The Third Prayer

Weight: 145

Baby Developments:  Sweet Pea is approximately 11 inches and nearly one pound.  Her lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct and she is developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums (her future of teething has begun!)

Pregnancy Signs: Sweet Pea is already a little attention getter.  I can already see it, when she is older she will be trying to steal our attention away from Mary Rene.  The last few days whenever Mary Rene is resting against my lap, Sweet Pea will start kicking right against Mary Rene!  It is almost if she is saying, “hey, my mommy stay back.”  In other news, I have some seriously sore nipples.  It could be because of the pregnancy or it could be that when Mary Rene was sick this week she wanted to nurse a lot, for a very long time, and I let her.  Maybe I out did myself.  Yesterday I felt horrible and I refused to let her nurse so I could rest.  I don’t know if this is the start of weaning or not.    After waking up from a two hour nap (I wasn’t feeling well and needed the rest,) Mary Rene was begging to nurse.  So I figured I would give it a shot to see if it felt better.  I decided to practice my labor breathing exercises and while she was nursing I did my exercises and pictured being on the beach with Frank.  It worked and it was pain-free.

Thoughts/Concerns: I don’t think I have mentioned this yet but Frank and I are considering having Sweet Pea at the new birthing center instead of the hospital.  If the rain holds back, we plan on talking to some representatives from the center today at the Earth Day celebrations in Forest Park.

I knew I loved her, that was obvious.  But I learned yesterday, and still today, how much that love really is.  Not counting minor ear infections and runny noses, Mary Rene developed her first sickness.  In 19 months we have been blessed with amazing health for our little sweet girl.  But yesterday we were hit with the stomach virus/flu/whatever.  My poor sweet girl spent the morning vomiting up her breakfast, pedialyte, water and whatever else was in that little tummy.  She was on the couch from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. when she finally fell asleep for the night. 

After going through three outfit changes for the both of us, I figured it would be smarter to just hold her against my chest, in my underwear and her in diaper.  Skin to skin, just like those first few days of life in the hospital.  We bundled under covers and I rubbed her back throughout the day and kissed her sweet cheeks.  She would wake up to get sick, cry a little and go back to sleep. 

My heart was breaking for my little angel and I felt helpless.  All I could do was hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay.  Whenever she got sick, I would be strong for her but as soon as she closed her eyes I could feel the tears falling from my eyes.  My precious angel wasn’t feeling good and it just broke me in two.  I wanted to take the sickness from her so bad and make it all better.  But I couldn’t.  All I could do was hold her, love her and give her what she needed…me.

By 6:30 p.m. she was starting to feel better and even got off the couch to dance a little.  But that little dancing made her get tired and she crashed on the couch.  We moved her to our bedroom and she slept until 6:45 a.m.  When she woke up she was ready to start her day and nurse.  And nurse and nurse.  We nursed for a good 45 minutes, seriously, and then I just couldn’t take it anymore.  She ate a little breakfast, drank some water and wanted more to eat.  But I was afraid she would over do it so I kept her distracted.  Two hours later, she wanted to cuddle and she started to moan.  The moaning brought back that familiar feeling from yesterday because every time she moaned she would get sick.  And sure enough, she did.

After getting sick she fell right asleep in my arms.  And that is where she is now.  I feel like my love for her increases daily but yesterday, it increased tenfold.  Being at home with a sick child really puts things into perspective.  You realize how connected you are to your baby when their pain becomes your pain.  She is 100% mine and that was made very clear yesterday as I watched her suffer, and I suffered too.

Weight: 145

Baby Developments:  Sweet Pea is growing like a carrot and is approximately the length of a carrot at 10.6 inches long.  (oh I’m corny.) Sweet Pea has eyebrows and eyelids now which are getting ready for her make-up days (many, many years away!)

Signs of Pregnancy:  Last night Frank was about to place his hand on my belly when he pointed out that “I had that line again.”  Sure enough, the Linea Nigra has returned.  I didn’t notice this until the 27th week with Mary Rene, but then again I’m about the same size now as I was at that point in my pregnancy!  (Although I weighed more than.)  So Frank put his hand on my belly and…felt Sweet Gianna Rose moving.  I think she had the hiccups because it was going on for awhile and I thought there would be a chance he could feel it now.  And he did-he felt his baby girl move for the first time.  Which is three weeks sooner then he did with Mary Rene.

Concerns/Thoughts: Starting to wonder how we are going to have a newborn baby sleeping in our room and Mary Rene.  I know a lot can change with our current sleeping situation by then but I honestly don’t see things changing.   

Last Wednesday, Mary Rene had her last Stroller Safari class at the St. Louis Zoo.  She had been the only girl in the class and every time we walked in the room she would get really shy and stay on my lap nearly the whole time.  She would pet the animals (only the furry ones or birds) but she pretty much stuck to herself…until the end of class. 

She would happily get up, do her little dance, and race towards her stroller.  For her, this is where the fun began.  We would walk a portion of the zoo while the instructor talked about the animals.  Mary Rene was in animal heaven.

On this last trip we got to go in the Children’s Zoo for free and she had fun once again with the goats.  She would walk up to a goat, give it one quick pet, and then walk to the next.  She kept going back and forth between two or three goats to give them one pet.

Next we stopped at the Zooimagation for a 45 minute class.  Mary Rene was very possessive of the playhouse and every time someone tried coming in with her she would shake her head, point her finger and say “no no no no.”  Girl has some territory issues.  She did have fun at the water stations and was very good about washing her hands when done.

We have been having a very hard time getting Mary Rene to nap since last Thursday.  On Friday and Saturday I was only able to get her to take 30 minute naps.  Sunday she had just fallen asleep when I stepped on a talking toy and woke her up.  Frustration!  But later that afternoon, around 2 p.m., I got her to take a two hour nap.  Yesterday she napped 15 minutes for my mom around her usual nap time.  Later that afternoon, around 3:30 p.m., I was able to get her to take a 2.5 hour nap.  So I’m starting to think that she wants to nap later in the day instead of early.  I’m not really sure though.  I wish she could just tell me!  She has already moved her bedtime back a good 45 minutes so maybe it is taking effect on her naps as well.

After wearing cloth diapers for 18 months, I finally decided to buy replacement parts for her 19 diapers.  For the last few months I have been having issues with the diapers staying fastened (if she is wearing pants or bloomers she is fine.)  When I wash the diapers, they would become one tangled mess.  The laundry tabs had worn out about six or more months ago so I wasn’t using those anymore.  I found myself getting angry every time I did wash and knew I needed to fix the issue soon before Sweet Pea got here.  The replacement parts, which cost $1 a diaper included new elastic for the back and sides, laundry tabs and velcro tabs.  (Info for you Jenny C-I can’t get on facebook!)  The velcro landing strip can’t be replaced and on most of my diapers those are really worn out.  So I have spent the last few nights, unsewing and resewing the new diapers.  What a task…but I must say, worth every minute of it.  The diapers are like brand new and are very, very secure again.  I wish I would have done this months ago!  They are like brand new diapers!  Love me some cloth!

In nursing news, Mary Rene still is.  My milk is supposed to be tasting different right around this time but so far Mary Rene hasn’t seemed to care.  That is, if there is any milk there.  She still falls asleep while nursing for nap and on a rare occasion she will fall asleep nursing at night.  So she is getting something out of it.  My right side is getting a bit more uncomfortable and I’m starting to do breathing exercises for the initial latch.  Which honestly is a good thing because it will help prepare me for labor!  I have had to change my nursing position a bit here and there to make room for my growing belly.  Sometimes when Mary Rene is resting against my belly when she nurses, Sweet Pea will start kicking her.  I’m sure Mary Rene can’t feel it yet because the movements are so light but I love to feel my girls interacting already.  I can’t wait until Mary Rene can feel the kicks; I’m sure it is going to make her laugh.

Our little angel is still being a ham for the camera and giving me her best smile

She cracks me up.  She knows she is being funny because she laughs after I am done taking the picture.

Last week Mary Rene decided to take a 10 minute nap in the car and not take a nap for the rest of the day.  She was very upset because of teething and I had to do everything in my power to make her happy.  We played dress-up and she decided to wear her Halloween costume.  She loves playing dress-up!  Then I made some homemade playdough (thanks Carrie!) and we had some fun cutting out shapes and squeezing the dough over and over again.

This activity lasted a long time and I was able to occupy her and keep her mind off those dreadful teeth.  I can see two teeth about to pop through and I wish they would do it soon.  Mary Rene has been drooling a lot and her nose was running.  That on top of pure crabbiness creates a not happy girl.

But back to dress-up.  Mary Rene likes to wear her birthday crown and sometimes makes me wear it around the house and sometimes Sophie B.

See that sock she is wearing?  Those are my fluffy socks that I wear around the house.  She decided she had to wear them and then she wanted me to take pictures of her.  So, she modeled my socks…

Here’s how the game goes.  She puts on a hat, socks or a dress and then starts modeling by either looking in the mirror or striking a pose.  Then I take a picture and tell her to stand somewhere else and pose.  She stands where I point and strikes a new pose.

See how she has that back leg bend in the left photo.  She knows how to work it!

She has so many different expressions that she cracks me up!

Mary Rene is still nursing, about three to four times a day, but has also increased her appetite.  Baby girl can eat!  Before her new appetite, when we took her out to dinner we would rush because she would want to leave.  But now, she has fun when we go out to eat.

Okay, I think it has more to do then just the food.  She gets free crayons and most places and sometimes a hat.  Going out can be an adventure when you look at it through the eyes of a child.

So much has happened since the last time I wrote a Mary Rene update that I’m afraid I will forget some important milestones and events!  But I’ll try my best.

Mary Rene turned 18 months (1.5 years) last Tuesday!  How time files.  She has grown up so much in the last six months that I can’t believe it.  I remember going to St. Ferdinand Park when she was about 12 or 13 months old and I had to help her up all the steps and go down the slides with her.  Now, she can walk up the steps by herself (some of the steps) and go down the slides alone!  It was so neat to watch her do it alone, although I was one step behind her the entire way, but it was also sad to see her being all independent and growing up.

Last time we went to West County Mall she couldn’t get up the steps on the slide without falling.  Now…

Sure the independence is sad, but then again, it makes for some lazy parenting!  Frank and I were able to sit and watch her play for an entire 45 minutes without helping her.  It was a very relaxing day at the mall.

I haven’t checked the internet to confirm if there is an 18 month growth spurt but I think she is going through one right now.  Her appetite has increased, although that could be due to my lack of milk production.  On St. Patrick’s Day, for the first time we ordered Mary Rene her own meal off the kid’s menu.  She ate both chicken strips (they were adult sized) and half of her fries!  Seriously that girl can put down some food.  Sunday at lunch, she ate two thin slices of pizza.  Okay, don’t worry, we feed her healthy food too.

On top of eating more, she is starting to outgrow some of her 18 month onesie.  She could still wear them with disposable diapers but the cloth diapers are so big that I can’t button a few of them anymore.

In the last two weeks, Mary Rene has added the following words to her vocabulary:

1. Clap
2. Bird
3. Puppy
4. Book
5. Eat
6. Out
7. Ball
8. Mary
9. Pray
10. Mine
11. Grandma (maw maw)
12. Water
13. Beads
14. Please

There are a few other words that she is saying but I can’t figure out what they are yet.  Also, she is starting to try and repeat after me.  If I say, ‘book’ then she tries to say ‘book.’  I’ll try four or five new words each day and she’ll try her best to say them. 

She is also starting to say two words together to form a sentence.  The first time she did it she grabbed a ball from my mom’s hands and said, “MY BALL.”  Well, little miss thing, take your ball.  But I’ll also give her some props here because she is saying, “More please,” when she wants another bite to eat.

Mary Rene really enjoys looking in the mirror and seeing how she is dressed.  If she likes the way she looks…

She’ll give herself a kiss.

She likes using the mirror to put on hats, ribbons and other hair accessories.

But sometimes she decides that the accessories look better on someone else.

We ran in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Run a couple weekends ago.

We got to mile three and Mary Rene decided she was done with the stroller.  So we decided to carry her.  That was one long mile.  When we got to mile four I decided to cut over two blocks to the place we were going to watch the parade with our friends.  Baby girl was crabby and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.  It was pretty darn cold outside but it turned out she was tired.  I sat on a cooler and rocked her in my arms and she fell asleep in minutes.

After her 30 minute snooze, she was ready to party again.

A few days later on St. Patrick’s Day, my parents joined us and we went to Dogtown to watch the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  It was gorgeous outside (what a difference a few days can make!) and we watched the parade at the very beginning near the zoo.

Mary Rene was having so much fun collecting all her beads.

All the kids around us were chanting, “BEADS BEADS BEADS” whenever someone in the parade walked by with a handful of beads.  Soon, Mary Rene was joining in and started chanting, “Beads Beads Beads” with them.  On the way home, she was still chanting her Bead song.  It was so cute.

As an early Easter present, my parents got Mary Rene her own table and chair set.

Mary Rene loves to color so I set up her coloring books and crayons and she went to work.  The top of the table comes off and underneath is a lego table top.

I let her play with these for a few minutes but decided to hide them until she gets a little older.  I’m still afraid she will try to eat them!  I’ll replace them with big legos instead. 

My friend Nicole C and I went to a consignment sale on Friday and I bought some early Easter gifts for Mary Rene.

How cool is that?  Her very own lawn chair!

She’s been having fun pushing around her baby doll, Bobby, a cat magnet and a piece of toy bacon in her new stroller.

She got some other toys as well and is in early Easter toy heaven.

Frank has been teaching Mary Rene new dance moves.  She already can bop her head to a beat, shake her legs, tap her feet and wiggle her arms.  Now when Frank says “shake your butt” she will squat and put her hands on her knees and move her butt a little.  When Frank says “spin in a circle” she will start spinning in a circle.  She loves spinning in a circle and doesn’t know how to stop.  When she finally does stop she is so dizzy that she keeps falling.  Sometimes she will start spinning even though there is no music playing and we have to make her stop so she doesn’t keep falling.  Baby girl is so darn funny sometimes!

When we tell Mary Rene to smile, she will either give us a cheesy smile and pose

or look something like this

oh!  She cracks me up!  What a little ham.

A new tooth popped through last week and two more are halfway through.  Interestingly, she hasn’t been entirely too crabby and no snotty nose.  This time we just know she is teething because she keeps chewing on her fingers.  And well, I stuck my finger in her mouth and saw them.

On Saturday we went to the pet store to get Sophie’s nails trimmed.  Let me first say that I really need to start scheduling these appointments so I stop falling behind.  Those nails grow so fast since I’m not running with her anymore and they are so freakin’ annoying on our hardwood floors.  I digress.  The point of this, Mary Rene had so much fun at the pet store.  First there were the birds, then the dogs, next cats and finally her favorite, fish.  She was in fish heaven with the hundreds of fish swimming around.  She kept pointing and “oohing” and “ooooo” as she went from tank to tank.  She melts our hearts with her simple, pure, innocent episodes of happiness over the smallest and most mundane things.  Wouldn’t life be great if we got that excited over trivial, daily items in our life?

We hit a huge, huge milestone yesterday: Mary Rene napped at my parent’s house.  When she was an infant, she would fall asleep anywhere.  But as baby girl grew, she got set in her ways and she would only nap at home, my mother-in-law’s house (that is who watches her the two days I work) and Piedmont (my parent’s property.)  The last time I was able to get her to take a nap at my parent’s house was the day of my sister’s bridal shower which was back in August.  Frank was in charge of Mary Rene and she wouldn’t take a nap for him.  So he drove her to my parent’s house in hopes that she would fall asleep in the car.  She didn’t.  I tried to get her to nap there and she wouldn’t.  So we continued to get ready for the shower.  People arrived, the shower started and Mary Rene was busy crawling from one person to another.  By the time the shower was ending, Mary Rene was well past her morning nap and it was time for her afternoon nap.  She was so exhausted that I was able to get her to take a nap.  Glorious.  But as you can see from the details, she was super exhausted and that might be the real reason she napped.  So honestly, the last time she took a nap at my parent’s house was probably…Christmas 2008.  Seriously.  So yesterday was a huge milestone.  When I went to pick her up, my parents mentioned that she was tired but they couldn’t get her to nap.  So I asked her if she wanted to take a nap and she walked right into “the nap” room and climbed on the bed.  I hanged her her blanket and she quickly tugged on my top.  At first it didn’t appear like she was going to fall asleep but after 10 minutes of nursing she closed her eyes.  But she has done that before.  So I waited another five minutes before I tried unlatching, and well, she wouldn’t let me.  I let another two minutes go by and she still won’t let me.  So while still latched on, I laid down on the bed, continued to nurse for a few more minutes and finally was able to unlatch.  Baby girl doesn’t want to let go sometime.  And…I was able to walk out of the room.  I went in the room where my parents were sitting, Mary Rene-less, and pounded my fist in the air and did a little dance.  I was one proud momma.  About 45-50 minutes into her naps, my dad went to check on her and she woke up.  He is a worry wart!  But the good news is that she napped, regardless of the amount of time.

Okay, that sounded like a huge ordeal, but, I have hope.  If I continue to do this every week then eventually she will associate “the nap” room with naps and maybe nap for my parents too!

My dad had so much fun playing with Mary Rene all day yesterday.  He enjoyed feeding her breakfast and lunch.  She liked it too because he plays the “airplane” feeding game and it was cracking her up.

You may wonder, what else does she do over there?  She currently is teaching the cats to sit.

Okay, maybe teach is the wrong word.  She forces the cats to sit.

She explores every room in the house, and there are a lot of rooms, and she seems to find something new to play with each time.  Yesterday she found my grandma’s scary life size dolls which have always been in the computer room.

Isn’t Mark scary?  Well, Mary Rene didn’t seem to mind.

Mark wears size 2T clothes, bigger then Mary Rene, but Mary Rene sure was showing him who was boss.

Mary Rene has added two new words to her list.  She likes to stand on the window ledge and jump in my arms and before she jumps she says, “WEEEEE!”  So cute.  Frank’s mom has been trying to teach her to say “Happy Birthday” because it is on one of her Barney videos.  Right now Mary Rene says, “hap” for Happy.  So close!  Baby girl is one smart little cookie.

As the old saying goes, you get wiser with age.  And well, you get wiser with the second kid.  I’ve learned a lot since Mary Rene’s pregnancy by watching my friends raise their babies and well, by watching myself stumble and fall here and there.  I think Frank and I have done a fantastic job of raising Mary Rene and I wouldn’t take anything back.  She is who she is because of how we raised her and I love every little ounce of her.  But with Sweet Pea, there are some things I want to do differently and below is a list I have started compiling.  I’m sure once I publish this I will think of more, but I have been working on this post for a few weeks now and want it out of my “draft” folder!  So if I think of more, I’ll just write another post.  On the same token, there are a lot of things I will do the same. 

Feel free to add your thoughts and what you would do different the next time around.  I would love to see what everyone else has to say! 

Labor

• Wait to go to the hospital until I am in more pain or until the contractions are five minutes apart

I think I jumped the gun on this on.  We were excited, nervous, not really knowing what to expect.  Honestly, I felt pretty good and wanted to stay home longer.  But Frank and his mom both thought we should go to the hospital, so we did.  We got there at 7 p.m. and waited, and waited, and waited.  It wasn’t until early the next morning that I had the opportunity to push.  I think I could have easily stayed at home for another few hours.  That would have given Frank and myself some alone time, to work through the contractions together and really experience the birthing process.  The hospital setting just got in the way.

• Don’t get an IV

Or at least try not to get it right away.  I didn’t know that you had the option not to get it.  An IV makes you retain water which isn’t really a good thing.  Drinking water is much easier and then you can still move around freely.  Plus it took them four attempts to get the IV inserted and that was just painful.

• Walk the hospital and don’t get strapped to the bed

This goes along with waiting to go to the hospital.  We got there at 7 p.m. and by 7:35-7:45 p.m. I was laying in the bed with an IV and the baby monitor strapped to my belly.  Laying down is not cool and makes your contractions worse.  I took the child birth classes for a reason!

• Don’t let them break my water to speed up labor

That was just plain ridiculous.  If I can hold off and wait to go to the hospital, and hold off on the IV, and hold off getting strapped to the bed, then maybe I can hold off here too.  Getting my water broken made my contractions 10 times worse and well…the nurses gave me the nickname “Puddles.”

• Try for drug free

If I wait to go to the hospital, don’t get the IV right away, don’t get strapped to the bed right away, don’t get my water broken, then I can work through more contractions which would make it slightly easier to have a drug free delivery.  I was doing fine without the epidural until they broke my water.  That was just some quick, no nonsense pain that I didn’t think I could handle.  And the anesthesiologist was just waiting outside the room with his needle.  Plus, Mary Rene was so sleepy from the epidural that nursing in the beginning was tough.  On top of that, we had to pay the anesthesiologist for his services and for the drug.  I think that ended up costing us $400-500 towards our deductible.

• Have Frank take pictures from the side where you can see Sweet Pea’s face!

I am very happy that Frank got some pictures at all but all of the “first” pictures don’t show Mary Rene’s face.  You can only see the back of her head, my face and the nurse. 

• Have Frank get a picture of Sweet Pea’s first meal!

I didn’t get a picture of Mary Rene nursing until she was about six months old!  And honestly, that is the only picture I still have to this day.  Nursing has been such a huge part of our lives together and I want to remember these precious moments.  Including that first meal.  Some of my friends got pictures of that first meal and they are so precious.  I don’t think there is anything more amazing then a newborn baby, just minutes old, suckling on his/her momma’s breast.  That is why God gave women breast in the first place.

The Hospital Stay

• Hold my baby more

I feel like the only time I held Mary Rene was when I nursed her.  There was either someone visiting or we had her in the bassinet.  I want to cuddle more while I can because when I get home, I’ll have two kids to take care of and I know my cuddle time will be limited.

• Get out of bed more

I only got out of bed to go to the bathroom and change clothes.  I was in the mindset that I was on a mini-vacation.  Basically I paid the price when I got home because recovery was rough.  (Recovery was actually worse then labor and delivery.)  When I finished running a marathon, I never sat down at the finish line.  I would walk around, stretch out a bit and make sure to walk a lot the next day.  Same should go for labor and delivery.

• Walk down to the nursery

Heck I didn’t even leave my room with Mary Rene.  When we went to sleep at night we would send Mary Rene to the nursery so we could get some rest.  Frank walked down there every night to check on her and he would come back and talk about her in the swing and he wanted me to come see.  I was being lazy. 

• Sleep more

Well this is obvious.  When I get home I won’t be able to send Sweet Pea to the nursery for the night.  Plus I’ll have two kids to take care of so I need to sleep while in the hospital.

• Limit visitors

I’m going to sound like a complete scrooge here but I really need to be firm on this.  I was so happy to share Mary Rene with the world that both of our entire families and all of our friends came to visit at the hospital.  It was an exciting time and we loved the company.  But I didn’t realize how exhausting that would be.  Throughout the day, there are different hospital staff members (your doctor, your nurse, baby’s nurse, baby’s doctor, dietitian, lactation consultant, house keeping, insurance person, lunch lady, Eucharist Minister, baby photographer, etc.) in your room nearly every hour between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.  I seriously am not kidding here.  There is little alone time or rest time with all the medical stuff you need to do.  Add that on top of a constant stream of visitors and you are overwhelmed.  Plus as a new mother I was afraid to nurse in front of anyone so every time we had a visitor I wouldn’t try.  Which meant I had to learn to nurse when I was at home, alone, and that was so stressful.  Sure this time I am more confident and really don’t care if I nurse in front of my family and friends.  But the extra rest and alone time would be nice.  Plus once you get home, you really need the help.  So a visit from a family member or friend means so much more when you are in the comfort of your own home.  And not wearing a hospital gown! 

• Understand all the paperwork I am signing

Point blank.  I don’t even know what I signed most of the time but I just signed it to get it over with because I wanted to keep the line of people moving that were in my room (see above comment.)  But this time I am going to be more cautious about what I sign and be 100% confident in my signature and approval.

• Try to get an earlier release

Is it really necessary to stay two nights?  I don’t think it is if you and the baby are doing really good.  I had some blood clot issues the first day with Mary Rene but they were gone by the second day.  If I would have asked, maybe we could have been released and I could have spent the second night in my own bed.  Plus, I can’t bear to think of being away from Mary Rene that many nights in a row.

• Since I am paying for it, take two of the booger snot sucker outer things

You can’t buy one that even comes close to pulling out snot like the hospital brand!  No joke!

Nursing

• Be comfortable nursing in public, anywhere and everywhere

There were so many times that I would hide in a bathroom, a dressing room or even go in a separate room when at family functions.  I need to represent nursing mothers and not be ashamed.  The only way to properly educate others on the importance of breastfeeding is to do it. 

• Don’t use a nursing cover

It draws way too much attention.  You pretty much have a huge billboard over you that says: NURSING BABY HERE!!!!!  I found that just wrapping a blanket around Mary Rene worked much better than the cover.  But honestly, I think I learned to be more discreet nursing in public when I just did it without any type of cover.  There were many times that I would be nursing Mary Rene and my brother would come in the room and start talking to me.  If he knew what I was doing he wouldn’t have been in the room with me.  I was so discreet about it that he thought she was sleeping. 

• Learn to nurse laying down sooner

I think Mary Rene was about six weeks old before I even attempted to try this.  That meant the first six weeks I would sit all the way up in bed, every two hours to nurse for 20-30 minutes to nurse.  Basically, I was wide awake and had a hard time getting back to bed.

• Don’t watch the clock so much in the beginning

Just nurse until Sweet Pea is done.  No need to switch every 15 minutes like they tell you to do in the hospital.  When I stopped watching the clock with Mary Rene, she started getting the hind milk which is the best part.  Baby girl put on some weight quick!

• Master nursing on one side and holding an empty bottle on the other side to catch let down

I’m a leaker, a serious leaker and I don’t think that will change with the second baby.  Double letdown baby.  I had to wear nursing pads until Mary Rene was 11 months!  No kidding.  Instead of pumping milk to get ready for my return to work I want to try and catch the milk from the other breast into a bottle.  I had a couple friends that were able to do this and it cut down on their pump time.  In addition, there is no good reason to have a wet, soaky pad of milk when it is good milk that can be used at a later date.

• Avoid red sauce!

I heard all the warnings about green vegetables and spicy food before pregnancy and stayed away from those foods.  But nobody warned me about red sauce and that was a huge, huge disturbance to Mary Rene’s belly.  We were so lucky to receive so many cooked meals from friends the first two or three weeks.  The only problem was that most of them contained red sauce and Mary Rene was crabby and didn’t sleep much those first few weeks.  Now I realize it was the red sauce.  I will definitely limit my red sauce intake until Sweet Pea is a few months older so I can keep that belly comfortable.  And well, that way momma can sleep more.

Baby Wearing

• Do it more

I wore my Moby Wrap a lot but not as much as I could have worn it.  I am currently sewing a ring sling so I will have two different slings to wear.  I think if I keep Sweet Pea in the sling for a good portion of the day, nursing and napping, then I’ll have more time to be hands on with Mary Rene. 

• Learn to nurse in my sling

I can already picture myself sitting on the couch for 30 minutes, every two to three hours, while Mary Rene roams around the house.  It would be nice to be able to go in the backyard and walk around while Sweet Pea nursed.  Or go grocery shopping and let Sweet Pea nurse while I do some shopping.  Time saver and oh so convenient.

Sleeping

• Always, always, put Sweet Pea back in the co-sleeper when I am done nursing

Always, always do this.  It was a bad habit I started with Mary Rene.  Main reason she is still in our bed.  I love co-sleeping but wish I would have kept her in the co-sleeper which would have defined her special place to sleep.

• At three or four months, start sleep training

Put the baby to bed when he/she is awake.  We didn’t do this with Mary Rene and well, we didn’t get to this point until she was 15 months.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the way we have raised Mary Rene, but the many, many nights of rocking a 23 pound baby were exhausting.  Plus, it is hard for other people to get her to sleep.  We need more options with Sweet Pea.  I hate the thought of sleep training but I know I need to work on it sooner with Sweet Pea.  Mary Rene was only able to fall asleep being nursed or rocked for the first 15 months.  Convincing her to sleep on her own was hard, not only for her but for us.  It would be nice to have Sweet Pea learn how to go to sleep on his/her own at an earlier age.

• Try to get Sweet Pea to nap on his/her own when he/she is three to five months old.

I still have to nurse Mary Rene to nap everyday.  It addition, Mary Rene doesn’t nap for Frank or my parents.  Frank’s mom has to rock her to nap still.  It would be nice for Sweet Pea to nap for everyone, regardless of the situation and where he/she is at that given time.

• All naps in crib

I got in the bad habit of letting Mary Rene nap on the couch.  Now, she naps in our bed.  Which actually is great because she takes longer naps in our bed because she is so comfortable there (pillow top mattress!)  But I want to make sure Sweet Pea naps in his/her crib so when he/she is placed in the crib so a connection is made that it is nap time.

• Around three to four months, take turns with Frank on who helps put Sweet Pea to sleep

For the first year, it was primarily my job to put Mary Rene to bed because she would only nurse to sleep.  When she wouldn’t fall asleep nursing then I would rock.  If I got tired and tried handing her off to Frank she would scream bloody murder.  Which just made it easier for me to do the job.  Sweet Pea needs to learn to fall asleep for anyone, not just mommy that way I can catch a break.

• Have a place for Sweet Pea to nap at my parent’s house

Mary Rene really didn’t have a place to nap and to this day, I still can’t get her to nap there.  If Sweet Pea has a place to sleep from the beginning then it will be easier to start the napping process.

 Vaccinations

• Don’t get Sweet Pea the Hepatitis B shot at birth

Which goes back to “Understand all the paperwork I am signing.”  I see no reason at all for my child to get a vaccine the day he/she is born.  Especially since I don’t have Hepatitis B.

• Be firm in my decision and don’t let anyone talk me out of the choices I am making for my child

Be firm, really firm.  I’ve spent way too much time researching vaccines to let someone push me around.  There are reasons that I am going to do what I want to do and I need to stay firm with whomever stands against me.

• Delay vaccinations

I wish I would have done this with Mary Rene but I didn’t know what I know now.  I just can’t understand why all those vaccines are needed in such a short amount of time.  I believe vaccines are important but they need to be spaced out.  Plus, Sweet Pea will not, under any circumstance, be getting any vaccine with tissues from an aborted baby.

Leaving the House

• Get outside more in the beginning

Even if it is just in the backyard or a walk around the block.  Fresh air is good for Mary Rene, Sweet Pea and me.  All parties win.  That is why I have a sling.

• Go to my parent’s house more often 

I didn’t do this in the beginning with Mary Rene and she had extreme separation anxiety.  For the longest time, she didn’t want to be alone over there.  It was hard for me to watch and hard for my parents to deal with too.

• Let my parents watch Sweet Pea more than I let them watch Mary Rene

Again, she had separation anxiety with them and I felt horrible for her and my parents when they were alone together.  I want Sweet Pea to feel more comfortable around my parents so they can be alone with him/her more often.

What I want to do the same

No pacifiers

Waiting to start solids until at least seven months

Breastfeed

Cloth diapers

Co-Sleep

Wow.  That was a mouth full.  Did you fall along?  Now tell me what you would do different the second, or third or fourth, time around.

Happy Fat Tuesday!  Our church cancelled their Fat Tuesday celebration so we plan on over indulging on junk food and booze at our house.  Bring on the beads!

Our little angel is 17 months today!  I can’t say this enough but time sure does fly!  In one month she will be a year and half!  Oh I just can’t believe it.  I want to invent that magic pill to make her stop growing already.  I love to hold and kiss her all day long.  These days are numbered so I am going to do it as much as I can while I can!

Mary Rene has been snorting like a pig when she laughs, trait she picked up from me, so I’ve been able to transfer her snort laugh to a pig noise.  Now when she snorts, I say, “what does a pig say?”  And she’ll snort again.  Now she isn’t snorting when she laughs anymore but only doing it when she makes her pig noise.  And this is what her face looks like when she makes the pig noise.

My brilliant friend Jamie (thanks Jamie!!!) gave me a suggestion for our crazy bedroom situation.  As a quick reminder on how much Mary Rene’s sleeping arrangements have changed since she has turned one:

She slept on her mattress on the floor but ended up waking up every night crying to come in our room.

We bought her a toddler bed but were too afraid she would fall out in the middle of the night since she rolls so much so she only naps in there.

For the past two months we have had a twin size mattress on the floor next to our bed.  The plan was for Mary Rene to sleep there so she would be close enough to us.  But Frank didn’t want Mary Rene on the floor so he has been sleeping there and she has been sleeping with me.

But now, we have a new arrangement and I must say it is not chaotic as the picture above.  Our room actually looks clean!

We put the twin mattress back downstairs and wheeled Mary Rene’s crib in our room.  We adjusted the height so it was the same level as our bed, which is still off the frame.  We put this together Sunday and Mary Rene was having so much fun playing in “her bed.” 

Genius!  Thanks Jamie!  Mary Rene was having so much fun playing in her crib.  She kept bringing all her covers and stuffed animals and playing in there like it was some big toy.  Sunday night when we tried to get her to sleep in her crib she refused.  So we let her fall asleep in our bed and a few hours later when we went to sleep we moved her over to her crib.  Somewhere in the middle of the night she found her way back in our bed and was snuggled against my knee caps.  Monday night she fell asleep in our bed and when we went to bed we moved her over again.  Within minutes she crawled back over to snuggle with me.  Frank and I were laughing so hard and nearly woke her up.  It was so darn adorable.  I let her snuggle with me but in the middle of the night I woke up and noticed she was back in her crib.  I woke up a few hours later and felt her snuggled in my arms again.  So she can’t decide where she wants to go yet but at least she has options.  The best part is both nights she just moved over herself without waking up crying or screaming for help.  So this is absolutely the most peaceful situation thus far.  We plan on keeping the arrangements like this until June.  Come June we need to start getting ready for Sweet Pea.

Sunday night we got snow so I thought it would be best if Mary Rene spent the day inside on Monday.  Even though Frank was a sweet angel and cleaned off my car and the walkway, we played it safe and stayed in.  Which makes for a very long day when you are cooped up in a matchbox all day.  So I made sure to only have my work email open, all other browsers closed, and we played all day.  What did we do? 

That was only fun for a bit so I decided to pull out the washable paint.  Mary Rene didn’t get the concept at first but after away she caught on. 

But then she decided to paint her hands instead.

And realized that the paintbrush was just an extra step in the process so she used her fingers instead.

But why paint your hands when you can paint your clothes?

And your face.

And your legs.

Yeah, that got a little mess.

Baby girl is still nursing away and I’m still able to get her to fall asleep for her nap.  She has dropped a random nursing session and is averaging only three times a day: morning, nap and night.  I heard my milk is going to start changing soon, second trimester, so I’m not sure what will happen then.  I plan on taking it day by day.

We had a play date with my friend Emily and her two adorable daughters, Ella and Beatrice, my amazing Goddaughter.  That’s Beatrice playing in the background and Ella giving Mary Rene a good hug.  I must say, those girls are so adorable and sweet and we had fun playing with them.  Mary Rene was being a good little girl and sharing her necklace and toys with Ella.  She also liked pointing at Beatrice and didn’t mind at all when I held her!

But what did she learn while over there?  That big girls hold their own bananas!  It was snack time while we were there and I pulled out Mary Rene’s banana and would give her a bite here and there.  Ella asked for her banana and Emily handed it to her and Ella ate away.  At the time I didn’t notice but Mary Rene must have been watching her really close.  The next day, and everyday since, Mary Rene has insisted on holding her banana all by herself.

She is growing up right before my eyes!  She thinks she is something else as she walks around holding her own banana and taking bite after bite.  I guess she was a little jealous of Ella and wanted to be like her.  So cute.

I have learned that Mary Rene likes when I play with her hair.  She has been waking up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain from those darn teeth, and many times I am able to soothe her by running my hands through her hair.  She calms down pretty quick and slowly closes her eyes again as I stroke her head.  Sometimes during the day she will run her hands through her hair and then come in my lap.  I take that as my cue to start playing with her hair.  Such a girlie girl.

Our Parents as Teacher educator was over for a visit on Saturday.  Mary Rene is starting to get familiar with her and is always ready to see what is in her bag! Our educator was having Mary Rene imitate her as she cut up fruit and vegetables with a plastic knife and fed the baby doll avocado.  Mary Rene was having fun and picked up on the game really quick.  After awhile though she decided to take all the toys and scatter them like crazy throughout the house.  Mary Rene enjoys these visits and at one point went and sat in her lap so she could read her a book.  When she was about go leave, Mary Rene went up to her, grabbed her face and kissed her!  Besides spontaneously kissing Frank and me, she has never done that to someone.  I was so taken back by it but realized it was because Mary Rene really enjoys these visits and having “her friend” come over to play.

Mary Rene added “yum yum” to her list and I think it is because of our PAT visit.  They were playing make believe and feeding the baby doll and our PAT kept saying “yum yum.”  Later that day when I was feeding Mary Rene lunch she said “yum yum.”  So cute!

Nursing…still going strong.

I wasn’t feeling good all weekend and we decided to stay home for the Superbowl instead of going to a party.  I made some homemade chips and Frank ran up to the local bar and got us hot wings and mini tacos.  So we snacked just like we would have at a party but it was only the three of us.  Mary Rene started pointing at my wing so I put it towards her, she opened her mouth and I gave her a bite.  Instead she licked the sauce and quickly pushed it away, started crying and was pushing her tongue in and out of her mouth.  She kept crying and was touching her tongue with her finger.  Frank and I couldn’t help but laugh as we watched her reaction to the hot sauce.  I took the lid off her sippy cup and let her drink some water.  She didn’t want to stop drinking and we just kept laughing.  It was the best laugh we both have had in awhile, even though it was at our daughter’s expense.  Did she learn her lesson?  No.  A few minutes later she did the more sign as she pointed to my wing!  This time I took the hot sauce and skin off and let her have a bite of the chicken.  I’m so glad I was feeling well because we had such a good time hanging out as a family.  Plus, the bonus laughter was great!