW!!! He tripled his birth weight in 6 months! His weight puts him on the low end of percentage (10%) and his length is perfect (50%). I really don't give a crap about the percentages though. I can see that my baby is growing, thriving and developing just fine. And last I heard these percentages were based on white formula fed babies in the 1950's... yea that sums up every baby in the country... what a joke lol. (I don't know if this is 100% true or not, it's just what I've heard. So don't bombard me with emails calling me a liar please! If you've heard differently I am interested in hearing what you've heard)

Anyways, Cooper is doing great. Dr. Margolis wasn't concerned at all about his weight... he's a little chubbos with rolls anyways lol. He said we should try to get him to eat more solids (we're working on that) but isn't too concerned. He said we're doing everything right and to just keep feeding on demand and following his lead... which is what we've been doing all along!

We've been trying to get Cooper to eat some solids for the past week or so now; he could be more intersted in watching paint dry! LOL. He'll take a few bites (usually 5 or so), spit most of it back out, make the cutest funniest face, and then he's done lol. Which is fine with me. I know his body won't digest or absorb anything from the solids anyways so we're just going through the motions, trying to get him used to swallowing something other the milkies and getting him used to the spoon... so far it's not working lol.... but we'll keep trying!

Cooper has had baby rice (whole wheat organic of course lol) with milkies and avocado mashed up... He did okay with the rice the first night but after that wasn't interested, and he's not too fond of the avocado. We'll do the avocado tonight and then tomorrow we'll switch to carrots or sweet potatoes, haven't decided which one yet.

We are making all our own baby food... all organic of course! lol... So when I get ready to do the carrots I'll steam them, mash them up with a little coconut oil or milkies and give it to him that way... Must remember to ask Dr. Sandie about this today... When I do the sweet potatoes I'll bake them and then use coconut oil or milkies to smooth it out... we'll see which I do next... it'll most likely be carrots.

Anyways... moving on....

I called my Mother In Law (MIL) on the way home from the dr. to give her an update on C's weight and stuff and was met with a wonderful surprise! After telling her that he was only in the 10th% for weight and that I wasn't concerned and neither was the dr. she told me she wasn't concerned either. She said that Coop is obvioulsy a growing, strong, happy baby and there's nothing to worry about. Then she went on to tell me that she thinks I'm a wonderful mother and am doing a fabulous job with Cooper!!! I was shocked!! I told her how much I appreciate her saying that to me, she truly has no idea how much I needed to hear that (see previous post).

I always thought that my IL's thought I was the crazy one for not vaxing, natural parenting, baby wearing (not sure if they know I baby wear though lol), making our own baby food, pumping as long as I have, cloth diapering, etc. My FIL likes to make little cracks about stuff, it's his sense of humor, but it's always maked me wonder how he feels about our parenting style cause let's face it, Paul and I are parenting TOTALLY different then they did in the 60's and 70's... Hell, we're parenting different then the way his brothers and sister has as well... It's nice to know that they don't think I'm crazy for parenting the way we are.

I know I'm the *crazy* parent to a lot of people and I know that not everyone agrees with the way we parent, I am okay with that. I've come to admire the quirky looks I get from people in the stores when I'm wearing Coop or they realize he's in a cloth diaper. I know we're different then most parents, we are in the minority and I like it that way!!!

Okay, I'm outta here, I've written enough!

xoxoxo

Amanda

Stuffy nosed baby... :(

I think I've figured out why my poor baby hasn't been sleeping - he keeps getting a stuffy nose at night. It's only at night though, nothing during the day.

The stuffy nose makes it so he has to breath through his mouth and he's having a hard time learning how to breath through his mouth. He also can't use his pacifier with a stuffy nose! He only uses his paci when he's sleeping but with his nose stopped up he can't suck and breath at the same time... Poor guy. Which means he doesn't sleep well because his learned self soother is gone... that's where Mommy holding him all night comes in. I love holding him, but I don't get any sleep at all. And I'm sooooo

I changed the sheets on his mattress and even wiped the mattress down with vinegar/water (just a little vinegar and a lot of water). We have a humidifier (cool mist) in his room and an air purifier. And every time he wakes up I have to suction his nose... is there a better way to go about suctioning his nose? He doesnt like the sucky ball thing.

He does not have the stuffy nose during the day, nothing, nada, he breaths perfectly well through his nose all day. There's no other sickies involved here. Although he's only eaten 20 ounces today!! That's scares the crap out of me! He's still a happy, playful, laughy baby though. He doesn't act like he's hungry or sick.

I thought he was coming down with a cold but it's only at night. He did do a lot of coughing yesterday, but not much today... and again, seemed happy and playful.

Tonight the stuffiness started around 9, it's not 11 and I've had to suction his nose twice already. His nose is not runny at all. It's not a wet stuffiness, and actually I'm not sure I'm getting anything when I suction...

I'm ready to call the doctor tomorrow but I'm afraid he'll tell me to start giving him cereal at night to help him sleep and even though I'll ignore that, I just don't feel like hearing it. I just worry that the doc will tell me all these things that I'm not ready/100% willing to do (cereal, cold meds, etc.). If he truly is sick then obviously I will do meds, but he just seems to normal during the day!

I just feel like for my poor baby. I feel like I should know what to do and I just don't. I'm trying everything I can think of but feel like maybe I'm missing something.

Any advice? Something I'm missing? What else can I try before the doc?

Sleeping is for wimps!

This is the third night in a row that Cooper will not sleep.

Thursday night he woke up crying EVERY hour until 530 a.m. and then slept until 8, woke up, ate, and slept until 11.

He hardly naps throughout the day and that was no different yesterday, even tho he lacked sleep during the night. So he doesn't have his days and nights mixed up.

Tonight he woke up every 45 minutes crying. At midnight I brought him into bed with us and he cried for almost an hour. We've tried rescue remedy and calms forte and neither did any good. He finally fell asleep around 120 and slept on my until 430 in a very uncomfortable a position... well i'm sure he was comfy, I was not however.

I am up pumping because we wasted a bottle at 1 thinking he was hungry and he refused to eat it. He did just eat 3.5 ounces though.

That's another thing, he didn't eat very much yesterday (he probably ate 25 oz.; he usually eats closer to 30). But he was fine ALL day yesterday, no unusual fussies, he took his normal 20 minute naps, etc....

I just don't know why he won't sleep at night. This is very unlike him. He started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks but that only lasted about a month before he started getting up once to eat. And now it's been two nights in a row where he just won't sleep...

The only way for any of us to get any sleep is to bring him to bed with us and let him squirm around for 20 minutes until he gets comfy... which is usually him laying horizontally across the bed with paul and I having about 3 inches each to sleep on...

I'm wondering if maybe he has heartburn/acid reflux. He looks like he's trying to burp/throw up and then he starts screaming. Which would be from something I ate. We did have mexican for dinner on Thursday, but I've eaten it before he never had any problems. (I also had my leftovers on friday night).

I just don't know....

I am so and so and I know Paul is too.

He has radar....

I wasn't going to post this here because, well, it's personal... but I figured I'd give the new mommies/mommies-to-be a small dose of reality! I wrote this last night....

Good news, after almost 7 months of non successful sex we're having wonderful sex again

Bad news, my son has radar. Not just any ole sex radar, no that would be to easy! He has orgasm radar! I'm not even joking!

Without going into too much detail we got a little frisky in the car on the way home from my SIL and Cooper was passed out cold in his car seat. We came home, carried him still in the car seat into our bedroom. He slept through the clothes coming off, what little foreplay was left, and most of the sex.... until one of us got ready for an orgasm then he started screaming, not crying, screaming! So we stopped, fed him, changed his diaper, and put him back to sleep... and the proceeded with the nights festivities Again he slept through the sex, but any time one of us would get within 30 seconds of having an orgasm he would start screaming again.

We've given up for now... after about 5 rounds of being on the edge and then having to stop... He is now wide awake sitting on Paul pooping We figure we'll stop, eat (gotta refuel ), I'll pump, play with Cooper a little he goes back to sleep and then carry on .....

I've heard of kids having sex radar but I'd never heard of orgasm radar... altho I guess its not something people talk about regularly... and i kinda thought the sex radar thing was a joke... guess not!

for Cooper to sleep!!!

Cooper did finally go to sleep around 12:30 a.m. and we were able to carry on with the nights festivities. It was totally wonderful too!!! Haven't had sex like that since before we started TTC (when it became work).... great to have it back! I have decided to go back on the mini pill, seriously condoms are a total PITA! I think the ones we have a little small for Paul as well (yep yep, my hubby is well endowed thank you very much!). I'm so excited about last nights I'm ready to again! Maybe at nap time....

Rolling with the changes

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated the blog in a while - Thanks Nicole! So here I am, attempting to update. Who knows how long this will take. As you can imagine I have TONS of free time now that Cooper is mobile.... (insert sarcastic voice here)

Yep, that's right, the Coop Man is on the move! On July 8th he rolled over for the first time on the floor; just one day shy of his 4 month birthday! He has been rolling over in his crib for about a month, but last Tuesday was the first time he rolled over on the floor and it scared the beejeezes outta him. I did not witness this miracle happening, nor did Paul, but I put him on his play mat on his tummy and went into the kitchen to wash bottles (fun times) when about 60 seconds later Cooper screamed like crazy. I of course ran like a mad women into the living room to see what was wrong and there he was on his play mat on his back crying and crying. I suspect that when he rolled from his tummy to his back he might have bumped his head on the floor, not sure though. I picked him up and comforted him and when I put him back down he promptly rolled over again. Now everytime we put him down he rolls over... I must remember to get this on video (I have it on my phone but it's not very good quality).

This is a bittersweet milestone for me. It's exciting to see him progress so wonderfully but it's sad to see that he is well on his way to independence. I imagine that a lot of first time mother's struggle with the bittersweetness of milestones, but I'm not ready for him to do things on his own yet! I liked having to get up 50 billion times to roll him on his tummy/back when he wanted. I liked having to hand things to him. I liked having to hold things in his mouth so he could chew on them.I liked being the only thing he could see... I'm not joking either! I really did like doing those things. Now he can grab things himself and bring them to his mouth to chew on. The links are his favorite, he can knaw on those all day long. Everthing he gets a hold of goes straight to his mouth (I suspect he's teething - another milestone I am NOT ready for!). He has his full range of vision now and he notices everything! When I hold him now he doesn't just look at me, he's looking all over the place at the colors, objects, sounds, etc.

I am not ready for my helpless infant to become a somewhat independent baby!! Complete with teeth and the ability to crawl... I'm just not ready for! It's not fair! lol At the same time it's exciting to see him thrive in the enviroment we have provided for him. I love that he can see the different colors in our house (and we always tell him what they are ). I love that he can roll over on his own, and everytime I see him do I get this huge feeling of pride (with a little sadness thrown in). I love seeing him bring things to his mouth, his hand eye coordination is improving.

I am not ready for teeth though! Any way we can stop this from happening? I'm open for suggestions lol.

We finally ordered for our cloth diapers! We decided to get 12 BumGenius One Size diapers (giving us a total of 16 diapers). I wash diapers every other night so that's not bad. I would like to get more at some point though, but that will take time. I also mailed 10 receiving blankets to my mom so she could make them into cloth wipes for us. She cut them into 7x8 peices and sewed the edges so they don't fray on me. They should be here sometime this week!!!

Coop has been in cloth diapers for almost a week now and he seems to like them. I know I'm liking them, and so it Paul. I have to believe they are more comfy then disposables for him.

I am still pumping away here. Breast milk is doing good for him so we're not going to change that (plus formula kinda creeps me out, no offense to anyone who uses it). I weighed him on our bathroom scale the other day and he is currently at 13 lbs! Big boy! I gotta get the tape measure out and see how long he is.

I also ordered an Ergo Baby Carrier... I LOOOOOVE it! Coop likes it a lot too, he usually falls asleep in it. hehe. It's so much more comfy then the Baby Bjorn and better for Coops spinal developement too.

Let's see.... what else has been going on? Hmmmmm.....

We have had sex twice... the first time we literally fell asleep (hey it was 1 a.m. lol). Sex is quite painful still, I feel like I'm being ripped open again, I wonder if they jacked me up with that fucking episiotomy I yelled at him not to do? Damn doctor. So we take it reallllllly slow, as in barely moving and not much penetration. Poor Paul, he's very understanding though.

Right now Cooper is napping in his crib and Pebbles is laying behind the glider in his room and I of course am pumping. I can't really think of anything else right now so I'm gonna sign off! I hope everyone is doing good!

Love to all! xoxoxo

48 hours.... (long update with highlights)

(This is a mixed post - Scroll down towards the bottom for a Cooper update if that's all you want lol)

48 hours.... That's how long it took for them to turn our power back on....

We had a bad storm come through on Sunday. It was so weird. I was setting up our Wii (woo hoo I finally got one!) when the power went out and then all of a sudden the wind was bending the trees in half, it was raining sideways, lightening, and thundering like crazy. We grabbed Cooper, Pebbles, Mister, some clothes, candles, and flashlights and ran for the basement. Paul called his mom to see if she had heard anything and she said that it was really - sirens were going off, tornadoes had been spotted, and 500,000 ppl were without power. We were only in the basement about 15 minutes... the storm was so fast. It came on fast and left fast.

So we come back upstairs, fully expecting the power to come back on any minute... I was so upset because I was setting up my Wii and was all ready to play bowling when the power went out. Then I had to sit there for 48 hours and stare at the box before I could play it!!! Torture! lol

Paul didn't go to work on Mon and Tues. Mon was a horribly hot day to not have a/c. At one point it was 89* in our house, ugh!

I was so worried about the 400+oz. of breastmilk I had in the freezer... all my hard work at the pump gone.... NOPE!! My mother in law had power so we loaded it all up and took it to her house!!! I lost maybe 40oz (4 frozen bags and a few bottles in the fridge). We of course lost everything else in the fridge... but fortunately because it wasn't quite the middle of the month (just before pay day) we didn't have much.... mostly condiments lol.

I was still able to pump! My pump came with a battery pack and I used that... damn thing takes 8 AA batts though!! Fortunately all Coops baby toys take batteries so we had enough on hand... Did have to steal a few outta his jumperoo though. But I had to pump...

Tuesday wasn't so hot and when I came back from the Ortho at 545 we had power. It was such a great feeling to walk into the house and turn on the landing light!!!

Of course Cooper didn't even notice we didn't have power... he still got his meals when he was hungry, had his swing, play mat, clean diapers, etc... nothing changed for him!!!

Anyways! Now for updates!!!

Wii - As I mentioned, we got a Wii!!! On the way to the potluck on Sunday we stopped at Toys R Us (I called and they got a shipment in that morning) and I bought a Wii. I've been wanting one for a while and I finally talked Paul into it... If it wasn't for the stimulus check we wouldn't be able to get it... That's supposed to come next week btw.

Wii bowling is so much fun!! Paul and I have competitions every night (so far he's won all of them lol) but I'm getting better... I'm not very good at real bowling either, but I do much better at Wii bowling lol... I want to get Mario Galaxy this weekend.

Jen has decided to keep her phone. Which means that she will pay us $50 a month for 15 months to pay for her monthly bill and for the bill she racked up this past year... I'm wondering how well this will work out... Paul called her Monday and told her that we needed the money by Friday evening - the phone contract is up on Sunday and we aren't renewing until she makes her first payment. Of course she said she didn't have the money, I thought Paul would say that's okay and still renew... I was pleasantly surprised though... he said that we were cancelling the phone if she didn't pay by Friday, she said she couldn't and he said he was cancelling then... Of course today she called and said she had the money lol... We knew she would come up with it somehow. lol... Girl needs to learn a little responsibility and maturity.... So we'll see how this goes with her paying us monthly... Oy... wish us luck! lol

Cooper is doing great!!! I can't believe how big he is getting, it's crazy! I don't know how much he weighs though (we don't go to the pediatrician), but I will weigh him on our scale this weekend to get a rough idea.

Sleeping - He is a fabulous sleeper!!! He usually falls asleep around 10. At midnight (after my last pump and before I go to bed) I change his diaper and feed him - he sleeps through this. He will then sleep until 630ish. At that time I bring him to bed with me and he goes right back to sleep... sometimes he's a little fussy when I bring him to bed with me so I get up and feed him and pump (we're up for about an hour)... If he doesn't eat at 630 he's up around 830 for food... If he did eat at 630 we can sometimes sleep till 11!!! It's great!!! Today he woke up at 6, I flipped him over on his tummy instead of bringing him to bed with me and he slept until 830. By 930 he was sleeping peacefully in his swing and I napped on the couch until 11. He loves sleeping in his swing during the day now.

Tummy Sleeping - Cooper loves to sleep on his tummy. At first I was worried about it, but not anymore. He has such GREAT head control and I've never seen him face down before, he always has his face to the side. I'm still hesitant to let him sleep all night like this, but am okay with it in the mornings for a few hours while I'm sleeping. And of course during the day for naps is fine.

Babyhawk - I am finally breaking down and getting one of these... Baby Bjorn just doesn't cut it... it's cheap, and hurts my shoulders like crazy! Plus Baby Bjorns aren't good for babies spine, legs, hips, etc.... For those of you who don't know a BabyHawk is a front carrier. When I decided to get a better carrier it was a toss between the Ergo and the BabyHawk. I decided on the BabyHawk because of it's portability... the BH can fold up and fit into your purse... and Ergo doesn't. There is a slight learning curve with a BabyHawk though as it's a tie carrier, but it looks quite easy. I will be ordering for this over the weekend and it should be here in about a month (it takes so long because they are custom made). BabyHawk and Ergo both hold a baby/toddler up to 40 lbs!!! I can't wait for this!!!

On being a Mommy - Everyone always tells you how exhausting being a mom is, and that's true... but it's also wonderfully fun! When people ask me how I'm liking it get a huge smile and exclaim "I'm having sooo much fun". Most of the time they smile, sometimes I get a crazy look, and sometimes they look at me like they think I'm lieing... I'm not! Being a mom is the most exhausting, exciting, fabulous job I have ever had and I wouldn't give any of it back!

I love holding my little man. I love looking into his eyes. I love seeing his smile first thing in the morning and all throughout the day. I love watching in laugh and smile at his play mat toys. I love watching him sleep in his swing...

My favorite part of the day with him is when I put him to bed. I carry him upstairs (He's sound asleep), change his diaper, and sit in the glider and feed him. While he's eating he makes these little sucking noises and sometimes grunts (like he does when he's tired). Now he's getting big enough that his legs hang over my legs when sitting in the glider. I can remember when I would hold him and his head would be at my elbow with his feet in my hands!!! Not anymore :( He's growing up so fast, this is bittersweet... I love seeing him grow and change, but I am torn between wanting him to stay this size forever and wanting to see him grow up to see what kind of man he will be.

I sit there feeding him thinking about all the wonderful adventures yet to come... teething, rolling over, crawling, walking, giggling, all the hugs and kisses he will give me, starting solids, school, friends, girlfriends (or boyfriend, no pressure either way! lol), graduation, college, marriage, grand kids... it's so amazing and so sad!!! I also think about the first time he pushes me away from a hug, the first time he doesn't want me to tuck him in at night, the first time he wants me to drop him off around the corner so his friends don't see me, the first time he lies to me... Saddening, but so exciting...

Well I'm almost milked out here (I'm pumping) and it's almost time to go to bed so off I go... to put my little man to bed!!

Congrats to Holly and welcome to the world Amelia!!! (Annie, you're next!!)

G'night world!!!

The Happiest Baby on the Block!

I definitely recommend this book to anyone that's just had a baby or is going to have a baby. We actually got the book and DVD from the library and watched the DVD today. It was about 30 minutes long and easy to watch. We started putting the techniques (5 S's) to use right away and seriuosly, it's like magic!!

The 5 S's are :
Swaddle
Side (hold baby on it's side)
Shushing
Swinging (jiggling, bouncing)
Sucking


The book/DVD is The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D.

Seriously, it's like magic, I'm not even joking!!!

Cooper had been getting really fussy in the evening (around 8ish) but not tonight!!! When he started getting fussy Paul swaddled him up and put him in his swing. Make sure the swing is on high or it's pretty much useless!!! I was ready to have Paul put the swing away because Cooper didn't seem to like it until we watched the DVD today and it said to use it on high, when we did that he calmed right now.

We also have a sound machine with white noise on it and turn that up all the way next to the swing to help calm him...

Pretty much all your doing is imitating the conditions of the womb.

It truly is magic! Watch the DVD, read the book... Live it, learn it, love it!! We are!

Got Milk?

I just froze over 35 ounces of milk!! We are seriously going to have to get a deep freezer to hold all the milk I've been freezing... Plus milk lasts longer in a deep freezer then a reg. freezer. In a reg freezer you can only keep it for 3 months in a deep freezer you can keep it for 6-12 months.

I have finally found the silver lining to Cooper not latching on. If Cooper was latching and nursing regularly I wouldn't have a freezer full of milk, I wouldn't be able to donate milk to a baby who's mommy passed away (which I am doing weekly btw). I am happy that I am able to have such an abundant milk supply, more then enough for Cooper.

Last week was a rough pumping week though. Last Monday I noticed I was getting blisters on my nipples. Once the blisters popped they turned into sores and man did it hurt to pump!! But I pumped through it. I just turned the speed and suction down and seem to be doing much better. I'll keep my pump on a lower setting for a while and see if I can do better with that. Man it hurt like hell to pump though!!!

Right now I am pumping away and Cooper is laying in my lap... he certainly is a cutie.

We are doing good here. Cooper has decided that he is more comfy sleeping on his side, so he does. It sure it cute. He'll be rolling over by Monday. I just know one day I'm going to lay him on his play mat and go pee and when I come back he'll have rolled over.

He sucks on his hands like crazy. It makes the cutest noise when he does though... He doesn't suck his thumb or fingers but rather his fist, his knuckles mostly.

He definitely is getting big. He's pretty much outgrown all of his newborn clothes and few 0-3 months but 3-6 is still big on him.

hehe Coopers farting!!! hehehe

I wanted to write more but Coops fussing..... gtg