5 Months Old!

Camping at Guernsey Resevoir in Wyoming


Playing on his mat


Playing in his exesaucer

Oliver on the 4th of July

Well my little man is now 5 months old. He has changed so much in the last few weeks. He is growing up way to fast. I am loving every new little milestone, and it is so exciting to watch him grow and learn. But come on kid! You can slow down a little bit :)
Oliver is into everything (as much as a non-mobile kid can be). He grabs everything. It is really fun to watch the progression of him learning. He used to not even notice things, then he started to notice things, then he would be a lit tle interested, now he wants everything! Cell phone? Put it in my mouth please! Remote control? Put it in my mouth please. He is making concious decisions that he wants this toy instead of that toy and not just taking what he can reach.
He is sitting up on his own now. We are marking that milestone as July 31, 2010. He is still a little slouched, and tips over fairly often, but it still counts. He is not content to lay down anymore. He wants to be in the action all the time.
He loves his feet. They go in his mouth whenever he allows himself to lay down.
Oh, and BABY KISSES! They are the best thing in the whole world. He grabs my face and pulls me towards him and just lays a big slobbery one rigt on me. It is the most precious thing ever. Melts my heart every single time.
Uh oh, I was a super bad Mommy today though. I don't even want to admit it, but...my little baby boy rolled off the couch today. I know, I know, he has been rolling for months, what was I thinking leaving him on the couch unattended? Well, he has been fine all these months. He lays in the "crack" of the couch and has never moved, and today while I was pouring the milk in my cereal I hear a "THUMP....then a pause, then a scream. I ran to the living room and scooped him up as fast as I could. He was on his tummy between the coffee table and the couch. He cried for all of 1 minute, then was all smiles and happiness again. Needless to say I have learned my lesson and he will not be left unatteded on any elevated surface again.
Here are some recent pictures of Oliver

1 Year Ago Today

One year ago today my whole life changed forever. DH and I had been trying to get pregnant for a few months. We were not super serious about it, but I was charting to increase our chances. Well my temps had been wonky that cycle and I thought that either I hadn't ovulated, or that we missed it. We had a before work roll in the hay just in case, and heck, just for the fun of it!! Well, on Thursday, June 25, 2009, I POAS and got my first ever positive.
I really didn't think that I was pregnant because I had started spotting and thought that I had started my period. But after a few days and never really starting the wheels started turning. I told my sister on Wednesday that I hadn't started and I was late. She tried to convince me to test that night, but I told her I would wait till the morning. Meanwhile, I hadn't even filled in DH on my thinking that this could be it.
I got up for work on Thursday and POAS and hopped in the shower, expecting it to be a BFN. You can imagine my surprise when I got out and glanced at the test and saw 2 lines. The line was faint, but it was there. I was shocked and totally freaked out. I am not the type to make a cute plan to tell DH, so I just walked out of the bathroom to the bedroom and said, Wake up! DH woke up and asked what was going on. I said "I'm pregnant" and he said "shut up" and started to go back to sleep. I had to tell him again and told him to look at the test. He looked at the test and didn't believe me. He didn't know that a faint line "counted". He thought the line had to be as dark as the control line. After I finally convinced him that it was for real we just hugged and I cried. He was super excited.
The hardest part of the day was calling my sis on my way to work. She and her DH had been trying for months without success. I knew that as happy as she was gonna be for me, it was gonna hurt her. We cried together on the phone for a little while.
Talk about an unproductive day at work! I couldn't focus on anything, my mind was racing. I was so happy yet so scared. It is a feeling that I can't describe. Ready or not, too late now, we are having a baby!

One year later, Oliver is 3 months 15 days old and the best thing that has ever happened to me. How different my life is today. Wouldn't change it for the world.

A little bit of everything

It has been so long since I last blogged! Life has been so busy. I thought that being home all day I would have time to read all my blogs and message boards and write my own! But alas, I don't find the time to log on very often.
Well, Oliver is going to be 3 months old tomorrow. He is such a cool kid. He has such a personality. We have lots of fun together during the day. But the transition being home is harder than I thought. On the days that we don't have anything to do, or anywhere to go I am more than stir crazy by the time DH gets home. So I have been working on trying to keep busy and find at least something to do everyday. Getting out of the house at least once a day is a necessity!
I started to work out pretty hard again about a month ago. It has been keeping me sane! It feels so great to be back in the gym. I still have about 15 pounds to lose to be back at my post partum weight. I feel like the weight is never going to come off. But I know I just have to watch my diet more and make sure to get in at least 4 workouts per week. I also took my measurements when I started working out, so even if the weight take awhile to come off, hopefully I will lose inches.
We have a super busy summer planned. We have lots of concerts and other fun stuff planned. But in that lies the dreaded "mommy guilt". I fell bad for leaving Oliver (which I know is crazy because I am with him all day everyday!). So I am doing my best to totally ignore those feelings and remember that I am a good Mommy who deserves a break!
I am also worried about my sister (my only follower at this point!). She has been struggling with IF for the last year. She is feeling depressed with life in general. She is such a happy and confident person most of the time. So to hear that she is feeling so lost and down breaks my heart. I really want to just take her pain away from her. I would if I could. She is my best friend in the whole world and all I want is for her to be okay again. So if you read this MrsHoppy, hang in there and please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I am worried about you.

Well, I am about out of time so will stop my ramblings. Hopefully it won't be another 2 months till I blog again!

1 Month Old

I can't believe that my little boy is going to be 1 month old tomorrow. The time has gone really quickly. Here is a little letter to Oliver for his first month milestone:

Dear Oliver,
You are going to be one month old tomorrow. You are so amazing. I love you more than I ever knew I could. I love being your Mommy. Here are some things that I want to remember about your first month of life:
1. The way you startle when you are sleeping. If you get startled while sound asleep you throw your arms up with your hands spread wide open. Sometimes you leave your arms straight up for a while and slowly let them down. It cracks me up every time.
2. The funny way you nurse. You start to breathe fast and shake your head back and forth. It makes your Dad and I laugh.
3. Your first stretch after waking up. You love to stretch and make the cutest little noises. It is adorable.
4. Your SMILE! You are usually so serious, but yesterday, April 5, 2010, you smiled at your Dad. Then this afternoon, you smiled so big at me I thought you were going to start laughing too. Makes me melt.
5. You love to be rocked and jiggled. If you are fussing, we can usually get you nice and calm by wrapping you up tight and jiggling you around. Glad we learned that trick early on!
6. You love the sound of the blow dryer and always nap like a dream while Mommy gets ready in the mornings. The sound puts you right to sleep.

We are getting to know each other better every day. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with you. I can't imagine having to take you to daycare. I am so thankful every day that I get to be a stay at home Mommy. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Your Daddy took 1.5 weeks off work to stay home with us. He was so sad to go back to work. He misses you so much while he is gone. I send him lots of pictures everyday because he misses you so much. He loves coming home every afternoon and kisses you and cuddles you first thing. He spends all evening talking to you and singing funny songs to you. You are lucky to have such a good Daddy.

Your whole family is crazy about you. Your Grandma Sherry babysat you last week for the first time. Daddy and I went out to dinner and had a good time, but missed you lots. Your Grandparents want to see you all the time. They can hardly go a few days with out coming to see you. Your Auntie Rachel loves you so much too. She sees you a few times a week and loves to kiss you on the lips.

Can't wait to see what the next month holds!!!

Love,
Mommy

Changes, Changes...

Being the parent to a newborn is hard work! It is true what they say, you can never really be prepared to have a baby. It is just different that you can ever imagine. Especially for those of us who haven't spent any real time with babys or newborns.
Some days I feel like I am getting the hang of things and that I can do it. Other days are completely overwhelming and I feel like a total failure. Today, luckily, is a day that I feel like I can do this.
I love my little man more than I ever imagined I could. He is so sweet and as frustrated as I get, he will do something to make me smile and I forget the frustrations. He is so wonderful to wake up to every day. Even for the 2 am feedings. He loves getting his diaper changed and happily looks around just taking everything in. We had a million pictures of him already. I will post a few before he starts fussing to eat!

Finally Updating!

Well, I am finally able to post again! Life has been crazy the last few weeks.
Oliver James was born on March 10, 2010 at 8:12 p.m. Here is his birth story:
I woke up at 2:00 am on Wednesday morning with contractions. They were pretty mild at first and I was able to lay down and rest through most of them. I finally woke Kevin up around 4 or so. We started timing my contractions and they were anywhere from 7-15 minutes apart. We got up around 5 and ate some breakfast. My contractions started getting more intense as the morning progressed. It was about 11 am when we decided to call the doctor's office. They said that since my contractions weren't getting any closer together (still anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart at this point) that I might not actually be in active labor. I lost it! I was in so much pain at this point that the thought that this might not be it brought me to tears. Well, soon after that phone call my contractions got closer together and stronger, so it was obviously active labor! Kevin was great through all of this. He realized that I had lost all focus and was starting to panic. So he sat me down and made me focus on our relaxation techniques and do our breathing. I felt much better and more in control once he made me focus. We headed to the hospital around 1 or 2 pm. They checked us into Labor and Delivery and put us in a room. We had a wonderful nurse named Pam. She was so sweet and took our birth plan very seriously and respected it. I was dilated to a 5 or a 6. They monitored Oliver's heartbeat for about 30 minutes. Then I decided to get in the tub. We had read that if you can make it to 6 cm then sit in a tub for 1 an hour, it is likely that you will be fully dilated. Well, I sat in the tub for about 1-1.5 hours. When I got out, I think this is when I went into transition. The contractions were right on top of each other and I really doubted that I could keep going. Well Pam checked me and I was 9 cm. She left the room and about 5 min later I felt the pressure and need to push. I asked Kevin to call the nurse because I needed to push and he didn't believe me. Well, he called her and she determined that I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push! We tried pushing in the traditional position first, then tried using the squat bar. I ended up laying back down after a few pushes squatting. I pushed for over 2 hours. It was the hardest work I have ever done. Kevin was on my left side, and Rachel eventually came and held my right leg. My Mom was also in the room with us. I finally pushed him out at 8:12 pm. The cord was wrapped around his neck, so there was a bunch of fluid in his lungs. He was not breathing well, so they immediately took him and started working on getting the gunk out of his lungs. We were all very worried, but after about an hour or so they got him in perfect working order. My placenta didn't want to come out, and my uterus didn't want to contract, so I had some pretty heavy bleeding. My IV had come out during the pushing, so they couldn't give me pitocin through an IV drip, so gave me a shot in the leg. I eventually stopped bleeding and ended up with 2 tiny tears and 2 stitches.
It was the hardest and most rewarding day of my life. I got the birth I wanted, all medication free and intervention free. Oliver is the sweetest baby I have ever seen and I feel lucky everyday that I get to be his Mom. I am so blessed that Kevin was so incredibly wonderful through the whole birth and was the best coach ever. I am 100% sure that I could not have done it without his support. He is the best husband and Daddy ever (we call him the baby whisperer, lol).
It has been a huge transition in our lives as we adjust to being parents, but we are getting the hang of it day by day.
But that is a whole other post that I will try to write in the next day or 2.
I think that we are going to try to get a lap top so that I can have easier access to the computer while I am at home with Oliver. So hopefully I can post much more often.
Oh, and day 16 post partum, I am down to 172, so down 24 pounds already!! Only 18 more pounds till I get back to my pre pregnancy weight. But I still want to be down to at least 140, so I have some work to do!! Breastfeeding sure does help get the weight off.