List of Things I Have Caught Sophia Playing With...

Hmmm....what can I get into today? 

So I am a good mom, I swear. I am vigilant. I am ever present. I am on top of it. But damn it if babies can't get into stuff quicker than you can say "oh no".
Here is the list. It will be updated as I am sure there will be more. Please don't call CPS....
- a wooden frame
- my running shoes
- her shoes
- the remote control (somehow she got into the DVRed shows!)
- the dog's water bowl
- a floor mat
- the dishwasher ( I was right there and she was ADAMANT that the door to the dishwasher must be a toy for her while I was trying to unload it)
- her highchair (she was trying to pull herself out of her walker by pulling up on it)
- the gate designed to keep her in was very fun to open and close (I was there)
Upate:
- the foam corner protectors that she pulled off the stone fireplace
- her nail clippers (they are safety clippers so she couldn't hurt herself but still)
- the curtains (picture a little baby tarzan)
- socks
- sneakers (new no shoe rule in effect for baby zones)
- books pulled off of bookshelf
- DVDS pulled out of cabinet

teething...what a son of a bitch

Let me preface this post by saying as far as teething goes, we have it easy. Sophia is pretty low key about it and rarely if ever fusses or cries and there is a minimal amount of drool as well.
However, teething is just not fun for anyone involved. Think about it...teeth pushing up through the gums and breaking the surface...no thanks. If this happened to adults we would most likely be immobilized for days. Teething by the way does not last for days or even weeks...its MONTHS long. Right now Sophia has 4 teeth fully through the gums and 2 more partially through for a total of 6. We have how many teeth? 20. That means 14 more to go. Poor thing and Sophia too. Just kidding!!
So last night Sophia went to bed a little early due to the nap boycott (whole other blog there!) in the afternoon. We settle in for a nice peaceful night of TV, reading and bed. And then the crying starts. She is crying in her sleep which of course wakes her up :( Her little teeth are making her uncomfortable and she is squirming and whining and moaning and chewing on her little hands. This goes on for about an hour....we take turns quieting her down and getting her back to sleep. And even after she is finally asleep there are a few tense minutes where we watch the monitor...whispering "go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep".
And she did. And so did we. Hopefully we will not have a repeat tonight.

Nap Time and Lunch Dates with a 9 Month Old

So the old adage about "once you get used to something, it changes" should be what they teach you about babies in the infant care classes! Diapering is a cinch, bathing no problem, infants are easy (minus the 2 hours of sleep at a time thing)...9 month olds...where is that class?

Nap Time.....

This is a picture of my adorable daughter during NAP TIME. Yes, this is what happens when they learn to pull themselves up on things. And this was the THIRD time I had gone in to put her back down in about 5 minutes. Note the "I am SO proud of myself" grin on her little face. So there I was holding and rocking my 20 lb baby back to sleep. We will be putting the crib all the way down to the bottom tonight! Oh and just so you know..just because they can get themselves up, doesn't mean they know how to get themselves down.

Lunch Date 

Recently I went out with a friend for lunch. Sounds nice. If you don't have a baby you are thinking...meet up whenever, where ever, hang out, shoot the breeze, maybe have a cocktail, take your time, the norm.
If you have a baby or kids...you know differently. So in order to "do lunch" here is what it's like for me and Sophia. Pick a place that is easy to get in and out (just in case), must be baby friendly so no place too fancy. Then get "the stuff" which includes the diaper bag stuffed with diapers, wipes, toys, wipes for the toys that will definitely end up on the ground repeatedly, bottles, bibs, baby food, spoon, finger foods, hand wipes for you and the baby. Then your stuff which is now a wallet, cell phone (for calls and baby amusement...there are apps for that!) and your keys (also a great baby entertainer). Shove that stuff where ever because you don't want to have to lug around your purse and the diaper bag.
Ok, now find a good parking spot. This used to be right up front...not any more. I mean its a plus if that happens but mostly you need a spot where you can open your back door up as wide as possible so that you can get the baby and the stuff in and out without be wedged in or dinging someones door. Ok, now get the stuff and the baby who is currently bundled up like "The Christmas Story" and get into the restaurant.
Once you're in.... pray there is no wait. Waiting with wiggly baby that wants to grab everything and also crawl on the gross floor is not fun. If there is no wait, you go the table and situate the baby which now involves a high chair. Get the baby in, wipe down all accessible surfaces with a disinfecting wipe... because effectively whatever baby touches goes in their mouth (gag). Next get out a variety of baby toys and watch them all go onto the floor within a minute. Pick up, wipe them down and repeat about 50 times (no I'm not kidding). In this time figure out what you're going to eat and order. The menu btw is a great baby entertainer, just make sure that they don't clear the table with it.
Now get some food in you and food in the baby in the quickest, quietest and neatest way humanly possible. Be sure not to leave your soda/drink too close (Val;) or it will end up all over the table!
All in all, if you get out full and not covered in food, soda or anything else, your baby didn't cry and no one around you shot you more than 3 "Can't you keep that baby under control" looks, it was a good meal!

sleeping in

Sleeping in has taken on a completely new meaning. FIrst of all I am very lucky that Bill likes to have "daddy-daughter" time on the weekend mornings and lets me sleep while he gets up with Sophia. He is the best. But sleeping in is just not as easy as it used to be. I have to close the bedroom door and turn on the bathroom fan to block out any noise because if I hear Sophia up, I can't sleep. Either I miss her or I feel guilty that I am sleeping. But seeing her little face light up because I walked into the room is worth another hour of sleep :)

back on track....

Sophia on her Birth day

Sophia - 9 months later

So here I am back on blogging track. I hope to do this everyday so that I can look back and see what transpired while I was a 'new' mom getting her bearings. In the past week Sophia has gone from lackadaisical scooting around on her belly like an inchworm to full out crawling. She has also learned how to pull herself up on things...like the couch. She can clap and wave "bye-bye" but not when you want her to do so. Her new thing is to make noises with the spit in her mouth and turn her mobile on at will. Oh and the "stevie wonder" head thing is pretty entertaining as well. She still happy all the time and doesn't really cry unless she is hurt, scared or really tired.   Happy 9 Month Birthday to my Sophia Jane!

next chapter indeed

Well tomorrow my "baby" will be 9 months old. She has been an outside baby as long as she was an inside baby. She is crawling, "talking', pulling up on things, clapping, laughing and really becoming her own little person. Its amazing.
Obviously I haven't blogged since April and its January...the months in between would be pages of thoughts, tears and craziness. I will sum it up as this:
Breastfeeding was not a success.
Postpartum depression is real and powerful.
Meds are good.
I have my own business.
I never want to go back to teaching.
Being a mom and a wife are natural. Finding yourself again can be tough.
Me time is a must and a must do more.

Birth Story

Ok, Sophia is asleep in her swing and the coffee is kicking in...so I thought I would jot down my birth story.

I was scheduled for an induction on Thursday (4/8) at 6am. I was convinced that the only way I was having a baby was if they induced me. I had plans for the next day...running errands, bringing my dad his birthday present on his birthday, going out for a "Last Supper" at BoneFish with Bill. So, Bill and I settled in for a mellow night and watched LOST.
Around 10 o'clock, we went to bed. And I started feeling what turned out to be contractions. I wasn't convinced however so I tried to sleep. I quickly realized that I wasn't comfortable enough to sleep but I tried to rest. I had a handy dandy Iphone app to track my contractions (yes there is an app for that). I started pushing the button and realized that my contractions were on a time table around 12 minutes apart. I went into the 2nd bedroom so I didn't wake Bill up, because I felt the urge to walk around during each contraction. By around midnight, the contractions were about 7 minutes apart. So, I woke BIll up and put him on alert. By 2:30am I was not a happy camper. The contractions were coming every 3 minutes but were only 3o seconds long. I woke Bill up and got in the shower. Bill called the doctor and we were instructed to head into the hospital. Holy Crap...this was it.
I don't remember much of the car ride in. I was having contractions every 3 minutes so I was more focussed on those than the actual trip. I was just hoping that I would be dilated enough to get an epidural when I got to the hospital.
We checked in around 3:30 am. They checked me and I was 4cm and 80% effaced! I immediately requested an epidural (before we even got into our room LOL). The epidural was put in and I was feeling great! I couldn't feel a thing. I got a kick out of watching the contraction monitor and realizing that I was having a contraction but couldn't feel it ;). Bill left the room with the nurse to get me some ice chips and my water broke! The nurse was very surprised and so was I.
About and hour and a half later, I started to actually feel some of my contractions again, which I wasn't thrilled with. They checked me and said I was 100% effaced and 6cm dilated. This was going pretty quickly. The doctor ok-ed me for another dose of the epidural since I was having "break through" pain. I was so excited to not feel anything again!
Sadly, that was not to be. I waited 15 minutes...still in pain. 30 minutes... in worse pain. 45 minutes...worse pain. Back in comes the doctor, who checks me and finds that I am at 9 cm already! The anesthesiologist is called back in and tells me that the epidural can't keep up with the progression of my labor. AKA- I am going to have to do this without pain meds. This was NOT my plan. I don't know if I would have been able to do it without Bill there with me. He was there by my side the whole way. He fed me ice chips, encouraged me, held my hand, held my leg up, and told me it would be ok. He was my sanity.
Needless to say the next few hours were miserable. By 7 am, I was fully dilated. Bill had called our parents and told them to be at the hospital by 9am. The nurse intimated that the baby might even arrive earlier!
So, I started pushing...without an epidural. And continued to push forever. I will say the actually pushing didn't hurt. It was the only thing that took away the contraction pain. The contractions were coming one after another , every minute or so. I kept pushing. And pushing. And pushing. At some point I told the doctor there was no way I could do this. She told me I could and I kept pushing. I pushed until I didn't even have the energy to pick up my own legs. I was exhausted.
At the 2 hour and 30 minute mark, the doctor stopped me. She very calmly told me that although I was doing everything right, the baby wasn't progressing any further down the birth canal. She said she didn't think I was going to be able to push Sophia out and suggested that I have a C section. Not my ideal outcome but at this point I just wanted the pain to stop and the baby out. I agreed and off to the OR we went.
I had to get a spinal tap because they were afraid that my epidural wasn't effective enough. This was probably one of the worst parts. Not because the spinal tap hurt but because I was still having contractions every minute, without pain meds, and I had to keep completely still for the spinal tap to be administered. Once I made it through that, I was pain free in under 3 minutes. It was glorious.
I don't remember much just them prepping me. And telling me I would feel some pressure. BIll was right next to me. And then all of a sudden we heard her cry! And we cried.
And I was a mom. At 10:38 a.m. on April 7th, 2010 (my dad's birthday) Sophia Jane Malstrom was born weighing in at 8 lbs 9.6 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

Love doesn't even begin to describe it.