Getting into the "sling" of things

I've tried the sling before, and Adara just fussed while in it. Yesterday I really wanted to finish some laundry, and Adara wanted attention. Since she wasn't fussy when I held her, so I decided to give the sling another shot. It worked out great! I got some laundry folded and put away, and put some dishes in the dishwasher. Some things were not folded as well as if I was not holding a baby, but it is put away.


I used it again today for a little while. Adara's been kinda fussy all day, and no matter what I did she was only fussy-free for a few minutes. After laying down with her for the umpteenth time to try to get her to sleep, I finally just left her and went to work in the kitchen. I heard a tiny bit of fussing, but kept working on my paleo waffles that I was dying to try. After a few minutes, all I heard was silence. I checked in on her, and she'd fallen asleep! She hardly ever falls asleep unless I'm right next to her! Guess this time she wanted her space. I learn something new about this child every day.

Finding time in the day

It's been a while since I've blogged. Being a mom takes up a lot of time! Especially when my precious bundle loves to be cuddled and doesn't like being left alone. So I'm taking the few minutes that she's happy playing with her toys to write out some thoughts.

We've started eating Paleo/Primal again. Grains seemed to be upsetting me and Adara, so I was already headed that direction. Then Alex decided he wanted to do it too, and get back in shape. We've gone a full two weeks now, and I'm just starting to feel better. Doing a low-carb diet is no fun right away, but is worth it in the long run. Adara spits up even less now, hardly every has a blowout, and has very few bumps on her skin.

Gotta go pick up my crying baby.....

We've also started an exercise program-P90X. It is intense, and good for us, but every workout is very time-consuming. I've started getting up extra-early so that I can get it done while Adara sleeps. Today I decided to sleep in and try to fit my hour and a half yoga workout sometime today. I'm already regretting this decision.

Today I figured out that I can vacuum with one hand, and hold Adara with my other arm. She really likes the vacuum cleaner, so this works out pretty well. I can also load the dishwasher with one hand, but sometimes the dishes don't get rinsed off as well. I've thought about putting her in her carrier while I do housework, but I bend over a lot, and so I still need one hand to support her. Carrier works great for when I'm out though.

And now it's time for her to eat again. Definitely treasuring these moments, because I know that soon enough she will be older and able to run around the house.


So what do you all do when you try to get stuff done? Have you noticed how you eat affecting your child?

On Becoming a Home Owner

Whew. This past month has been crazy. I felt like we've been in limbo, just waiting to move out of our apartment.

Alex and I had talked about moving, but had planned to find a bigger place to rent. With our new precious baby, we had a lot of baby stuff, and were starting to feel cramped.

I had looked at houses a long time ago on homes.com, and received email updates with new houses in my search requirements. I saved the ones I liked, and even sent some on to Alex to show him the kinds of houses I would like to look at one day. He would sometimes reply what he also liked and didn't like.

Well, he saw one, and called me saying that we should consider buying it. We decided we were ready to commit to buying a house. Alex called about the one he liked, and I continued sifting through the options online. Here were my basic requirements: minimum three bedrooms, two bathrooms, preferable open floor plan, less than $100,000, and in a good neighborhood. A front porch and garage would be nice, but not necessary.

The real estate agent Alex contacted for one house ended up being our real estate agent for the rest of the search. He was very helpful, and had contacts for a house inspector, a termite inspector, and a lender. We used all of his resources, and weren't disappointed. The agent's name is David W. Graffius, and his number is (615) 300-1557, if you're in the middle Tennessee area and are looking for a house.

The first house we saw was right on a highway. It was an older brick house that was completely remodeled inside. It was beautiful. If it was down the side street, we would have put an offer on it. However, I really didn't like that it was on a major highway, and the backyard was minimal. We didn't write it off, but did continue looking in earnest.

The next house was the one which we fell in love. It is in a subdivision, has an open floor plan, a fenced in back yard, and a giant walk-in closet No front porch or garage, but it has a nice paved driveway and gorgeous windows. We wanted to stop looking and buy it right then. However, we planned to see a couple other houses, and asked Alex's dad to come look at this one.

We started packing that evening and the next.

A couple of days later the house passed the "dad inspection" and we were not impressed with the other house we saw. We told our agent we wanted to put on offer on the house we loved, and he came the next day with the paperwork. We signed a TON of paperwork, and Alex started talking to the lender and did some more paperwork.

Buying a house involves a lot of paperwork.

We had a number of offers and counter offers before coming to an agreement. We needed the seller to pay closing costs and we wanted a home warranty.  We ultimately agreed to pay a little more for the house so that they would pay more of the up-front costs. We filled out more paperwork for the loan, and waited for an official closing day.

The days seemed to drag by. We had half of our stuff packed, and were trying to pack the rest while still living in the apartment.

We finally heard last week that if our lender got the paperwork in by Friday, we would be closing on Tuesday! We tried to finish packing up as much as we could. With Adara, I am very thankful for the family who watched her while I worked on cleaning, organizing, and packing.

We signed the paperwork Tuesday at noon and started moving that afternoon. Alex's family pitched in to help us-Lacey watched Adara for us, Alex's dad and brothers made numerous trips back and forth to help us move all our boxes. We hired movers to come Wednesday morning to move our big stuff. Definitely worth it to us since we were moving from a third story apartment. We used "All My Sons" movers, and they were excellent. One guy picked up my wooden cabinet full of cans and flours and other heavy things like it was nothing. Alex said they just picked up the washer and dryer and carried them down the stairs. I was very impressed. We heard about them from our local Christian radio station, WayFM.

Alex turned in our apartment keys Wendesday afternoon, and we were officially out of the apartment.

The last few days we've been shopping for the essentials. The house had no appliances, and the closets were missing most of the shelves. An investment company bought the house when it was a foreclosure, and then resold it to us. We had a lot of fun picking stuff out, but it was kind of stressful, especially for Adara. We took her with us, but all this change has been overstimulating for her. We usually left the store with a crying baby.

This house feels more like home than our apartment every did. Being in the apartment reminded me of staying in a hotel, only bigger. This feels like a place we'll stay for a while-which is good, since we have a large note on the house now! This was definitely worth all the trouble, but I hope we don't move again for a long time! It's expensive to move, and it is a lot of work! We still have quite a bit of unpacking to do, but I'm enjoying the process.

Welcome home:

Two Month Appointment

Despite the crazy weather, we made it to Adara's appointment on time. She weighs just over 11 pounds, and is 22.5 inches long. She's growing right on track :)

I fed Adara while we waited in the room. Adara was happy, awake, and alert.

I asked Samantha Mulder, a.k.a. "Sam", a couple questions. I asker her about the whole co-sleeping thing. She said that she looks at world-wide studies. She said that co-sleeping is fine as long as it is a non-smoking, healthy weight parent of the baby. She said that it can be beneficial, and even encourages breastfeeding. I also asked her about her personal opinion on birth control. She asked when I would want to be fertile again, and I said maybe in about a year. She suggested an IUD, as it would be an easy, no stress year. So we'll see what we end up doing in the long run.

She check Adara from head to toe, showed me growth charts, and said she's perfect. She told me I was free to finish feeding Adara in the room, so I did.

Afterwards I met up with my friend Freya at Whole Foods for lunch. She had a baby boy a month and a half before Adara, and we hadn't seen each other since we had our babies! We had a fun time catching up and sharing experiences.

Up until a couple of nights ago, Adara had been sleeping from 11pm ish to around 5am ish. The past few nights, though, she's started going to sleep around 10:15pm, then waking up around midnight to eat, and then again around 5am to eat, and then around 7:30 am. Adara and I have recently figured out how to breastfeed while laying down, so feeding more frequently at night actually hasn't been that bad! Yay for co-sleeping!

Sleeping arrangements

"Is she a good sleeper?" Well, that depends....

I admit it: We let Adara sleep in our bed. She sleeps cuddled up right next to me. Last night, she slept over 6 consecutive hours! She stirred some around 3am, but then fell back asleep. That's the beauty of having her right next to me: She just falls asleep again if she wakes up a little, because I'm her automatic comfort.

A few times we tried putting her in her bed beside us and just comforting her with rocking or my hand touching her. So far, we've slept much better with her right beside me. We decided that  at this time, we  value getting sleep more than trying to get her to sleep in her own bed.

After reading so much before having Adara about SIDS and not having the baby in bed with you, I was surprised to find that  "sleep-sharing" is more common that I'd thought. We have friends who also have a little girl who will only sleep next to Mom, and even Dr. Sears has an article addressing the issue. Dr. Sears was recommended to me by a friend, and I only wish I'd read more before giving birth. It is reassuring to read that it is actually okay (and in some cases, beneficial) to have my baby sleep right next to me.

Someday we do want to have her sleep in her own bed and be on some kind of consistent schedule, but for now, I'm not going to worry about it too much. (Of course, right now she's sleeping beautifully in her bed right next to the closet where she can hear the heater humming away.)

Anyone have similar experiences? What worked/didn't work for you?

Decision changed

I took one of my progestin-only pills before reading the fine print with the medication. After reading the insert, we realized that if I did happen to get pregnant while taking this pill, the risk is slightly higher that it could be an ectopic pregnancy (when the baby is implanted outside the uterus and can't survive). If that were to happen while I was taking the pill, I would be absolutely crushed. I can't imagine knowing that I had a tiny baby inside of me, and he or she couldn't continue living because of the kind of birth control I was taking. It isn't worth the risk. So in case any of y'all wanted to know about our birth control decisions, here's the update.

My Recovery Story

First, I want to say that I would not have made it through the birthing process naturally without my support team. Thanks again to Alex, my mom, and Alex's mom who were with me every step of the way. Second, Alex and I would have had a rough time without the support of our family and friends who came the first couple weeks after Adara was born.

The first couple of weeks I couldn't hardly walk. When we first came home from the hospital, Alex carried Adara in her carrier to our apartment, and then helped me up the stairs to our third story apartment. He basically carried me up the steps. I had some pain from my episiotomy, but I'd been given plenty of numbing medication. My abdominal muscles were incredibly sore from pushing. I've never been so sore in my life. I've run a half-marathon, and that was nothing compared to this. Showering was refreshing, but I could barely get in and out of the shower by myself. I walked when I needed to, but it was a struggle. Alex helped me get in and out of our bed to sleep. When I sat down, I stayed there until I needed to get up again. I took acetaminophen or ibuprofen once a day for the first few days when I absolutely needed it.

The first couple of nights were also rough because Adara would cry and cry and we couldn't figure out why. During the second night we realized that she was becoming dehydrated and remedied the problem. I'm saving my thoughts on breastfeeding for a whole different post.

We received a lot of much needed support in the first few weeks. My mom stayed the first few nights with us, and I'm forever grateful for her help. Because of my limited ability to move, someone needed to take care of Adara and also take care of me. She cooked food for us, washed our dishes, did our laundry, and helped out however we needed. She held Adara for a couple of hours so that Alex and I could both get sleep. 

More than once Allison brought us home made food, and also brought us some fast food when we realized last minute that we had no food for dinner. She also brought Alex's work clothes with her to be ironed and then returned. She's also watched Adara a number of times so that Alex and I can both get out of the house. We received many other visitors with meals and words of encouragement. 

During this whole time, I still felt like a mess. By the third or fourth day, I started crying. Alex was wonderful and made me some signs saying things like, "Calista is the best mommy ever! Alex and Adara love her so much!" and put them up around our apartment. They are still up, and I smile every time I see them.

By Thanksgiving, almost a week after having Adara, I was back to my weight when I first found out I was pregnant. I was excited, but also exhausted. I enjoyed being with my in-laws for Thanksgiving lunch. My sis-in-laws looked at me worriedly because I was walking funny and super slow, and I assured them that not everyone's recovery is as rough as mine. I started crying in the early afternoon because I was so tired. I took a nap in my sis-in-law's room, and then Alex took us home for the rest of the day.

By the third week I was still feeling sore, but did see some progress every single day. When Alex and I walked around Walmart to get Christmas decorations, I was the slowest walker in the whole store. I called the doctor's office to see if me being so sore was a problem. The nurse that I talked to said it was pretty normal, and also said that being dehydrated can make me feel worse. After that I drank more water and noticed a significant improvement. I even stopped bleeding by the fourth week.Unfortunately, by Christmas "Aunt Flo" had decided to come visit. I was hoping that breastfeeding would have keep this delayed a bit longer, but it was not to be. Bummer.

My six week appointment was today.  I brought our Christmas card and my doctor put it up on the board with all the other baby pictures. I weighed in at 124 pounds (about ten pounds less than when I first found out I was pregnant), which is how much I usually weigh when I eat healthy and exercise. My temperature and blood pressure are great. Doctor says I'm completely healed! I had a PAP smear and shouldn't need to come back for another year. Because I did start back on my cycle, I am starting the progestin-only pill. Doctor said this is a safe option while breastfeeding. I love having Adara, but I'd like to be able to wait a little while before having another tiny baby.

Tomorrow I'm going to go grocery shopping, and plan to carry up all the jugs of water by myself. I don't have much strength or endurance yet, and want to be able to run around with my child when she gets to that point. I'm so incredibly excited about everything we're experiencing, and what God has for our future!