Hunter Monthly: 10 months

 

Hunter has grown up so much this past month! He is getting more and more fun each month, but I'm sure you were expecting that statement since I say it every month. I hope that it never changes, but surely we'll hit a time when he is in his 'terrible twos' when I will want to squish him bak into a tiny baby again. For now? Each new age brings more personality, and more fun!

The biggest thing is that he is walking. Full on, can almost run, walking everywhere! He can bull doze almost anything without tripping, but when he does trip, he'll just stand back up and be at it again. This has led to bruises and even a busted lip. Scary mommy moment, when your child hits their head, and then looks at you with blood pouring out of their mouth.

Lots of times he will hold my hand when we walk long distances around the house or in the driveway, but there are times where he refuses and shakes his arms and pulls them away because he just wants to do it himself. He is VERY independent!

He is still loving to eat, and has a few new favorite foods. He absolutely loves watermelon, but if I give him a whole wedge then he will put as much in his mouth as he can and take a bite which scares me to death! This means I still cut up his food into more manageable pieces! He also loves papaya! We have started also giving him what we are eating for dinner, such a pieces of rotisserie chicken, meatloaf, and hopefully daddy will be able to catch some fish soon because we are dying for him to try it!

I may very well be biased, but I seriously think that he is super smart! He has figured out stacking toys (you now, the colored rings?), opens his puffs containter with his mouth, and walks me over to what he wants to do (usually the bath tub or the door to go outside). He absolutely loves to be outside, and after about 10 minutes of playing inside he will go look out the window or back door. 

He is a totally rambunctious boy, but I love it!! If I wasn't pregnant, I may be able to enjoy the constant running around a little bit more, but for now I am exhausted! When I talked about wanting a girl, my mom would always remind me about when she was pregnant with me. She didn't know what she was having, but already had my brother, and she kept wondering, "How can a girl be this much fun?" I am totally getting what she is saying! He is a ball of energy, and has definite likes and dislikes! Loves being outside, hates to be cooped up for too long. Loves his blankie, hates when someone else has it. I could go on and on.

I think it was a month ago that I wrote about planning his birthday party, and I have done nothing for it yet! Eek!! Only about a month more! I know there are really two, but I want to it to be pretty much planned before I get too big!

Before I leave, here is a whiny picture, but he just looked so darn cute in his overalls!

Been There, Done That!

Comparing how I have prepared for Charlotte's birth with how I prepared for Hunter's, there is a big difference. One is that I am so much less stressed! Not that I was fretting about his, I was way more excited, but I got more of the 'wrong' things ready. I just had to have his room ready, and he didn't even sleep in there for 4 months. This time, our crib is on backorder until weeks before her due date, and while I am annoyed, I know that it doesn't really matter.

Some things that I plan to do differently or just focus before Charlotte's birth:

Freezer Stash: This will take on a whole new meaning after my milk comes in, but for now I am talking food. For a week or two co workers brought meals to the house and it was absolutely amazing to NOT have to think about dinner for that night. Then, it was back to dinner reality and while Tim was super understanding and would grab something on his way home, it wasn't ideal or very economical. This time around, I have started (3 months out) and when I cook at home I buy enough ingredients for 3 to 4 times that what meal needs. We prepare it all together, then separate it out and then are able to freeze 2-3 meals. We already were going to prepare dinner anyway, why not

Nursery: I already wrote a little about this, but I am NOT fretting nursery decor. Sure, I would love to have pictures of her nursery all done and cute and amazing, but if it's not done? No. Big. Deal. I WILL say that if you manage to get it done, then it is one less thing that you have to worry about when baby is here. Don't kid yourself if you think that you will want them to sleep in there. When you're up every three hours, you're going to look to find spare minutes any place you can get them even if saving the one minute it takes to walk to and from their room is how you get that. Not only that, you will find that you would rather have them awake for thirty seconds rather than a minute and thirty second is better, because it takes less time to get them back to sleep. Again, your night life will revolve around how to get more minutes of sleep for you! That, and you just want them close to you! Sure they grunt and sigh and make all sorts of noises when they sleep, but I felt so much better when Hunter was in the same room as I was. 

Wardrobe: One of the things I was most excited about for Hunter was his closet full of little man clothes. Yes, it is great to be prepared for when they move up a size, newborns do no need button up collared onesies and they certainly are not all that comfy in overalls. They really do sleep almost all day and most babies like I be swaddled, AND they get changed a lot.... Soooooo do you really tutus and overalls are the best choice? You will find that jammies and onesie sets and even those nightgown things are what works best. This time, I am stocking up! This doesn't mean that you won't want to dress them up, but just probably not as often as you originally thought!

Wardrobe: This time I mean being prepared for size move ups. I cried when Hunter moved from newborn to 0-3 month clothing, and I'm sure I will do it when Charlotte does the same thing. Each size move gets more tolerable, but it is a little reminder and a physical show of them getting bigger. I got tons and tons of clothes before Hunter was born, whether it was from me shopping or from our amazing friends and family, but when we hit 9 months, I noticed that I barely had anything, and now that we have hit the 9-12 month sizing we barely have anything! Although it did mean that I got to go shopping with the permission blessing of my husband, it also meant that I was caught off guard! I will definitely have some pajamas and outfit sets in sizes all the way up to 18 months because you never know how fast they will fly through their clothes!

Hospital Stay: I didn't go crazy and over pack last time, so I'm not worried about that. This time, I will fully understand that this is a flipping vacation. The mornings after she is born and I am in the hospital may be the only two mornings I get to sleep in for a loooong time. I haven't slept past 7:30 since Hunter was born. True, I don't feel ready to leave him overnight yet, so I may just be imposing this on myself, but I will relish in those mornings I get to sleep in. There will also be a few necessities that I make absolute sure to bring. Nursing tanks, swaddles, clothing in premie and newborn (just in case), my make up, and of course the obvious iPads, laptop, phone, camera, and video camera. We had all of these last time, but I do NOT want to do with out them this time. The one thing that I will add is the Sleep Sheep/noise machine. We knew we would need one since babies are so used to noise, but we didn't even think to bring it to the hospital. I think little man would have slept much better if he wasn't in silence.

Formula: With Hunter, we had a rough second night. He cried for a few hours. I was adamant on breast feeding, and I tried so hard. The problem was that he was 'eat' for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, and fall asleep and then be awake and crying 20 minutes later. He was barely getting anything from me, but I was bound and determined not to feed him formula. Finally, Tim and I broke down at about 3 in the morning, and gave him the tiniest bit of formula. We still breastfed on each side after that when he seemed hungry, but would follow it up with and ounce of formula. Three days after he was born, my milk came in and we didn't need formula again. I feel bad for fighting it so long, but this time I know that it is not the end of the world to feed a touch of formula. Either that, or I know that the baby will want to eat very often! Luckily, you can do the latter while laying down, haha! 

I am sure there is more, but I am so glad that everything is so fresh in my mind. I feel so much more prepared, even though I know very well that it could all change with this labor and delivery, I feel more comfortable going in.

What are YOU bringing that you just could not live without?

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Third Trimester, Baby!

I kind of wish I was an Aggie, so I could have followed that title up with a 'Whoop'! (Are non-aggies allowed to 'whoop'?)

YES- we are in the third trimester! If you would have asked me 7 weeks ago, I would have  never thought that we would have made it here, and I am truly thankful! As I type, Charlotte is playing around in my belly, not kicking, but swimming around in there or something! Yes- she can probably swim around in the 16 cm of fluid that she has in there. That's right. Who went from 2 cm to 16 cm in 6 short weeks? This girl.

Besides the fluid level being at a totally normal level, we also got a growth ultrasound today. We only get them every three weeks, even though we get an ultrasound every week to make sure that the placenta in nourishing the baby like it should. It showed that overall, she is in the 12th percentile for her gestational age, which is a heck of a lot better than the 'under 5th' percentile that we started this roller coaster in. The placenta and cord are working just like they should be, but since she is still so small, they are going to continue to check them every week. I follow a forum online and one woman who was due to give birth the same month as me had to give birth at 26 weeks because of 'reverse cord flow', and that is something that is detectable with these ultrasounds that I am getting. I do like knowing that things are getting checked regularly! Here is precious baby girl here:

As far as pregnancy symptoms and all.... I have it all. Raging heartburn (hope she is born with hair!), frequent potty breaks (I am drinking a ton of water, though), leg cramps, insomnia, still some nausea, as well as the all too pleasant pubic bone pain/pressure.... AKA- did I ride my bike to work this morning? Because that's what it feels like! 

After our good appointment, I had a few minutes to run into TJMaxx, and I found this awesome rug! I had a hard time being able to tell if it was a light blue or a gray in the store, so I figured I would pick it up and try it out in the room. I was pretty excited when I found it for such a good price, since everything I have been looking at is in the $500 range for a 5X8 rug. But since we have a mysterious red carpet stain right in front of where the crib will be, we have to figure out something!

Unfortunately, I got an e-mail that our crib is back ordered even more than it originally was... and it will arrive on Hunter's birthday. Come again? That is only 3 weeks before her due date. Although I am expecting to have her late, don't ask why,I just think she will be late, I wanted to have her crib here before I order bedding. I obviously can't wait that long if her crib is only coming 3 weeks before she is due! I am still beyond annoyed!

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Oh My, What a Big Boy, I Have!

I can't believe how fast Hunter is growing up! 

I went to Stride Rite in the mall to get his feet measured and well, remember how I keep saying his feet seem ginormous? Well, they pretty much are little bricks down there. He is measuring right at a 4, but the lady said, "They are definitely a WIDE. See how..... ummm... thick and, ummmm..... tall, they are?"

Yes, lady. I may have noticed that my son stomps around like a giant. Haha, sad to learn that the Sperry's I have been eyeing do no come in wide, but when we tried them on, they fit enough. They fit well enough to not leave little red marks on his feet  when we take them off, and decent enough to last until we get family pictures taken. Look at these precious little foot accessories!

Also, speaking of big boy activities. I pretty much have a walker on my hands! Just one week ago (when I took the video), he started taking a few steps here and there, and this weekend he started traveling across the room. He can also stand up by himself from the floor! He will be crawling as fast as he can and then a few steps before he gets to mommy, he will stand up and walk to me. He really wants to walk! 

He is also getting so good at playing all by himself.... when the mood strikes him right! Last night, he went to bed almost an hour past his bedtime, all because he was just playing in the living room so contently! He would go from toy to toy, then over to his special puffy container (the lid is a slit open silicone so that he can reach in and get them out, but they don't just fall out) and eat a few puffs. Then he would find a new toy. He has one walking toy that is pretty light weight.... and he knows it! if it get stopped or stuck he flips it over or just lifts it up and tries to move it to where there is a bigger opening. Smartie pants! It's funny when you catch a glimpse of him walking it from behind. He looks like a little old man at the grocery store with his walker. With his thin hair, and poked out ears, and not always super smooth walk and all. 

My man is precious. But, he is growing up too fast!
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26 week Update

So, I really thought we were in the clear. Maybe we still are. I hate those phone calls that make things more confusing than confirming. We got a call from the genetic counselor on Tuesday saying that they were able to spot a deletion in Charlotte's chromosome 17. The deletion is what identifies nephropathic cystinosis, and if you we're to google the term you would find some scary stuff. Not fatal, right away, but scary. Definitely made a note to speak to my clear source of information, Dr. Refuerzo. The first phone call left with the understanding that she is just a carrier of this. Not a huge deal, right? Obviously either Tim or myself is also a carrier, we just didn't know. People carry syndromes and disorders in their genes for a long time, but you have to have a baby with a person carrying that same thing to give yourself a chance of having a baby with that disorder, right? (I'm going back to 9th grade biology, here, so pardon the layman terms of everything!) Those people just don't get tested so they don't ever know that they carriers. There are only about 2000 cases in the world. Even if Tim and I both just happen to be carriers, then there is only a 25% chance that she will have it. Remember this from high school biology?

We also went back to the specialist on Thursday and things looked decent. The fluid stayed about where it had been for a week. In my non medical opinion, I think this is good because we are in a normal range AND my belly is getting bigger. If my fluid is staying the same then that means something in there is increasing in size and its not my water level! Crossing fingers that Charlotte is growing away in there!

She looked amazing and, I swear, every time I get an ultrasound from the specialist I am amazed at how well you can see what is going on in there. You could see her playing with her feet. Not just, "Look, her hands are by her feet!", but you could see each individual finger grabbing and pulling on her little feet with toes that were curling and straightening back out. You can see varying degrees of color showing bone, muscle, tissue and skin. It was actually more impressive than the 4D images we have gotten with Hunter!
When we got to the profile shot, you can see her legs curled around and her toes up past her forehead.

I already love this little girl so much, and I wish that I could enjoy this pregnancy as much as I did Hunter's. Physically, this pregnancy has been quite easy (once the morning sickness went away), but emotionally? I have been on a roller coaster. We are up, then down, then up, then down. It is hard for me to go into her room to make plans, because I am scared that we won't make it that far. I make a point to buy something super girly and brand new for her each week. For about a month, I was scared to buy anything, but with each passing week with kicks and growth I am feeling more confident.