TIME OUT!

Time outs started today. I have a mischievous little boy around here. Lets hope they work better than they did on Zachary. He realized far to early on that if he got up so many times from his time out spot then I would actually have to sit on him or with him to make him stay and therefor I would be in timeout too. That darn kid has always looked for loopholes since he was still in diapers!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

Hard to believe Gracie's a month old already. Its been quite a month! As it turns out it was my BP meds that were sedating her through my breast milk. So shes on formula. Im kinda bummed about that. I had it in my head that I was going to make more of an attempt to breast feed this time around since she is my last baby. But at the same time I was unwilling to subject my daughter to being a guinea pig by trying each new medication to see if and how she reacts. Ryan is getting more adjusted to her. At first he would cry every time she did, and he would look at her like "What is this thing?" Now he pretty much ignores her. We try to get him to kiss her when he is making his round of bedtime hugs and kisses, but he refuses. Everyone else gets one but not Grace. He shakes his head no and turns his head. Its so funny! Once he patted her back, but thats as much affection as she has gotten from him! The biggest adjustment for Ryan has been having daddy home. Steve took a month off from work and Ry really got clingy to Steve. He would cry if daddy left the room. He'd have an all out breakdown if God forbid Steve went to the bathroom by himself. He wanted nothing to do with me or even Zachary. And Zachary is his favorite person in the world! So that was really hard for me. I really just wanted to snuggle my little boy but he looked at me like I was the grim reeper. That seems to be over now that Steve is back to work. Out of sight, out of mind I guess. I was really lucky that Steve took so much time off. I really dont know how I would have managed had he not. The C section recuperation is so damn long. Im still not supposed to be picking up Ryan for 6 weeks but I have to. Im trying not to unnecessarily but Ive got to lift him in and out of his crib, and high chair, etc when no one else is around. Theres no way I would have been able to take care of him and a newborn by myself still laid up for the first few weeks. It was so hard (on both Steve and I) for him to go back. Makes us really look forward to retirement! He only has to go back for a week and then he is on vacation for another week. Im already wishing this week away so I can have my hubby back home!

Zachary is now in his new bedroom (Grace has his old room) on the first floor and is having a time for himself there. More privacy for him since the rest of us sleep on the 2nd floor. And his new room is pretty cool, and more grown up....(sniffle sniffle). He needs no adjustment period, by now he is used to the routine of a new baby. He tells me in no uncertain terms "No more babies". I tell him not to worry, were done. While he loves the little ones, this house gets pretty chaotic. 2 parents, 3 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats, and a boat load of toys. Move in any direction, your bound to trip over someone or something.

As for Grace, she is doing very well. Shes really sweet. Looks identical to Ryan as a baby. So much so that even Steve could not tell them apart in pictures of the same age. Its like looking at Ryan in girl clothes. Haha! She's pretty mellow, just like Zachary was. She still sleeps a lot but when she's awake shes very alert. Cant wait to see those first smiles! Shes usually up only one time in the night to eat. As tired as I am from that, its nothing compared to getting up every hour to pee during pregnancy. Now even though Im probably getting less sleep, at least its consecutive! Im starting to be able to play with Ryan like I want to. Its been a long time since Ive been able to crawl around the floor with him. I did a lot of reading him books over the past few months because thats all I could do. Im not quite there yet, but Im getting closer. Now if I get on the floor it will still take me a while to get up, but at least I can get up!

Im getting around pretty good myself. Ive already lost 30 lbs. Cheating I guess when you have a 9 lb baby but I will take what I can get! Going to start back on weight watchers any day now. I havnt had a minute to look through the book and figure out my points but I will this week. I took a mile walk a few weeks ago, but I was pretty sore after and decided I need to wait a little bit longer before starting my walking regimen. I just cant wait to get out in this nice weather and power walk again! The other day I took a small (slow) walk and did fine. I feel pretty good though for the most part. I can defiantly tell when Ive over done it. My incision and stomach muscles get sore and ache. Im trying to behave, I dont want this recovery to be any longer than it has to. Guess thats all I have for now. Sorry its been a while since Ive posted. As you can imagine, Ive been a busy gal!

Ps, I realize there is barely ever any pics of Zachary on here. Thats because he refuses to have his pic taken. Its not for lack of trying!

STILL MY SMART SMART BOY...

Great report card Zachary! So proud of you!

SAY CHEESE!

This is Ryan's new "posing for the camera" smile. Its hysterical! This little boy is such a ham! Always being silly and making funny faces to make people laugh. He has a very similar personality to Zachary when he was little in that aspect. He also LOVES to dance. He must get that from his Grandma. Any little jingle and he has happy feet and cant keep still. He is such a happy kid!

Grace has been a pretty lethargic baby, and ontop of that she has no interest in eating. Not just breast feeding but eating in general. She wont wake up to feed, we would wake her. And even that was hard. We would strip her down, or at times use a cool cloth to wake her, only to have her nurse for 3 minutes and fall back asleep. Repeat the process, change her diapee and nothing. Just falls asleep. One night she only nursed for 9 minutes the entire night, from 11pm - 7am and even at 7am, I was waking her to eat. This munchkin sleeps all day! Ive been worried sick! So off to the Dr we go. He suspects that the BP meds I take are causing her to be so lethargic despite having taken them my entire pregnancy. The meds I take are safe for nursing but may cause sedation in some babies. So for the next few days I need to pump and dump so I dont dry up, and try formula to see if thats the cause.We have to first find out if its my meds and if it is, and I want to continue to breast feed the pediatrician and and my obgyn will need to work together to find a med thats safe for me to take and breastfeed her. The good news is she is continuing to gain weight (an ounce a day) which AMAZED me. Between what she eats and what she pees and poo's Id be surprised if she even gets an ounce a day over all. I feel a little better that shes gained, but still worried. Keep her in your prayers that my meds is all that it is. Mama's gonna have a big tall glass of wine tonight!
Also had a DR appt for myself today to have my incision checked. Ive lost 22 lbs already! Go me! Unfortunately my BP is still high. Not surprising seeing as how ive been so worried about Gracie!

SLEEP DEPRIVED?

So the breast feeding thing is still touch and go. No consistency in how much or how long she eats. Its so frustrating. Apparently its always on my mind. Last night in my sleep I attempted to breast feed Steve. I wish I were joking and as embarrassing as it is, its too funny of a story not to share. I still cant lie flat on my back due to my incision. So when I sleep at night Im all propped up. Gracie was fussing. I remember my arm was around Steves head and I kept trying to pull his head closer to me thinking he was the baby. Hey - in my own defense, they have the same hairdo! Thank GOD my boob was not out! But after a few seconds of this he says (really puzzled) " What are you doing?" Then I realized what was happening and I heard the baby still fussing and I just busted out laughing. Steve is still asleep and incoherent. He has no idea whats going on. Meanwhile, he sits up and is rifling through the blankets saying "Wheres the baby? Wheres the baby?" And Im still laughing and saying "she's in her bassinet!, Shes just fine!". This is something he does often and did with Ryan as a newborn as well. Or sometimes he will hold a pillow thinking its a baby and rock it. Its really funny to watch! Lord, if someone had seen us, it would have been like a comedy show. He's looking for the baby, Im looking for someone to feed, all the while were both sleeping. Were quite a team arnt we? LOL

THE SWEETEST THING...

In the world is walking in on your husband singing "Take me out to the ball game" to his new baby girl. PRICELESS.

MEET GRACE ELLEN

My C section was scheduled for 7:30 Friday morning. I could barley sleep the night before. Nervous, anxious, excited..etc. I had to be to the hospital at 5 am.They hooked me up to the monitors. Baby girl was moving all around and kept coming off the monitor. I think she shared in the nervousness and excitement! At 545 am, I started having contractions. Keep in mind, I'm not on any kind of pitocen or anything. The nurse had left the room when the contractions started and the monitor wasn't picking them up. I kept saying to Steve "Is that machine on? Are you sure? The bottom line isn't doing anything? Cuz I really feel like I'm having contractions". And that's how it started. When the nurse came back in, they were 3 minutes apart. Looks like Grace would have chosen that day as her birthday anyway. Its so funny because Ryan did the same thing. (They scheduled me to be induced with him and by the time I got there I was already 4 cm dialated.).The contractions were intense but manageable. About a 5 on a scale of 1-10. So I had to suffer through the next 2 hours with no pain meds because the meds arnt given till minutes before the C section. I was very nervous about the spinal. Ive had trouble with the past 2 epidurals Ive had. And I got really upset when they wouldn't allow Steve with me when I got the spinal. But I did it and it was much easier than the epi. Luckily I also had my favorite nurse with me who has been there for all 3 kids. I went to the OR at 7:45 am and Grace Ellen was born at 8:05 am. 9 lbs even, 21 inches. Perfect little Amazing Grace with a loud cry, and 10 little fingers and toes. Steve and I were all teary when we heard her cry. Back to my suite at 8:30. I felt surprisingly better with this C section than the last.I was up walking around by 1:30. Maybe it was because with Ryan I was in labor and pushing for 7 hours before the C and with Grace I didn't have to do that. Not that it was a breeze by any means but the pain was a lot more manageable this time. The next few days we were working on nursing. My boys were not good nursers. Zachary I breastfed for 2 weeks, Ryan I pumped exclusively for 2 months. I was determined to make a better attempt with Grace cuz shes my last baby.Were still getting the hang of it. The first 2 days at home were a nightmare trying to feed her without the help of a nurse. I was in the hospital from Friday morning till Tues. My BP spiked Monday night which caused a migraine that lasted till Wed afternoon when the docs gave me meds. I have a history of high BP but never had a migraine. That sucked! Especially with the stress of the feedings. Her crying, my crying, both of us frustrated. Good times. Its getting better though. Were getting the hang of it. She is really a good baby. Very calm and mellow (unlike Ryan was- always raring to go! LOL), never cries unless she is hungry, no binky. She is an absolute joy! Very sweet girl. And adorable of course! Ryan is getting a little jealous. He's been attached to Steve at the hip and cries if Steve is out of his sight. Of course, he wants nothing to do with me..LOL. He peers at Grace occasionally. One feeding I had to pump and Ryan was not happy she was using one of his bottles. He hasnt had a bottle since January but he wasn't willing to share either. He was pissed! So were all still in the learning curve but doing great.