Arbor sleeping on Izzy's chest while we watched Dr. Who
Before we took our little show-and-tell vacation to let everyone see Miss Arbor, we finally started getting into a good night time routine. Some time after dinner, I would clean up a little bit, take a shower and then resume the full time duties of being the mom of a little baby. Usually at this point, Arbor is ready to eat, so I nurse her to sleep then enjoy a little time with my husband before going to bed myself.
With any luck, I’m dead to the world by 10:00 or 11:00 pm. Some time around 3:00 …
Given that Wyatt has been diagnosed with Down syndrome, it means there is a lot that is different about this pregnancy from my pregnancy with Ben. While I had complications with Ben — namely, preeclampsia — and had to be monitored constantly, for the most part it wasn’t too bad.
This time though? It’s like an overload of constantly having to be monitored and tested and examined. Currently, I’m having to see the doctor twice a week. I get NSTs, or Non-Stress Tests, at each visit, and then one ultrasound a week. If I have to see my maternal-fetal medicine specialist as well, then it’s three visits a week. And it …
Letting go of everything having to be perfect...including Elli's hair!
If you haven’t read my last post on “letting go” you can find it here. I knew this before, but this second pregnancy has really testified to the fact that, I am a control freak. I like things done my way and on my schedule. This goes for everything from how I like the bed made up to how dinner is prepared and served.
I have always struggled with this aspect of my personality, but having kids really ramped up the problem. I like for Elli to be dressed a certain way and to have particular …
Before you get too excited, I’m not ready for another baby… I’m ready for another road trip! All in all, that little vacation was wonderful. I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of driving that really went into it but it was completely worth it to me. Visiting my mom was nice and we’ve made arrangements for her to start visiting us about once a month so Arbor will know her abuela and her aunties.
We had a great time with my best friend from high school. His family is practically another family to me, so it was really wonderful to share my new addition with them and have them completely fall in love with her. Bobbi, my best friend’s …
Is it me or is losing baby weight after baby harder the second time around? I have been in the gym for over 4 months now and it has been challenging trying to lose this weight. I finally realized that the major change needs to come from my diet because I can only run and lift weights so much.
The moment I started to clean up my diet the pounds started moving. Nine months eating what I wanted caught up to me and now I needed to make a huge change that would shock my body back into shape. I cook a lot more at home now and …
Pride can be defined as “pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself.” I do not like to think of myself as a proud person, but in the past few weeks, I’ve realized that I might just be.
When we came home with Jackson, we had many offers for help. Some friends and family volunteered to take Elli for the morning so that we could just focus on Jackson and his needs. We had other people offer to fix us meals to help save us time. Grandparents volunteered to keep Elli overnight and church members offered to take her to church on the Sundays we …
Since my husband is on leave, and we have a follow up appointment coming up for Arbor at Duke, we decided to take our first road trip as a family. We got in touch with several of our friends and family members and I set to work on an itinerary. Since we had company coming in soon, and she had an appointment at Duke scheduled for Thursday, I would schedule a mini-vacation in the time space in the middle.
As I made contact with several people, I started planning out our trip geographically. We would start in Central Virginia and work our way east over a few days before heading south to Durham on Thursday …
Trying to catch some sleep...
Jackson was born on Wednesday morning at 10:47 am. By Wednesday afternoon we were in our recovery room and settled down. Staying in the hospital can be hectic with people in and out – nurses checking vital signs, visitors, and meal services. Still, it offers an opportunity for parents to be waited on and for moms to have time to heal. With Elli, we stayed in the hospital for 48 hours as our insurance allowed for a vaginal delivery and we planned to stay the same amount of time after having Jackson.
However, Thursday morning (not even 24 hours after Jackson was born) a …
I just arrived at my mom’s house in Virginia, the first of a multi-part road trip we are taking this week. Whoo-eee am I exhausted in more ways than one! This trip from our house in Jacksonville to my mom in Virginia usually takes about four hours and maybe one stop to use the restroom. This was our first big travel attempt with our baby and she decided it should take us two hours more than usual.
When Arbor was getting discharged from the hospital several weeks ago, we learned about car seat safety so we could bring her home. One thing that we were told was to make sure that a baby never stays …
Well Addison is a whole year old now! I have had the pleasure of sharing my pregnancy, birth and the first year of Addison’s life with you all and I want to thank everyone so much for following me. You have been there for me through thick and thin and have given me some wonderful advice and have shared your experiences to let me know that I wasn’t alone.
This year has gone by so incredibly fast and it has been a rare and amazing opportunity to document her infancy. Everyone can look back and find some great meal ideas, baby products that Addison has been my guinea pig for, wonderful …
