Half a Year Old!

Easton is half a year old! Ok.. so he’s 6.5 months now… I’m a couple weeks late.

Since my last blog post (Easton’s 5 month update), here’s what has changed…

Sleeping

Overall, Easton’s sleep has drastically improved! He naps 3 times a day, usually going down for his first nap at 8:30 or 9:00. Nap #1 usually lasts 1.5 hours, and his next two naps are about 45 mins each (one at 12:00 and one around 3:00). He occasionally takes 2 longer naps and I think he is close to being able to do that consistently, but for now, three naps is working best.  His nighttime sleep is also pretty good. He goes down around 7:00 pm and wakes up once to nurse around 11:00 or 12:00, and then sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 am! For now, I don’t mind the one wake up because his sleeping is WAY better than it was a few months ago. He has also started rolling onto his tummy to sleep sometimes (although I put him down on his back) which is like his mama! It’s hilarious to look into his crib… he’s got 6 pacifiers lined up along the back, so he can always find one! He sleeps in a sleeper with a light cotton sleep sack, hugging his stuffie Moe the Monkey.

 

Eating

We started rice cereal and some beginner purees (homemade) at about 5 months after the go-ahead from his doctor, but then I gave up because he just wasn’t quite ready or interested enough. We started up again a couple weeks later and he’s been doing really well! He eats solids 3 times a day, and still nurses 6-7 times a day.  His favorite purees are pear, peach and squash and he also loves mango in his mesh feeder. For breakfast he usually has oatmeal cereal mixed with a fruit puree and some warm breastmilk. Lunch is usually a veggie puree and some rice cereal with BM and sometimes some plain yogurt. Dinner is usually veg puree with rice cereal and sometimes some fruit for dessert. He devours mango! He eats finger foods occasionally, like tiny pieces of bread, potato, avocado, and rusks. He loves the ‘Mum Mum’ rice rusks.

The only negative of his eating habits is that he refuses to take a bottle. He took one up until 3.5 months life a champ, and then just decided it wasn’t for him. This makes it hard to get away for more than a few hours. I photographed a wedding last week and he was with daddy all day… stubborn little guy went 10 hours without milk! He was fine, ate lots of solids, and hardly fussed, but it still bothers me. We’ve tried several different bottles and nipples, to no avail. He will drink water and diluted juice from a sippy cup, but once we put milk in it, he just spits it out! Boob man, til the end!

Growth

At his 6 month check up, Easton weighed 18 lb 10.5 oz and was 28 inches long. He’s in the 75% for weight and the 95% for height! He’s wearing mostly 12 month clothes and he’s almost too big for his infant carseat!  We’ve got the next stage one already (up to 65 lbs), and we’ve been using it for a couple weeks because the infant carrier is just way too heavy with him in it. Its been working well, the only annoying part is when he falls asleep in the car, we cant just bring him in in his carseat like we used to.  

                                        

Milestones

Since about 5.5 months, Easton has been sitting unassisted really well! I still put the boppy pillow around him just in case he falls over (which sometimes happens when he’s reaching for a toy), but I would say, he’s now mastered sitting and playing. It’s SO nice to be able to sit him down in his little play area with a few toys and he can entertain himself while I get things done!

I definitely think he’ll start to crawl in a couple of weeks! He’s able to go from a sitting position onto his hands and knees, but hasn’t quite figured out what to do from there. He’ll reach like he’s going to crawl, but then go onto his tummy. He’s really close though! He also pivots around on his tummy and can commando crawl (backwards!). He’s starting rocking back and forth while on hands and knees.. maybe he thinks he’ll just propel himself forward! He’s a determined little guy.

He also LOVES to stand and hold onto things, and smashes his hands in excitement while babbling away! He sometimes takes a few steps when I’m holding his hands, which is pretty cool! He surprises me every day with the things he’s able to do.

Overall, I am just LOVING this stage of babyhood. Easton is such a happy and laid back baby. He is so full of love, determination and cuteness! He cuddles me at night, laughs with me when we play together, smiles when he sees me for the first time, and just loves me unconditionally, as I do him. I never knew I could love someone the way I love him! Watching him grow up so quickly, master new skills, and show us little hints of his personality, is the most amazing thing to see. We love our little man, and although we’ve only known him for 6 months, can't even remember what life was like before he arrived!

Sleep "Learning" and Easton's 5 month update!

Well, it's been ages since my last blog post... I'm not going to lie, its because this past month was completely exhausting!

We moved into our new house at the end of April (when E was 3.5 months old), and the move actually went really smooth. What STOPPED going smoothly at that time was Easton's sleep! Up until we moved, he was sleeping in a bassinet beside our bed, from 8 pm until 2 am (when he woke for a feed) and then until 6 or 7 am, when he woke for the day. Now, I don't know if it coincided with our move, or something that happens to many babies around 4 months, which I've also read, but seriously the first night in our new house, he woke up 5 times! Since then, (up until 4 nights ago) he continued to wake up 3-5 times a night and the only thing that would put him back to sleep was the boob. He outgrew his bassinet around 4 months, and because I was waking up every couple of hours to feed him at night, we ended up co-sleeping, just to give everyone at least a BIT more sleep.

Enter exhausted/sleep deprived mom, trying to set up her new house, photograph and edit Spring family photos, and plan for a week long trip out of province, just Easton and I! Something needed to change. I was becoming increasingly irritable and stressed out, and its impossible to be the best parent you can be, in that state.

After doing a ton of online research and deciding that letting Easton "cry it out" was not a route I was comfortable taking, I tried every known settling technique in the book. Rocking, swinging, singing, swaddling, white noise, more blankets, fewer blankets, back sleeping, side sleeping, soother, no soother, rice cereal before bed, every possible combination of these things, EVERYTHING. Nothing worked. Except the boob. I knew I couldn't continue this way forever. Letting babies nurse to sleep is not teaching them healthy sleep habits. It's not teaching them sleep habits at all, its Mommy doing all the work! It's imperative that babies learn how to settle/sooth themselves, and fall asleep on their own.

I remember a friend of mine saying that she was beginning to "sleep train" her daughter, so I asked her how it was going. She told me her little girls sleep had done a complete 180 in just a few days. WHAT? Nothing can work that fast, can it? She recommended the book she had followed, called "The Sleep Easy Solution". She told me it DOES require a few tears, but its completely worth it in the end to have a well-rested, happy, healthy baby who can get through the day without fussing, put themselves to sleep, and grow and learn the way their supposed to!  Well, on Wednesday, in my zombie-like state, I rushed to the library and borrowed the DVD (too tired to read) and watched it, took notes, and decided I would implement it that night!

I was scared. I didn't want to listen to my poor baby cry. I thought it would just shatter me to leave him in his crib, in the dark, crying, and not go in and pick him up and cuddle him and nurse him back to sleep like I normally would have. I had to. My old approach CLEARLY didn't work and Easton's sleep (and ours) was just getting worse and worse.

Without going into all the details, the "Sleep Easy Solution", has worked wonders on Easton's sleep in just 3 days, since we started! The first night wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (it was probably harder on me than it was on him!), and he slept in his crib the entire night (he still had 2 feeds, but we're working on dropping that to one, next week), from 7pm - 7am with very few tears! Night #2 was even better, and last night was incredible! He only cried for 8 minutes total, in 12 hours! His naps have greatly improved as well, and he is consistently taking 3 naps a day. His total sleep each day is 15 hours, which is optimal for his age. I'm so proud of him and so glad I took the plunge into "sleep learning" as I prefer to call it :)

I also feel LOADS better already, from just a few nights of less broken sleep. I've been able to get through the day without stressing over the littlest things, pay more attention to helping Easton grow and develop, and be the mom I wanted to be! I'm sure we'll have hiccups, between teething and growth spurts, but we've set the foundation for Easton to be a good sleeper his whole life, and I owe it to The Sleep Easy Solution. They should pay me! I'm totally going to be their new biggest advocate!

Ok, enough on that, Easton accomplished a lot in his 4th month of life! (He'll be 5 months next week). He rolled over from back to front, then front to back, on his own, and is also able to sit up unsupported for about 20 seconds! He LOVES to stand (with support) and is very strong! He started on solid food a couple weeks ago (our doc gave him the go ahead at his 4 month appt!), and so far he's tried rice cereal, banana, sweet potato and apple puree. He doesn't love solids yet, but he's doing well! He was 15 lb 16 oz at his 4 month appointment and 27" long, and I would guess he's about 17 lbs now. A big boy!

That's all I'll bore you with! Hopefully I'll blog again in a couple weeks, with some photo updates.

Have a good one :)

3 months old!

Hey guys! It’s been FAR too long since I last blogged. In my defense though, we’ve had ALOT going on. We’re moving! We sold our townhouse a couple weeks back and we’re moving into a newer, larger, detached house with a fenced yard and an acceptable amount of stairs! (For those of you who have been to our current home, you’ll know what I mean ... talk about a leg workout!) Anyways - we move on April 26th, so we’ve been spending all our spare time packing!

Easton will be 3 MONTHS OLD in just a few days! In my opinion, he’s getting cuter and cuter everyday... and bigger, and smarter and more stubborn (like his mama!).

I’m going to share my Easton updates in the form of a letter to him, like last time. I think it’s a cute way to remember all the milestones and give him something personal to look back at when he’s older.


Dear Easton (E, Easty, Beastie Boy)

Where to start. Getting to know you these last three months have been such an amazing experience for your dad and I. You’re developing such a little personality, and its so fun watching you reach each new milestone. It seems like every day, you’re doing something new!

When you wake up in the morning, you’re FULL of smiles! I usually take you out of your bassinet and lay with you in our bed for a little while, just chatting with you and admiring your cuteness! You love to smile and giggle on the change table, as I dress you for the day.

We’re getting into a reliable routine, which helps mommy a lot! After your "breakfast", you sit with me in the kitchen and let me have mine. About 1.5 - 2 hours after you get up, you’re ready for a nap! You usually go down at about 9:30 and sleep until about 11:00. When you were about 10 weeks old, you started sleeping in your crib in your own room at nap time, rather than in your swing like before. I swaddle you up, give you your soother and you’re lights out in about 10 minutes, with hardly any fuss! Good job :)

After your morning nap, I usually put you on your activity mat, or in your swing with a toy for a little while, while I catch up on laundry or cleaning. You’re happy for about 30 minutes but then you get bored! We typically do tummy-time after that and you’re getting really good at it! Your neck is very strong and you’re starting to enjoy it (you used to cry hysterically after 30 seconds on your tummy!)

By about 12:30, your ready for another nap. You’ve developed a bit of a catnapping habit, so after 45 minutes, you’re awake again. I’m waiting for the day when you consolidate your sleep, and take a longer nap in the morning, and one in the afternoon. But for now, I’ll have to do things quickly while you sleep!

If I have errands to run, we usually do them in the afternoon around 2 or 3 pm. You still cant help but fall asleep after 10 minutes in the car, and you usually sleep for as long as I’m pushing you around in your stroller. As soon as we stop moving though, you’re up... and hungry! If I don’t have anything I need to get, I try to take you and Lucy for a good long walk outside, since its FINALLY started getting warmer out.

After you’ve woken up from your afternoon nap (around 4), you usually don’t sleep again until its time for bed. You get a little fussy around supper time, so your dad and I have to cook and eat quickly, so we can keep you entertained. You’re usually not happy after dinner unless one of us is holding you and moving constantly! 

 
At around 7 or 7:30, you take a 4 oz bottle of formula from dad (something we started doing when you were around 8 weeks old since otherwise, you would want to nurse for 3 hours straight!). We call it your “daddy milk!”. Then you have bath time (again, with dad, unless he’s working nights), which you love! You get your lotion/massage, your pajamas on, swaddled up tight, and then your last nursing session with mom, in our bed, around 8 pm. Then it’s off to dreamland! I put you down awake, so you have learned to fall asleep on your own. You still sleep in your bassinet beside our bed, but when we move into the new house, we’re going to start having you sleep in your own room!

Normally, you sleep until 1 or 2 am, wake for a feed, then go right back to sleep until 6 or 6:30 am! Mommy sometimes needs more sleep, so I feed you, change your diaper, then we go back to bed until 8 or 8:30, and our routine starts again!

You’ve started cooing and babbling all the time, giggling a little bit, reaching for your toys, putting your hands in your mouth and sucking on your lips! You weigh almost 15 lbs now - up 3 pounds since your 2 month appointment. Big boy! I believe you’re in the 75th percentile for height and weight. You’ve grown out of your 3 month clothes, and you’re fitting into 6 months for the most part! I had to order some onesie extenders so we can get a bit more use out of some of your ‘shorter’ clothes. 

You still love to hang out in your swing, although you won’t fall asleep in there anymore. You’ve started sitting in your Bumbo Chair a little bit, but I’m not sure you like it very much since you start fussing after about 10 minutes. We don’t have one at home yet, but Grandma and Papa have an Exersaucer at their house, and you really liked playing in it last time we visited! We had to pad the seat with blankets since you’re still a bit small for it, but you we’re transfixed by all the cool toys, lights and sounds! Your favorite form of entertainment is still people’s faces. You are so serious when you check out new people, but once you get comfortable, you’ll smile and chat with them for ages. Mommy also dances like a crazy person sometimes, and you seem to enjoy it! I’m so glad I don’t embarrass you yet :)

Anyways, little man, that’s all for now! I’ll write to you again soon.

Love you SO much!

xoxo

Mama

Dear Easton...

Dear Easton,

You’re 3.5 weeks old, but it feels like you’ve been a part of our family forever! We love you so much. You’re 8 lbs 14 oz and 22 inches long now. Mommy and daddy are trying to enjoy every second of you as such a little peanut because you’re growing so fast!

We’ve been taking lots of photos and videos of you. You make the silliest faces and we love capturing them!

Your favorite place to sleep is in your Mama Roo swing (or the Spaceship, as we like to call it). You also got a new play mat last week, and you love laying there hitting the toys that dangle from above, and watching Mr. Sun light up and play music. You kick your legs like crazy, and I can tell you’re excited!

You also love watching and listening to your musical change table bumper. The zebra is your favorite to stare at. It makes diaper changes more enjoyable for mommy since it distracts you from crying!

Daddy loves laying in bed with you in the mornings, showing you videos and games on the iPhone/iPad and it’s adorable to watch you focused so intently on what he’s showing you! You’re a very alert baby!

I started putting you in the BabyBjorn carrier this week, and you love being close to mommy as she gets things done around the house. I also took you outside in it, on a walk with Lucy. You were all bundled up, and you fell asleep right away.

Your “fur sister” Lucy, loves you very much. She checks on you as you sleep, and likes to lie close to you. She protects you like you were her own! I can't wait to watch you interact with her as you grow up.

Your a big fan of bath time. You like the water to be warm, like mom! You find it relaxing and soothing. You HATE when I take you out but as soon as your wrapped in your towel with your soother, you’re as happy as a clam.

That’s all for now. I’ll write to you again in a few weeks. I love you very much, baby boy!

Love always,

Mommy
xoxo

Easton's Birth Story

I’ve finally finished writing out Easton’s birth story! I took jot-notes on my iPhone throughout the entire labour, so I could remember all the details. It’s LONG and perhaps boring, but I wanted to remember EVERYTHING, so here it is! (All photos taken by me... except the one I'm in...)

On Saturday January 12th (one of our Due Dates - determined by the 9 week U/S), I started feeling regular contractions (about 45 minutes apart) around 8:00 pm, after we had finished dinner and were relaxing on the couch. I had felt what I can only describe as menstrual cramps, periodically that day, but didn’t think anything of it until they came back that evening and were starting to feel stronger. Dan had a hockey game that night and I felt confident that we had a long wait ahead of us, so I told him to go play, just keep his phone close by!  By 10:30 pm, they were 20-30 minutes apart and lasting about 40 seconds. By midnight, I finally realized “this must be it”, since my contractions were now about 10 minutes apart and lasting 50-60 seconds. I decided I’d try to sleep rather than staying up all night timing them, but when I woke up at 3 am they were much more painful and 4 minutes apart, lasting for 50-60 seconds. My obstetrician had told me to head to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart for an entire hour, so we packed up the car and headed to the hospital around 4:00 am Sunday morning (January 13th).

When we arrived at the hospital, they got us a room in Triage, hooked me up to the “contraction machine” and checked my cervix. At my previous appointment the week prior, I was 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced. The nurse told me my cervix was now dilated 2-3 cm and was 75% effaced. I was excited! Progress!!! We decided to walk around the hospital for an hour to see if I would dilate more (they wont admit you until you’re 4 cm which is what they consider “active labour”). After an hour (and some breakfast at Timmies), we were back in Triage to be checked. 3 cm and 100% effaced. Not much change. Although I was clearly in pain and having regular contractions (which were still 4 minutes apart), they recommended we go back home and come back to the hospital when they were 3 minutes apart. Why tell people to come to the hospital when contractions are 5 minutes apart only to send them home when they’re 4 minutes apart?!?! I was not impressed, but around 8:30 am, we went home anyways.

I was exhausted from being up all night, so I had a nap until 11 am, then we took Lucy for a walk. After all of that, it actually seemed like my contractions were tapering off. They were farther apart and they were definitely less intense than they had been at the hospital. A little part of me thought maybe I wasn’t in labour after all, but I had a gut feeling I would have my baby in my arms very soon!

Eventually, by noon-ish, my contractions had become much more painful and were still 4 minutes apart, so I called the hospital and asked them what I should do. Should I come in or continue to labour at home? They said I could come back to see if I had dilated any more and then they could decide what was best. At around 3 pm, we went back to the hospital for the second time, and I was still at 3 cm. The doctor said I should go home (again! grrr), take a bath and try to relax and see what happens. I was so annoyed about being sent home again, especially since there were at least 10 empty L&D rooms and no one else in triage, plus I was 1 cm away from being admitted! So stupid.

We got home around 4 pm, I had a bath, a light dinner, and tried to nap but my contractions were too painful to sleep through (or talk through, or walk through, or do anything but breathe through) so we headed back to the hospital around 7 pm. The nurses checked me right away since I think they could tell I was in a lot of pain. 4-5 cm! FINALLY enough to get admitted! Third times a charm, I guess?!


We “moved in” to our L&D room around 8:30 pm, and met our amazing nurse, Rachel, who would be with us until baby arrived! We got settled in and I bounced on the exercise ball for a bit, trying to "get things going". My parents stopped in to say a quick hello and wish me luck. I discovered the most comfortable position to endure my contractions was for me to be on my hands and knees with Dan applying as much pressure as he could to my lower back, since that's where I felt alot of the pain. I also did some “breathing exercises”, which seemed to help as well. After my parents left, the on-call doctor and resident came in to introduce themselves around 9 pm. They told me they wanted to break my water since I wasn’t dilating very quickly. I told them they could, but only after I had the epidural! The doctor laughed and told me that was a good decision, since after your water breaks, the contractions become much more intense and more frequent.

At 9:45 pm, I got my IV and received the epidural. I also got a bladder catheter, which was news to me! Nobody told me to expect that! Yuck. I was TERRIFIED about getting the epidural, but it actually didn’t hurt at all… all I could feel was the sensation of a cold liquid being poured down my back, and my feet felt like they were asleep. The IV was actually the most painful part!

At 10 pm, the resident doctor came back in to break my water with her ‘crochet hook’ type contraption, and then her and the nurse laughed at me because apparently I had copious amounts of amniotic fluid…. Good thing my water didn’t break in public! At this point I was 5-6 cm dilated, 100% effaced and baby was in the ideal LOA position. They said it shouldn’t be much longer now!

By 1:30 am on January 14th, I was still 5-6 cm, so the doctor decided to put me on the lowest dose of Oxytocin (Pitocin), to help speed things along.  Shortly after it was administered, I was 6-7 cm dilated.

At 2:30am, the worst 30 minutes of my life began. My epidural ran out, while my nurse was on her break and the stupid break coverage nurse decided it would be a good idea to go and get a new bag and then PLACE IT ON THE TABLE BESIDE ME AND LEAVE! Um… am I supposed to hook it up myself?! The pain was so intense I started feeling nauseous, began sobbing like a big baby, shaking like a leaf (I felt very cold but Dan said I was sweating), and just altogether freaking out! Dan was trying to get me to relax, but with no nurse in sight and a full epidural bag staring at me from the bedside table, that was easier said than done!

Just before 3 am, my nurse Rachel came back from her break and could tell right away, by the terror in my eyes, that I must be in the transitional stage of labour. She checked me right away, and sure enough I was 10 cm dilated! She felt awful that she wasn’t around to make sure my epidural was topped up when I needed it most, but sure enough I had survived the journey from 7-10 cm, without it! She got the epidural topped up right away, and by 3 am, I was back to my (mostly) pain-free bliss. (I say mostly because I had a “patchy” epidural, so the left lower portion of my uterus remained “unfrozen” I guess you could say, and I felt all the contractions in that one spot). 

At exactly 3 am, I started pushing and about 6 or so contractions in, I started feeling nauseous again, and began throwing up. The nurses called the doctors in right away because apparently my body relaxed so much while I was being sick, Easton’s head started crowning and was pretty much out by the time the doctors made it there! At 3:30 am, the doctors arrived and by 3:38 am, after 10 hours of active labour and 38 minutes of pushing, Easton was born!

I’m not nearly a good enough writer to describe to you exactly how I felt when my baby boy was placed on my chest all wrinkly and covered in white goop, but it was an absolutely surreal and incredible moment. He was so perfect and beautiful and amazing and he was ours!  Dan cried, I cried, Easton cried. Our hearts were full of love, and our family was whole!

He stayed on my chest for maybe 2 minutes while I took it all in, and then Dan cut his cord and the nurses whisked him away to be assessed and measured and weighed. He scored a perfect 9/9 on his APGAR, weighed in at 8lb 5oz and measured 21 inches. A big boy! The nurse brough him back to me and helped me feed him, we took a few pictures of our new little family, and then we got him all wrapped up and around 4:45 am, my parents and Dan’s mom and sister came in to meet him! Everyone was enamored by his adorableness and took about 1000 photos, but they didn’t stay long because we were exhausted. Time for some well-deserved sleep, since we all (Easton included) worked very hard getting to this point!

After a night of little sleep, lots of “how do I do this?” moments, and multiple checks on Easton, and myself, we got discharged the next day, around noon and our little family of three went home to start our new life together :)

 Our first day at home!

I hope you enjoyed reading about Easton's birth! I'll try to keep up writing the blog on a regular basis, but it might not be weekly, as it was throughout my pregnancy. We'll see how much free time the little guy allows me!