Premiere 5K and Pancakes

What's with the random title? I was going to do two different posts, but I just thought I'd save time by combining them, so bare with me.

Over the past two months or so, I've been trying to get more physically fit for various reasons. One being that my family has a history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes and I know that staying healthy can hopefully prevent all or some of these.

The other is because I want to be a healthy weight before I start trying to have another baby. I know it seems fatalistic to do all of this work and then gain 40lbs during my next pregnancy. However, I figure if I do it now I'll only have to lose 10lbs instead of 30 - 40lbs.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of things got get fit. I've been doing Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred" workout DVD for 4 mornings a week (it helps that Colin is willing to be a workout partner), I'm also doing a Jillian's "Yoga Meltdown" DVD in the afternoons and running/elliptical at least 3 days a week. On top of all of that I've cut my calorie intake and tried to cut back on processed foods using a meal plan through www.jillianmichaels.com . It's actually been really fun to try new and healthy recipes. Here's one of my favorite ones so far because they taste so good and they are really filling without a lot of calories:


FYI: I made a double batch of these and put them in the freezer because they reheat very well.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup(s) flour, whole-wheat
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup(s) cottage cheese, fat free
2/3 cup(s) milk, lowfat (1%) (I used skim)
2 large egg(s)
1 tablespoon honey (I added about 1/2 tbsp more)

Preparation

In a large bowl, stir together flour and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cottage cheese, milk, eggs, and honey. Stir wet ingredients into dry ones.
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium. Working in batches, drop pancake mixture by 1/4 cupfuls into pan. Cook until bottoms are set and tops have small bubbles, about 1 minute. Turn pancakes and cook until just firm in the center, 1 to 3 minutes more. Repeat. Serve with fresh strawberries, blueberries and/or bananas (add an additional 91 calories).

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 10 mins

Nutrition Facts
Number of Servings: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 193
Total Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 110 mg
Sodium: 221 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 26 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 15 g

All of the workouts and calorie cutting has really paid off. So far I've lost 12lbs, in a little over 2 months. I have about 5 more pounds to go to reach my goal weight. Hopefully just in time for swimsuit weather! ;)

Before I began doing the "30 Day Shred" DVD a friend of mine and I were doing the "Couch to 5K" challenge. I wanted to continue doing that too, but I really cut back on my running. So, when I entered for a 5K this weekend I didn't really know what to expect.

The 5K was in Huasna Valley and was GORGEOUS! It was a fundraiser run for a girl named Holly Navolt (they called it Hike for Holly and you'll soon find out why), she's an 18 year old girl who has severe Cystic Fibrosis and needed a lung transplant. The plan was that I would run and Colin would walk the 5K with the boys in the stroller. We had heard that that the route was pretty flat except on section that had a pretty steep incline. WRONG!



When we got there you couldn't tell where the 5K trail was because of the surrounding forests. It wasn't until the actual run that I found out that it was more of a hike than a run. There were several steep hills that had rocks, sticks, deep holes (from cattle and possibly ground hogs), mud, etc. They weren't just little hills, they were hills that were hard to walk up AND down let alone run. If I would have known I would have taken a camera with me to prove it to you.



Needless to say Colin couldn't make it up the first hill (which was the most mild of them all) with the stroller and Jackson was devastated that he couldn't "run" with his mommy. However, the trail looped back near the starting line a little less than half way through, so Jackson did get to cheer me on then. It was SO adorable to hear his little voice yelling, "Go Mommy, go!"



There was a straight away at the end of the race where the boys met up with me and Jackson could "finish" the race with me in the end. He was very proud of himself. Although I added about 5 minutes to the 3 mile time I ran earlier in the week, I'm still VERY proud of my 35:59 finish time.



Even though they couldn't participate in the run, the morning was still really fun for the boys. The event planners really did a great job. They had a bounce house, a band, a BBQ and a mini petting zoo. The boys had a great time ... we all did.

However, I'd have to say that the best and worst part of the morning was when Jackson had a melt down as we were leaving because he dropped his uneaten banana on the ground and his balloon animal popped out of it's shape. He yelled through angry tears, "now I won't have anything special from the race!" It was probably one of the worst public tantrums he's ever had. It was also a REALLY good opportunity for me to remind him of the reason why we were doing the race to begin with. We talked about Holly and her sickness and how she needed new lungs because hers were broken ... it was a good reminder for the both of us that we shouldn't be so focused on ourselves.

Eleven Months Old

Here's what's going on in Micah's life at 11 months old:

He's still nursing 4 times a day (every four hours) and sleeping 11 - 12 hours at night time.

Sometimes he'll wake up around 6:30 and talk to himself and play until 7:15 or 7:30 when I give him his first feeding.

He's tried just about every type of food except milk/cheese (he has had cottage cheese and yogurt), nuts and honey. Although I'm debating about whether or not I want to start weaning Micah this month. Four weeks before Jackson's first birthday I dropped one nursing a week and replaced it with a sippy cup of whole milk and it seemed to work out well.

Although Micah has mastered self feeding with cheerios and the like we still spoon feed him quite a bit. In the past couple of weeks I've even pureed some of our families left overs (smoothies and pulled apple-chicken sandwiches) and put them into ice cube trays for Micah (FYI: I've found it helps to spray the ice cube trays with cooking spray before I put the pureed food in them so I can get them out easier after they freeze.)

Micah takes two naps. Usually one is 1 1/2 hours and the other nap is 2 hours. However, a couple of weeks ago he was struggling off and on with his naps.

All in about one weeks span he popped 3 new teeth, learned how to crawl, sit up on his own and pull himself up and he had a cold. All of that combined was interrupting his sleep cycles at nap times (and a few nights too).

After trying everything I could think of I finally swaddled him, put him in his crib and put my hand near his face until he fell asleep. I've only had to do it a couple of times when he was too tired (usually when he's been standing crying in his crib not knowing how to sit down again). Once he gets a full nap, he wakes up happy and gets himself out of the swaddle by the time I come in to get him.

He needs a little more time to wind down before he goes down for a nap or for bed. He loves to cuddle for a few minutes before I put him in his crib and I LOVE it when he grabs my face and gives me a big-slobbery-open-mouth kiss two or three times in a row.

Micah's also been jabbering and communicating more. He definitely knows what he wants when he wants it and we are working on changing whining into words through sign language and simple words.

Micah can say and sign "All done." Although it sounds more like "Ah duh." He has yet to clearly sign or say "please" (although he sometimes signs "please" on his leg). Some of that may be due to pure stubbornness on his part. Just this week he started saying "uh oh" sounding more like "uh uh."

Micah lights up when Colin comes home from work. Colin will play with Micah for a few minutes and then go upstairs to change out of his work clothes, which is when Micah starts yelling "DA?! DADA!?" over and over again until Colin says, "yes?"

He mimics Jackson in his intonations and even some rough pronunciations and it is SO ADORABLE!!

He definitely has a grasp of when we say "no" to him and has received a few swats for disobeying, but overall if we say "no" he's obedient.

His favorite toys to play with would have to be anything we'd prefer he not play with (cell phones, remote controls, cords, books, toys with small parts, etc.). He's gotten MUCH better at not putting toys in his mouth though and we've been more lenient with what "big kid toys" he can play with now.

We have made a few drawers and cupboards that he can play in (DVD drawer, sock drawer and Tupperware drawer) and he stays pretty content with those.

He's in a "go go go" stage right now and would walk holding on to our fingers all day if we let him. He's so eager to be running along side his big brother and that day is just around the corner.

That about sums it up. I'll leave you with these pictures. If you have any clever captions you'd put for each picture I'd love to hear them!! ...oh by the way ... that's a leaf in his hand.







edited 10/2/09: my cycle this month was 38 days

10 Months Old

I can't believe Micah is 10 months old tomorrow. I don't know why 10 months seems so old to me ... maybe it's the whole double digit thing. Anyway, here's what he's up to lately:




Yup, he's started to "crawl" (more like creep like a cute little inch worm) just this week. He is SO adorable when he does this. As soon as I can figure out how to upload video from my camera to the Internet I'll have to post a video of him creeping across the floor.

Here's his typical routine:

6:30am - Wakes up and talks to himself. Sometimes he'll go back to sleep and sometimes he'll play until I feed him.

7:30am - Nurse. I've found that he nurses much better when I keep the lights off so that he's not distracted by anything (that's also why I nurse him BEFORE Jackson wakes up).

8:00am - Breakfast, usually it's applesauce (or some sort of fruit) mixed with oatmeal (he eats both infant oatmeal and regular oatmeal now).

9:30am - Nap. He still wears a sleep sack for nap time, but doesn't use a pacifier or anything else to put himself to sleep. I usually turn out the lights and turn on the humidifier (for white noise) and cuddle/pray with him for a few seconds and then lay him down while he's still awake and leave. Sometimes he'll talk or fuss a little before he goes to sleep, but most of the time he'll fall right to sleep.

11:30am - Nurse.

12:00pm - Lunch. Usually a vegetable, a fruit, grain and some sort of protein (that can be meat, fish, eggs, beans or dairy (he's had yogurt and cottage cheese so far, but they both make him a little gassy, so I have to give him gas drops afterwards)). I've still been making some pureed baby food, but I'm definitely using the baby food grinder more often and feeding him foods that the family is eating. He also gets a cup with a straw with about 1/8 or so cup of water.

1:30pm - Nap. Usually one of his naps is 2 hours and the other is 1 1/2 hours.

3:30pm - Nurse.

5:00pm - Snack (usually cheerios while I'm fixing him supper).

5:30pm - Supper. Same type of food as lunch (although I may not do a protein). Micah has a hard time making it all the way to 6pm when the rest of us eat and if he does it's hard for me to eat while feeding him, so I tend to feed him a little bit earlier on some days.

7:30pm - Bible Story. Micah LOVES Bible story time. More than any other book we have this is the book that he whines to look at and touch every time we pull it out.

7:45pm - Nurse. I do my best not to nurse him to sleep. Obviously there are some days that that is unavoidable. Most days though it's important that he stays awake enough to at least burp ... other wise I'm up with him a couple hours later when he cries because he's gassy.

NOTE: Micah still will NOT take a bottle! So, we've decided that when Colin or a babysitter has to put him to bed we just mix about 2oz of breast milk in cereal and put 2oz of breast milk into a cup with a straw and feed it to him in his high chair before bed. It seems to be working so far since he hasn't woken up in the night when we do it that way.

Micah LOVES his brother and often mimics him in his play (screams and growls, etc.). As soon as I let him he'll play cars with Jackson ALL DAY, I just know it.

Micah has started to show an understanding of the word "No!" and I now feel comfortable that he knows when he is doing something I've asked him not to ... I say "no" and he gives me "that look" and does it anyway ... you moms know what I'm talking about right?

Discipline is just around the corner and I have swatted his hands a couple of times when he's endangering himself (pulling on cords, etc.). I'm thankful for the tender heart he has when I do (he usually cries (Jackson doesn't like that)), rather than a determined defiance ... I'm praying that sticks.

He still moans and whines a lot when he wants something, but he is getting more consistent with signing "please" (although it's on his leg instead of on his chest). We're working on it.

Jackson is getting a glimpse of a brother who will soon be able to wrestle with him and he's pretty excited about it, but I have to pull back the reigns every once in awhile when Jackson is a little too rough. Those two boys are going to be such good buddies I can tell already by the way each of them light up when the other one is in the room.

Well, I think that's all for now until I hit "Publish Post" and think of a million other things I wanted to blog about. It's the same when I leave the doctor's office too ... I think of a million and one questions after I leave. Ah well.


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FEMININE INFORMATION BELOW DO NOT READ OF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW
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My cycle was 41 days this month with a spike in temp on day 35, but I was not able to take my tempurature on several days because of getting up with Micah early in the morning when he was sick, so this month's predicted ovulation date may be wrong.

Completely Random But Fun

Just some randomness... enjoy.




"Ask and ye shall receive." I mentioned to our neighbors that I was thinking about getting Jackson a trampoline because he's had SOOOOO much energy lately and they pulled theirs out of the back of the closet for us to use! How cool is that!!!




Colin had his company picnic last weekend and Jackson got his face painted like a monkey. I was surprised he sat for it. This is his best serious monkey impression.





It looks like Jackson chopped off some of my hair in the front... nope... it's just finally growing back in after falling out... ah motherhood.




I didn't really have anything randomly new about Micah, but I thought I'd include this fun picture.

9 Month Check Up

My Progress: (skip this if you don't care about the feminine stuff) I started my cycle this month.

Micah's 9 month stats:

20lbs 14oz (48%)
29" (75%)
47cm HC (95%)

Micah sits up without assistance and rolls as a means of getting to where he wants to go (hence the 48% for weight). He has yet to crawl, but definitely shows an interest in it, but gets easily frustrated when he tries to. He can also clap too and would clap for several minutes at a time in his crib after he woke up when he first learned that skill.

He also has begun to master his pincer fingers and can pick up cheerios and other finger foods and feed himself. He's had the following foods so far: Yams, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, chicken, black beans, salmon, beef, ground turkey, avocado, applesauce, papaya, banana, blueberries, peaches, apricots, tomatoes, oatmeal, rice, cheerios, watermelon and I'm sure there's more that I just can't remember. (I plan on trying egg yokes and yogurt some time in the next few weeks too, since I've gotten the go ahead from the pediatrician).

He's just starting to sign "please," but instead of rubbing his chest he'll frantically grab at his bib or pant leg. Overall his communication is whining when he wants something ... I'm looking forward to the next couple of months when HOPEFULLY he'll learn how to sign a few words. He's jabbering consonant sounds now like: dada, baba, adah (no mama yet).

He LOVES books, but mostly the mechanics of how the pages feel, turn and taste ... we're working on not putting everything in his mouth, but he's definitely in the oral stage right now. He's got two bottom teeth and I'm expecting the top two to pop through any time now.

His favorite thing to do is go for walks in the stroller. He also loves to be with his big brother. I will often find him mimicking Jackson at the dinner table or when they are playing together ... it's SO adorable.

Micah takes two naps during the day for about 2 hours each, but on Sundays he takes a shorter morning nap and then a longer afternoon nap because of church. I still put him in a sleep sack for naps and night time and he likes to suck on the collar (I hope that's not a bad habit that I'm letting happen there). He sleeps great at night (12 hours) even when he stayed at a different house without mom and dad for a couple of days.

While we were traveling without the boys I was able to see how much milk Micah drinks based on how much I pumped. He drinks about 10oz in the morning, then 6oz around lunch, 4oz after his afternoon nap and 4oz at bedtime for a total of 24oz a day.

His stranger anxiety has waned a little, but I think he's starting a little separation anxiety now too because he'll usually tolerate strangers as long as I'm right next to him. However, once he warms up to a person he does great. I was really glad that he got to spend some time with his Grandma Deb this weekend.

One year is just around the corner ... I'll blink and he'll be going off to college. I'm doing my best to every second!

7 months

My Recovery

If you don't want to read about all of the female stuff that comes with having children, skip to the section titled Micah.

Micah will reach the 7 month mark on the 25th and I still have not started my cycle. I'm not complaining by any means, but I remember starting sooner with Jackson. However, I did start Jackson on solid foods a little bit earlier than I did Micah.

My libido is still pretty low, but I remember that with Jackson too. I don't think that it really became normal again until I was done nursing.

My hair loss seems to be slowing down finally too! (SIGH) It started to REALLY fall out when Micah was around 4 months old. I seriously thought I was going to go bald, but now it's slowing down and I desperately need a haircut.

I've been working out about twice a week doing 30 minutes of aerobics and 30 minutes of anaerobic. I'll also be starting a community class next week (Belly Dancing for Moms ... we'll see I guess). My pre-pregnancy clothes fit, but I'd have to say that the pants (particularly the jeans) are still not very comfortable to wear. Maybe I've just gotten used to loose fitting clothes?

Micah

We've spent a lot of time tweaking Micah's schedule over the past month and here's what it is now ... we'll see how long it stays this way, but we are definitely in a groove (BUT we are traveling this weekend, so we'll see what happens):

7:15am nurse
7:45am solids
9:15am nap
11:15am nurse
12:00pm solids
1:15pm nap
3:15pm nurse
5:15pm nap
6:00pm solids
7:15pm nurse and bedtime

I know it goes against Babywise to have a gap between nursing and solids, but my logic is that I want Micah's solid food intake to align with when we eat meals as a family and starting Micah's day at 8am has been difficult with the days I need to take Colin to work in the morning. We'll see if that bites me in the butt later on.

So far Micah's had rice and oatmeal cereal, acorn squash, sweet potato, yam, avocado and peas (all of which I've successfully made on my own). He's been eating about half a tea cup full or about 4 cubes of food at each feeding (less at breakfast because he drinks a lot more milk for that feeding).

It felt like nap times were hit and miss this month. There were times when I felt like we were doing great and then other days I'd be so frustrated because he'd wake up 30 minutes to an hour into his nap crying and the only way I could get him to go back to sleep was by putting him in the swing. (I have to remember that he had a TERRIBLE ... make that TWO TERRIBLE colds in a row this month).

However, this week has been much better. I'm also pleased that I haven't had to give him his pacifier much unless he's over tired. I think that's been the key for Micah ... getting him down for a nap BEFORE he gets fussy. For right now that's been about 2 hours after he wakes up from a nap.

He has been taking three naps a day, two of which are about 2 hours long and one that is about an hour long. BUT the past couple of days he's been waking up in the middle of the night (1 or 2am) wide awake (at least he's happy) for about a half an hour. He puts himself back to sleep, but then he wakes up for the day around 6:30am. SO, we decided to cut his third nap down to 30 minutes rather than a full hour. So far that seems to be working, but this is only the second night we've tried that.

Micah's sitting up and rolling over consistently. He loves sitting in his exer-saucer and under his play gym. However, his favorite activity is going on walks in the Joovy Caboose stroller we just got off of craigslist (Jackson loves the new stroller too). Micah's favorite toys right now are teething rings because I'm pretty sure he's starting to teeth.

He also started babbling a lot more in the past couple of weeks. His first babbles were "bah-vah" which sort of sounds like "brother" (of course Jackson just ate that up). It's possible that his newly discovered babbling, teething and a growth spurt may also be factors in him waking in the middle of the night.

Stranger anxiety also kicked in this month. I was surprised to see that he was fine at church last week when we were all sitting down, but as soon as the service was over and everyone was walking around he lost it. I'm also surprised that he tends to cry when young girls or young women look at him rather than men. We had a babysitter about a week ago and I guess he cried almost the whole time. BUT he took the bottle just fine! YAY!

Jackson

Jackson continues to surprise me everyday with how much he is growing up. He's taken the initiative several times now to go potty by himself. He has been playing by himself VERY well lately too, which makes it easier for me to get things done when Micah is napping.

Lately Jackson has really picked up on the concepts of phonics and it's been fun to watch him explore words and make up his own words. It's a bummer though that he's also developed motion sickness, so books in the car are no longer an option.

Jackson loves his little brother and prides himself in being a loving big brother. I couldn't have asked God for anything better than that!

Weeks 19 & 20

Not much to report these two weeks. I've been starting to work out about two times a week for about 30 minutes of cardio and 15 - 20 mins of weight lifting, but have noticed that I need to start watching what I'm eating ... yeah I'm beginning to wonder if I'm gaining weight. I'm trying not to worry about it, but just change my lifestyle a little.

I gave Micah rice cereal at the end of week 19 because he was waking up an hour or two earlier in the mornings. The cereal helped a little, but I think it made him a little constipated. I stopped feeding the cereal to him and he was still sleeping fine. I took some stool softener to get him to poop a little more comfortably at the end of week 20 and he is doing much better. I think I'll hold off on the cereal for a couple more weeks. I wonder if my milk supply was down a little and that's why he was waking up so I pumped a little extra during week 19 and increased my fluid intake as well and things seem like they're back to normal. Micah is also taking a bottle regularly from Colin on Monday nights. YEAH! The medium flow Nuby Naturals with really warm milk is what he seems to prefer.

I'm in the process of looking for some very simple and flexible curriculum to start with Jackson. He's been in Sunday school for the past three weeks and has started a Bible verse/ Catechism memory chart. I'm impressed with how quickly he is picking up on the verses and questions. I'm even more impressed that he takes time to ask what the verses or answers mean. Anyway, he REALLY likes Mommy and Jackson time and it's obvious that he can handle a little more structured learning now, so if any of you have any suggestions for curriculum for a two year old your input would be greatly appreciated.

Week 17: A Quick One

This week was so similar to last week that I almost didn't blog it, but there are a few notes to myself that I need to make.

My progress: I ran out of my DHA supplement that my midwives suggested I take during my pregnancy and while nursing. It enhances your memory and mood. Not to mention that it's chalk full of Omega-3s which is also good for your heart as well. I did see a change in my mood this week so I quickly ordered a refill.

Micah: I finally got Micah to take a full bottle this week. I tried one bottle a day for about three or four days this week. He takes it best while I'm walking around with him. I also switched from the Evenflo bottles to the drop-in Playtex bottles. He seems to be taking the fast latex natural latch nipple well, but I'm hoping to switch him to the silicone as soon as he'll take it because I guess the more he's exposed to latex the higher risk he has of developing an allergy to latex. Anyway, I think we will continue to try and give him one bottle a week at bedtime so that he's okay with taking an occasional bottle from a babysitter.

Jackson: we have "Mommy and Jackson Time" at 10:30 almost every morning now. I'm a little bored of playing "cars" so I found a great website called Toddler Toddler that has some fun ideas for things to do with Jackson during that time. This week we made our own puzzles out of scrap pictures, we visited a virtual circus (on YouTube) and made his bedroom into a library (he had his own library card and everything). We had a couple of sunny days this week too, so being outside helped too! I'd love to hear other mom's ideas on how to entertain a toddler without just turning on a video (which is very appropriate and tempting at times, but I TRY to make it my last resort).

Week 15

Whenever I write these notes to myself I try and think about what I would want to be reminded of when I am in the same or similar boat with another baby (if God chooses to bless us with another one). So, please forgive my randomness, but I do have a rhyme and reason to my writings.

My Recovery: I STILL don't fit back into my normal clothes. I'm fighting the bulge around my belly, sides and back. I have started to work out about two days a week on the elliptical trainer for about 30 - 45 mins and doing a little bit of weight lifting too. My appetite is still large, but I'm not craving sweets as much as I used to when I was getting up for feedings in the middle of the night. Oh yeah and I'm losing my hair like CRAZY too! Most days Colin takes the car and we stay home so cabin fever is a problem sometimes. However, I'm not sure we'd go anywhere anyway since Micah is still trying to work through getting his naps established and consistent. Colin has been gracious enough to let me have a Starbucks night to myself every Monday night after the kids go to bed. I've been able to work on my play during that time and it has made me feel like I'm more than just a mom. Not that being just a mom is bad ... I'm sure you moms understand. Anyway, it's been SO nice to have Micah sleeping through the night! I have not needed a nap for the past couple of days and have been able to get some things done while both of the boys are asleep in the afternoon. The only downfall about not having the car and having a child that naps a lot is that I'm finding grocery shopping and meal planning a bit difficult. I'm hoping to work on that in the up coming weeks.

Micah's Progress: After the bronchiolitis cleared up Micah began to sleep through the night 12 hours. There were about two or three nights when he was waking up out of habit between 11pm and 12am and then again at 3am -4am. I let him cry through the first round knowing that he was not hungry and then fed him at 4am until he was not longer taking a full feeding at 7am (his normal first feeding of the day) at which point I knew he could make it 12 hours between feedings. I think I've been a little too flexible with his daytime schedule though going between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 and sometimes even 4 hour feedings and that may have thrown off his nap schedule. He was back to sleeping between 45 min to an hour max and waking up crying. I decided at the end of the week to put him on a strict 3 hour schedule. The goal is to get him to have an hour and a half of wake time and then an hour and a half nap. That would mean he'd have four naps in a day and five feedings. Yesterday was a disaster, but today has been promising. I also started swaddling him again for naps in case he just needed that little extra snuggle to get him through the transitions in his sleep cycles. We'll see how next week goes.

Jackson's Progress: Jackson came down with a terrible cold this week and there were a couple of nights I spent the night on his bedroom floor so that when he woke up from a coughing fit I could give him a sip of water (the only thing that would sooth his cough). We had to encourage him not to love on Micah too much, but that's SO hard for him and for me ... I want him to be able to love on his brother, but I just wish that didn't involve sharing germs. I'm not certain if Jackson had the same cold as Micah. Jackson had a fever for two days with his cold and Micah did not. I'm hoping that either way we are in the clear and at the end of these terrible colds. I've also found this week that I need to schedule some one on one time with Jackson. We were able to do this Thursday morning and then in the afternoon Jackson took it VERY well when I told him that I needed to get some things done around the house and that he needed to have play time by himself for a little bit. I'm looking forward to the days when the boys will entertain each other, but I also know that means my role will change from playmate to mediator. :)

Weeks 6, 7 & 8

My Recovery: I'm EXHAUSTED!!! Micah has had a couple of nights where he's gone only three hours between feedings and I have come down with a cold. I'm still having some bathroom issues, mostly because it's been hard for me to remember to keep drinking lots of water. But, I had my six week check up with the midwives and everything looks good.

I'm in a very frustrating in between size right now with my clothes. I kind of feel like I need to go out and by a whole new wardrobe and then mark the tags "in between maternity and normal size" ... hmmm ... I could start a whole new fashion line and call it .... Matormal! :)

Micah: he's been doing really well at night (with the exception of one or two nights) and has even done some 7 hour stints between feedings (BUT they start at 6:45pm, so I'm not feeling the benefits in my sleep yet).

HOWEVER, nap times have been BEASTS!!!!!! I finally cleared out over half of our walk in closet and stuck his bed in there to see if the darkness would help him sleep longer. It did ...well ... sort of. After some VERY frustrating nap times this week that went something like this: good awake time from 7:30am - 8:30am and then lay in his bed from 8:30am to about 8:45 or 9am, sleep from 9am -9:30am (at least he can put himself to sleep) and wake up screaming at 9:30am. Then cry off and on until 10:30am when it's time to eat, but he's so exhausted that he falls asleep feeding and then doesn't eat enough ... yaddy, yaddy, yaddy ... starting the whole cycle all over again. I gave up cheese earlier this week because Micah was fussy during feedings. He'd nurse well for five minutes and then cry through the rest of the feeding and have tons of gas. Cutting cheese helped a little bit, but he was still having a hard time at nap times, so I finally broke down and got some anti-gas medicine last night and so far it seems to be working, I'm sure it'll take a little bit for him to break the habit of waking up in between sleep cycles.

Other than that he's doing great! Micah has been smiling and cooing more this last week and we've been enjoying it so much! It's so fun to see his personality start to develop.

Jackson: has really grown up over the last couple of weeks. He has even learned the skill of taking off and putting on his pants and underpants all by himself so that he can go to the bathroom with little help. He's getting much better at playing by himself and practicing delayed gratification ... although I must say that my midwife's advice, "Tend to the toddler first" has been very useful. As long as he has his needs met first (of course there are exceptions) he's alright with my attention going towards Micah.

Jackson has acquired some new phrases that I love, like, "Whose talkin' back there?" "Are you talkin' Micah?" "It's okay Micah, Mommy's got you."

He is such a loving brother and VERY anxious to be able to interact more with Micah as he gets older, but all in all Jackson is proud of the fact that he's the big brother and takes care of his mommy and Micah.

Week 5

Week 5: My sisters were here for Thanksgiving!

My Recovery: I LOVED being able to get out of the house WITHOUT kids and have some sister time. My sisters and I went out to eat one night and then we had a photo shoot with Jill another night (I'll post some pictures). It was SO much fun to goof around with them! I spotted all week with light bleeding and even had several days at the end of the week with no bleeding at all, but it's still not done yet.

I STILL need those naps and when I don't get them night time feedings are a bear!! On Saturday I worked out for the first time in a LONG time (I walked for about 30mins and lifted weights). It felt good, but I still have to pace myself.

I still have bathroom "issues," but I don't want to increase my stool softeners because they affect Micah's diapers. I just have to be patient and drink LOTS of water and eat lots of fiber filled foods.

Micah: GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

He's doing well at night (usually averaging between 4 and 5 hours between feedings). During the day he's eating about every 2 1/2 to 3 1/2hours. HOWEVER, daytime naps are really sporadic and unpredictable in length. I thought we were doing so well with the eat/awake/sleep cycles, but this week he has seemed to really regress. He'll skip a sleep cycle (crying off and on throughout the whole thing UNLESS I hold him the whole time) and then when I feed him he falls asleep because he's so tired and then he won't get a full feeding because he's so tired and sometimes as a result he won't make it 3 hours betwen feedings!!! He cannot put himself to sleep yet!! I've let him cry it out a couple of times,(about 10 mins - usually after 9 mins he calms down by himself for about 5 min and then starts to cry again) but it hasn't broken the cycle yet. ARGH!!! I know I just need to be patient, but it's really hard to give this the attention that it needs when I have a two-year-old demanding my attention as well.

Micah had his one month check up this week as well. He weighed 11lbs and is in the 85% for weight, 80% for height and 50% for his head. The doctor looked at his circumcision and said that the swelling I see is normal and should go away on its own. He got a follow up Hep B shot (which he handled very well) and the doctor reassured me that there shouldn't be any major differences in the immunizations he'll get here compared to what he would in Omaha (peace of mind for me).

Jackson: He had a great week with his Aunts. We made cookies, we went to the library, etc. Monday was a rough day for Jackson, he had several spankings for being disobedient, woke up in the middle of his nap and had a hard time going to bed that night. I wonder if it's because Sarah came and the last time she came to our house was when Micah was born and Colin and I had to be away from Jackson. After Jackson caught on that we weren't going anywhere he had an easy week.

Oh yeah ... I also introduced the "nursing toys" to Jackson (a basket of toys played with only while I nurse Micah). I tried to pick toys that I didn't have to help Jackson with, so it consists of a read along CD book of Finding Nemo, Pixar's Car magnet set and a View-Master (we've only got one reel right now, but I think Jackson could handle a few more). So far it's working out well, we did have to have a talk about not crying when Micah is done nursing otherwise we won't get to play with the special nursing toys. Now Jackson asks, "Momma, when is Micah going to eat?" WAY better than him misbehaving and climbing all over me while I nurse! We'll see if the novelty wears off or not.

Week 4

Week 4

My progress: I'm still bleeding but very lightly and only about every other day or so. Towards the end of the week I went one or two days straight without bleeding at all or at least very little. HOWEVER, if I could go back in time, I would tell myself "DON'T FORGET TO TAKE YOUR STOOL SOFTENER!!!!!!!" I had some TERRIBLE anal fissers this week! If you've never experienced them count yourself LUCKY! Other than that, my physical health is excellent.

I went for a couple walks with the boys this week, including a walk to Walmart and back (about 1 mile or so). I think that has helped begin the process of my pelvic bone shrinking back to its normal size because I've had some pelvic soreness, but I was also able to wear a pair of normal pants (granted they were my bigger normal pants, but at least they don't have the oh so fashionable elastic maternity band on them).

Sleep has been hit and miss this week. It seems like every other night is a good night. On Wednesday night of this past week we had a particularly hard night. Micah was waking up about every two hours and would not finish a full feeding before falling back to sleep. I was EXHAUSTED!!! I remember saying to God around three o'clock in the morning, "LORD I can't do this!! Please give me the strength to so this!! Please show me grace!" (SIGH) Then I remember that there are moms (one in particular comes to mind right now) that would LOVE to be at home with their baby exhausted from nursing them in the middle of the night instead of at a hospital where their baby is fed through an IV.

I think the hardest thing about having a rough night is not being able to catch up on sleep during the day because I have a two year old that had a great night sleep. Colin was wonderful and took Jackson on a lunch date on Thursday so that I could focus on Micah and get some rest. Once I catch up on sleep life seems so much easier!! After one such good night of sleep we were able to go to Babies R Us and the Library (I was pretty proud of myself). But I know that until I get a full night's sleep on a regular basis I STILL NEED A NAP!! I'm looking forward to being able to sleep through the night soon.

Micah: We've got the sleep, eat, awake routine pretty much down this week. For at least one of those cycles during the day he'll sleep through the awake part, but he seems to need that extra sleep. I think he really hit a growth spurt this week. He has a doctor's appointment next week, so I'm anxious to see his progress.

Usually Micah's first daytime feeding is around 6:30am so that we can take Colin to work. Micah nurses every 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours right now. So, his feedings have been 6:30, 9:00, 12:00 (which makes lunchtime hard), 3:30, and 6:30. I've tried several times this weeks to wake Micah up for a 9:30 feeding, but he seems to do MUCH better at night when I let him sleep through that feeding. He wakes up on his own around 11:00pm, then 2:30pm and then I try to hold him off until 6:30am, but there have been a couple of times that he's needed to have a quick snack around 5:30 to get him through to the morning.

I've also figured out when is the best time to change him so that I'm not going through a million diapers. I know this seems strange to note, but I think I might find this information useful later. Usually I change him in the middle of nursing. I finish nursing one side, change him (which helps wake him up if he's a little milk drunk) and then nurse the other side. Then I change him right when he shows signs of wanting to sleep, so that he's dry when he falls asleep (I think it helps him sleep longer).

He's been doing much better nursing, but he varies in how long he'll nurse. Sometimes he'll nurse a full ten minutes on both sides and other times he'll nurse ten minutes on one side and not at all on the other side. I've tried not to force it too much because the times that I have pushed it he's just spit up everything I've worked so hard to get him to eat. I've also figured out his cues for needing to burp and as long as I can stay on top that then he'll eat more. It's just that it still seems to take FOREVER. I know he'll get quicker as he gets older.

Micah also has pretty bad baby acne this week. Good thing I got baby portraits already. I'm not doing anything about it, but I might try some Arbonne products that have been known to help if it gets any worse. It bothers me more than it bothers him.

Jackson: came down with what sounded like Croup this week. I think we really nipped it in the bud though by just having a low key week. As soon as I heard that barky cough we started running the humidifier in Jackson's room during his nap and at night time. I also cut his milk intake and substituted it with water/Gatorade to help his cough and keep him hydrated (although we did have a few more potty accidents this week partly from the extra fluids, but he also regressed in this area a little this week (he'd fail to tell me when he had an accident. I let him know that I was not upset that he had an accident, but I was upset that he did not tell me. It seemed to get better after that.)). We also took some DanActive to help boost our immune systems (I think this stuff really works for us). But, Jackson still needed a dose of Ibuprofen for his nap and bed time for a couple of days for his sore throat.

It was hard to keep Jackson from kissing and loving on Micah. I tried to explain to him that when he gets sick it's only a little cough, but if Micah gets sick he would get much sicker because he's so little and the best thing he could do as a big brother is to protect Micah from his sick germs. Jackson did the best he could to keep Micah healthy.

I don't know if it was because he was not feeling well, but Jackson had to be disciplined a lot this week. He disobeys particularly when he knows I'm preoccupied with Micah (especially when I'm nursing). Someone (I can't remember who) said that they have a basket of toys that is designated just for when she nurses. I'm thinking of trying that next week ... we'll see. I'd love to hear other suggestions if you have any. Towards the end of the week Jackson was much better. Perhaps because he was feeling better, but I think it was also due to the consistency in the discipline. I know he misses the one-on-one time he normally gets from me. I've tried to keep his bedtime a time I carve out just for him and that seems to help.

Week 3

Week 3: My first week flying solo! (Thank God for the meal ministry at church!)

My progress: By the end of this week my sciatic nerve pain was completely gone! YEAH!!!! I was no longer taking any Motrin as well ... still on a stool softener though (I had anal fissers after Jackson was born, so I wanted to be cautious after this delivery).

HOWEVER, I made the mistake of carrying Jackson up the stairs (he was in a hurry to go potty and our only bathrooms are upstairs) and I wonder if that brought my bleeding back. That was SO discouraging!!!!!

My first day on my own we stayed home all day (Colin took the car to work) and things went much smoother than I expected. BUT day two was a challenge! Micah was having a hard time taking good naps (he'd fall asleep for 45 min AT THE MOST and then wake up crying and unable to put himself back to sleep). I'd go to rock Micah or give him a pacifier and Jackson would follow behind yelling "MOOOOMMMMYYYY?! WHERE ARE YOU!!??" waking Micah up even more! UGH!! I decided that I need to teach Jackson how to use an inside voice, but I'm not going to stop him from talking or playing while Micah is sleeping ... I'm hoping Micah will just learn to adapt. Anyway, that day was a "veg out" kind of day after Colin came home (I even volunteered to take the garbage to the dumpster just to get some time to myself). Luckily, both kids were napping at the same time and I could catch some sleep too, but one day I skipped my nap and BOY did I feel it that night at 3am when I was nursing (I could barely keep my body upright)!! I won't make that mistake again.

Micah: He had several nights where he went 4 hours between feedings. I discovered that it really pays to work on waking him up for a full feeding for his late night feeding (between 9pm and 10pm) and then he usually has a good night. It still takes him about an hour to nurse fully if you include 10 minutes on each breast, burping in between (which can take awhile sometimes ) and changing his diaper (sometimes two or even three times depending on if he poops AGAIN). So you can imagine on nights when Micah makes it only 2 hours between feedings, which means I'm only getting an hour of sleep in between, how exhausted I am the next day.

I've also discovered that I need to make sure I put Micah down for a nap the moment he seems tired, otherwise it seems near impossible to get him to sleep. If I can do that then he sleeps for longer periods of time and nurses MUCH better when he wakes up. So, I'd say on average that it takes about 45 minutes to feed, burp and change Micah, then he stays awake for about 45 minutes to an hour and then sleeps (off and on) for the rest of the 3 hour cycle. He still has not really put himself to sleep yet, but I haven't let him cry it out yet either ... not sure what I want to do about that.

Also, early this week he had yellow gook in his eye ... a clogged tear duct. Jackson had the same thing and the pediatrician told me to express breast milk into his eye and massage the duct. I didn't find that out until a week or so into Jackson's duct being clogged, so he had both eyes clogged for a week or so. However, I expressed milk into Micah's right away and his unclogged within a couple of days! WORKED LIKE A CHARM!

Also, Micah's ring from his circumcision fell of this week too. I'm not sure things are looking right there (part of his penis looks swollen), but it doesn't seem to be infected. I'm not sure if I should call the pediatrician or not. It might not hurt to call them early next week.

Jackson: His favorite phrase is "I'm taking care of you Mommy." He has had some needy moments this week, but who wouldn't. He has also had some moments of true grace towards Mommy and his brother. One day I was so tired when Micah was napping and I was playing with Jackson in his room, that I fell asleep while playing. Jackson just played around me and every once in awhile woke me up to ask me something or tell me something. He's been such a trouper.

Week 2

Note to Readers: I've changed some things in week one and I'm sure I'll have to go back and change a few things for this week when I'm writing week three, but I'm trying to keep on top of the weeks so I have to do that less and less.

Week 2: Colin's parents came and helped.

My progress: I was STILL having sciatica pain although it would come and go. I decided to look on the Internet to see if there was anything I could do besides take 600mg of Motrin every 6 hours. I did find some helpful videos on YouTube that showed me how to stretch the muscle around the sciatic nerve and that seemed to help a little. I also started icing that muscle once or twice a day for about an hour while I napped and also took several warm baths during this week. The pain would come and go and I even had to opt out of going to Oso Flaco with the family because I had a really bad day physically (that was another baby blue day).

I was still bleeding and cramping while nursing, but by the end of this week I had a whole day of not bleeding. I lost a lot of my prego belly this week, but my regular clothes were still too small and my maternity clothes were too big.

My engorgement was pretty much gone (there were a couple of nights that I didn't try and stop the milk from leaking and I think that helped too ... it made a mess, but it helped). However, there was one time when Micah was not nursing well (the day of his circumcision) that I pumped one bottles worth.

Micah: The big thing for this week was getting Micah to have sleep, eat and awake cycles established. We did okay. I found that if he gets over stimulated it's hard for him to go to sleep and babies at this age need A LOT of sleep. Getting the cycle established was somewhat successful, but I left a lot of room for grace this week. He was now making it about three hours between feedings during the day and at night, but still only nursing on one side and snacking on the other.

We also started going through diapers like crazy! I made the mistake of putting him in generic diapers and using generic wipes though and he got a terrible rash (it even bled a little), but once we switched to sensitive wipes and name brand diapers (pampers swaddlers) and used diaper cream (Balmex is the best) on a regular basis his rash cleared up (for the most part). Part of the reason for the rash is that Micah doesn't poop much, but he poops often. We'd change his diaper and one minute later he'd poop again ... it didn't matter how long we waited between diaper changes (you know, just to make sure he was done) he'd still poop right after we changed him. Oh well!

Micah's umbilical cord fell off this week and he also got his circumcision done. YIKES!!! He weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 12oz at this appointment (I was proud). I watched the surgery (they used the string and ring method instead of the "bell method" that Jackson had)and Micah did GREAT during the surgery (of course Daddy was feeding him sugar water to help him keep his mind off of things), but afterwards he was a WRECK! He would not nurse at all ... I've never seen him scream like that since. We gave him infant Tylenol every 4 hours that day and the rest of the day was a very sleepy day for him and that night was CRAZINESS! He wanted to nurse almost every hour, but then would fall asleep in the middle of nursing. He bounced back pretty quickly the next day though.

Up to this point Micah had not yet put himself to sleep. He either had a pacifier, was in the swing, or being held. I decided that was an adventure for after the grandparents left (I didn't want to gyp them of their precious time with their grandson).

Jackson: Had a great week largely due to the fact that Grandma and Papa were there to entertain (he even got to go to Chuckee Cheese for the first time ever). He was wonderful at letting me take naps when I needed too, but every once in awhile he'd say things like, "I want Momma."

Week 1

The following "Note to Self" blogs are not really intended to entertain you, but to help me remember. The other day when my mother-in-law was helping with Micah I made the comment, "I'm so frustrated that I can't remember what it was like at this stage in Jackson's life." I did make a scrapbook for Jackson, but I neglected to write down the boring details of all of the parenting choices I had made like; when to give him a pacifier, how old he was when I let him cry for 15 minutes straight, how many diapers we went through in the first week, etc. My mother-in-law suggested that I journal this time, so here it is. I know that not all of the choices I make as a parent would be the choices that you would make, so please don't judge. Like I said I'm mostly doing this to jog my own memory so that if God were to bless me with another child I'll have a point of reference ... otherwise I feel like I'm going insane trying to reinvent the wheel each time (which might happen anyway since each child is so different, but at least I can pretend that this is all helpful.). I'm also choosing to journal my physical recovery after labor, so if that grosses you out, you might not want to read this.

Week 1: My sister and brother-in-law were here for the week.

My progress: I still had severe sciatica that prevented me from walking and going up and down the stairs without pain. I was taking 600mg of Motrin every 6 hours and definitely could feel when I skipped a dose. I was bleeding a lot, but it very quickly lightened within the first several days only to have it come back heavy again. I even passed a blood clot about the size of a half dollar and about half an inch thick. (I had a home visit from a nurse from Marian Hospital and she said not to worry about clotting unless it's more than one or if it's larger than the palm of my hand.)

The end of the week I became very engorged to the point where I needed to pump in the middle of the night in order to be comfortable. I probably wore an under wire bra too early because I had a burning sensation while nursing. It hurt enough that I called the midwife wondering if I had mastitis. Turned out I didn't, but the midwife recommended putting cabbage leaves and bags of frozen peas on my breasts to take down the swelling, take vitamin C tablets and drink lots of water and get plenty of rest. I definitely had a baby blues day that day.

Micah: had 3 or 4 poopy diapers in the hospital, but did not have another substantial poopy diaper until 48 hours after we left the hospital. As a result he was looking a little jaundice by day 2 or 3 (I put him in the sun on day 3 during one of his naps). During the home visit the nurse was not concerned about Micah's skin or eye color and Micah weighed in at 8lb 5oz. We had an appointment with the pediatrician the next day and he too was not concerned about jaundice for Micah who weighed in a 8lb 7oz (probably a difference in scales, but I'm sure he gained weight too).

I tried to get him on a 3 hour feeding schedule, but he would usually go about 2 1/2 hours. He had ONE night of a 5 hour stretch between feedings. I had a VERY difficult time getting him to take full feedings (10 min on each breast) without him falling asleep and waking him up was nearly impossible. As a result Micah got in the habit of having 5 minute snacks, so I introduced the pacifier to help fulfill his urge to suck himself to sleep. Due to the engorgement, I also had a hard time getting him to latch on properly and had very sore and cracked nipples. OUCH! (I used a lot of Lanoline) However, I found that expressing a little milk while taking a warm shower helped him to get a better latch and by the end of the week we were doing much better and my nipples were healing.

Jackson: had a hard time the first day we came home from the hospital (he hit me and Micah several times (not hard), he was testing the water). However, after he got to help me give Micah a bath he became more helpful as a BIG BROTHER. He's been an average 2 year old thus far.