oh, hey there. these past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. very fun, very challenging, very busy. want to know my biggest tip on getting it all done when you have a new baby? don’t open your laptop. in fact, just let it die completely and forget you have a blog and don’t even try to post a new post, because that will take up valuable minutes you could be doing something else–ANYTHING else.
haha, no.. i do miss blogging. a lot! but, seriously, these past two weeks have been hard on me and i haven’t had a spare minute to ramble. but now, as my sweet little nugget naps and i have NO saturday plans, i am finding a few spare minutes to say hello. and, you know what? i don’t even know what to say! it’s like i have forgotten how to blog completely. but i can fill you in on these past couple weeks.. just the highlights! err.. lowlights? if it was something that wasn’t super awesome, is that still called a highlight because it stuck out as a main event? am i even making sense? i need some sleep.
so, what’s been up with me?
well, a couple mondays ago i got an IUD. that felt pretty awesome………………
glad that’s over with. i chose to get an IUD because i have forgotten to put deodorant on about 31% of the time, so you can imagine that i don’t trust myself to take a birth control pill at the same exact time every day. not gonna happen. and, while i love my baby with every fiber of my being, if i were to get pregnant again any time soon, i would legit cry. so, yeah, IUD, no more babies. for now.
in other lady-related news.. i got measured for a bra! guys, i know nothing about bras. i didn’t really have much in the way of boobs before this whole pregnancy thing. i rarely wore a bra and when i did i hated it. so after having fox, i headed to the store and bought some nursing bras… in a 38C. i mean, who knows why i bought that size, but i did. but i hated how awful everything was fitting so i asked my bestie michelle to help me out–she’s a manager at victoria’s secret. i headed to her store last weekend. fox came and watched the whole process.
as it turns out, i am a 34DD. a DOUBLE D YOU GUYS. that’s two Ds! i still laugh when i think about it! i hope they go back to how they were.. big boobs are annoying. i don’t get why people pay to have them. they are just in the way. but they are totally worth the hassle because they feed my baby! so that’s cool. (by the way, i bought a front-close bra which is great for nursing. i also bought this sports bra which has clips on the straps and acts just like a nursing bra! i wish VS had actual nursing bras, though.)
my little baby has been giving me a run for my money! i think my last post mentioned that he was being a pill when it came to nursing.. he just didn’t want to do it and it would sometimes take an hour to get him to nurse for maybe 10 minutes. sometimes he wouldn’t end up eating at all! on mondays he stays home with marshall, and takes 3 pumped bottles. monday night rolled around and i tried to breastfeed, and he wasn’t having it. he has a hard time going from bottle to boob (boob to bottle is a walk in the park!) and so monday’s bottle shenanigans made bad matters even worse. i did some research and, come to find out, fox man was on a “nursing strike” and he was super anti-my boobs. once i realized what was going on, i asked for advice on good old instagram. (got TONS of great input on that post! thank you guys!) i also consulted with a lactation specialist and with fox’s pediatrician.
because he wasn’t eating, i thought i should feed him pumped bottles during the strike. not the case. i was instructed to just put up with his constant squealing and screaming whilst trying to feed him. and if he decided not to nurse? well.. too bad. try again in a bit. bottles would just make the situation worse, so either he nursed or nothing. obviously this isn’t the case with all babies, but fox’s doc said as long as he had plenty of wet diapers i needed to take the nurse-or-nothing-at-all route. i took some advice from a few friends and got a nipple shield. it basically feels like the nipple of a bottle but you place it over your real nipple. sometimes women use it if nursing is painful, but i was using it to trick my baby… and it worked! he ended up eating really well once i introduced the nipple shield. i used it for a day or so and then he suddenly remembered that eating is super cool and he’s been pretty good ever since. he will still struggle sometimes after having a bottle or two that day, but i just revert back to the nipple shield for a few feedings and it seems to work.
there are times he still gets frustrated and screams and cries when i try to feed him. this takes a LOT of patience on my part–i just let him scream at me and have to be persistent and get him to eat. eventually he will, but sometimes it takes over 20 minutes to get him to finally settle down and eat. aye aye aye. the thing is, bottles are SO much easier for him to eat from. they require very little work! and before this whole nursing strike, i don’t think we were following the right guidelines on feeding a breastfed baby from a bottle. you really have to make them work for the milk and try to replicate the breastfeeding experience as best as you can. (this is a good article about all that.)
one thing that has helped a ton is finding the right bottle for the job! we have gone through five brands of bottles, but finally found the one that works best for transitioning from bottle back to breast. the brand is comotomo and apparently they are sold out most places, but my local baby boutique shop (babinski’s for you locals) had some in stock. SO glad i snagged these.. they have been a lifesaver!
i also got this cool baby briefcase while i was there–it keeps track of all fox’s paperwork! since i had to turn my home office into his nursery, i have limited space for paperwork around my house. this little briefcase is perfect for keeping things in order.
if it’s not one thing it’s another. after the nursing strike fiasco, fox started sleeping horribly. he used to sleep from 9pm-4:30 or 5am. this past week he has been waking up at 1 and then every hour or two after that. yikes. it’s been really hard on me and i think i have forgotten what it’s like to sleep–like really sleep. actually this past week has been worse on me than when he was a newborn! apparently there’s a 3 month growth spurt, so maybe he is just going through that. last night was the best he’s had in over a week–he slept 6 hours and then another 3. phew.
he is also napping poorly, which makes taking him to work with me AWFUL. he has been crying so much more and since he isn’t napping well, he is cranky. crying baby+working in an office=bad news. guys, it’s HARD to be a full time mom and have a full time job. like, really hard. especially right now. i am not gonna lie.. it sucks. i wish i didn’t have to work and could just mom all day long, but that’s not an option for me. i know i am fortunate to be able to take my little man to work with me until he’s 6 months, and i am so grateful for that. but it’s still hard and i struggle and get stressed! and these past two weeks have really been challenging for me. no reason to sugarcoat it, babies can be really hard.
at any rate, i know this struggle is temporary and i will get through all these sleepless nights and cranky days and growth spurts and there will be a day that the little dude sleeps for a solid 10-12 hours. i cannot flipping wait. i keep telling him that it’s a good thing he’s cute. ;)
ah. he’s a funny guy. despite all the crap that has been going on, he has been SO much fun lately. he smiles all the time now and he is really responsive! he even giggles at us and he is a little chatterbox. it’s so fun to watch him grow and develop. he recently discovered his hands (well, he knew about them before and sucked on them a little but didn’t REALLY understand what they were yet) and they are THE BEST THINGS ON PLANET EARTH.
love him!!
speaking of work being hard.. something else that sucks real, real bad is my AMAZING administrative assistant had to quit. on the day of the nursing strike, no less, haha. it sucks so bad, she was amazing and i am sad to see her go. devastated. her last day was yesterday and we had a little going away party for her. she loves fox and is so great at helping with him at the office.. so he is sad to see her go, too. it’s so great to work with these awesome ladies!
luckily i was able to find a replacement fairly quick. she worked three days this past week and started to train, but she still needs to learn most things… so hope fox cooperates and lets me train her. ;)
you know it’s been a rough couple weeks when you go to the GYM for a BREAK. yep.. who am i?! i started going back to GPP recently, probably 3 times a week, and it seriously is a break for me from everything else. now i get it when moms say that! i do take fox with me most of the time. he actually loves it there and kicks his legs to the music and has a great time. he likes to be out and about and see new faces and things.
momma b even stopped by one night to hang out with him while i worked out! she was missing him and GPP is close to her casa.
working out again has been rough! i lost a lot of my endurance and strength, but i am sure it will come back sooner rather than later. the body is pretty cool like that. but for now, i am scaling back the workouts and going at my own pace. that’s my favorite part about GPP.. the workouts are so easy to customize to your fitness level. well, i also love how short they are, since i’m not exactly full of spare time anymore!
i know this post is pretty ranty and full of debbie downer stuff, but i have one more thing to add to the list.. my poor dogs have lice!!!!! yep. LICE. like i said, if it’s not one thing, it’s another! they had their vet checkups on thursday for their shots. randy also got his bloodwork done to see if the special diet and medication regimen we have him on is helping his liver disease. (haven’t heard back on that yet.) the vet called me to break the news that they have lice, and i was already having a super bad day.. so.. yeah. that was fun. apparently dogs with a weak immune system are more susceptible to contracting lice. lice can’t typically thrive on a dog with a normal immune system. randy’s immune system sucks due to his liver disease, so he caught the lice from another dog at daycare. ugh. luckily it is species-specific and fox, marshall, and i are not at risk to get it.. but.. eww. they started randy on frontline plus for three months to get rid of it. penny is being treated as well. poor pups.
can you guys understand why i haven’t blogged in two weeks?! haha.. this post was pretty whack, but i am all about honesty and keeping it real. life can be tough! but it can also be great! and you just have to remember to embrace the good and let go of the bad. roll with the punches and smile every day. all in all, life is really really really awesome. i shouldn’t whine, but sometimes.. ya gotta.
on a happy note, i am so excited for the holidays! i can’t believe thanksgiving is right around the corner. it just started snowing a little bit here in utah and it’s getting suuuper cold. i started my christmas shopping and i am getting really excited for all the fun that comes with the holiday season! i need to pull everything out of my garage and start decking my freaking halls!!
okay, little man is up and it’s time for him to eat dinner. thanks for letting me rant and ramble. it was actually quite nice to type this post. i think i will try to make time for it more often… we will see how that goes. :)
Qs~
1. your turn.. if you need to whine, complain, or rant about anything.. i’m listening! leave a comment. it feels good to let it out, even if just through a blog comment!
2. and on a happy note.. what is one thing that has made you smile real big lately?
xo. janetha g.
Fox’s photos make me smile real big…and Siri text typos really got me today!!
I’m whining about ALL the Christmas music and stuff that’s out there already…I just want some Thanksgiving decor…
I love you and your awesome attitude
ya! I’m with you. No christmas yet. Let’s get through thanksgiving. But I know what I’m getting JG for christmas… MORE Nipple shields!
Love you both!
I don’t have much to complain about really other than the fact that my body is saying heck no to getting pregnant and Clomid makes me crazy, but Fox is soooo cute! Sorry touchpad a rough two weeks, but it will all even out and get better soon!
He is such a cutie. Sorry things have been so crumby lately.
My complaints these days are pretty heavy. Baby daddy issues are the biggest. Sigh.
Hope your days get a little better <3
One big thing that’s making me smile- updating my computer! It’s needed to be updated to a new operating system for over a year, so I spent a full 24 hours doing updates on it- yikes! It feels good to be up and running again. I hope fox falls back into a great routine quickly for you!
Not sure if you got and ergo but when my little guy was having a hard time napping I would wear him. Maybe you could wear doc and slightly voice on an experience ball while you got a little work done. Just a thought. I hope this week is better! Hang in there….every little challenge passes!
Oh my…..that has to be the worst comment ever! I am so sorry for all the typos! * wear Fox and slightly bounce on an exercise ball. I would walk with my little guy in the ergo but didn’t know if that was an option while you worked.
Um ya parenting can take it out of you! Sorry it’s been a rough time lately with sleep and nursing. Pretty much everything is worse when sleep is no good. the good thing is once sleep is better you’ll totally forget the tough nights. Seriously I did… Had I not kept a monthly post about Hunter I wouldn’t have remembered so much about his sleep habits. or really I remembered them differently than how it went down. :) it gets easier! Fox is just adorable. Love the smiles!
Yup, some days (weeks?!), parenting just sucks! Sorry to hear about the nursing strike, a trick that worked for me was to either dangle nurse (me on all fours, babe underneath on her back) or side-lying – I spent the best part of a month nursing in weird positions when my LO was 5-6 months old!
On a low note, I’m currently 21 weeks preggo and dry-nursing my two year old – ouch, ouch, ouch! But on a high note watching her develop and learn new stuff every day is amazing!
Hang in there, Mama, this too shall pass!
Well, on the first question: I *might* have celiac disease. Blood work should come in tomorrow.
On the second question: Your pictures of Fox actually are doing a pretty good job of making me smile. He’s just so cute!
I can relate to this post so much, but I promise it does get better. My little man is 16 months now and it is a fun age. Remember that sleep will happen. That is what got me through.
Oh goodness, your life and my life sound very similar. I’ve heard from so many other moms that just when their babies start sleeping through the night, they throw them for a loop and start all over. Ugh, we are just getting G on a 7-8 hour sleeping stretch but I know it won’t last. These newborns sure are cute but definitely a wonderful challenge! :)
During my first week back to work after maternity leave, my cat had fleas. That was fun and made me feel like mom of the year!
Now at 4.5 months, we are hitting a terrible stretch with sleeping. :(
And we have the opposite feeding problem. Eleanor hates the bottle and will only eat a few ounces all day while at daycare and then nurses every 2-3 hours all evening/night long (hence the terrible sleep).
Since my boy is 2 months older than yours, he may be a bit different but I too can’t make it to the gym as often as I used to. What I do is I turn to YouTube where they have a ton of free workouts. My favorite is all the HIIT workouts by Christine Salus. Type her name into YouTube. You can choose a 20 minute workout if you don’t have much time or even longer ones. I do these when my son is napping and I love it. They are huge calorie burners.
Fox is so adorable- he looks like a happy little baby!!
Glad you are getting to workout again, I loved your easy-going approach to fitness during your pregnancy, and now! You can only do so much, and it seems like you know your limits well!
Whew! What an exhausting couple weeks you’ve had! I’ve been dealing with a lot of work stress and it’s been taking it’s toll on me physically. Fortunately I know it’s a short term thing and I should be back on track this week.
Making me smile- at 8 my daughter is becoming more and more of a fun friend to hang out with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still being the parent, it’s just that now being the parent can feel an awful lot like hanging out with a bestie.
Most of the time, I forget about those early days when Hunter was a a little squirt, but every once in awhile it comes back to me, and man, some days were ROUGH. I feel you! Just like everyone is saying, it gets better though…mostly because you’ll be sleeping better. I always tell my husband I can do anything with some sleep. Hence the reason those early sleepless days were probably some of the hardest for me. Teething sucks, tantrums suck, picky eating sucks…but personally, it’s not NEARLY as sucky as a sleepless child. I’m totally a gal that needs her sleep. Have you tried baby wearing the lil man? That was an lifesaver for me when he was cranky and/or wouldn’t sleep. May help when you’re at work too! Just a thought. Hope things get better real quick! Hugs to you!
Somehow you manage to write about the tough side of parenting without sounding resentful and still get across how much you love it – no easy task, I’m impressed! I’m sorry things have been rough! I’d like to complain that I have to go back to work soon and leave my little peanut and most of my friends are SAHMs and I’m insanely jealous. I get that parenting is hard and every path has its challenges, but none of them are dying to trade places with me for the privilege of waking up at the crack of dawn to drop your baby off with strangers, slaving away for a never pleased boss and spending half your evening dealing with bottles. Just saying. But I’m lucky to have him in my life and to have a job and I am going to stop whining and go enjoy our time together!
oh I feel for you! I have 5 kids, and I worked full time with the first three. I brought them to work with me for the first year (super amazing boss!!) it is so hard to balance full time mom with someone that is paying you to be there. I’ve been through a nursing strike too, so stressful! It will all pass quickly, just remember this too shall pass :)
not much to complain about, but i wanted to say i hear you about the bra thing. i had been wearing the wrong size for years apparently. got fitted this spring and i now don’t hate wearing bras anymore!
one thing that made me smile big recently: i got engaged :-) and it was all captured on video, so when we show it to family/friends or watch it again, it still puts a gigantic smile on my face!
Just so you know, no matter how long it takes for you to post you will always be my favorite “blogger”! I LOVE your rambles. your honesty & your non-sugar coating attitude haha! I hope things turn around for you & you can enjoy the holidays! One thing that made me smile REAL big… got a super deal on some Canvas prints… Finally ordered Drake’s Newborn & 6 month pictures… I’m a little late to the game, considering he will be 2 soon!
omg i’m a 32DD – i got measured at vs, too, and was like uhhh what?!?!?
I’m with you on being over the whole big boobs thing – I had my baby 2 weeks ago. I went from a 32 C pre-pregnancy to a 32 E. E! I know it’s all for a good reason so I can feed my baby, but GAHHH! These things actually *hurt* to lug around.
I’ve been struggling hard with nursing… Wasn’t easy to start and then to continue once I went back to work. My supply is much zilch! I don’t think stress of it all is helping either. The battle of deciding to stop or continue is happening….
But my little guy continues to make me happy. I can’t believe at how fast it’s all going!
Thanks for checking in with us in blog land! Our boys are so close in age I enjoy reading how you are doing. I feel for you and all the struggles lately. Great job for hanging in there with the nursing and figuring it out!!!
My little one went through something around the 3 month mark where he started waking every couple hours to eat in the night- but luckily it did not last more than a couple days! Hopefully it will be the same for Fox. Truly exhausting!
I love this little ramble (new reader here!). So glad Fox is doing well and while I’m not pregnant (yet) I really appreciate all the advice!
poor randy :( i dont really have much to complain about! i got to spend the weekend relaxing with my pups, so i’m happy :) i do miss exploring mexico!
Good gracious, lady! So much going on! Can I whine about the fact that my boy won’t take a bottle? We’ve tried and tried and I currently have mastitis (for the 5th time) and I just so wish I could make a bottle for him and let someone else do the work while I sleep, hah.
BUT, so glad he’s an easy nurser and has been from the beginning. So sorry a bout the lice situation, poor pups! Big hugs to you all…and Fox has the sweetest face ever. I want to snuggle him so badly.
First off, I’m so glad that Fox is nursing again and you found a solution!
Secondly, my 3.5 month old baby has slept poorly the past two nights! Way worse than when he was a newborn. I’m hoping that means he’s just hitting the 4 month sleep regression early and it will pass. I put him down at 7:30/8 and then he is up again an hour or two later and then continues that way all night. Not cool when I have to work the next day.
I have mixed jealousy that you get to take Fox to work with you. On one hand, it’s so awesome that you get to spend all day with him still and that your job is cool with that. But on the other hand, oh my goodness I can’t imagine being able to get work done if my adorable baby was with me all day!
Poor Penny & Randy. I had no idea dogs could even get lice!
It IS a good thing babies are cute. I don’t have kids yet but I have nephews and they are a handful, but adorable! Hopefully Fox starts sleeping well again, it seems like stressful times don’t seem AS BAD if you can at least get a good nights sleep!
Oh man! Poor dogs with lice!!! That’s a total bummer!! But glad they caught it and are being treated.
I’m already having the bra problem, and I’m totally not used to it either. I ordered a bunch online and they’re all going back. I guess I didn’t realize how ill-fitting my currents ones were. Our good news is that Kevin finally got to feel the baby kick last week! I have an anterior placenta so I can’t feel much movement at all so we really got lucky!!
i don’t have a babe so i can’t relate to you but i just wanted to say your awesome.
your outlook on mommyhood and the struggles is seriously the greatest. one day, i hope to be such a rad momma like yourself.
xo
<3
My little guy did the whole 4 month sleep regression thing and it was awful! He slept 6 hours straight since he was born and longer stretches every few weeks, then went to up at 1am and every hour or so after that. It sucked, but only lasted a couple weeks. Hopefully Fox is the same! I also used special bottles which make the baby work for the milk so it is more like the breast. He has done great with those!
Funny story, we were having a window installed last week and the installer was commenting on my baby’s name and told me about two people he worked with who had a cute little guy they named Fox. I knew just who that was from your blog! Small world!
Get out of here! That is so funny–it is for sure a small world! We only had one 1 window job last week, so I am guessing that was Matt’s job! Let me know if you ever need anything window-wise, ha! What brand of bottle did you end up using? xo
Yep, it was Matt’s job, but it was the other guy with him that I was talking to. I never did catch his name, but he was a very nice, kind of older guy. I definitely will! The new window is great so far :)
We use the born free bottle. It’s got a little contraption that goes under the nipple so they actually have to suck. I don’t know if it works like it says it does, but I have never had any issues going back to the breast after a bottle. http://www.newbornfree.com/active-flow-venting-technology/
I also wanted to ask how your lactation cookies turned out? I made some the other day and they were delicious! Definitely helped with milk supply too!
1. Work. Or rather old work. I had to quickly exit my job and look for something else. It’s absolutely a crazy story,moutg I am much better off not dealing with so much drama.
2. Visitors! Holidays! Turkey/stuffing/pumpkin pie! I am looking forward to enjoying the time with friends and family. I need the laughs for sure!
One of the little thing that makes me smile, it when my 15 month old son throws his soother out of his mouth, runs up to me and smoothers me with a huge wet kiss. Yep this just makes any bad day fade away ;0)
Hang in there with the nursing. Its so rewarding but can be very tiring at times. Your doing such an amazing job considering all that’s on your plate! Your a trooper =0)
My son was nursed and bottle fed pumped milk for bedtime routine with daddy. He was having his one bottle a day since two weeks old as I wanted my husband to have the one on one daddy time. The only down fall was that every so often my son would refuse to nurse as he loved the flow of the bottle and didnt like working at the boob. So when all else failed I would do lots of skin on skin and would stay topless (in the comfort of my home of course) to get him back to nursing and it would work! Babies go thru good days and bad days just like us mommy and daddy’s ;0)
We went through a rough patch with nursing when I first introduced bottles to my little one – so frustrating! I don’t know how you balance work and being a mom and all the other craziness in your life. It is hard enough for me to find time to shower and I am home all day with my baby girl!
OMG that outfit (the lumberjack checked one) is adorable.
RE: IUD … which one did you do? I have been considering it. Didn’t want to try the hormonal one, but I am not a candidate for the copper one. Hormones legit fuck up my shit. But maybe a super-small dose won’t be so bad?
RE: boobies — agree so hard. I don’t want boobs. Ever. Small and perky is the way to be (no offense, ladies with beautifully developed chests!). It’s just a lot easier to deal with small boobs.
i got the minera and TBH i didn’t do any research beforehand. all my sisters got it, so that was good enough for me haha. ugh.. boobs.. flat chested is the life for me! miss you and love your guts!
I don’t have much to complain about… Other than starting my new promotion and feeling like Piper from Orange is the New Black… Long story short they all hate me and if I was in prison I’d fear the shank… I love getting to read your posts about Momming. Fox’s cuteness on the social media helps me find a smile through the craziness
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