2 month shot = Sad

The saddest moment in my experience of my son's life so far...his shots.

The two month appointment was great up until that point.
He is growing consistent with his curve: 15 percentile for weight and 50 percentile for height.

He is strong and healthy and then they mention the vaccines. Thuglet was going to receive eight different vaccines: one orally and three as injections.

The oral one he didn't really like but tolerated. Moment of truth time! I am a little queasy so I just looked at Thuglet's face and tried to distract him.

"A little pinch" the nurse said. He made a weird face and then BAMMMM...he broke down. I have never even heard him cry like that in his life. (yes, I know his life has been very short but still)

And of course, I started crying. I couldn't help it. He was so sad. They hit him twice in the left thigh and once in the right thigh. He was upset the whole time.

He was able to calm down in about 10 minutes and after some good nursing. The rest of the day he was sleepy or upset. I did purchase a Moby Wrap right after we left the appointment and that was a Godsend. The Moby allowed me to do skin-to-skin and he slept very well.

The Sweetness of Doing Nothing: Our Babymoon

This weekend was our first vacation as a family of three. Husby, Thuglet and I made our way up the coast to Solvang. 

Our goal: bond as a family of three and eat some aebleskivers (see below)

Thuglet did not like the car ride up. I spent the majority of the drive in the back seat trying to make him happy. How do you make a two month old strapped in a car seat happy? I am still uncertain. If you know... share, please!

The best part about traveling with Husby is our shared vacation philosophy: do nothing.

I really love traveling some place new, staying in a nice hotel room, and having nothing on the agenda. I want to just float through the days. Walking, eating, just hanging out.

That is just what we did! Thuglet helped a lot because he doesn't do much more than eat and sleep at this point.

The best part about the weekend was that Husby and Thuglet were able to bond with each other. Husby could spend uninterrupted time with the little man and work on his Thuglet-wrangling skills.

 We visited Ostrichland and fed some large birds. Those things are crazy. They look like dinosaurs.

The first day we watched Sideways and went to the Hitching Post 2 and had a good meal.

And on our way home we stopped by my tattoo artist's new studio. We dropped off a few shirts and introduced them to Thuglet.

Great time with my two boys!

Who knew I would care about poop so much?

Motherhood has been a very enlightening experience. It has its ups and downs and of course my priorities are different, but when did I start caring so much about poop?

What should I use to clean the poop?
What type of diapers should I use?
Did he poop too much?
Did he poop too little?
Is that what the poop is supposed to look/smell like?

Poop, poop, poop.... apparently birthing a child also rewires your brain to have intense concern for poop!

For example, G's poop was little runnier than normal. So being the extremely worrisome person I am, I freaked out. What if he has diarrhea, becomes dehydrated and dies? (Yes, these are the ridiculous thoughts that enter my brain now)

So I spend the next three hours on the phone calling the advice nurse and any other mother who will listen to me. Then I schedule an appointment for the next day. Of course G doesn't poop like that anymore. I go to the doctor to be told it was just something I ate and no worries. Good times!
Then to make sure to really stick it to me, G didn't poop for another 24 hours. And what did I do? Freak out again!...What if he has a blockage?
 However, this time I didn't call for an appointment. He has regulated his bowel movements since then, but don't you kid yourself I am still completely concerned with all of them.

About three weeks before G entered our life, Husby and I started to discuss cloth diapers. He was willing to consider it and so I conducted some research. There are a lot of different types of cloth diapers out there! It was overwhelming.
Trifolds, prefolds, all-in-ones, pocket...and the list goes on. Also, there are one-size fits all and different sizes for different ages.

Well, we went with a hybrid shell and insert, one-size fits all. The brand is called Softbums. The diapers consist of a one-size fits all shell that can be worn from 5 lbs to 35 lbs and pads that snap into the shells. The pads are removed and shells can be reused.
We didn't use any of the diapers until he was about a week old because we didn't want to worry about the meconium. Its creepy. So far the diapers are working out very well. We didn't order enough shells or pads to begin with but I have remedied that. There are few issues that I have come across since starting them.


1. Make sure you have at least four wetbags to store the used diapers till they are washed. (Easy to make)
2. Use tea tree oil to fight against yeast and bacteria. (Found it at Spouts)
3. Make sure to have at least 16 shells and 24 pads, so you are not doing laundry twice a day!

Also, the shells are so cute! Sometimes I even use them to create outfits. So fun!

A "Great" Birth Story

Wednesday, February 13th was my last day of work. I decided on the date because I was going to finish up with the chemistry section of the book and figured it would be a good transition point for the sub. Apparently, the baby liked my idea!

On Wednesday night I was thinking "lets get this baby out," so we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and I loaded on a lot of spicy salsa. I was hopping to get a little action but both husby and I were pretty tired. Went to bed around 9:30 thinking about Valentine's day and how I really had nothing planned.

Around 1:30am I woke up feeling a little wompty but nothing too crazy. I used the bathroom and then went back to bed. At 2:00 am I woke up again and this time I felt a little worse so I figured, instead of waking up Husby I would go out to the living room and suffer through my discomfort. At this point I was completely unaware that I would be having a baby in about 5 hours. By 2:30 I started feeling like the discomfort, which felt like mild menstrual cramps, was getting more consistent. I called the hospital reported my situation and was told to see where it led.

By 4:15, the cramps were very intense and occurring every 3 - 5 minutes. The only thing that made me feel better was pacing around the house. At 4:20, I woke up Husby and told him he probably shouldn't go to work because I think I am in labor. I also called Auntie Bree who was going to help coach me along during the labor and delivery. I let her know that it might be happening today. At 5:30, Husby called the hospital and they said to give them a call in a few hours. Most first time moms have a long drawn out labor so it wasn't imperative that I get to the hospital right away. Husby told me they said to wait another hour and I figured they knew what they were talking about.

For the next forty-five minutes I paced around the house and Husby started packing up the car. Since the baby wasn't due for another 9 days we hadn't taken care of a few details like the car seat installation of packing Husby's bad. At 6:15, I started feeling a new sensation - the need to push. I told Husby "get the car started we are going to the hospital." The car ride was the worst. I couldn't pace. I suffered through 7 or 8 contractions on the car ride over. After arriving we were put in a room so the midwife could check my progress. I could hear Auntie Bree waiting outside the room until they confirmed I was going to be admitted. At this point, I was so exhausted and was just hoping I was at 8 cm dialated. I had been planning on going au natural with this birth, but was worried if I wasn't past 8 cm that I couldn't handle anymore pain. My fears were unnecessary. The midwife did her check and exclaimed "there is no cervix; you are completed." Well, I had no idea what that meant so I asked "how many centimeters am I?" She said "10 cm!" Before I could process anything another contraction hit me and I needed to get out of the bed. I was told to sit in the wheel chair but I declined, asking to be shown the room so I could walk there. Walking was my only solace at this point.

It was 7:15 am when I laid down in the labor and delivery room bed. They were having a very difficult time finding his heart rate, which caused me incredible worry. I was told that I was going to need to start pushing with my next contraction. I didn't actually know what this meant. Apparently, the technique is to take a big deep breath and hold the push for 10 seconds. It would have been nice to be informed of this beforehand. After my second push, you could see his little head. I pushed about 6 more times before the midwife said she needed to cut me. Both Husby and I said "no." She replied back with "then push this baby out." I tried two more times but it wasn't working. She made the cut and after two pushes his head was out followed immediately by his body. He grunted a little and was placed on my chest. The whole experience was so surreal. It happened so fast and so efficiently that I still can't believe it. Besides the episiotomy, I had the most ideal birthing experience.

The end result was the most beautiful child I have ever laid eyes on: Great Prescott Sandoval. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19.5 in long. My best Valentine's Day present.

Pillows and Pregnancy

Still crafting and still pregnant. Now making a concerted effort to start blogging again.

Pillows:

I love making pillow cases and I cannot wait to make some for own bed. My mother-in-law bought me a super cute pillowcase kit. I have never made one before so I looked up a pattern on a very cool blog, http://patches.typepad.com/notes_from_the_patch/2010/07/tutorial-tuesday-24-pillowcases.html. This occurred at 5:00 am on a Saturday due to "a big baby in belly" insomnia.

As a crafter the pattern made no sense, but as I followed directions everything fell into place. It was so fun, easy and the finished product was professional looking. Husby was totally impressed with my skill and I learned how to do french seams. I am not one for branching out on new projects but I have realized that is a bad attitude. I loved completing this new project and the pillow looks so cute in the baby's room.

After I showed the pillowcase to Husby, he got that familiar gleam in his eye when he is plotting and planning on how to make more money. In the end, I was sent to fabric store and by the Sunday afternoon I had made 8 different pillowcases that can be customized and added to our Etsy site, http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoftAsABabysButt


Pregnancy:
At 8 1/4 months pregnant, I am ready to bring this little life in the world. It seems as though my childless time is slipping by so fast and I cannot get ready for him fast enough. So many things to do and I feel I don't know the half of it. At this point, I have had a fairly uneventful gestation. I have only gained 20 lbs and the little man is measuring at what is expected.

What have I enjoyed about this experience:

• Feeling his movements all the time. His little hiccups and squirming. He is not a kicker but he loves to squirm around. 
• The way you feel as though you are special because of this little life you are growing inside you.
• The body changes, but this one is double sided. I am amazed at how quickly my body has adapted. 
• Not shedding all the time. My hair doesn't fall out.
• Knowing he is half of me and half of husby. I cannot wait to see what this little guy looks like.
• Creating his nursery. It is so fun to make a new room and fill it with things you love for the child you love.

• Seeing your husband get more and more excited about the baby. And seeing it dawn on him how quickly the time is approaching. Watching him wheel the stroller/car seat around the house after he assembled it.

What I could do without:

• The heartburn! Oh my goodness, I have never had heartburn and I don't want to feel it again. 
• The gas. I don't not like the feeling of my abdomen filling up with air.
• The hip pains. In the last couple weeks, this boy has been spreading my pelvis and it is uncomfortable. 
• The lack of strength and stamina. I cannot keep up with much for long these days, which is a far cry from how it was before I was pregnant. 

Creating the Nursery Part 1

It has about three months since I did any blogging and that is mainly due to pure laziness. No way around it...this little boy in my belly is sucking out all my motivation. Or at least I blame him so I don't have to take responsibility.

Well, at this point I am six months and ready to create his nursery for him. It is probably the most exciting thing about this whole experience!!! (Yes, it is magical to create life but come on having the opportunity to make a new room...so fun!)

I am going with a yellow, gray, and white color scheme with accents of anything. The yellow was chosen because we already painted the room a very pale yellow. White is always fresh and classic and gray is pretty great too. So here is the first installment of baby boy's nursery creation.

My first step in the nursery was making the chevron wall. I love chevron!
I used a bright white to subtly contrast with the pale yellow and the stripes are slightly crooked and uneven.



I wanted to go for a whimsical and funky look rather then uniform. Painting was the logical first step because I am an extremely messy painter but the carpet was still present so I could go crazy.

We made this house our home about a year and a half ago. The master bedroom was remodeled and the flooring was done in about 80% of the house. The two extra bedrooms were left as storage/whatever rooms until now. The baby's room was the catch-all room, so I cleaned it out and we had wood floors put in. It looks so good!

At this point I have a desk that I need to sand, prime and paint; it will be the main dresser. I started the project but my sander broke so I am waiting for the new one to arrive. After the desk is put in, I will start hanging and organizing the ridiculousness that is the closet.

I have picked up a few little trinkets to hang in the room.

I found this at TJ Maxx for $20 and I love it. 

 A great friend of mine gave me all of these super cute accessories that I know will look adorable in his room.

 His GG (grandma) made him this quilt before he was even a growing babe. 

And last but not least...my babysteals.com find (SO STINKING CUTE).

15 Weeks and 2 Days

How far along? 15 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure...we'll see at the next appointment.

Maternity clothes? A little tiny belly that most people probably confuse for letting myself go, so still in the same clothes.

Stretch marks? Not yet, thank goodness.

Sleep: After week 13 I started sleeping much better and working out makes it a great nights sleep. Without the belly I'm still able to sleep on my stomach. 

Best moment this week: Feeling amazingly energetic and more like myself.

Movement: I should be able to feel the baby any day now.

Cravings: Mexican food

Gender: I will be finding out Oct. 6th at the baby shower.

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? Still in but other things on the body at starting to change and it is weird.

What I miss: Blue cheese dressing and hot dogs

What I am looking forward to: My baby shower and feeling the baby move

Weekly Wisdom: Reading the birth board is not exact good for a worrier like me. I just need to take it one day at a time and not stress.

Milestones: 2nd trimester is here and I'm feeling great.