The (Annual?) Advent Calendar

It's advent time again...woot woot!!!  I love, love, love advent calendars.  I had one every year as a kid.  (See last year's post.)  This year is the second year that Chad surprised me with another "beauty" advent calendar.  (I'm hoping this becomes an annual event. *wink, wink*)  This time the calendar came from QVC instead of Benefit.  The Benefit calendar last year was nice, but I can't say that I was excited to get multiples of the same products in different colors...especially when they weren't products I loved.  I feel like Benefit ran out of products to put into the calendar.  The nice part about the QVC calendar was that it contained products from lots of different brands...more to try!

So here's the run down of its contents.  I haven't had a chance to try any of these products just yet, but I'll let you know how I liked them in a later post.

#1 - bareMinerals Lash Domination Mascara

#2 - Mally Beauty Eyeliner

#3 - it Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer

#4 - it Cosmetics Hello Lashes Mascara

#5 - Doll 10 HydraGel Cream Blush

#6 - Kate Somerville ExfoliKate

#7 - Nest Midnight Fleur Fragrance

#8 - Wen Sweet Almond Peppermint Oil

#9 - Embellish Texturizing Definer

#10 - Compact Mirror

#11 - Perricone MD Face Finishing Moisturizer

#12 - Josie Maran pure Argan Oil

#13 - Complexion Blending Sponge

#14 - StriVectin Tightening Neck Cream

#15 - Formula X Nail Polish

# 16 - JB Cosmetics LashFood Lash Primer

#17 - Clark's Botanicals Smoothing Marine Cream

#18 - Molton Brown London Body Wash

#19 - philosophy Amazing Grace Bath & Shower Gel

#20 - ColorWow One-Minute Transformation Styling Cream

#21 - Mally Beauty Liquid Lipstick

#22 - Algenist Anti-Aging Repairing Oil

#23 - Clean Warm Cotton Fragrance

#24 - Peter Thomas Roth FIRMx Peeling Gel

Hope you enjoyed your Christmas and Santa left you some nice things!

Cheers!

Grey's World: Two, Two, Two Months Old!

Wow, time flies when you're having fun!  Our little man is already 2 months old!  (Well, almost 3 months now, since I'm so late posting this.  LOL.)

I'm still finding having an infant very challenging, but I can say with positivity that I also found the fun in it during his second month.  Yay!  

{12lbs, 10oz - 22.75 inches}

Knowing that both Chad & I have busy work schedules, I've always been focused on getting Grey into a routine.  I know that young infants cannot tolerate too much of a routine, but we've always strived towards one.  So right off the bat we started focusing on differentiating night & day.  At night, we kept the lights dim and Grey in his tight nighttime swaddle during his feeds...only removing it for a quick diaper change.  During the day, we swaddled only for naps and just in a looser swaddle blanket.  Lights were on & the atmosphere more stimulating.  We would also "play" and do tummy time between daytime feeds.  I think it was because of these efforts that Grey has never had his days & nights mixed up.  

One other thing we implemented was a strict "wake up" time (within 30 min each day) regardless of his exact time that he went to bed.  We did this in hopes of establishing a "bedtime" in coming months.  Grey surprised up and began sleeping 5-6 hours at night during his 2nd month...much sooner than we expected.  Double yay!!

Thank goodness we made such great strides with sleeping, because we continued to struggle with his reflux & painful gas.  At this point we had exhausted a couple of formulas and switched to Enfamil Gentlease, as well as increased his Zantac to 3x/day.  It seemed like whenever we made a change in his medication or formula regimen, we'd see improvement in his symptoms initially, but that the reflux symptoms would slowly creep back up on him.  So frustrating!

Grey also developed a nasty diaper rash with open areas on his buttocks towards the end of his second month.  This proved to be quite difficult to get a handle on.  (More on this next month.)

Overall I think both Grey and I hit a bit of a stride this second month.  I feel like I regained footing, felt better about my "mothering" skills, and even found joy in the day to day infant care activities.  Grey was doing great...so alert...holding his head up without assistance.  He even began to babble & smile a bit by the end of the the 2nd month.  man, I tell you, those baby smiles & coos make it all worth while!

Here's some of my favorite shots from Grey's second month.  Enjoy!

Grey's World: Happy One Month!

I don't know which is more unbelievable...that this can little man is already one month or that I kept a tiny human alive for one month!  LOL!  Seriously though...everyone tells you that "time flies" and now I believe that is true.  It feels like just yesterday, we were bringing him home from the hospital...

...and now we're here!

This first month has been one of the most challenging & frustrating but rewarding and happy months that I've ever experienced.  Taking care of a newborn truly makes you "flexible" with your schedule.  I am such a planner by nature.  Now I may try to plan out our day, but I'm lucky if the tiniest portion of that plan works out - frustrating.  I've found that it's easier not to plan in these early weeks unless we have somewhere we MUST be at a certain time.  It just isn't worth putting forth all that effort just to be defeated.  Ha.

Grey has experienced several challenges since birth, which resulted in the need for Chad & I to be more flexible.  (There's that word again...flexible. LOL.)  Initially in the hospital, not unlike many mothers, I experienced challenges with nursing.  It was just SOOOOO PAINFUL!!!!  The hospital staff (nurses & lactation consultants) kept telling me that Grey was latching wonderfully, and that I shouldn't be experiencing "toe-curling" pain...but that's exactly what I was dealing with.  Toe.  Curling.  Pain.  

Grey seemed fine - similar to other newborns - except he was having his own challenge with nursing...  
The night before we were discharged, the Newborn Nursery nurse identified that he had tongue-tie.  I was thankful for her thorough assessment, as we now knew why his nursing was going so poorly.  It appeared that he was nursing correctly from the outside, but we couldn't see his tongue movements on the inside.  That is what was causing my pain.  The nurses explained that the pediatrician should be able to clip the tongue tie the next morning (an easy and relatively painless procedure for Grey), which would quickly resolve his issues.  Unfortunately, the pediatrician (hospitalist - not our pediatrician) refused to clip the tongue-tie citing insurance issues and the fact that the tongue-tie should "work itself out" as he ages.  I was furious, as I am employed by an insurance company and know how these things work.  Never mind that the poor boy couldn't eat!  Thankfully we had a visit with Grey's pediatrician the next day, and I planned to discuss it with them at that point.  The continued tongue-tie challenges made our first afternoon/night at home ridiculously exhausting & terribly frustrating.  There were more than a few tears shed that night.

The next morning, we met with one of the nurses at Grey's pediatrician's office, who was also a lactation consultant (LC).  She immediately examined his tongue-tie and commented on how severe it was.  She grabbed one of the doctors on duty that morning, and they clipped it immediately.  The whole procedure was so quick.  Grey was back in my arms & tearless within a few minutes.  The nurse/LC then watched him nurse - again commenting on how well he was latching.  Unfortunately, by this time, Grey had lost 11.5% of his birth weight.  (Anything more than 10% is concerning to medical professionals.)  So it was recommended that we start supplementing with formula.  I honestly felt a bit of relief when the LC told me this.  I just knew he was uncomfortable (since we were unintentionally starving him), and this made me happy.  It's odd how much better I felt when the LC gave us the "thumbs up" to start formula.  I'm not sure if that is because all the attention & controversy around formula feeding/not breast feeding...or if I just needed someone else to tell me what I already was feeling in my gut.  Anyway...in an effort not to cause nipple confusion, it was agreed upon to supplement the formula at the breast using a thin tube attached to a syringe.  I'm going to spare you the details on this process, but let's just say it's a two person job for each feeding.  (You can contact me if you want the specifics.)  We continued this process for about 3 1/2 days...but it truly seemed like 3 1/2 MONTHS!  This was a terribly complex & frustrating process for both myself, the "helper" AND Grey - not only with the process itself but also because we still had no idea exactly how much milk Grey was receiving. 

It was after my third visit with the LC and the realization that my body just wasn't going o produce an adequate amount of breastmilk to sustain Grey that we knew that the supplementation of formula was here to stay.  Due to the complexity of the process to supplement at the breast, I decided to start pumping & adding the breastmilk to the formula bottle.  This would also allow me a break and others to bond with Grey during feeding.  After a few feeds in this manner, Grey's temperament completely changed.  He was much calmer...and he also began to gain weight in a consistent manner.  Yahoo!!!  I realized at this point that this was the best option for Grey and for our family as a whole. 
Unfortunately due to further complications with pumping & breastmilk supply, we switched to full formula feeds just before 4 weeks.  

Now for the last 2 weeks, we've been dealing with reflux & gas issues - more frustration for Grey...and us.  *sigh*  We've switched to different formulas and started Grey on Zantac. The Zantac seemed to improve his reflux symptoms some, but he seems to be more bothered by his gas lately.  So we changed his formula again today to Enfamil Gentlease, which is know to assist with gas & spit up.  We may still need to adjust his meds for the reflux but are attempting to only make one change at a time in an effort to really understand if the change is helpful.

All of these issues have been - of course - on top of all the normal newborn struggles.  It's been tough, and has totally tested our family.  The frustration stems mostly from the fact that we're not able to "fix" what is causing issues for Grey.  You feel helpless.  I just want him to talk to me and tell me what he needs.  Ha.  Wouldn't that be nice.  Instead it's trial and error.  He is such a dream when he's not bothered by these symptoms, which makes it all the more frustrating.

I'll leave you with a few fun pics of Grey. Wish us luck on our reflux journey!

Cheers!

Mom of Grey: Our Birth Story

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary.  So I thought it appropriate to share the best anniversary gift that we ever could have received!

Welcome

Greyson Rocco!

Born:  October 7th at 3:55AM

Weight:  7lbs 9oz

Length:  19.75 inches

(P.S.  This is where you should stop reading if you wish to steer clear of 

any information that may be TMI for you.)

Grey was brought into this world via an induction.  As a general rule of thumb, inductions tend to prolong the laboring process, especially for first time moms.  I would highly recommend waiting for your body to induce labor on its own (if medically appropriate) rather than having a drug-induced labor.  My experience with it was right on point with what I had read or heard.  We were admitted on a Monday evening for Cervidil placement with a plan to start IV Pitocin the next morning.  Both Chad & my Mom accompanied me to the hospital.  The Cervidil placement wasn't by any means what you would call comfortable, but it really wasn't too bad.  After the Cervidil is placed, the waiting game begins.  So I sent both of my companions home to get some sleep.  I needed them both rested and strong for the coming days.  :)

The Cervidil was removed the next morning and the IV Pitocin started at 6:30AM.  I didn't really feel much until they ruptured my membranes (bag of water) at 9:00AM.  Once this occurred the contractions became much more intense and painful.  I actually ended up receiving my epidural around 10:00AM (at only 2 cm dilated).  I'm thankful I went with it early, because the anesthesiologists had difficulty getting it regulated to a level that actually managed my pain.  That wasn't finally accomplished until 11:30AM!!  Yikes!!!  After that it was a very slow go.  

My body was very slow to progress with dilation, and I don't think my contractions ever did become regular.  I was finally given the "thumbs up" sign that we were ready to begin pushing a little after midnight on Wednesday morning.  I pushed, and I pushed, and I pushed...for 3 hours!!!!  

The doc didn't seem to sure about why everything was taking so long...other than my contractions never did become strong enough or regular enough.  Weird.  After 3 hours of pushing, I hit my limit...or ran out of steam basically.  Little Grey was still hanging in there though and hadn't shown any signs of distress from being in the birth canal for that long of a period of time.  (He's been a bit resilient this whole pregnancy.  What a good trait to have!)  After pushing for that long, I didn't want to opt for a c-section, especially if Grey wasn't "asking" for one.  So we opted for a vacuum-assist...something that I was totally terrified of, as one of my friends has had a very negative experience/outcome.  The doc was pretty certain though that it would work - and that it did.  One or two tugs accompanied by me pushing and our Grey was out in the real world!  Yahoo!  It's exhausting to think back on it still that my labor was 22 hours (counting from the start of the Pitocin) with 3.5 hours of pushing!  Phew!

The hospital where I delivered has a policy of placing the baby right on the mother's chest immediately after delivery for skin-to-skin time.  However, because of the vacuum-assist, the hospital's policy is to have the NICU team on stand-by in the room.  So skin-to-skin time would be delayed until after the assessment was complete.  I was so thankful that the hospital had these precautions, because when Grey was finally delivered he had a nuchal cord x2 (umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice).  This could have been awful for him, but he never ever showed signs of distress.  The doc mentioned that the umbilical cord was very long and that was most likely why the cord was only wrapped loosely around his neck causing no distress.

Now everyone I know told me how glorious it would be to hold your baby for the first time, but I must admit that I was thankful for those extra 15 minutes post-delivery to just decompress.  I sent Chad over to the warmer with the NICU team & Grey to watch the assessment while Mom hung back with me to just...BE.  When they actually gave Grey to me, we were still waiting on the placenta to be delivered.  I found it terribly difficult to concentrate on the baby and feel that "glory" that everyone talked about.  I ended up just letting Mom & Chad hold the baby until we were finished in Labor & Delivery and could be transferred to Postpartum.  That's when I was mentally ready to hold this awesome human being, snuggle with him and just take it all in.

The delivery was tough, and I was way more emotional that I had ever imagined I would be, but we had stellar nursing & OB staff to help us through it!!  It was a long road for this family to even get to this point, and I am grateful for it all each day when I wake up and look at Grey!

Cheers!

Pregnancy Must Haves

The other day I posted about pregnancy "surprises".  So today I thought I'd focus on my pregnancy "must haves".  (I'm trying to focus on all the good things as I lay in this hospital bed waiting for my induction meds.)  Several of these items actually assisted with getting through those "surprises".  


Gin Gins/Preggie Pop Drops
If you experience any nausea at all during your pregnancy, I'd recommend trying one (or both) of these hard candies.  Both helped with basic nausea and were easy to stick in your purse and take with you anywhere.  

I was lucky to never get much morning sickness other than nausea during my pregnancy, but by week 9 the nausea was pretty intense lasting about 5 hours of the day.  I can't say that the candies helped much more than temporarily at this point.  However, I can vouch for acupuncture.  I had been seeing an acupuncturist prior to pregnancy.  Once I visited her for my morning sickness, the nausea vanished the next day!  Yahoo!!


Maternity Pillow
I invested in a maternity pillow at the end of my 1st Trimester.  I was experiencing hip pain and having to adjust pillows between my knees and behind my back every time I got up to use the bathroom was more work than it needed to be.  I found that sleeping with the pillow in the opposite direction than in the photo was more comfortable for me...but the best thing was having a pillow where ever you needed it regardless of the position in which you were sleeping.  

Now this pillow does take up a good portion of the bed, so the hubs will have to scoot over a bit.  However, you are carrying the baby around for 9 months, so you should get more of the bed, right?  :) 


basq Skin Products
A family member gifted me my first basq product - the Calm Resilient Body Oil.  She is a mom herself and swore that these products saved her from a single stretch mark.  I took to using the body oil at night and using the Intensive Treatment Stretch Mark Cream during the day (to avoid any oil marks on my clothes).  Both products are super soothing, and I can proudly report that I don't have a single stretch mark anywhere...even in my old age!  ;)


Old Navy & Gap Maternity Clothes
Old Navy & Gap have wonderful maternity basics.  I loved the tanks & yoga pants from either store.  (You will wear a lot of these!)  I also love Gap's maternity jeans, work pants, bras & skivvies.  Target was definitely a solid runner up for tees, tanks & t-shirt dresses.

If you have a mom friend who can share some hand-me-downs, totally take them up on it, as maternity clothes can be expensive.  However, the basics that you will wear a lot of are totally worth investing in.


Tums
Prior to my 3rd Trimester, I probably have taken Tums once in my life.  However, once I entered the latter half of the 3rd Trimester, I think that I've downed a couple of bottles.  LOL!  I also have them in every purse, bag & desk that I own.  Oh...make sure to keep a bottle next to the bed.  I found this useful not having to hunt them down in the middle of the night.


The Wise Baby Blog
I found this blog to be a bit of a lifesaver when researching products.  I love that it's so easy to search for past blog posts & reviews.  However, my absolute favorite posts are on Wednesdays...Real Mom Favorites.  I found it so helpful to read about products that "real moms" appreciated and why.  I used this blog religiously to build our baby registry.  I'll have to write a follow-up post on if the items were as good as they were said to be.


Everyone seems to experience different symptoms throughout pregnancy.  Hopefully this post will be helpful to you in some way.  Cheers!

Pregnancy Surprises

Pregnancy is full of surprises to say the least!  I feel like you spend 9 months figuring everything out...just in time to get back to "normal".  At least that's my perspective from where I currently sit - the second to last day of my pregnancy.  I'm scheduled for induction tomorrow evening, and if there is an "induction God", she will see to it that the delivery occurs by/on Tuesday...and not prolonged any further.  So since my pregnancy is coming to an end, I thought it was a perfect time to share a few of my experiences.

Back pain...or lack there of
This is probably a bit more specific to me maybe than others, but given my scoliosis I totally expected to have horrible back pain.  I regularly had back pain pre-pregnancy and had convinced myself that I should not carry a child...despite several consultations with by OB, high-risk OB and chiropractor.  LOL!  I knew best, right?  

Well the only back pain I experience was some persistent rib pain in my thoracic region, which was completely controlled with my regular chiropractic visits.  I didn't experience any of my typical pre-pregnancy back pain.  This was probably the biggest surprise!


Cravings & Aversions
I have no idea how a body determines what it's going to dislike and what it will crave.  It seems so different for everyone.  
* 1st Trimester:  Aversions to pizza & most meat.  Craved mac & cheese.
* 2nd Trimester:  Aversions to some meat (mostly large pieces, like steak).  Craved iced tea & fruit.
* 3rd Trimester:  Pretty much the same as the 2nd Trimester with the addition of some cookie & popsicle cravings.

I have to think that I lucked out with my cravings.  Most of my cravings were pretty low-calorie, which I think contributed to me only gaining 19 lbs.  (Book normal is 25-35 lbs.)


Exhaustion
The 1st Trimester exhaustion was crazy.  No one who hasn't actually experienced it can even possibly understand it.  I always thought pregnant women were just "tired".  The type of exhaustion these women experience cannot be classified as "tired".  It's truly in a another league!  I'm not sure if age plays a factor in this, but due to my level of exhaustion throughout my pregnancy, I barely exercised.  Even when the crazy exhaustion of the 1st Trimester had subsided, I was still ridiculously exhausted - too exhausted to get up early to exercise before work & way too tired by the time I returned home from work. So other than a few walks here & there, I haven't exercised in 9 months.  Ouch!  I'm in for a rude awakening post-delivery.  Eek!


Learning New Aches & Pains
I spent 30+ years learning the cause of aches & pains that I had experienced...but you can pretty much throw all that out the window during pregnancy.  Plan to relearn causes for aches/pains that you experienced previously...and decipher causes for new aches/pains.  Conditions like heartburn that may have never been an issue before will probably rear its ugly head at some point - probably the 3rd Trimester - of your pregnancy.


I'm in no way a pregnancy expert, but I would guess that you may feel similarly towards the end of your pregnancy.  Here's to wishing for a smooth delivery!  Cheers!

Baby G's Nursery

It's been forever since I last posted...almost 2 months.  We've been crazy busy finalizing things around the house and getting ready for the baby.  I hope to share more pics of the house soon, but for now I'm going to focus this post on the nursery.

We're really quite proud of this endeavor.  We designed the majority of it, with the exception of the actual room choice, wall color and placement of crib.  That credit goes to our amazing designer, Julie, from Shaping Your Space.

So here goes...

We don't really have a true theme to the nursery, but I'd guess if we had to pick something  it would be "travel-ish".  Totally in love with all the random prints we chose, especially the "city prints".  They represent two of our favorite places (NYC & Paris) and one that Chad enjoys but I've never been to (London).

Dresser | Ikea, Gray Cart | Ikea, Diaper Pail | Target, City Prints (right wall) | Etsy, Triangle Print | Etsy, Hello Handsome Print | Etsy, Rock Star Print | Etsy, Mountain Print|Etsy, Sunshine Print | Zulily (some time ago), Changing Pad | Gift, Changing Pad Cover |Target, Waterproof Pad | BuyBuyBaby, White/Gray Rope Basket | Pottery Barn Kids

So Baby G has the largest bedroom in the house.  LOL!  We thought about putting him in a smaller room until our designer talked us into using this room.  Since it's such a decent size, we plan to use it for his playroom also...and we can be right next door in the office to keep an eye on things.  :)

We chose to tuck the crib in the corner under the dormer, which makes the perfect place to hang his mobile.  Chad chose the mobile - airplanes - to fit with our travel theme.  Chad's grandfather was an Air Force test pilot back in the day.  I hope Baby G is able to hear some of his super cool stories some day!!

Crib | Amazon, Chevron Bin | Home Goods, Mobile | Amazon, Kansas City Print | Zulily, Curtains | Zulily

In viewing nurseries on blogs & Pinterest, the book wall seems to be a current trend.  Not only does it become wall decor, but it allows the child to go and select a book that they wish to read (once they're a bit older, of course).  We're excited to see what books Baby G chooses as his faves.

Dr. Seuss Print | Canvas on Demand, Book Ledges | Ikea, Books | Wonderful Family & Friends

Loving how these bookshelves are so versatile.  I'm quite sure that they'll be rearranged a million times!

Rocker/Glider | Amazon, Bookshelves | Ikea, Navy Cubes | Target

Baby G will be arriving very soon.  Hope you enjoyed the nursery tour!