Maternity Leave

Dear Mia,


I started writing a blog post on April 12th and it was going to detail how we spent our days together while I was on maternity leave.  This is how it began:

One of my favorite parts of the day is cuddling with you on the couch and watching The Price is Right.  We do this from 10:00 am to 11:00 am every day, just after I change your diaper and get you dressed for the day.  I wrap you up in a little fleece blanket so you're nice a cozy, recline our seat and settle in for must-see-TV.  Sometimes Oscar will jump up and cuddle with us on the footrest.  There's no better way to spend 60 minutes.


I've been home with you since the day you were born and it's been the most important six weeks of my life.


I've come to realize that one of the main purposes of maternity leave is to teach me that I cannot move at the speed of light anymore.  Life with you moves a lot slower than it did before you arrived.


Unfortunately I never found the time to finish this post and it sat unpublished in my blog drafts for months.  I'm going to try and finish it now because it's scary how faded those memories are, and I want to keep those memories alive.  So here it is:


Our day would start at 5:00am when you would wake up hungry for your morning bottle.  Your cries would rouse me from my sleep and we'd head to the kitchen together where I'd make your bottle.  You'd eat like a champ and then I would change your diaper and pump for your next meal.  While I pumped you would fall asleep laying next to me on the couch.  When I was done we'd both go back to bed until you woke again at 9:00am.  The cycle repeated at 9:00am with a bottle, diaper change and pumping, followed by an outfit change for you.  Then we'd return to the couch for the hour of TV watching that I detailed above.


You'd inevitably fall asleep again from about 10:30am to Noon.  I'd spend most of that time showering and getting ready for the day.  Sometimes I'd put laundry away or run the vacuum, too.  You woke up to eat again at 12pm and then we'd sit with your Dad (who came home every day for lunch during my leave) from 12:15-12:45pm.  After he left I'd have lunch and pump while you took another small nap.


By 2:00pm we were both ready to get out of the house.  Sometimes we'd head out to the grocery store or run errands, and other days we'd go for a short walk around the neighborhood.  I was still having some pain from the c-section so our outings were always pretty brief.


You would eat again at 3:00pm, whether we were home or not, and then I'd have to be home shortly after that to pump.  Sometimes (ok, once in a blue moon) I'd get dinner ready and your Dad and I would eat when he got home at 5:15pm.  There was more eating/diaper changing/pumping at 6:00pm, 9:00pm and 11:00pm.  Your Dad and I would also change you into your pajamas and give you a bath (3 times a week).  You would fall asleep right after your final feeding at 11:00pm and sleep like a champ until the next morning at 5:00am.


Mia, the time we spent at home together was priceless and I wouldn't trade those six weeks for the world.  I enjoyed each and every minute of our time together, and I'm so glad that I finally found the time to write about it.  I hope I can continue to blog and keep these kinds of memories alive.  I love you, nugget!


Love,
Momma

3 Months

Dear Mia,

You are three months old today!  And to celebrate this milestone you have decided to stop eating.  Yep, you've just decided that you're not all that interested in taking your bottle anymore, thankyouverymuch.  I'm sure you've convinced yourself that bottles are SO last month, but unfortunately that's your only method of nutrition at this point... so we're going to have to come to some sort of compromise.  Ok?

This month you really fell into a routine and started letting us know your likes and dislikes.  Likes: kicking, standing, your morning bottle, Daddy's funny faces and silly noises, anything you can stick in your mouth, your hands, bath time, and having your cheek rubbed.  Dislikes: long car rides and 6:00 pm.

Mia, you have a serious problem with 6:00 pm.  We're not really sure what exactly triggers it, but every day at 6:00 pm you are a non-eating, inconsolable, screaming baby.  It takes a good hour to finally calm you down- a routine which includes gas medicine, 2 ounces of milk (if we're lucky), a diaper change, rocking, butt patting, and me (or your Dad) eating dinner with one hand as we balance you on our lap with the other.  I really wish we could just draw up a new clock and leave the 6 off.  It would make our days SO much more enjoyable.

You're much more vocal with coos and laughs (and cries) but sometimes you'll break into a full conversation with yourself and just go on and on, babbling so much that your Dad and I just stare at you, thinking that at any moment we're actually going to be able to understand you!  Just the other day we were all in the car on the way to dinner and you chatted the entire way there.  You've also started to mimic the noises and faces your Dad makes, which is adorable... and frightening to think that one day you two are totally going to gang up on me.

You hate tummy time, and I'm probably the world's worst Mom for not making you do it more (so sue me), but you LOVE to stand up, shake your booty, and do a great bobble-head impression.  I like to stand you on my leg and as you rock back and forth, trying to stay balanced, I say "shake what I gave ya!" and you give me a big grin.  You're so darn cute.

I may complain about your little quirks sometimes, but in general you are a very happy baby, Mia.  You like to be included in the conversation, lay on your playmat, kick your piano, and get sloppy kisses from the dogs.  You smile at everyone you meet, love to be held, and just recently belly-laughed at Grandma Snipes for the first time.  We haven't been able to get you to laugh like that since, but we're trying!  You are still a great shopper, sleeper, and don't mind being in your car seat.  You are a joy!

This past month your Aunt Kirsten came for a visit and I took you to Naperville to meet your Aunt Sue and Emily and spend some more time with your Grandma Young.  You had a great time in Naperville and got all kinds of presents.  You are so spoiled!  Your Dad and I are planning a trip to Michigan soon so you can meet all of your Michigan relatives, and we're also planning a quick getaway to Indianapolis which will be your first overnight away from home.  We hope we can add "great traveler" to your list of attributes.  What do you think?

Love you baby,
Momma

Mornings with Mia

Dear Mia,

I've been back at work for six weeks now, and thankfully we've been able to establish, and stick to, a pretty good morning routine during that time.  Granted, it's ever-changing as you grow and mature, but it's working for now!

I try to be up and in the kitchen by 5:30am.  I empty the dishwasher, tidy up downstairs, and get your morning bottle heating up before I sit down to pump.  Around 6am you begin to stir, wake your Dad up, and the two of you come downstairs for your morning bottle.  Your Dad sings this song to you every morning, and you love it:

Good morning to you

Good morning to you

Good morning Miss Mia

Good morning to you!

You eat about 6 ounces of milk while snuggling with Daddy (who may or may not be half-asleep) and then lay in your boppy next to me while I finish pumping.  Some days you're more awake than others, but if you've eaten enough you're in a good mood and are perfectly content sucking on your hand as I talk to you and we watch Home Improvement re-runs.

I'm done by 6:15am and after getting everything packed up for the day (your diaper bag, bottles of milk, my pump, empty bottles, my lunch, my purse) we head upstairs to get perdy.

First, I change you out of your sleeper and into your day's attire- usually a onesie, pants and socks.  (Even though it's summer, I'm always afraid your little toes are going to get cold!)  You are always so bright eyed and smiley during this time that I can't help but give you LOTS of kisses as you lay on your changing pad, and tickle your tummy as I change your clothes.  When you're all dressed we head across the hall to the bathroom and I start getting ready.

I have a little spot for you all decked out on the counter and you hang out with me while I apply my face and straighten my hair.  I turn on Pandora and we listen to music or we talk about all of the fun things you're going to do at your Aunt Courtney's house.  You are cheery and happy until about 6:50am when you fuss until I turn you on your side and give you your pacifier.  You curl up just slightly right there on the counter and start to doze.

When I'm done in the bathroom I move you into the bed, right next to your Daddy (who usually returns to bed after an unsuccessful attempt at a coffee wake-me-up).  As soon as your head hits my pillow you fall asleep and snooze for ten minutes while I get dressed.

We're out the door at 7:15am with all of our bags in tow.  You wake up momentarily when I buckle you into your car seat but you are always fast asleep by the time we back out of the driveway.  I drop you off at Aunt Courtney's house around 7:30am and head off to work.

I have never been a morning person, however I'm realizing that mornings can be SO much more enjoyable if I give myself more time to slow down and enjoy moments with you.  It's those little morning giggles, bare belly tickles, and kisses I plant on your beautiful little feet that get me through my (sometimes difficult) days at work.  I love spending my mornings with you Mia, and I hope we can continue a good morning routine as you get older.  I love you!

Love,

Momma

2 Months

Dear Mia,

Today you are two months old!

You still have a love/hate relationship with your pacifier, and are starting to substitute it for your right hand when necessary.  You'll spit the pacifier out and give your hand a tongue bath which is both adorable and gross.

You suffered through your first cold this month, complete with a runny nose, ear drainage and wicked sneezes. The cold didn't slow you down much during the day, but at night it turned you into cranky pants.  You would cry and cry and refuse to be soothed.  I took you back to the doctor and they couldn't prescribe anything for you other than fluids and a humidifier for your nursery.  We heeded his advice and your cold subsided a few days later.  As a result of the cold, you've become much more tolerant of the booger sucker (which is nice) and you let me clean your ears without a complaint.

You love to be swaddled in a thick, fleece blanket and held tightly to my chest.  I rock you to sleep like this for your naps and then carry you up to your nursery.  At night when you get cranky, we swaddle you the same way but instead of a smooth rock, you prefer to be jostled and have your butt patted.  I use the word "patted" because I think if I admitted just how hard you like to be smacked we might get concerned phone calls.

You still love your bouncy seat and your swing, but only if you're visually stimulated at the same time.  You are fascinated by the little elephants that hang down on the bouncy and swing, and the owls on your pack-n-play.  The other day as you sat in your bouncy you stared intently at the elephants and than started swinging your right hand wildly in their direction.  You would hit the elephant and then watch bug-eyed as it twirled around.  You did this a few times and then in classic Mia form, passed out.  You also love to look out the window, stare at lights, and even watch TV.

You've started smiling!  We can talk to you and you give us this big, tooth-free grin and we just melt.  Melt, I tell you!  You are the most adorable baby, Mia!  Your Dad makes you smile more than anyone else.  I think you're on your way to becoming quite the Daddy's girl.

This month you also started spending your days with Aunt Courtney and your cousins and sported your first ponytail.  Dropping you off in the morning is the absolute worst part of my day, but seeing you when I get home is the best part.  My world revolves around you now, Mia, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

I love you, nugget!
Momma

1 Month

Dear Mia,

You've arrived!  You're here!  And you've turned our lives completely upside down!  It's incredible to me that one little swaddled human can be so destructive to such and organized set of parents.  I mean, where does the time go?  You probably sleep 20 hours a day and yet, it seems like I'm always at your beck and call.  It's embarrassing, really, that I've been home with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since you were born (5 weeks ago) and yet I haven't even had the time to start writing in your baby book!  Or write a blog post!  Or order your birth announcements!  Or even simply print a picture of you!  And let's just say a little prayer for automatic bill pay because I'm positive I wouldn't have found the time to pay any of those... and we'd hate to lose our house at a time like this!

So needless to say, I'm a little behind.  Please forgive me.

You turned 5 weeks old today and are already a totally different person than you were on the day you were born.  You look us in the eyes, coo, burp like a 50 year old man, and when you smile (albeit unintentionally) our hearts stop.  You hate being cold and in order to give you a successful bath we subject ourselves to heat stroke and turn the bathroom into a sauna.  You love your car seat and will shop with me for hours.  You love to be swaddled and snuggled, listen to music with Daddy, and have a love/hate relationship with your pacifier.  You love it in your mouth... you hate it in your mouth... you hate that it's not in your mouth... you love that I've put it back in your mouth.  We do this all day long.

At night when we put you to bed you will fuss about the status of your pacifier (see above) but to calm you down all we have to do is stroke your hair and rub your cheek.  Sometimes we'll also swaddle you and turn on a little heater because you like to be nice and toasty.  It can take some time to get you to fall asleep but it's worth it because you sleep through the night!  You sleep from 11pm to 6am each night.  You'll never understand how incredibly amazing that is until you have a child of your own.  You think you'll be able to handle living on 3 hours of sleep until you're actually required to do so... and then it's a whole different ballgame.

You will launch your pacifier across the couch when you're done with it.  You love your right arm and always manage to break it free of your blanket constraints.  You also love to lay on your right side- a position you assume on your own at naptime and bedtime.  You started rolling over on your side at only a few weeks old and it scared the hell out of me!  I watched you do it one time.  You swung your left leg over your right with such force that it brought the rest of your left side with you.  You are such a troublemaker!  Don't you know that you're supposed to be sleeping on your back?

You hate to wait for your bottle in the morning, have the boogers sucked from your nose and are still startled when the dogs all bark in unison.  You poop when you eat- complete with grimacing, grunting and leg thrusting.  It's both the most adorable and disgusting thing I've ever witnessed.  Sometimes you poop with such force we can hear (and feel!) it.  Gross.

Over the past 5 weeks you've met most of your immediate family members including your cousins: Aaliyah; Lily, Bella and Corbin.  They all think you're pretty fantastic- along with your Grandpa Snipes, Grandma Snipes, Grandma Young and your Aunts and Uncles.  Everyone you meet comments on your full head of long, brown hair, including Lily, who insisted she brush it upon meeting you for the first time.

You had your one month check-up with your pediatrician on April 5th.  You were 21.75 inches long (77th percentile); weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces (62nd percentile); and your head circumference was 37.6 cm (66th percentile).  I didn't have any major concerns to discuss with her, other than your recovery from jaundice, and she said you were looking great.  Yay!  I also checked with her that you are eating and sleeping within the normal range (3oz of breast milk every 3 hours) and she said that since you're at a healthy weight, we're doing all the right things.  Let's keep it up!

You change ever day, Mia, and I'm so blessed to be your Mom.

Love,
Momma

39 Weeks

Dear Mia,

It feels like the night before the first day of school.  The excitement!  The nerves!  The anticipation!  The unknown...!  (It also kind of feels like it's Thanksgiving and I'm hiding the 10 pound Butterball under my shirt!)

Tomorrow will mark our 39th week and everyone wants to know- when will you enter this world?  Today?  This weekend?  Two weeks from now?  (Dear God, I hope not!)  We're all getting a little impatient around here!

Clothes:  I am a mess.  A few weeks ago I was down to 2 bras that actually still fit... cue an underwire disaster and then I was down to 1 bra.  Cue another underwire disaster and I am now left to wear this horribly uncomfortable torture device.  Yes, I've bought new nursing bras but they're a little big and I'm not really interested in wearing a white, granny nursing bra when I don't have anyone to nurse yet!  My shoes have also called it quits.  My feet only fit into two pairs of shoes- black Ugg-like boots and a pair of black Michael Koors flats.  The boots are literally ripping apart at the seams and have holes in the soles.  And lastly, I get to play a lovely game of tug-of-war with my t-shirts.  I pull them down to completely cover my belly and then pull them back up to keep my bra covered.  Up and down... up and down... fun.

Sleep:  I go to bed so early it's embarrassing.  But I'm going to keep sleeping that much because I have a feeling you won't be one of those champion sleepers and I'll be sleep-deprived in no time.

Movement:  Yep, you still move around all day long.  Just yesterday you went into such a fit while I was at my desk that I had to lean back in my chair and give you more room to move around!  Things must be getting cramped in there but you're still very active.

Food cravings:  I'll eat anything at this point.  I bring 2 lunches to work each day.  I have the first around 10am and the second at 1pm.  I try to stock up on protein but I can't lie, there are plenty of sweets in there for you, too.

Labor signs:  Nope.

Belly button in or out?  Still in and holding strong!

What I miss:  My sanity.  I'm starting to have these really crazy thoughts that I'll be pregnant forever.  I worry that the swelling in my legs will never go away and for the rest of my life I'll have shins like Fat Bastard.  (My legs are actually so swollen that I can't kneel to play with the dogs or clean the wood floors.  When I try to bend my legs too far back there's such pressure it feels like they're going to explode!)  I worry that the swelling in my hands will stay and I'll never get to wear my wedding rings again.  And just the other day I told your Dad that I didn't want to plan on bathing you in the bathtub because, you know, I can't bend over.  He looked at me and said, "you know, there will come a time when you can bend over again, right?"  Actually, I'd lost all hope for ever being able to do that.  Whoops.  

Doctor’s notes:  The Doctor is still very pleased with my blood pressure (despite the swollen legs, hands and face), your heartbeat and your movement.  She said I've dilated to 1-2 cm and  thinks that despite your large size, I should be able to go into labor and have you naturally.  However, she's giving you a time limit of 41 weeks.  If you don't get a move on by March 17th you are going to be forcibly removed from my body. Consider this your two week warning, 'lil miss.

What I am looking forward to:  Your arrival!  C'mon, Mia.  Let's do this!

Love,

Momma

Thrift Store Finds

Dear Mia,

On Saturday afternoon I needed to make a few last-minute pre-baby purchases so I headed out to the mall.  I ended up getting a little turned around and taking some back roads which led me by the local Salvation Army Thrift Store.  I decided to stop and take a peek because the Goodwill store in Naperville used to be a favorite hang out for me and your Aunt Kirsten!  (That's actually where I purchased that little brown chair that's now in your playroom!  Aunt Kirsten and I were in high school, and when I bought it we loaded it into the back seat of her little red convertible and drove it to Grandma Young's house.  That was almost 10 years ago!)

Hello new favorite store!  This place is awesome.  The prices are incredible and they have a ton of stuff.  I'm not sure if they always have that much baby/kid stuff but when I was there they had 2 swings, a glider and ottoman, travel system, stroller, 2 play mats, a little desk, dollhouse (which was a little too beat up- otherwise I would have bought it), and plenty of other items.

I ended up buying a pink breathable bumper, pink crib sheet, three bibs, a little summer hat with a chin strap, 5 cotton hats and an umbrella stroller.  My total?  $12!

I wasn't sure if I really needed to buy the bumper (do you really need more than 1?) but it was in perfect condition and when I asked the employee how much they would charge me for it, she said $.75.  SOLD.

Needless to say, we'll be returning to this store often!

Love,

Momma