86 Days

It has been 86 days since Jace has graced our family and the world with his presence. 86 days of diapers, 86 days of feedings, but most importantly 86 days of smiles!

It has been the most amazing 86 days of our lives so far, and we are so excited for what the rest of our lives bring with our precious baby boy!

Since Jace has reached almost reached the 3 month point, I have had a few people already asking me when we are going to have #2--my answer to them--please allow me to first heal from my c-section completely, then get a solid nights sleep, and enjoy my baby while he is in his baby stage for a while! You may ask me again in a year or two, but for now I am extremely happy with my ONE baby boy!

OK, on to the fun part of this post, I have decided that I am going to start giving tips for my favorite baby must haves in each post from here on out so here is my list for the first 86 days!

1.) SLEEP SACKS! Jace has never been a swaddle baby, he likes his hands out and will fight you if you try to force them in. He sleeps with his arms over his head, it is really quite cute! But, these sleep sacks allow your baby to be swaddled either with hands in, or hands out...We were given one in the hospital when he was born and he LOVED it! he sleeps so soundly when he is swaddled tightly in the sleep sack with his arms out. It also keeps him nice and cozy warm through the night since he cannot have a blanket in bed with him yet.

2.) BABY MITTENS! As a newborn it is really difficult to cut those teeny tiny little fingernails, and since Jace likes to have his arms free, we found that he would also scratch his little face while he sleeps. We went through a few different brands of mittens before we realized that what really works best is baby socks! Specifically, the Just One You by Carters with the cuff. Little, newborn sized socks that fit over his hands worked much better than the mittens. I finally gave in and cut his nails when he was about 6 weeks old, but for those first few weeks, these socks were a lifesaver!

3.) PACIFIER CLIPS! Jace has always liked to suck on his pacifier, from the time he was only a few days old, but he only likes it for a little while before he spits it out and is done with it. We discovered these pacifier clips that attach the pacifier to his onesie so that when he spits it out it doesn't fall to the ground and get dirty, or lost.

4.) BABY BOUNCER! this little portable baby bouncer is a lifesaver! We put him in it and bounce him while we eat. He sits in it and entertains himself while I take a shower. But my favorite use for the baby bouncer is in the mornings! Jace is done being in his crib by about 6am, but I am not done sleeping! I put him in the baby bouncer next to my bed, and he will sit and play in it for about another hour or so which gives me an extra hour or so to sleep!

 

Those are my absolute must haves for the first few months. I will let you know as time goes on what else we add to the list!

My quest to become a stay-at-home mom

Ever since Jace was born, I started dreading the day I would have to go back to work and leave my perfect little angel behind. 8 weeks turned into 4 weeks, and before I knew it, I was donning my scrubs and heading for the door with mascara streaked cheeks as I cried the whole 4 minute drive to work.

I have now been back for one whole week, which seems like it has been 2 years! Every day I have to leave, I cry. It is HORRIBLE! And now the next adventure is scheduled to begin next week....DAYCARE!!!! I have seriously been having anxiety over this day since I was still pregnant. He is so small, and young, and the daycare people don't know him like Jeremy and I do. It is not fair! I just don't want to do it! I don't think I am strong enough to leave my baby with a perfect stranger, professional or not!

And so this is where my new adventure begins....I am going to come up with a way to stay home with him! Here is the problem, I carry the insurance for the family...

So, Jeremy and I have sat down and figured out exactly how much money I need to make doing something at home, so we can A) afford private insurance, and B) afford for me to stay home.

There are a few things out there, such as selling Pampered Chef, selling Avon or Mary Kay, but I am looking for something that can put my passion of the written word to good use, and get paid along the way. This is where I have come up with a title for myself: "Social Media and Virtual Assistant."

I am starting out small with my mom's travel agency, she is going to put me on payroll with my title, and help me build a clientele in other businesses that could use an assistant in this area. I am not charging much, but will need to get a few small businesses to hire me in order to make this my full time job.

I know I won't be able to quit work completely yet, but I would like to get to that point. 9 years with Walgreens is a LOT of time, and I am ready to be rid of the company. I like the idea of being my own boss, working my own hours, and most importantly, staying home with my baby boy!

For those of you out there that know me, you know that I love few things more than reading and writing, this is where I believe my talents can be put to good use! If you know of any small businesses that could use my services, please give them my name, or give me theirs and I will contact them!

I will keep you updated as this adventure unfolds, and give more details of my work as I create my portfolio.

My first month of mommy-hood

Jace is ONE MONTH old already!!! Can you believe it? It seriously seems like just yesterday I was having labor pains that sent me to the hospital...wow, the time has certainly flown by! Jace is a wonderful baby...for the most part! We are still working on switching his night and day schedules around, but for now, we are taking turns. Jeremy is up with Jace until about 2a.m. while he lets me get a few hours of solid sleep, then I take over and let him get a few hours of solid sleep. Jace is still sleeping in the Pack 'n' Play in the living room, we are slowly trying to get him into his crib, but for now this arrangement seems to be working best for us all.

Jace has hit a couple of milestones this month:

-Eating 3 ounces of formula about every 3 hours
-going through about 10-12 diapers a day
-sleeping about 2 to 3 hours at a time (until Jeremy's shift, when he is awake the whole time)!
-Starting to lift his head to my voice when on his tummy
-eyes WIDE open and looking around when awake

Thats about it for now, but I'm sure there will be more next month! I can't believe I am already halfway through my maternity leave...I REALLY don't want to go back! too bad I carry insurance for the family!

Also in the news this month, I have been to the Urologist, seems that I may actually have 2 kidney stones, but since they are not blocking anything, they are not overly concerned about them. I am scheduled for a CT scan in a couple of weeks to get a closer look at where the stones are sitting, and how big they are, then the Doctor will determine what is needed to make them go away...I will keep you all posted!

First time feeling Grass

Diaper Change time!

How Precious is this?

My Birth Story

I know I have been absent from blogger for well over a year now, but honestly, I haven't had a whole lot to talk about. Since I have been away, I have had the most amazing experience of my entire life, I gave birth to my first child...Jace Tyler, and he is the most perfect baby boy that a mommy could ever ask for!

On Wednesday, September 7, I woke up and went to work at 7:30am. around 9:30am I started feeling intense contractions. I knew I had my weekly appointment with my OB at 4:20 that afternoon (I was about 38 weeks pregnant). Since I knew I had the appointment, I thought I would try to eat a small snack and see if I could stick it out for the rest of the day. At about 11:00am, the time I was scheduled to go to lunch, I decided that I was not in any shape to be at work, and decided to go home sick. I called my OB and was able to get in earlier at abot 2:00pm instead. I had a feeling this would be the day, however, Jeremy was in Ohio on a business trip. I called him when I got home from work to alert him that I was not doing to well, and he decided to try to leave his meeting early to try for an earlier flight home.

At my OB appointment, I had my normal check and the doctor checked my cervix, he said I was 4cm dilated, and he decided to strip my membranes (still not entirely sure what that means)! As I was getting ready to walk out the door, he said "I would be surprised if you do not go into labor tonight." A little nervous, but incredibly excited, I drove myself home and made sure I had all of my things in order to go to the hospital.

About a half hour after I got home, I started getting intense contractions that were about 15 to 20 minutes apart. At this time, Jeremy had already gotten to the airport, but was unable to get on the earlier flight, which meant that by the time he landed in Chicago it would be well after 7pm and still had a 2 and a half hour drive from Chicago to home. I COULD NOT let myself progress any further!!! I called my best friend and alerted her that she was on call in case I needed a ride, but she was at work and had class that night, so I did not want to bother her unless I absolutely had to! I decided not to call anyone else in case the contractions subsided like they have before. I stayed home, I had a snack, and I layed down and waited....

By the time Jeremy landed in Chicago I was contracting about 8 to 10 minutes regularly. I could not sit still, but I did not want to walk around for fear of not having Jeremy there to take me to the hospital. Jeremy called me back once he got to the car (about 20 minutes later) and I was now contracting every 2 to 3 minutes with little relief in between, I HAD to go to the hospital NOW! Jeremy called his brother, who lives about 15 minutes away, and he was willing to drive me to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital, my Sister-in-law was already there in the lobby waiting to help me up to the labor and delivery floor. I was taken to triage where I was again checked (still at 4cm) and given some pain medication via IV to give a little relief. Jeremy arrived while I was still in triage, and was very thankful he did not miss the birth of our first little boy!

at about 9pm I was taken from triage to the labor and delivery room, where I was admitted and told that the baby would be born by 6am...note to doctors, do NOT give a woman a time when the baby should be born! I sat on the birthing ball, I sat on the bed,  constantly felt the need to get up and go to the bathroom, but still did not feel comfortable. about midnight, I still was only at 4cm, so the doctor decided to break my bag of water and start me on some pitocin to hopefully increase the contractions. At this time I also decided that I was ready for the epidural, which surprisingly was not as painful as I expected! After the epidural kicked in, I was actually able to get a good couple hours of sleep, which I apparently needed very much! 6am came and went, and still no baby to be had. I was checked again at about 8am, and I had progressed to 5cm, thats it! The doctors started discussing the option of a C-Section at this time, and I was extremely upset with even the mention of it. They let me labor a little longer, then decided that for my health, and the health of my baby, a C-Section was necessary. I signed the waiver with shaky hands, and listened as the Anesthesiologist discussed the procedure to me.

Then, as I was getting ready to be wheeled in to the operating room, I heard the words that no mother wants to hear when she is about to give birth "crash" and all the doctors had to leave to assist in an emergency (both mother and baby were just fine in the end). at about 11am, they checked me one last time, still at 5cm with no progression, so they wheeled me in to the OR to start the C-Section. I cried the whole way down the hall, I cried when Jeremy could not be by my side for the first few minutes while they prepped, I cried during the whole experience.

at 11:56am I heard the most glorious sound of my entire life, my baby's first little cry. They did not peek him over the curtain like you see on the baby shows on tv, but they did take Jeremy away to see him get measured, weighed, and cleaned off, and Jeremy was able to cut the cord at that time. It felt like at least an hour had passed, but it was probably only a couple of minutes, and Jeremy and baby Jace were sitting by my side! I cried again, he was so little (not really, he was 8 pounds 10 ounces) and perfect, and at that moment, I became a mother!

The doctors said that due to his size and the fact that he was slighly angled, he would not have come out naturally, The C-Section may possibly have saved both of our lives, and for that I am thankful. I did not feel like a failure, I knew that I did the best I could, and I am so very thankful and blessed to have such a healthy baby! We stayed in the hospital for 4 more days, and were released to go home, now we are getting to know this special gift of a baby, and learning about each other every day! I wouldn't trade my birth experience for anything, because in the end I came home with a happy, healthy baby boy!

Jace Tyler Clist 9/8/11 8lbs 10oz 20 inches long