Let's face it: when you're a first time parent, you have no idea what baby items will be useful. You just know that there are too many options, and simply just too much STUFF and you are OVERWHELMED with it all.
I had a minimalist registry, and still carry in a minimalist attitude towards Henry's gear and clothing. We will NOT be that house full of baby gear, where you trip over baby toys and crap whenever you come over. No. Just no.
Thus, we arrive at my opinions on the best and worst baby items as experienced after one month of utilizing them on Henry. Worst items are getting tossed or donated, best items are getting used with baby #2! You know, when I decide I can endure pregnancy again...
PS - Henry is exactly one moth old today. Happy one month birthday, my little HenHouse!
The "It" List:
- Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo and Wash: Shocked a BB product made this list?! I know, I know. But seriously, this stuff makes your babe smell like honey! Mmmm. It's gentle enough to not cause issues if it gets in your baby's eyes, or if your kiddo is strange like mine and loves to drink bath water (yeah - what?! Henry turns his head in his baths and gulps it up. Obvi I try to stop him, but this kid is determined). It doesn't create some crazy lather, but most products that do that are full of icky chemicals.
- Avent Soothie Pacifiers: My child LOVES these! They also came as the only ones recommended by our lactation consultant as paci's that don't contribute to "nipple confusion." As a breast and breast milk bottle fed baby, this was important to Henry (yeah... or me). We wouldn't make it through our long nights, and I wouldn't make it through my long days without Kirk, sans our Soothies.
- 365 Everyday Value Diapers: (The link is for a size 4, but clearly I get the newborn size) Diapers are pretty unique to the baby they're on, but these work best for Henry and meet my standards of not containing chemicals, fragrances, perfumes, or "skin conditioners" and are as environmentally friendly as a disposable diaper can get. They fit him really well now that he's up to over eight pounds, and are the only diaper that hasn't allowed a "blowout" to date!
- Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets: These. Are. Awesome. If you're having a spring or summer baby, get many packs of these! If you live in the South like me, get many packs of these even if you're having a January baby. They're light, breathable, forgiving of baby-stains, and are flexible (in terms of messes they address - we've wiped up many a spit-up projection and they've caught several diaper blowouts, without fail).
The S&*! List:
- The Boppy Pillow: This pillow sucks. It just... It straight out sucks. It's too "fluffy" to use when breastfeeding - it will knock your baby's head back so that he can't swallow - and that's coming from a mama who is 5'10! Is there another use for this pillow? It's a strange shape. It looks "baby-ish" so it won't fit with my decor. Fail. This pillow will be donated shortly. Meh, now I know, and now you know too!
- Medela Newborn Nipples (and bottles): While I love my Medela breast pump and storage system with the lids that inscribe the date of which you pumped (GENIUS!), I do NOT love their nipples that turn your storage bottle into nursing bottles. Some work great; others don't let air through so that they collapse on themselves. Others allow too much air/milk through and you'll spend the whole feeding cleaning milk of your baby's face, neck, and outfit. Skip the inconsistent nipples, even if it does seem too handy to pass up!
- Burt's Bees Baby Bee Wipes: Hey-oooo, a Burt's Bees fail! Well, not to me. My husband hated these though. While they're nice and thick and smell great, they are indeed hard to pull out of the package, and you usually get more than one or part of one that ripped off from the last change and one or two more. And when it's 2am and you're trying to do a change, or you're trying to get a change in before a pre-feeding meltdown, struggling to get the dang wipe out of the container will all but make you chuck the container across the room.
- Bamboobies Brahh: Much like the Burt's Bees wipes, I don't want to list this as a fail, per se... But, I own a black bamboo "brahhh" and it's true, I do wear it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. But it's getting horribly stretched out. I ordered per their size recommendations, and it's too large for my rib cage (which is why it became a sleep bra) and now the straps hang off my shoulders. So while it's the most comfortable nursing bra I have, it's not supportive enough for daytime wear, and you need to order a size smaller than you think. And it will likely still become too stretched out. And at $32, it seems like a rip-off that this thing doesn't fit after only a month!
Of course, all these are very dependent on your particular baby, but it's a good start to what I've found to be successes and failures in the over-crowded baby-product-market. If you've recently ventured into new mommy-dom or are about to, best of luck in the first few weeks figuring out what works for you and your family!
Monday, June 16, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
High Five for Friday!
Whew, it was a better week than last!
Kirk was yet again out of town all week, but my mom and I managed Henry's night-time fussiness much better than we did last week. Or at least, I thought so. There were also a few more highlights during the week to choose from for this post, so even if I didn't sleep as much as I think I did, bottom line is it appears to be a better week :)
Let's review the top five moments, shall we?
1) This kid LOVES bath time. I mean, looooooooooves it. He loves being in the water, he loves getting his hair washed (ahem! Peach fuzz, not hair. We're still in the peach fuzz stage, my poor blond boy... I was bald until nearly two years old with a blonde peach fuzz. Sorry Henry!), he loves snuggling up in the towel afterwards, he loves getting rubbed down with lotion, and all this love on his part makes me love giving him a bath, too!
2)We "celebrated" what was supposed to be Henry's birthday on June 9. Instead, he's nearly a month old! We're so blessed he came out incredibly healthy and ready to live life to the fullest. Oh, and I'm also counting my lucky stars that his determination to come early meant that I was saved from the final, dreadful, huge weeks of pregnancy! That was so thoughtful of you, Henry.
3) I went on my first run in nearly four months! Whoohoo! It was hot and extremely slow, but I managed to get nearly three and a half miles in, and look forward to increasing both my distance and speed in the next few weeks. Sadly, yoga will have to wait two more weeks... But I'll be ready for my mat when I get the "all clear" from my doctor!
4) Last October, I received multiple J Crew gift cards for my birthday... Which was great, because it's my favorite store of all time, but I had just found out I was pregnant on Oct. 2! So, all shopping plans went on hold. Now that I can squeeze (and yes, I mean SQUEEZE) back into prepregnancy clothes, I'm thinking a little shopping trip is in order today. If I'm brave, I'll head to the actual store. If I wuss out, it will be an online shopping experience. Either way, I won't have to page through all the ugly maternity clothes manufacturers seem to think women want to wear!
5) My friend Jen, who became a first time mommy about two weeks after I did, and I were feeling pretty squirrely being new stay at home mamas. Thanks to her hubby Tim and my mama Donne, we were able to escape for a New Mommy Date Night together! We went to A Fault in Their Stars so that we could cry out our hormones in the dark together and enjoy a bottle of wine with no baby interruptions.
Kirk was yet again out of town all week, but my mom and I managed Henry's night-time fussiness much better than we did last week. Or at least, I thought so. There were also a few more highlights during the week to choose from for this post, so even if I didn't sleep as much as I think I did, bottom line is it appears to be a better week :)
Let's review the top five moments, shall we?
1) This kid LOVES bath time. I mean, looooooooooves it. He loves being in the water, he loves getting his hair washed (ahem! Peach fuzz, not hair. We're still in the peach fuzz stage, my poor blond boy... I was bald until nearly two years old with a blonde peach fuzz. Sorry Henry!), he loves snuggling up in the towel afterwards, he loves getting rubbed down with lotion, and all this love on his part makes me love giving him a bath, too!
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| Look at those long legs and that big belly! (Also, I LOVE this baby tub! It has a drain and a water pump so you can wash baby anywhere, and the infant insert is fantastic and makes my job so much easier! |
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| THIS after bath face! |
2)We "celebrated" what was supposed to be Henry's birthday on June 9. Instead, he's nearly a month old! We're so blessed he came out incredibly healthy and ready to live life to the fullest. Oh, and I'm also counting my lucky stars that his determination to come early meant that I was saved from the final, dreadful, huge weeks of pregnancy! That was so thoughtful of you, Henry.
3) I went on my first run in nearly four months! Whoohoo! It was hot and extremely slow, but I managed to get nearly three and a half miles in, and look forward to increasing both my distance and speed in the next few weeks. Sadly, yoga will have to wait two more weeks... But I'll be ready for my mat when I get the "all clear" from my doctor!
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| Three and a half weeks after delivering Henry... Not too shabby! Still have quite a bit of work to do, but I feel pretty good about where I'm at. Prenatal exercise ladies. Just do it. Go hard, too... You'll thank yourself for it later! |
4) Last October, I received multiple J Crew gift cards for my birthday... Which was great, because it's my favorite store of all time, but I had just found out I was pregnant on Oct. 2! So, all shopping plans went on hold. Now that I can squeeze (and yes, I mean SQUEEZE) back into prepregnancy clothes, I'm thinking a little shopping trip is in order today. If I'm brave, I'll head to the actual store. If I wuss out, it will be an online shopping experience. Either way, I won't have to page through all the ugly maternity clothes manufacturers seem to think women want to wear!
5) My friend Jen, who became a first time mommy about two weeks after I did, and I were feeling pretty squirrely being new stay at home mamas. Thanks to her hubby Tim and my mama Donne, we were able to escape for a New Mommy Date Night together! We went to A Fault in Their Stars so that we could cry out our hormones in the dark together and enjoy a bottle of wine with no baby interruptions.
I hope everyone has a simply lovely weekend and you're able to celebrate all the fathers and daddies in your lives!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
On Why Breast Feeding is "Hard"
All of my fellow mamas out there have read about it. Most women have heard it. Daddies likely have read about it or heard it from their wives. And I'm about to tell you (again); yes, breast feeding is "hard."
What does "hard" mean though? It's not like you have to think about making milk. You have to feed your baby somehow, so what's the deal with boobies being so challenging? Oh my friends... It is hard in ways I had never imagined before!
Here's the deal: your entire life becomes structured around your boobs and feeding your baby. The. Whole. Thing. Every. Last. Part of it.
Let's say you have someone to watch your newborn and you can escape to a salon to get your hair/nails/etc. done. Great - what a necessary relief! Except, you need to plan. Will you be back in time before the next feeding? Did you pump enough if you won't be back? Have you eaten enough today to produce enough milk? Water - pack water! Dehydration affects supply! Think you're just going to escape out the door quick and grab that last minute appointment? Think again, mama. You need to PLAN. And you need to act on the plan, which is the time consuming part.
Or what about this scenario: Whoohoo, mama isn't pregnant anymore, now get her a cocktail! Actually, get two. Three? Whatever she wants, right? Wrong! Unless you planned and pumped ahead, you're stuck in the one glass of wine zone, and with one glass of wine comes about three extra massive glasses of water to make up for it. If I decide I want to have some wine after a long day, I needed to start to plan that around noon so that I can pump and save some milk for later- there is no impromptu happy hour for mama. And then I need to make sure I can stay awake and drink enough water to make up for the dehydration of the wine PLUS what I should have been drinking anyway. And then, besides being up every few hours (likely with a headache) to feed Henry, I need to get up and pee with all that water consumption. And if I don't wake up to pee, I wake up THINKING about how I should be peeing, and therefore am dehydrated, and therefore need to get up anyway (likely with a headache) to get more water.
If you hadn't noticed, breast feeding mamas become camels. There just IS NOT ENOUGH WATER! It's not even that you're thirsty; but if you don't pound the glasses of H2O, there won't be fluids for your baby, so get to drinkin'! Put water all over the house, put it in your car, leave bottles everywhere, because you cannot run out of water as a breast feeding woman.
This still doesn't sound all that hard, right? I think it boils down to one thing: There are NO breaks for a new, breast feeding mother. No night's off, no impromptu fun, not even any sleeping in (if you're lucky enough to get someone to cover baby duty for you for a few hours) because you'll need to pump and/or feed. For first time mamas, the change from "your life revolves around you" to "your life revolves around your baby" is shocking. And exhausting. And there is no break, no night off, no one else to fill in for you for even one minute.
The benefits of breast feeding are ENORMOUS. There simply is no comparison to formula: breast feeding wins every angle of every argument. Even formula derived from cow's milk is so far from the quality and nutritional value/makeup of breast milk, they're on two different planets. I'm committed to feeding Henry 100% off the boobie until he's six months or so because of the obvious benefits. But dang, y'all. I didn't know it would be so exhausting, so annoying, and so emotionally hard! Not to mention how sore my poor abused nipples are!
More so than diapers, lack of sleep, or crying (to be fair, Henry rarely cries!) breast feeding has been the most challenging part of being a new mom. Since I'm the food source, if Henry is hungry, I don't get to brush my teeth in the morning. Most days I don't eat until noon or 1pm. I have to make trips to the kitchen in the middle of the night just to drink water when I'd much rather be sleeping. Hell, sometimes I have to wait an hour to "go number 2" just because I'm busy feeding/pumping, and my needs will always come second to breast feeding.
But I'm ok with that! Because I know I'm giving Henry the best possible nutrition (and you know I'm a nutrition nut) and I mean - look at this guy! He's worth every second of how "hard" breast feeding is.
What does "hard" mean though? It's not like you have to think about making milk. You have to feed your baby somehow, so what's the deal with boobies being so challenging? Oh my friends... It is hard in ways I had never imagined before!
Here's the deal: your entire life becomes structured around your boobs and feeding your baby. The. Whole. Thing. Every. Last. Part of it.
Let's say you have someone to watch your newborn and you can escape to a salon to get your hair/nails/etc. done. Great - what a necessary relief! Except, you need to plan. Will you be back in time before the next feeding? Did you pump enough if you won't be back? Have you eaten enough today to produce enough milk? Water - pack water! Dehydration affects supply! Think you're just going to escape out the door quick and grab that last minute appointment? Think again, mama. You need to PLAN. And you need to act on the plan, which is the time consuming part.
Or what about this scenario: Whoohoo, mama isn't pregnant anymore, now get her a cocktail! Actually, get two. Three? Whatever she wants, right? Wrong! Unless you planned and pumped ahead, you're stuck in the one glass of wine zone, and with one glass of wine comes about three extra massive glasses of water to make up for it. If I decide I want to have some wine after a long day, I needed to start to plan that around noon so that I can pump and save some milk for later- there is no impromptu happy hour for mama. And then I need to make sure I can stay awake and drink enough water to make up for the dehydration of the wine PLUS what I should have been drinking anyway. And then, besides being up every few hours (likely with a headache) to feed Henry, I need to get up and pee with all that water consumption. And if I don't wake up to pee, I wake up THINKING about how I should be peeing, and therefore am dehydrated, and therefore need to get up anyway (likely with a headache) to get more water.
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| Breast pump accessories take over your available counter space... |
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| And after they've robbed your available counter space, the breast milk storage and pump accessories will take over cabinet space too. |
If you hadn't noticed, breast feeding mamas become camels. There just IS NOT ENOUGH WATER! It's not even that you're thirsty; but if you don't pound the glasses of H2O, there won't be fluids for your baby, so get to drinkin'! Put water all over the house, put it in your car, leave bottles everywhere, because you cannot run out of water as a breast feeding woman.
This still doesn't sound all that hard, right? I think it boils down to one thing: There are NO breaks for a new, breast feeding mother. No night's off, no impromptu fun, not even any sleeping in (if you're lucky enough to get someone to cover baby duty for you for a few hours) because you'll need to pump and/or feed. For first time mamas, the change from "your life revolves around you" to "your life revolves around your baby" is shocking. And exhausting. And there is no break, no night off, no one else to fill in for you for even one minute.
The benefits of breast feeding are ENORMOUS. There simply is no comparison to formula: breast feeding wins every angle of every argument. Even formula derived from cow's milk is so far from the quality and nutritional value/makeup of breast milk, they're on two different planets. I'm committed to feeding Henry 100% off the boobie until he's six months or so because of the obvious benefits. But dang, y'all. I didn't know it would be so exhausting, so annoying, and so emotionally hard! Not to mention how sore my poor abused nipples are!
More so than diapers, lack of sleep, or crying (to be fair, Henry rarely cries!) breast feeding has been the most challenging part of being a new mom. Since I'm the food source, if Henry is hungry, I don't get to brush my teeth in the morning. Most days I don't eat until noon or 1pm. I have to make trips to the kitchen in the middle of the night just to drink water when I'd much rather be sleeping. Hell, sometimes I have to wait an hour to "go number 2" just because I'm busy feeding/pumping, and my needs will always come second to breast feeding.
But I'm ok with that! Because I know I'm giving Henry the best possible nutrition (and you know I'm a nutrition nut) and I mean - look at this guy! He's worth every second of how "hard" breast feeding is.
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| Makeup-free, late night snuggles with my Henry |
Monday, June 9, 2014
Mommy Monday: Weekend From Hell
Warning: this post is going to be pretty lame.
Remember how on Friday I said that our air conditioning wasn't working properly? We had repair men come out twice last week, but our landlord is really good at calling people to come out and assess the problem, then never fixing it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't get fixed by Friday end of business day.
Also unsurprisingly, it's mid-90's to triple digit heat here in Dallas in June, and quickly shot up into the 80's in the house. Combine the heat with a SCREAMING baby (pumpkin was so uncomfortable!), some postpartum baby blues and me coming to the end of my rope with a landlord who charges luxury-level rent without really fixing any issue (and we've had MANY in this house - not cosmetic, I'm talking plumbing/sewage/heat/air - you know, basic utility issues) and I LOST. MY. S*@T.
Therefore, I don't have any good content for this Monday morning. I'm slowing collecting all the marbles I lost everywhere this weekend. Whew, trying to get it together, right? I'm sure at least a few of you out there can feel me!
However, a great post is coming! We did finally get our crib, mattress and changing table delivered. In between mental breakdowns and drips of sweat this weekend, we slowly started to put things together. Expect a full out tour of what we have going on later this week, but here's a quick pic of the progress so far:
The lighting when I took this wasn't ideal, and we don't have everything in place yet or hung on the walls, but hopefully this will pacify you as good as or better than a Soothie pacifies my son in this miserably hot house!
And to end this post on a positive, because truly - my family all has our health and we did get a window AC unit to put a band aid on our first-world problems - look at how pretty our front porch is! Honeydew, magnolia and all kinds of other flowers have bloomed all over our neighborhood, making my morning walks delightful (on soooooo many levels).
Remember how on Friday I said that our air conditioning wasn't working properly? We had repair men come out twice last week, but our landlord is really good at calling people to come out and assess the problem, then never fixing it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't get fixed by Friday end of business day.
Also unsurprisingly, it's mid-90's to triple digit heat here in Dallas in June, and quickly shot up into the 80's in the house. Combine the heat with a SCREAMING baby (pumpkin was so uncomfortable!), some postpartum baby blues and me coming to the end of my rope with a landlord who charges luxury-level rent without really fixing any issue (and we've had MANY in this house - not cosmetic, I'm talking plumbing/sewage/heat/air - you know, basic utility issues) and I LOST. MY. S*@T.
Therefore, I don't have any good content for this Monday morning. I'm slowing collecting all the marbles I lost everywhere this weekend. Whew, trying to get it together, right? I'm sure at least a few of you out there can feel me!
However, a great post is coming! We did finally get our crib, mattress and changing table delivered. In between mental breakdowns and drips of sweat this weekend, we slowly started to put things together. Expect a full out tour of what we have going on later this week, but here's a quick pic of the progress so far:
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| Pewter wrought iron crib: Bratt Decor; crib bedding: Pottery Barn Kids; musical safari mobile: Babies R Us |
The lighting when I took this wasn't ideal, and we don't have everything in place yet or hung on the walls, but hopefully this will pacify you as good as or better than a Soothie pacifies my son in this miserably hot house!
And to end this post on a positive, because truly - my family all has our health and we did get a window AC unit to put a band aid on our first-world problems - look at how pretty our front porch is! Honeydew, magnolia and all kinds of other flowers have bloomed all over our neighborhood, making my morning walks delightful (on soooooo many levels).
Friday, June 6, 2014
High Five for {Hastag} Friday!
Normally, I'm all "Oh man, it's already Friday! Look at that!" but I'll be real honest with you... This week DRAGGED. Kirk was out of town for work all week, so that meant that my mom and I were on 24 hour baby duty. I haven't slept for more than 90 minutes at a time while my husband got to sleep undisturbed, in a four star hotel, likely enjoying a night cap... #mynightcapisadirtydiaper
Also, our AC isn't working properly, and we're in triple digit heat down here. It's been a week-long battle with the landlord, my hormones, a newborn who is too hot to be swaddled, and AC repair men. The only thing I can say is, the next idiot who claims our AC unit is fine and just needs to be "hosed down a little outside" is getting ROUNDHOUSE KICKED TO THE FACE... Just kidding. #notreallykiddingatall #watchyourface #ihavelonglegs
Ahem! Excuse my rants. There were some pretty awesome things that happened this week, so despite my lack of sleep and nonstop over-heated-ness, let's call them out!
1) I got a new car! I had stated that I was happy to keep my little Audi A4 until we decide to have baby #2... However, in TX we have to get a smog test every year, and wouldn't you know, the dang thing failed it! So we took it in to address the issue (you can't renew your tabs with a failed smog test), and wouldn't you know, it was $1000 to fix it! And when Kirk told me what the issue was, wouldn't you know, I had that EXACT same repair done the summer of 2011! Given the car was too small anyway, and now having performance issues, we decided to trade it in and get me upgraded to Official Mom Car Status with an SUV. Boom.
2) I changed my hair color! Check out this post all about it and to see pics. #redhairdontcare
3) Henry is starting to outgrow his newborn clothes! Ahhhhh! These were the pants that we took him home from the hospital in, which he was swimming in at the time. Now, they fit perfectly, and in another week they won't fit at all. If he keeps his current growth pace up, he'll be 6'3 by his first birthday. You're welcome for that height, son! #hegetitfromhismama
4) The mani/pedi that I got last Friday (OPI Cajun Shrimp - a long standing favorite) is still on my fingers and toes, un-chipped! And it's regular polish, not a gel. Whoohoo! #babyproofmani
5) I'll find out on Monday how quickly I can return to yoga. I'm hoping it'll be a week or two... But we'll see what the doctor says. I'm ready to get this running party re-started, too! I secretly think Henry is pumped to head out to White Rock Lake in his BOB running stroller, as he loves being pushed around the neighborhood at a slower pace. Just waiting for my "all clear" and I am SO OUTTA HERE! (I know doctors typically say at least 6 weeks, but my more holistic and patient-focused doctors/midwives base their answer off the individual patient and her abilities/recovery, not a standard answer.) #readytoTURNUPwithmyrunningstroller
I hope you all have a wonderful, cool, sleep-filled weekend! And while you're at it, have one for me. And while you're busy with that, check out these lovely ladies blogs, too!
Also, our AC isn't working properly, and we're in triple digit heat down here. It's been a week-long battle with the landlord, my hormones, a newborn who is too hot to be swaddled, and AC repair men. The only thing I can say is, the next idiot who claims our AC unit is fine and just needs to be "hosed down a little outside" is getting ROUNDHOUSE KICKED TO THE FACE... Just kidding. #notreallykiddingatall #watchyourface #ihavelonglegs
Ahem! Excuse my rants. There were some pretty awesome things that happened this week, so despite my lack of sleep and nonstop over-heated-ness, let's call them out!
1) I got a new car! I had stated that I was happy to keep my little Audi A4 until we decide to have baby #2... However, in TX we have to get a smog test every year, and wouldn't you know, the dang thing failed it! So we took it in to address the issue (you can't renew your tabs with a failed smog test), and wouldn't you know, it was $1000 to fix it! And when Kirk told me what the issue was, wouldn't you know, I had that EXACT same repair done the summer of 2011! Given the car was too small anyway, and now having performance issues, we decided to trade it in and get me upgraded to Official Mom Car Status with an SUV. Boom.
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| I bought this car for myself after I finished my Master's degree at 25 years old... Little White Car, it was a fun five years and I appreciated the fact that no amount of snow would stop you and you had six levels of heated seats for my tenure in Minnesota! See ya on the other side, homie. |
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| The new ride: 2015 Volvo XC60! I was SOLD on the automatic hatch that opens with a remote or with a touch. That is a GAME CHANGER with a baby... and, even without one! Yes, I only drive white cars. You'll regret your life if you get anything else this far South. #yourcarisanoven |
2) I changed my hair color! Check out this post all about it and to see pics. #redhairdontcare
3) Henry is starting to outgrow his newborn clothes! Ahhhhh! These were the pants that we took him home from the hospital in, which he was swimming in at the time. Now, they fit perfectly, and in another week they won't fit at all. If he keeps his current growth pace up, he'll be 6'3 by his first birthday. You're welcome for that height, son! #hegetitfromhismama
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| He's getting tall, fast! Growing a whopping inch per week. |
4) The mani/pedi that I got last Friday (OPI Cajun Shrimp - a long standing favorite) is still on my fingers and toes, un-chipped! And it's regular polish, not a gel. Whoohoo! #babyproofmani
5) I'll find out on Monday how quickly I can return to yoga. I'm hoping it'll be a week or two... But we'll see what the doctor says. I'm ready to get this running party re-started, too! I secretly think Henry is pumped to head out to White Rock Lake in his BOB running stroller, as he loves being pushed around the neighborhood at a slower pace. Just waiting for my "all clear" and I am SO OUTTA HERE! (I know doctors typically say at least 6 weeks, but my more holistic and patient-focused doctors/midwives base their answer off the individual patient and her abilities/recovery, not a standard answer.) #readytoTURNUPwithmyrunningstroller
I hope you all have a wonderful, cool, sleep-filled weekend! And while you're at it, have one for me. And while you're busy with that, check out these lovely ladies blogs, too!
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Everything Changes: Cosmetic Edition
Somewhere around 18 weeks pregnant, I noticed that my roots were growing in dramatically darker than what my natural color used to be. Pre-baby, my hair was a dirty-ash-blonde that was easily highlighted to a bright blonde and required only four or five trips per year to the salon for touch-ups. But shortly before the halfway point in my pregnancy, I noticed that there was a major contrast between the colored shaft of my hair and the root. Boo!
I blamed my new stylist down here in Dallas for a while. See, I had been going to the same stylist in Minneapolis for 13 years. (Darrin at Darrin James Salon if you're in the Minneapolis area.) Since moving to Dallas, I've been trying to find someone who did half as good a job as he did. I had done the trendy ombre highlights thing this past fall, too. I figured either my stylist or changing up the highlighting process was to blame for these wacky roots...
Nope! My hair is just much darker post-baby. It's also stick-straight. So much so, that I don't want to deal with heading to the salon every two months to maintain the blonde color, because finding a sitter for Henry will be tough... And frankly, that's more high-maintenance than I ever want to be.
For the past few months I had been having "red hair envy" so I figured - what a great time to give a new color a try! I have an olive complexion, so I can't go too bright or too orange. I'm not into colored hair that veers too far from natural hair colors, so I can't go too red. This is what I'm thinking:
Amy Adams' red isn't too red or orange, and isn't overly bright. This could be a good look on me. Her skin has some color to it in this photo, which makes me hopeful that the color will work for someone like me who tans instead of burns.
I'm not sure who this person is (found the pic on Pinterest), but her hair color is super adorable! This could be an easier transition away from blonde, since it's a few shades lighter than Amy's color. It could also look terrible on me, since I'm no where near as fair as this woman in the photo.
Have any of you made a dramatic hair color change? The last time I did it I was in grad school, and went from my normal blonde to dark brown. I look back at pics from that time in my life and shudder at how terrible I looked! So hopefully, this looks better than that, because that was rough. Rrrough.
As it would turn out, I wrote the first part of this post a week ago. Therefore, I already have my end results! I showed my stylist at Dear Clark Salon the pics I found, and she thought it was a great idea and a good change. So she mixed up the coloring that she thought would work best with my complexion.
I got a little nervous while the color was processing because it was looking DARK... And I was getting flashbacks from my awful brunette grad school days. But, she was indeed a pro, and the color turned out really well! Here's what it looks like dry:
Ta-da! It's a fun change. Plus, it's still light enough to go back to blonde, if that's the route I want to go. Brunette isn't NOT my color, but maybe I can pull off a nice red!
In other news, I've found a fellow blogger who hosts a Wednesday link up about sharing girly ideas! I figured a new 'do post qualified as girly :) Check her out!
I blamed my new stylist down here in Dallas for a while. See, I had been going to the same stylist in Minneapolis for 13 years. (Darrin at Darrin James Salon if you're in the Minneapolis area.) Since moving to Dallas, I've been trying to find someone who did half as good a job as he did. I had done the trendy ombre highlights thing this past fall, too. I figured either my stylist or changing up the highlighting process was to blame for these wacky roots...
Nope! My hair is just much darker post-baby. It's also stick-straight. So much so, that I don't want to deal with heading to the salon every two months to maintain the blonde color, because finding a sitter for Henry will be tough... And frankly, that's more high-maintenance than I ever want to be.
For the past few months I had been having "red hair envy" so I figured - what a great time to give a new color a try! I have an olive complexion, so I can't go too bright or too orange. I'm not into colored hair that veers too far from natural hair colors, so I can't go too red. This is what I'm thinking:
Amy Adams' red isn't too red or orange, and isn't overly bright. This could be a good look on me. Her skin has some color to it in this photo, which makes me hopeful that the color will work for someone like me who tans instead of burns.
I'm not sure who this person is (found the pic on Pinterest), but her hair color is super adorable! This could be an easier transition away from blonde, since it's a few shades lighter than Amy's color. It could also look terrible on me, since I'm no where near as fair as this woman in the photo.
Have any of you made a dramatic hair color change? The last time I did it I was in grad school, and went from my normal blonde to dark brown. I look back at pics from that time in my life and shudder at how terrible I looked! So hopefully, this looks better than that, because that was rough. Rrrough.
As it would turn out, I wrote the first part of this post a week ago. Therefore, I already have my end results! I showed my stylist at Dear Clark Salon the pics I found, and she thought it was a great idea and a good change. So she mixed up the coloring that she thought would work best with my complexion.
 |
| If you follow me on Instagram, then you saw this shot yesterday! |
Ta-da! It's a fun change. Plus, it's still light enough to go back to blonde, if that's the route I want to go. Brunette isn't NOT my color, but maybe I can pull off a nice red!
In other news, I've found a fellow blogger who hosts a Wednesday link up about sharing girly ideas! I figured a new 'do post qualified as girly :) Check her out!
Monday, June 2, 2014
Mommy Monday: Henry's Birth Story
I started having some pretty regular contractions at 35 weeks. When we attempted our (failed) ECV to flip our breech baby, our doctor told us that while she couldn't schedule us for a c-section until 39 weeks (hospital rule to prevent "designer" birthdays and keep babies where they should be for as long as possible), she knew we would be going into labor well before then.
At just over 36 weeks and on Kirk's birthday, we had our final prenatal appointment with our midwife before we transitioned to the care of a M.D. due to our breech position. She checked me over and said, "I give you one week! You're going into full out labor... SOON!" Then she faxed all our medical records over to our new doctor.
The very next day, I went into labor.
I knew I was having contractions, but I thought, "Ah, hell. It's probably not the real thing." So I went to barre class. Later that night, I got up from the couch and noticed I left a wet spot where I was sitting (sorry if that's TMI - turns out, birthing a baby is one big TMI story). I thought, "Dang, pregnancy just keeps getting more disgusting! What the %&*! is that?! Man, I hope Kirk didn't notice..."
Friday morning (the day Henry was born), I still had contractions and still didn't think it was the real deal. Yes, they were painful, but I have a high pain tolerance and they didn't stop me from doing what I wanted/needed to get done. So I had a normal blogging morning, then headed out to White Rock Lake to get a walk in. There was a few times I had to slow wayyyyyyyyyy down for a contraction to pass. After my three to four mile power walk, I continued to go about my day, just breathing through contractions as they came. In fact, I even headed to the mall to get some more Clinique products I was running low on!
Now, after my trip to the mall, I was very low on gas. I also had to pee really bad, so I decided to skip the gas station and just head home. It was about 4pm. I was wearing bright white shorts. When I went, I noticed there was (yet again!) a wet stain on my shorts, that had leaked all the way through to the outside (of COURSE I wore white out in public, right?!). "Hmmmm... Yeah, I know I didn't pee on myself, and sweat wouldn't look like that in my shorts. I'm calling my mom!" Ok, so I have an advanced degree. I'm nearly 30 years old. But when sh*! gets real, the first person I think to call is my mom. Do we ever outgrow needing our mamas?! I don't think so.
"Hey mom - do you think my water broke and I just didn't notice a pop and there just wasn't a gross gush?" I asked. "Paige, CALL YOUR DOCTOR!" So I did. And she said that I needed to come in right away, and to bring our hospital bags. Then I was left with the task of calling my husband and figuring out what the heck city he was in! "Hey, babe, where are you and when will you be home?!" I asked. "I'm just about 20 minutes away. You want me to pick up something for dinner or something?" he replied. "Nope, turns out, my water broke! We need to go to the hospital as soon as you get home!" "WHAT?! Ok. Bye!"
My husband has never exited a phone call faster. See, he was making a two hour drive home from client meetings and on a conference call. It just so happened he decided to answer my call in the middle of his professional conference call. He had to get back and excuse himself from his clients!
So we go in. They check us into triage and I see a resident to run a few tests on me to ensure that, indeed, my water had broken. While we were waiting for my doctor to arrive and review the results, my belly was hooked up to a monitor to check on Henry's heart and monitor my contractions. Once our doctor arrived, she learned that they couldn't find my tests... She was clearly annoyed with the residents when she glanced over at the monitor readout. "Paige, are you really having contractions every two-three minutes?!" she asked. "Um... Yeah." "Don't they bother you?! Aren't you in pain by now?!" she asked. I replied, "Well, I'm super uncomfortable, but what good is complaining going to do about it?!"
And with that, the doctor didn't even need to see the results of the amniotic fluid test. She said that if my water hadn't broken yet, that I would be back to the hospital within four to six hours anyway, so they were going to admit us, and we would have our baby that night! I was 36 weeks and four days.
It was surreal getting checked in, getting an IV placed and running, and waiting for an operating room to open up (the hospital we were at had 36 beds for the birth wing... and they birthed 57 babies the night Henry was born!). We had to wait about four hours for the O.R. and in the interim, the contractions got STRONG. Kirk rubbed my back, as I got more and more agitated about our long wait.
When everyone and everything was ready, I got escorted to the O.R. They began an epidural and a spinal block on me - which is what I was TERRIFIED for! But truthfully, it wasn't that bad. The first shot (of whatever the heck it was) was the worst. Then, everything started to feel numb. I even said to Kirk, "Oh thank God! The contractions are now gone!"
The doctors took over from there! I was so surprised to see my husband pull back the curtain and snap all kinds of shots of what they were doing to me. How do you watch doctors cut open your wife's belly?! I don't know, but he did... Then again, he did do three years of college as a pre-med student, before coming to his senses and switching to business school. Anyhow, I went in to the O.R at 10pm; Henry was born at 10:15pm; and we were in the recovery room holding our new baby boy by about 11pm!
The first night was ROUGH. I'm talking shaking, sweating, vomiting rough (nurse Andrea at Baylor Dallas - you're an angel of a nurse for taking such good care of me!). On top of that, we opted to keep Henry with us in our room throughout our stay, because I did NOT want the nurses feeding him formula garbage. So, in addition to being quite ill, I had to nurse and take care of a baby! Kirk did all the lifting and changing since I still couldn't feel my legs. Things got much easier by mid-day the second day, and by the second night, we were in good shape!
I absolutely could not have done this without Kirk. He did pretty much everything for me for our hospital stay, from feeding me ice chips to changing Henry to running home to let our dogs out. He watched his wife get cut open, got puked on by her and peed on by his son all within 24 hours, didn't get served food by the hospital and froze to death on a couch every night since I demanded the room be kept to about 62 degrees. I may have had to suffer through a pregnancy and a surgery, but he had to tough out some bad conditions himself! Let's hear it for the good husbands, right ladies?!
That was how little Henry entered our world! We've been in love ever since.
At just over 36 weeks and on Kirk's birthday, we had our final prenatal appointment with our midwife before we transitioned to the care of a M.D. due to our breech position. She checked me over and said, "I give you one week! You're going into full out labor... SOON!" Then she faxed all our medical records over to our new doctor.
The very next day, I went into labor.
I knew I was having contractions, but I thought, "Ah, hell. It's probably not the real thing." So I went to barre class. Later that night, I got up from the couch and noticed I left a wet spot where I was sitting (sorry if that's TMI - turns out, birthing a baby is one big TMI story). I thought, "Dang, pregnancy just keeps getting more disgusting! What the %&*! is that?! Man, I hope Kirk didn't notice..."
Friday morning (the day Henry was born), I still had contractions and still didn't think it was the real deal. Yes, they were painful, but I have a high pain tolerance and they didn't stop me from doing what I wanted/needed to get done. So I had a normal blogging morning, then headed out to White Rock Lake to get a walk in. There was a few times I had to slow wayyyyyyyyyy down for a contraction to pass. After my three to four mile power walk, I continued to go about my day, just breathing through contractions as they came. In fact, I even headed to the mall to get some more Clinique products I was running low on!
Now, after my trip to the mall, I was very low on gas. I also had to pee really bad, so I decided to skip the gas station and just head home. It was about 4pm. I was wearing bright white shorts. When I went, I noticed there was (yet again!) a wet stain on my shorts, that had leaked all the way through to the outside (of COURSE I wore white out in public, right?!). "Hmmmm... Yeah, I know I didn't pee on myself, and sweat wouldn't look like that in my shorts. I'm calling my mom!" Ok, so I have an advanced degree. I'm nearly 30 years old. But when sh*! gets real, the first person I think to call is my mom. Do we ever outgrow needing our mamas?! I don't think so.
"Hey mom - do you think my water broke and I just didn't notice a pop and there just wasn't a gross gush?" I asked. "Paige, CALL YOUR DOCTOR!" So I did. And she said that I needed to come in right away, and to bring our hospital bags. Then I was left with the task of calling my husband and figuring out what the heck city he was in! "Hey, babe, where are you and when will you be home?!" I asked. "I'm just about 20 minutes away. You want me to pick up something for dinner or something?" he replied. "Nope, turns out, my water broke! We need to go to the hospital as soon as you get home!" "WHAT?! Ok. Bye!"
My husband has never exited a phone call faster. See, he was making a two hour drive home from client meetings and on a conference call. It just so happened he decided to answer my call in the middle of his professional conference call. He had to get back and excuse himself from his clients!
So we go in. They check us into triage and I see a resident to run a few tests on me to ensure that, indeed, my water had broken. While we were waiting for my doctor to arrive and review the results, my belly was hooked up to a monitor to check on Henry's heart and monitor my contractions. Once our doctor arrived, she learned that they couldn't find my tests... She was clearly annoyed with the residents when she glanced over at the monitor readout. "Paige, are you really having contractions every two-three minutes?!" she asked. "Um... Yeah." "Don't they bother you?! Aren't you in pain by now?!" she asked. I replied, "Well, I'm super uncomfortable, but what good is complaining going to do about it?!"
 |
| All checked in and awaiting a room for our c section... Looking super pregnant and sweating from the TX heat! |
And with that, the doctor didn't even need to see the results of the amniotic fluid test. She said that if my water hadn't broken yet, that I would be back to the hospital within four to six hours anyway, so they were going to admit us, and we would have our baby that night! I was 36 weeks and four days.
It was surreal getting checked in, getting an IV placed and running, and waiting for an operating room to open up (the hospital we were at had 36 beds for the birth wing... and they birthed 57 babies the night Henry was born!). We had to wait about four hours for the O.R. and in the interim, the contractions got STRONG. Kirk rubbed my back, as I got more and more agitated about our long wait.
When everyone and everything was ready, I got escorted to the O.R. They began an epidural and a spinal block on me - which is what I was TERRIFIED for! But truthfully, it wasn't that bad. The first shot (of whatever the heck it was) was the worst. Then, everything started to feel numb. I even said to Kirk, "Oh thank God! The contractions are now gone!"
The doctors took over from there! I was so surprised to see my husband pull back the curtain and snap all kinds of shots of what they were doing to me. How do you watch doctors cut open your wife's belly?! I don't know, but he did... Then again, he did do three years of college as a pre-med student, before coming to his senses and switching to business school. Anyhow, I went in to the O.R at 10pm; Henry was born at 10:15pm; and we were in the recovery room holding our new baby boy by about 11pm!
 |
| Daddy with Henry right after he was born and while mommy got stitched up. |
The first night was ROUGH. I'm talking shaking, sweating, vomiting rough (nurse Andrea at Baylor Dallas - you're an angel of a nurse for taking such good care of me!). On top of that, we opted to keep Henry with us in our room throughout our stay, because I did NOT want the nurses feeding him formula garbage. So, in addition to being quite ill, I had to nurse and take care of a baby! Kirk did all the lifting and changing since I still couldn't feel my legs. Things got much easier by mid-day the second day, and by the second night, we were in good shape!
I absolutely could not have done this without Kirk. He did pretty much everything for me for our hospital stay, from feeding me ice chips to changing Henry to running home to let our dogs out. He watched his wife get cut open, got puked on by her and peed on by his son all within 24 hours, didn't get served food by the hospital and froze to death on a couch every night since I demanded the room be kept to about 62 degrees. I may have had to suffer through a pregnancy and a surgery, but he had to tough out some bad conditions himself! Let's hear it for the good husbands, right ladies?!
That was how little Henry entered our world! We've been in love ever since.
 |
| The day we came home from the hospital with our sweet boy Henry Malcolm. |
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