I'm back

Hi!  You know how the longer you go without blogging the harder it is to get back into it because there's so much that you've neglected to say?  Well, we're there.

You see, we've been really busy around here growing and learning to smile and drink from a bottle and sleep in the crib and outgrowing half of our 0-3 month clothes at the grand old age of 7 weeks.  It's exhausting.

There has also been a lot of playoff watching.  Between the Red Wings and the Capitals and daddy's Orlando Magic, there has been hardly a dull evening around here and thus no time to play around on the computer.
We've also been overrun with visitors.  Uncle Mike came to visit, and then Joe's sister was here, and this week Joe's dad is in town, and really I haven't had any time to sit and play on the computer.  And when I do I'm much more into catching up on emails and reading all of your blogs because how do I start to explain how my little chipmunk is growing up way too fast already?  Who has time to rush and grab the camera when the baby is smiling with his entire body as I tickle his tummy and boop his nose?  I don't think to run to the computer when he finally (finally!) learns to drink from a bottle and gulps loudly while looking at me with the most astonished eyes as the same milk he loves comes not from mama but some weird plastic nipple.  And when my big boy sleeps 4 whole hours in his crib without waking up screaming that I'm not there my first thought is to call my mom and marvel over how mature he is rather than try to remember my blogger login.

I should, however, be updating more because things are going by so quickly and I'm never going to remember everything we do.  Like my brother showing up in a striped golf shirt and me immediately sorting through Colin's clothes (boy has so many outfits) to find the one that matches and make them pose for photos together.  

And can we seriously discuss that this boy is wearing 3-6 month onesies?  Gerber just makes super small clothes, right? And some of the other brands too?  Because I swear my boy isn't actually that huge.  

His two month (two month!) appointment is on Monday and I'm dying to know how much he weighs.  As close as I can figure from holding him with me on the scale he's somewhere between 10 and 11 pounds.  Did I tell you that our neighbors had a daughter exactly two weeks before Colin was born?  And we ran into them the other day and she is so so tiny and way smaller than Colin?  

Oh, and I should mention that I jumped on the bandwagon and bought the 30 day Shred dvd and Jillian totally kicked my flabby out of shape ass yesterday.  As soon as Colin shows promise of sleeping more than 20 minutes today I'm going to try it again.

Oh!  And it's been like 90 degrees here half the week and Colin has decided it's fun to nurse every 2 hours again.   Growth spurt?  Thirsty from the ungodly heat?  Any ideas?  I haven't even been pumping because there just isn't enough to make it worth my while by the time the boy is done nursing.  I know he's getting enough when he eats because he's satisfied when he's done, I just can't tell if he's growing and needs me to up my supply or he's just super thirsty all the time

Ah, and there he is up from his snooze.  Time to run!

Ramble

The parade of family members continues!  My brother left about half an hour ago to drive back home to South Carolina after visiting for the weekend, and I'll pick Joe's sister up at the airport this afternoon.  Never a dull moment.  

It was wonderful having last week on my own, but it was also great watching my brother meet his nephew for the first time.  He didn't change any diapers or make us dinner or anything, but he was great for bouncing the baby when he cried and explaining hockey playoffs to a one-month old and drinking all our beer.  I'm glad to have my house back (if only for a day) but I'm also sad Mike had to go already.

In other news, we've been working on getting Colin to take a bottle and we've had some success.  At first we had a few days of trying to introduce the bottle only to be met with frantic cries and flailing limbs and screams that were only comforted by the real thing.  Which I then read not to do, since rewarding a bottle refusal immediately with the breast only reconfirms that the baby doesn't need the bottle.  Harrumph.  Then we thought maybe Colin just didn't like the Avent bottle/nipple that came with my pump, so we sterilized and tried a Playtex bottle someone gave me for a shower.  Joe had minimal success with that, but most of it ended up down Colin's sleeper and not in his mouth.  On day four, after trying all the things the books recommended about having me out of the room and introducing the bottle when the baby isn't frantically hungry etc etc. I finally realized that at a certain time in the afternoon Colin tends to be pretty zen and happy (for once) to take a pacifier and just hang out with it.  So while he was content in his bouncy seat with his plug in his mouth I pumped, poured the milk from the Avent bottle into the Playtex one, waited for him to drop his plug, and then promptly replaced it with the bottle and....he gulped down an ounce and a half while looking at me curiously then realized it was all gone and started crying for more.  So I picked him up and nursed him and he was happy and I was happy and I emailed pictures of the bottle session to Joe at work and submitted my nomination for Mother of the Year.  And then Joe got home and we tried to give him a bottle and...screams and flailing and not having it.

Since then we've had successes and failures and it really depends on when you try to give him a bottle and yesterday he took an ounce that I had just pumped and then we frantically warmed up another ounce and then another two ounces as our hungry boy just wanted to eat and eat.  (nevermind that he had just nursed half an hour before)  So I guess you could say bottle feeding is a work in progress, but I think we're all getting the hang of it, and I'm happy to think that at some point I'll be able to sneak out for a few hours and not worry that my boy won't be able to eat.  

I had my six-week appointment last week (Colin is six weeks old tomorrow!) and was given the all clear to resume activities, and so I ramped up my afternoon strolls to actual walking, including pushing the stroller up some ridiculous hills around here.  And then added some weights and some tentative crunches.  It felt really good to start working out again, so hopefully I'll be able to work that into my routine and rebuild a bit of muscle tone.  I was looking forward to going for a walk with a friend today, but it's crappy and rainy so I don't think that's going to happen.  Instead I'll be working on getting the house back in order before our next guest arrives and figuring out what I can make for dinner tonight without having to leave the house.  I suppose this is the new definition of Monday.

Home life

Oh hi!  Colin and I are hanging out at home today with no grandparents and no daddy and you know what?  Life is good.  I'd stay and chat but then I wouldn't have time to read what all of you are up to, and at some point we need to play tummy time and eat some lunch.  So really I just wanted to say hello and that we're here and doing well.  

(Also: my kid does not match at all.  Laundry time!)

Say Ugh to the Dress

Ok, I think we all know the baby thoughts are pure hormones and evolutions way of carrying on the human race or whatever.  I do *not* want kids 10 months apart, and I do not want another c section any time soon.  But then I look at my baby and think "I need to get me more of these."  So there we are.

Moving on, to less-terrifying (ha ha HA) topics like bridesmaid dresses and my post-partum body.  I'm in my college roommate's wedding on June 13th when Colin will be three months old.  Naturally, I hear half "breastfeeding makes the weight just fall off!" and "my body just held on to those last ten pounds until I weaned" so I have no idea what to expect as to how I'll look by then.  The dress was ordered based on my measurements while 20 weeks pregnant so I'm not expecting this thing to fit at all.  The bride told me she tried it on and had some extra room in the bust and she is a bit, um, chesty.  Which is fine, considering my last bra purchase included the letter E.  Frightening.

I gained 40 pounds while pregnant and as of last week I was down 25 of them.  That sounds all impressive, but considering I lost 20 pounds the first week that extra 5 pound loss isn't all that stellar.  Yes, 15 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight sounds all good and well, but I won't even mention how far above my wedding weight that is because it's just depressing.

Also, I don't think I ever fully understood how my body would just be so different after having a baby.  Obviously I've heard people say it before, I just don't think I really got how everything spreads and separates and 15 pounds or not I still don't think I'll be able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans anytime this year because my hips are just not the same shape anymore.

I'm getting antsy to get exercising again but still technically have two weeks until I'm cleared to do so.  I keep convincing myself that I could easily do a mild workout and it wouldn't hurt, but then I go to change the baby in his pack n play and practically throw my back out after bending over and lifting him out of it that I remember, oh right, abdominal surgery.  Never mind that I also thought it would be a great idea to mop my floors yesterday, because I'm sure that didn't contribute to any back pain.

Have I mentioned how the one foolproof way to calm Colin in the middle of a screaming fest (well, the one way besides sticking a boob in his mouth) is to hold him and bounce on the exercise ball?  Clearly all that bouncing I did the last month or so of pregnancy had quite an impact on him and now he loooves that ball.  My back, on the other hand, does not love the ball, and in fact sort of hates the ball and kind of resents the fact that not only did the damn ball do nothing to help me dilate but now reminds me of my lack of abdominal tone on a daily basis.

So anyway, all this to say that I foresee a purchase of Spanx in my near future to help shove myself into a bridesmaid dress and camouflage some of my new-mommy pooch.  And now would be a good time to tell me about your favorite stretch mark fading ideas because hellllllo bathing suit season!  (um, does Spanx make bathing suits?)

Of grandmothers and grandbabies

Colin and I were so busy visiting with my mom last week that I never even thought about blogging.  We had a great time and I was sorry her visit was so short.  Joe's mom is here this week and she's...not my mom.  That could require a separate post on the Constance blog, if you know what I'm saying.

Colin and my mom, Grandmarf, hanging out watching what not to wear

Grandmarf took plenty of pictures while she was here.  She's totally enamored of her grandson.

And now, let's tell me that I'm crazy since earlier today I caught myself doing the math on when I would be due if I got pregnant next month.  Um, Colin will be one month old this Friday.  I'm mildly insane, right?  Let's blame the hormones.  Joe asked me the other day if I was ready for another baby and I believe my response was something like "why not, I'm up most of the night anyway."  Gah!  

But seriously, I think this is a result of it taking so long for me to get pregnant with Colin.  I was in the 'must. get. knocked. up' phase for so long that I just really haven't gotten out of it.  Even while I was pregnant I kept thinking about how to get pregnant again.  I'm pretty sure the medical community frowns on pregnancies so close together, but people do it right?  And I'm nursing and it took a year the first time, so I don't really need to use contraception, right?

Can I also mention that when my midwife asked what I planned on using for contraception I mumbled something about my husband being in the military and my not seeing him for awhile and then like three days later as I was driving home from the grocery store thought "Condoms!  Condoms was the answer to that question."  

And then found a lone condom in my nightstand as I was looking for some thank you notes and thought, hmm I should keep this handy.  And then walked past condoms at the grocery store and considered buying some but didn't.  And then mentioned condoms to Joe who said "enh, we don't really need them right?"  

Anyway la la la ignore my insanity and scroll back up and ogle some baby toes.  Nom nom nom!