Tuesday, March 9, 2010

6 Months Old, 8 Hours of Sleep, and a Boat Load of Breast Milk!

Today is the munchkin's 6 month birthday! I can't believe it! What a difference just a few weeks make when they are this age. She is becoming so much more interactive and so curious about the world around her. I am going to make a separate post all about her and what she has going on in her world at 6 months. I will work on that later on today.

Last night I gave the munchkin a bottle at 8:30 pm and then put her to bed. I couldn't believe it when I woke up and looked at the clock at 4:00 am and she was still sleeping! At first I thought Joe must have given her a bottle before he went to bed while I was asleep. I looked in the bathroom and saw all of the bottles still sitting there clean and ready to go, along with a full formula dispenser, so I knew he hadn't. I usually give her a 6 oz bottle before bed and then 4 oz bottles throughout the night, but I figured since she was still sleeping, I would give her another 6 oz bottle when she woke up. It's kinda crazy how somehow a mother's body just seems to know what is going to happen before it does, because since I had woken up right before her, around 4:20 she woke up and I already had everything ready to go.

She was on her belly and crying really hard by the time I got in there. I didn't know if rolling over had woken her up, or if rolling over had kept her asleep for so long and she was just finally waking up because she was starving. She scarfed down the entire 6 ounces and would have probably eaten more had it been in there. I laid her down in her crib and went back to bed. I woke up at 8:00 am and she was still sound asleep. So I got dressed and ready to go and about 8:20 I went in to to wake her up. She was sleeping soundly on her belly! So I guess she has discovered she likes sleeping on her belly and hopefully (I'm not counting on it) she will start sleeping longer stretches now. The last couple of weeks, she has been rolling over onto her belly and she would wake up screaming because she didn't want to be there and couldn't get back. We had to go in there and roll her back onto her back so she could go back to sleep. Joe and I were so excited this morning. I can't believe she slept that long... that is a record. The only time she came even close to that was 7 hours when she was about a month old, but she has never gotten even close since then. I gotta tell ya, I felt pretty good this morning!

Then to add to my good mood, I had an email this morning from the milk bank in Indiana. I wanted to share some of the emails back and forth between us from the last 2 days.

Hi Dane!

I shipped all of my milk out to you guys on Saturday, Feb 27th. It took me a while to ship it because I had to find a place that sold dry ice and figure out how to go buy it and ship it all in the same day. I just wanted to make sure you guys got it and make sure it got there okay. Is there any way I could find out what the final amount was and a receipt for that?

Thank you!
Laura

Laura,

Thank you so much! We did receive your shipment - all 875 ounces of it! It was in great condition... so great job!

I have attached a letterhead stating how much you donated. Let me know if this works.

Thanks!
Dane


Wow! I had no idea it was that much.... that is fantastic. I was hoping around 600.... but 875!!! Holy Cow! I am so glad that it arrived in great condition, that is so wonderful to hear. It makes me feel better about having to stop breastfeeding to know that it will help feed another baby.


The letter you sent should work just fine. Thank you for sending it.

Thanks for all your help!
Laura

Laura,

Yeah - you had a LOT of milk. Some of your milk has actually already been pasteurized and is being distributed to NICUs throughout the Midwest. You are most definitely helping many other babies with your gift.

If you need anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks
Dane


I broke down and cried after I found out that it all got there safely and there were 875 ounces! A sense of relief washed over me knowing it arrived there in good condition. I still can't say exactly why, but for some reason that milk just meant so very much to me. I really was very sad to have to stop breastfeeding the munchkin. But it does help to know that because of our efforts, another little life will be nourished. Donating my milk was a great way to help me to move forward and to somehow feel good about it all. I can't even imagine how much harder it would have been on me if I had no other option then to just throw it all away.


And just an FYI, I can't actually get a tax deduction for my donated breastmilk, but you can get some credit for all of your supplies (e.g. milk bags and pump) along with your time. I don't think I will actually bother with it, but I wanted the letter just incase.

"Today Was a Good Day" ~ Ice Cube

Monday, March 8, 2010

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

The photo shoot went great on Sunday. My sister Amy and her hubby came out with the munchkin's cousin and we took pics of all of us. I haven't gotten them all back yet, but I was given a few sneak peeks... here's one of my favorites so far!


I can't wait to post the rest... hopefully in the next couple of days I will have them.

Our weekend was alot of fun. Its so much better taking the munchkin places now that she is in a better mood and not crying and fussing all of the time. Life is so much easier on all of us now that she is feeling better. We went to Amy's house on Saturday and BBQ'd with them and a few of their neighbors. Sunday we had the photo shoot, then over to my parents house to have dinner and hang out with my sisters.

Sundays are always bitter sweet. Not only does it mean back to work the next day, but Joe goes to school Mon, Tues & Wed. I will hardly see him during that time and Thursday is usually pretty exciting when we get to hang out again. I am always looking for things to do away from the house with Ayla so we don't have to sit at home alone. Tonight I think I will go visit my mom and my sister Erin and her kids.

I don't think I have mentioned yet that my youngest sister, Erin, is going through a divorce. It's been a very big, ugly, stressful mess and now her and her two kids have moved in with my parents while she finishes school. Its been really hard on them to adjust to this. My mom is now watching her kids alot while Erin works and goes to school, so both the munchkin and Amy's baby misses out on alot of grandma time. Obviously that is a small price to pay for Erin to be able to go back to school and we all know this is for the best, but sometimes I wish my mom wasn't so busy all the time taking care of them. There are alot of times I could really use her help, but she is already booked with the other kiddos. Plus I feel bad for her, as she is exhausted most of the time trying to keep up with them. But I feel especially bad for Erin having to go through all of this and move back in with our parents with her two kids. I am so glad that she is going back to school (she is getting her masters so she can become a teacher), and once she is finished she will be able to move out on her own and support her little family herself. I really admire single parents, especially those that have their kids full time, I can't even imagine...

Well I better get back to work. Look at me, two posts within a week!

Friday, March 5, 2010

My 100th Post!!

Wow... the big 100th post!! I imagine this would have happened a long time ago, but then the munchkin arrived....

I have really been neglecting my blog. Things have been going so good lately that its hard to break away and blog. But today, the hubs picked up munchkin from the sitter and took her to a friends house. This was totally unexpected, so I have nothing planned. I thought... why not post a blog!

Last Saturday, I finally packed up all of my breastmilk and shipped it off to the milk bank. It took me a while because I had to find a place that sells dry ice first, and then once I bought it, I had to ship it all the same day. I finally tracked down a pharmacy close to my house and got it all taken care. I am also feeling so much better about not breastfeeding any more. She has been thriving and feeling so much better... it's hard to not feel really good about that and that has kinda cancelled out the sadness I felt from having to stop breastfeeding.

We are pretty much settled into our new place. Everything is unpacked and put away. I am so glad that we are renting, because I am already ready to find a new place! It's also lucky we only have a 6 month lease, because I might not even make it a year. I am going to try though. I might hate moving just enough to keep me here longer. Our new place is okay, but now that munchkin is going to a new sitter in a new area, there really isn't any reason for us to have to stay this far west from everything else, like our family and friends, my job and our new sitter. We really aren't that far, but I wouldn't mind living a little closer. I also have been feeling super claustrophobic in this place. It could just be the winter too, so that might get better as spring time moves in.



The munchkin is growing like a weed! She started sitting up on her own in the last week! I still have to be close by to catch her when she falls over, but she is started to go really long stretches before she does. It's amazing the difference just a couple of months makes. She is getting really good with her hands and is really into her toys now and ofcourse she has to stick everything in her mouth. She is so happy most of the time. She seems to smile with her whole face and I am just so happy and relieved that she finally gets to experience life with out all of the accompanying pain that she had for most of her first 4 months.

Here we are enjoying one of our Wednesdays together at my mom's house. I no longer work on Wednesdays and I am really loving being able to hang out with her all day.



She gets so excited about things now. And when she does she shakes her whole face back and forth like she's saying no really fast and opens her mouth really wide. Its hilarious. She loves yelling at her toys. I wish I knew what it is that she is trying so hard to get through to them! Joe and I dance around the room and sing with her all the time. She gets so excited and starts kicking her feet really fast. Any time she starts getting crabby, if we scoop her up and start dancing around the room she instantly starts laughing and smiling and kicking her feet around. Our sitter's little boy named her Happy Feet because she is constantly kicking her feet around when she is happy and excited... which is alot.

She has been hanging out with her cousin alot. The are getting closer and closer in size. Munchkin is still so much taller though. But they are really starting to look like they are related. We always lay them together on the floor. Sometimes they kick or hit each other accidentally... but this time they seemed to finally really notice each other and they both seemed really interested! It was too cute.




Sunday we are having her 6 month photo shoot. I can't believe she is going to be six months old on the 9th! Time really is going by fast.

Joe and I, as a couple, are doing really good considering. Its so hard with him working full time and going to school 3 nights in a row. I hardly seem him at all on those days. He also spends alot of the rest of his time doing his homework along with his paperwork for his job. So I sometimes feel like a single parent... and it can be overwhelming to rarely get a break. Someday, it will all be worth it though... we just have to keep telling ourselves that. We have found a groove that seems to be working for us, so far so good.

Well the family will be home soon and I am going to try to get a few things done before they do. I will try to check back in soon and I will definitely post her new pics after we get them taken on Sunday!