So much to be thankful for

This week has been full of activity and excitement. Wednesday I was off of work so I spent my morning at my Grandmother's house helping her and my mom make Thanksgiving pies. We do this every year together and it's really a lot of fun. Thursday was Tommy's first Thanksgiving!
He did great! I was concerned since we wouldn't be home for his afternoon nap and though he didn't get a great nap in, he did sleep for about an hour and a few cat naps. The hardest part of the day was watching everyone eat all of the delicious, dairy-filled foods. I made stuffing with my Earth Balance butter substitute and mashed potatoes with Earth Balance and Coffee Rich, a lactose-free coffee creamer. I was able to eat turkey too of course! But no pie, no squash souffle, no candied sweet potatoes, no green bean casserole, etc. It's worth it, but days like this one are really hard.

Friday was Bill's 30th birthday! It also happened to be the day last year that Tommy was conceived ;) Unfortunately, Bill had to work and he had a long day. While he was at work, Tommy and I made him a sign to wish him a happy birthday.

(sorry it's so blurry)

While Bill was working, we went out to lunch with my friend Melissa who lives in DC but was in town for the holiday. It was so nice to introduce her to Tommy and catch up! We went to a pizza restaurant and I got Tomato Pie without the parmesan cheese and it was heavenly. I miss pizza! I made Bill his traditional birthday dinner of hot dogs, mac & cheese, and tater tots. It's the ultimate, kids meal that he loves because it makes him feel young!

Today was an exciting day since it was Tommy's baptism! We had the ceremony at the church where Bill and I were married and where I grew up. After, we had a party in the parish center of the church. We had a great time and it was so nice to celebrate our beautiful baby boy with our family.

(I'll add a picture when I get one!)

Teeth and Cribs

Since my last post, we've been dealing with teething. My poor baby has tons of teeth trying to poke through right now :( The strange part is it seems that the top ones will come in first, at least those are the most prominent ones right now. I thought the bottom teeth came in first and that it wouldn't be until, like, 6 months. I hope they come in soon though because baby boy is a drooly, hand chewing mess. Some nights he just whimpers and cries all night. Sunday night, he was awake every hour and the only thing I could do to console him was nurse. At least I had that. The good news is that he is pretty happy and unfazed the majority of the time.

On a completely unrelated note, we decided to transition Tommy from the PackNPlay to the crib. Our goal was to have him transitioned by Christmas and he is rapidly outgrowing the bassinet part of the PNP. We decided to go ahead and give it a try this week while I'm off of work for a few days and will have help during the day if I need a nap.

So last night instead of his nighttime routine being done in our room, I did it in his room. It took a little bit longer to get him to sleep than it normally does but he went down relatively easily. After he was asleep I went out to the living room and broke down. Bill suggested that we just try and go to bed so I wouldn't be just sitting around upset. We went to bed and I made Bill hug me so that I wouldn't go get him. Tommy slept until 2, ate, then went back down pretty easily. He slept until 6! He might have kept sleeping if I just gave him his pacifier but I missed him and scooped him up without thinking.

He did great! I, woke up A LOT. I was listening for him and waking up thinking I heard him. Then there is the monitor. It has a voice activated setting which means it doesn't make any sound when he's quiet and kicks on when there is a noise. So when Tommy farts, it turns on. When he moves his head around, it clicks on. When he coughs, it turns on. Every time it turns on, I wake up where I used to just sleep through those kinds of noises with him in the room. I'm wondering if it would make sense for me to just leave it on and have the static in the background while I sleep.

The good news is that it went so well. I'm exhausted thinking about doing it again tonight though. I know we can do it but it's emotionally draining.

My poor baby

Today has been a rough day. TMI alert: Tommy needs to poop everyday or we have rough nights. Yesterday, he did not poop. Therefore, we were up 3 times last night instead of 1. Luckily, he pooped this morning at 7 and was in a good mood. Mass was being said in remembrance of my grandfather who passed away 12 years ago this week so since Tommy seemed to be doing well, off we went. He did really well. Then we went for coffee and I nursed in public for the first time!

By that point, Tommy was ready for a nap so we went home and I tried to get him down for a nap. He fell asleep but would wake up screaming. The only thing that would console him was nursing. We spent 4 hours with him nursing to sleep to jar awake and scream a few minutes later. Finally he fell asleep and took an hour long nap.

I was hoping this was the end of it but instead of going to sleep at 7:30 like he does every night, here we lay at 8:30 doing the whole, nurse-sleep-scream routine. I think he's teething but it seems too early for that. He has been sucking on his lower lip almost constantly for 3 days and chews on our fingers when we let him. He also has been a drool monster and hardly ever drooled before the last few days. I don't see or feel any teeth though. I don't care what it is as long as it goes away soon. Poor Tommy.

Ps. This is my first post from my phone so I appologize if it's full of typos. I promise to fix them as soon as I can get to a computer!

A Couple of Sad Firsts

Today is the first day that I did not nurse my baby even once. He woke up a couple of time last night but just wanted his pacifier and went back to sleep. I woke up at 6, pumped, and got Tommy up in time to bring him to daycare where they give him his first bottle. I then went to work. The students had a half day due to parent-teacher conferences which ran from 12:30-3:30 and 5-8. Luckily, my dad was able to pick up Tommy from daycare since Bill had a late day today. My dad picked him up at 3:30 and he had just finished his 3:00 bottle. He then brought Tommy to my school so I could see him for about an hour then he picked my mom up from work (she isn't driving right now, she needs cataract surgery and can't wear a contact in one eye for 2 weeks) and brought him to our house. Bill was able to give him a bottle and put him to bed (another first, I have put him to bed every day that he has been alive). By the time I got home he was asleep for the night. I've spent waaaaaaaaaaay too much time with my pump today.

Funny story: I usually pump in a "teacher's work room" in the basement of my school which is a big closet with a phone, printer, and a filing cabinet. After my 3:00 conference was over, I went down to pump. My DO NOT DISTURB sign was on the door and I could hear one of my coworkers on the phone. I waited for about 15 minutes before I decided to just go to my classroom to pump. Most everyone was gone for the break and I figured I could get away with it if I sat at my desk and turned away from my door. I was almost done when someone walked in my room!!! I should have locked my door but somehow forgot. It was a parent of one of my students! Her conference was scheduled for Monday at 3:50 but came today at 3:50 instead. I sputtered, "I'm in the middle of something, I'll be right with you" and she waited outside of my door while I unhooked myself. I explained what was going on and she laughed and apologized. Oh well, I learned to remember to lock my door!

The good news is that I almost pumped enough to cover the day even though I'm dealing with a slightly low supply caused by the stomach bug I had yesterday. I woke up early Wednesday morning with it and was sick all day yesterday. I pumped my typical 10 oz this morning but at my 10 pumping session, I only got 4oz where I usually get 7. I pumped again at noon, 3:30, and 8:15 when I got home and have about 22oz total. He drank 24oz. It's kind of nice to know how much he takes in a day I guess!

Sorry I've been MIA

It has been far too long since my last post. This is mostly due to the fact that life has definitely picked up! Work days consist of getting ready, going to work, picking up Tommy, cuddling/feeding Tommy, bottles and prep for the next day, bed, rinse, repeat. Weekends are filled with laundry, lesson planning, grocery shopping, and trying to see family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it doesn't leave me much free time for things like blogging!

So a rundown:

Tommy is 3 months old!!!
He's still in size 1 diapers but will be graduating to size 2s once this box of 1s is used up.
He is wearing size 3 month clothes comfortably.
He is drinking 6oz bottles while at daycare and I'm almost pumping enough so that he can have all breastmilk.
He is taking at least one nice long nap a day as well as a few shorter naps.
HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Last Friday night, he slept from 8pm-7am!!! Then Sunday night he slept from 7pm-5am, ate and went back down until 7. Last night he slept from 7:30-6:30 waking up once because he was all congested. Once I held him upright for a couple of minutes, he went right back to sleep.
He is consistently rolling from belly to back and is trying to go from back to belly.
He is smiling daily and babbling away.

An update on the dairy sensitivity, Tommy is a completely new baby! His gas has decreased considerably. He is much happier and is much more relaxed. I used to lay my hand on his belly and feel gas bubbles moving around. He would pull his legs up to his belly and wince in pain everyday, multiple times a day. This is completely gone! Now, he basically cries when he's hungry or tired.

Being a mom is very hard and giving up dairy is difficult but it's so worth it. I'm so in love with my little guy!