What Are We Getting Ourselves Into?

Only 2 Times!

2012-02-08T21:35:00.002-07:00

Copper only nursed 2 times today! We eliminated the morning feeding and she didn't even notice. Nap time and bed time are left. Now if she would just drink enough milk out of her sippy cups to make up for the decrease in booby milk. With nursing (at 3 times a day) and what I can get her to drink from cups, we're probably right around the recommended 16 ounces. She's going to need to step up her big girl drinking in order to cut back any more on the breastfeeding.

Forward Facing

2012-02-08T21:27:00.003-07:00

On January 15th we turned Copper Jo Jo around. She officially became a forward facing passenger. We're well aware of the current advice to not turn your child around until they're 120 pounds or 14 years old, but we felt that Copper's freedom to look out the front window was worth the risk.

1 or 2?

2012-01-30T20:28:00.003-07:00

Not only does everyone ask Aubrey and I if we're planning on having another kiddo, but we ask ourselves that same question daily. Copper is a very needy child and it's rare that I feel that I have my shit together. So adding another little devil to the mix doesn't always seem like it will make my life better. But that's strictly from a logistical stand point. Logistally, I can't imagine having a second kid. Going to Target with two, getting two ready to leave the house, nursing one while trying to make a meal for the other, going for a hike with two, paying for dinner for four, airline tickets for four, traveling with two kids...it just doesn't sound fun. I think that this is because I'm engrossed in the baby stages of things, when they are very needy and dependent. I know how much Copper requires of my time and I just can't see how I could have enough time for two. Then we have those great days where Lucy is around and Copper finally lets go of my leg and sits mesmorized by her cousin. She doesn't whine or cry or beg to be held. She just watches and tries to play with Lucy. We had Lucy at our house Friday night and for the first time since Copper was born, I thought that it just may not be that bad having a second kid. We went swimming, ate dinner, took a bath, and got ready for bed and it all went super smooth. It was more work taking care of two, but way easier because Copper was always with Lucy instead of in my arms or attached to my legs. Having a sibling, I have a hard time imaging what it would be like for Copper to be an only child. I can imagine what our lives would be like (mother-daughter backpacking trips, traveling across the country molding a pro motocross racer, etc.), but I feel that I would be letting her down by not giving her a brother or sister to play with, pick on, talk to, and grow up with. Derek and I always did things together as kids and continue to do things together. I want to travel and provide a lot of experiences with Copper, but in a way I think that she won't get as much out of those experiences if she doesn't have a partner in crime to explore with. For selfish reasons I would like for Copper to be an only child, for non-selfish reasons I would like for Copper to have a sibling. I have a feeling that the non-selfish side will win the battle, but for now I'm just going to be thankful that I only have to take care of one little devil.

My name is mommy and I have emotional breakdowns

2012-01-14T17:31:00.002-07:00

If you couldn't predict from my last post, I finally had a breakdown. It's only my second major one since Copper's been born. (Kellie and Shelly got to witness my 1st one about a month after Copper was born.) The event that finally set me off, but was merely the icing on the cake, happened while I was dusting the shelves in our living room. As I dusted Copper removed books from the shelves and tossed them on the ground. I told her over and over not to do that and removed her from the shelves about 4 times. I know that it doesn't seem like a very big infraction, but I'm a bit tired and Copper has been very needy lately. So I finally lost my cool. I picked her up a bit roughly but not enough to cause her concern and intended to head to her room to put her to bed since she was supposed to be sleeping anyways. Aubrey saw the expression on my face and took Copper. I then spoke passionately about how I can't ever finish anything that I start, I can't do anything without Copper being right there, I can't go anywhere without her, I can't, I can't, I can't...Some of the root of this outburst comes from the fact that Copper is very needy of me. Aubrey can do pretty much whatever he wants around the house and he never has to worry about Copper because she is always glued to me. The kiddo's with my every day all day, so I get why she wants to be around me, but I need a mother f'in break every once in a while. When she cries I have to hold her, when she needs to go to bed I have to put her down, when she's hungry I have to feed her, when she needs a diaper change I have to change her. That list isn't always on me 100% of the time, Aubrey does help, but it's not too much of an exaggeration. Part of the problem is my own fault because I don't ask Aubrey for help. I'm also so used to doing things myself that I don't give Aubrey the chance to do it first. Like a woman I just expect him to read my mind and do things without me asking. Does that work? Of course not and I know it. Today I learned that I need to communicate better with Aubrey and ask him to be with Copper when I don't want her help emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the bathroom, dusting the bookshelves, washing the dishes, giving Melvin a bath, cooking, peeing, walking through the kitchen, eating my dessert, doing laundry, emptying the litterbox, working on the computer, etc. I need to remember that he is capable of taking Copper to the store by himself, feeding her an entire meal, getting her from her bed in the mornings on the weekends, changing her diapers, picking out her outfits, putting her down for a nap after she refused to go down after nursing (which he did today without me asking him to it), and entertaining her while I do things. I also need to remember that Aubrey is capable of housework and that I don't need to do it all. My next post should be about happier moments. This is a blog about raising a kid and this shit has been hitting me hard this past week.

Note: I am getting a housecleaner starting in February. Cleaning the house is really f'in hard when a 1 year old is clinging to your leg or screaming because you're not holding her. I have many other things that I would rather be doing in my very precious, very little spare time.

My name is mommy and I put my fingers in my ears

2012-01-12T21:23:00.003-07:00

For a majority of my time with Copper I am 100% happy. There are times though when her cries make me want to put my fingers in my ears. Not just want to put fingers in my ears, but I actually do it. I don't feel good doing it, but it does dull the pain. I try very hard to be understanding and patient and sensitive. She is only 14 months old (Happy 14 Months today!) and she cries when she needs to. I get that, but it doesn't mean that I can always handle it. I need about 9 hours of sleep a night. Without that, I am not the mommy that I want to be. Granted I haven't thrown her against a wall or violently shaken her, but I have shut down when I'm with her and she is having a fit for whatever reason. Today was one of those days. I'm coming down with something and didn't get as much sleep as I needed last night since Copper woke up an hour early today. Apparently we were both suffering from that lost hour, because she was a super turd today. I'm a bit sensitive to noise and Copper can make a lot of noise. I feel bad when I feel that I need a break from her when she feels that she needs me most. But damn, she can be a little shit. When I'm well rested I make the extra effort to make her happy again. When I'm tired, I make smart ass comments, don't make the extra effort, and long for a few minutes/days to myself. Then as soon as she's happy again I feel guilty for wanting to check out. When I look at her sleeping in the monitor before I go to bed, I can't wait to see her in the morning and spend my day with her. I once heard this story of a woman who related parenting to being on a diet. She said that every day she starts out with the best of intentions, but with dieting she can at least make it to noon. Basically this post is just my way of asking for a couple comments about how horrible you've been to your child, and that really I'm a super mom even at my worst moments. And that my child will not be scarred from my lack of compassion when she is clinging to my leg screaming her head off for no reason other than I'm not holding her.

4 Feet

2012-01-09T21:50:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday, December 27, Copper Jo took her first 2 steps. It happened in the kitchen at Aubrey's grandparent's house. She had pulled a small bottle of olive oil out of a lower cupboard and holding it with her little baby hands, she took two small shuffle steps. I don't think that her smile was as big as mine, but she knew what she was doing was something special. Aubrey was at the grocery store when it happened. The following Friday she took 2 real steps of the kind where her feet actually left the ground. That happened in the kitchen at my parent's house. Over this last weekend she took 4 and 6 steps with Aubrey in our basement. Last night she walked over 4 feet. Aubrey, Copper, and I were in our kitchen. I stood about 2 feet away from Copper holding out my hands encouraging her to walk over to me. She tentatively started towards me and then veered off to the right and walked over 4 feet into the dining room. Aubrey and I gave her a standing ovation.

Follow-up to "3 nights...and counting"

2012-01-07T22:07:00.003-07:00

Copper officially has a new bedtime routine. She nurses, sits up, gives me a big long hug, points to her bed, snuggles with a stuffed animal, and then peacefully falls asleep all by herself. This is how it is done every night.

Note: There can not be a light on outside of her room or she will point to the bright light coming in the crack of her door. Her humidifier needs to already be started. If I push the "on" button while she is watching she will point to the humidier to touch it. And then all bets are off. She will refuse to go down without a fight.

3 Nights...And Counting?

2011-12-15T21:58:00.002-07:00

Almost every time that Copper has gone to bed has been by me nursing her to sleep. There were 3 nights within a week about a month ago where she put herself to sleep after nursing (this is in her crib, not in our bed or the guest bed with me laying next to her). I thought then that we were on to something, but it was an anomaly. Our routine is that when she shows signs of being tired, usually between 8-9, I take her to her room and sometimes read a few books, and then she nurses while I read and she falls asleep. I then gently place her in her crib where she sleeps a good 10-12 hours and wakes around 8 am. If she ever wakes up in the process of laying her down, it's back to square one, the boob. Three nights ago Copper ate and ate and then was done and sat up. So I turned off the light and tried rocking her to sleep. She rested her head on my shoulder, let her body relax and then did her crazy yelling thing, "Da! Da! Da!" for 5 minutes. She didn't seem to be getting any closer to sleep so I put her in her bed. She stood at the railing and hugged me for a long time until I turned on her mobile as a distraction. She played with that for a while and then came back over to the railing for some half assed fussing. I brought our chair next to her crib so she knew I was near. I ignored her fussing and it never escalated and after about 10 minutes she laid down and fell asleep. That night I was in her room about an hour. Last night was pretty much the same gig only shorter, 45 minutes. Tonight (drum roll please) was only 20 minutes. She ate, sat up, we hugged, I laid her down with her stuffed Sheepy, covered her with a blanket, gave her a kiss on the forehead, said goodnight, and walked out the door. She was asleep with out fussing within 5 minutes of me leaving. May this be a sign of good things to come.

And...I only nursed her 3 times today! I've been down to 4 for over a month, but cut out her afternoon feast today. She's finally getting down the whole sippy cup technique and is getting some cow's milk in her tummy. More cow's milk equals less mommy's milk.

Learning to Walk

2011-12-10T10:23:00.002-07:00

Copper Jo is getting so stinkin' big so stinkin' fast! This is her 1st day using her Y Bike and she has it nailed. She appears to have her fathers ability to pick up any skill and master it quickly. This was shot on Dec 2 and up until then, we have given her minimal opportunity to even use her legs to walk. She would work her way around part of the coffee table and her Grandpa had just recently started holding her hands to help her walk, but I really thought that it would take more than 1 try to figure out her walker. My kid's awesome.

Just the Beginning

2011-11-25T13:57:00.002-07:00

Copper seemed to go from crawling to pulling herself up to creating complete chaos in a very short amount of time. Once she learned to crawl she realized that there are no limits to her abilities. Every obstacle is now a challenge that she is determined to overcome. Which means a lot more supervision on our part. This video was shot on November 22 and the next day she was right back up the stairs and she had already perfected her technique. Now every time she's playing in the basement, she heads to the stairs and starts climbing.

Happy 1st Birthday, Copper Jo!

2011-11-12T22:13:00.004-07:00

For a whole month I get to refer to my daughter in terms of a year instead of months. For a whole month she will be "One." Not 12 months. One Year Old. It feels a bit surreal having a one year old. How so much can change in just a year's time. The fascinating thing about this is that I will feel this way every year from now on. I will be amazed when she turns two, in awe of what she has all accomplished when she turns 3, and this is how it will be every year. I won't view the passage of time through my own birthday's but rather through Copper's. At One Year Old Copper is practicing standing on her own, can control her sitting from a standing position, she uses sign language to tell me when she wants "more", she pulls herself up on any and everything, she looks at dogs and ducks and makes sounds that sound like "dog" and "duck", she blows kisses and waves goodbye, she is not stingy when it comes to hugs, she likes to give kisses (big wet ones, often open mouth), she has two teeth, she likes to pet Melvin and Flea, she holds on to me tight when she doesn't want to go somewhere, she makes lots of sounds when she's "reading" books, she sort of knows how to use a fork and spoon, she loves cheese, and yogurt, she makes the weirdest faces, she makes me so happy that I don't miss the life that I had before she became a part of it. Every year we will wish her a Happy Birthday, make a big deal out of her special day, and buy her gifts. Every year I will reflect on all of her accomplishments and every year I will be reminded that on her birthday I was given the best gift I could ever imagine.

Quote of the Day

2011-11-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

"No. No eating paperclips."

-Me to Copper

Chompers

2011-11-01T15:14:00.002-06:00

Copper's bottom two chompers finally poked through about a week ago! As anticipated she tried to bite my nipple off. It was actually pretty funny because it happened kind of gradually and she was giving me a menacing look and smiling while she did it. It was hard not to laugh, which is why I did laugh. Luckily it was grandual and she didn't just bite down. Although then my reaction would have been more along the lines of discouraging instead of encouraging. Later that same day she was giving me quite the smooch and bit my lip too. Which she also found pretty funny. Ok, I did too.

Motor Skilz

2011-10-24T09:41:00.003-06:00

Copper has been doing really good eating table food. Out of her three meals and snacks yesterday, she only ate baby food once (veggies at dinner). Otherwise it was everything that we ate. She now likes to take her spoon from me and attempt to feed herself. I've been giving her a fork to use too. Some food, such as bananas are hard to pick up and a fork makes it easier. Every once in a while she manages to stab a piece of food on her own and expertly forks it into her mouth. No injuries yet.

Time to start baby-proofing

2011-10-24T09:28:00.002-06:00

I had threatened Copper a couple weeks ago that she couldn't turn 1 until she learned how to crawl. So she started to crawl. She's been plugging away at it for a little over a week now and I already miss the days of immobility. She's not very fast yet, but she can get around. I have to put the water dish on the counter every time she's in the Dining Room and she's obsessed with hovering around Mel and Flea while they eat. I need to start cleaning my floors on a regular basis. The other day she crawled into the kitchen and ate something off the floor. Even if it was food based, it was still quite questionable. It is fun watching her crawl and it really feels like she has progressed so much in just these last couple weeks. On Thursday she stood all by herself for about 20 seconds. Yesterday she moved about a foot around the coffee table. Next up...walking.

Cornered

2011-10-15T14:18:00.002-06:00

What happens when you can only crawl backwards?

You get backed into a corner you can't get out of.

What do you do in those circumstances?

Make the most of it and find something to chew on.

Do Not Feed The Animals

2011-10-15T14:04:00.004-06:00

This morning's feeding frenzy.

After lunch today I picked up about 12 pieces of egg, 6 pieces of banana, 2 Puffs, and 2 pieces of pancake (that I had missed this morning) off the floor around Copper's chair. Copper is obsessed with feeding Melvin. Mel doesn't even have to sit up and beg. Last night he was half asleep under her chair with 3 kidney beans on his back that Copper had tossed down. At lunch today I even put him outside and she still tried to chuck most of the food off her tray onto the floor. If I say "no" to her she just laughs at me. Granted we've done minimal to discourage her from throwing her food on the ground. We laugh at it about 90% of the time and when I tell her I'm going to beat her if she throws one more Cheerio onto the floor, she just grabs another Cheerio and lets if fly. She has so much fun doing it and she's so damn cute. What are we to do?

Germs, it's what's for dinner

2011-10-05T22:13:00.003-06:00

Copper picked up a Cheerio from her tray and reached out to Melvin, who is always hovering around her chair, as if to feed it to him. She didn't let go of the Cheerio. She held it while Melvin gently licked it. She then withdrew the Cheerio and ate it.

10 Month Stats

2011-10-04T20:49:00.003-06:00

I know that she turns 11 months in a week, but I need to get her 10 month stats posted. Better late than never.

Copper had a check-up 3 days after she turned 10 months (Sept 15th) and here are the results:

-Weight: 18 lb, 10 oz (25-50%)

-Height: 29" (75-90%)

-Head: 44.5 cm (50%)

Her head has stayed average, but now she's tall and skinny. The pediatrician suggested I give her more table food to fatten her up. Otherwise she's doing great.

Hobbies include:

-Sliding backwards on her belly

-Giving kisses (it's way freakin cute!)

-Hitting (not so cute)

-Throwing fits when she doesn't get what she wants (also not so cute)

-Feeding Melvin from her high chair

-Pulling herself up onto her knees

Still no teeth. She also has a pretty strong sense of her own personal space and will quickly swat you away if she doesn't want you too close. Or if she doesn't like the food you are offering, which often results in a mess.

Cuteness note: At the doctor Copper took her sock (which was off) and placed it on her foot. She's since done this a few times. Smart kid.

Night Night with Daddy

2011-10-04T20:32:00.002-06:00

About a week ago, Copper went to bed without my assistance for the very first time. We're talking 10 and a half months of mommy only putting her down. Almost every single night of her life I have nursed her to sleep. On the nights when she woke up while I carefully attempted to lay her in her crib, I would pick her up, nurse her again, and if that failed, lie down with her in the guest bed until she fell asleep. For 4 nights in a row last week Copper refused to fall asleep while I nursed her. She would eat till I was empty and then struggle to sit back up. I would look at her with annoyance, lay her in her crib in the hopes that just maybe tonight would be the night that she fell asleep by herself in her own bed, listen to her cry and fuss for 10 minutes and then bring her to the guest room and lie down with her. Within 10 minutes each night she would fall asleep. Without the boob. In a way it seems like progress. I believe on the 5th night of this new routine, she woke up when I tried to carry her from the guest bed to her bed. I was a little over this process since it was greatly reducing the amount of alone time I got in the evenings so I brought her downstairs to her TV watching Daddy and suggested he try laying with her in our bed. He was ready for bed and since I'd recently learned that she does not need to be attached to my boobs to fall asleep, it seemed like we may as well try it. Lo and behold, it worked! I laid on the couch and watched TV while Copper snuggled up next to her Daddy and went to bed. An hour later I carefully picked her up and carried her to her bed, where she happily slept through the night as usual. So tonight when Copper finished her final meal of the day and sat up wide eyed I carried her downstairs and handed her to Daddy. I don't hear a sound so it seems like it worked again. Aubrey is finally starting to come in handy.

On the Move

2011-09-09T14:11:00.002-06:00

Two days ago Copper pushed herself backwards about 12 feet through my mom's house. Momma's so proud!

Copper's First Injury

2011-09-09T13:53:00.003-06:00

Copper sustained her first injury last week. As Aubrey likes to point out, it was on my watch. You can just barely see the red mark on her forehead in the picture. Really, it's way better than I envisioned her first spill. It happened in her oversized, not intended for 10 month olds, kid camp chair. Copper was inappropriately sitting in it with one leg draped over the side through the arm and leaning precariously over the arm of the chair. While I was gabbing away with my Uncle Larry (probably about what an amazing mom I am) and ignoring the impending catastrophy, down she went. Right onto the little jagged white rocks. She cried and I wiped all of the grime from the entire side of her face. She didn't wail, but it did take a bit to calm her. Her red mark has since turned into a small bruise. I think the brain damage is minimul, but I'm sure Aubrey will use it against me for the rest of our lives. Although I'm pretty sure that the injuries she'll get on Daddy's watch will include hospitalization and a choice of colors for a cast.

2-3 Hours

2011-08-23T22:47:00.003-06:00

The little shit head refuses to fall asleep the first time I feed her to put her down. It has been 3 nights in a row. I feed her, she falls asleep, I attempt to put her in her bed, she wakes up, she screams like a mad woman until I pick her up, (twice I wasn't even able to get her to her bed since she woke up before I even got up to put her down), I bring her downstairs where she receives a lecture from her Daddy about going to sleep, we all eat dessert together and watch TV, I bring her out on a late walk, at home Aubrey can't fall asleep because we're out late walking, she may or may not fall asleep on the walk, I put her in her bed if she is sleeping from her walk or I feed her again and then put her to bed. Tonight Aubrey begrudgingly took her out for a walk at 9:30. When they got back Aubrey was scowling and Copper was smiling. This has been our evenings between 8 and 10-11. I would like tomorrow night to be different.

Copper's New Skill (from 2 weeks ago)

2011-08-23T22:44:00.001-06:00

21 Minutes

2011-08-17T12:55:00.002-06:00

Two nights ago it took me 21 minutes to feed Copper and put her to bed. I believe this is a record. She didn't sqirm or poke my face. She just ate peacefully and fell asleep. I sat for a few minutes and watched her and then gently placed her in bed. Fast forward 2 1/2 hours. As I lay in bed willing myself to sleep, the red lights on her monitor light up as the crying begins. I watch her about 5 minutes as she steadily gets more worked up and then get out of bed at 11. We laid down on the guest bed and I fed her and then she just looked at me. Then she rolled over. Then she rolled onto her back and looked at me. This went on for a while. No crying or sqirming, just peaceful watching. I picked her up and placed her on my tummy. She propped herself up on her arms, smiled at me in the dark, and then lay her head on my chest. After a couple minutes she rolled off and looked at me again. After a hour of her contently not sleeping, we fell asleep spooning. I wish her crib was big enough for both of us and we could fall asleep this way more often.

Happy 9 Months!

2011-08-14T18:42:00.004-06:00

(I'm a couple days late. Copper turned 9 months on Friday.

I'm not a bad mom though. I'm just behind on my blogging.)

Copper hasn't had her 9 month appointment yet, so I don't have height and weight stats yet. Should have those by the end of the week.

While the past few months have seemed a bit uneventful with little in the way of new skills, Copper has more than made up for it in the past couple weeks. (Don't get too excited though, she still isn't crawling and still doesn't have any teeth.) She has learned how to clap (I have a video that I've been meaning to post), she sometimes waves goodbye, she gets mad when I take things away from her, and she's finally learning how to control her body. She spins around when she's sitting on her butt and can right herself if she starts to tip over. If she's close to something that she can grab on to, she will try to pull herself to it or pull herself up. She can grab my glasses and pull them off my face in a matter of seconds. Within the past few days she's gotten really good at picking up food and feeding herself. She'll also push my hand away if she doesn't like the baby food I'm feeding her. She enjoys turning light switches on and off. It's been a lot of fun watching her develop so quickly lately.

I do think that she may be getting ready to start crawling. The little bit of time that she is laying on the floor, she rolls all over the place and is always pushing herself up on her hands. In her crib today she even had her knees bent a bit. I'm still not looking forward to the crawling stage of things. I'll have to vacuum all the time as Melvin keeps a pretty steady layer of dog hair on the floors and I'll have to get a gate for the top of the stairs. I also won't be able to let her nap on the bed at my parents anymore. Currently placing pillows on both sides of her keep her from rolling off the bed when she wakes up, but when she can crawl that just won't suffice.

The big 9 month birthday has been a fun one and I look forward to next three months. I can't believe she's almost 1!

My Favorite Sound

2011-08-10T22:23:00.003-06:00

This video is from May 30th, but I just got around to uploading it. It doesn't take much to make Copper laugh and that makes me very happy. Generally hitting of some sort will do the trick. This may be an issue in the future, but for now we're having fun with it.

Bumper

2011-07-31T22:10:00.002-06:00

It took almost 11 months to complete Copper's crib bumper. I am rarely able to see a task through from beginning to end in one sitting since Copper's birth. The bumper was no exception. A job that once would have taken me a couple evenings took over 15 separate tries to get it done. She faired just fine without it, but the fabric is so damn cute I wanted to finish it just to be able to see the fabric every day.

Welcome back...I guess

2011-07-24T22:33:00.003-06:00

While I knew that this day would come, I was completely in denial that it would be this soon. I could have sworn that I would be menstruation free for the duration of my breastfeeding days. Without letting up at all and Copper solely nursing, I figured I wouldn't start back on the "monthlies" (I got that term from a book I'm reading that takes place in the early to mid 1900s) until the milk production was lightening up. Like many things, I was wrong. Welcome back Aunt Flow. (Heavy sigh.)

Roley Poley

2011-07-22T21:57:00.002-06:00

Since I posted Copper's 8 month update, she has since become a rolling fool. Aubrey joked that she will just roll everywhere instead of crawling. Now I have to watch out leaving her on the couch. Twice now she's scootched down onto her back and then rolled onto her stomach while I was in another room. Might be time to eliminate the unsupervised sofa time.

Happy 8 Months!

2011-07-12T21:49:00.003-06:00

Copper Jo Jo turned 8 months old today! She's getting so big and even cuter every day. I didn't do a 7 month post because not much had changed since 6 months. Really, not much has changed still. She's getting bigger and her coordination and motor skills are getting more refined, but she hasn't necessarily started anything "new." Well, almost nothing. Shortly after I took this picture she rolled onto her back, which she's only done a few times and then rolled back onto her stomach for the FIRST time!! Yah Copper! Momma was so proud. The kid still hates tummy time or laying down at all for that matter. She sits up like a champion and appears to feel that laying down is for sleepy time, not playtime. Since her tummy time tolerance is very low, she has made zero progress towards learning to crawl. My mom is convinced that she may be one of those crazy kids that learns to walk first. She just may be right. Copper also has a bit of first child syndrome and therefor gets carried everywhere and has pretty much constant attention. A perk for coming to work with me to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She still hasn't started teething. Which is fine by me. The past month or so, I've had to start feeding her in seclusion because she gets super distracted by noises and talking. No more feeding her in front of the TV at night and then carrying her up to bed. I now have to feed her in her own room. I did get a little reading light so it's not so bad anymore. I'm flying through books since I can't talk to people anymore during feedings.

So, to sum up 8 months:

-No crawling

-No teeth

Hobbies include:

-Laughing hysterically while hitting us in the face or head or touching our noses and mouths

-Grabbing everything within reach and displacing it

-Drinking (sort of) with a sippy cup

-Sleeping through the entire night like a champ

-Rarely falling over while sitting

-Pooping large solid turds

-Making mommy and daddy the happiest parents ever!

A Big Day

2011-07-11T22:15:00.003-06:00

I've been waiting many months for Copper to be big enough to sit in the cart. I hate schlepping her damn car seat in to the stores. Thing weighs a ton. Just 2 days shy of her 8 month birthday we made the plunge and strapped her in. She loved it and had no problems at all. Such a big girl.

Although, now that she's sitting upright, she uses her grabby hands to snatch things off shelves and racks. Including 6 bottles of wine.

Sippy Cup

2011-07-06T21:51:00.002-06:00

We gave up trying to get Copper to take a bottle about 4-5 months ago. Now it's not worth it at all to even try since they have to give up the bottle at 1 year. So we're starting early with sippy cups. I've just been putting water in them for now since I don't want to waste my precious stock of booby milk while she works the kinks out of her technique. Surprisingly, she's taken to it pretty quick. She gets that she has to open her mouth for the spout and she even started sucking and drinking after about 3 tries. She does best when we're holding the cup, but she also gets the idea of holding it herself. We have to put a lot of water in it since she has to tip it back so far to drink. That seems to be the harder part for her. Maybe someday I won't be her only source of milk. Maybe.

Something's not right here

2011-06-23T22:10:00.001-06:00

I made dinner tonight while wearing Copper in the Baby Bjorn while Aubrey finished playing his video game and then made himself a margarita.

Peach Puree

2011-06-18T16:22:00.002-06:00

I have these grand ideas of making Copper's baby food. It's not necessarily due to the prices of baby food or providing her with fresh food, but because of packaging. Those little plastic Gerber food containers aren't recyclable and I feel bad going through a million little jars over the course of Copper's baby food eating months. I purchased a book called, "Organically Raised" and for the first time made fresh baby food. Since peaches are in season I tried those first. It was actually really easy. I mixed them with Copper's oatmeal this morning and she didn't like them as much as pears or apples (she made a gagging face at one point), but it felt good feeding them to her. Tomorrow I'm going to try sweet potatoes.

Sacrifices

2011-06-14T14:15:00.002-06:00

While cleaning the chocolate cake batter off the beaters from my mixer, I had a realization that someday I will no longer be able to lick the bowl. I'll have to let Copper do it. I am not looking forward to that day.

Corn: The New Enemy

2011-06-07T22:52:00.002-06:00

About a month ago Copper developed a bunch of really dry spots all over her body. It was right before going in for her 6 month appointment and when I asked the pediatrician about them, she said that it was just "extremely dry skin" and wrote a prescription for cortizone cream. It seemed odd that Copper would all of a sudden get this rash especially since I've never used lotion of her and she's always been fine. Nothing had really changed that would cause the rash either. I went ahead and started lathering her up with a heavy cream and cortizone cream. The rash only got worse. It's really spotty so it just didn't seem right that it was dry skin. When Lucy was around 1 - 1-1/2 she had a really bad rash on her legs due to a dairy allergy. That made me think that maybe Copper was having something similar happening. Copper was due to go back to her NAET doctor to get tested for her dairy allergy so it seemed like a good opportunity to ask about the rash. Dr. Snyder tested her for her dairy allergies and she tested well for them. A little muscle weakness with yogurt and whey, but not enough to need another treatment right now. She did test strongly for a corn allergy which is also a very common food allergy. On Friday she was treated for her corn allergy and I once again went on a restricted diet. No corn products including anything that contained corn starch and corn syrup. I was also supposed to avoid foods with baking soda and baking powder, but that was asking a bit much. You'd be surprised at how many foods have corn products in them. The nurse told me that it was very difficult to avoid corn and to do the best I could. It went pretty well over the weekend with an exception to Lisa's supper party where I ate Derby Pie which is made with corn syrup. Copper went in on Monday morning to get tested again and still tested pretty strong to corn. They did another treatment and I'm still avoiding corn products. Her rash isn't getting any better and the doctor said that it would probably get worse before it clears up. We go in again tomorrow and hopefully she doesn't test for the allergy anymore. And hopefully that is what is causing the skin problem.

These Days are Numbered

2011-05-31T22:06:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty sure that Copper's first tumble from the sofa will be on my watch. She currently sits quite peacefully on the sofa playing with toys while I run around the house trying to get things accomplished. On this day I laid her down for a quick nap while Aubrey and I got ready to run some errands. So far she hasn't rolled from her back on to her stomach. Although she is pretty good at rolling onto her side. As a precautionary measure I did place the back sofa cushion next to the couch to hopefully slow down her fall. Luckily it wasn't needed.

Must be the fresh Iowa air

2011-05-29T12:29:00.003-06:00

Copper had a whole week of first time experiences on our trip back to Iowa. They included:

Rolling over from her stomach onto her back unassisted.

Eating veggies. She very much enjoys carrots.

Going swimming.

Note: This one may not count completely since the water was freezing and she only got her legs wet.

Sitting in a restaurant high chair and eating a slice of lime.

Going to a playground.

Equipment used: swing, teeter totter, rocking horse thingy, and slide

Good job Bug! Growing up so fast.

Crawling

2011-05-29T12:17:00.002-06:00

Copper and I went to a Stroller Strides class on Friday at Wash Park. If you're not familiar it's an outdoor fitness class for mommies and their babies in strollers. It combines cardio and strength training in a circuit format. It was a lot of fun and a great workout. I haven't been this sore in a very long time. Anyways, at the end of the class we were all hanging out with our babies in the grass when a woman came over with her little girl. She noticed how well Copper was sitting up and asked how old she is. Turns out that her girl is 1 day older than Copper, but hasn't mastered sitting up very well. I asked her how she does with crawling and she said that she is doing well and can get up on her hands and knees. She then put her girl on the ground and sure enough she immediately propped herself up. I expressed my amazement and then showed her Copper's lack of progress. I placed Copper on her belly and with pudgy little arms splayed out to both sides and laying flat on her belly with the side of her face plastered to the matt she started to fuss. Sitting up...check. Learning to crawl...fail. It was interesting to see so many babies and the range of their abilities. I'm not the least bit concerned about Copper's lack of interest in crawling. It'll all come together soon enough.

6 Months - A bit belated

2011-05-27T17:30:00.004-06:00

Copper Jo Jo turned 6 months old on May 12th. I obviously didn't get around to posting her 6 month info. So I'm doing it now. She weighed 16 lb 8 oz (she must have had a wet diaper, just eaten, and been wearing 2 pounds of clothes when I got that 17 lb reading), she was 26 inches long, and her noggin was 42.5 cm. All of which are totally average.

Hobbies include:

Sucking on orange peels (her favorite)
Doing everything that she did at 5 months only better and longer

I hoped to report that she was walking by now, but unfortunately it hasn't happened yet.

Also at 6 months she has developed patches of dry skin. I haven't used lotion on her ever (except for her chin) and now I have to lather her up a couple times a day with heavy cream.

It seems like she didn't develop as many new skills from 5 months to 6 months. She just does them all better now.

That's what I get.

2011-05-25T22:23:00.002-06:00

I've been bragging lately about how I haven't had a clogged duct in weeks. I was getting nasty clogged ducts that left half my right boob feeling like a bruised rock every 3-4 days for over a month. I was convinced that I would just have to deal with them for the rest of my breastfeeding days. Then all of a sudden I didn't get them anymore. Now that I opened my mouth and shouted with joy that I have been cured, they've come back. I was convinced that the breastfeeding gods were testing me and I had prevailed. Guess I should have knocked on wood. Stupid boob.

Time to lower the bed

2011-05-14T15:43:00.003-06:00

Notice that guilty look on Copper's face? That's because instead of napping she decided to turn on her mobile and play with it. I looked in the monitor and heard the music and then noticed that the mobile wasn't turning. She had a death grip on the giraffe's foot. It's time to lower the mattress a notch or two. Speaking of the crib, I do really need to finish her bumper. Even though she's not rolling all the over quite yet, she does move around an awful lot. Someday she's going to get her little sausage feet stuck in the bars.

Note: Copper turned 6 months old on Thursday. I haven't posted her 6 month update yet because I left her weight, height, etc. paperwork at the pediatrician's yesterday. I'll post the update when the paperwork comes in the mail.

Being Creative

2011-05-14T15:36:00.003-06:00

I have come to terms that while I am with Copper I cannot get everything done that I want to. Chores can wait, work can wait, working out can wait, relaxing can wait, showering can wait, getting a good buzz on can wait, going out to nice dinners can wait...you get the picture. When I put her down for a nap yesterday I immediately started cleaning the truck to get ready for Lisa, Lucy, Copper, and my trip back to Iowa. I got about 20 minutes into it before she woke up. I let her lay in her bed for quite a while, but eventually had to go get her. I wasn't willing to abandon my task so I just put her in the truck while I finished cleaning it. She loved it. While I can't always do everything that I want to, many things are possible if I just get a little creative.

Quote of the Day

2011-05-10T16:12:00.001-06:00

Me: "Is Copper looking chunky?"
Mom: "No!" (pause) "Well maybe a little."

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

2011-05-08T22:00:00.002-06:00

Copper woke up with a wonderful present for me this morning; a big ol' nasty poopy diaper. Melvin came inside covered in grass which I then had to brush off. I kept looking around for a regurgitated hairball from Flea, but she must have forgot it was Mother's Day. Joking aside, it really was a pretty cool day and nothing that special even took place. Now that I'm a mama, Mother's Day has taken on a whole new meaning. Sorry, mom, but today was all about me. Copper and I slept in until 11 (maybe she did realize what today was) and spent the day hanging out and running a few errands. (One of which was getting the kiddo her very own adirondack chair.) Aubrey got me Einstein's for breakfast and a huge bag of Jelly Bellys. Thanks Bumpkins! It was a great day to reflect on what an amazing honor it is to be Copper's mommy. Happy Mother's Day!

Flea

2011-04-28T22:03:00.003-06:00

Some of you may wonder how Flea is coping with having the new baby around. She basically just pretends that Copper doesn't exist.

Socializing: Part II

2011-04-23T14:14:00.003-06:00

For a whole day after my last post I felt great about our new social freedom. Then I got an e-mail from Kellie rallying the girls to get together for dinner. I immediately panicked. I can't go out to dinner at a restaurant without Copper. Aubrey would kill me. She's generally a bit more emotional in the evenings and I could only be gone for about 1.5 hours tops. When Kellie asked if 5:30 works for everyone, I responded that I would need a guarantee that we were seated immediately, our food would be served immediately after ordering and I could only stay for an hour. I wrote it as a joke, but it is actually the truth. If I fed Copper at 4:45, left the house by 5:05, got to the restaurant at 5:30, I would need to leave by 6:15, maybe 6:30, in order to get home in time for a total baby hunger meltdown. That would allow me about 45 minutes to sit and gab with the girls and eat. With that timeframe I would probably have to get my food to go. I guess that I don't have quite as much social freedom as I thought. Good thing Copper is so damned cute because I really enjoy having dinner with the girls. Maybe next time ladies.

Socializing

2011-04-17T22:06:00.002-06:00

When Copper was little, well littler, going to see friends in the evening was not a big deal. The kid didn't go to bed before 2am anyways so we didn't see a problem with staying out with her. Now she has a bedtime and God forbid we stray from it for even one night. About a month ago we were invited to watch the fights on a Saturday night at a friend's house and we turned it down because we were getting into a good routine with Copper's bedtime and we didn't want to disrupt it. In hindsight, we should have said "screw it" and went anyways. Is one night really going to do that much harm? Last weekend we did accept an offer to have dinner at a friend's place and we stayed until 10. Did Copper suddenly become a devil child because of a missed bedtime? Nope. She rocked it out. She was great the entire evening and quietly fell asleep in my arms while we all chatted away. When we got home I changed and fed her and was able to quickly get her into her bed. She was great the next day too. We're slowly learning how to modify our lives to include the little one. It's generally not as bad as we think it'll be.

Tummy Time

2011-04-17T21:59:00.002-06:00

Supposedly an infant needs to spend considerable time on their tummy in order to learn how to crawl. Copper didn't receive that memo. She's not a big fan of tummy time. About 5 seconds after taking this picture she had a break down. If I'm ever going to be able to brag about how fast my daughter learned how to crawl I'm probably going to have to be a little more proactive with allowing her to learn the basics.

Happy 5 Months!

2011-04-12T22:07:00.004-06:00

Copper Jo (aka Bug) turned 5 months old today!

She weighed in at an impressive 17 pounds! In case you were wondering, that'a a gain of about 3 pounds in about a month! Holy growth spurt! Guess that's why she's pretty much outgrown all of her 3-6 month clothes and is starting to fit nicely into 6-9 month clothes.

Hobbies now include:

Yelling
Playing with her feet
Rolling onto her side
Sitting up unassisted (and then falling over)
Playing with toys
Grabbing everything within reach, and
Putting everything into her mouth

Moving Day

2011-04-03T22:06:00.002-06:00

With a bit of encouragement from Aubrey, we decided to have Copper sleep in her room last night. I was running out of excuses as to why she couldn't sleep in there, i.e. the stencils on her dresser weren't painted, the crib skirt wasn't sewn, there wasn't a rug, I hadn't started her bumper, the valences weren't sewn...the list goes on and on. None of them serious reasons for her to not sleep in her room, but valid enough excuses for me. What was crazy about the decision was that as soon as it was made, I was okay with it. She had napped in there Friday and Saturday and didn't have any adverse side effects, so I was willing to try it out. I also thought that I would NEED to sleep in the guest room just in case she started screaming bloody murder, but since she did well with her naps I didn't feel the necessity any more. I got the video monitor set up Saturday afternoon and made sure there weren't any monsters under her bed or in the closet. I put her to bed about 8:30ish last night and she happily snoozed the night away. She made a few little noises throughout the night, but nothing serious. This morning around 6:00, we woke to the sound in the monitor of her farting and pooping. It was pretty funny. I went up stairs and sang our good morning song, just like I do every morning and she smiled at me just like she does every morning.

I'm a Mom

2011-03-31T21:48:00.003-06:00

Every so often I have these strong feelings where I realize whole heartedly that I am a mom. The feelings don't overwhelm me or frighten me, they just kind of stop me and remind me of my new role in life. I have a baby. I am a mom. Someday I will hold my daughter's hand as we walk to school. I will buy her her first bra and talk to her about sex. I will hate her boyfriends. I will watch her fall and encourage her to always try again. I will help with her homework. She will give me grandkids. It's just so crazy how much changed when she was born. All of it for the better. I'm just glad that I'm at a place in my life when it made perfect sense to have a baby and that I'm 100% ready to do everything in my power to be the best mom that I can be.

Time for her crib

2011-03-30T21:17:00.002-06:00

I never would have thought that I would be the type of mom who would have their baby sleep in my room for 5 months. When I was pregnant I assumed that I would be kicking her out of our room after about a month. I had a hard time kicking her out of our bed after a month. Given that Copper has about 4 inches of clearance in her mini pack n play that she currently sleeps in next to our bed, it's about time to move her into her own room. This would also allow Aubrey and I to be able to talk to each other at night and allow Aubrey to let his alarm clock go off in the morning. I believe that I no longer have concerns over her safety at night and she only wakes up once a night to eat. I do like the convenience of just picking her up and laying back in bed to feed her. When she sleeps in her room I'll have to go all the way upstairs (which I actually do every night anyways since I always have to pee and we don't have the downstairs bathroom finished yet) and feed her in a chair in her room. Doing that will probably help me be quicker about getting her, and me, back to bed though. I currently let her eat/hold her for 20 minutes to an hour. I told Aubrey that within the next couple weeks I would have her sleeping in her room. We joke that I'll sleep upstairs the first few nights that she's in her room, but the reality is is that I will definitely sleep upstairs those first few nights. She spends time in her crib, but has never really slept in it. I just want to be close so that when she does wake up she realizes that I am still close by. I will miss waking up in my bed and being able to see her and talk to her while she's in her bed next to me. I always sing a little "good morning" song to her while we're both still lying down when she wakes up. Now I'll have to get my ass out of bed, get dressed, and climb a flight of stairs before I can sing our song.

She Likes It!

2011-03-30T21:04:00.004-06:00

My sister-in-law Rian had suggested that I try feeding Copper some cereal with boobie milk since she wasn't overly found of veggies. So last night I mixed up rice cereal with some milk that was pumped at 4:30am (when my clogged duct decided to release itself) and gave it a go. And by golly, she liked it! She fended off my first few attempts, but once she realized it was her favorite meal/snack/drink/dessert, she decided to open up and eat. Most of it made it into her tummy and not all over her face and bib. Tonight we tried it again and she ate it again. Our little girl is growing up so fast.

Quote of the Day

2011-03-22T21:56:00.003-06:00

"Huh. I must have slept through that one."

-Aubrey

While feeding Copper a couple nights ago I told Aubrey that I needed to get her to eat from both sides so that she'd be good and full before going to bed. I said that I was tired of getting up a 2 am to feed her. Aubrey responded that she had done really well the night before since she didn't wake up until 6:30. The "Quote of the Day" was his response to me telling him that 6:30 was the second time she woke up that night. That she also woke up at 1:30 am and needed to be fed.

Copper no like green beans

2011-03-17T22:22:00.003-06:00

We tried green beans for 4 days with no luck. She even started tucking her lips into a tight mouth when I brought the spoon to her mouth. So tonight we tried sweet potatoes. Unless we were really good at distracting her, the spoon didn't make it past her tight lips. Isn't she too young to already learn those games? I had Aubrey try feeding her too, but that didn't work either. I'm not sure if she's completely ready for food yet, but I really want to get her on probiotics to hopefully help with her poop issues. Food is the only way I can do it. Any advice or tips? She loves watching us eat and drink and seems quite curious about food. How long is it supposed to take before a baby will learn how to swallow food?

4 Months - Green Beans

2011-03-13T21:56:00.002-06:00

Copper turned 4 months old on Saturday! The night before we celebrated with green beans. Our pediatrician recommended getting her started on baby food and I need to get probiotics in her somehow (for her food allergy issue). Since she won't take a bottle, she has to get them in baby food. I don't think that any of the beans actually made it into her tummy, but I assume this skill takes a bit of time to learn. The second day of trying ended up much like the first...with a lot of green beans on her bib.

At 4 months, Copper weighs 14.18 oz (50-75%), is 25.25" long (75-90%), and her head is 40.5cm (50%). Tall and skinny like her daddy?

She has learned how to spit and has discovered her tongue (see below).

Don't forget to vote

2011-03-10T07:36:00.001-07:00

I had posted a survey to the left asking you to vote for who Copper Jo Jo looks like, but apparently either only 2 people read my blog (Aubrey being one of them) or no one noticed the survey.

It's just not fair

2011-03-10T07:30:00.002-07:00

It's 7:30 am and Copper is still sleeping. She went down about 8:30 last night and has barely made a peep since. I should be happy right? So why the title "It just not fair"? Because I was up at 6:15 with my right boob as hard as a rock with yet another massive clogged duct. After an hour of pumping, massage, hot compress, and prayer to the breastfeeding gods it came unstuck and I produced enough milk to feed a small army of infants. Okay, it was only 7 ounces, but that's a lot of milk to put in 1 "A" cup booby.

I hold Copper...a lot.

2011-03-03T21:43:00.002-07:00

Copper pretty much falls asleep every time I feed her. Since she is a total pill to get to fall asleep outside of nursing, I often sit with her for 30 minutes to 1+ hours while she sleeps. (I admit, sometimes even much longer.) I never thought that I would be that mom that is always holding their baby. I have the luxury of spending that time with Copper and it's only a very short time frame of our lives that I'll be able to do it. Her face looks completely different when she's asleep in my arms. Time kind of stops when I'm holding her. My to-do list becomes less important, phone calls can wait, everything that I could be doing can wait. I wish that Aubrey could have the same experience (minus the breastfeeding of course). I'm sure that there will be some issues with getting her to fall asleep on her own at night, but I'm willing to pay the price to be able to have so much Mommy-Copper time. I will never feel guilty that I didn't hold my baby enough. She is my #1 priority. My life revolves around her right now and I'm okay with that.

Is that necessary

2011-02-21T21:56:00.003-07:00

Is it really necessary to have something as nasty as Mastitis around to screw with breastfeeding? A woman's body has this powerful ability to provide all the nourishment a baby will need in it's first year + of life. What are we rewarded with? Clogged ducts and painful breast infections. About 2 weeks ago I found myself with a painful right nipple. I assumed that it was an infection (I know better now) and called my midwife. She asked me if I had a number of other symptoms, which I did not. She said it sounded like I was starting to get a plugged duct and told me a few things to do to prevent that from happening. A couple days later I found myself with a very hard boob and Googling phrases such as "breastfeeding white spot." That Google search led me to the bathroom where I proceeded to stick a small needle into the "white spot" on my nipple. Sounds kind of gross, but man did it do the trick. Milk came streaming out of that little sucker and I no longer had a clogged duct. A couple days later I had an even harder boob, but this time there was no "x marks the spot" place to relieve the pressure. I applied hot compress, forced Copper to nurse on it constantly, massaged, and pleaded with my boob to release the goods. Finally at the very last feeding of the day when my mood could get no moodier, I felt the steady stream of sweet milk running down my stomach. Ahh, relief. A few days later, the most sore, hard, 4 times larger than her twin, boob ever. Copper ate and I pumped and still it felt terrible. As the day progressed so did the pain. I longed for the day when I thought I had an infection because my nipple kind of hurt. Little did I know that this was just the beginning. I called my midwife again and explained that I was pretty sure that this time it was an infection. She asked if I was achy or running a fever. Nope. She gave me some things to do help ward off an infection and told me to call her if I developed a fever and felt like "you've been hit by a mack truck." I called her the next morning. I don't like antibiotics. They're harsh. But I couldn't wait to lay my hands on those little suckers. Luckily my mom was kind enough to pick them up from the pharmacy for me. I had a 100-101 fever and felt like I had a really bad flu. To top if off, I cried out in pain when Copper would nurse. I would compare the pain of breastfeeding with Mastitis to contractions pain. No joke. I was barely functioning for three days and fairly useless on the 4th 'cause I was still so tired. I just finished my 5th day of antibiotics (out of 10) and am feeling much better. Nursing causes only an initial twinge of pain and my boob is back to it's normal size. I'm now also taking a supplement called Lecithin that is supposed to help with lubricating the milk ducts. I will take them religiously the remainder of my breastfeeding time. I do not ever want to experience Mastitis again. It can kiss my ass.

Mommy or Daddy?

2011-02-14T22:16:00.002-07:00

Who do I look like?

Mommy?

Daddy?

3 Months Old

2011-02-14T22:03:00.003-07:00

Copper turned 3 months old on Saturday. Such a big girl!

Here's what she's up to:

She can support her own weight standing (balancing is of course another story)
She has started to reach for objects with her hands
She can easily put her hands into her mouth and suck on all fingers at the same time
For the past couple weeks she has been able to watch people and follow them as they move around a room
She started laughing
She now weighs about 13lbs 4oz (or so)

Quote of the Day

2011-02-11T15:15:00.001-07:00

"Make time for yourself."

-Dove Chocolate Wrapper

(I ate 2 Dove Milk Chocolate candies today and both had the same message.

I think it's trying to tell me something.)

VooDoo Doctor

2011-02-10T14:42:00.002-07:00

Copper went in to a NAET specialists today to get tested and treated for any food allergies that she may have. I've been off of dairy, nuts, fish, soy, and whey for about 2.5 weeks now and we've seen some changes in her already. She is pooping way less often and there have even been a few yellow dooks in the mix. She doesn't seem quite as fussy and it's rare that she has her little fits of rage followed by an explosion in her diaper. I won't even try to explain how the NAET treatment works, but here's a link for the lady that we saw that "explains" it. If it weren't for Lucy's success with the treatment I wouldn't even believe that it would work. Here's a summary of what we did today...I laid down on a table with Copper laying on her back on top of me. I touched her leg with my right hand and held vials of different allergens found in foods (in some sort of liquid form) against her skin. With my left arm in the air and hand rotated outward, the specialist would try to push my arm forward while I tried pushing her back. If the body shows signs of allergies, the muscles will be weaker. It was pretty obvious when Copper/I reacted to something because I could feel that I couldn't push as hard. Copper has a minor allergy to some stuff in dairy (casein and a couple other things I can't remember) and a very minor allergy to wheat. We did the testing portion for quite a while and vent through a lot of vials. She also tested my breastmilk, both pre food elimination milk and current milk, but Copper didn't show a reaction to either. Her allergies are very mild, but enough to give her problems. Today Copper was treated for the dairy allergies. For the first part of the treatment I sat up with Copper in my lap. I held a glass jar against her leg and the specialist would place different vials in to it while I received acupressure treatment along my spine while doing different breathing techniques and then she would do acupressure along Copper's spine. (She didn't have to do the breathing techniques though.) After that the vials were placed in her socks for about 15 minutes. I have to stay off of dairy for about 25 hours and then can start eating it again. She advised against having pizza with milk followed by ice cream and suggested that I start out with a glass of milk with dinner. Then it's a waiting game to see if Copper continues to get better while I've brought dairy back into my diet or if she gets worse or stays the same. In that case we will go back and do a more in depth dairy treatment or treat her wheat allergy. I'm hoping that this treatment took care of everything since her allergies were so minor. With NAET the allergies are eliminated, not just discovered and lived with. Even though our insurance does not cover this kind of treatment, it only cost $85 for the first session. If we need to go back it will cost $60 a session. Works for me.

35 Pounds in 3 Months. Word.

2011-02-09T22:03:00.002-07:00

About a week ago I decided to flatter myself and try on a pair on my pre-preggo jeans. And low and behold, they slid right on! No sucking it in, thinking thin, or unsightly muffin top. I am officially back in my old pants. While I am only about 5 pounds shy of losing my baby weight, my body is not quite the same. I think that breastfeeding is making the weight come off without my knowing it, but putting the muscle back on will take a bit more effort. I am still avoiding my form fitting shirts, but at least my wardrobe is getting a little more diverse. As far as working out, I now completely understand Kellie's post baby request for 30 minute workouts. Last week (during my one workout all week) I attempted to complete a whole session of P90X Kenpo. Copper happily watched me punch and kick the air for about 25 minutes and then lost interest and started yelling at me. I finished up the last 15 minutes of the workout about an hour later. A few weeks ago while attempting to ride my bike on the trainer for 30 minutes, I had to listen to Copper give her father hell for the last 25 minutes of my ride. That allowed me 5 minutes of "a little time for myself" riding and 25 minutes of "sorry honey, I'm almost finished" riding.

It's just temporary

2011-02-07T18:23:00.003-07:00

This is one of the positions we used while eating out Saturday night. The other was me standing and holding her. Can't get upset though. She won't always be like this.

After I left to go to the car and feed her (I did feed her RIGHT before going out to eat) a woman came up to Aubrey and told him that she really enjoyed watching our little girl. They have become grandparents to 5 kids in the past 4 years. She also asked if I had a chance to eat my dinner. I did, I just don't remember tasting it. Aubrey pretty much held her the entire time he ate. Like I always say, "Good thing she's cute."

Adjusting

2011-02-04T00:04:00.002-07:00

Aubrey has been back to work now for the past 4 weeks. We now know what it feels like to be parents in the real world. The first 2 months we had so much flexibility since Aubrey wasn't working and I only worked a bit. Now that Aubrey needs to be in bed by 9:00 and is tired in the evenings our roles as parents have changed. The first week he went back to work was brutal. I wanted to write angry blog posts every night, but never had the time. We were working at getting Copper to bed sooner (which wasn't always easy) and I no longer had the extra help at night. I still have the flexibility in the mornings with my wake up time, so Copper duty is all on me now. Also, we had been away from our house for 2 weeks and when we got back it was all about getting ready for Christmas with my family. My house was a disaster and I couldn't find the time anywhere to get anything done. I've always had the moto, "Organized house = organized mind." I had a very disorganized house (and quite dirty) and a high maintenance baby who refused to let me get anything done and I was also back to work. At the weekend of that first week I managed to get the house cleaned and my head screwed back on and things were looking up again. Fast forward 3 weeks and I am blogging at 12:15 in the morning on a work night because it's the only chance I've had to blog. My house is once again a complete disaster and disgustingly dirty. I took yesterday off and got a lot of much needed chores accomplished, but am far from having everything crossed off my list. I struggle with going night after night of accomplishing nothing. I don't want to be the mom that passes off the kid to daddy the moment he walks in the door because I've had her all day. Aubrey still needs his down time after working hard all day. Copper's not always the happiest baby in the evenings. With breastfeeding, I generally feel like my whole evening is spent with her stuck to my boobs. I pretty much get home from work, feed her, eat and then feed her again before I start the long process of getting her to fall asleep. Our goal is to eventually get her to bed by 7:30 or 8:00 so that Aubrey and I can enjoy some time together and after he goes to bed I can have my own alone time. While there were a few nights we were able to get Copper down by 9-9:30 and she would stay asleep, this whole week it's been 1.5 hours plus of feeding her just so she can wake up 30 minutes after I put her to bed. After a crazy Monday this week I decided to take a bath after putting Copper to bed at 9:30. About 10 minutes into my bath I could hear her crying and eventually Aubrey brought her upstairs. I got out of my hot bubble bath and went downstairs to feed her again. At 11:30 I put her back in her bed and came back upstairs to drain my tub and take a shower. Not the evening I had intended. Tonight for example, Copper clung to by boob for almost 2 hours and still woke up and fussed when I put her to bed. My alone time didn't start until after 10:30 and then it was spent working on our budget and getting tax stuff ready for our accountant. Since it's already later than shit, I figured I'd finally write that angry blog post that's been on my list of things to do for 4 weeks.

I jinxed it

2011-01-24T22:21:00.003-07:00

I bragged to my girlfriends on Saturday that Copper was sleeping through the entire night. I swore that it wasn't a fluke. The child went 5 nights in a row. Apparently I spoke too soon. She was up from 4 to 5:30 Sunday morning (pooped twice) and up this morning from 5 - 7 (again pooped twice). Please let her sleep till 8 tomorrow. Like in the good ol' days.

Green Poop

2011-01-23T22:30:00.002-07:00

Don't worry, I don't have a picture to go with this post. Although I am given numerous opportunities to get one if you need a visual. A little over a week and a half ago Copper's poop turned green. I thought that maybe it was from the chili that I ate the night before, but it never went back to the weird, but normal, yellow. Pretty soon along with the change in color, also came some variations in texture and frequency. We're talking 8-10 poopy diapers a day! I got online and googled "green baby poop" and found many sites that talked about and showed pictures of baby poop. One cause of green poop can be not enough "hind" milk, but I dismissed that prognosis since I always feed her on one side only each feeding. The other cause is dairy in my diet. I wasn't thrilled to be reading that especially after my sister-in-law, Rian, brought up eliminating dairy while we were in Texas. Copper is a bit of a fussy baby and Rian had asked if she is always fussy and the answer to that is "yes." I wouldn't say that she's colicky since it's pretty easy to make her happy again and it's usually not a super serious cry, but she is pretty high maintenance. Dairy allergies are a pretty common cause of a fussy baby. Copper had a doctor's appointment last Friday and she seemingly on cue provided a stool sample. I had never seen blood in her poo, but the doctor ran a test on it and there is blood in her poo. The doctor then asked if she was a fussy baby (we were having this conversation over Copper's crying). When you combine fussy with green bloody pooh, you most likely have a baby with food allergies. Lucy had/has an allergy to the proteins in milk and it's possible that Copper does too. The doctor suggested that I elliminate dairy, nuts, fish, and soy from my diet for about 5 days to see if there is a change in Copper's mood and poo. There is a certain protein that is in all of these foods that baby's can be allergic to. If you weren't aware, I LOVE dairy. Milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese...these are some of my favorite foods! I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to drink milk with pizza (my favorite combo) when I realized that it wouldn't matter since I wouldn't be able to eat pizza to begin with. Heavy sigh. It's been 2 days now without all of those wonderful foods and so far there hasn't been much of a change. I'm now aware that Copper's crazy little fits are most likely stomach aches since they are generally followed by an explosion in her pants. She may be a little less fussy, but it's hard to tell. While I'm not thrilled about eliminating so many wonderful foods from my diet, I do hope that this takes care of her discomfort and constant poops. If it is going to be a long term adjustment, we'll look in to alternative ways to eliminate the allergies. I plan on breastfeeding until she's at least one and that's about 10 months away. Asking me to not eat dairy is like asking me to forgo dessert after dinner. It will be a long, hard journey. But hopefully the rewards will far outweigh the sacrifice. Anything to make my little girl happy.

Sleeping

2011-01-17T22:10:00.002-07:00

The past two nights Copper has slept through the ENTIRE night! No boobie break or anything! She's been a pretty decent sleeper for quite a while now, but it's just gotten better. I hope that I'm not jinxing the situation, but is it possible that we may never have to deal with breaking her of a early morning feeding? Before she slept about 4-6 hours and then she would start stirring and I would eventually just get her up and change and feed her, but the last two nights she slept soundly for over 9 hours straight. There is one downside to this though...I start waking up around 6am because my boobs feel like they're going to explode. I then wake up about every 20-30 minutes to see if she's awake yet to eat. Wait, there's two downsides. The other is that when she does wake up and eat, I still have to pump. I spend close to an hour sitting in bed dealing with boobie milk in the morning now. Thank God I don't have to be to work early.

Up until about 1 1/2 weeks ago, Copper had never gone to bed before midnight. We tried every night to get her down early, but she would always wake up within 10-15 minutes and start fussing. Since we're new parents and hate hearing our precious little girl cry, we would always pick her up and try again 2 hours later at her next feeding. When I told her pediatrician about this, she bluntly told us to let her cry. This advice came from a few other sources over the net week also. The pediatrician wanted us to put her down at 7:30 and while that hasn't worked so far, we are now getting her down before 10 every night (with the exception of last night which was closer to midnight due to a late and long afternoon nap). I still don't like to hear her cry, but I managed to listen to a full hour of half assed fussing last night before I finally pulled her out of bed and changed and fed her again. I knew that after an hour of fussing she had most likely spit up (twice actually) and had a foot stuck up in the leg part of her PJs (both actually). Also by this time it had been about 1 1/2 hours since her last feeding. I was proud of myself for letting her fuss for so long, but the serious crying I can't handle. It's too intense for us to ignore. The nights we've tried putting her down at 7:30 or 8 has always ended in "serious crying" and we always pick her up. There is no way that I could let her wail like that with her little quivering chin for longer than it takes me to get to her bed and pick her up. Tonight we got her down at 9:15 with minimal fussing.

This is what I most look forward to at the start of my day. She is all smiles the moment I pop my head over her crib and say "good morning."

Quote of the Day

2011-01-13T09:44:00.002-07:00

"Hi Copper. It's me, Lucy."

-Lucy

A few days ago Copper was sitting in her bouncer in the office. Lucy came in and squatted down in front of her and started talking to her. After introducing herself a few times, she then pulled down a wooden necklace that always hangs in the office and showed it to Copper telling her what it is. It was crazy cute. I can't wait for the girls to get older and be able to play together.

Soon, I Swear

2011-01-07T22:47:00.001-07:00

I swear that I'll get LOTS of pictures posted soon. The subject of this blog keeps me very busy and my computer time is often very limited. Not to mention that we were just in Texas for 2 weeks. Busy, busy!

Quotes of the Day

2010-12-22T12:20:00.002-07:00

"You fed her with that one."

-Aubrey said this while pointing to my left boob after feeding Copper

"Have a glass of wine and go into it with a good sense of humor."

- Our Midwife, Laura

I'll let you guess what she's talking about.

Battle of the Bottle

2010-12-22T12:19:00.006-07:00

I thought that babies immediately took to bottles and pacifiers. I've seen those baby shows on TLC. Pacifier in the mouth on the way home...Struggling mom gives baby a bottle on day 4. I have a friend who's daughter took neither and Aubrey and I always wrote that off as parent error. Paybacks are a bitch. We tried the first bottle feeding at about 3 weeks and then read you should wait until after 4 weeks to avoid nipple confusion. Now we think we should have tried sooner. Copper loves boobie and I doubt that she would abandon me. After two very unsuccessful tries at the bottle, we researched a bit and found out that we were doing it all wrong. It made sense to us to try to bottle feed when she was hungry and that I would do it since I always fed her. Wrong. Mommy = boobie, not bottle. So apparently baby expects boobie from mommy and is less likely to take a bottle from her. Waiting till they are hungry is also bad because then they will be fussy. So on the third try, Aubrey gave her the bottle about an hour before boobie time. After about 45 minutes of Copper pleasantly declining she finally latched on. Mission accomplished, right? Wrong again. Aubrey was able to successfully bottle feed her small amounts on 2 other occasions, but she is once again protesting. Grandma Strong was trying to feed her yesterday and Copper was looking at her and talking and smiling. With the bottle in her mouth. No sucking. We've tried 4 different nipples. The only one that she has taken to is the Dr. Brown's bottle, but as mentioned, has since turned it down. I have a haircut and color this Friday and a Ladies Lunch in two weekends. I would like to be able to have more of these outings. Copper Jo Jo just loves her mommy too much. Or is it that she hates me?

*I uploaded the pictures for this post on Dec 22 before heading to Texas. I never got around to doing the post in Texas. I finally got it posted on January 13th. The Dec 22 post would have been about successfully bottle feeding Copper. Good thing I waited.

She stole my pillow!

2010-12-14T21:28:00.003-07:00

This morning Copper woke up about 6:30. I changed and fed her and then I spent 2 hours willing her back to sleep. Luckily we went to bed around 11:00 and not the 2am bullshit that she pulled on us a couple nights ago. I wasn't quite as ridiculously tired as usual. One thing that was working to make her fall asleep was setting her up. I did this a few times against my legs, but I can't sleep with my knees in the air. Around 7:45 I finally propped her up against my pillow and she immediately passed out. So I just scooted over and spooned with Aubrey until the alarm went off 20 minutes later.

Aubrey is fake sleeping here. He was awake admiring our little girl moments before I took the picture.

Failed!

2010-12-14T21:12:00.002-07:00

Copper had her newborn hearing screen done today and she failed. Don't worry, the kid can hear, it's just that her responses were delayed due to a possible ear infection or fluid behind her ear drums. Being a new mom, I immediately called the pediatrician to see if we should bring her in to have her ears checked out and they said we should. So we brought her in and it turns out that she has a bit of a cold. It wasn't her aptitude that caused her to fail, it was out of her control. She has had some big boogers lately so it made sense that she had a cold. Unfortunately, we have to go back to have a follow-up test done the beginning of January that is 3 hours long. Today's test took about 45 minutes.

The test was done at Children's Hospital and the moment I parked my car and saw parents walking their kids across the parking lot, I knew that the hospital is not a place I wanted to be. Kids and illness are a combination that I do not like to see. While there were probably a few kids in there just getting routine tests done like Copper, most of those kids are in for much more serious conditions. I saw a dad walk out with some kind of padded backboard that looked big enough for about a 2 year old. I've never liked thinking about sick kids, but now that I have my own kid, I like thinking about it even less. While Aubrey and I have high expectations for our little girl, we've both stated on numerous occasions that what we really want is for Copper to be healthy. I can't even imagine what parents go through when their child is ill. I try not to even let my mind go there.

On a brighter side, the crazy cute picture of Copper was taken at the pediatricians office today. I'm sure Copper was thinking, "Holy crap! That baby is CUTE!"

On a side note: Copper now weighs 9 lbs 11 oz! She is now in size 1 diapers. Such a big girl.

Meeting the Great Grandparents

2010-12-14T21:06:00.003-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Strong made a special trip out to Colorado last weekend to see their great granddaughters. They're lucky kids to have such wonderful great grandparents. Copper will get to meet Aubrey's grandparents next week and great grandma and grandpa Meeves early next year.

Per Josie's Request

2010-12-09T12:23:00.002-07:00

Big Girl Bed

2010-12-09T11:31:00.002-07:00

While this picture was taken this morning and Copper is obviously sleeping in our bed, she actually spent her first night in her own bed last night. We made the choice to have Copper sleep in our bed and it has worked out really well. For the most part her and I both sleep really well. I have to have her sleep on my side of the bed since Aubrey complains that he doesn't sleep well when she sleeps in between us. Two nights ago I decided that it was time for Copper to sleep in the pack-n-play. (I was getting a little tired of only being able to sleep on one side. It's just a queen sized bed and I don't have that much room to move around when she's next to me.) She'll stay in our room for a while, but now she'll be in her own bed. It's definitely easier having her sleep in our bed though. Last night we went to bed at our usual 12:00 (Copper's a crabby night owl), she slept 'til about 3:30, changed and fed her, back to sleep 'til about 6:00, changed and fed her, back to sleep "til about 7:00. That was when I put her in bed with me. She'll generally go 3-4 hours in between sleepy time feedings, but it seemed she was a little more agitated this morning. What sucks about her being in the crib is that it's harder to do the little things that make her happy. It's easier to sooth her when she's right next to me and I don't have to get out of bed. Plus I love having her snuggled up next to me. She's just so darned cute!

Somebody's getting big!

2010-12-02T17:11:00.003-07:00

Copper will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. Today she weighed 8lbs 10oz. The doctor told us that whatever we're doing to keep doing it because our little girl is doing really well with her weight gain. Our midwife told us at Copper's 10 day appointment that a baby has 2 weeks to get back to their birth weight. Copper started out at 7lbs 5 oz dropped to 6lbs 12oz at 2 days and was already at 7lbs 10oz at 10 days. Pair my magic boobies with Copper's suction cup lips and we make quite the team.

Name issues

2010-12-02T17:04:00.003-07:00

We went to Copper's first pediatrician appointment today and the nurse hesitantly called for "Cooper." We corrected her. When the doctor first came into the room, she called Copper "he." We corrected her. I just made an appointment for Copper's newborn hearing test and when the lady called back to verify some insurance information, she called Copper "Cooper" and referred to her as a boy. I corrected her. I know that the name is gender neutral and that there will always be that problem, but when her own mother writes her child's name on a medical form, she most likely spelled it correctly. Sorry Copper, but looks like mom and dad have cursed you with a name that will need constant correcting. I actually just realized that Aubrey's name is that way. Everyone thinks it's a girl name and people reading his name often say "Audrey."

Wait! Don't throw that away.

2010-12-01T19:10:00.003-07:00

For the past two weeks I have been consuming my placenta. We first heard about it at the birthing center in one of our classes. We decided to become part of the 25% of birth center mommy's to try it. While some women will actually blend their placenta into a smoothie type concoction, we chose to have mine encapsulated. (I'm not quite that hard core.) Some of the benefits include: increased milk production, reduced risk of postpartum hemorrhage, decreased "baby blues", lower incidence of anemia, and better energy overall. I didn't start taking them until about 4 days after baby (it's a 2-3 day turn around), at which point I hadn't had any mood swings, had not shed any tears, and my milk had come in full force. I have pretty much been able to go all day long without naps and I've been feeling really well physically and emotionally. Not too sure if any of that is because of the pills, but maybe it is. It wasn't that expensive to have done and there aren't any reasons to not consume my placenta (well, other than the obvious, that it's kind of weird). Aubrey thought that I would have placenta burps, but I don't.

Here's the website of the women who did my placenta. http://www.mothersbirthright.com/

Happy 2 Weeks!

2010-11-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

Copper Jo is 2 weeks old today! She went to her first restaurant, Hacienda Colorado, and did wonderful.

Biggest Loser's got nothing

2010-11-26T14:19:00.003-07:00

I gained about 38-39 pounds over the course of my pregnancy. Not quite the 30lbs I was hoping for, but I really couldn't care less. At our 2 day visit, I had already dropped 16lbs. By the 1 week visit at 10 days, I was down a whopping 24lbs! I'm pretty sure that those last 15 are pretty legit and will take a little more effort to lose. All worth it for my amazing baby girl.

I know that all you want to see at this point is pictures...be patient, there will be more.

Sleeping Beauty

2010-11-20T10:12:00.003-07:00

...with a touch of dried milk all over her face.

2 Day Visit

2010-11-20T09:46:00.002-07:00

Our 2 day visit was at the birthing center last Sunday. Copper is doing wonderful. She had good color, was within the allocated weight loss (6lbs 12oz), and had a good booby latch. Our 1 week visit in this Monday. Then we have to schedule a 2 week visit with a pediatrician.

I think that this is my all-time favorite picture of Copper and Daddy.

Copper's 2nd car ride. Back to where she was born.

On our way home from the birth center we stopped at vitamin cottage to pick up a couple items. I stayed in the car while Aubrey asked about nipple cream inside. Copper eventually got a little fussy and I did my first public breastfeeding. Guess this is my new world.

Pics with Family

2010-11-20T09:41:00.003-07:00

Here are some shots with Grandma, Cousin Lucy, and Grandpa. Derek and Lisa have both been over also, but I didn't get shots of them. I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

Even though it had only been a week since I'd seen Lucy, she looked so big. It's crazy to think how much baby's change and grow over such a short time. Soon enough Copper will be swearing, talking back, and pooping on a big potty.

Meet your Brother, Melvin

2010-11-20T09:37:00.002-07:00

Grandma brought Melvin back home on Sunday to meet his new baby sister. Everything went well. He sniffed her a bit and then went and laid down. He's been really good this past week and has kept his neediness on the down low. For a couple days if he was on the bed with her and she would fuss he would start licking her feet or licking me. Guess his parental instincts were kicking in and he was utilizing doggie soothing techniques.

Meet Copper Jo

2010-11-14T18:33:00.003-07:00

Note: Sorry that it's taken me so long to get these blogged. Sitting on a chair and typing at the computer just haven't sounded very appealing the past couple days. I also really want to tell the whole story of Copper's birth and I haven't felt like spending the time to type it. I still don't. This will be the cliff notes version.

I started having contractions at about 4am on Friday morning (11-12-10). I went to a scheduled appointment at 11:10am and was at 5cm, but my contractions were irregular and about 6-9 minutes apart so the midwife sent me home. I went back to the birth center at 5:30pm and was already dilated to 9cm. (I'll explain how I made it that long in the unabridged version.) 3 hours later at 8:33pm, the most beautiful little girl ever was born, Copper Jo. I pushed for about 40 minutes. I was a superstar to say the least. The birth went great and I was able to have the natural birth that Aubrey and I wanted.

This is Copper and mommy about 5 minutes post birth.

She came out perfect. Nice round head, no crazy wrinkles, good color...perfect.

She even started nursing within very short order.

While I was being tortured with uterus "massage" and getting my "1" stitch put in, Daddy got to spend time with his little girl. He actually mastered the art of calming her pretty damn fast.

We spent about 5 hours at the birth center after Copper was born. We even milked it a bit by bullshitting with the nurse and overall taking our time. I felt great and Copper and I were good to go. It was nice being able to go home and be in our own bed and house. Overall we spent 8 hours at the birth center.

7lbs 5.5oz

I am soooo thankful that she was a nice average sized baby. I'm pretty sure that anything over 8lbs would have messed with my head for a natural birth.

Thanks Copper!

Pictures just don't do her justice. She is so beautiful and cute and perfect.

Aubrey and I made a damn good lookin' baby.

We love you Copper Jo!

Damn you averages!

2010-11-10T17:32:00.002-07:00

The average first time mom at Mountain Midwifery birthing center gives birth at 41 weeks and 3 days. A non-birthing center midwife told me yesterday that the average first time mom in Colorado gives birth 8 days late. We're 2 days late and counting. I really hope that it's this week so that we don't have to start thinking about all the natural ways to move things along. I believe that it's Colorado law that at 42 weeks I will not be allowed to have the baby at the birth center, that I'll have to go to a hospital. The hospital's ways of inducing are not at all what I have in mind for delivery. I'll be seeing an acupuncturist and chiropractor, having sex, taking hot baths, and walking up flights and flights of stairs before I take that drive to the hospital. The birthing center will put a balloon in my cervix to expand it as a way to induce. Not too thrilled about that either. I know that I still have plenty of time before we hit that dreaded 42 week mark, but it sure would be nice to not even have to think about it. Come on Copper, let's get a move on.

Due Date

2010-11-08T18:46:00.003-07:00

Well, today is our estimated due date and Copper has decided to hang out a bit longer. Aubrey and I decided to do the stereotypical thing to speed things up and go out for mexican food. Unfortunately I can't do too spicy, but we'll see. I did get a chimichanga, so maybe the extra grease with do the trick. After I get done blogging we're going to get our birth bag packed. I'm ready for our little girl to come any day. I no longer need more time. She's acting like a crazy woman in my tummy right now. I think she's trying to claw her way out. I had crazy Braxton Hicks contractions all day also. Maybe my next post will be a baby picture.

Did she just drop?

2010-11-06T19:20:00.002-06:00

So far I haven't really felt that Copper has dropped yet. I've heard that sometimes it's kind of obvious and other times not obvious at all. The baby could also drop early or wait until labor. I think that maybe Copper dropped today. Aubrey and I went to Derek and Lisa's to pick up Lucy loaner clothes and gear and on the way home I felt a constant pressure low and centered at the bottom of my belly/pelvis. The pressure has remained since then. Maybe she dropped. Cool.

Week 39 Appointment: The Vag Exam

2010-11-05T18:36:00.003-06:00

We went in for our 39 week appointment today (which is closer to 39 weeks and 4 days). I had the option to have my cervix checked and for the first time in my life, gladly accepted the exam. When I talked to Kellie yesterday, she said that she was already dilated at 37 weeks. That made me very interested to see where I was at. I had no idea that I could already be dilated. As of about 11:00 this morning I am dilated to 2cm and am 50% effaced. We also decided to have the midwife sweep my membranes. That's where she uses her finger to help detach the amniotic sac from the cervix. This can help speed up the process. Since we're hoping to have a baby by the end of next week, we were on board. I was a bit nervous about the pain of being poked, prodded, and swept, but it wasn't bad at all. Maybe this is a precursor to a pain free natural birth. (Don't worry, I won't get my hopes up.)

Please State Your Full Name

2010-11-04T18:57:00.003-06:00

When Aubrey and I went on our last camping trip, he came up with a middle name for Copper; Jo. It's a little bit hick, but we both love the sound of it with Copper. We gave it a few weeks to sink in and we liked it more and more every day. (Although lately it's been making me think of the Adam Sandler song, Sloppy Jo.) Another middle name we were toying with was Jane. My Grandpa Walt always calls me Sarah Jane (which is not my middle name) and I kind of liked it with Copper also. But Jo seemed to win out. So, our little girls name will be "Copper Jo Godwin." If the last name is throwing you off and you're now wondering if Aubrey is the father, don't be alarmed, he is. Godwin is Aubrey's Grand-dad's last name. Aubrey currently has his step-father's name. Aubrey has been talking about changing his last name to Godwin for quite a few years, but he's never gotten around to it. We were hoping to have it changed by the time we got married, but that didn't happen either. Since we can put whatever name we want on Copper's birth certificate, we put Godwin. Aubrey will eventually have that last name and it will save us from changing Copper's last name down the road. For the time being, we will be the Cundall-Strong-Godwin family.

We have a doula!

2010-11-03T21:05:00.002-06:00

Aubrey and I interviewed our first doula tonight and hired her. She seems pretty awesome and we both feel really comfortable with her. She's been to 6 births since July and started her doula training in March of this year. She will also be starting her midwife training soon. The first birth that she attended was at the birthing center. On a side note, she just found out that she's pregnant today. She has a little girl who is 22 months. If you'd like to check her out, here's her website: www.birthnurturer. com.

Week 39 - Cankles

2010-11-01T20:39:00.001-06:00

There is so much going on in the final week of pregnancy. Hopefully Copper will give us a few extra days to get stuff done. As my post title states, I now have cankles. I have avoided them up until 2 days ago. My feet and hands have been swelling for quite a while now, but my ankles have stayed normal. It started with just my right ankle the past two nights, but all hell broke loose today and they've both ballooned beyond being cute. They are not pretty. I do not like them. Last night I was able to lie on my left side and the swelling went down pretty quickly. I sat more today which explains why both ankles are swollen. Generally if I am up and moving around all day, the swelling is minimal. However, today I sat at work for quite a while. Sitting is my enemy. I may be a rare breed of pregnant lady that prefers to stand and move all the time. Sitting is when I'm uncomfortable. With the basement remodel taking up most of our time, I haven't had much of a choice than to be super active. I may have to stand and do squats while I'm working on the computer tomorrow at work. Go away cankles.

Here's the pics you've all been waiting for! Week 39! Only 1 week to go!

It's getting kind of big. Don't ya think?

The midwife estimated that Copper was at about 7lbs last Friday and predicts a baby in the upper 7lb range. I prefer that Copper stop growing and I have a 7 pound baby about a week late. We'll see.

We were told that at 37 weeks you should have your car seat installed and baby bag packed. We still haven't gotten around to packing the baby bag, but Daddy installed the car seat the beginning of last week. Now Melvin has to share his back seat with an empty car seat. He probably shouldn't complain though, because soon enough there will be a crying baby next to him. Since the middle of the seat is the safest, Melvin has to "think thin" and smash his big body into the side seat. It's not all about you anymore, Melvin, soon you'll be the step child.

Tonight we've started our search for a doula. I remember when Lisa first told me that she was getting a doula and I thought she was nuts. Why would you need a middle man at a birth? That was a couple years ago and I have since done a 180 and completely understand the role a doula will play. Even the midwives at the birthing center have all had doulas attend their births. Aubrey and I are meeting one tomorrow and another on Wednesday night to see if we can find a good fit. It's a bit late in the game to be looking, but not too late. We're getting a doula in training to keep the cost down, but feel confident that it'll be a positive experience. I think that Aubrey likes the idea that coaching will not be entirely on his shoulders. We also really want a doula just in case we get transferred to the hospital. If that happens, then things are not going as planned and we would definitely like to have a middle man around to help with decision making and understanding the medical model for delivery. Something that we found interesting about the birthing center is that if we are the only couple there for a birth, the midwife will be with us about 90% of the time! If there are 2 births going on then the time will be split and if there are 3 births then a second midwife is called in. The birthing center has rooms for 3 births and books only around 20-25 births for a month to avoid overcrowding. While the doula doesn't seem as necessary in the best case scenario (I'm the only birth and everything goes as planned), she will be very nice to have in any other scenario.

Full panel pants

2010-10-26T21:54:00.002-06:00

I bought my first pair of full panel maternity jeans at 36 1/2 weeks. Up until then, I had mostly been wearing regular yoga capris and pants. I did buy a pair of no panel maternity pants a little while back, but they're not as comfy as the yoga gear. The full panel pants are not the sexiest things around when the panel is exposed, but they are by far the most comfortable things in the world when you're in that last month of pregnancy. I can't believe I made it this long without them. They don't dig into Copper's head when I sit and my belly isn't exposed when my I try to wear non maternity shirts that inevitably ride up. They do show that tell tale sign of the line across the belly that lets everyone know you're wearing maternity pants, but who gives a shit when you're that comfortable.

Baby Shower

2010-10-26T21:46:00.004-06:00

Note: I'm a little behind with my blogging. The damn basement is all consuming.

Anyways, my friend Kellie (with help from Connie, Sheri, and my mom) hosted a wonderful baby shower for Aubrey and I 2 Saturday's ago. It was short and sweet with yummy food, friends, and most importantly, great gifts. Registering for the baby shower was actually way more fun than registering for our wedding. (Again, thanks for the registry help, Kellie!) The wedding felt so selfish, but the baby shower isn't really about us, it's about Copper. And holy crap do baby's need a lot of stuff. Thanks to everyone for coming and all the super needed baby gear. Okay, so we didn't really need a baby hoodie with a skull on it, but it sure is damn cute.