Thanksgiving 2012

Life lately has been hectic to say the least but this little family of mine is what I am most thankful for! Happy thanksgiving, y'all!

{image credit: rori dellinger photography}

Moms on Call Update

We started the MOC program when O was only 3 weeks old. We specifically followed the night time schedule/routine and was successful. Swaddling plus white noise is what was missing in our routine. She started sleeping 3 hour stretches at night which turned into 4 hours and about a week ago she started sleeping from 9 to 645 and only getting up once to eat. She did this up until a couple of days ago and sleep since then has been lacking.

We didn't change a thing...bath, feed, swaddle and white noise. There are nights when she would go down easy without a fight before 9, up between 2 and 230, eat and then back down again until almost 7am. I like to blame growth spurts every night that she fights her sleep.

We are sticking to the MOC schedule and technique but I think it's the swaddle that's the issue. She was busting out of the regular swaddle when we used Aden + Anais blankets and we only used them for a couple of nights. We switched to SwaddleMe blankets and they are working well but I think that she's getting too big and strong for them. She can't get out of them but her arms can definitely move while she's wearing the blanket.

I was browsing the internet this morning and was ready to switch over to the Miracle Blanket but at $25 a pop I searched some more. There's just no way that I can justify spending $25 on something that could possibly fail but then again getting good sleep every night is definitely worth more than $25!

During this browsing session, I didn't realize that there are so many different ways to swaddle a baby. The technique called a double swaddle is what really caught my attention. It seems pretty easy to do and I already have blankets that will work. The video is very easy to follow and I've already tried it on O and she is currently passed out napping in her crib for more than an hour now. I can't wait to try this tonight and hopefully solve the sleeping issue we have been experiencing lately.

Moms on Call

I heard of Moms On Call for the very first time while reading Blueeyedbride's blog. She raved so much about them that I made sure to remember it with second baby in mind even before I got pregnant.

I bought the 0-6 months book a couple of weeks before my due date with OG but never really got around to finish reading it before giving birth. I brought the book with me to the hospital so that I could finish reading it but that also didn't happen.

Between the newborn, a toddler, exhaustion and everything else that comes along with life, I just now finished reading the book! Yes, my newborn is almost three weeks old and I'm clearly behind! I just watched their YouTube video of how to swaddle and I am truly amazed by how big of a difference their technique and swaddling in general can do to a screaming hyena newborn.

This picture was taken not even 2 minutes after she was screaming like I was trying to remove her arm from her body with my bare hands!

My Friday Brain Dump

• I am 38 weeks today and I am officially over the waiting game. I just want to meet and hold this baby girl who still does not have a name.


• I feel like this baby does not want to come out but I am on panic mode trying to get everything done and ready.


• It's a 3-day weekend for me and I plan on purging and cleaning. A lot. We are semi-hoarders and it's about time that we let go of some things that we can live without.


• Is it me or does the older sibling present from the new baby just the most backwards idea ever? How can a newborn go shopping for a present? Shouldn't the older sibling be the one giving the new baby a present?


• The full moon the other day didn't do jack for my pregnancy. Not that I was expecting it to, but still.


• The Olympics' schedule is driving me nuts! I can no longer stay up until midnight. I come to work exhausted due to lack of sleep. I wish the lack of sleep was due to a newborn instead.


• I wanted to do fun family things with K this weekend but J is working the whole time.


• I need a haircut and I also want to find a house cleaning service to do one deep clean before baby comes.


• The infant car seat needs to be installed and I also need a car wash/vacuum some kind of bad.


• I'm itching to buy normal clothes but I'm afraid that I'll buy the wrong size.


• This brain dump stinks. I feel incoherent. It's probably because I'm so sleepy.

Full-Term!

How far along: 37 weeks.
Total weight gain: 19 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Still the same rotation of maternity work clothes. I'm sure my co-workers are starting to wonder why I wear the same things over and over again. I refuse to buy anything at this point specially with the pregnancy being so close to the end.
Food cravings: Iced coffee and Coke.
Sleep: One would think that my newborn is here due to the amount of sleep I'm not getting. It's truly been awful. I get maybe a couple of nights a week when I can sleep pretty decent.
Highlights: Not really a highlight but almost a bit of a scare. Baby's heart rate was on the high side during my appointment yesterday and my doctor sent me in for a fetal non-stress test to make sure everything was okay. The test went perfect and baby girl is staying in for now.

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I was slacking so much with this second pregnancy that it was starting to freak me out a little. Being full-term and the quick scare yesterday definitely gave me that push to start working on my to-do list. I was having mild contractions a couple of days ago which freaked me out a little. I semi-packed my hospital bag that evening and placed an Amazon order for little things that I still needed. After the fetal NST yesterday, I stopped by Target to get a couple more things. I was also able to organize dresser & closet and even did a load of laundry.

I am now at a point where I have back to back events at work with hardly any break in between to do anything. There is still a short list of things I need to buy and a pretty long to-do list. I was hoping that J & I could use these last few weeks to do some fun things with K while she's still the only child but having the same days off are very few and far between. The man can hardly take one day off out of a full week! I joke around that he will literally be with me the day I go into labor and give birth and will be back at work the following day.

Mom Fail Moment

I decided yesterday afternoon that I was going to sort through this one giant bin of K's old clothes so that I can start a pile of what needs washing before baby #2 is born. The top of the bin had swaddle blankets and burp cloths. I started digging some more and quickly realized that NO, I did not save any of K's tiny baby clothes. Sure, I had some 6 months and up as well as all the precious smocked outfits, but clothes for newborn babies, not so much!

It dawned on me that I must have been so exhausted when K was an infant and wasn't thinking straight that I literally gave all the newborn clothing away! I could have sworn that I saved some of them but obviously not. There was a girl with a newborn baby who was a couple of months younger than K at my old job who didn't have much. I thought I only gave her some clothes.

There goes another thing to add to my ever-growing to-do list. This should be an interesting 7 weeks or so.

32 Week Bumpdate

(31 week bump picture taken at Target. Ha!)

How far along: 32 weeks.
Total weight gain: 15 lbs.
Maternity clothes: I really held out on this pregnancy and didn't buy much. I saved a lot of my old maternity clothes from the first pregnancy and that was working for a good bit but it's now getting too hot and my shirts are getting too short. I need to get some maxi dresses that are work appropriate and are also postpartum friendly.
Food cravings: Caffeine-free Coke and caffeine-free coffee are a must for me but that's no different from when I'm not pregnant.
Sleep: Still awful! The pregnancy insomnia has slowed down some but I am getting more and more uncomfortable.
Highlights: Baby girl is head down and this makes me very happy! I just hope she stays that way until it's go time. Doctor told me yesterday that this late in the game, babies tend to stay the way they are so I am crossing my fingers. Doctor also mentioned that second babies tend to come earlier than the first and labor is usually half as long. I'm taking their words with a grain of salt but remaining hopeful and crossing my fingers.