5 months old

I feel like 0-3 months is a newborn, 4 months is just a little older than a newborn, but 5 months, thats an actual BABY! I have a very cute 5 month old.

He is so much fun.

Our normal day:
Wake up around 7:45am. He doesn't cry, but he just starts talking and squealing until I come get him. When I finally do (for some reason I'm exhausted every morning), he gets the biggest grin on his face. He is the best feeling in the world. Then, I usually bring him into my bed and I try to get him to sleep a couple more minutes. When I fail at that, we play and laugh, then I feed him [still waiting until 6 mos to do any solids] and change his diaper.  We then get out of bed and I'll put him in the bouncy so I can get some food in me. He is such an angel and can play by himself for a while. Then its about time for his first nap. I change his diaper, feed him again, then give him the binky. Usually I then have to rock him for a little bit and he will get pretty sleepy, then I put him in his bed. Sometimes I can put him in his bassinet and he will go to sleep on his own, but rarely. For each nap and at night he sleeps in our room in the bassinet, I'm not sure when we'll put him in his own room.
He will sleep for about an hour [I like to workout and shower at this point] and wake up. I feed him, change him, then we play, maybe get a bath or listen to music while I eat lunch and he's in his little Bumbo-like seat. Then his next nap is usually like 1-3 hours; that determines if he gets another short nap before bed time. I LOVE the long naps. I miss him but I get so much done.

He has been super good at rolling over lately and loves to do it because Damon and I clap and get super excited when he does, its so fun.

He loves to watch little kids, especially his cousin Aubrey. She is SO cute with him. She likes to point to his eyes, nose, head etc. She's going through the cutest dancing phase and its so fun. Makes me excited for each of Crew's stages as he grows.

He still eats every 3-4 hours at night. When other moms say "yeah he/she's been sleeping through the night since he/she was 3 months old" I get pretty jealous. Someday I'll get a full nights sleep again, someday.
03.22.17

stress

As I previously mentioned, as of late, Crew has not been going to sleep perfectly. Before, probably around 2-3 months, he would wake up, I would feed him, we would play, then once he showed signs of being tired (or a couple hours passed by), I would just lay him down in his bassinet and he would fall asleep. It was SO easy!

A little after 4 months, he started this whole thing where he needs to be fed before he wakes up AND before he goes to sleep. Makes sense, he's getting bigger and needs more food. BUT, everyone knows that its a cardinal sin to nurse a baby to sleep and when he needs to eat again before the nap, he gets very sleepy. I tried to feed him like an hour before he goes to sleep and he just cried and cried like he was starving, so I would nurse him and he would fall asleep.

On the positive note, once he was asleep in my arms I could just lay him in the bassinet and he would be fine. BUT the main goal is to try to get the baby to go to sleep in the bassinet. Not be tricked into it.

So I've been pretty stressed about this. Do I not know him as well as I used to? Now he doesn't fall asleep when I sing to him or sometimes even when I hold him. The crying really gets to a mom too.

sidetone: [we tried the whole cry it out thing a couple weeks ago and it totally didn't work, he never fell asleep. We decided he was too young for that.]

Ive decided to stop trying to be the perfect mom. If i hold my baby so he doesn't have to cry and cry in his bassinet, I'm sure he will be okay. I doubt I'll have to hold him for him to fall asleep when he's 22.

The less stress he and I have, the better. That feeling of distress when he is crying just isn't worth it when we can both be happy if I give him what he wants.

This is not going to be my motto forever, but for now I think a 4-5 month old baby should get what he wants.

sidenote 2: [we are waiting to give him anymore solids because of the AAP standards to wait until 6 months, also when he tried solids it didn't make him sleep any better.]

03.10.17

baby life 0-4mos

As I slowly settled into motherhood, I didn't realize how much sleep would affect me, or a lack thereof. Crew wasn't even a bad sleeper! He was pretty normal, ate every 2 hours and slept in his bassinet really well. I guess before him I had relied pretty hard on a good 7-8 hours of sleep. Now waking up so often made me exhausted, for the whole day!

I got used to it pretty quickly. We were still staying at my mom's house so I wouldn't come out of the room until noonish every day because Crew would sometimes just keep sleeping and so I would too. Being cramped in one room with all our stuff and the baby's stuff wasn't my favorite. We bought a house but it didn't close until November 1st, and Crew arrived October 18th AND it needed a lot of work so we didn't end up moving in until February 4th.

Crew's circumcision was not the best experience for me. The doctors asked if we wanted to be in the room and Damon and I both said yes. Then once he started fussing a tiny bit from the doctor undressing him I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it and left. After it was all done, the doctor came and got me. Crew would not stop crying for a while. Nursing him didn't even help. It was so sad.

Aside from that experience, he really was an angel newborn. He only cried when he needed something and once he got it he stopped. He never cried for no reason which was really nice for us (such a blessing). When he would wake up to eat, he would more moan for food instead of cry. Long story short, we rarely heard him cry.

He loved getting his diaper changed, looking in the mirror at himself, and his binky really calmed him down. He took a binky at 3 weeks old without a fuss. It has definitely been a life saver, probably too much of one to where it will be hard to ween him off but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Having a little human control my life took some getting used to. I was really happy to take care of him all day long, but it was really nice when Damon would come home (it still is). I actually had a hard time remembering to feed myself because I was so focused on baby Crew. My body would forget that it was hungry or something. I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight pretty quickly then got even lower than it. Thank you breastfeeding. My parents said I was looking too skinny so I made it a priority to start eating more.

At 1 month old he was 9 pounds 6 ounces. He's always been super good at holding his head up. I remember the same day he arrived he laid on my chest and held his head up to look around. My dad thought something was wrong with him cause when he was held he would crank his head back to see what was going on behind him. He would always say "HOLD that baby's head!" when it was really Crew throwing it back. He would get the cutest smile when he was "milk drunk." It was the best thing ever. He also would smile in his sleep, that was the best.

At 3 months old he was around 13 pounds. He started moving his arms a ton and kicking his legs when he was excited or upset. He loved to be sang to and was smiling, cooing, and laughing at this age. My dad now says "he is SO stiff! Bend baby!" But we just call him really strong because he sticks out his legs straight when you hold him in the air. At 4 months old he went down to around 12 pounds and is 25 inches. He rolled over from his belly to his back sometime in January (we can't remember the exact date) and again Feb 9th (remember that one) and hasn't done it much since then (its March 9th). We thought he was teething around 4 months but he is probably just a slobbery baby who was trying to get used to a new house.

He went through a nice peeing without a diaper for his first couple months of life, now he just pees in the bath (every time).

He still wakes up about 3 times each night to eat (he is almost 5 months). He used to be pretty easy to put down for a nap but it has been a STRUGGLE. Ive had to nurse him to sleep the past couple days and it KILLS me because I know how bad of a habit that is. I just don't want him to be hungry (crying face).

We attempted to give him some solids to see if that would help him sleep longer, NOPE. So we aren't giving him any more since we also recently discovered that its not the best to feed a baby solids who is younger than 6 months (whoops).

03.09.17

home

Our first night with our baby boy I was on a total high. I was just so happy that he was finally here. Crew was such a great nurser! I had a bit of a struggle and chose to use a nipple shield. I used that for the first month I think (no later than that).

My grandparents (Gary and Pat) came to visit and brought him the cutest little stuffed bear.

The next day we were ready to go! Especially once nurse Allison left. We had a certain nurse who shall remain nameless who had us excited to get home. We attended a dumb little class on some basics, it was nothing we didn't already know so we left early (we used Crew's small whimper of a cry as our excuse to leave).  I took a quick shower, we filled out some paperwork, and we were ready to go. Damon went and grabbed the car seat out of the car and we had a little bit of a struggle getting him in there but we did it and were off.

I was honestly surprised of how physically comfortable I was. I mean I obviously was pretty tender, but I expected a lot worse once the epidural wore off, Tylenol and Ibuprofen did just fine for me.

Damon and I left with our tiny little baby in the back seat. He was pretty scared to drive, it was cute. We were starving so we took a pitstop at Red Robin. Everyone was pretty shocked that we took him out at a day old but I felt fine with it. Its not like I was passing him around to the waitress and busboy. He just stayed in his little seat covered or I held him. No big deal.

Once we got home (to my parents house) it was such a sigh of relief. We had some visitors (Kari Ali and the boys) and got all settled in. My mother was a great help and Damon got to take a few days off work. Sleep was minimal but we were so in love so that didn't matter.



03.08.17

crew's birth story

Crew Damon Chlarson was born October 18th 2016. His mommy guessed that he would be born today but did not realize that she would guess correctly! 

At about 7:30AM that morning I started having intermittent back pain that was keeping me awake. I wasn't sure if I should time the pains because I thought that back pain was just a normal part of pregnancy (especially in the third trimester). I, of course, turn to google for some "back labor" questions and found a couple people saying to time the pains, so I did!

At 7:36AM, I began to track them on my "Labor Signs" app. I was in pain but i had breaks. I texted Damon but didn't want him to come home from work just yet so I was pretty nonchalant about it. I texted my mom the same way and she came in my room and watched me through a couple of these episodes. She and I decided that this wasn't just back pain but that I was going into labor. I called the hospital and told Damon to come home. Unfortunately, Damon got behind someone slow and hit every red light on the way home. Keep in mind, since 7:36AM, until I stopped tracking the pains at 8AM, they were each less than 5 minutes apart and were just getting more and more intense. I was pretty close to have Damon get another ride to the hospital. 

He finally arrived and the pain was BAD and not far apart at all. The drive to the hospital was pretty silent. I couldn't speak, I was in so much pain with each contraction. I didn't get much of a break, they were around 15-20 seconds apart. Oh! And the bumper to bumper traffic on Bothell Everett Highway and the 405 didn't help. You always think that when you're in labor you have the right to honk and freak out if you're in traffic, i knew that behavior wouldn't quite work in this situation, worst timing ever. 

We got to the hospital after the longest 33 minute drive of my life. I went to the Maternity Center front desk and the lady saw my discomfort and shortly after introduced me to my nurse, Allison. Oh Allison, if i were having a girl I literally would probably have named her Allison because of this nurse. She was amazing.

In the hallway i let her know that i wanted an epidural ASAP. Once we were in the room, she had 100+ questions for me. I answered some and ignored some because I was still dying from contractions. She checked my cervix and I was at an 8! I still needed my epidural, I was not too patient about that. She got the anesthesiologist in the room pretty soon after. 

This guy was... not my favorite. Super friendly and all but I would have probably yelled at him if I took out my anger/pain in that way. He comes in and gives me a small talk and I tell him that I want the epidural now. He gets the show on the road and while he is inserting it (and i am dying in pain from what feels like one agonizing non-stop back contraction) he chooses to discuss the college football rankings with my husband! Sounds so innocent but if anyone knows how I feel about talking football and how it feels to be in labor, they would understand me. 

The epidural kicked in but only for half of me: I still was feeling contractions in half of my body. I also felt pretty nauseous and did each time the nurse pushed the epidural button. Allison was awesome and tried getting the medicine on both sides by turning and massaging me. Unfortunately, it didn't work and we needed an anesthesiologist to come help reposition the epidural.

This new guy was the best. Once he repositioned it and gave me a little boost of medicine, I felt just fabulous. Maybe too fabulous. I started to feel extra sleepy and it was hard to keep my eyes open. Allison didn't want me going to sleep and gave me some oxygen. From this point on I felt amazing. My nausea was gone and I just got to hangout with Damon, mom, chelsi, and Peggy numb from the waist down. 

Once pressure started occurring, the nurse said it was getting closer to try and push. She checked me said the head was right there. From that point on she was trying to get the doctor to come in for me to push! She and I did a couple test pushes which helped me know what to do. Once the doc came, I was ready to push. Allison was such a great guide and made it possible for me to have this baby. She told me when and how to breathe, I would have no clue how to without her. With no pain, I got the baby out. It was not easy, but it was painless. I was so grateful for that. I got to feel his head between pushes, that about put me to tears. 

Once I saw him come all the way out I couldn't keep it together and broke down. It was the happiest moment of my life. Damon and I cried together. It was so special. The baby went right to my belly for the skin to skin contact but then right away to the NICU staff who were set up in the corner of the room. 

During labor I heard the doctor talking about possible heart problems and about how my placenta was ruptured already and something about too much blood in the amniotic sac. The NICU checked the baby, said he was fine, and left the room. Then I got to hold my baby for a couple hours after he was born. It was the best thing ever. He had blonde hair and his daddy's nose. Every bit of the pain and trouble felt that day and in the past 9 months was way more than worth it. 

6 pounds 14 ounces
19.25 inches
2:43 PM








3.08.17

things to consider...before choosing to become pregnant again

This post is really just for my journaling.


Week 4 (in this order)

• positive pregnancy test (a very faint line)
• sensitive breasts 
• acne
• canker sores
• missed period 
• great mood
• tired, lots of naps
• more ACNE
• lots of needing to go pee
• small amount of stomach discomfort

Week 5

• more peeing
• waking up with super dry lips and throat
• zits are improving
• tender breasts

Week 6

• first feeling of morning sickness that lasted more than 20 minutes
• nausea all day long
• first time throwing up (strawberries destroyed the Elementary school trash)

Week 7

• second time throwing up (this time in a nice private bathroom, thank you BYUI
• more throwing up
• not much eating

Week 8

• more nausea, seems like every other dayish
• first dr's appointment (everything looks good, i love ultrasounds and sonograms, find out real due date is Oct. 26th 2016)

Week 9

• sick still
• shared news with family!

Week 10

• finals week
• belly bump forms when I eat

Week 11

• feel sick after eating instead of before
• feeling less sick

Week 12

• Shared news with Facebook
• baby bump grows big when I eat!
• I actually feel like I have a bump now
• second appointment

Week 13

• SO TIRED
• take many naps and sleep fine at night
• student teaching is hard being prig

Week 14

• Still very tired
• morning sickness happening occasionally
• threw up
• trying morning sickness meds (Ondansetron 4mg) (only took it once)

Week 15

• more throwing up (on the side of the road in my own neighborhood)
• sick 2-3 days out of the week
• feeling more faint
• weird breathing issues at times
• hard time sleeping with body aches

Week 16

• threw up once or twice (it happens when I get grossed out by something for feel sick)
• found out that it is a BOY!

Week 17

• threw up on side of the road after BWW
• freaking out that i'm going to raise a boy!
• stuffy nose

Week 18

• blood in stool (assuming its hemorrhoids, constipation.
• I think i feel little baby kicks!
• more positive that the blood was from hemorrhoids, just going to let it be

Week 19

• stuffy nose
• woke up with sharp pain in left breast, lasted all day
• tender right breast but no pain
• both breasts are leaking, the left more than the right
• i read colostrum forms in the second trimester, assuming its just that

Week 20

• I feel like i'm done being sick! its been a couple of weeks since I've thrown up, woo!
• things still make me nauseous but its not too bad
• I feel more flutters each day, I love it and can't wait to meet him!
• exercising and eating healthier have been my goals lately and Damon has helped make them a reality
• I also haven't felt light headed in a long time (:

Week 21

• threw up a lot randomly! It was weird
• my belly is pretty large these days
• i'm feeling the little guy move around in there more and more
• I got the QUAD test and no one has called with any bad news so thats good
• i'm still hormonal: zits, crying etc
• my stuffy nose makes it hard for me to sleep + my belly

Week 22

• still stuffy nose, hard to sleep/breath
• Damon got to feel him this morning (:
• QUAD test came back negative
• 5 days until we move/pinkhouse!
• i think i'm finally feeling some real kicks! I love it.

Week 23

• I probably pee 20 times a day it seems
• stuffy noses at night are still going strong
• its weird not being able to do summer activities at the pink house like surfing

Week 24

• I'm losing sleep often (its 3:30am currently) I wake up because i'm too hot, have to pee, or can't breathe well or i'm so uncomfortable or all of them and am completely awake
• At church I got super light headed and almost passed out
• stuffy nose at night still (probably will last until the end)
• his kicks are so often though and I love it! Its like he's trying to get my attention but if I have someone else try and feel the kick he stops, stubborn already
• appointment july 11th weigh 129 lbs

Week 25

• sleep is still a struggle, that probably won't end; mainly its hard because I can't get comfortable;e without laying on my back but that is a no no so I try and stick to my sides
• I have to pee in the middle of the night often, i wake up randomly around 3-4 and am wide awake, can't go back to sleep for an hour or two
• other than that not much has changed
• we just discovered nothing has been covered by insurance but that's not as important as a healthy baby which we have and love

Week 26

• family reunion was not like usual, no volleyball, hikes, and not enough sleep!
• feeling this baby go crazy inside me is the best feeling ever, he is so active
• I have had some digestive issues going on (first diarrhea (Sat-Sun) haven't "gone" since Sat night

Week 27

• We went to Ephrata this week! 
• I was pretty tired and was not as comfortable traveling as usual
• no new symptoms, just a stuffy nose, weird dreams, and more kicks from the little guy
• I do enjoy people not expecting me to get up and do things
• next appointment is August 9th! glucose test!

Week 28

• this baby is so fun: right now my elbow is rested on my stomach and he keeps pushing on my elbow, i love it
• went to the pink house this week: traveling wasn't as fun as it usually is, I feel guilty kicking people out of the front seat because of my car sickness
• love this boy

Week 29

• so much kicking and moving, i love it and can't wait to meet him!
• started our birthing class this week, much needed
• I THINK i'm getting stretch marks on my breasts but not sure yet
• leg cramps after I exercise 
• feeling lucky in the 3rd trimester so far! (no heart burn, not much back pain, no Braxton hicks, no varicose veins)

Week 30

• marks on breasts look same, probably stretch marks
• starting to feel that back pain
• couldn't get much sleep at all one night because of the pain
• i'm SO tired, never been this tired my whole pregnancy
• had some sleepless night lately: up for 3 hours usually from like 5-8am.
• I've been walking/doing some butt workout almost daily for about 2 weeks, back pain isn't there anymore!

Week 31

• belly is HUGE
• starting to feel huge
• Its hard to get up and do things
• i'm also very tired
• belly button is almost an OUTIE
• wide awake at 3:45am, hard time sleeping/breathing

Week 32

• this baby boy has the hiccups very early in the morning! it is bittersweet
• back discomfort, very painful
• cramping at times, especially after sex
• belly button is no longer an innie
• he doesn't seem to kick/punch as much, not that much room in there

Week 33

• I love when this guy hiccups! He was at the doctor today
• we weigh 137.5 pounds at the beginning of this week
• i'm still trying to walk a lot
• he hiccups during the night also
• he is face down, i know that now
• streak of blood in discharge, nurse said it was okay
• lots of big movements
• baby heart beat 160

Week 34

• got the dark line that runs down the middle of your belly
• starting to get weird butt cramps randomly
• peeing a ton (more than ever!)
• seems like I maybe dropped but probably not
• so tired by 3:30pm
• noticing braxton hicks a lot more

Week 35

• we bought a house
• i had my baby shower
• i've been feeling pretty great!
• i had side ache pain one day this week
• no new stretch marks, not a lot of new symptoms this week
• getting harder to exercise each day and eat healthy

Week 36

• can't believe I'm 8 months pregnant! It's crazy.
• I'm starting to get all packed for the hospital and really starting to get nervous about labor and delivering this babe. my belly button is out for the world to see, my dad hates it
• back discomfort kept me up one night, hopefully just a one time thing
• today's appointment I am 4cm dilated and 85% effaced. freaking out a little

Week 37

• lots of braxton kicks, some consistently
• day 3: back pain all through out the night, mom says they are contractions
• losing more of mucus plug, its either a ton of discharge or none
• day 5: nothing new, going on a walk (also had sex this night)
• day 6: bloody show in the morning, back aches the night before, feeling extremely anxious; doc said 4-5cm and 90% effaced. No labor contractions yet :(

Week 38

• day 1: more of my plug came out today. Diarrhea today and yesterday 
• day 2: more mucus plug in morning and throughout day 
• day 3: more of plug 
• day 4: not much of anything happened 
• day 5: lots of back aches in morning and throughout day, more of plug; doctor says I'm just about a 5 and 90% effaced still. Day 6: on and off back contractions, worst pain yet; Crew Damon Chlarson was born October 18th 2016.

03.07.17