Six Month Tribute

Sleep: Slept in her rock and play in the guest room (with us). Woke up every 3/4 hours to eat at night. Napped anywhere and everywhere, loved sleeping on daddy's chest. Random awake time.

Eat: Breast fed every 2 hours and stayed on upwards of 45 minutes.

Stats: 21 inches tall, 8lbs 10oz, NB clothes, NB diapers

Sleep: Started not sleeping anywhere at anytime. Got on a schedule. One hour awake time, nap 4/5 times a day in her crib. Slept in pack and play in our room set a bedtime of about 8pm, slept for about 6 hours ate then woke up every 3 hours. Sometimes only woke up once a night to eat. Strongly preferred turning her head to the right side while she slept. For the most part was able to just be put down to go to sleep, didn't really like being swaddled.

Eat: Exclusively breast fed every two hours like clock work. Could go 5/6 hour stretch at night.

Play/Milestones: Started playing in her playmat every day. Could put her down and walk away to make breakfast nearby and she would happily play. Started smiling & could roll belly to back consistently. She loved looking up at the ceiling fans and could track someone with her eyes across the room.

Stats: 22 inches, 10lbs 6oz, 3M clothes, Size 1 diapers

Sleep: Napped 3 times a day for an hour. Awake for about 1/1.5 hour and maybe 2 hours at night before bed. Bed time moved up to 7pm maybe 730. Transitioned to sleeping in her crib at night. No longer ok with just being put down, needed to be  swaddled and bounced to go to sleep. Only used a binky at night to fall asleep, but would spit it out once she was asleep. Woke up one time in the middle of the night to eat at 4 am, back to sleep until 7/8am.

Eat: Exclusively breast fed, but struggling. When she would stay awake for one hour before needing a nap we followed a wake up, eat, play, sleep schedule. She eventually started being able to stay awake 1.5 hours before needing a nap and at first she was able to go 2.5 hours with out eating and we would continue that schedule. However she quickly realized she wasn't having that and started requiring to eat before she went down for a nap. This made my supply all kinds of weird, but we were hanging in there. She ALWAYS got a pumped bottle at night before bed due to my supply being low, but I could usually make up for that by feeding her on one side at 4am, and pumping 4oz on the other side. Occasionally she would still be hungry after a feed during a day and would get a pumped bottle during that time as well. Luckily I had a pretty big stash of breast milk in the freezer.

Play/Milestones: Still only played in her playmat, not a huge fan of the bumbo. Liked to watch daddy juggle balls in the air. Loves books especially "you are my cupcake" and "Dr Seuss ABCs"

Stats: Holding head up good, supported sitter, laughing, 

Sleep: Horrible. Started waking up earlier and earlier to eat (330, 3, 230) but could still make it until 7am for wake up. Hit sleep regression around 3.5 months, and the first couple days/week would wake up almost every hour. Eventually things calmed down but she needed to be fed 2 times a night instead of 1 (around 12 & 4). We would try to bounce/rock her back to sleep instead of feeding her at 12, but she would just cry until she got food. We tried everything to help her: swaddled, not swaddled, bounce, rocking chair, music, no music, sleep in crib or back to the pack and play. Eventually she started sleeping in later and later and went back to only waking up once a night at 4 to eat and go back down until 7 (no more 8am). Stopped being swaddled due to fighting it so hard she would wake up. Stilled napped about 3 times a day but could stay awake for 1.5 hours and maybe almost 3 hours at night. Now she started eating before napping instead of after she woke up because she just couldn't go that long without eating (found this out by struggling to get her to nap, she would extremely difficult to get down, and wouldn't sleep for very long. Once I started feeding her before her nap things got better.) Lots of changes this month.

Eat: Introduced formula due to her pretty much always being hungry after breast feeding with me, and started solids because she was just constantly hungry even with the extra formula. I also did this because she was not maintaining her 30% growth and that concerned me. My supply was pretty low and only got worse with the supplementing, but I still fed her off of me every two hour, and I still managed to only breast feed her during the two night feeds because I usually pumped at night, which I now couldn't do because she wouldn't spare the milk) Stage one single fruit/veg. Her first food was steamed sweet potato and breast milk mixed together in the blender.

Play/Milestones: I started letting her watch TV and she loved it only really wanted to watch sesame street, still loved her playmat, and started playing with bubbles in the evening when she would get fussy, still loved her books. Started to be able to sit unassisted for a couple of seconds. Moved up to size 3 diapers

Stats: 25 inches, 13lbs 2oz, size 3 diapers, 6m clothes 

Sleep: *thankfully* sleep returned to normal a little bit before 5 months, and was rewarded with better naps. Took 2/2hour naps (one at 9/10 and one at 3/4) and went to bed at 7pm slept til 4 (sometimes 430 pushing 5) and back down until more or less 7am. A few times she even slept through the night down at 7pm, fussed at around 9pm, went back to sleep and stayed asleep until 6/630am. It was amazing.

Eat: Still breast feeding but now only half the time. I managed to keep her over night feed (occasionally pumping a 4 oz bottle) and fed her in the morning and after her first nap. After that she would get formula after her second nap and before bed. Eats solid food twice: in the morning and at night usually an hour after her milk. Started eating combination foods.

Play/Milestones: Playmat, bubbles, books, sesame street. I introduced the bouncer to help her watch tv a little better. She doesn't mind being in it, and occasionally plays with the toys...but doesn't really care for bouncing I only keep her in it for one or two shows. Started to be able to pick up bigger toys on her own. Rolled over back to belly for the first time, and found her feet in a big way. She now is always touching her feet.

Sleep: Unfortunately we hit another regression toward the middle/end of 5 months into now. She started waking up earlier and earlier like before and then was awake every 2 hours for a little while until that evened out to waking up twice a night to eat. Two big differences from the 4M sleep regression is she would wake up earlier than what is normal (around 11pm, then 3, then want to wake up at 530/6) and she occasionally will wake up and STAY AWAKE for 1 to 2 hours instead of eating and going right back down. Another big sleep killer is she has started to roll back to belly more constantly and will literally roll over in her sleep and wake herself up because she is stuck and MAD about it. She became more difficult to put down until we realized that she wanted to be put down and sleep on her side instead of her back. We also introduced more consistently playing soft calming music while she is going to sleep and it has seemed to help. Naps have gone back to about an hour long 3 times a day, but she will rarely sneak in a 2 hour nap every once and a while.

Eat: This time I could not keep up with only breast feeding her at night when she wake waking up 2/3 times to eat. So we started giving her formula bottles at night and I did my best to pump which eventually lead to me loosing my overnight supply. For a while I was still able to breast feed her in the morning and that eventually dwindled down to every other morning and then nothing. I used up the rest of my freezer stash and now at 6.5 months she is no longer breast fed. Looking back I realize there are things I could have done differently, or shouldn't have been so worried about, but in the end I am proud to have made it to a little over 6 months of breast feeding. Also Aurora does not mind or notice one bit since it was a gradual change and she is a hungry hippo that will eat anything. Solid foods are given 3 times a day now. Sometimes eating 6oz bottles sometimes only 3/4 oz. LOVES solids, prefers it to the bottle. Can eat some finger food such as yogurt melts, mum mums, and an occasional green bean or pea. Not a huge fan of puffs. Loves chewing on the spoon, and shows interest in feeding herself. Eating meats.

Play/Milestones: Play mat is starting not to be as fun anymore now that she is a little more mobile. She doesn't want to just sit in it. Showing more interest in stuffed animals and loves picking up and chewing everything. Rolling and can now crawl/scoot backwards. While sitting she can pick up smaller toys on her own (and shove them right into her mouth). Loves mommy singing nursery rhymes. Plays with chunky blocks from puzzles. Getting more curious.

Stats: 26 inches, 16lbs 8.5oz, size 4 diapers, 9M clothes (BIG girl) shot up from 18% to 50%

Mommy and Daddy have loved watching you grow baby girl! We can't wait to see what the next six months will bring.

She's here!

Aurora Alice

Born on February 17, 2016 

2:52 am

6 pounds 9 Ounces

18.5 inches long

Birth story

On February 15 I went in for a normal appointment and started talking about the possibility of getting induced. I got checked and was excited to find out I have progressed to 3cm dilated on my own. All went according to plan so my husband and I decided to go grocery shopping afterwards. When we got the store and started walking around I felt a huge gush. I decided to go to the bathroom and check just in case it was my water breaking. When I got to the bathroom to check I found blood. LOTS of it. I knew bleeding was normal after a check, but this was way too much blood to be comfortable with. I called my OBGYN and they told me to head to labor and delivery. I had a feeling this was going to be it, but I tried to contain my emotions. When we arrived at L&D they too felt uncomfortable with how much I was *still* bleeding and decided to keep me over night for observations. They were concerned with possible placenta abruption, but believed it could only be a partial tear if anything. Problem was there is no test to confirm a partial abruption. After a day of observation, and slowed down bleeding my doctors were unsure about sending me home or inducing me. They couldn't induce me without a referral due to me being barely one day shy of 39 weeks. They explained to me that they could send me to maternal/fetal medicine and if high risk doctors deemed it necessary to induce me they could go ahead, if not they could send me home. After a lot of waiting and stressing my husband and I were very anxious about the whole thing. We felt like I was ok now, but really afraid that something could go wrong at any time. This made us scared of the possibility of going home. After consulting with the high risk doctors and getting another ultrasound everyone agreed it would be best to go ahead and induce me.

The induction started at around 6pm. I was told they would up my pitocin dosage every half hour until contractions started to pick up. I decided I wanted to try to labor naturally (as naturally as you can with artificial medicine in you) until I couldn't bare it anymore. By 10pm contractions still weren't really picking up with the pitocin dosage at a 14 (max is 20) so my doctor decided to break my water and see if things would get going. I was about 4cm dilated at that point. After my water broke the contractions came on strong and fast. I labored naturally for about three hours doing everything I could to get through the pain. I did NOT want to stay in that bed. I tried many different positions and made everyone nervous how much I was moving around. I was letting my body lead the way to get me through the pain. At around midnight my husband and I started discussing the possibility of an epidural. Although the contractions were painful, I was handling them fairly well...however my body was getting exhausted and I didn't know how much longer it was going to take to birth my baby. Doctors explained to me over and over again that first time moms can take a long time to birth their child. When I asked about an epidural I was told the wait was over 40 minutes long, so I decide it was a good idea to put my name on the wait list now before it got any longer. I needed some rest to be ready to push. I got my epidural around 1 am and got checked again. I progressed to 6cm dilated. Everyone started to settle in to get some rest thinking we were in for a long night. Aurora was moving around a lot and the heart rate monitor was having a tough time keeping track of her. They had me turn from my back to my left side to get a better reading. After a couple minutes the heart rate got lost again so they flipped me from my left side to my right side. Shortly after that I felt pressure, crazy amounts of pressure and pain. I freaked out and got scared thinking my epidural wasn't working and the contractions were back. I cried out for my husband to help and he paged the nurse. The nurse came in calmly and explained that everything was fine (I was just checked after all) and to try and calm down and work with the pain. She decided since I said there was a lot of pressure that she will check me just to reassure me. When she checked me she realized she was completely wrong because the baby was at a +5 station and ready to come out. She announced it was time to have a baby! Yet again I tried to contain my excitement because yet again I was told by the nurses that first time moms can typically push for hours, and yet again I proved them all wrong. We did one practice push to try it out, and the babies head was already coming out. The nurse told me to stop pushing and rushed to get my doctor. The doctor came in and with two more pushes Aurora Alice was born. I had one small tear that wasn't even considered to be first degree. Baby was happy, healthy, and perfect in every way. 

As for right now everything is going better than I ever could have imagined. We are home and baby is eating, sleeping, and pooping like a champ! I am healing up fast and daddy is over the moon in love.

38 weeks

How far along? 38 (measuring 39 weeks based on the growth scan)

Total weight gain/loss: 38 pounds 
Maternity clothes? Wearing anything that will fit
Stretch marks? All over the place ): Not much I can do.
Sleep: Hit and miss
Best moment this week: Getting checked and being told I'm 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I know in the long run I could stay like that and still have to be induced, but I'm excited to see my body doing it!

Worse moment this week: Sugars are all over the place but at this point there isn't enough time left to make proper medicine adjustments. I'm hoping for a smooth transition into post partum with the gestational diabetes.
Have you told family and friends: Everyone knows
Miss Anything? Eating whatever food I want.
Movement: There was a day where she really wasn't moving all that much and it freaked me out, luckily we had an NST the day after and she moved all over the place for that. Ever since then she's been moving more. Since it's the last couple weeks the movement has slowed down, but that is totally normal.

Food cravings: Ice cream, always.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Garlic
Gender: Girl 
Symptoms: Back pain, heartburn, headaches, swelling, lightning crotch, pressure, being hot allll the time etc.
Labor Signs: As I said I am 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. I have been getting a lot of contractions throughout the weeks, but they never seems to get stronger and more consistent. Just waiting for the day they do. I'm running out of time though, because I have to be induced before 40 weeks due to the GD.
Belly Button in or out? Still in 
Wedding rings on or off? All my jewelry are off and put away
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mix of both. Lots of emotions. The end of pregnancy is a huge mind game.
Looking forward to: Baby girl coming!

36 weeks

How far along? 36 weeks 3 days (measuring 37 weeks based on the growth scan)

Total weight gain/loss: 33 pounds 
Maternity clothes? Wearing anything that will fit
Stretch marks? All over the place ): Not much I can do.
Sleep: Lots of pregnancy insomnia this week. I'm not in horrible pain, and I'm still pretty comfortable...but for some reason my eyes just pop open at 3am every single night.
Best moment this week: Having two snow days with my hubby

Worse moment this week: My sugar crashed the other night due to my medicine being upped. It was a little traumatic to deal with. I started feeling really funny and felt my eyes almost glaze over and I got really confused. Hubby was concerned and suggested taking my sugar and sure enough it was 60. My doctor says it's ok to have a sugar crash every now and then as long as its not all the time....great! My dinner and lunch numbers can still be a bit wonky, but my fasting and breakfast numbers are steady.
Have you told family and friends: Everyone knows
Miss Anything? Feeling normal. This is my always.
Movement: Lots of movement and hiccups, so cute.

Food cravings: Really been wanting fruit and lemonade.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at all. Nausea has been good.
Gender: Girl 
Symptoms: Back pain, heartburn has been getting worse despite medicine, headaches coming back with a vengeance, swelling, etc
Labor Signs: Two nights ago I had a bloody show, so I called the doctor and they had me come in. I am 50% effaced and when they hooked me up to a NST I was having contractions 4 minutes apart (sometimes closer) for a minute long for over an hour!! This was very exciting to see, and they sent me to L&D to be monitored but sadly the contractions were not strong enough to make any kind of cervical change so I was sent home. It was a long day but full of excitement! Hubby and I got a taste of what the real deal would be like. I am still having contractions that are pretty consistent, but they are not very strong so I assume they are still not progressing me any.
Belly Button in or out? Still in 
Wedding rings on or off? All my jewelry are off and put away. It's just too uncomfortable to wear any of them. I'm not supposed to wear jewelry when I go into labor anyways, so it's probably better to store them properly at home.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! I'm getting way more excited then nervous to meet our baby girl
Looking forward to: Baby girl coming!

34 weeks

How far along? 34 weeks 2 days (measuring 35 weeks based on the growth scan)

Total weight gain/loss: 30 pounds 
Maternity clothes? Wearing anything that will fit
Stretch marks? Hips, breasts, thighs, but none on my tummy. Yep I'm not the typical blogger that has flawless skin through out.
Sleep: Still sleeping ok. I have bathroom trips and sometimes just pop up in the middle of the night, but when I am sleeping I'm sleeping hard.
Best moment this week: Growth scan of baby girl seeing that all is measuring well.

Worse moment this week: My sugars have been all over the place, started medicine and it hasn't gone that well. My diet is the same and it doesn't matter. Nothing I can do I supposed. A death in the family occurred and it has been rough on everyone. It's been a hard week.
Have you told family and friends: Everyone knows
Miss Anything? Feeling normal. This is my always.
Movement: Lots of movement and hiccups have started recently!!! So cute.

Food cravings: Still been dying for ice cream

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at all. Nausea has been good.
Gender: Girl 
Symptoms: Back pain, heartburn creeping up again, contractions on and off, headaches, swelling, etc yep I'm definitely pregnant.
Labor Signs: ^^
Belly Button in or out? Still in!! Crazy
Wedding rings on or off? Rings are off and I'm pretty bummed about it. I could try to put them back on everyday but my fingers swell and I don't want them to get stuck on. So I figured its better to just put them somewhere safe for now. I took my necklace off as well because I feel like I'm choking all the time. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Flip flopping.
Looking forward to: Baby girl coming!

32 weeks

How far along? 32 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: 28 pounds 
Maternity clothes? I'm mostly wearing maternity clothes, or just bigger sized pants and shirts that are loose fitting. Although the gold shirt I'm wearing here is a normal shirt I squeezed myself into lol
Stretch marks? They are definitely popping up all over the place, but still none on my stomach. None of them are really bad either, they aren't deep red or very big.
Sleep: I'm sleeping really good actually. Love my body pillow, worth every penny.
Best moment this week: Running around seeing family and enjoying the holidays. The nursery is just about finished, and we are setting up baby stuff all around the house. So exciting!!

Worse moment this week: Lots of ups and downs with my gestational diabetes diagnosis. Different doctors have different opinions on how to go about treating it. It sucks having to prick my finger 4 times a day (sometimes more when my glucometer is messing up) and feeling guilty about everything I eat even when it's healthy. It's hard balancing my gestational diabetes with my birthday, the holidays, and social gatherings when the only option is food I can't eat. I know it is all for a better cause though, and I'm handling it the best I can. My 2 hour after meals blood is always good, my fasting numbers are a little more tricky.
Have you told family and friends: Everyone knows
Miss Anything? Eating whatever I want without the guilt.
Movement: More and more movement. She is running out of space in there!

Food cravings: I've been realllllllly wanting a milkshake or ice cream but it's too much sugar ): But I do love my breakfast meats every morning.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at all. Nausea has been good.
Gender: Girl 
Symptoms: Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions on Christmas (it was a full moon), and recently I've been getting some actual contractions. Nothing serious or painful, just my body practicing I'm sure. Hip and back pain as always, and lots and lots of pressure down there.
Labor Signs: ^^
Belly Button in or out? Still getting more and more shallow. Not popped out yet, I wonder if it ever will?
Wedding rings on or off? Actually right now they are off due to my fingers swelling last night, but they are usually on.   
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!! Very excited to see January come and go
Looking forward to: Ultrasound on Tuesday for a growth scan, more and more doctors appointments, baby classes, nesting, etc. Things are getting more and more real!