One More Week

This week is my last week of maternity leave before I go back to work.  Before Maddy was born, I was addicted to work.  I am the Director of Admissions at a private, four-year college here in Washington.  Before Maddy came along, I would work my regular hours, usually coming in early and going home late.  Then, when I went home, I would be on my laptop responding to emails.  I was a workaholic.  I was convinced that everything would stay the same after Maddy came along, but I think I am changed! 

I am not looking forward to returning to work.  Yes, I love what I do.  I work with high school students helping them get to college.  I am what they call in the college admissions world as a "lifer."  Most people that start in college admissions do not stay very long because it is a draining job.  Every Fall, admissions professionals are on the road for three plus months.  Once they are back in the office, it's all about getting students to apply and commit to attending the university.  It can be draining, but also very rewarding.  Most of us don't last... but I have.  I've been in the profession for six years now and have moved up from an entry-level Admissions Counselor to the Director of Admissions. 

I thought it was going to be easy to go back to work.  But, it's going to be so hard to leave my Maddy.  I wish I could be a stay at home mom.  And, I probably could, but I just started this job a year ago and I need to put in a little more time.  Plus, I have a directors position - I can't leave that behind (yet).

So, I'm going to go back to work even though it is going to make me so sad.  I'm going to push my way through and see how it works out.  However, maybe in a little while I will become a stay at home mom... only time will tell. 

Winning the lottery would definitely help to make the stay at home mom thing a reality!  I probably need to start playing though... maybe we'll pick up a ticket today.  Wish me luck :)

Body After Baby

Babble.com posted some pictures of Celebrity Moms In Bikinis.  I know that it has only been seven and a half weeks since giving birth to my little bundle of joy, but I don't know if I'll ever look like any of these moms in bikinis. 

1. I admit, I was a little overweight when I first got pregnant. Even though I was little overweight, I still weigh ten pounds more now than I did when I first found out I was pregnant.  It seems like no matter what I do, I can't lose the last ten pounds.   And, the unfortunate thing is that I've lost a lot of my muscle and now those extra pounds are pure fat :-(  Yes, I know that because I'm breastfeeding I might be carrying a little more weight in my chest area, but everything else is a little bigger (and more jiggly) than before too.  
2. Stretch marks!  Will they ever go away?  Throughout my whole pregnancy I religiously put coco butter on my stomach and did not see any stretch marks at all.  However, they started appearing the last month of my pregnancy and they just kept growing.  Seven and a half weeks after giving birth my stretch marks are still visible and seem like they are not fading at all even those I've been putting on Mederma religiously. 

I know that I need to just give myself more time.  Again, it has only been seven and a half weeks since I gave birth.  Maybe in a few more months I'll feel a little better about myself and maybe, just maybe, I'll feel comfortable being in a bathing suit again.  I don't need to look like all of the women in the story from Babble.com.  I know that I will never look like most of them because I am realistic... I'm curvy.  I'm hoping that my body will start looking like the picture below of Britney Spears.  I think that she looks great even though she takes a lot of flack in the media for now being curvy.  I think she looks amazing for having kids! 

Photo from Babble.com story on Celebrity Moms in Bikinis!

After writing what I did above about Britney Spears, I must put it out there.  I am not a Britney Spears fan at all.  I only put her up as an example because she was the only curvy woman that the Babble website had as an example of a good looking mom in a bikini. 

Anyway, here's to getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight and fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothing.  Although the maternity pants are comfortable, I really need to start wearing regular clothes again!  Any tips?

Happy Father's Day!

Today is my husband's first Father's Day.  We didn't do anything too big, but I think he had a good day.  First, we got our little girl ready to go out - look at how big she already looks.  Can you believe she is only 7.5 weeks old?

For lunch we went to a Pho restaurant, something that my husband has been craving for a while. We haven't had Pho since before Maddy was born, so I knew that is something that he would want... and he loved it!  And, surprisingly, I liked it a lot too.

Other than going out to lunch, we didn't do much else.  However, what made the day great for my husband were the funny things that happened to me today.

1. After Maddy ate, I had her sitting on my stomach and leaning up against my legs.  She loves sitting in this position while looking at me.  I then started hearing and feeling many loud and long farts... I knew that it was more than just air... she was pooping.  After she was done, I noticed that she had soiled her little onesie.  Yep... there was poop, so it was time to change her.  After changing her and she was happy again, I noticed both my sweater and shirt had poop stains. Her poop was so strong that it got all over me! My husband couldn't help put laugh at me.  
2. After changing her, Maddy was getting a little fussy.  One thing that usually always calms her down is lifting her above my head.  She always smiles when I'm looking up at her.  My husband always tells me not to do it because one of these days she will spit-up on me.  Well... this time around he was right!  As I lifted her up the first time, I saw it coming out of her mouth and down at me.  I was able to move my head to avoid getting it on my face, but it all landed in my ear!  Yuck!  Again, my husband got such a great laugh out of seeing this happen.

So, since we weren't able to do much for Father's Day since Maddy is so small, I still think my husband had a great day... especially at my expense :)  That's okay - anything to make him happy :)

Relaxing Day

Today was a relaxing day for the whole family.  We decided to stay in and not do anything in particular because it was a rainy day - what else is new in the Seattle area?

The day started by us waking up at 8:30 a.m.  The reason why this was so great is because Maddy slept nine straight hours last night. She is only only seven weeks old and she is already sleeping through the night, which makes me so happy! It looks like I'll be able to return to work in about a week without being exhausted.  It will be great to not be exhausted at work (not being at work - I'm not looking forward to it because I'm going to miss my baby so much!)

We stayed in bed for a little longer after waking up and watched a movie.  All three of us fell asleep again for about a hour after watching the movie.  I guess we all needed to catch up on our sleep.

When we finally got out of bed, we still didn't do anything productive.  We just sat around, watched a little more television and played with Maddy.  It was a wonderful day and I hope we have many more like this.  We are always so busy and I'm afraid we're going to miss out on Maddy growing up... days like today will always be welcome because it allows us to spend precious time with her.

Now time for bed... we have church in the morning and will then be celebrating Father's Days - Maverick's first father's day as a daddy!

The 5 S's

When I was pregnant and since it was our first child, we went to a few of the child birth classes.  I didn't use much of the information we learned in the classes because 1) I was admitted to the hospital before I went into labor, 2) I didn't have much pain before going into labor and 3) I had an emergency C-Section and never had to push.  However, there is one thing that I took from the classes - we should check out the book The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. 

I got the book and read it slowly.  It actually has a lot of great information, especially the "5 S's."  The 5 S's is a technique that Dr. Karp suggests to calm a baby.  At first I didn't think that it would work, but it has amazed me.  Every time, no matter how crank the baby is, she calms down and eventually falls asleep.  Who would have thought that these things would calm a baby?

1. Swaddling - wrap her up tight in a receiving blanket.
2. Side or Stomach - place her on her side or stomach (while holding her)
3. Shhh...  Shhh in her ear.  And, no quiet shh'es, loud shhh.
4. Swinging - swing her (constant motion)
5. Suck - let her suck on something.  We use a pacifier.

Tonight Maddy was in an extra cranky mood.  I breastfed her and she just did not want to unlatch, although I know she was not hungry any more.  This went on for over a hour.  She just wanted to be on the breast and as soon as I would take her away, she would cry.  I couldn't continue holding her, so I finally put the 5 S's in place and right away she calmed down and drifted off to sleep.

I have found one more piece of advice in the book that has been a lifesaver:
No matter how hot you think it might be, swaddle the baby when you put her to sleep.  This will make the baby sleep much better.  As soon as we started swaddling Maddy at night, she has slept 7+ straight hours a night.  We started swaddling her regularly at night at 5.5 weeks and since then we have been getting great sleep at night!

So, for any parents that are new, The Happiest Baby on the Block is a book that I would highly recommend that you check out!

Hemangiomas Check-up

Yesterday we had our appointment with the eye doctor for Maddy.  The doctor was going to check on her hemangiomas under her right eye.  I was so afraid that they were going to tell us that they would have to do some sort of surgery or laser work on her to remove it, but it looks as though everything is okay... at least for now.

The doctor did some checking and right now the hemangiomas is not affecting her vision or tear duct.  This is great news!  The doctor did prescribe some eye drops to put on her hemangiomas.  The eye drops are normally used to treat glaucoma, but the doctor said that it can also be used to prevent the birthmark from growing any bigger.  Because it is so close to her eye, it is imperative that it doesn't get any bigger because we do not want it to effect her vision or the tear duct.  I have but the drop on her skin three times now and it may be wishful thinking, but I think her hemangiomas already looks a little less red and I think it looks a little flatter.  Again, it may be wishful thinking, but I really think that these drops are helping her!

Here is a picture of her hemangiomas today after three treatments of the eye drop:

I'll try to take pictures occasionally to see if there is any change.  But, so far it's looking better! 

Champions!

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks for becoming the 2011 NBA Champions!  Usually I wouldn't write anything about sports, but the Dallas Mavericks have been my husband's favorite NBA team since the 80s when they were founded!  Most people think it's because he shares his name with the Mavericks, but that's not it.  It has been the players of the team since the beginning, and the humbleness of this year's team has shown me that they're a great team... on and off the court!

So, congratulations to the Mavericks!  Here is the t-shirt that I got for husband two years ago for Christmas.  I think their championship calls for me to get my husband another Mavericks shirt! I kept thinking about what I could get him for Father's Day - what perfect timing!

Spoiled Milk

One thing that I never thought about before being a mom was all of the spoiled milk there would be.  And, what's even worse is the horrible smell!  No, I'm not talking about milk sitting around and going bad.  I'm talking about all of the milk that Maddy drinks that either doesn't get in her mouth, or the milk that does get in her mouth that she spits-up up later. 

Yes, it gets on her clothing and that's not fun.  But, that's easy to fix.  All I have to do is change her clothing.  But, what is worse is the milk that rolls down into her neck area.  No matter how much I wipe and clean, there is always some residue of milk.  And, because she's still a little baby with lots of extra skin, especially in her neck area, some of the milk hides in the rolls.  Again, I do my best to clean her, but sometimes that milk is sneaky!  And the bad thing about it is that I don't discover the milk until it becomes stinky!  Yuck!

Bibs are great to make sure that the milk doesn't get on her clothing, but what can I use to cover her neck?  I need to keep thinking about this because I know I'm not the only one with this problem.  I need to invent something - it will be the next best invention in the baby section!  I'll be rich and then I can become a SAHM - my dream!

Lazy Letter Carrier

I love the post office.  My dad has been a letter carrier for over twenty years now and I support the postal service all the time.  Whenever sending a package, USPS is always what I use.  It's not only because their prices are usually cheaper; it's also because it's a way to support my dad.  Most letter carriers that I've had have been excellent until now. 

We have lived in our house for seven months now and since the beginning the letter carrier assigned to our route frustrates me so much.  The time she delivers the mail is consistent, which is a good thing.  But what frustrates me the most is that she has never delivered a package to our door.  We do get a lot of packages because we do do some shopping online - you can find some great deals online.  Yes, the letter carrier would have to come up a set of stairs to get to our door, but that's normal for our area.  Most of the houses in our city are bi-level houses and require visitors to go up some stairs to get to the door.  Our letter carrier has never brought a package to our door.  Usually she will leave the package in the doorway near the garage door.  This frustrates me for a few reasons:
1. The package is always left in clear view of the street.  Anyone could come along and steal it.  It has not happened yet, but it could. 
2.  We live in Washington and it rains a lot! Our packages are ALWAYS wet - she never puts it in an area that will shield it from the rain.  The products inside have not been damaged yet because of rain, but it could someday!

After asking my Dad about this practice and knowing that the letter carrier should never leave packages out in the elements, I complained to the post office.  I wanted to make sure that the letter carrier was not following the rules before I got her in trouble.  But, my complaint was not taken seriously.  She continues to be lazy and stays in her jeep.

Today was the final straw for me.  I went to get the mail from the mailbox today and saw a "Sorry We Missed You" note in our mailbox.  I never left the house today and she missed me?  NO!  She did not even try to bring the certified letter to our door.  I bet she wrote out the note before she even left the office today because she knew she wasn't going to leave the comfort of her jeep to come to our door - and today is a nice sunny day. She wouldn't even need to brave the rain.

When we go to pick up the package tomorrow, I'm going to put in another complaint.  This is ridiculous.  The post office is over six miles away from our house and totally out of our way!  I wonder if this complaint will change anything?

She's Growing

Yesterday I noticed that Maddy's newborn clothing was becoming too small for her.  When I put on one of her sleep and play outfits, her legs barely fit.  Her legs were actually bent a little because she has grown so much.

Today, as I was putting her in her car seat, I got another reminder that she is growing.  We bought her the Eddie Bauer 2-in-1 Head Support for her car seat before she was born because we wanted her to be comfortable.  Plus, we wanted something that would secure her head so that it wouldn't move too much.  This product is great because the inner support is perfect for a newborn... but, it's too small for her now.  I put her in today and I had to adjust the support to get her head to fit.  But, as soon as I got her buckled in, she started crying.  Now that she's been around for six weeks, I have figured out what her different cries mean, and this cry meant she was uncomfortable.  I took her out of the car seat, took out the newborn support, put her back into the car seat and she was quiet as could be - even smiling at me as I was looking at her.  That is what it was - she has become too big for her newborn support. 

It's funny.  Every time I heard a mom get a little emotional because her baby was growing, I always thought they were a little crazy.  Why would a mom be sad that her baby was growing up?  But, I now understand their feeling.  My baby is growing so fast - in a short time she'll be walking, talking and going to school.  I know... that is some time away, but she's growing up and there is nothing that I can do to slow it down. 

Oh how she makes me smile just looking at her.  =D

Messy Maddy

So far today I've had to change Maddy's clothes three times today!  It's a good thing that she is so adorable :)

Maddy is six weeks old today and all of the baby emails that I get have been telling me that she'll be going through a growth spurt right about now... and I think they're right.  For the last few days she has been wanting to eat more and more.  And what comes with more eating?  More poop... and it has been messy!  That is one of the reasons I had to change her clothing today.  But, the poor girl has also been spitting up quite a bit today.  I don't change her clothing if a little spit-up gets on her, but her clothing has been soaked in her spit-up.

She's taking all of this well.  She's still smiling and having a good time. Plus, it is allowing me to get her into her newborn clothing a little more before she has fully outgrown her outfits.

Let's just hope that the rest of the day is cleaner so that I don't have to change her clothing again until after her bath tonight.

Small Breastfeeding Frustration

I have been breastfeeding Maddy since the day she was born - about six weeks ago.  When I started breastfeeding in the hospital, Maddy had a hard time latching on. So, instead of being patient and teaching her how to latch on, the nurse gave me a Medela Contact Nipple Shield. When I started using the nipple shield, she latched on and would not let go. During the rest of my 48+ hours in the hospital, the nurses continued to have me use the nipple shield.  When we had our follow-up appointment a few days after leaving the hospital, the nurse continue to encourage me to use the nipple shield because Maddy was eating so well using it. 

However, no one ever told me that if she continues to use the nipple shield, she would never latch on to just me.  At almost every feeding, I try to get her to latch on to just me and she just won't do it.  She gets frustrated, starts banging her head against my body and then cries uncontrollably.  I have tried to guide her to the nipple, but she just won't latch on.  There were a few times that she has, but she only stays only for a few seconds before unlatching and crying again. 

So, it looks as though I'll continue using the Medela Contact Nipple Shield.  I've tried using other brands, but this one is the best!  Don't go for the cheaper ones because they just don't work!  I wish I didn't have to use it, but I'll do what I have to do to get her to eat... and let me tell you... she can eat!  The only downside of using the nipple shield is that it can get a little messy.  Anytime she unlatches from the shield, it's filled with milk.  If she starts moving around her hands and hits the shield, the milk gets all over.  So, I've found that using the nipple shield is a lot messier.  But other then that, I haven't found any other downside to using it.  Some suggested that it could decrease my milk supply, but so far, this has not been the case.  Actually, the more that Maddy is eating, the more milk that I'm producing - she never leaves a feeding hungry, even as she is growing.

So, if you're having trouble getting your baby to latch on, I'd recommend using a Nipple Shield.  However, I do suggest that once the baby is latched onto the shield for a minute or two, unlatch the baby, remove the shield and try to get the baby to latch onto you.  It can be inconvenient and messy to always use the nipple shield.

All Clear

Today I had my 6-week follow-up appointment after labor and delivery.  The appointment was at 8:50am, so I decided to leave the baby home with my husband - I didn't want her having any meltdown, and since my husband could go into work later, why not take advantage of the freedom?!  But, while I was there I started missing her, especially because all of the nurses and doctors were sad that I didn't bring her along.

The doctor examined me and everything is perfect.  The incision from my c-section has healed great and my insides are back to normal.  She gave me the green light to start working out, which is something that I have been waiting for because I want to get back in shape.  I'm tired of seeing my giggly stomach and the extra weight that I still have since getting pregnant.  She did warn me to take it easy at first - not because it could harm me, but because it's been a while since I've worked out and I don't want to get too sore because I still have to take care of the baby.  I also got the okay for everything else ;)

So, after getting the okay to start working out, I decided to start off slow like the doctor suggested.  Maddy and I went for a speed walk around our neighborhood.  Luckily the walks in my neighborhood will burn a little more calories than most neighborhoods because there are lots and lots of hills where I live in Sammamish.  I used to walk my neighborhood, but I realized it is so much harder pushing a stroller, but I like it.  I felt good after taking our long walk around the neighborhood - let's just hope that I can walk tomorrow :)


 If all of this walking/running works out, I think I'll have to buy one these Jogging Strollers. And, depending on how well I do myself, I might even considering joining one of those Stroller Strides groups.

Here's to having great workouts, quality time with Maddy, and losing some weight!

Sunny Day

Yesterday was one of the first sunny days in the Seattle area since the beginning of this year.  It was finally in the 70s - even close to 80 at 78 degrees!  It was beautiful and something that my husband and I have both been craving because we miss the sunshine.  As I've mentioned before - we're originally from sunny Southern California and we're still not used to all of the gloomy weather that the Pacific Northwest gives us. 

So, to enjoy the sunny weather, we went to the park as a family for the first time since Maddy was born five and a half weeks ago.  We got her all dressed up in a cute dress and we were off.  But, as we left the house, we realized that we needed to have something to cover Maddy's bald little head.  The only hats that we had were the warm beanies, and that wasn't going to work since it was so warm, so we visited the local Target before heading to the park and bought her a little sun hat.  After making our purchase, we were off to Lake Sammamish Park - just about 15 minutes away from our house.

The Pacific Northwest is known for gloomy weather, so when there is a day full of sun, everyone is outside.  And, Lake Sammamish Park was packed!  But, we still enjoyed the sunshine and breeze, watch boaters in their boats, parasailers having fun over the water, dogs and their owners running around and kids playing tag.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we just don't get enough of them here in the Seattle area!

Here are some pictures from our day at the park:

Maddy's hat was a little big - we couldn't find a newborn hat, so we got what we could find.  We made the hat work

She got tired of the hat, so I did my best to shade her little, bald head

 It was a great day at the park and we enjoyed it.  Hopefully we don't have to wait too long for the next sunny day!

90th percentile!

Today we had Maddy's one month doctor appointment (a few days late) and the doctor was very happy with her growth!  When she was born, she weighed 7lbs, 1oz and she weighed 6lbs, 8ozs when we left the hospital two days later.  Today, at five weeks old, she weighed 9lbs, 3.5oz - in the 50th percentile.  But, what surprised me was her height.  When she was born, she was 20.5 inches.  Today, at five weeks old, she is 22 inches - in the 90th percentile.  The reason this is so surprising is because my husband and I are not all that tall.  I am average height at 5'6", but my husband is on the shorter side at 5'3".  I guess Maddy is taking after my side of the family.

On a scarier note, the doctor referred us to Pediatric Ophthalmology.  My poor baby has a birth mark that started showing at about three weeks old.  She has a strawberry hemangiomas below her right eye.  Actually, it starts at the inside corner of her right eye and is about half an inch long.  As of right now it is not raised - just a bright red mark.  However, hemangiomas are known to grow within the first year.  So, because it is so close to her eye, they want us to see a specialist to make sure that it won't effect her vision or eyes in any way.  I just pray that everything is okay and it doesn't grow any more.

Below is a picture of her strawberry birthmark taken a few days ago.  Hopefully I don't have to show any other pictures of it until it starts fading (which they always do) - I don't want to have to take any more pictures because it's getting bigger.

She's still adorable :)