Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The 2:30(ish) am post

Things my son does:
  • smiles when you enter the room
  • coos and talks and sings
  • rolls over constantly
  • eats rice cereal (once a day)
  • scoots around (by rolling, kicking, pushing, any way possible) on the floor and explores his space
  • chews on everything in sight
  • plays with his feet / toes
  • recognizes mama, daddy, and even the words mama and daddy (pretty sure!)
  • plays with toys (some.... but increasingly interested in them)
Things my son doesn't do:
  • Sleep for more than 2-3 hours in any one stretch at night

Okay, there are more things he doesn't do... but right now, that's the biggest one.  And the issues is not that he only sleeps for 2-3 hours (if I'm lucky - often it's 1-2) at a time.... it's that he then decides sleep is for suckers and doesn't go back down to sleep.  It's like all day - 24x7 - he just wants to take a nap, play a little, eat, repeat.  That's great during the day.... but nighttime is for sleep, and for whatever reason he doesn't get that any more. 

We're going on 3 weeks (not really sure exactly how long, but I think this change occurred sometime between Christmas and New Years) of this.  Many / most nights I get 4-5 hours of sleep - in two spurts.  I'm exhausted.  I don't work (well, I have my online shop, but I don't have to leave the house!), but that doesn't mean that I can just drop everything and take a nap when he decides to during the day.  I mean, I could, but it's hard to just shut everything off and make yourself take a nap in the middle of the day.  By the time you do, the baby is waking up.

So instead, I take a drive 5 miles down the highway and back up the highway and through the drive-thru Starbucks at 6:30am because I realize those 4 hours of sleep I got are all I'm going to get.  And I look forward to Friday night / Saturday morning because I can force (okay, ask) Jimmy to get up with Colby after the second 2-hour stretch, and I can go back to sleep - for a glorious 3 hours.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Then and Now

Then: January 4, 2010

I'm not sure what I did during the day on January 4th.  I do know I wasn't working (I worked Tuesday through Friday).  It had been a rough week - my Grandpa had passed away exactly a week before on December 28th.  I'm guessing I went to the grocery store, hung out, probably spent money (I'm good at that).  But January 4, 2010 will remembered not for what I did during the day.  It will be remembered for the fact that on the way home from work, Jimmy stopped at the grocery store to buy yet another pack of home pregnancy tests.  At this point we had been trying to get pregnant for just over a year.  I had bought and peed on an army of those tests.  I was not about to buy another one.  (oh, and I hadn't heard of the cheapo ones you can use during the TTC process that you then would only have to buy the spendy ones when you got a positive on the cheapo and really wanted to see if it was true or just the result of buying tests at the dollar store.  I now know about these gems and will definitely be using them next time!)

But back to the story.  Jimmy got home from work and instructed me to pee on the stick.   While my cycles weren't regular, if they had been, I was due to have a visit from Aunt Flow that day - and had no signs of that happening.  I was VERY reluctant (to put it mildly).  I had peed on soooo many of those things with so much hope over the last year..... but I obliged.

I did what was necessary, and planned on leaving the test upside down until I was out in the kitchen where Jimmy was.  That way he could understand and maybe feel a little bit of my frustration.  But I peeked.  And was FLOORED.  Was that a + I saw?!  I walked out of the bathroom with a "WTF?" look on my face and I'm pretty sure Jimmy knew instantly what was going on.  He looked at it, I think he jumped and smiled.  Finally a smile broke on my face.  Was this real?!

Of course, the next logical move would be to take another test.  But I was empty! ;-)  So I chugged and chugged and chugged water.  When I felt prepared I took another.  With another +.  Wow.

January 4th, 2010 was a very exciting day - one I will remember forever. 

I called my OB's office the next morning and set up my very first checkup.  Of course, I peed on another stick that Thursday or Friday just to make sure (plus we were going to tell my parents Friday night, so we wanted to make sure!)

Test #1 - Definitely a + sign!


Tests #1 and #2


--------Fast Forward One Year---------

Now: January 4, 2011

Today I have a 4 month old.  Amazing.  My baby boy is 4 months old on the exact day (one year later) we found out we were going to meet him!!!

Today started nice and early (which I'm sure you have already gathered seeing as this is posting right about 4:45am PST).  I guess Colby decided he needed to celebrate his 4 month birthday (and the 1 year anniversary of us finding out about him growing inside of me) - we went to bed at 10pm last night (our usual) - and Colby woke up at 12:15am for a snack (not his usual) after which he would not go back in his co-sleeper, so he slept on my arm.... until 2:45am.  At 2:45am he decided it was time for more food (or maybe his arm pillow twitched?).  I fed him, he fussed, and finally around 3:15am while Jimmy was trying to get Colby back to sleep (he had fussed loud enough and long enough to wake his dad - that's impressive!), we fed him another 2oz through a bottle.  Finally around 3:45am he went back down.  But only for 10 minutes - just before I poured my cereal (yes, I decided I would get up because after being up for an hour I was STARVING and no longer sleepy) I heard him waking up on the monitor.  So I headed upstairs, scooped him up, and we spent some quality time in the glider.  He fell back asleep, and I put him back in our bed.  Here's hoping he sleeps 'til 8! :-)

Our plans for today are the usual for a Tuesday - with a minor twist.  Tuesdays we spend hanging out in the morning, meeting my friend Dawn and her two kiddos at the YMCA mid-day for Zumba, lunch afterwards, and a playdate afternoon.  Then I make dinner at Dawn's place for all four adults and their 2.5 year old son.  Jimmy and Will (Dawn's husband) get to their place around 6ish - we eat dinner, hang out, and head home between 8 and 9.  I *think* we will do this today (we'll see if we stay awake through it all!)

The only addition to our usual is that today Colby and I will be making a trip to the Post Office.  Today the very first orders for Eggo In The Oven will ship out!  This is soooo exciting!  I have been told for a while that I should sell the handmade goodies I create - and I'm finally doing it!  Opening weekend (this past weekend) was a success - and once I'm out from under all the orders from those few days, I'll be listing even more items in my store.  Feel free to stop by - or check it out on Facebook (just search Eggo In The Oven) - I have a larger selection there, and will do periodic specials only good through Facebook.  I am very excited.  I love to craft, and I'm having sooo much fun getting this little business started!!!

Oh, and of course Colby and I will have to do a 4 month photo shoot this morning!!! ;-)

Colby yesterday - modeling the onesie and legwarmers I made! :-)
(and being super cute, as always!)