Sunday, June 15, 2008

Better late than never...

So Piglet is now almost five months, two weeks old and I have started our blog.  Do good intentions count for anything?  If so, imagine that this blog was started back in January of 2007 when we did our first cycle of IVF in hopes of conceiving Mr. P.  Then fast-forward a bit to April 2007 when we found out that our second cycle was successful and we were pregnant with our first baby! 
I had a fantastic pregnancy, craved apples and nectarines and delivered our Piglet on January 12th of this year.
Fast forward to today...
We have a healthy, thriving five month old baby boy.  I am a SAHM.  We are basically attached at the hip.  Sometimes my DH and I think that we were totally sabotaged by Dr. Sears and this "attachment parenting" business because our child has got to be the MOST ATTACHED child we have ever encountered!  It's mommy-time-all-the-time which makes for challenging times at our house depending on the day.  
Okay, I am going to post what I remember starting at the beginning...
Birth - Weight 8.8lbs, 20.5 inches, full head of hair, born at 10:01 a.m. on a cloudy Saturday in Portland, OR.  Our favorite l&d nurse was Gracie.  Our doula was Karen.  Our OB was Dr. R. Barrett.  Mom's labor was 17 hours and she pushed for two hours on the dot. Mr. R opened only one eye at birth - just like his mom!!!  In attendance at Piglet's birth: dad, auntie T, doula, nurse and OB and of course MOM!  We stayed at the hospital for three days and two nights after the delivery and Mr. R developed a mild case of jaundice on the second day.  What a drag that was! Poor thing! 
 
Month One - Weight: 10.2lbs. Length 21.75inches. Piglet sleeps a lot, especially in our arms.  Surprisingly alert when awake.  Stares at you right in the eye and says "hey, why aren't you HOLDING me?!"  Piglet sleeps between us in the Snuggle Nest.  It takes up a surprisingly large amount of space in our huge bed!  Dh is the master swaddler at our house. I cannot hold a candle.  We went to the Dr. and he ordered an at-home bilirubin light for us.  We are bad about using it as much as we're supposed to but the Piglet recovers quickly and my milk comes in - in full force!  Now THAT is an adjustment for all. Thank God for the geniuses at Medela.  We get brave and start using the FuzziBunz. We think they're great!  They are surprisingly easy to use and launder.  I swear!  The come out lily white, so white in fact that you would never know the secrets that they held within them just a few hours before.  :)  They also keep Piglet nice and dry and we haven't had any leakage at all.  If you're thinking about trying cloth but are hesitant because of....well, I'll just say it - POOP, don't be scared!  Embrace the 'Bunz!  IMHO they are the superior cloth diaper.  Still can't believe that Mr. R is ours.  He has very well defined features and when he cries, sounds like a goat.  No full-on shrieking yet.  Yet that is.  
Month Two - Weight 14.0lbs, 23inches. Piglet starts the night in his swing and then joins us in bed around 2 a.m., sometimes later.  Wa-hoo!  God Bless the makers of the Miracle Blanket. This thing is so simple yet is the big daddy of all swaddling blankets.  There's no velcro to make that loud "jjjjiiiit!" sound and yet he also can't escape.  Yes, it does resemble a tiny straight jacket but once he's in it, he sleeps well, like a baby. If you are having a baby sometime soon, GET ONE.  In fact, get two.  Piglet has started babbling incoherently and very loudly.  We captured his first smile on camera.  He's a stingy smiler though.  We hope this changes because we love to see that toothless grin!  We begin using Boiron Colic Relief homeopathic remedy to keep our sanity.  Works like a charm and we feel okay about it knowing it is all homeopathic.  Piglet gets very cranky around 5 p.m. We have had to resort to white noise in order to calm him down.  Things we've tried include: the drill, hairdryer (dh even made a loop of this in my iTunes library) and a CD.  The thing that works best of all (but that we worry fries his little brain) is the iTunes Visualizer.  Holy cow.  He quiets down immediately and stays that way for awhile.  Oh and he's discovered his hands!  Likes the binky but is too lazy to keep it in his mouth.  :)  Signs of what is to come?  I think the answer is yes.
Month Three - Weight 15lbs, 24.5inches. Ch Ch Ch CHANGES!  Unlike his counterparts, Piglet is NOT sleeping through the night, not even close.  But he is really changing and responding to us all the time.  He has also really plumped up.  Dh's reaction to him after a few days of travel? "WOW.  Look how meaty his legs have gotten!"  He is now wearing size 3-6 clothes and especially onesies.  Looks like he takes after his Ma and Da and is long in the torso with stubby little legs.  Sorry kiddo.  The swing is SO last month and we have moved on to other solutions.  I mourn for the lovely, lonely crib which I fear will NEVER know what it is to hold a baby all through the night. A baby during naptimes and bits and parts of the night, but never all through it! Oh well, the Serena and Lily bedding we got is so gorgeous, it's like having art in the nursery.  At the end of this month Piglet decided - no more bottles!  He is on an utter and complete bottle strike after one day of nursing only (I randomly decided to nurse only for one full day - who knew?).  He has also decided that because of the afore mentioned strike, he MUST be with mommy ALL THE TIME or he will cry his eyes out.  Over-attachment parenting rears its ugly head again.  I rue the day I read Dr. Sears!  (Not really...)
Month Four - Weight 16.7lbs, 25inches. Okay.  I am so over this bottle strike business.  Seriously kid.  What is the deal?!  I have no choice but to act like a dairy cow and provide milk all day and night, all the time no matter where we are, I have to whip it out or risk utter meltdown by Mr. Piglet!  Pediatrician says it is just him showing his personality and that it is early for him to be able to show preference, but that means he is an advanced thinker.  Do we think this is good or bad news?  Piglet is sleeping better, though still not through the night!  Still not even close!  He is back to babbling again and making lots of noise!  He is also getting better with his hand eye coordination.  He is in LOVE with wooden toys. The simpler the better.  We especially love HABA toys at our house.  We're amazed since we thought for sure the plastic blinky light toys would prevail!  He can roll over with ease now but gets stuck on his belly and subsequently gets MAD! We love that he's still so roly-poly and want to eat him up daily.