Month One Must Haves

As any new mommy will tell you, the first month with your new babe can be rough. We are all just getting to know each other and trying to figure things out. (Check out our One Month Old posting) For those getting ready to experience the hardest and most wonderful (that could be the sleep deprivation talking. . . Haha!) month, here are some of the things that have made life a little easier around our house.

Boon Grass Drying Rack: Not only will this hold and air dry all those breast pump and bottle parts, but it's super cute, too!
Aden + Anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets: These may be the most frequently recommended baby item out there, and for good reason. They are the best! Cute, lightweight (key when you live in South Florida), and big enough to create the perfect baby burrito. We also use them for tummy time, as stroller blankets to help keep the babe hidden from cooties and the sun, and as emergency burp cloths. Get more than one set. . .you won't be sorry.
Crane Humidifier: We set this up in our room when the babe sounded congested during the second week home. Now we all are breathing more clearly, even Scout.
Boppy: Essential for breastfeeding and for snuggling the baby when you need to give your arms some support. Also good for propping babe up or for short naps. We ordered a super soft cover here.
Snuggabunny Bouncer: For the last few weeks, this has been the only place that Baby Tuna will sleep, besides in our arms. We are working on transitioning her out of it, but for now, whatever works. We were also just gifted the matching swing, which the babe also finds comfy.
Little Tummys Gas Relief Drops: Our poor, sweet babe has horrible gas. Gas so bad she wakes up shrieking from the pain, which is super fun for us. The pediatrician recommended we try these, and we are so glad we did. Baby Tuna's gassy shrieks have now turned into moans, which is a huge improvement.
Babyganics Foaming Hand Sanitizer: I love this stuff! It may be the first hand sanitizer that does not dry out my germaphobic husband's hands. It's unscented, alcohol free, and in every room of our house (and in the diaper bag!).
Nuk OrthoStar Pacifiers: Baby Tuna doesn't always want a binky (as we call them in our house), but when she does, this is what soothes her. She finds them especially nice after her hissy fits as we put her in the car seat. Always does the trick.
Wee Gallery Cards: Baby Tuna loves gazing at these high contrast black and white animal cards. They make a variety of sets, but she especially likes the sea animals collection.
Peg Perego Infant Car Seat: Although the babe hates being put into her car seat, she's usually pretty cozy once she settles down. I'll admit that it is a little heavy, but I really like the black on black polka dot pattern. So much better than the horrible patterns and color schemes (why is all baby girl stuff pink?) on some of the other infant seats.
Burt's Bees Baby Bee Wash: I have been a big fan of Burt's Bees products for years, and swear that their belly butter kept my belly stretch mark free. So it only seemed natural that we would use their Baby Bee line for our babe. It keeps her skin soft and hydrated and smells delicious. The only issue. . . Scout constantly wants to lick the honey smell off the little one's hands and head.

I should tell ya that this list doesn't include some of the obvious essentials. Things like diapers and wipes, ointment, and a breast pump. But in case you're at all interested, we use Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive diapers, Pampers Sensitive wipes, A & D Ointment, and the Medela Pump In Style Advanced. We also like the Avent Natural bottles for feeding expressed milk.

And now a little gratuitous Zoey love!

One Month with Baby Tuna!

I can't believe this little girl is already a month old! In some ways it feels like it's been a minute since Zoey was born, and in other ways it feels like so much longer (especially around 4:00am!).  She has changed so much in the last four weeks, and the Hubs and I get better at this parenting gig every day. At least we think we do. Usually.

What a difference a month makes!!!

Here are Baby Tuna's stats:

Weight: She was born at 8 lbs even, weighed 7 lbs 11 oz when she was discharged from the hospital,  and is now up to 9 lbs 4 oz. She still weighs a whole pound less than my brother did when he was born!
Length: She was born at 20.5 inches and is still 20.5 inches. I kinda find it hard to believe that she hasn't grown in length in the last month, but she also doesn't make it easy to measure her since her legs are always in motion.
Head: Her noggin measured 13 inches at birth and is now up to 14.5 inches. She has also developed a  Conan O'Brien hairstyle, making me really wish I had some sassy headbands to help tame that mane. Gotta hop on Etsy and order some ASAP! And btw. . . her hair isn't really red, as the photo suggests. It's brown.
Loves: Sleeping on mommy's or daddy's chest, gazing out the windows, staring at black and white animal cards, being held, listening to music (especially Mumford and Sons, mommy's favorite. We listen to them during our middle of the night feedings), sleeping with her arms near her face, and moving her legs around. . . constantly. She also doesn't seem to mind when Scout gets a whiff of her Burt's Bees honey lotion and starts licking her all over.
Hates: being put in her car seat, getting the hiccups, being taken out of a warm bath (the jury is still out on the bath itself), and being swaddled, probably because she can't sleep with her arms near her face.
Nicknames: Peanut, Boo Boo, Baby Tuna, Zo, Monkey, Fussy Butt.
Milestones: She is starting to control her neck muscles a little bit, and can push herself up for tummy time, but only for 20 seconds or so. And well, she sort of rolled over, well, halfway over. And she was sound asleep when she did it. Does that count?

This little girl has changed everything, in all the best ways. And although this week she has started screaming bouts that feel like they go on forever and there is no way to shut her up calm her down, and although her gas is unbelievable and makes her super crabby, and although, because of those two things, I may not get to leave the house until she's six months old, we still think she's pretty perfect. We melt every time she purses her lips in a little kiss, every time she smiles in her sleep, every time she chirps like a little chipmunk. 

Kissy face

How could you not love that smoosh-face?!

Mmmm... smells like honey! 

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day gang!!! This is officially Zoey's first holiday, and although she won't be sipping any green beer, this year she's celebrating by watching a little SEC basketball (Go Gators!!), heading out for a stroll in this great weather, and chilling on the couch with daddy.

I do have to add that I was better prepared for this holiday, baby fashion-wise, but was not prepared to have a one month old still fitting in newborn-size clothes. About a month before the munchkin was born, I purchased a St. Patty's Day outfit in size 0-3 months, thinking that it would fit perfectly. Boy was I wrong!!

Who expected our kid to be such a munchkin??!!!

My mother-in-law also gave us an adorable St. Patty's outfit that included a tutu (I die for baby tutus!!) that ended up being way too huge. At this rate, maybe she can wear them next year!! I need to reevaluate her Easter outfits!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their St. Patrick's Day! May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.

Three Weeks Old!

Wow! I can't believe that our little peanut is three weeks old!!! Baby Tuna and I survived our first week with the Hubs back at work, but I'll be the first to admit that things run much better when he's around. (Slicing a cucumber one-handed while holding this clingy koala baby is not easy!!) I guess we are still trying to find our groove, which hasn't been easy since Baby Tuna's schedule seems to change every day. She's become a bit fussy (from horrific gas), especially in the evenings and overnight, which means momma isn't getting a whole lot of sleep. It's amazing how well you can function on so little sleep!

And we're still working on this whole feeding thing. I'll be completely honest, which will probably cause me to lose my membership to the Awesome Momma Club, but breastfeeding is kind of the worst. There are exactly three things I like about it: 1) It's really good for the babe, 2) It's free, and 3) I've lost 30 pounds in three weeks and breastfeeding is a big part of why.  My plan is to stick with it for a few more weeks, then we'll see.

As for the photo above, I must have taken a zillion shots this morning, but our girl is such a fidget, most of them came out looking like this:

When did her baby mohawk turn into Conan O'brien's hairdo?

And since Baby Z has become such a clingy little koala baby, I'm thinking of getting one of those K'Tan or Mobi wraps, just so I can get things done. Any recommendations?

Koala Baby!!

This week, we took our first walk as a family of four. It was a little chilly out, but I for one was grateful to be out and about. Of course, Zoey slept through the entire thing!

And finally, something new we've learned about our girl this week, besides the gas and Conan hairstyle, is that she is obsessed with the fish print that hangs above our couch. She will stare at it forever if we let her. I've been trying to get a pic of her face as she gazes up at it. It's pretty funny how mesmerized she gets. Hopefully I'll have a good shot of her before next week. Also planning a post showing off the nursery in the next couple of days.

Until then, here's one last shot of little Zoey. . .

So stinkin' cute!!

Two Weeks With Zoey Kate

It’s crazy how quickly two weeks can fly by. Especially when you are figuring out how to cope with one third the sleep you’re used to, learning the difference in your newborn’s cries, and trying to wrangle in a new emotion pretty much every second. Although today, as the Hubs has returned to work after two wonderful weeks off, I’m feeling pretty content. Which is a little surprising to me. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous this morning as he walked out the door. Would I be able to handle this kid without him? Turns out, I can. And we even made it to the pediatrician and back in one piece. Of course, Zoey slept the entire time, which was helpful!

This time two weeks ago, we were sitting in the hospital, hovering between sleep, staring at our peanut, and wolfing Subway. We’ve come a long way! Today, Zoey had her two-week check up. She’s put on almost half a pound from her birth weight, thanks to her champion eating skills (just ask my sore boobies about that!), though she’s still swimming in her clothes. You can tell by her two week picture that most 0-3 month items are a bit on the big side. We have a few Newborn-sized outfits, but are hesitant to buy more. She’s such a skinny widget, but how much longer will she be “newborn”?

Some things we’ve learned about Zoey in the last two weeks:

• She loves staring out the windows when they are open, but will settle for watching the ceiling fan spin if the blinds are closed.
• She really, really hates having her diaper changed and will usually stop fussing as soon as she’s dressed again.
• She sneezes. . .a lot! Sometimes 4 or 5 times in a row.  
• She makes what we call "Ewok" sounds in her sleep. Little squeaks and moans that may be the cutest sounds ever!
• She’s not a fan of being swaddled, at least her arms aren’t. They’re always busting out.
• She also isn’t crazy about sleeping in her crib or in the pack n play. Is it something about the openness of those places?
• She much prefers sleeping in our arms, or in her bouncer.
• And although she seems to enjoy the music that the bouncer plays, she’s not quite sure what to make of the vibration feature.

And now for some more Zoey love:

First time in her play gym from Uncle Mike! 

Aren't baby feet the best?!

Zoey's Birth Story and NICU Adventure

This face!!! 

Eleven days ago, our lives changed forever. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long already. But when I think about all of the drama and excitement that followed out little peanut’s birth, it often feels like much longer.

It all started happening on Sunday evening…

What I naively thought were wicked gas cramps thanks to a chili dinner turned out to be contractions. Duh! Labor had officially begun around 10pm and it kept me up all night. The Hubs was able to get a little more sleep than I did, but I think he was so worried, he probably wasn’t sleeping all that well. I was up and down all night, just from the discomfort of it all, but things were just getting started. There was no rhyme or reason to the contractions. . . we still had a ways to go.

By morning, I had downloaded a nifty little ap to help track my contractions. They were increasing in intensity, but not in regularity. I’ll tell ya though, that contraction timer became my lifeline. I had read that you should never watch the clock, but as I was doubled over in an effort to get “comfortable”, I kept my eye on that timer, knowing it was only gonna last about a minute. By afternoon on Monday, those became some very long and intense minutes!

By 5 pm on Monday, the Hubs and I sat down to watch the local news. Obama was in nearby Palm City and they were covering his departure. I called my mom, who would be in the delivery room, and let her know that they should start heading south. If they left now, they’d miss all the presidential traffic. Just then, I felt the weirdest sensation…my water broke! For some reason, I never expected it to happen like that. I jumped off the couch remarkably fast for someone with such a gigantic belly, threw my phone to the Hubs, and ran to the bathroom. There was no turning back now…shit just got really real! The Hubs called the doctor’s service, I got my bag ready (cuz I was so not prepared!), and we waited for the doctor to call us back. I was super calm, except for during my ever-increasing contractions, and the Hubs kind of freaked out. He even called the service back to make sure he had given the right phone number. My regular doctor was not on call (of course) but the other OB from the office would meet us at the hospital. It was go-time!

We made it to the hospital in no time. We were not (thank God!) stopped by the train, which we had to cross twice, or rush hour traffic. The biggest issue was finding a parking spot as I waited, contracting, in a wheelchair in the lobby. Once in our birthing suite, the wonderful nurses hooked me up to the fetal monitor and the contraction monitor. Her little heartbeat sounded to good! And as I had my first contraction, they rushed to get fluids in me so the epidural could be started. I was in serious pain, trying to breathe through it, and the Hubs told me later that the contractions were peaking at the top of the scale. No shit! I could feel it all! Contractions are zero fun. Contracting through the insertion of the epidural is not only zero fun, but scary too. Thank God that I had an amazing anesthesiologist and labor nurse. Nurse Stacy kept me still and focused as the doctor hooked me up to some really good drugs. Pre-epidural, I could barely speak. And if one more person mentioned blowing out a candle, I was prepared to bitch-slap the crap out of them. Post-epidural, I was back to my old self… we were laughing and I was blissfully numb from the waist down. That was at 8:30 pm.

By 1 am, the pain was returning, but just on the right side. But even half a contraction was no joke. The anesthesiologist, who the Hubs says looked a bit like a pirate, I just remember he had long hair and large teeth and came into the room whistling cheerfully, topped off the epidural and I started feeling good again. (Although my left leg was completely numb and out of my control. Strangest feeling!) I commend those insane women who do this whole thing naturally. I consider myself a pretty tough chica, but I have nothing to prove. There was No. Way. In. Hell. Epidurals are beautiful things, and I am so happy to have had it. I would rather my sweet baby girl make her entrance into this world in a calm and happy environment. Which she did. No screaming, no pain. There was laughing and smiling instead. But I’ll get to all that in a minute.

Sometime before 4am, the pressure in my bum got crazy intense, I started throwing up (lovely), Nurse Stacy gave me a check (10 cm!! thanks to the barfing) and asked me to do a practice push. But just before I started, she stopped me. It was time to get the show started and the doctor was 25 minutes away. The nurses set things up and the doctor arrived. This guy was so chill, I’m not sure if he had just woken up or just smoked a few joints. I pushed twice, and the doctor actually got up and walked out of the room. HE WALKED OUT! We all kind of looked at each other, baby girl was visibly on her way (if you know what I mean), and this guy gets up and heads out to the nurse’s station. What the eff?!! All we could do was start laughing. Now, this was my first time with all of this, but I’m pretty sure doctors just don’t leave in the middle of a delivery. The nurses had me push two more times, and one ran out to retrieve the doc. Two more pushes (yes, six total) and our little peanut had arrived. She was so gross (covered in all that gook) and tiny and amazing! I looked up at the Hubs, who was so incredible throughout the whole experience, to see him tearing up and smiling like a daddy in love.  Just like that, at 4:25 am, after six pushes, we were parents.

Our perfect little peanut weighed 8 pounds even and was 20.5 inches long. She had a fair amount of hair and was alert and wide-eyed almost immediately after delivery. She also pooped…a lot. So much that the nurse was kind of amazed. I guess I can thank our chili dinner for that!

Swoon!!

For the rest of the day, we enjoyed our new baby, tried to rest, and spent time with our parents. We texted our siblings and best friends and Instagramed pictures of the cutest baby on the planet. Then the pediatrician came in and gave our Zoey a check. He noticed that she had something called a sacral dimple just above her bottom. That was when our little happy train went careening off its tracks.

The nurse took Zoey out for an ultrasound to see if this dimple was more of a hole connected to the spinal cord that might be causing a leak of spinal fluid. At this point, the Hubs and I both started to panic. The specialist at our hospital met with us to discuss the results. Essentially, they were inconclusive and our brand new baby would be transferred to St. Mary’s NICU before the end of the night. She would have a full body MRI and a pediatric neurosurgeon would be seeing her in the morning. This was a lot for me to wrap my brain around. We had had genetic testing throughout my pregnancy and nothing funky ever showed up. I had given birth just hours before, was healing and recovering from that, and now I had to deal with this. My baby was being taken from me. There was no way in Hell I’d be staying in the hospital without her.

As the nurse prepped Zoey for her transfer, another nurse prepped me for my discharge. I guess there was a reason I had such an “easy” delivery. . . 19 hours after giving birth, I was leaving the hospital, stitches, swollen feet (from the IV fluids) and all. I was able to hold and feed our baby girl before the transfer team from St. Mary’s put her in the little incubator-like bassinet. I will have the vision of her all bundled and swaddled with her little cap on, eyes wide like saucers, forever burned into my brain. To me she looked so tiny and so scared. The worst part was that, due to the NICU’s hours, we would not be able to see her until after 9am. It was almost midnight when they took her. It was a long, exhausting (remember we had been up since Sunday and it was now almost Wednesday), and very emotional night. The Hubs and I did a lot of crying and didn’t get much sleep. It was terrifying.

Walking into a NICU is a surreal thing. You have to scrub in like a surgeon, the lights are dim, and there are a lot of different machines beeping and little ones fussing and crying. It puts things into perspective. Our baby girl weighed almost twice what the majority of the babes around her weighed. For all intents and purposes, she was a very healthy kid. We would be taking her home so much sooner than any of the other parents. I’m not sure how they do it. I’ve had friends whose brand new babies spent weeks or months in the NICU and I’m not sure how they were able to survive leaving their babe at the hospital. Zoey spent two days at St. Mary’s and we were wrecks. And it was hours before we really had any answers.

I won’t go into every detail of our NICU adventure. I will say that all of the NICU nurses, just like the nurses at Jupiter Medical Center, were incredible. It really takes a special kind of person. They took such good care of Zoey and of us. We eventually met with the neurosurgeon (on the morning of the second day) who walked us through the MRI results. Her brain was perfect, the rest of her little body was healthy. The sacral dimple was not connected to the spinal cord (HALELUJIA!) but did point to another problem (F**K!!), almost like an arrow on the MRI screen. Our baby girl has something called “nerve tethering”. It’s kind of complicated to explain, but her spinal cord is a little longer than it should be and the nerves are connected in places they shouldn’t be. She will need surgery in a few months to un-tether those nerves so that she can grow and develop normally. Without surgery, she could develop spinal issues, like severe scoliosis, mobility issues, or even bowel issues. Apparently, this condition is not totally unheard of, but is rarely discovered at such a young age. 

Although our first few days as a family were not what we expected, we feel very blessed to have had such wonderful doctors and nurses looking after us. We still have a long road ahead of us, and the thought of my tiny baby girl undergoing spinal surgery is more than I can handle, so I try not to think about it. For now, we feel so lucky to be getting up in the middle of the night for feedings and diaper changes, because so many new parents don’t get that chance.

Finally heading home as a family!

Scout and Zoey getting to know each other.

The first few days home were tough, as they are for any new parent. Figuring out what to do with this tiny being, trying to figure out how to feed her (which was all screwed up thanks to the bottles of formula she was given in the NICU), dealing with all kinds of emotional ups and downs, and dealing with letting my body heal and rest. But now, eleven days later, the Hubs and I feel like we are getting the hang of this parenting thing, at least for now. I have an amazing husband who has taken superb care of me and our babe these last eleven days, and I hate the fact that he will go back to work next week.  

As any parent will tell you, every day brings new challenges, and we have some big ones ahead. But for now, as I type this, Baby Tuna sleeps next to me and I forget about all of them. To us she is perfect!