3 months old

I cannot believe 3 months is gone. I know I say this every week/month but seriously...it is flying by. And now that the holidays are here...these next few weeks will probably go even faster.

Updates on the babe...he's growing like crazy. He seems to get longer everyday! He's officially grown out of some of his 0-3 months clothes but still a little small for his 3-6 month size. So he may look like a rag-a-muffin for a few weeks. He's still eating about every 2-2.5 hours. I'm pumping at work and he's getting 3-3.5 oz at a time in the bottle. He's sleeping through the night about 12 hours (give or take some days). Nap time still needs some work. He doesn't usually nap for more than 30-40 minutes 2-3 times a day and so the evening is no fun for everyone. He cries because he's tired but we are trying to keep bedtime around the same time each night for the sake of our own sanity. But he's been going to sleep much easier (because he's exhausted). So we will work on nap time. Pumping is going pretty well. My supply seems fine (thankfully) and he seems to tolerate whatever I'm eating. Overall he's a healthy growing boy and that's all we can ask for!

So three months after giving birth I am feeling pretty much back to normal. I still have 8-9 pounds of baby weight to lose (and then another 10 infertility pounds after that!) But I haven't been too diligent about my diet and working out. I keep telling myself I'm going to, it lasts for a week and then I fall off the wagon. Sex still isn't too fun. I think mostly because I'm too tired to care. And I'm nervous about getting pregnant again (who'd have thought I'd ever be nervous about that!) Mentally I'm feeling good. I have bad days here and there but nothing to be worried about. I think it's been a pretty easy road so far but I don't want to jinx anything. It could turn around at any time. And I'm sure our next baby will not be this easy!!

We're headed to Dean's aunts house tomorrow for Thanksgiving. There will be 24 people there which is way too big for my taste. My family is small, we never had a big holiday dinner so it's quite overwhelming for me. My parents are going to a friends nearby so I may try to escape with Patrick for a little bit to go see them. Their friends haven't met him yet, so that will be fun. Better get back to my baking.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! We have so much to be thankful for in this house....

13 weeks old

Has it really been a week since I've posted? Where does the time go??? I used to get a lot of my playing done at work but now that I'm only there 4 hours a day I feel the need to actually work :)

Since tomorrow Patrick will be 3 months, I'll probably do most of the update then. But today he spent the morning with my mom. The first time he's been without one of us since we left the hospital. Sort of sad! But he did great with her. And she loved watching him. Not that she could or would want to watch him full time, but I'm glad she likes to do it for special occasions!

Work is still going ok. The drama will always be there, I guess I have to get over it. But I'm really enjoying only being there 4 hours a day. By the time I'm annoyed with the place it's time to go home!! I love it!

Three month update tomorrow.

12 weeks old

Again a day late, but none the less, our little guy is 12 weeks....closing in on 3 months! Our schedule and routine is still going well. I think we're all adapting. Patrick has been spending the mornings with daddy both at home and the golf course. He's been learning the ropes.

As you can see he's a champ in the seat. He is learning to sit in it longer and longer each day. He loves for me to sit with him and hold up his toys so he can inspect them. He still likes his play mat. He has found his voice and loves to 'sing' to his toys that hang. It's so funny to listen to him. He gets louder and louder....so cute. I'm sure in a few months I'll be regretting that but for now it's cute! He finds the tv so intriguing. If he's fussing, I will hold him so he can see it and he quiets right down. It's a little weird, but whatever works to clam a fussy baby. He's still eating about every 2 1/2-3 hours, which seems like a lot to me, but he sleeps about 12 hours at night, so he has to make up for that. And he is starting to grow out of his 0-3 month clothes:-( I'm not ready to pack them away yet!!! But it will happen soon!

He's growing so much and we are all learning more about each other every day. The last 12 weeks have been so fun. We can't imagine what our lives were like before!

Quiet Sunday

I'm not used to having 'weekdays' and 'weekends' after being off for 2 months! It didn't really matter what day it was. But I am quickly remembering how much I enjoyed a nice quiet Sunday! We even went out to breakfast this morning. Not quite as relaxing as I remember, but still nice!

So now I'm going to clean up a bit, enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate and scour the web for Christmas presents for my husband!

11 Weeks old

I missed the post yesterday but the little peanut is 11 weeks old! I've been back at work for a week now and everyday it is getting better. I think Patrick is now figuring out that the routine has changed a little too. He has been sleeping through the night for about a month now but woke up twice since I started back. He seems fussier in the morning now that he's with daddy. Everyone keeps saying he'll get used to it. I guess we all will.

He is tolerating tummy time better. And we're trying to remember to put him on his tummy more! He's turning his head better. He had a tendency to keep his head facing left. Would hardly ever turn it towards the right. But he has now even started sleeping with it facing right...yay! The doctor said we'd give it a few more months but if he didn't start doing it on his own, we'd have to go to PT. I'm glad he's doing it on his own. He seems more interested in toys. He doesn't seem interested in us reading to him at all. I think he's too young but I still try! And lastly, he's started growing out of some of his 0-3 months clothes. Not all of them yet, but a few are very close to being too short! Hard to believe he'll be 3 months old in 2 weeks. He's growing fast and we are falling more and more in love with him everyday!

300

Nope, not the movie...300 posts. I have been thinking about what this post should be about, what we've been through since I started this blog. It's been almost 2 years now of writing about my life and our journey to have a family. I can honestly say that all the negative things I wrote and thought are completely out of my mind now. I have a beautiful baby boy who brings joy to our lives and I can't imagine life any other way. The journey wasn't always fun or easy but it was worth it. Every tear, every penny, every thought....completely worth it. We are two of the happiest parents around. So I hope this post full of happiness, thankfulness and love will replace the ones full of negativity, pain and tears. Because everyday I spend with Patrick all those negative thoughts go further and further away.

Please tell me this gets easier??!!??

First Day Back

To work that is...not so fun. I had a very tough day yesterday just preparing for this. I really didn't want to leave Patrick. And I am not a huge fan of my job anyway which makes it that much harder! But it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm only working part time, and a half day actually goes by pretty quick. It's usually the afternoon that drags on anyway. There were just a few tears this morning before I left. But after that we were good. And Patrick isn't up before I leave anyway. I feel like that makes it easier. It would be so hard to leave if he were crying or needed me right then. So I hope he can continue to sleep til 8 or later!

I was worried about the crazies that I work with...I knew they'd pull something...I just didn't know what. The craziest of them didn't speak to me. Barely said hello, didn't say welcome back, didn't ask about Patrick or how we were doing. Ok, great. So I just went on with my business. I keep telling myself that I'm doing this for me...no one else. I'm done doing things to please other people. I'm doing things to please myself and my family. So I'm basically doing everything in my power to ignore her. I was also worried about pumping. We don't have a secluded place for such activities so I had to do it in the bathroom. Sort of gross but I'm not giving up nursing just because I have to go back to work. So I brought a chair in from home and there's a small table in there already. It was fairly boring, but went quickly and was uneventful. Thankfully no one asked me about it....yeah, the crazies are WAY too personal! And if anyone says anything about it, I'll just point out that it is my right to pump. I don't know how I would do it if I worked all day. I think it would be a lot more stressful and difficult. Kudos to those women out there who do!

So now I'm home with my happy, smiling baby (well, he's actually napping right now!). I couldn't be happier when I'm with him. I will have to remind myself of that everyday when the alarm goes off. And I am glad I started on Wednesday so the weekend is only 2 days away. And Thanksgiving is 3 weeks from tomorrow....YIKES! How'd we let that sneak up on us. But it's a short week and we'll be happy for that!

Now time for me to rest. Getting up early and being forced to think all morning is going to take some getting used to!

Baby's first Halloween

We aren't the type to really celebrate Halloween. We don't have very many neighbors so we don't get any trick or treaters. But I couldn't help but buy this little teddy bear outfit/sleeper for Patrick to wear. Since I knew we weren't going anywhere or having anyone over, I didn't buy an actual costume. Maybe next year. Anyway, here is the picture of the little guy. He wasn't quite sure what we were making him do!

I am heading back to work this week. I'm having a hard time with it. I keep thinking that if I didn't work for my family, I would probably be staying home with Patrick. And my mom is trying to make it seem better by telling me that I'll probably enjoy being out of the house. Not the case. I don't really mind being home. And I love being the one to go and get my baby when he wakes up in the morning. As it is now, I'll be gone long before he wakes up in the morning. I'm not big on prayer but I have been asking for the strength to do this. I think I honestly thought that when the time came, we'd figure something out. And I'd be staying home. But the time is here and that's not happening. Maybe for the next one....maybe. But for now, I'll just keep asking for the strength to get me through.