I'm going to be an aunt!

But this isn't my first rodeo.  However, this is an important baby - it's my first niece/nephew on my side of the family.  Bug won't be an only grandchild anymore!

We received the good news last night.  It made me happy but also very sad.  As much as I can't contain my excitement about my siblings having kids of their own, it's also very much a reminder of how much we struggle to conceive.  We feel so very blessed to have Bug, but the process of deciding to have kids from pitching my bc to holding our beautiful daughter in my arms took three and a half years.  Three and a half long years.  It still hurts to hear that it's an easy process for everyone else, even family. 

This morning brought tears when I started to think about the weeks of doctor's appointments, ultrasounds and shots I'll have to go through before we can have another child.  We have no more frozen embroyos and we'll have to do another full round of IVF for a much desired second and maybe third child.  I know God's in charge, but regardless, it's a very emotionally and physically draining process.  I just wish it could happen naturally for us.  I still keep hoping for that miracle.

Little Baby "S", as sad as your aunt may seem in this post, I honestly can't wait to meet you and hold you in my arms.  You are already loved.  A LOT  :)

Weaning

It had to happen. 

I have to admit, I wasn't exactly emotionally ready for it when I finally made the decision.  We'd discussed it for months - my initial breastfeeding goal was 6 months and she's nearly 8 and half months now.  I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I did.  It was such a bonding experience and there was nothing better than holding my little girl in my arms.

Until the biting began.

Yes, the biting.  And not just biting, but biting and pulling.  Repeatedly.  With a crazy look in her eyes.

So I made a tearful decision Sunday evening.  I needed to put on my big girl pants and start weaning her, no looking back.  My typical feeding schedule is something like this -

• 5:30 am pre work feeding
• 10 am pumping
• 2 pm pumping
• 6 pm pumping
• 8:30 pm feeding

So far, I've cut out a single pumping at work and bumped back the time that I do pump there.  It's pretty much left me with sore boobs and no noticeable decrease in breastmilk.  Starting today, I am cutting out another pumping, leaving me with even more sore boobs and now added crankiness.

Oh and Bug has stopped biting me while feeding.  Go figure. 

Sicky McSickerson

Oh the joys of "school". 


Bug has been participating in our church's Children's Day Program (Mother's Day Out or more appropriately for us, Daddy's Day Out) since early September.  She had been a relatively healthy child until that point.  Since then, she has managed to get all 3 of us sick.  Two-thirds of us have healed for the most part - Bug not so much.  Her cold has grown into an upper respiratory infection.  A nice slimy snotty congestion-y upper respiratory infection.


Typically, I'd say no problem - snot isn't a big deal to me, she's not running a fever, she's eating and acting normally.  But for some reason, she just can't kick the sickness.  She's into week 2 of this and the infection seems to be resistent to the medication her pediatrician prescribed.


And really?  Why do they make bubblegum flavored meds for an 8 month old?  Because Bug likes it way too much and I'd rather her not know that taste any time soon THANKYOUVERYMUCH. 


So we have a Sicky McSickerson on our hands until A) the antibiotic kicks in and kills the infection B) Dr. Grandma (who is a pediatrician) calls something in that's stronger or C) we wait it out until Wednesday and see Bug's pediatrician again and have her represcribe something.


Can I just have my healthy child back?

Happy 8 Month Birthday, Buggie!

Happy 8 month birthday, Bug!

You are such a big girl now!  You look less and less like a baby and more and more like a little girl everyday.  We are so proud of you and feel so very blessed that God placed you in our lives.  We couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more perfect child.

You are hitting milestones like crazy anymore - multiple ones at a time!  You are growing up so fast.

At 8 months old, you:

• Have been sitting up on your own, unassisted, for roughly 4 months already.
• Love your veggies, fruits and cereal.  You have a definite distaste for pureed meat.  I can't say that I blame you.
• Crawl like a mad woman.  You are FAST.  Every day you prove that mommy and daddy are waaaaaaaaay behind on their babyproofing.
• Can pull yourself up to standing in multiple places.  The scariest one is in your crib.  We need to lower your mattress before you figure out how to get those chunky little legs over the edge.
• Weigh 19 lbs!!!!  And I love every ounce of it!
• Have 4 teeth.  Big stuff going on.
• Went to the pediatrician for your first sick visit ever yesterday.  You have been sooooo super healthy and we couldn't be happier.
• Love your teachers at school!  Daddy says you always have a big smile on your face when you get there and your teachers think you are great!
• Always have a great attitude and a big smile on your face.  You are the happiest little creature.  It is awesome.
• Have been baptized!  It was a great day and you did fabulously.  You didn't cry at all during the ceremony.
• Are quite the talker.  And a loud talker at that.  You get that from  your daddy :)

I can't wait to watch you grow into the awesome person you are to become. 

I love you.

Mommy :)

Separation anxiety or how the Davis Family has become hermits...

The Bug's 6 month well baby was yesterday.  We went to a different pediatrician this time.  He was in the same practice but not our normal ped. who we LOVE.  This is mostly, okay ALL, my fault because her doctor fills up appt-wise pretty fast and I pretty much jacked around and didn't schedule her in time.  Oops.

The Bug is now a whopping 16 lbs 14 oz and the nurse mismeasured her at 25 1/4 inches (she's longer than that).  Healthy and hitting all her developmental milestones - even got the comment that they've never seen a baby at her age sit up on their own so well.  Of course, it's because she's all sorts of brilliant and awesome.

The Dr. opened up with conversation asking if there was anything we needed to talk about.  We bring up the fact that she won't nap and panics whenever either of us leave the room.  We said we've tried crying it out but she won't give in and nap and looks SUPER panicky whenever we go in and check on her.  After all our description, he said she has an extreme case of separation anxiety and that you don't normally see it in children her age.  He also said he has no solution and that she'll likely outgrow it. 

So, until Bug gets over this and actually naps, we are officially stuck at home in the evenings and on the weekends.  I am not going to force my overtired and loudly cranky child on the unsuspecting public.  It's the hermit life for us for now - if we don't all go crazy from the cabin fever first.

To sleep or not to sleep

The Bug has chosen to sleep!

After a week of fighting us tooth and nail at naptime and during the night, she FINALLY went down Saturday night and slept all night.  And in her crib, nonetheless!

And!  She took two (!!!!!) naps in her crib on Sunday!

Maybe she's turned a new leaf?  Not sure, but I think I like this.  The dark circles and bags are slowly fading away on her face.  She's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay happier and so are we.

Let's hope it continues.

Still screaming...

No seriously.  The Bug is still screaming.  We'll put her down in the crib and she will literally scream at the top of her lungs for an hour or more.  Each time.  And then not nap.  I swear the neighbors can hear her and are going to call CPS on us one of these days...

Obviously, our sleep training is still an uphill battle.  I'll admit it - I'm jealous of parents who tell me their child is either a) an excellent sleeper (freaking overachievers) or b) screamed for only 30 minutes the first night and then considerably less the following nights.  But if we're putting her down for a nap 3 times a day and she screams for an hour each time and has done this for a week, maybe something's wrong?  For some reason, my child feels abandoned when we put her down for a nap.

Going to sleep at night isn't as much of an issue.  She'll pass out, but it's the 15 crying wake up calls during the course of the night that are killing us.  We're needing some patience big time because we're both exhausted and snippy.  I feel like we should be on an episode of Super Nanny...

Today in an act of desperation, we put the pad from the pack n play where she's been living in her crib.  Oddly enough, she's currently laying quietly in her crib.  Please continue to work.  Please continue to work...

And now she's crying again.  CRAP.

Ferberizing Day 1 - EPIC FAIL

Is it too soon to quit Ferberizing already?  Exhaustion didn't matter to the Bug and she screamed a full hour before I got home from work.  My husband handed her over instantly - all 17ish pounds of dark circles, baggy red-rimmed eyes and hoarse voice.  Nighttime wasn't much better - she woke up at 2 and struggled for about 2 hours to go back to sleep.

Now I realize that this is going to take time.  I am fully aware that it can take weeks, BUT I'm not emotionally and physically prepared for a super extended battle of wills.  Bug is stubborn and I'm pretty sure she can carry on like this for a long time.  This does not bode well.  Should I be surprised?  Not hardly.  Because her mom?  Not so much of a great sleeper herself

On a positive note, I have been informed that she has managed to take at least an hour nap today.  At least it's better than nothing.

Bug Ferberization

It's official, we have a non-sleeper.  If you see the Bug, you'll likely see bags and dark circles under her eyes.  Poor kiddo, we want her to sleep SO bad, but she refuses. 

The source of her non-sleeping at night seems to be a lost pacifier (we call it a bink in our house).  She falls asleep with it in her mouth and loses it at some point during the night.  She moves, realizes it isn't there anymore and starts to panic.  We start out whimpering and then start crying.  Loudly.  This happens between 10-20 times a night.  Obviously, for this reason, we haven't moved her out of our bedroom yet, as she is currently living in a pack n play at the foot of our bed.  It would take an act of God to get me to walk across the house 20 times in the middle of the night to put the bink back in her mouth.

Recently, she's taken up a non-napping platform.  Why nap during the day when you can get increasingly tired and cranky?  Surely mommy and daddy would enjoy that...  A six month old baby needs more than a 20 minute nap a day, but evidently, it is more fun to yell and play with your toes than nap.  I would tend to disagree.

A phone call to the pediatrician mother-in-law confirmed my worst fears - it's time to let her cry it out.  I have been dreading this.  There is nothing worse than letting your child cry to you for comfort and not being there to stick the pacifier back into her mouth or give her a hug or rock her. 

Obviously, because I can't emotionally separate myself from this, we have decided that I will not be in charge of Bug's Ferberization.  I look forward to the day when my daughter can comfort herself enough to put herself down for a nap or to bed for the night, but I am not looking forward to the assumingly loud weeks ahead.  Let's hope she's a fast learner...

Necessity is the mother of all invention

It is crazy ridiculous hot here in Houston.  Like 100 degrees and humid hot.  Yuck.  Yesterday, it was so hot that we decided to let the Bug splash around in a pool to cool off.  Except we don't have a pool.  And I'm a crazy overprotective mother and refuse to let her get into the subdivision pool yet.  I'm okay with the idea of a private pool, but super duper wary of public pools.  


I searched around the house and all I could find was an inflatable duck bathtub.  Figuring it was better than nothing, we stripped her down and put her in a swimsuit.  Not just any swimsuit, it's literally an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini.  We took the tub out to a shaded portion of the backyard, tossed a few tub toys in there, plopped her down and filled it up.


She had a blast and unless you knew better, you would have never figured out it was a bathtub :)

Worst blogger ever? Possibly...

I'm really bad at this blogging stuff. The only thing I've proven to be consistent with is my inconsistency in writing. I'll try to do better? Yes, that's a question mark.

A little update in the lives of the inhabitants of Casa del Davis:

1) Maddie is the cutest, most awesome thing EVER. I love her crazy hair, her constant wiggling and her big smiles.
2) Maternity leave goes by WAY too fast.
3) 30 feels just like 29.
4) Sometimes poop does not come out of clothing, regardless of how much stain fighting you do.
5) 5 month olds can be the best air travelers ever.

Other than that, everything is normal. Digger and Ginger feel neglected (they probably are), David is working on a new album and I'm trying to find the balance between full time employee and mom/wife/cook/housekeeper. I guess I'm doing well if we aren't malnourished and have clean dishes and underwear.

Maybe I'll take this blog in a different direction. Who knows? Maybe next time it won't take me 4 months to post again...

Where have I been?

Where on earth have I been? Well, suprise suprise, that pregnancy test ended up positive. I spent the first 15 weeks completely nauseous 24-7, the next 20 somewhat okay and the past 5 completely swollen. I started going into active labor a week ago Friday and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl around 11:30 a.m. on Valentines Day. We are beyond excited. We are also beyond exhausted. David is currently trying to keep a little girlie awake in hopes that she'll actually sleep tonight. I shouldn't be surprised though - she was always most active during the hours of 1 to 5 a.m. However, I couldn't be happier that she's in my arms. Love at first sight does exist. :)