Mac is 3 Months Old

So blogging has been quite difficult with my little man who does't like to hang out on his own.  But now that he is three months old, he has mellowed out significantly and thanks to a new swing to add to our collection of baby contraptions (we are seriously hoarding baby seats), I now have some time while Mac peacefully naps on his own.  Hooray!  I also went back to work part time this week so I think I may use my lunch time to do some blogging there and get back to documenting our exciting life. :)

I mentioned Mac has mellowed out and boy has he.  He sleeps all night, most of the time, he eats when he is supposed to, naps when he is supposed to and in between he is content to look around and check out this amazing new world (to him).  He sits contentedly on my lap, or rides happily in the baby carrier or stroller.  His INTENSE and I mean screaming, sweating, vein popping reaction he had to the car is slowly going away.  Unless he is hungry, he will also ride happily in the car...something I thought I would NEVER be able to say.  He will even fall asleep on his own while riding in the car.  It is truly amazing.  I do have to sing itsy bitsy spider (a song I now hate) on repeat but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make running errands peaceful.

He is also now cooing and smiling and I try on a regular basis to make him laugh.  He has a new lovey we named Dundee and we pretty much make him hang out with Dundee all day every day so he will get used to having it.  This is what I think is helping with naps and car time.  

Going back to work was way harder on me than on Mac.  The first two days, I left him for 2 hours at a time and cried A LOT after dropping him off.  Then the next 5 days he spent between 4 and 6 hours per day at school.  And on the last day, I didn't cry.  Progress.  He gets glowing reports from the teachers there and all is going well.  He gets some pretty hilarious reports on the activities they do and I question what some of them even mean. 

Some Mac info:

• At his last doc appt at approx 10 weeks, he weighed 13+ pounds and was 23.5 inches long. 
• His favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm a Little Tea Pot and If You're Happy and You Know It. He also especially loves Johnny Cash.
• He loves to watch/listen as I read books to him-his faves are The Hungry Catepillar and Down at the Beach
• He always looks either shocked or concerned depending on what he is looking at.
• He started smiling at 7 weeks old
• He talks all the time
• His favorite stuffed animal is Dundee-a dingo if you were wondering
• His happiest time is in the morning
• He farts all day long-really awesome, loud, manly, machine gun type farts.  I will love this until they start to stink.
• We are cloth diapering which makes his little hiney look massive but that makes me happy.
• He drinks 4 oz. at each feeding

Other mamas-what other things will I want to remember

I am now obsessed with our little man.  It took me a little while to actually feel like this and to feel like I am having fun but now I can say I am loving so many minutes with him, still not every one, but most minutes.  Just keeping it real.  

Now for a photo montage:

More of the First Month and...We SOLD OUR HOUSE

After my mom left, I was on my own with Mac for the very first time.  I was definitely scared but knew I was well prepared to fly solo with my new babe.  Admittedly we did not leave the house at all.  We snuggled, we went on walks on the hood, we watched marathons of new TV shows.  May I recommend Scandal to anyone who doesn't watch it, and we got to know each other better.  We had some visitors every now and then which was a welcome distraction from the monotony that can be the first few weeks of motherhood.  Then Kathy came to visit.  It was perfect timing.  She kept me company, she snuggled Mac and she cooked lots of deliciousness for us.  She also helped us get ready to put our house on the market.  As I mentioned before, Mac doesn't allow much alone time for the adults in the house, so while I played with Mac, Jeff did the majority of the house readying and Kathy helped stage our deck.  It was so, so helpful.  

I am so thankful for the family help we had at the beginning of our life with sweet Mac.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

As if being new parents isn't enough, we also sold our house.  It went on the market and approximately 36 hours later, it was sold.  The offer was delivered to our realtor at the end of our open house.  Now we just had to find a place to buy.  We looked a what seemed like 20 houses but it was more like maybe 10.  The market in the area we were looking is on fire right now.  Houses are selling for more than asking price and are selling within hours of being put on the market.  After losing out on two we really liked, we ended up with the best one of all.  Funny how things work out that way.  We close on June 27 and are so, so excited to settle in to our new place with our new babe...and Ginger too.  Poor old thing.  She is adjusting pretty well to being the third wheel.  

As for life with Mac, the end of the first month was still difficult.  While Kathy was here, he was awake all night one of the nights and we couldn't figure out what was wrong.  But we stuck to the same feeding schedule we had been on and allowed him to sleep on us during the day and things at night got a bit better.  He was still waking up one time in the night to eat.  I was still adjusting to this new life as well and found myself spending a lot of time thinking about what he will be like when he is older and things are easier. I wasn't necessarily wishing his young days away, but I kind of was.  

The First Several Weeks in General (More Specifics to Come)

We came home from the hospital on March 27, Jeff's birthday.  Poor Jeff didn't have much of a birthday, but he did receive the greatest present of all!  When we got home, Mac was asleep so we headed straight upstairs and we also went to sleep.  But not for long.

Our first night home from the hospital was difficult.  Mac was not interested in sleeping, only crying.  My boobs hurt so bad that the thought of nursing made me want to burst into tears but I had to put mind over matter and feed him anyway.   I avoided putting a shirt on at all costs due to the extreme terror I felt over the thought of fabric brushing my nipples.  TMI?  Sorry but I am not sorry-I want to chronicle everything.

I cannot describe my feeling of excitement when the sun came up and it was time to start another day.  The next morning, March 28, we had a doctor's appointment for Mac to get his weight and billyruben 

We spent our first week alone just the two of us which was the best decision.  I have always known that I love my husband so, so much but spending a week working together to figure out our tiny little son was the most amazing bonding experience I have ever had with him.  I cried many times that week because of Mac crying, my boobs hurting, not sleeping, but I also cried that week at the thought of the week of us being in our house together with Mac coming to an end and Jeff going back to work.  Jeff has been so hands on.  He is up in the night changing diapers, he is the best at giving Mac his bath, he does laundry, cooks dinner, cleans the house, brings me snacks and water and my phone and anything else out of reach while I am feeding Mac and so much more.  And this is so important-he tells me I am doing a great job, tells me I look beautiful (when I know that I dont bless my heart) and snuggles me at night.  That last sentence is what new momma's need from their spouse (in my opinion) to keep on keeping on.

Mom came the second week and thank goodness for that.  Our house was a wreck.  I was eating more cookies than actual meals and our laundry and trash piles were out of control.  We basically neglected everything but each other and little Mac.  Mom swooped in and by the end of the first evening, all laundry and all dishes were done. It was amazing.  She is one efficient mini mamma!

Jeff went back to work that week and of course I cried but having my mom here was my absolute saving grace.  She drank coffee with me in bed in the morning, made me breakfast, lunch and delicious dinners, talked me off the ledge more than a few times when I became overwhelmed with all the tasks, emotions and reality that being a new mommy brings and she continued to clean my house and do my laundry.  At night, she would retreat into the shadows of the kitchen so Jeff and I could spend some quality time with little Mac and talk about what we did that day.  It was the perfect combination of being present and knowing when Jeff and I needed some time together.  I really cannot thank her enough for being here during the second and third week. 

Now as social media often does, I am making this sound like rainbows and unicorns.  When I mention Mom talked me off the ledge, that often involved me snapping at her in the process.  I am so sorry for doing that mom but I cannot begin to describe the emotional side of having a baby.  It is hard.  I mean really hard.  During the day, it is figuring out why this tiny little human is crying, figuring out when he needs to sleep and when he needs to eat, changing his diaper what seems like 1.5 million times per day, making sure his neck is supported, wiping his little penie and balls (which I was totally scared of at the beginning), avoiding pee rockets when changing his diaper, etc.  Around 5pm or 6pm each night, I would experience major anxiety when I began to think about what the night would bring.  Would he sleep at all or would he scream all night?  I learned quickly that a few sips of wine and beer helps with this feeling. :)  Mom was good for reminding me of that too, of course.  But with the emotions and worry comes that cliched new level of love that you can only understand once you have a child.  It is ridiculous how much I love Mac.  I stare at him when he is sleeping, laugh hysterically at his man farts, snuggle him while he is eating, and play with him during those rare moments of awake time when he is perfectly content on his activity mat or in one of his 3 bouncy seats/swings.  I look at him and cannot believe he is ours and of course I think he is the cutest thing ever.

The definition of success around here these days looks like 2 minutes of no crying in the car, a surprise seven hour stretch of sleep, pumping more than 1.5 oz of milk, nursing successfully in the car or in public, getting Mac to take a bottle like a champ , realizing he fell asleep on his own in his basinette or car seat, getting him to sleep in his crib for 5 hours one night, etc.  When these things happen, Jeff and I cheesily high five and whisper cheers of excitement.  We know that the big changes take time so we try not to get our hopes up too high, but we find it is important to celebrate the baby steps.

My advice to anyone about to become a mommy.  Read as much as you want beforehand but those books are only going to act as reference.  All babies are different and you have to figure out what makes your little one tick and make adjustments based on that.  The books describe a dream child who acts a certain way and there is absolutely no guarantee your baby will do what the book says.  That being said, we have loosely followed the On Becoming Baby Wise technique and it seems to be working for us.  

Having a newborn is hard work.  For real.  But the reward is that we have this precious, tiny little bundle of a human who is relying on us for his food, his happiness, his comfort and his life.  As my first Mother's Day approaches, I feel so proud to have made it the first 6.5 weeks and I have a newfound respect for all Mamas out there.  You are all amazing-especially our moms.  

(Kathy also came to visit and I will post about that next)

D-Day and the Days Following

At approximately 11:22pm on Sunday night, March 24, just as we were turning out the lights to go to bed, I started to feel my first contractions.  Not exactly sure if this was it or not, I grabbed my iPhone to start to time the contractions using the app I had downloaded days earlier.  Sure enough, they had a definite start and end time and were actually coming 3 minutes apart.  We learned in our birth class that when the contractions were three minutes apart, lasting a minute for a full hour, then it was time to go to the hospital.  Well-they were three minutes apart and lasting a minute each.  We had yet to give it an hour.  

I texted my doula and after talking with her on the phone, and assessing the snowy weather outside, we determined we better head downtown.  This was it!  I was ridiculously excited, scurrying around the house to pack the last of our stuff, pausing for each contraction, posing for one last photo with Ginger, etc. 

I will write my birth story but not sure I will share it on this blog.  What I will tell you is that 26 hours later, Tuesday morning to be exact, I delivered McColl Stewart Fleming, weighing in at a whopping 8lbs, 3oz.  Everyone was shocked at how big he was, especially me.  I believed whole heartedly that I would be able to have a natural birth without intervention right up until I was in the thick of it.  Then I had to be convinced over and over and over again literally until he came out.  

Jeff has been the most amazing support throughout this pregnancy but I cannot describe how unbelievably amazing he was during the labor and delivery.  For 26 hours, he hardly left my side and for 26 hours, he continuously told me I could do it, held my hands, stroked my head, saw things a spouse should never have to see, and more.  I get weepy just thinking about what we went through together and have a hard time talking about it out loud.  I am truly the luckiest girl in the world.  

Since Tuesday, we have been parents.  We are doing the best we can to figure this little man out.  Feeding him, changing him, cheering when he poops, cheering when his poop changes, cheering when I finally am comfortable wiping his little package, shaking our heads in frustration when he won't stop crying after we try the only tricks we know to work, and smiling so big when we look down at this little being we created just the two of us.  He is the cutest thing of course and we look forward to experiencing every part of what it means to be parents as Mac grows and grows.  

Thanks to everyone for all the support you have shown us over these first days of his life.  We truly have the best friends and family in the world.  We cannot wait for all of you to meet and get to know this little guy.

I cannot end this post without mentioning our own parents.  Kathy was here at our house while we were still in the hospital preparing our first delicious meals for us when we returned from the hospital.  She brought us cupcakes in the hospital to celebrate Jeff's 31st birthday and Mac's birth.  They returned several days later to bring us Easter dinner in the hospital.  Another story for another day.  They brought us so much cheer on a day when we needed it most.  When we got home, Mac's first Easter gifts were awaiting him on our kitchen table.  My parents came down on Sunday and helped us return home from our second stay in the hospital.  My mom stayed on and has been cooking, cleaning, offering moral support and words of wisdom and guidance.  I will throw something in my dirty clothes hamper only to find it has disappeared seconds later and is back in my closet and clean within the next couple of hours.  She has helped me get out of the house daily on little errands to remind me that life is still going on around me even though my own life has changed so dramatically.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to each of you for all that you have done for us and will continue to do.  We love you.

Wishing and Waiting and Bouncing and Shopping and Eating and Building

Basically our life these days revolves around waiting for me to go into labor.  Every strange feeling, breath, sound, movement causes us to pause and question if this is the moment.  And what we have found is that it is never the moment.  I am now five days past my due date.  I am anxious but only because induction is the last thing on earth that I want and every day he doesn't come is a day closer to the possibility of induction.  I just keep telling myself that it won't happen.

To keep my mind off of the waiting, we are trying to "do life" as our birth instructor advised us during our class.  Life this weekend looked like this.

Friday:

Jeff came home around 4:30pm and I was so super excited to get out of the house and do ANYTHING, SOMETHING, WHATEVER.  But as soon as he walked in the door, he found out that the iPhone sale he recently completed on eBay was being disputed because his phone had somehow been placed on the stolen phone list.  When the gentlemen who purchased the phone visited the store to activate it, he was told he couldn't.  While Jeff was on the phone with the iPhone people, I sat on my exercise ball and bounced around like a maniac because that is what normal pregnant people do who are four days past their due date.  

It was finally time to leave the house. Hooray!  Our first stop was Corks and Kegs for their nightly March Madness Beer Bracket tasting.  I sampled some brew because, well, why not?  Next stop was Mongrel in Carytown.  

Mongrel is one of those stores that carries a lot of really neat things you totally do not need but convince yourself that you do.  There is so much awesomeness going on in that store.  They have travel chopsticks, clips for your potato chip bags that oink when you squeeze the handles, mustache shaped wine stoppers, dirty greeting cards (who doesn't love a good one of those), a lanyard that hold your iPhone (which actually I really could use at my events), pretty wrapping paper, and so much more.  Mongrel was on our list of places to stop because we wanted to waste spend our money on two Freakers.  Those of you who watch Shark Tank (I am obsessed) know what I am talking about.  A Freaker is a sweater for your beer can or beer bottle or growler or wine bottle or mason jar or water bottle.  Oh yes, it fits them all.  They come in amazing patterns and their founder is the most awesomely weird dude I have seen in a long time.  The Freaker did not receive any funding on Shark Tank but it totally won us over.  We are now the proud owners of two of them-one with a bearded man, guess who's, and one with an owl.  They really are a great invention. 

Next on our excursion was a stop at the Jersey Mike's sub store off of Forest Hill Ave.  Rumor has it their Italian sub has been known to induce labor.  So off we went to test the theory.  I don't even really like Italian subs but I ordered one, put all the spicy toppings on it and hoped for the best.  The fact that you are reading this blog post when you are shows the truth to that rumor.  NOT TRUE.  I washed the sub down with a bit of white wine due to a suggestion from my Doula that the wine may relax me and cause labor.  Because I was eating a Jersey Mike's sub with white wine, I put on my Mullet shirt, sat spreadeagle on my exercise ball and acted like the classy lady that I am.

Heeeyyyyy Classy Laaddaay

 Before we made our way home, we drove through a neighborhood we would eventually like to end up in: Salisbury.  It is (Gasp!) on the Southside but it is so pretty, so family oriented (who are we?) and it has a lake with a small beach and swimming area that acts as their summer pool.  How amazing is that? We had spotted some houses on realtor.com that we wanted to creepily drive by.  

When we arrived home, we ate, watched bball, I bounced around some more and then we hit the hay.  Oh the excitement of our Friday night.  I was then up from midnight until 3am experiencing what I was convinced was labor...but then I woke up this morning.  F%@^!!!!  

Saturday:

The alarm went off at the ungodly Saturday hour of 7am.  Yeah, I know, I better get used to getting up even earlier once our baby has arrived.  But guess what-he isn't here yet.  Why up so early?  To join the rest of the suburban moms in the area at the Tickles and Giggles consignment sale in a large warehouse in Ashland.  Yall know I love a good deal so I was amped to check this sale out.  It was everything I thought it might be but was hoping it wasn't.  It was big, cold, kind of smelly, and extremely overwhelming.  We left with $35 worth of merchandise that included 2 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of pants, 6 shirts and two pairs of shoes for our little man.  Definitely some great brands and some really good deals.  Nothing was more than $4.00 and two of the items we bought had never been worn before.  They still had their original tags.  We were out of there before 9am so we stopped at Starbucks, where Robin (who really was a Rob poor soul) accidentally gave us caffeinated coffees.  

These are just samples of a few of the things we bought.  Yes, he pretty much will dress like a mini Jeff.

Once home, we decided our utility door needed a coat of paint so Jeff did that and then we decided we need some rugs up in this piece.  We headed off to target, found just what we were looking for, returned home, placed those puppies on the floor and then Jeff decided to build a new coffee table.  I found a tutorial on Ana-White (she is amazing) and then we took a walk around the hood to try to lure this little man out and to give Ginger some exercise.  

Then it was off to Home Depot for supplies.  For the rest of today I took a nap, bounced around some, facetimed with Ed, and then cooked dinner.  Someone please do some sort of mystical dance that causes babies to be born.  A camo clad redneck at Starbucks this morning told me this baby probably won't come until March 27 because that is the next full moon.  I really hope he is wrong.  Although that would be kind of fun since it is Jeff's birthday too.  

Man How Time Flies

I have been the world's worst blogger.  I said it.  So much has happened since I last posted.  Let's see...the rest of fall, Christmas, New Years, my baby showers, our annual ski trip, and so much more.  I don't have the energy to post about it all so I am just going to start fresh from now on.

For the past few weeks, we have been enjoying all that Richmond has to offer mostly because we cannot go anywhere.  I am due with our baby boy any day now so we have been going out to eat, purchasing last minute baby items, getting our house ready, packing our bags, going to movies, watching an entire TV series (Downton Abbey) in a week, and other things that a family of two can do much easier than a family of three.

From now on, the blog is back...

My due date was March 18 so I decided that I would work from home starting on my due date until I have the baby.  This was a good and bad decision.  Good because there are days (mornings especially) when I don't feel so good and am convinced I am going in to labor.  During those moments, I am glad I am not in the office.  Bad because there are fewer distractions giving me more time to think about the fact that I am not in labor.  

Everything is ready, though, so we are just awaiting the moment we have been anticipating for the last 10 months.  Our birth plan is written, our bags are packed, the room is ready, we think we are sort of somewhat maybe mentally prepared.  So now we just relax and enjoy the calm before the storm...easier said than done.

We have tried several new restaurants in the past few weeks including The Savory Grain, Tio Pablo, Casa del Barco, Pearl, Boo's Brown Bag and Fat Dragon.  We have eaten a lot of Sweet Frog, visited the Lavender Farm, taken walks along the river at Belle Isle, we saw Argo at the Byrd Theatre for super cheap and then spent $21 (seriously?) at the regular theatre to see Silver Linings Playbook.  That visit was on Monday at 4:45pm.  I thought that would mean cheaper tickets.  I was wrong.

Here are some very recent photos-the ones easiest to download:

The sweet and delicious cake prepared by a coworkers MIL at my work baby shower.  I have the best coworkers ever.

We made a visit to the Lavender Farm with Danielle and Steve on their recent visit to Richmond.

We have continued to visit our favorite local brewery-Hardywood Park.  It is somewhat difficult to not be able to drink, but overall I think I have handled it well.

Wowza.  Check out that bump.  This was me on my last day of work.  Chubby cheeks and big tummy included.

This blog will continue to document our sweet life together with Ginger and our soon to be born little man.  So get ready for an influx of photos of him and us and ginger and all the places we go and things we do.  I am back and ready to share our little slice of life with you.  

xo

A Visit to Philadelphia

It had been ages since we had been to Philly so we decided mom's birthday weekend would be the perfect occasion.  We packed up our bags and my baby bump and headed north.  On Friday, mom and dad had the usual snack and drink spread out for us and we caught up for several hours before settling in for the night.

In the morning, mom and I went on a walk and got coffee while we waited for Ashley, Claire and Jason to arrive.  We then spent the day sightseeing around Philly on the double decker bus.  Claire adores double decker buses and it really was fun playing tourist for the day.

On Saturday night we dined at home and on Sunday morning we went for brunch to celebrate Mom's birthday.

On our way home, we stopped with everyone at the nearest apple picking orchard and watched while Claire explored the petting zoo.

Was a great weekend celebrating a great mom.