Dom @ 5 Mo.

So apparently I wrote this up a few weeks ago and never posted it. Doh! Dom is now 6.5mo, but who's counting?

Eats: Approx 30-34oz
formula/breastmilk per day (5-6 bottles) + 2 oz solid foods (prunes + a veggie, we just started this but he LOVES the sweet potato)

Sleeps: Approx 13-14 hours, Longest night-sleep averages 7-8hrs (shortest 5hrs, longest 11.5hrs), 3 daytime naps

Pumping: 6-8 oz per day. I'm weaning myself off...

Weighs (@19 weeks): 15.4lbs/45% percentile (+9lbs from birth)
Height (@19 weeks): 25.5 inches /50% percentile (+7.5inches from birth)
Head (@19 weeks): 17.5 inches /90% percentile (+4.5inches from birth). Yes, Dom has a GIANT head. Runs in my family!

Typical Day @ 5mo:
6:45-7:00am - Wake up, hang out with mom and dad in bed.
7:30am - 8oz bottle / playtime in Exosaucer
8:15-8:30am - Nap #1 (approx 45 minutes)
8:30am - Hang out while mom does chores
10:00am - 2 tsp solids (prunes) mixed with reflux meds (YUM), + 4-6oz bottle
10:30-11:00am - Nap #2 (varies from 40 minutes - 2 hours)
Afternoons vary based on nap #2, we usually run an errand or go on a walk in the Bjorn
3:30-4:00pm - 6-8oz bottle, Nap #3, sometimes in the swing if he's being especially fussy (15 minutes - 1 hour)
5:00pm - Playtime with Daddy, 4-6oz bottle
6:30pm - 2-4 tbl solids
7:00pm - Bathtime & 6-8oz bottle
7:30-8:00pm - Bedtime

Sometimes he'll wake up for a bottle at around midnight if he hasn't eaten at least 30oz during the day. Dom has never been a big eater, I'm actually shocked he's taking 8oz bottles at all! He still cluster feeds after 3pm, taking bottles every 2-3 hours instead of every 3-4 in the morning.

He takes 1 great nap a day in the late morning, but is a HELLCAT after 3pm. It's almost impossible to get him down for more than 20 minutes. I used to fight it and spend 2 hours trying to get him to sleep, but since he's now sleeping so much at night I'm letting him stay up if that's what he wants. Makes putting him down at 7pm that much easier!

Dom @ 3 Mo.

Eats: Approx 25-28oz breastmilk per day (6-8 bottles), sometimes a formula bottle at night.
Sleeps: Approx 14 hours, Longest night-sleep averages 6.5hrs (shortest 5hrs, longest 7.5hrs), 4 daytime naps
Pumping: 32-33oz per day
Weighs (@14 weeks): 13.4lbs/55% percentile (+7.5lbs from birth)
Height (@14 weeks): 24 inches /50% percentile (+6inches from birth)

Typical Day @ 3mo:
9:00am - Wake up, 4oz bottle
10:30am - Pump
11:00am - Nap #1 (approx 45 minutes)
12:30pm - 4oz bottle, then errands or playtime
2:00pm - Nap #2 (approx 45 minutes)
3:30pm - 4oz bottle, Playtime on the mat or walk around the neighborhood
4:30pm - Nap #3, sometimes (mostly) in the swing if he's being especially fussy (2 hours)
5:30pm - Pump
7:00pm - 4oz bottle, Playtime
8:00pm - Nap #4 (approx 30 minutes, depends on how long nap #3 was)
8:30pm - 2-4oz bottle
9:30pm - Bathtime
10:00pm - 4-6oz bottle, bedtime story
10:15pm - Bedtime
10:30pm - Pump
5:00am - 4oz bottle
5:15am - Back to sleep
5:30am - Pump

Yes, my kid goes to bed at 10:15pm. We've been trying to amend this, but he just doesn't want to go to sleep any earlier than 10pm! On the one hand it's great because we can take him to dinner with us, have guests at the house at night, etc. But it's a curse because Matt and I don't get any alone time at the end of the day, as we are so exhausted by the time he goes down that we pass out as soon as he does. He also has been cluster-feeding at night and eating very little in the mornings.

Things I want to remember:
- Loves his green frog "lovie"

- Changed his bottle preference from wide-mouth to regular at 14 weeks.
- He can sit upright (when propped with the boppy) and stay that way for 20 minutes unassisted (when he's not squirming like crazy - another new skill).
- Relying less on the paci for bedtimes/naptimes
- Rolls easy back to side.... I almost always find him in this position when he wakes up in the morning.

- Loves taking baths and kicks in the water like crazy
- Lots of coos and sounds - "Ah-boo" is his most common "word".
- Laryngomalacia seems to be subsiding. It's louder when he's excited and taking quicker breaths.
- Loves blonds. Almost always smiles at them when they hold him, even if he doesn't know the person (hubba hubba)!
- Likes watching football on TV - cries when a commercial comes on!
- Still wearing size 1 diapers
- Just now fitting into size 0-3 clothing
- Starting to chew on everything


Dom and I at the Elbow Room, DH and I's favorite bar/old stomping ground.

Easy Peasy, and My New Life as a SAHM.

Lo and behold, I actually managed to finish a knitting project since Dom has been around!


Peasy by Heidi Kirrmaier
Rowan Felted Tweed in Water, 6 balls
Size 4 Needles
Raveled

I just adore this. I started it back in December and finally got around to plowing through the mindless stockingette portion thanks to the untold number of hours I've been hooked up to my pump. I used to hate pumping, now I kind of love it because it's 20 minutes that I get to knit un-interrupted. Especially the 6am session, it's cool and quiet and it's just me and the knitting. Ok off topic, back to the sweater.



I added an extra button hole for coverage, and about 3 inches in body length. SWOOOOON. Love.

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So as the 2nd part of my title indicates, I have made the leap from working woman to SAHM. That is actually why I've been so silent around here, I'm back at work part-time training my successor, AND caring for the kid full-time (taking him to the office has been QUITE an adventure.)

I am not exaggerating when I say this was the hardest decision I've ever made in my life. Luckily DH has been doing great at work so we can afford it, but giving up my career was not a decision taken lightly. I mean, I used to think "I didn't go out and get my Masters Degree so I can stay home chasing a kid, doing laundry, and other domestic things." I've been in my industry for almost 10 years, and finally had built my skill set to a level that would allow me some upward mobility. But hey, that kid comes along and it's AMAZING how your priorities change, right? All of a sudden I got caught up in this emotion that I just couldn't leave him in the care of someone else. Just couldn't. And while my income allowed us to do lots of fun things, none of them were worth it when compared to spending my days with Dom.

So I've been spread a little thin right now, but October 1 is my last day and then I'm officially a SAHM. It's still weird to say it. Expect to hear a lot more about my domestic endeavors, since sitting down to blog is actually something I can now fit into the day. And I may even have more time to knit, too ;).

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Update on Dom, 12 weeks.

Hanging out in Fish Camp


Mom got me this awesome onesie:


Hand is GOOD. Nom Nom Nom...


Going for a ride in the swing (sorry it's sideways!!)

The Birdman

We are at 8 weeks... and the little guy is definitely becoming a little man.



People stop us all the time to comment about his skin tone. DH is 100% Armenian, and I am happy to see that Dom will get his skin coloring, instead of my pasty genetics. His eyes still haven't really picked a color yet, they are sort of a hazelish-brown.

Dominic has been making these little squeaky noises sometimes when he breathes, so we started calling him the Birdman. What was cute turned into concern around 6 weeks; it turns out he has laryngomalacia, and hopefully he'll grow out of it.

Here's a video with the bird noises, and showing off his new "reaching" and "grabbing" skills.



Other milestones this week:

- Drooling

- Chewing on his hands

- First trip out of town (to LA, I was attending my SIL's bachelorette party and Matt was a TROOPER and babysat all weekend)

You can really see how much darker his skin-tone is than mine!

- Holding his head up for 45-60 seconds unassisted.

- Started cooing and smiling


- Sleeping for longer stretches. 6. Hours. Let me repeat - he slept for 6 hours! It was beyond glorious!

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I've also found some time to start knitting again and in a weird way, it makes things start to feel normal around here. It's a nice little "me" thing that I had to give up for about 6 weeks, and having it back in my life is a reminder of the way things were PD (pre-Dominic!)

So I finished up Peasy, and it's blocking right now:



I loooove it.

1 Month

I've sat down to write a post about 5 times, and haven't been able to finish it! Dominic is already a month old and he's already changed so much, and I really wish I would have recorded more of it here. I'm going to try and be more diligent about it, and my apologies in advance if you are just here looking for knitting content. He's sleeping right now so let's see how fast I can type (apologizing in advance for spelling and grammatical errors)


Sleepy baby


I'm one month old! Mommy and Daddy celebrated the event a little extravagantly...



It's amazing how much he has changed in 1 month, from his physical appearance to his alertness level. He already has pretty good neck control and strength in his legs. Matt keeps talking about how he thinks this means he'll be crawling early; let me tell you I am not ready for that because it's a nice luxury to not have to watch him every second to make sure he doesn't get into something.



He loves the Baby Bjorn... but with the top folded down so he can look at everything. Still a little too early to face him outwards, but I'm sure he'll love it even more once we can do that.

We are on somewhat of a schedule which is nice. He's sleeping for five hours at night, from 11pm-4am, waking up to feed, then sleeping for another two hours. I take the 4am feed and Matt takes 6am, which is allowing each of us to get some decent rest.

Of course, this is possible because Dominic decided early on that breast feeding was not for him. It broke my heart at first, but I got over it quickly because I hated fighting with him and watching him scream every time we attempted to feed. He's much happier with the bottle, and I've gotten used to pumping 6 times a day. We give him formula every now and then (it helps him sleep better at night), but he's eating about 95% breast milk. I'm not sure how long i'll be able to keep doing it, but for now it's working for us.


We take him out of the house almost every day, and in turn he's been doing great in noisy places - he'll just sleep! Hey if he's going to bottle-feed, mama is going to enjoy some wine! His first trip out of the house, he was only 4 days old. I can definitely say that doing this has really helped my recovery and dealing with the looong days of pumping, feeding, washing bottles, soothing baby, repeat.

I'm just loving being a mom, and I can't believe how fast it's going. He's waking up now so I'll end this post here... but one last photo, of Dom is his first handknit:

Baby Bean Is Here!

So it's been quiet around here... but for the best possible reason.



Dominic Matthew
arrived on 6/18/2010 at 2:40pm.
6lb, 13oz & 18 inches long.







He's only 12 days old but I can't believe how much he's grown. We're exhausted but happy beyond belief. We had a natural birth after 14 hours of labor.

I'll post more details soon (it's hard to type with one hand and a baby in the other!)

39 Weeks

Well, I'm still here and still pregnant. About 2 weeks ago I was on a "get-this-baby-out-of-me-NOW" wave, but that has settled down and I'm enjoying maternity leave (HELLO long-lost home and craft projects) and spending time with Matt before we become a family of 3.

The anxiety of "ANYDAY NOW!" is starting to wear on me a bit, but I'm trying not to think about it manically.

So here we go, hopefully this will be my last Baby Bean entry and I'll be able to move Baby DMC entries :D !

How far along? 39 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: (+32) since pre-pregnancy. I have no idea where this weight has gone, and what a joy it is to think of losing it again ;).

Maternity Clothes? I'm almost exclusively wearing strapless sun dresses since the temperatures have moved up into the 90s around here. However, my pre-pregnancy shirts seem to fit better, DMC has dropped and my belly now has a different shape to it.

Stretch Marks? Still none. Amazed.

Sleep? Pretty good. Matt and I are trying to sleep as much as humanly possible these last couple weeks.

Best Moment This Week: Two things. 1) MATERNITY LEAVE! and 2) Coming to peace with the fact that this is almost over and we get to meet our little boy VERY soon!

Movement: Very strong pushes and rolls. Since he's down in my pelvis he's putting a lot of pressure on my bladder and I've got some pain in my hips.

Food Cravings: Cravings seem to be letting up. However, still some small cravings for Carbs. I could eat waffles for every meal! I am really hungry all the time, and being home all day does not fair well with that!

Gender: BOY

Labor Signs: Very crampy at nights. Last night was the first time I was having consistent contractions - about every 30 minutes for 4 hours. As of 37 weeks, I am/was 50% effaced.

Belly Button - In or Out? In - but looks different due to the change in my belly shape from the dropping.

What I miss: RAW SUSHI... I am seriously making Matt stop on the way home from the hospital. I don't care if it's 10am.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting our little guy any moment now.

Weekly Wisdom: Something about the end of pregnancy makes even sane people a little crazy. I've been getting phone calls and texts all week from family members asking "Baby news?" Mind you, this is close family, like my mom and MIL. I was tempted to tell my mom the other day "OH YEAH, I've been in labor for 6 hours, I just forgot to call you." Seriously people, you WILL be notified, I promise. Until then stop, you're contributing to the anxiety.

Milestones: 1 week to due date, all systems are ready for GO!

Pregnancy has been making me even more domestic that I am on a regular basis. Hand-Sewn Burpies AND Sour-Cream Lemon Poundcake from scratch? I could get used to this.

Preggo Rebel

I don't try much to hide the fact that I am a pregnancy rule-breaker. Chocolate? Started that up around week 15 when the nausea went away. Soft cheese? About week 20 (don't even get me started on how much blue cheese I've had in the last month). Wine? I finally said screw it and ordered (and enjooooooooooooyed) a glass of red at my sisters Bachelorette party at 25 weeks. Sushi? Started sneaking bites of Matt's spicy tuna around 30 weeks. I'm of the opinion of everything in moderation and my body will tell me when I shouldn't be consuming something.

This week it is Chai. OMG, I've been totally craving it the last week. The weird thing? I've only drank it once in my life before now. I happened to be crusing around the grocery store the other day (BAD idea to let me do this BTW, I can't tell you how many random items have made their way into our pantry as a result) and for some reason the box of Tazo concentrate caught my eye. I read somewhere that because it has caffeine and spices (Anise I think?) in it that it's bad blah blah blah... but I had a glass last night and baby DMC and I are still here to talk about it. Yum.

Anyway, not sure why I told you that story but what I MEANT to blog about was how hard it's been for me to SLOW DOWN and keep my feet up when my body is clearly telling me to (oh HAI Braxton Hicks as I type this). I know I'm only a couple days away from being full term and at this point labor wouldn't be risky, but I still feel like I have so much to do. Rooms to reorganize, clothes to wash and fold, swings and rockers and monitors to put together.


Katy clearly has no problem relaxing and putting her feet up.

I've also been kniting baby items like mad. MAD I tell you. I hope that Fresno plans on freezing over this summer because I have clearly forgotten that I live in a DESERT and DMC is going to be born in late May or June.











It's seriously a little nuts.

I've also now got an uncontrollable urge to knit socks again. Which I don't usually wear. ESPECIALLY FROM MAY-NOVEMBER.


Cest La Vie. At least I'm using up some stash yarn from like 5 years ago.

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Other photos from the iPhone. My rose tree, AKA the Pride of the Backyard, is blooming and I LOVE IT.


I plan on sitting under it tomorrow morning with my sock and chai (shhh... don't tell the preggo police)

AND


Matt trying out the BabyBjorn. It's a good look on him. All he needs is a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other and he's a shoe-in (or shoo-in? I can never remember) for Father of the Year.

I think we should put Viva in there since she's about the same weight of an infant, but I don't think either of them share my enthusiasm for this idea.

36 Weeks

How far along? 36 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: (+25) since pre-pregnancy. I don't even care anymore, the NAUSEA is back and I'm only eating what sounds good. And french fries ALWAYS sound good.

Maternity Clothes? Regular bras are torture devices. I've been loving strapless dresses that don't require one.

Stretch Marks? Still none. Amazed.

Sleep? Ehh. When I can get to sleep, it's great. But DMC has settled on a nerve and I'm having MASSIVE pain in my lower-back, compounded by the fact that my chair at work is NOT made for a pregnant woman.

Best Moment This Week: Putting all the finishing touches on the nursery & starting to pack the hospital bag. We're about 90% finished with everything.

Movement: He dropped sometime around week 34. Feeling lots of movement in my pelvis-region, and my hips are sore. It's a fun game to guess what appendage is sticking out of my belly these days.

Food Cravings: Fruit Ice, pasta. Meat is a complete and total turn-off.

Gender: BOY

Labor Signs: Getting tightening-like BH's every day. I've also been feeling some menstrual-like craps every couple days first thing in the morning and at night before bed. Hopefully all these "workouts" translate to fast labor!

Belly Button - In or Out? In - and looks totally normal again.

What I miss: SUSHI... I saw an advertisement for a local sushi joint and I almost cried because I want raw ahi so bad. And a very strong urge for a margarita.

What I am looking forward to: Maternity Leave - Only 10 more days of work!

Weekly Wisdom: I'm over pregnancy. Ready for him to be born ANY TIME NOW.

Milestones: Only 5 days until we are full term! (37 weeks)

Sissy's Big Fat Greek Wedding

The photographer from my sister's wedding just posted some of his favorite shots. And holy cats, they turned out great. Click below to see the post.

Sissy's Big Fat Greek Wedding.

I - well, the baby in my belly - made the slideshow.

5.5.2010

Baby DMC's first time @ the Elbow Room, our local hangout of choice.



Matt & I at Sissy's wedding


Please ignore the fact that I desperately need some lipstick!!!

Baby items are taking over our house and our lives!


Zen Knitting with Eco wool and garter stitch:


Pre-Natal Vitamins are doing AMAZING things for my fingernails


And quiet nights at home with Katy

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34 Weeks. Less than 6 weeks to go. O. M. G.

Finally: A Face With A Name

Once again I've been thumped with the "never-say-never" stick. Last night we went and plunked down the cash for a 3D/4D ultrasound to see little DMC. And I have to say....

...it was the best $100 I've ever spent.




He opened his eyes!

Pardon my foray into the cliche, but I had no idea you could love someone you've never even met this much. He totally has my nose - it looks exactly the same as mine did when I was a baby. I need to find some baby pictures of Matt and I and see what the actual comparison is.

We also got a 2nd, um, VERY CLEAR confirmation that this is indeed a boy. He moved to a somewhat head-down position... more of a diagonal-head down (his head is by my right pelvic bone).

46 days to go until his due date... but only 25 until he's full term and I'm somewhat convinced he's coming early.

25 days! Holy Crap.

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How far along? 33 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: (+23) since pre-pregnancy. I've been holding steady at this weight for almost a month, so I'm thinking I'll be at somewhere between +25 and +28 by the time he arrives.

Maternity Clothes? Yes please. Empire-waist dresses from Old Navy are life-savers. Any bra gives me unbelievable pain in the middle of my chest.

Stretch Marks? Still none. I can't be this lucky, can I?

Sleep? Pretty good. I wake up about every 3 hours, but fall right back asleep. I don't know what I'd do without my body pillow.

Best Moment This Week: The 3D/4D ultrasound!

Movement: Starting to get uncomfortable, like he's trying to make an Alien-the-movie-style exit from my body.

Food Cravings: Frozen yogurt, Italian Ice, French Fries, Pasta. All that totally healthy stuff.

Gender: BOY. No doubts.

Labor Signs: I had a couple scary days around my sissy's wedding. I think the stress and constant running around was causing multiple BH's... at one point, I had 5 in about 75 minutes. Since then I've vowed (and Matt has enforced) much more idle time and that has seemed to clear things up. But I'd say I'm still getting them about once or twice a day.

Belly Button - In or Out? In. And it's back to looking like it did pre-pregnancy. WEIRD. But then again, what ISN'T weird about pregnancy.

What I miss: Raw sushi. Happy Hour. OH MY GOD I WANT SASHIMI SO BAD.

What I am looking forward to: My final two showers this weekend and next.

Weekly Wisdom: Strangers will only tell you horror stories about labor and delivery, mostly unsolicited. No, I DON'T want to hear about your sisters 36 hour labor.

Milestones: Only 3 weeks until we are full term. OMG.

Sissy Ties The Knot

My little sissy got married this past weekend. She was amazingly gorgeous and they are very, very happy. They've been dating for 6 years, it was about time!

They tied the knot at the Greek church here in town.


I was the matron of honor, at 33 weeks preggo. WOO!

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Back on the home front, baby's room is totally coming along:




Speaking of coming along, I am starting to feel quite LARGE.


This was taken at 32 weeks. I'm starting to feel like a beached whale whenever I settle into the couch. I no longer simply 'stand up', it's more of a heaving of myself off the couch, complete with grunts and groans.

Weekend mocktails for the pregnant people in the family:

Strawberry Mom-jito. Strawberries, Basil, Lime Juice, FRE Zin, and 7-up. It's quite tasty.

Vices for those of us who are not: