Be my Friend

Okay, I get the Facebook appeal now. One day of playing on it and I'm totally addicted. There are about 8 million things I should be doing right now, but all I want to do is look up people I used to know, send them messages and ask them to be my friend!

On another note, I took Gracie to the health unit today to weigh her, and you will never guess how big my little monster is getting! She is 4 months and one week old, and weighs a whopping 17 lbs, 11 oz. She has outgrown her 6 month size clothing and is now wearing the 9 to 12 month size, and everybody who sees her swears she's 6 or 7 months old. At her 3-month check-up a month ago, the doctor said she was in the 97th percentile for both height and weight, and she's just been growing like a bad weed ever since.

At this rate, I'm starting to have hope that she'll get her Daddy's height instead of my paltry 5'3". But then, who knows? I used to be one of the tall kids in the class too…until I stopped growing at age 14.

Anyway, here's another cute pic of her taken about a month ago. I know, I know, I really need to take my film in more often. But I'm busy! (Playing on Facebook…)

I'm back!

So I have an internet connection once again, after not having one for freaking ever.

It's a really long story that starts with a power outage and the possibility of the entire logic board of my beloved iMac needing to be replaced, and ends with the problem being a fried ethernet cord that I should have checked BEFORE I packed my four-month-old and my computer up and drove to Westworld Computers, sat for an hour in traffic while Centre Street was closed for construction, and then paid $50 for them to tell me there was absolutely nothing wrong with my computer.

Anyhoo… I have my internet back and thank God because I was really, really missing it. Gracie's been sleeping so well lately that I had a ton of blog entry ideas and some actual time to blog -- but no internet connection to make it happen. I had a really good one written for May 31, all about how one year ago today I was waking my hubby up by jumping on the bed and waving a urine-soaked stick in his face yelling: "WAKE UP! IT'S POSITIVE! Look! There are two pink lines in the window! The second one is kinda faint but it's there! IT'S POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!" I'll spare you the rest of the entry 'cause it got kinda sappy, but you get the general idea.

So, I'm making up for lost internet time today. I joined FaceBook, just so that I could look up people that I haven't heard from in forever, and now I have no idea what to do with it. What does the "Poke" thing mean? And why can't I read a person's profile without adding them to my Friends list? I mean, there were 50 people with the same name that I was looking up in some instances -- do I have to add every single one to my list of Friends before I get to find out if any of them is the person I am actually looking for? I consider myself fairly internet savvy, but I don't understand the appeal of FaceBook. Maybe I need to spend more time at it. There has to be a reason why the Province of Ontario has banned it in all government offices so their employees will get some actual work done.

I'll end this mish-mash post that, now that I re-read it doesn't seem to any real point to it, with a picture of my little family. Awww…how cute are they?

This may be too much info…

Yesterday, I had one of those days that reading a parenting book could not have prepared me for.

I had the worst diarrhea I've ever had in my whole life. I don't know what I ate to make my digestive tract so angry at me, but it was the kind of "feel the rumble in your tummy, stop what you are doing and RUN" kind of diarrhea.

But what do you do with your 3-month-old when you have to drop everything and run?

Well, luckily the first couple times it happened, she was happily playing under her baby gym in the living room, so I just left her there and ran. I'm not sure she even noticed I was gone.

But the third time it happened, poor Gracie was snuggled into my lap enjoying her second breakfast when Mommy had to get up and run. I grabbed the bouncy seat on my way to the bathroom, put her in it in front of me on the floor, and stuck the bottle in her mouth. She had this absolutely shell-shocked look on her face like "what just happened?" but my little trooper just kept on eating. Until yesterday, I had been absolutely heartsick that I had to give up breastfeeding; but it was decidedly handy to be able to feed her while I sat on the toilet because I tell you, I had to do that a couple more times before the day was done.

By early afternoon I had the bouncy seat staying in the small downstairs bathroom, an extra towel on the floor on top of the bath mat in the upstairs bathroom, and a variety of toys with which to keep my Gracie entertained in both. I sang songs, read her books, and tickled her tummy with my feet, all while sitting on the toilet. That worked for most of the day -- in fact, she seemed to be rather interested in these new rooms that she hadn't spent much time in before.

But boy, when she decided she really, really didn't want to be in that stinky room with me ANYMORE, things got ugly. How do you placate a baby who wants to be picked up when you really don't think it's a good idea to get off the toilet? Poor Gracie was just SCREAMING on the bathroom floor, her chubby arms stretched out towards me, tears streaming down her little face.

So why didn't you just take some Pepto-Bismol or something, you ask? Well, we were out. Completely out. No Pepto, no Tums, no Rolaids. Nothing. Apparently I cleaned us out while pregnant and have not needed them since. So I spent a good long time wondering how I would ever be able to pack this kid up, put her in the car, and get somewhere to buy some medicine without desperately needing to go in the meantime.

Luckily by late afternoon, I appeared to be, um, thoroughly cleaned out, so to speak, and no longer needed the medicine. And though awful, the one screaming incident was pretty brief, and she got over it quickly. But I'm never, ever eating whatever that spicy dish from the chinese food restaurant was ever, ever again.

Long time no post

Hi everybody! (Hi Dr. Nick…)

Sorry I've been absent for so long. A couple of my graphic design clients begged and basically suckered me into doing a few projects for them, which left precious little time for frivolously fun things like this here blog.

These projects also nicely coincided with Gracie deciding that she no longer needed to take naps. When I agreed to do these projects, she was napping rather nicely, thank you very much, so I figured I could spend those hours designing ads and a pretty tourism guide -- and make a few extra bucks with which to buy cute outfits and toys for my new sweet pea.

But as soon as I agreed to do these projects, Gracie decided that napping for hours in the daytime was for 2-month-olds. Three-month-olds apparently take 20 minute naps that are just long enough for mommy to have a shower, or make a sandwich, or throw in a load of laundry. Not long enough to design a 32-page, full-color tourism guide, and design all the ads inside it to boot.

So, I've been waiting until she goes to bed at night and then working into the wee hours of the morning to get everything done. And I found a wonderful person to do the Tourism Guide, because it rapidly became obvious that there was no way in hell that I was going to be able to get it done. So, if that wonderful person is reading this…
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MARTINA!!!!!

At this point, in case people think I was complaining about the lack of naps, I should disclose that Gracie goes to bed at 11 p.m. and doesn't wake up until 8 a.m. So I'm absolutely not complaining. I point this out because every time I tell another mother that my 3-month-old sleeps nine hours at a stretch, she always gets that look on her face like she'd really, really like to hit me. Hard. With a diaper bag with a couple of bricks hidden in it.

So I'm not complaining. Honest.

But I don't want a needle!

Her first immunizations last Friday. She didn't like it so much. But then, would you?

All winter and no spring makes Necie a cranky girl…

It's snowing outside. I can't believe it's April 18 and it's still snowing.
WHY IS IT STILL SNOWING?????

Don't get me wrong. I love winter -- when I can spend my nights at the curling rink, followed by a nice cold Smirnoff Ice. But I couldn't do either of those things while preggers, and I now that Gracie is here I wake up every day hoping that today will be that bright sunshine-y day when I can take out the stroller I bought months and months and MONTHS ago and actually use it. I NEED to get some fresh air and exercise and not be stuck inside my house day after day after day.

But nooooooo. It's the middle of freaking April and still snowing.
I can't take much more of this winter crap. Global warming my ass.

But it IS an emergency…

I had to take my poor little sick Gracie to the doctor the other day. She had a sore throat and was a little snuffly, plus she had a little thrush, so I thought I'd better get her checked out. So after they poked, prodded and generally pissed her right off, I put my crying child into her carseat and took her home. And it was on that terrible ride home that I came up with what I think is a million dollar idea.

I think that every new parent should get to have flashing lights and a siren for their vehicle, just like emergency vehicles, to be used when you have an infant who is screaming frantically at the top of their lungs in the back seat of your car, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. That way, the little old lady going 2 km/h would have to get the hell out of your way so you could get home to console your screaming little bundle of joy.

Don't you think that's a great idea? I think every new parent should be given their equipment as they leave the hospital with their new baby. And I think traffic laws should be altered so that all motorists have to get out of the way of all emergency vehicles AND all parents with tiny screaming children.

I think people would go for it. I'm writing my MLA and my MP about it right now…

Twiddling my thumbs…

They're all asleep. It's 4 p.m. and every living soul in this house is asleep but me. Sick husband, sick baby, lazy cats…all sound asleep. Me? I'm germ-free so far and wide awake, trying desperately to find something quiet to do.

What I'd really LIKE to do is my new step aerobics DVD, but since I currently resemble a hippo, it's a rather loud activity. Oh well. But to anyone who enjoys step aerobics, you gotta get Gin Miller's new Simply Interval! Hubby gave it to me for Christmas, and I finally got brave enough to try it the other day and it was FANTASTIC. I can't quite keep up with them yet since I'm rather out of shape, but it's going to be fun getting back into shape!

(If you're interested, you can see a preview clip of it at www.ginmiller.com)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday. I am 33 whole years old today. Scary, huh? Where did the time go?

Anyway, it is my birthday today, and for my present my parents have come and taken my 7-week-old child away for 3 whole hours. The plan was for me to have a nap, but now that the time is here, I actually got a fair amount of sleep last night and really don't want one.

So hubby and I had some wonderful "quality time" together (wink wink, nudge nudge), and then I decided to tend to this blog that I don't have much time for anymore. Every single day I have an idea for a post rattling around in my head and I try to find a half hour to write, but then suddenly it's midnight and I've nodded off on the couch holding a baby who was nursing but probably fell asleep a half an hour ago. So all those great posts go unwritten.

For example, on Wednesday, I really wanted to write about how I had a hell of a time trying to get out my house for Gracie's doctor appointment, and when I arrived home hours later I checked myself out in the mirror and discovered that I hadn't finished putting my makeup on. I had managed to get on the foundation and put eyeshadow on ONE EYE, but then Gracie started screaming and I went running, and then we were late and I never made it back to the bathroom to finish. Thank God I wear glasses with dark frames so you can't really see my eyeshadow anyway. But I did have a few people look at me kinda funny and I couldn't figure out why…

Anyhoo, I want to wish a mutual Happy Birthday to Jody Schneider in Strathmore, who I had a ball working with for all those years; and to Dan Spark in Kamloops, a super-sweet guy who my hubby went to j-school with. Hope you both have a great day!

Now, I am going jogging. Or rather, I am going to attempt to jog. It's been a long, long time.

**********************************

Post update:

I just returned from jogging. And to those unfortunate souls in Airdrie who saw me jog, I apologize. I realize now that no one should have to see my giant nursing boobs bouncing up and down, and my huge thighs rubbing together with enough friction to start a fire. Until I lose a few more pounds, I promise I will stick to WALKING outside with my sweet girl in my jogging stroller, and I will keep the aerobic exercise an activity enjoyed in the privacy of my own home.

But God, did that ever feel good. Best. Birthday. Present. EVER!

New Pics!

Here are a couple of pictures of Gracie taken this weekend at my parent's place. My mom took these with her digital camera and emailed them to me. I've gotta get me one of those fancy-schmancy digital things…

The stupidest girl in the neighbourhood…

Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! I'm the stupidest person in the world!
I just had to go and proclaim to all of cyberspace that my Gracie is such a great sleeper, and go and jinx myself.
I wrote yesterday's post just before bed last night, and I got about 3 hours of sleep. When will I learn?!

Sleepy time

Well, I had to do it. I had to start putting Gracie to bed in her crib in her own room.

Before she was born, my plan was to put her in her crib from day one. And I did, for two days. But after being home for two days, I went to stay at my parents' house for a few days so I could get some sleep and recover, and while I was there I had her in a bassinet by my bed. And it was so nice to just be able to look over and see if she was waking up or needed something from me, that when I went home I kept doing it.

And then, after awhile, it just seemed strange to be that far apart from her. I couldn't stand the thought that me and hubby and the two cats would be all cuddled in our bed in our room, but my sweet baby girl would have to sleep all by herself in her own room down the hall. So, in the bassinet by our bed she stayed.

But nobody was getting any sleep.

For one thing, she was uncomfortable in the bassinet. She tossed and turned all night long. When I put her to sleep on the couch or in the bed with us, she slept great. But as soon as I put her in the bassinet she wiggled and fussed. And when she wiggled and fussed, I woke up, because I am the world's lightest sleeper. And when I woke up, hubby woke up. So all three of us were awake.

Then, there was the issue of both hubby and her talking in their sleep. First, she would make a noise, and then hubby would answer in his sleep. It was very cute, but they would do this all night long. And when they did that, I woke up. Because, like I mentioned before, I am the world's lightest sleeper.

And then, there's the issue of my snoring. I snore very, very loudly. Sometimes I snore so loud I wake myself up. So it stands to reason that I would wake up Gracie, who would then wake me up, because, did I mention I'm the world's lightest sleeper?

So, I decided to bite the bullet and try putting her back in her own room. I have a very good monitor, and her room is really only a few steps away. I thought I would try it for one night and see how it went.

In a word, it was great.

She doesn't fuss or wiggle at all anymore. She hardly makes a sound, and I don't have to wake up to re-position her. She just sleeps. In fact, last night, she slept 7.5 hours straight. She might have slept more, but I had to wake her up to eat so we could get to the Mom & Baby class on time. How weird is that?

I still feel a little sad about her being so far away all night long, but I feel so much better and I think she does too, because after the first night sleeping in her crib, she started being much more alert in daytime and taking way fewer naps. So, I guess I should just get over it and enjoy the sleep! Speaking of sleep…

To jog or not to jog…that is the question

The other day, I wrote about how much I love my newfound status as Mommy. And I do. I really, really do. There is, however, one small aspect of being Mommy I could do without: all the extra pregnancy pounds that just keep hanging around.

You see, even though I'm breastfeeding and every other woman on earth seems to be able to eat whatever she wants and lose weight while nursing, for me, the number on the scale just keeps going up and up and up…

So, here's my question for all you mommies out there. Is it really true that when you do aerobic exercise, lactic acid builds up in your breastmilk so your baby can't eat it? Because I can't spend one more day looking in the mirror and seeing those 20 extra pounds staring back at me. Something needs to be done, and fast. And the various different parenting websites I've consulted don't seem to be able to decide. Some say you can exercise as much as you want, some say you can't do any aerobic exercise until after you stop nursing.

Anybody have any personal wisdom to share? Because it's supposed to be really nice out this weekend and I want to go jogging!

Best job ever!

Staying at home with my girl is absolutely, positively, the best job I have ever had. Bar none. I don't remember the last time I was this relaxed and happy. Probably back when I was living on the farm with my parents -- before newspapers made me into the stressed-out, caffeine-addicted workaholic that most of you know and love.

This past week, my sweet baby girl has mastered the art of breastfeeding after being bottle fed for the first three weeks of her life, and, she is sleeping like a pro! Most nights, she will sleep for at least 5 hours at a stretch -- sometimes 7 hours if we've tuckered her out during the day. All I have to do is wake up every two or three hours or so to flip her onto her other side or onto her back -- something that only requires me to be awake for about 2 minutes, so I will take it. I get up that often to pee anyway!

And this morning, I swear to God she smiled at me. She was nursing and cooing away when she stopped to stare at me and then flashed me this great big smile. I tell you, it made my heart skip a beat. I just kissed her little head over and over until she got mad at me and gave me this little noise like: "Okay, okay, I get it. Now make with the food!"

Monday, she reached one whole month old. I can't believe how quickly this first month has flown by. I'm just dying for the weather to get a little bit warmer so I can start going for walks and runs with her. Since most of what I do all day is sit on the couch to nurse her, I'm really craving some exercise. Last night, I actually dreamt I was doing step aerobics and I woke up really wanting to. Maybe tomorrow she will nap long enough for me to get a work-out in…

And for those who keep asking, I'm very sorry, but I haven't got my film developed yet to post more recent pics of her. Every time I leave the house I get all the way to Wal-Mart or Superstore before I realize that I haven't brought the film. Once my sleep deprived brain gets back to normal I'm sure I will remember it. I hope.

Slowly but surely…

So, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of this whole being a mother thing.

The first few weeks were tough. I had perpetual butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Everything was so new and I just always felt like I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I was the mommy and I was SUPPOSED to know what I was doing, and with the post-partum hormones tears were always just barely kept at bay. I missed my husband terribly -- I am so used to seeing him all day, every day that every morning when he left, I cried a little after he was gone and I was home all alone. Plus, it didn't help that my poor sweetie had a broken collarbone, and I was scared to handle her too much so I wouldn't hurt her.

But things are getting better. Her broken collarbone has healed, and she's finally surpassed her birth weight. I know the difference between her incredibly similar "I need my diaper changed" cry and her "I'm uncomfortable" cry. I know that even though all the experts say to put her on her back to sleep, my Gracie HATES that. She won't sleep that way. No way, no how. She sleeps on her side, or she doesn't sleep at all. I have survived switching her from bottle feeding to breast feeding. I'm finding ways to be a little less lonely all day. And I have learned that sleep deprivation is something you can actually get used to.

Now, if only I could get her to nap long enough to give me time to read all the blogs I love and write something myself every day, life would be perfect!

Six things I didn't know before I had a baby:

1. Five hours of uninterrupted sleep will feel like 12 after you've been only getting two to three hours of sleep at a time. (She slept from midnight until 5 a.m. last night! Yaayy!!!!)

2. Hormones can rage worse after you've delivered than they ever did while you were pregnant. I've cried more in the past week than I have in the last 10 years. Over silly stupid stuff. Last night, I cried while watching Castaway on TV. Not at the end when his wife has married someone else, but when he lost his volleyball Wilson.

3. Daytime TV sucks!!!!

4. I actually get a little lonely here all by myself. Never got lonely by myself before.

5. Kissing and smelling and staring into the eyes of my baby girl is the best feeling in the whole world.

6. I couldn't imagine loving my husband more, until I saw him cuddled with our girl and I thought I might cry. See #2.

Here's one more pic of Gracie on the day she was born. Don't worry, her giant cone head is now gone. I will post some more recent pics soon.

Introducing…

Look what hubby and I done!

Her name is Grace Amelia Elizabeth Anderson, and she's the cutest baby on the face of the earth.
She was born at 6:57 p.m. on Monday, February 5, and weighed 8 lbs 10.75 oz.

Unfortunately, she got stuck coming out and they had to yank on her shoulder and broke her teeny little collarbone, so I have to tape up her arm, and I can't nurse her (it hurts her to hold her properly) so I have to pump my breastmilk and bottle feed.
And she has a bit of a hip click, so I have to double diaper her to keep the joint in place. And she was a little bit jaundiced so I had to wake her up every two hours to eat. But other than that, she's my healthy little cutie pie!

Sorry I've taken so long to post, but sleeping and eating have been a higher priority this past week. She's sleeping longer stretches now, and the stretches between feedings are a little bit longer, so I have a couple free minutes to do stuff.
This picture was taken just a few moments after she was born. More pics will come -- don't worry!

Now, since little Gracie is sleeping, I need to have a nap.

ow, ow, ow, OW!!!!!

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! Okay, this has to be the real thing this time.
Quick -- somebody get me the number for the vasectomy place!

Still. No. Baby.

Still. No. Baby.

Apparently, this cold snap has made my sweet pea decide to stay inside for awhile longer. Personally, I don't understand why she doesn't want to come out. She's got to be pretty squished in there. And what with me bouncing up and down and constantly pleading with her, you'd think she'd be clamouring to get out.

But, on the bright side, the ultrasound said she only weighs about 7 lbs 13 oz -- not the monster baby my doctor was starting to freak me out with.

Unfortunately, in order to get that good news, I nearly threw up on the ultrasound technician. Anybody else ever do that? I was laying flat on my back for too long and the pressure from the baby and the rather rough treatment cut off my circulation and all of a sudden I thought I was going to either pass out or throw up. The poor woman ran for a puke basin and a glass of water, and ended up not being able to finish the ultrasound.

So, good times, good times.

I'll keep you posted.

No baby yet…

For those of you waiting on bated breath, there will be no induction this week.

Apparently I misunderstood the doctor at my appointment last Monday. She said that if I was still pregnant today, she would book me for an induction ASAP. For some reason, I figured that meant in the next day or so. But stupid me, I forgot about our inadequate health care system and its huge waiting lists. Apparently, booking an induction ASAP means that we book it today, and hope we get it in two weeks.

My doctor says she always books an induction for all her patients who have reached their due date -- that way it's booked if you need it, and you can cancel if baby comes on her own. Which makes me feel a little better. I thought it was a bit extreme to induce only a few days past your due date, but figured she's the doctor and if she thought I needed it I was prepared to trust her.

She is, however, trying to get me in for an ultrasound somewhere in the next day or two because she's concerned about how big this baby is getting. I believe what she said was: "If I didn't know better, I would say it looks like you're having twins!"

So, I'm starting to get a teeny tiny bit concerned. I'm like 5'4" if I stand on my tiptoes, and the most short-waisted person you will ever meet. There just isn't that much room in there. So I just assumed that my baby would be on the smallish side. Apparently, I had better put some bigger sleepers than just newborn size in my hospital bag.

So, to make a long story short, sorry, no baby today. I will keep you all posted!