ps - Cannot wait to get her ears pierced now that she is allowed to :)
Claire has her shots and is all registered for day care. She will be going to Long Beach Day Nursery and it was a hard few days while we signed all the paperwork. Having to fill out what her favorite way to play is, what makes her laugh, when she likes to nap and emergency contact information made it even more real how much I will miss her once I go back to work. I have a little less than a month before I go back and I want to soak up every second. Going back to work is going to be tough but I think it is what is right for me. Maybe I will change my mind in a few years but this is our plan. I am going to head back to work and sob through my first day but I think this is the best choice for our family and as much as I am going to miss Claire I know she will be safe and happy. I love her so. So much that we got her vaccinated, as per usual Claire was a champ, she did scream and cry a little bit but that is totally understandable. After her shots I nursed her for awhile and now she is napping them off. I plan on cooking and also taking a nap before she wakes up. Hope you are having a lovely Monday. Instagram Photo Dump of her appointment haha ps - Cannot wait to get her ears pierced now that she is allowed to :)
2 Comments
Wow! I can't believe it has been a year since Nikol and Ryan helped us carve our pregnancy announcement. What a difference a year makes! Now this time around we are getting our baby girl all dressed up for Halloween. There are so many adorable options out there. I mean can you even have an ugly costume for a baby? But I pretty much knew right away what I wanted Hailey to be. Harry Potter!! I did have a Harry Potter themed baby shower after all. We had some awesome props leftover from the baby shower (a wand, Harry Potter glasses, a broom, etc.). I got Hailey's costume from Etsy and my friend Holly from Artistic Anthology did a fun little photo shoot. The pictures turned out so great and my little ham was such a good sport. I knew having a baby around the holidays would make them extra special but this is just so much more. I love my little Hailey Potter :)!
Love, The Montans Enjoyed doing this on her one month so I thought I would try it again :) Attempted to track everything we did on 10/9/13 1:21am - Claire woke up and wanted to be nursed, I changed her and fed her for 9 minutes to start the block feeding for the day and then reswaddled her and back to bed I went. 5:03am - Claire woke up again for a meal, changed her and then fed her for about 9 minutes again, this time she was not as happy to go back to bed but once she was swaddled and I held for a little she dozed off. I went back to bed too. 7:04am- Claire was fussing from the other room, Ryan went to change her and bounced her around for a little while before he had to go to work. 7:28am - I got up for the day and nursed Claire for 13 minutes and she was a happy smiling lady. 7:42am - I put Claire in her swing and went in the other room to pump, got 3 ounces, labeled it and put it in the freezer. Then sanitized all the pump parts and went to get Claire. 7:50am - Claire and I hung out for a little while, caught up on some tv and looked at toys. 8:15am - Claire was relaxing in the bassinet watching Cupcake Wars so I jumped in the shower before having breakfast. 8:40am - Claire is sleeping so I got dressed and had two hard boiled eggs 8:54am - Claire is up so it was medicine time for the both of us. We both took our probiotic, our grapefruit seed extract and nystatin. Hoping this all kicks in and kills the thrush - saving the gentian violet for bed time. 9:06am - Claire was hungry so we switched to the other side for the next part of the block feeding and she ate for about 8 minutes. 9:29am - Decided to get my moby on before driving, I read about it on a blog and realized how much time that could save for us if I can just take her out of the car seat and put her in. Load up the laundry, Claire, and diaper bag into the car. 9:40am - Arrive at Long Beach Day Nursery, feeling a little sad but once I opened her door and her sweet little sleepy face made me happy again, I put her in the moby and she woke up a little bit and was not that happy about going into the day care. We went in, paid the deposit, chatted with the front desk girl and then left before I started to cry. 9:49am - Went on a lovely walk around the park, had not been around that park before and the pond was so sweet, thinking of Claire playing in this park with her little friends made my heart happy. I hope she loves it there while I am at work. 10:14am - Went back to the car and headed to Rockstar Tan, once we got there Claire was back to sleep and she got to visit with Lizanne while I did a load of laundry. Then off to Costco we went. At Costco Claire was aake and alert and we chatted while I picked up the baby wipes and frozen chicken sandwiches we needed. Once we got to the line to check out Claire had had it with our errands. She started to cry a little bit so I took her out of her car seat and just held her while we checked out and then walked to the car. 11:15am - She was calm again as we left Costco and went back to the salon to throw it all in the dryer, once there she came out of the car seat and was ready to play, she rolled around on her blanket and then it was time to eat for the both of us. I heated up a chicken sandwich and had some apple slices with it. She nursed for about 25 minutes but she was playing at the breast more than usual so I am not sure if she ate more than usual or not. 12:32pm - Time to head home, it was nice to catch up with Lizanne and Roni at the salon. I still have about a month before I have to go back so it was fun to see some customers while I was there too. Loaded up the laundry and my baby and it was time to get home. 1:06pm - Now I was hungry again and Claire was sleeping again haha she is the best little sleeper. I heated up my roasted broccoli and cauliflower and turned on my reality shows while rocking Claire in her bassinet. 1:52pm - Started to search Amazon for a new swaddle for bed time because she wiggles out of hers and it ends up around her face and that makes me uncomfortable so a sleep sack that holds her arms down is going to be our next option. Claire is still asleep so I put the laundry away, stripped the bed and got a new basket of laundry ready to go, did the dishes and got ready for a short nap. 2:13pm - Nope, no nap for mommy. Claire wanted to be bounced and played with which is ok with me. Today at the day care someone told me to enjoy holding her in the moby because soon she won't want that anymore :( another mom [Shar] told me that someone else told her the same thing - why lol why would you tell us new mommies this, of course we know that no reason to make us think about it haha. Lost track of time until 4:30pm in that time we did tummy time, played on her play mat, put new sheets on the bed, finished the laundry, changed her diaper and gave her tummy a massage. Lost track of time again haha days are much busier now with her being able to play and wanting to chat. I gave it a shot though :) Here are the photos I took of her today, I had a wonderful time with her on her last day in her 1st month. She is just the sweetest and I am excited that we get to have her weighed on her two month birthday - hope she has put on some weight since last Friday. Cannot believe that two months ago I welcomed this babe into the world. I am thankful for everyday with her.
Hope you have a wonderful day, squeeze your loved ones xo Hello! 60 days!?! woah. Let's do an update.
How I picture having a baby will be. & Being a mommy - 12 days in. We are almost at Claire's 2 month birthday and it is hard to believe. As with everything we have had some ups and downs, things change by the day and I am just learning how to be the best mommy to Claire. Sleep She is still quite the napper, she takes about 3 or 4 a day in her bassinet and they range in length and while she naps I get stuff done around the house, cross things off my to do list, and I try to take at least one nap a day. So far so good. She falls asleep easily without much coaxing, she usually eats, plays and then nods off. At night it is pretty much the same. What changes a lot and can make or break a day is how long she wants to sleep between each feeding. We have had a few nights of 7 hours of sleep, a good amount of 4 - 5 but lately she is back to wanting to nurse every 2. I thought with the block feeding that she might sleep longer at night but it seems to be the opposite. We have her doctors appt next week so that is on my list of topics to cover with her doctor. We want to implement a sleeping routine but so far we are pretty lax on it, she usually is in her crib by 10:30pm after nursing, maybe a book and being changed. Once I get this blocked nursing thing in control it should be a lot easier to get more strict on that. Our sleep is going pretty well too. I wake up quickly and fall back to sleep pretty quickly, the last two nights have been tougher because I have had a lot on my mind so getting back to sleep was a bit harder, but overall I am feeling rested. I do not wake Ryan during the night because he cannot really do much while I am breastfeeding and since he has to go into the office in the morning I figure he can sleep and on the weekends he takes a few feedings so I can catch up. Lately he takes her in the morning before work, changes her and calms her down so I can rest a little bit longer. I feel like our routine is working for us and our fingers are crossed she starts sleeping for longer bouts soon. Breastfeeding Well, I have written about this in many many other posts: Thrush Thrush update Lactation appointment We are still getting along and I am happy I have kept up with it. When it gets tough I have thought, "man, this is too hard maybe I should supplement" but I keep being told how much easier this will get and I keep waiting for that to happen. I am lucky because she is a great eater, she latches well, and she is gaining weight but the thrush, overproduction and sore nipples do get me down sometimes. We are still working on all of those with - nystatin syrup for her, nystatin cream, fluconazole, probiotics, gentian violet and waiting on our order of grapefruit seed extract. Still washing bras, towels, pump parts, and burp clothes daily. The bonding aspect of breastfeeding is wonderful- I love when she caresses my neck, holds my finger and stares at my face. She is the sweetest, I will keep working on these issues because I want this to work for as long as possible and maybe 8 weeks just is not enough time for it to be easy. Breastfeeding in public has been going well, I was a little nervous at first but I am happy that we both have got our groove and things are going well and I know that I can nurse her where ever and whenever. I use my cover when I want to and don't use it when I don't. I was breastfeeding Claire last weekend in SD, we were sitting on a restaurant patio and I was not using a cover, an elderly woman got so excited about it and started waving to say hello. It was so cute! Most people avert their eyes and try not to look at me but it was nice that she wanted to interact with me and it did help me feel more comfortable with my decision. My relationship with Ryan Ryan is an amazing dad, my best friend and a great husband. It is true that all the extra work of a baby can sometimes make a relationship tough, we have had those moments when we are both tired and maybe a little grouchy but one of us always brings us back. The bedtime routine that we are trying includes Claire being put to bed and then us spending some time together where we reconnect, talk about everything not baby related and just enjoy each other. At 8 weeks postpartum it has been nice to spend sometime alone with my husband and this weekend we are going away for a night for wine tasting and relaxation. I think it will be so so much fun and I value our relationship as husband and wife not just as parents. Healing from her birth I am as good as can be expected it seems, my incision is healed but I know full healing can take up to a year so I need to still be kind to myself. I was cleared for working out so that has been really great and I think has helped me heal in other ways. Emotional healing is going well also, I do not feel blue as often as I did at first and I am totally ok with the course our delivery had to take. I just spoke with Ryan about he dealt with that day when things got crazy, I had not thought about how emotional that must have been for everyone else and it was really nice to sit and talk it out with him. It was a scary day but here we are happy and healthy. Thats all for now xoxo friends have a great day Nikol Instagram Photo Dump Took a picture a day [ok I take like 100 a day] and made it into a video :) august 31st - october 5th My last post was kind of a downer but I was feeling pretty down, day to day my emotions change and I am learning to deal with it. All that boob talk had me go down a Google black hole of breastfeeding, thrush, block feeding, pumping and overproduction. I am now out of that black hole and feeling better about the situation. I almost started another huge day of Google search about the Mirena IUD but I have decided to not go down that route today, but soon I will need to. Things have been really good otherwise :) Last Sunday we celebrated Ryans birthday at Carmine's in Pasadena, Ryan has been going there for 9 years and I was invited to my first one 6 years ago and I love going. It is fun to have a tradition. Claire was wonderful and the grandparents were excited to hang out with her, she was passed around the table and seemed pretty happy with it. Then we we went to visit my parents for a few days that was also wonderful, it was full of visits from family friends and even a few high school ladies that I miss and had not seen in ages. Wish family lived closer and we could see them more often, going to lunch and shopping with my mom was so much fun. Then watching tv and hanging out with my dad at night was also great. I love how many people Claire makes happy and how awesome everyone in our lives is - thank you for reaching out and making us feel so loved. I worried I would end up melting into my couch and be forgotten because I could not make it to all the activities, but it has been much easier than I thought because we have family and friends who make us a priority and we are thankful for that. Sadly Ryan had to head out of town for work for a few days but Claire and I did pretty well :) Once we got back to LB I got to do one of my favorite things - go to a haunted house! Ok, well this one was a ship Queen Mary Dark Harbor. Robin & I headed to the ship, had cocktails and yummy tacos. The mazes were pretty awesome and most were very scary. I loved it! Shout out thank you to Gma Holli & Auntie Kate for babysitting, they took her on a walk and just loved on her for the evening :) we appreciate it! Yesterday was Ryan's sushi birthday celebration and Claire's first champagne brunch. It was so much fun, mommy had 4 glasses of champagne and paid for it for the rest of the day BUT the sushi and friend time was so great. There were 2 other babies in attendance: Hailey & Chip! What is so fun is that they are all so sweet and well behaved! I loved it! I am so thankful there are a good amount of baby friends around for Claire to play with. I can't wait for her to be more interactive with them. Oh man, the cuteness. No Cheers or Gripes this post just wanted to catch you up on our life :) also wanted to wish a happy
8 WEEK AND 1 DAY BIRTHDAY TO CLAIRE! this lady is so awesome and here are a few things that are going on with her *likes to blow spit bubbles *breaks out of daddy swaddles but seems to be stuck in mommy swaddles *has enjoyed the swing a little bit more *still loving nap time and sleeping pretty well overall *stretching is her fave *likes taking walks with daddy to look at flowers *has taken up flying above mommies head and drooling on moms face. Have a great Sunday! xo Here is my pretty, chubby baby :) Today she was weighed and is now 9 pounds 7 ounces and I love it. She is putting on weight well and seems very content. I just got back from my lactation appointment and am feeling a little bit blue. It isn't really from the appointment per se I am just feeling a little tired and overwhelmed. I can't even pinpoint the reason but I am looking forward to heading to the gym soon and maybe sweating it out. Back to the appointment - I made it because for the last week or so Claire has been eating really often, sucking on her hands a ton and just did not seem satisfied after she nursed. I was worried that I was not producing enough for her and started to work myself into a tizzy thinking ahead of when I head back to work and stressed that I would have to supplement her with formula. Well, I was incorrect and I guess I did not need to run out and buy those fenugreek vitamins - I have an oversupply problem. It makes sense, my boobs always get very very full, they ache, she coughs while eatings, my letdown is very strong, her stool is watery and she burps/farts a lot [I raise a lady]. Because of the thrush I thought my nipple pain was pretty normal and to some extent it is due to the thrush but it also is because she wants to nurse often to get the hind milk. I was told at the beginning that she needed to nurse from both breasts each feeding and like a month ago I decided to stop doing that and let her just have each feeding from one and then switch. I read that this could help her get more hind milk, I was already trying to combat this problem. The next step I need to take is to give her the same breast for a few feedings in a row, that will make sure that she gets the hind milk and since the other breast will stay full that might slow down my production. I will start that today and see how it goes. They weighed her before I nursed her and then after, she took in three ounces in about 5 minutes and that confirmed that she is a good eater and since my breast was still totally full and she wanted back on, we tried again. A few minutes pass and she is sucking away, they took her off and weighed her again. She didn't take anything in, so she just likes to suck. So those 5 feedings in an hour were just for comfort which is fine and I love that I can comfort her but because we are still dealing with this infection they suggest a pacifier. So we have arrived at my second topic - the paci. We decided we didn't want to use one because we want her to learn how to self soothe and I just did not want to be that parent that uses a pacifier to shut their baby up, Claire is a happy baby and when she cries I want to figure out what her need is and solve it for her, I don't want to just make her be quiet - so the new plan is to let her suck when she just needs to suck but once it begins to hurt me then I give her the pacifier. I am hoping that the feeding repeatedly on one breast will help reduce my overproduction and it will also then leave my baby more satisfied. I will keep you updated. Hope you are having a good day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
You are still that fun loving guy who wake boarded with no fear and could keep up with me when it came to the drinking haha. I am so happy that I have gotten to watch you become the strong, loving man that you are today. I am thrilled that we have a lifetime of birthdays ahead of us because there is no one else that I would rather wake up with and go to bed with. I miss you this birthday but I look forward to celebrating this weekend with you, sushi and champagne! What else could we ask for :) |
Archives
March 2016
Categories
All
AuthorI am a working mother who jots down random thoughts, monthly updates and occasionally my husband posts. |