Nights with Mr Man

I cherish the nights with Mr Man. Even though most babies his age seem to be sleeping 5-6hour stretches my little Mr Man sleeps 3 to 4 hours the first stretch and then 2-3 hours after that.
We have him go to bed roughly between 8-9PM and we'll begin our day around 9AM the following morning.

I've not had more than 4.5 hours of continuous sleep since before he was born. I wish I had one of those time-stop devices that Hermoine had in the Harry Potter book. If I had one of those, I'd take a reaalllyyy long nap and deep clean my house from top to bottom.

I must say that even when I'm most tired, my favorite part of the nights with Mr Man are when it gets to around 6-7AM. He starts to rustle and get restless as he sleeps. I usually nurse him and then he sleeps in my arms until we're ready to start the day in a few hours.

I love having him sleep in my arms. I love looking at him, holding him, snuggling him, and loving him. Even when his diaper leaks and soaks my PJ's.

Heartache

Don't worry nothing is wrong at our house. However after reading some blogs (and many, many Kleenex's for all the tears I shed) and such I stumbled upon this charity Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS).

I am in awe of what they do. I had no idea that something like that was available.

To those who don't see it right away - basically they are a volunteer organization of photographers all across America who at short notice can and will go to hospitals to photograph very premature and/or otherwise dying newborns and their families. These are babies who are stillborn or have genetic diseases or other medical complications which will take their life in a matter of hours or days. These wonderful people go in, at no cost to the families, and photograph the most precious lives in the most tender way possible so that the families have pictures to remember their sons and daughters by. And then they send the pictures on CD/DVD to the families so that they can reprint or view them whenever they like.

My heart goes out to all these families. After my miscarriage, I lived in fear every day that something bad would happen to Mr Man while I was pregnant. I can only say, I'm so incredibly thankful that nothing happened with Mr Man while I was pregnant nor with him after he was born.

I do want to spread the good news about this wonderful organization in whatever way I can because what these families have to endure is so terrible and what this organization can do for them is so wonderful.

Babies Galore!

Babies galore coming soon!

So I went into work last week to have lunch with Sam and so everyone could see Mr Man. While we were there, one of the gals' granddaughter came by. She's 10 months old and weighs the same as Mr Man and is only about 1.5" longer than him. I guess that puts into perspective for me just how big Mr Man is haha.

But the real story is that there are like 6 people at work now who are going to be having babies this summer/fall! Hooray!!

I've started compiling some information (via request :P) for them regarding pregnancy, what to expect during delivery (lets hope theirs is 100x better than mine), and what to expect once the baby comes home.

So to start - here's some information regarding pregnancy and some things to do to prepare for baby.

My first recommendation to them was a couple good books to read while pregnant.

1. Breastfeeding Made Simple If you are thinking about breastfeeding this book is beyond awesome.
2. The Happiest Baby on the Block, by Dr. Harvey Karp We'd heard about this book in our pre-birth class but hadn't really known much about how powerful the 5 S's are. I purchased it when Mr Man was about 4 weeks old. This is amazing for the first few months, I wish I'd had it sooner.
3. Baby Bargains - this should be the latest edition. When thinking about baby stuff, I was like, I want the safest and the best. But how do I know what that is - there's so much stuff. These folks use the safety testing from places like Consumer Reports and also parent feedback to rate just about every baby product so that parents can make an informed decision on safety, reliability, and cost. The goal: get the best stuff at the lowest price. I just went through the book, figured out what I would want then registered or purchased those items. It is updated yearly and really made my life just so much easier.
4. The Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - I liked it because it was a good resource of how the baby is growing inside as you progress each week but also to read up on some stuff that could be good to know or to have on hand.

• Buying all the baby stuff online is a lot cheaper in many instances than going to the baby stores. After we did our registries we purchased a lot of our 'big ticket' items from Amazon since we have Amazon Prime. We got it cheaper and with free 2 day delivery it was amazing. I really recommend that route.
• Next up is to get either a Sam's Club or Costco membership - you'll save a lot on diapers, wipes, formula (if you're gonna go that route) and even baby clothes. They get some really cute Carter's stuff for a lot cheaper than the stores have them. For instance we even bought our crib mattress from Costco. Not positive if they take the coupons from the formula manufacturers however.
• Try to get your nursery furniture assembled/painting done (aka the big stuff) by the end of your 27th week. As you go into your 3rd trimester you'll be as tired, if not more, than in your 1st trimester and you'll have a massive belly to get in your way. Now this of course is purely how I did things because I'm OCD and like to plan and be prepared for just about as much as I can. But the huge belly in your way is totally true and does make doing big jobs near the end of your pregnancy really hard. And really draining.
• Use the time/energy during your 2nd trimester to get a lot of things done. This would be a great time to go traveling if you so desire. Also if you're planning any sort of big to-do stuff around the house - this is also the time to do it. (carpet cleanings, air duct cleanings etc).
• Make sure to buy your baby's car-seat early (I'd say around the ~30th week is a good time) and schedule the installation at that time. Reason being is the wait list where we live here in MD is typically 4-6 weeks for an appt. You have to have the car seat installed before you can bring your baby home. Do it early imo.
• Even if you and your Dr think you'll be all set for a vaginal delivery - do at least read up on a C-section. Because you never know if something will happen during delivery or at the last second to warrant it - better to at least know a little ahead of time.

Rawr!

So we went to the doctor for Mr Man's 4 month checkup. He weighs 18.6 lbs and is 25 3/4" long. She gave us the go ahead to start him on some solids - 1 meal a day to start. If he really likes it and does well we could go to 2 meals a day. So far he's had some rice cereal, some bananas and some peas.

He's pretty good about eating - takes about halfway through the meal before he really sort of gets the hang of the spoon. He takes about a tablespoon or so and then he has some mommy-milk.

Supposedly adding these solids as an evening meal are going to fill him up more and sleep longer. So far...nadda! Mommy is really hoping that after a few weeks he can sleep longer than 2-3 hour stretches. I'm tired!!

He's definitely started the teething process - though it could be weeks/month+ before we see any. Until then...poor fussy Mr Man. And tired mommy.

4 Months

I can't believe its been four months already. Lordy how the time has passed. Mr Man is such a joy and a funny little guy.

With each day I smile and laugh more and more. Its amazing to see how fast he learns things. He's able to rock from his back to his side. He hates being on his tummy -- tummy time is not a favorite daytime activity. He actually watches the book's pages when I read to him. He's playing more and more with his new activity toys.



Teething?

The last week or so has been a bit rough - we think Mr Man is teething. They're not cutting through his gums yet but he's got all the signs. His 4mo checkup is tomorrow, we should know for sure then (btw we think he's pretty close to 20 lbs). It truly breaks my heart to see him in such pain, even with the Tylenol.

Christmas

Will post up some Christmas pics later on but overall it has been a wonderful holiday.

With the birth of Mr Man and recovery from that surgery/hip problems I didn't do much for holiday decor this year. We got the (pre-lit) tree up but I didn't put any decorations on it. I did hang the stockings on the fireplace though - that should count for something. Right?

Next year I assume I wont be having major abdominal surgery nor a newborn during the Christmas holiday so I'll be quite a bit more festive.

My mom flew in on the evening of the 22nd and we took Mr Man and went Christmas shopping all day on the 23rd, cooked dinner on the 24th and went over to Sam's mom's today. It was so good to spend time with family.

Sam got me the Wii I was wanting so badly and Dad/Lulu got me a netbook which I was wanting badly also. The only thing that could have been better than that was a Burberry tote haha! No but seriously, what a wonderful day and family made it all the sweeter.

Sam and I were so happy to have Mr Man and start our little family this year. We're so blessed.

Thanksgiving with Mr Man

For our first Thanksgiving with Mr Man we went over to Sam's brother's house. What a blessing it was to not have to cook this year. :)

My dad, stepmom, stepbrother and grandfather came with us. Here's the four generations pic we took:In addition to his brother's family, there was Sam's mom and his sister's family. That meant 10 kiddos including Mr Man. What a large group, but it was a really great time. We're very grateful to them for hosting all of us.

Thanksgiving also meant the end to my post-birth helpers. Serious sad face here. Both my mom and stepmom (Lulu) were great and I'm not sure how we would have gotten through the first 3 weeks with Mr Man without their help. They cooked, they cleaned, they shopped, they lifted things for me and did pretty much everything around the house. Both of them pretty much kept us all alive and well for those first few weeks. I'm so incredibly grateful for them and the advice and lessons in parenting they gave Sam and I. I swear Lulu is the baby whisperer. Truly, she's amazing.

To mom and Lulu - I love you both. Sam and I are grateful for you both and the love and kindness you give.