Nursery Reveal

Planning the nursery is one of the most fun things about brining a new baby into the family, at least in my opinion.  I knew from the start I wanted to do something soft, serene and classic.  I started by putting together an idea board here with the general feel I wanted for the room.

I knew I did not want a theme but rather something that can change and grow with him easily as he gets

older.  I have always loved the look of breadboard and thanks to my parents who came to help it is probably one of my favorite aspects of the room and adds some depth to a plain wall. 

I knew though that I wanted a calm and relaxing feel with different textures and fabrics but nothing too loud.  From the velvety soft crib sheets and blanket to the precious burlap pennant banner and curtain ties I think the textures and fabrics that make up the room add interest and depth to what could otherwise have been a bland and stark space.  I also love the contrast between the grays and soft blues and whites, it couldn't have come together more perfectly.

I feel its a space thats relaxing enough but also visually engaging for our sweet boy.  He loves to look up at the banner when I change him and the scroll monogram on the wall grabs his attention when he is hanging out in his crib or playing on the floor.

The other thing I really wanted to incorporate from the start was some sort of book shelf on the wall.  This took me forever to find what I finally wanted but I love how it turned out and its fun to interchange the books with seasons and holidays.

A friends sister made me this personalized print with Good Night Moon and I couldn't love it more! It ties in the gray perfectly and it is one of my favorite stories to read the boys at bedtime. The elephant prints I think are beyond precious it was so hard to narrow down my choices!

This room turned out exactly how I had imagined and it is probably one of my favorite rooms of the house.  I can literally sit in there and rock the baby while big brother plays for hours.  The calm and relaxing feel came through perfectly.

One Kings Lane also has a great resource with their Nursery Style Guide that has some great ideas to think about when deciding what to do with your nursery!

dresser/crib/prints/bookshelves/chair/letters/blanket/sheets/frames/changing pad cover/bumper

L2 Month 3

Now to bring us up to speed.  Our sweet boy turned three months on Feb 26.  Time is flying by and I am loving every minute of having two boys!! Watching this guy grow and change has been so much fun.  

I remember saying this with L1 but I think this month has been the most fun yet!

L2 is smiling all the time and is so social and interactive! He has started to "talk" and laugh which is so cute I melt every time!!  He loves to watch his mobile and the fan and will even sit in his bumbo seat for a good amount of time.

Sleep: He is sleeping 6-8 hours most nights! last week was a little rough but I attribute that to me going back to work and throwing his little routine off a bit.  But really most nights he is only waking up once around 4 and he goes to sleep around 8 or 9.  He is so easy to put to bed, its very obvious when he is tired because he will get super fussy despite all other attempts to make him happy.  Then we swaddle him turn on his white noise and feed him.  I can lay him down awake and he will put himself to sleep.  This is a huge difference from big brother who would not sleep more than 3 hours at a time until 6months and had to be rocked/nursed to sleep.

Eating: I am so so happy to report we are back to "exclusive" breastfeeding!! I say "exclusive" because he does take bottles when I am at work and if we are out and about.  but in general he is basically back to nursing full time which I am so happy about! I am returning our hospital pump next week and said from when I work I usually only pump a few times throughout the day at home.  He is taking anywhere from 3.5-5 ounces when he does take a bottle and still wants to eat every 2-3 hours during the day.

Clothing: He is right between sizes 0-3 in some brands don't fit anymore and are almost too small in other brands, most 3-6 sizes are slightly big but will be perfect before long.

He loves to be carried still so I wear him often and when he has to be in his carseat he hates when it isn't moving.  He found his hands and chews on them all the time and is starting to notice his feet as well!

L2 Month 2

This is way late but nonetheless our sweet boy turned one month on January 26, 2014.

At his 2 month apt he was 12lbs 7 ounces and 23 inches, a huge improvement from where we were a month ago!!

Sleep: He is waking up every 3-4 hours at this point

Eating: Still not breastfeeding much, he takes 3-4 ounces at each feed every 2-3 hours. I decided to rent a hospital pump and so I have been able to give him just breast milk now days which is nice.  He spits up like a fountain but since he is gaining weight and not bothered by it we will just wait until he outgrows it.

Clothing: He is in 0-3 month clothes and size one diapers.

He is such a happy baby, smiling all the time! He loves his mamaroo and his simple bouncy seat and has started to watch his big brother which is the sweetest thing!!

Five on Friday

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sad that it's friday because that means another week has gone by and I am one week closer to going back to work.  I actually go back in two weeks and I am trying not to be anxious about it.  I have a job I love but the thought of leaving my babies in the care of someone else even if it is my father in law gives me a little anxiety. 

{ONE}

One of the things that gets me going everyday is my coffee, I love having my coffee in the morning.  I found this coffee at Target and actually went back and bought their last bag it is that good!

Community Coffee Carnivale Cake 

{TWO}

I signe dup for my first post baby Half Marathon!! It will be the Diva Half Marathon in Galveston and I am so excited because not only is my mom coin git but my cousin is going to run as well!!! Here is a picture from when my mom and gram and I did it a few years back

{THREE}

I have a slight obsession with buying work out clothes, I feel like it motivates me to exercise when I feel cute.  I recently found this company that has the cutest work out gear I bought these petal pants and LOVE them! The company is called Albion and they seriously have the cutest things I also bought a top and the material is so soft!! The pink top pictured is the one I also purchased :)

These pumpkin leggings are on the top of my want list too!!!

  {FOUR}

This sweet boy has started to sleep 6-7 hours at night!!! Hallelujah Praise be to God!!! If I could just go to sleep when he does we would be golden problem is I don't so I only reap the benefit of about 4 or 5 of those hours!!

{FIVE}

This Sunday we will be dedicating our sweet boy to the Lord as well! I am so excited and have THE cutest outfit for him to wear!!!

Our Experience with Tongue Tie

When my L1 was born our breastfeeding journey was a tough one from the start.  It was extremely painful and it took him a long time to gain weight, I dealt with Mastitis, Thrush, and he would scream and cry at very feeding due to an overactive letdown.  I persevered and we went on to breastfeed for 17 months.  The first six months were ROUGH.

When L2 was born I thought that surely things would be easier, I mean I knew what I was doing so it had to be easier right?! WRONG

Things appeared right from the beginning just as they did with L1, The lactation consultant visited us in the hospital and said we were doing everything right and things looked good, they said the pain was due to a size issue between his mouth and my nipple.  This sounded all too familiar so we went on our way.

Things quickly became extremely painful again, L2 was not a happy baby if he wasn't sleeping he was crying and wanted to nurse constantly.  I summed it up to the fact that L1 was "easy" and this was my paybacks for that.  It was a bad cycle breastfeeding was so painful but thats all he wanted to do.  

I decided to find a Lactation Consultant that would come to my house and see me.  Everything appeared right with our latch etc so I wasn't sure what the problem was but figured she was an expert so maybe she could help.  It just so happens the day she was to come was also the day of L2's two week appointment.  This could not have been better timing as we found out at his two week apt that he had once again lost weight…and so begins the month of hell as I like to call it.  

The LC determined that L2 had a posterior tongue tie and an upper lip tie.  She did pre and post weights and it was determined through that measurement that he only got about an ounce when I thought he was eating plenty.  This had several ill effects 1. he wasn't getting enough milk thus his weight loss and fussy demeanor.  2. my milk supply had taken a MAJOR hit.  

She gave us all the information as well as more information on therapy than I wanted to hear.  It was all I could do to not break down and cry while she was there but as soon as she left I cried off and on all day.  My baby had to have his tongue cut, I had to give him bottles and I basically wasn't making enough milk anymore so I had to use formula.  I pumped my brains out in an attempt to not need formula but milk supply is supply and demand and since L2 wasn't effectively emptying my body was no longer making that much.

I need to say, there is nothing wrong with formula, as a matter of fact I will go as far as saying it saved my baby because he needed to eat and my body wasn't able to make what he needed.  Once I started giving him formula he was a happy baby, he slept, and I was no longer so stressed about pumping enough that my milk supply actually started to improve.  

I called that same day to make an apt with a dentist who corrected tongue ties with a water laser.  She is the only one in the Houston area who uses this method and we couldn't get in for another week.  

Fast foreward a week and 10,000 hours of non stop google searching about tongue ties and breastfeeding etc etc. We went to the appointment and the dentist did her own assessment and confirmed he definitely had both a posterior tongue tie and an upper lip tie.  She took us back, kept him in the carseat and had an assistant to help.  She did the water laser on my hand first so I could see it didn't hurt, it literally burns away which leads to quicker healing and less chance of infection or reattachment.  He was pissed but mostly because he was hungry and had a bunch of fingers in his mouth.  As soon as she finished she gave him to me to nurse, which he did and sure enough it didn't hurt.  He fell asleep and slept the whole afternoon.

Now, when he woke up it was bad news, he clearly was in pain, wouldn't nurse and I had to do these tongue stretches which he hated.  It was a rough day for sure.

It took a few days for him to not be in pain anymore, I did give him tylenol a few times and I used orajel naturals on his revision sites before we did the stretches.  That was the worst part the stretches, because I could tell it caused him discomfort and he would scream and cry and break my heart.  The hardest thing was he would no longer nurse, like not at all, he would cry and scream every time.  So we did exclusive pumping and bottle feeding.  My milk supply wasn't all the way back yet so we were still having to supplement a little bit.

I did so much googling and crying over the fact that he wouldn't nurse it was not how I saw things panning out.  I was persistent though and just kept pumping.

Now, here we are a month and half later and he is finally nursing again.  Its not exclusive, we still do several bottles a day but thats ok with me because I am going to have to go back to work in a few weeks and he will be taking bottles.  BUT he will nurse and be satisfied afterwards.  I can pump 10-12 ounces sometimes and I even have a lot of milk in the freezer!!! I never thought we would get here.

Some thoughts on the breastfeeding front:  The LC I saw really wasn't encouraging which frustrated me, I needed someone to tell me we would get back to breastfeeding and she never gave me that hope.  I finally emailed a La Leche Leage member for some hope and guidance on how to get him back to breastfeeding.  She sent me a huge email with so much great info and much of it I was already working on.  The LC had me so discouraged making me think we would need all kinds of therapies and treatments to get him nursing again, I was devastated but also determined to make this work.  I prayed and prayed and kept on trying here and there and finally finally the day came when he nursed and fell asleep for a few hours, I knew this was a good sign and from there everything is history.

If you are dealing with this please email me with questions, I really left a lot of the little details out because obviously this blog post is long enough but I held on to the hope that I found in blog posts of peoples personal accounts instead of just the medical and informational articles.

While going through it, it was so hard and it really took a toll on my bonding relationship in the beginning but thankfully its all a distant memory now and one more breastfeeding problem I can add to my book hah!

L2 Month One

How on earth my little guy is already a month old is beyond me! I seriously feel like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital.  I guess the adjustments of life with 2 and the holidays just put life on fast foreword.

The first month was not an easy one.  To be honest I am glad its behind us now.  I think the first month of life with any newborn is not easy but we had some issues that I had a really hard time dealing with and we are honestly still dealing with them Ive just had more time to process everything.  No worries, its nothing life threatening just more emotional than anything.  I really want to dedicate a whole post to the matter because its quite extensive in all its entirety.

My lil guy is getting so big! At the conclusion of month one he has become quite the little chunk and I love it! There is nothing I love more than a chunky little baby!!

We celebrated his first christmas this month and while he could care less about any of it, we all had a great time just relaxing and enjoying family.

Big brother is IN LOVE, it is all we can do to keep him out of his brothers face.  I just love that they are already buddies and I can't wait to see their love and friendship grow in the future.

He has started to smile and he smiles all the time, not the reflexive smiling, this is true social smiling, when any of us starts to talk to him he lights up with the biggest grin! His first smile was at two weeks old and he really is just such a happy baby!

The ceiling fan is his favorite and he could stare at it for ever, when we turn it on briefly so it moves…his mind is blown!!

He is out of newborn clothes {Tear} and fits well into 0-3 months.  He is much bigger than L1 was at this age, it will be interesting to see if he continues to be bigger.

He eats anywhere from 2.5-4 ounces every 2-3 hours and at night on most nights I can get a good 4 hour stretch at the beginning, after that though its back to every two hours which means once I pump and go back to sleep he is up in an hour…its quite exhausting!

And just for a fun little comparison because people always ask if I think L2 looks like his older brother:

L2's Birth Story

Im going to preface this by saying if birth stories or bodily functions aren't your thing you may want to move along...

Our sweet second son was born in the early morning hours on November 26.  He was 4 days past his due date and each day that passed and he was still inside we became more and more anxious and ready to meet him.  I tried every old wives tale in the book to try and get him out, he had his own plan and when he was ready boy was he ready!

I went to bed the same as any other night wondering if this would be the night he would decide to make his debut.  Around midnight, I was woken up by some moderate contractions that felt like bad menstrual cramps and I started to time them, they were 2-4 minutes apart…from the start.  I laid in bed for about an hour and around 1 AM they were becoming such that I no longer could just lay in bed.  I didn't wake up the hubby because I thought this could go on for hours so why not just let him rest.  I went to the living room and sat on an exercise ball and watched Real Housewives of Atlanta and debated folding some laundry to pass some time.  The contractions though became pretty intense to the point that I couldn't really focus on the show and decided around 2 AM to go wake up the Hubby and inform him of what was happening and that I was going to take a bath to maybe help the pain.  I was having to focus on breathing through them at this point and while the bath did help, things became very intense very quickly.  The contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting about a minute or minute and half at this point. I knew that seemed close and they seemed pretty powerful but once again I was induced and had an epidural the first time so I really just thought this is how things were for a good while...

At 254 I texted the hubby from the tub to call our Doula.  He called her and she was quite hesitant that we wanted her to meet us at the house, she asked him three times as she lives an hour away and we live 40 minutes from the hospital.  He told me that she kept asking him if we wanted her to meet us at the house and we both thought that maybe she was telling us we were too early in labor and needed to wait as I had barely been in labor for 3 hours.  She told us to call back when we saw any bloody show or felt pressure.  well…no sooner did he get off the phone with her and relayed the message to me I turned around in the tub and saw blood…he called her back to let her know and I told him he also needed to call the doctor.

The doctor told us to get to the hospital immediately and we called the Doula back to tell her to meet us at the hospital.  By this point it was 3AM and the contractions were such that my body was shaking and all I could do was focus on breathing through them.  Things were happening FAST we jumped in the car and rushed to the hospital.  

We live about 40 minutes from the hospital but also live right by a toll road that takes us straight in to the hospital, its almost always vacant especially at 3AM.  The hubby was driving about 90 mph and once we exited to the road that takes us in to the hospital he ran Every. Single. Red-light which we got every light red of course.

I could not sit all the way down in the car and no sooner did we get in the car I had the intense urge to push…By this point I couldn't even tell you about the pain because all I could think about and focus on was breathing to resist the urge to push…I was not going to have a baby in a car!!  The thing though is if your body wants to push it will I felt something coming out, it wasn't a head though and I really started to freak out.  I was a mess!! Poor hubby was probably having a heart attack too!

We pulled up to the valet at the hospital and got up to the triage floor, by this point I was a screaming freaking out mess because I knew this baby was coming…and fast…when we checked in at the desk it was now 354…

I got in to the triage room, they informed me that what I felt was my intact bag of water which was on its way out…they got me on the bed and within seconds there was about 8 nurses and 4 doctors.  Someone finally realized the hubby was still not there and ran to get him. He got in the room as I was starting to push, I pushed twice and he was here!!! The time was 359!  I barely remember them putting him on my chest and seeing him for the first time, I think I was kind of in shock at this point.

The whole birth process was such a whirlwind, I couldn't believe things happened so fast!  It really was surreal, I had always heard of people having fast labors and had always wished for such but as the whole thing was playing out I really just couldn't believe this is how MY labor was unfolding.

After the fact, they took me to a delivery room and cleaned me up, started an IV and then did all the admission paperwork hehe.

There were several things that had God written all over them, truly God's hand was in this birth.  If it had been any other time of day, we would have been in traffic or there would have been too many cars on the road to drive 90 mph and run every red light, we ran right past a cop in our neighborhood, he didn't stop us, The weather was horrible it was raining and there was so much water on the road its a miracle we didn't hydroplane and crash.  The fact that it was a mere 9 minutes from when we pulled in to valet until L was born, if we had stopped at any red lights or hit any traffic whatsoever he would have surely been born in the car!

 I really wanted an unmedicated natural delivery hence why we hired a doula…I certainly got my unmedicated delivery and just knowing I did it all on my own without even the help of a doula is so empowering.

Even to this day, I can't believe I am no longer pregnant and that our sweet second son is here! I still can't believe how fast he came! 

33 weeks

Who am I? Two posts in one day?! I know its crazy but I am actually 34 weeks today so I wanted to get this post up before I've missed my opportunity.  

I can't believe I am already 33 weeks, I honestly still feel like I am in the 2nd trimester and am maybe in a bit of denial that I only have 42ish days left!

I have been feeling great and for the most part haven't even been that tired, until about 9pm then I get tired and want to just lay down.  I have had some crazy hip pain on the right side and I think its because little man loves to lay on the right side...like all. the. time! The good news is as of my last apt at 32 weeks he is still head down so I am praying he stays put! That in itself has made this stage of the pregnancy very different from last time.  Im not used to feeling so many feet kicks because with L1 they were all bladder/cervix kicks which hurt like crazy! Now I get to feel his little feet stretching out its so fun.  The downside though is his head on my bladder makes me have to pee ( or think I have to) any time I go from sitting to standing or vice versa hah.

We took a tour of the hospital and I am loving it so much more than the last place I delivered.  It helps that the unit is only a year and a half old but it is also very family friendly and I am hoping we have a fantastic birth experience there.

We hired a Doula this time around and we have our prenatal appointment with her this week.  I am so excited about this, we met her when we interviewed/hired her and have been in contact since but this will be our big meeting and then we just wait for the big day!!

Five on Friday

We are making great progress on the nursery!! A little sneak peak, all the walls are done and curtains, now we just need to put furniture together, clean out the closet and put things in their place! Im so excited and happy with how things are coming together.

How cute are these little outfits?! I have been doing some shopping for baby boy and can't wait for spring to roll around so he can wear these precious little clothes! 

I feel like between work and getting things in our house in order its been nuts around here lately.  This guy has been so hilarious and sweet through all the crazy.  I feel like his vocabulary has exploded in the last two weeks and he is always cracking me up with the things he says these days.  He had just eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in this picture and was being silly before I had to run off to work.

According to my countdown app I have 42 days to go!! Thats so hard to fathom for me because the end of November seems so far away! I know with how busy our schedule is in the next month it is going to fly by!! We really still have a lot to do but thankfully this pregnancy has been nice to me and really has been a breeze so far which is a huge blessing in so many ways. I did my 33 week update here...I know two posts in one day...who am I?!

Tomorrow some sweet friends are throwing me a baby shower, or is it a sprinkle when its baby #2? Either way, Im so so grateful for them to offer to do this and so excited to see so many friends I haven't seen in so long!

Baby L#2 Update

Well folks, here we are...30 weeks and well into the third trimester! This pregnancy is flying by so fast I feel like I can't even keep up!! My new little man will seriously be here before I realize it!

I really feel like photos don't do my size justice, I just feel twice as big as this picture makes me look! Maybe I really am not that big but looking back at pictures I feel like this was my size around 35 weeks with L1.  It frightens me to think how big I could get this time around!!

Things have been moving along pretty uneventfully thank Jesus! Pregnancy is one part of my life I like to keep a little boring.  We had an appointment today and My Dr. said everything looked fantastic and was coming along perfectly.  He doesn't seem to think I will go all the way to my due date...we shall see...I have it already in my head I will go past my due date.  You cant be disappointed if your already convinced otherwise.  We are planning on doing things VERY different this time around and I am actually a little excited about the whole Labor and Delivery time, I know I'm crazy!! Little man just needs to cooperate and flip himself right over though I think he may take after his brother in the breech until many many weeks aspect!

I have had a serious sweet tooth lately, like all I can think about it cakes and sweets and more sweets.  I have tried to make a conscious effort to eat more fruits and veggies and healthy things, its just an ongoing process.

We have finally started to purchase items for the nursery.  My vision is slowly coming together and after the first weekend of October when we get the room more together, I think things will come together quickly after that point.  As of this moment by looking in our house you may not even know we have another on the way!!

Working while pregnant continues to be a little more difficult this time around than last, There are some nights I get off and my body just aches and all I want to do is lay down immediately! My hopes is the stress of work will help my go into labor though when the time comes!

Big brother L is such a trooper aside from his I want to be carried everywhere which thankfully he is not doing as much anymore.  He knows where baby brother is and at the church nursery on sunday was trying to feed everyone with a bottle he found, the teacher gave him a doll and she said he fed the baby for a good while.  This is funny to me because I have never shown him this and we don't even have dolls and bottles in our house! I think he is going to be a fantastic big brother, I just CAN. NOT. WAIT. to see him grow into this roll!!

Baby #2 Update

This pregnancy is truly flying by, what they say is so true that the second pregnancy goes so much faster than the first! I mean in less than 4 months we will be welcoming another sweet boy into this family!!

We have finally come up with a name! I am undecided wether I will share it here on the blog or not.  I will say this though, he will have the same monogram as L! I have too many cute monogrammed things I want to reuse and the hubby wanted to stick with an L name so it worked out perfect!

I also have finally come up with the design concept I want for his nursery.  It was a hard enough decision deciding what room would be his and now that we have the concept and room selected it's time to get busy! I will share my ideas on its own blog post. I really hope the room pans out the way I am imagining because I'm really excited about it.

I am 24 weeks this week and had my glucose test on monday which I passed but, as I had suspected and mentioned previously my extra tiredness is hopefully related to the fact that my "blood count" was in fact low.  I will start taking some iron and hopefully see a difference.

This boy has certainly grown faster than his brother I think I wasn't this big till almost 30 weeks last time, I will have to find a picture to compare to!

Little guy is a mover at night which is the same as his brother was.  I mean I do work night shift after all so I am really not surprised! Speaking of working night shift.  It feels so much tougher this time around! I know my job is more demanding as far as stress level and walking and bending over goes if you don't work in an ICU let me just say bending over every hour to check multiple chest tube and foley output is no easy task as big ol preggo! By the time I go home my body aches!!

I had to add this outtake... it cracks me up every time!!! Big bro wanted in on the action!!! I love his little face :)

I really haven't had many cravings this time around, I find myself having to remind myself to eat and drink though because I will go half a day without eating before I realize how long its been.

I pulled all of L's old clothes out and to my horror 90% of them had old breast milk spit up stains that have shown up during the time they have been boxed away.  I soaked them in oxyclean for about 3 days and will hang them in the sun today in hopes I can salvage them.

In less fun news, I had to have a root canal yesterday...yuck!! I was always under the impression dental work was a no no during pregnancy but I was wrong.  They had to use a different local anesthetic which apparently wears off quicker and I put a pillow under my hips so as not to be flat on my back for a long time.  The Endodontist was incredible! I was so nervous about going to someone new as I was referred to him from my dentist but he was great.  He had great bedside manor and was very aware of the pregnancy and my comfort during the procedure and in considering the treatment plan.  I really only had it partially done and I will go back whenever I feel like it after baby is born.  He just cleaned out the roots and filled it with medicine and put in a temporary filling to hold me until I make it back which he said there is no rush to do! So many answered prayers around this procedure as I was so incredibly nervous!! I would say it went about as well as any root canal could go!!