Has it really been this long?

It's been an incredibly long time since I've written anything, but it's not because I haven't thought about it. It just always seems like something else comes up and I never get here. C'est la vie. Abigail is 11 months old and John is 3 1/2. I'm almost done with my maternity leave and so many other things have happened since I last wrote, but I feel the need to document things these days because it's just nice to be able to look back.

Abigail has been a dream baby. She has been a good sleeper from the start without any of the problems that John had. I used the Baby Whisperer sleep training from the beginning, and when I think back, I really did put in a lot of work when she was very young, but with absolutely no "crying it out" she goes down for naps AMAZINGLY and she's starting to sleep through the night every now and then, but with increasing regularity. As long as she has her pink bunny, life is good. At three months old, we were able to get in to see the lactation doctor for a poor latch, and she put me on domperidone to increase my breast milk since Abigail had only gained two pounds since birth (dropping from the 90th percentile to the 15th). She saw a pediatrician at about 10 months because she had continued to drop after she started solids, but he said that everything was looking good since she's hitting her milestones and is happy and not to worry about her weight - and that she should be able to start going longer stretches at night without eating. Yay! And now that she's 11 months, she's babbling like crazy, laughing whenever anyone else laughs, and starting to walk. I love her so much!

John has been going to preschool since he turned three (he calls his teacher - Miss Nella - Aunty Vanilla) and it's amazing how much he's soaking up. He knows most of the letters in the alphabet, a lot of the sounds the letters make, and I'm starting to get him to read simple books to me. Thankfully, the kindergarten classroom has lots of books and the teacher has agreed that I can sign books out of her library! He loves to play outside and his favorite place to play is in the sand box. Dump trucks, diggers, shovels, and buckets are all he really needs to be happy for a LONG time! Aunty Jenn's dog Sophie usually comes over to follow him around and keep him company, which is nice. Soon Abigail will be more able to join him, but she's not quite there yet. He is generally a good kid, but it can be a challenge to discipline him in a way that lets him know that his behaviour is not acceptable but still let him know that you love him.

One year old!

It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed. It was really slow for the first three months, better for the next three, the honeymoon period was around 8 months, and now it's great but busy.

John's first birthday was quite enjoyable. We had a party at my parents' house, which was where he had his cake. He didn't make a horrible mess, but he was pretty tired by the time it came to eating. He did seem to enjoy it, though. We were incredibly spoiled by everyone, and whenever his babysitters came to the house, they brought a gift, so he had a new toy every day! Then, for Thanksgiving, we went to Trent's parents' place, and had dinner with the sisters and Pauline and Carol. Very fun to have all of those kids together! John really enjoyed his pumpkin pie!

For the last few nights, John's been sleeping through! This is particularily exciting because I've been so tired going to work on sometimes only a few hours of sleep. Work has been going well, but I find it a bit hard because I have to spend time every week trying to line up babysitters and because I have to spend time in the evening doing prep and marking, when I would rather spend time with Trent or even maintaining a clean home. But I really enjoy getting out of the house for those 4-ish hours and being around other adults. I even really enjoy the kids!

So in our future is allergy testing for John, and me trying to get my stomach muscles back in shape because they're really starting to let me down and hurt now that John's getting so big.

Almost crawling . . .

It's really amazing just how much stuff a baby can find to get into. John's just over 9 months old, and he's pretty good at crawling with his tummy on the floor. He sure gets around. I've been trying to baby-proof, but there are just so many things that I just don't know what to do with. For example, all the stuff for the cat. There's a scratching post, a cat house, and all the toys that look like SO much fun for a baby. What can I do? There's no room to move it all to a different room, and even if I did, the toys would find their way back, and Oscar would start scratching things he's not supposed to in the living room. Or the living room garbage can. If it wasn't there, I'd be cleaning up a pile of garbage from the table every day. Sigh.

But at the same time, it's really exciting, and you feel so happy for him because he's able to go where he wants, when he wants (with obvious exceptions, of course). The freedom and accomplishment he must feel . . . wow. I love seeing the look of absolute delight on his face when he finds something new and makes discoveries. My friend Carley didn't want me to help her daughter learn to crawl because of all the trouble she could get into (and believe me, I understand that part of it now), but every day that goes by, sometime new and exciting happens, and it makes the 8 months without sleep seem almost worth it. ;)

A Fragile Mind

So, for a long time there, my son was waking up about every hour, all night long. He was in obvious gas pain, and I was doing everything I could do prevent his getting so gassy. There were days that I would hardly eat, in hopes that he would sleep better at night. And when he woke up, sometimes I would have to hold his tummy for him (sometimes for almost an hour) to alleviate the pain.

Now you would think that at one of the 7 or 8 times I talked to health care professionals, (over the span of a couple of months) someone would realize that didn't sound normal. Oh, they would tell me to stop eating this or that (which I already had) and they would say to heat up a blanket in the dryer and wrap it around his tummy (which didn't work) and other advice like that. The last time that I talked to a doctor, hoping to get a referral to a pediatriciation, they told me that I had post-partum depression. Well, I guess so, since I hadn't slept for months, and nobody was trying to really find out what the problem was. (I was SO sick of hearing, oh, he'll grow out of it)

So, desperation led me to two actions. One was to wean John. I couldn't take the emotional stress of being depressed and having something leaching from me (that's how I felt about it). And the teeth were coming in, and it was just too much for my fragile state of being. Also, after much struggling with God, I came to the conclusion that I would need to take anti-depressants. Since starting the pills, I have been much better, but I think they only have a little to do with it. When I weaned John, he started to get better at night. He started to sleep for two hours at a time (which meant I was only getting up like 5 or 6 times a night!!) and he was able to settle himself if he woke himself up - which NEVER used to happen. So since he was no longer in such pain, he was able to start learning how to sleep.

Then, because I had started taking the pills, I had to check in with my doctor to see how everything was going. As we were talking about all the troubles we've been having, (and she was probably listening a little bit better because she realized just how bad things had gotten) she prescribed a medicine for reflux for John. Since starting that, he's only waking up when he's hungry (or when he pees out of the diaper, I still have to figure out what I'm going to do to prevent that) which is 2 or 3 times a night. Amazing!

So these days, life is good. My son naps well during the day, he goes to bed well when he's tired (with only a little help from me, which is getting less and less all the time), and he sleeps well at night! Praise the Lord! The biggest issue I have with the whole thing is that all the health care people realized that it was probably my breast milk that was causing the problem, but no one even remotely suggested that I wean him. I knew in the back of my mind that it would probably be the best thing, but seeing as how when women breastfeed, global warming is halted and baby whales are saved, it was hard to make the decision, especially since I had to decide it on my own, against the best advice of everyone I talked to. My Bible study group was so supportive, though, and for them, I am forever greatful.

Anyhow, I guess that sums up my trauma. I hope that someone somewhere who has been having similar problems will read this, since I felt like I was the only one during this whole time.

I'm back!

Well, it's been a ridiculously long time since I've written anything, and I can think of three really good reasons - 1. Facebook. I have been enticed into the world where you don't have to write anything, but you can still keep up with the other wonderful folks who have been sucked in. 2. Sick leave/maternity leave. I wasn't at work anymore, where I had the most convenient access to the internet since certain stupid internet companies couldn't figure out how to get a signal at my house 5 km down the road from their tower. 3. Baby. I had a baby. Who didn't/doesn't like to sleep. Sigh.

So the last long while has been crazy busy and exhausting. John was born on his due date (imagine that), and was beautiful! He didn't really sleep well from the beginning, and I remember spending the first week sleeping with him on the couch because he had tummy troubles (and Trent and worried about bringing him into our bed). I also remember that he wouldn't nap well unless someone was holding him. Sigh. For a brief period he slept in his swing because that was the only way that anyone would get any rest. So to summarize, the last eight months have been strength-sapping.

Finally, his nap times have settled, and he sleeps from one to two hours twice a day (usually one and a half hours). I've almost weaned him - he has one nursing feed left, in the morning - and his tummy troubles have finally settled. It's frustrating because I could have just weaned him earlier, but every time you talk to a health nurse, that's the one thing they don't suggest you do, even if it's best for everybody.

Anyhow, I should probably go, since John's sleeping and this is really the only time I have to be me again. Next blog - getting no sleep and the effects on your brain. Hopefully to come sometime in the next two weeks (I make no promises!)

One week left to go . . .

Well, that's just a rough estimate, I guess. Everyone who has a birthday in October has been telling me what day I should have the baby, but only God knows who will be the lucky person who gets to share my baby's birthday! :)

Things for the last couple of weeks have been pretty rough. Everything hurts or aches in a new way, so it seems, and I have spent a lot of time watching TV or trying to do things that involve sitting with my feet up (otherwise the swelling just gets out of control!). The baby dropped about a week ago, and today the nesting syndrome hit with a vengeance! I am either numb to the pain today, or it miraculously toned down significantly, so I was cleaning like a crazy person. Oscar didn't know what to do. I finally got to scrubbing out my kitchen cabinets, and stuff like that. I'm going to pack the diaper bag and see if there's anything else that I should be adding to my hospital bag either tonight or tomorrow. But I'm trying not to get my hopes up because it's still a week to my due date, and all along I predicted no earlier than the 15th. But we shall see...

Oh! I'm getting internet installed on Thursday, so there's a chance I'll actually get to post some pictures of my growing belly! Stay tuned . . .

It's about time!

I realize that it's been a riiculously long time since I posted a blog, and I'll understand if no one reads this! :)

Since June, life has just been flowing along. I went to a couple of weddings (both very excellent and fun), to which I wore a dress of Danica's that amazingly looked pretty decent on my expanding belly.

July was ridiculously hot and now I have a new appreciation for people who don't like the heat. I couldn't stand it. Just moving positions on the couch would throw me into a hot flash that would last forever. Even with fans blowing on me, I couldn't seem to get comfortable. I tried to book the boat in at the marina for a week, but they told me that there was a spot available in September - not really what I was looking for. But the couple of times we went out on the boat were the most comfortable days that I had all July.

August just flew by, and I have no idea what I did. I know it was cooler and I was conflicted because I wanted nice weather, but I couldn't help but feel releived that it wasn't hot. We took a few days and went on a trip to Banff, Jasper, and finished up with Sara and Ed's wedding. It was a very nice trip. Made all the better because the person who took our dog, Jules, from the lake two weeks before, called us up and returned her while we were away (thanks Danica for taking care of her!).

As for the pregnancy, things have been growing well all summer. Slow and steady. But now that I'm almost there, it's noticeable that I'm getting bigger every week. I'm officially 37 weeks along as of Monday, Setpt 17, and it's really starting to get uncomfortable. The baby is kicking a lot, and often stretching so that I just want to lay down and stretch out myself so that the baby has enough room (to try and save my ribs, hips and bladder). We have all of the stuff we think we need before the baby comes - crib, change table, side table, rocking chair, and a nice clean closet (I purged a LOT of stuff in August). It's been a little tough to find neutrally colored things for our little one, but I figure you don't really need to decorate at first because the baby doesn't care.

Anyhow, if you made it through to this point, good on ya! I'll be back hopefully before too long passes again!