Tag: Newborn

Lake Life Half A Year In

Today marks Lake having been with us for 6 months now!

‘Time flies by ever so slowly,’ as they say 😉Actually I’m not sure if ‘they’ say it or if I have simply wrote it before 🤪

It is a little wild to think that we’ve been parents for half a year already but when I think of the day by day passing of time, it hasn’t felt THAT crazy quick.

Something that brings true awareness of how far Lake has come, is his newly arrived cousin who joined the family on March 9th. She in all her newborn ‘6 pounds and a bit’ littleness and he in his ’20 pounds and some’ largeness, make his advancements in size VERY apparent  😜

He has begun eating some solid foods… though I’m not sure why they called pureed carrots, mashed avocado and baby cereal ‘solids’ but whatever 🥴 He has enjoyed it all thus far and it seems to be helping stretch the hungry spells, just a smidgen longer 😅

Rolling from back to belly is no problem whatsoever but rolling the reverse way, though possible, is not as enjoyed. Pushing himself up with his arms has just begun to happen and sitting unassisted is an option, though a blanket nest built around him is still necessary for when an out of reach toy, or sneeze, causes the balance once had, to be lost 😜

Three naps a day are taken without too much fuss (naps with mommy are still the best though 😉) but the nights of 10 hour sleep stretches are no longer and I think we’ve only had two solid nights, in the last month or so. The 8 am wake up has been replaced by 6:00-7:00 and easily falling asleep at bedtime without a paci has now turned into waking up crying anytime the paci vacates the mouth 😬 He sleeps with a floppy bunny from his great grandma in Holland and hates if his feet are covered with the blankets.

Drool soaks the bibs or clothes rather rapidly and chewing on anything, or anyone, is considered an enjoyable passtime but no signs of the impending teeth yet.

He has begun to reach out his arms to get held and is very ticklish all over.

Blowing/spitting bubbles (with a fair bit of force) is an extra fun way to communicate, along with the usual screeches and coo’s.

Aside from a one recent hour long episode of great discontentment (crying/screaming) in the truck, he typically doesn’t mind the vehicle too much and is now out of the baby carrier and into the carseat, since he is too squished in the carrier.

He will sometimes give lovely mouth open, tongue out kisses on the cheek when asked and can finally use his hands enough to put his paci back in his mouth and hold his bottle.

He wears size 9-12 month clothing, smiles often and easily and for the most part, is still a pretty content and easy baby… especially if he doesn’t have to be wearing pants 😉

 

It just so happened that one week and one day after Lakes welcome into the world, a lady we know who happens to be an amazing photographer, was coming out to take photos of my sisters little people and as I was around, I got to join in on it.

Meaning I got some amazing photos of, and with, our fairly newborn son ☺️

She did a wonderful job, giving cues, directing poses and delivering the beautifully edited images speedily. I was in turn reassured with the fact that I’d forever have a reliable photographer on hand ☺️

So, happy 6 months to my already ‘not so little anymore’, little person and thank you to Talitha Rinas Photography for capturing some of his first days here 🖤

Talitha Rinas Photography

 

Follow Up Feelings

It was requested that when time allowed, I write a follow up to the post I wrote about my thoughts and feelings pre Lake being born.

You can find that post here – Aren’t You Excited ?! A Slightly Different Perspective On Pregnancy

Truly, I don’t have much to write about it, as the transition went a lot smoother than I was gearing up for 😬

I’m extremely thankful that Lake was (and still pretty much is 😉) a very content, happy and easy baby. Sleeping decently, quickly (though that’s slowly been changing as of late 🤪).

So I had time and a rested body on my side when it came to being eased into the baby thing.

When the occasional crying fits and long nights DID happen, I couldn’t imagine having had that to get through from the get go as some people do 😬
That could have very drastically changed the transition.

It sounds crazy to even me, but the fears and feelings I had, pretty much disappeared once Lake was with us in real life, physical form.

Not as in a huge wave of motherly love and emotion washed overwhelmingly around me the moment I first lay eyes upon him, in turn wiping away the past 10 months…

More like… maybe the pregnancy hormones just immediately began levelling back out the moment Lake left my body 😜

I just know I didn’t stay in the state I was prior to him being born.

Thank goodness 😅

I can’t give any tips or tricks, answers or reasons as to why or how those feelings changed, other than – they did.
That’s not very satisfying or helpful I know but maybe it can be considered at least ‘hopeful’ for someone who’s dealing with those pre baby emotions.

In conclusion, it is safe to say that I most certainly love him and am glad he’s a part of our family and that the trepidation of his arrival was indeed, uncalled for.

Still not saying that those were feelings I could have changed, because trust me, I tried to and I wanted to and it did nothing 🤪

In the end, all I can do is simply be thankful that they didn’t stay, that I have a happy and healthy baby and trust the feelings I expressed having prior to his birth, were read and of help to someone else going through the same thing ♥️

This is probably one of the most pointless seeming posts I’ve put up, as I have no answer, explanation or solution but it was asked that I post an update and thus, I have.
My apologies for the anticlimactic ending 😉

A ‘Rash-ional’ Recollection Of Post Babe Peculiarities

Though I can’t really give you great details as to what exactly happened/was felt on what day (that’s all totally gone and lost from the memory bank) I will detail (some in a semi discrete way of detailing) a few ‘things’ about what I and my person have experienced after having given birth to this blob 🤪

During the first days of that first week home, evenings were weird.
I realized I was probably overtired and dealing with a lot of hormonal things going on but for some reason, during the day I’d feel pretty good and ‘with it’ and then as soon as it started to get dark outside, the feelings got heavy.
It felt sad and lonely and scary inside the house…probably outside too but I didn’t find that out 🤪
It didn’t feel like there was any place for good feelings.
Not as in baby blues or a dislike of Lake or myself, just ALLLL the emotions of the day and the thoughts of facing the upcoming night, (though he was sleeping pretty decently) felt like a weight falling on me with the setting of the sun.
I felt like I couldn’t get enough light in the house and the realness of having a little life to care for became really, real.
The tears came nearly nightly for 3-4 four nights.

The patience with the husband was nearly non existent 😬

I found out I had burst blood vessels in both my eyes (most likely due to pushing) after my sister seen and told me.
I showed my mom and you’d think she would never have been able to be in the room with me WHILE I gave birth, by her repulsed reaction 😂

I’m bottle feeding Lake, so you can fill in the blanks as to why cabbage leaves and ibuprofen had to be purchased 4 days in 🤪
That was … different. Gravity didn’t exist and I don’t ever need/want to pay for the effects that were imitated… if you catch my drift 😂 If you don’t, too bad because I’m not going to explain 🙈

One nice-ish thing about being pregnant, was that I didn’t have more than one zit, for 9 months 😳
But that came back in a smattering of little pimples and an extremely, desert dry face 😬

Clinical strength deodorant had to be purchased to deal with a change of those hormones and extra strength meds were bought to combat the daily headaches, which began a couple weeks in and then lasted 5 weeks or so.

The doctor said the headaches were most likely caused from holding Lake so much and the way it twists your neck/shoulders, especially if you are prone to using one arm more than the other, which I am. His recommendations for relief were time, hydration and stretching.

I had some MAJOR baby brain.
If thinking coherent thoughts were represented by bouncy balls in baskets, all my baskets were thrown in the air and the bouncy balls were ricocheting off every single surface, not to be caught 🤪

I was forgetting stuff and also having trouble formulating thoughts and making decisions on new things, without feeling like the bouncy ball thoughts were also going to start exploding, along with their unstoppable bouncing 🙈

It has mostly revised itself… I think 🤓

A couple days post birthing him, my muscles began to feel very strained when I’d move around…my arms and neck having that same lingering feeling as your leg has after a bad Charlie horse.
That lasted a few days but the sore upper abdominal muscles/ribs when using them in specific movements, lingered for a good 9 weeks.

Haven’t had enough information yet?

Let’s talk rashes 🤓

During the following days of being home, the stretch marks on my stomach were a bit itchy but I tried to ignore it best I could.
Come Thursday the 22nd, I gave them a good, hard, relieving, amazing feeling scratch… and so it began. A rash then began to appear on my stomach and I figured it was just due to the extensive scratching.
During the day it progressively worsened and spread to my limbs and hands and come end of day, my face, ears, legs and feet, including the bottoms of my feet, were all rash ridden.

The itching was insane. I was able to call my doctor and get some cream for the husband to bring home and I applied that liberally and tried not to scratch.
The next day it was even worse. The desire to shred my skin off has never been so strong and writing about it, is almost making me get itchy again 😅
The sister mixed up some essential oils she’d read to try online and brought them over in the morning and then I went over to her house that afternoon to try an oatmeal bath. It eased it minimally while IN the bath but the gentle pat dry with a towel afterword, pretty much reawakened whatever it had calmed.

And it just got worse.

Come evening, I was standing trying to get up the courage to apply the cream, clenching my fists and teeth so hard I was quivering and near tears due to the current itch strength and the thought of having to touch my skin and make the itch even worse.

Via ‘the google’, it seemed like PUPPPs but that’s typically something gotten before the babe is born.

 

Come Saturday I went into the walk-in clinic and got some stronger meds.
The doctor said it seemed like a reaction to something and asked if I’d changed anything at home but Lake was the only thing I could think of 🤪 He then asked if I had a husband home to help, because the night time meds would knock me out and the day time ones could almost make me feel squirrelly 🥴🤪

Whatever they were… they worked 🙌🏻

Praise. The. Lord.
Seriously. I don’t know how to explain the itch properly or how a person would handle it DURING pregnancy when you’d have all the discomforts of pregnancy to add to it 😳😖😰
The meds took care of it within a couple of days and after that, any other post Lake body happenings, seemed pretty bearable 😅

I still feel a little paranoid when I get a strong random itch but besides that I think I’m pretty much back to my normal 🤪

I do believe that pretty much covers the most apparent and perhaps slightly unexpected, side effects I experienced after having had a baby.  Though most of these occurrences are ones I didn’t read or hear about before hand, when I was looking up what to expect after having a baby.

So I hope you found this enlightening, insightful or at least entertaining at my expense 🤪

If you had any unexpected side effects of having a baby and are willing to divulge, I’d love to hear about them! 🤪

I do believe I’m now out of the immediate danger zone for experiencing anymore overly weird bodily things in relation to this, so in ending the topic, I now leave you with this, the sincerest of wishes…

‘May you never itch, as I have itched’. 😂

The ‘Firsts’ Of Many!

Well, I never thought it would take me over 9 weeks to write a blog post about daily life 😅🙈

That being said, let’s just dive right in to this overview of Lakes first week home!

No pun intended 😜

16th – (The evening)

I finally opened up the gifts that had been left on the kitchen island! My sisters ‘new mom’ care package consisted of celebratory sparkling grape juice, a confetti birthday cake for Lake 😉 a starbucks gift card, travel coffee mug, hair masks and facial oil ❤ There was also a bag containing some sherbet colored tie-dye pj’s from the hubby 😉

The first NIGHT home with Lake, was horrendous 😣

It felt so wrong to have him in his own crib in his room, so we made up a makeshift bed beside ours and thus began the night of zero sleep for mommy 😬😜

‘Is that a normal noise or a not normal noise? Why is there no noise?’ and so the questions went, running through a very alert, yet at the same time very over-tired brain 😬
Fairly normal I’m sure but also SO exhausting and morning was pleasantly welcomed… just, very groggily 😬

17th –

Mike had went to work, so I had my first morning at home with the babe. I ate one of the blueberry bran muffins the sister-in-law had dropped off the day before and was super thankful for that easy and tasty way to begin the day… accompanied by a confetti cupcake from the sister for balancing out the health levels😉
Slowly trying to tidy the house between feedings, changings, swaddling and just trying to figure him out, as well as managing my own aches and pains, is what filled my morning.

My mom stopped by on her way to town later in the morning and after I tried to talk with her and had a tired (little😉) hormonal cry, she dropped me off at to my sisters and I ended up being there for the remainder of the day.

The process of getting ready to go to her house took much, MUCH longer than it ever had before and I still felt very unprepared 😅
I had to get dressed, feed and dress the babe, pack some stuff so I could have a bath there as we don’t have a tub and then try to pack up the diaper bag too. Although none of those tasks should be tricky, my brain function wasn’t at an all time high after having had roughly 8 hours of sleep over the previous three nights 🤪

I had a quick bath (as I still abhor baths) and changed into actual semi publicly acceptable clothes and was then treated to a yummy fried eggs and toast brunch before going to take a nap in the sisters room, whilst she babysat.

I slept for 2, VERY wonderful hours and probably could have continued but figured I shouldn’t 🤪

Next, I was served a tasty fruit smoothie and then she and I traded shoulder rubs.
I was served a healthy and delicious supper of spaghetti squash with blackened chicken and tomato sauce, as Mike was working a long day and wouldn’t be home for supper anyways.

My day there ended with a coffee and newly brightened outlook on life, after having been served all day 💗

We put Lake in his room that night and it was a much better sleep for us all.
His room is literally just a few steps across from ours and with the doors open, there is more than enough nearness to be aware of his needs 😉
It still felt a little wrong… knowing that he’d only known a warm, dark, comfy and noisy place up till this point in his life, where he now lay all alone in a ‘big’ empty bed 🤪🙈

18th –

It was a very pretty morning that awaited me prior to Lakes breakfast feeding ☺️

Mike went into town to take care of a few things and I tried to finish cleaning up the house, give Lake a little wash cloth bath and get myself ready for the health nurses visit.

Mike was back at the house before they arrived that afternoon.
One asked me questions about my recovery etc. while the other looked over Lake.

It took three try’s to weigh him, during which on the third try he went #1 and #2 on their scale🤪

Besides a bit of a rash under his one arm, he was looking good and we just had to try to not keep him too warm and air out his little pit/put some rash cream on it for a few days.

A call with Oma Inge gave us some more tips on how to care for it as well 👍🏻

A family photo was snapped since we looked semi put together… note the vacuum behind us though 🤪

Thanks to a reminder from a friend, I actually snapped a picture of just myself and Lake later that day, not really having thought to do that up to that point.

19th –

I took a picture of his fuzzy little ears, wanting to document them before the hair went away, as there are few opportunities in life where hairy ears, are considered cute 🤪🙈

(Even here, they are almost verging on creepy more than cute 🤪 )

Mike hung out around home for a little bit before he went to Saskatoon to buy a vehicle 🤪

I then went to the parents house for dinner/the evening.
Where Lake enjoyed a leg massage via grams 🤪

Mike came there with the new vehicle and informed us that it was MY and Lakes car… cause I drive so much 😂
But whatever 😉💁🏻‍♀️

New baby, new car… typical Mike 😏

Once home, there was some laundry to be tended to before bed 🤪

20th –

We stayed home and listened to a sermon that Sunday and then actually had some family friends over for lunch ☺️
Sundays can feel long when spent at home after a Saturday at home too, I was feeling fine, Mike was going to grill and they wanted to meet Lake asap, so it all worked out perfectly 😉

Beside the fact that our guest insisted on bringing the salad and dessert, so I didn’t have a whole lot to take care of preparation wise 🤪

We spent the afternoon visiting with them, the sister and her littles came over too around the dessert portion of the day and the husbands went to look at an acreage that Mike had seen was for sale and we’d taken a look at before Lake was born.

Atlas was caught by Mike, sneaking a peek at the babe in his room 😏

21st-

Monday brought with it some beautiful weather that needed to be taken advantage of 😄
So, after Mom came over and helped me give Lake another bath, we bundled him up for his first ‘walk’.

It was most definitely a slower walk then we’d went on pre Lake, every bump and jostle seeming like it must feel as though there was an earthquake in the stroller seat for the babe🙈

After we completed our walk, we enjoyed some of the creamy potato soup my dear friend had left with me the day before ☺️🙌🏻

Atlas was found asleep in Lakes crib, multiple times.

The funny thing is that prior to Lake being in the house with us, she had zero interest in his room.
It had been finished and ready, door open, for weeks. During which she never went in it but after laying Lake in his bed for half an hour or so the first day we were home, she was later found asleep in his crib.
Attempting to reclaim her territory I would presume 😬😅

22nd –

My friend who moved to Ontario was back visiting and had a chance to come make Lakes acquaintance ☺️ She MADE him this thick, cozy blanket and putting aside the face he is making, he loved it I’m certain 😉

I somehow did more socializing and being ready to see people and having a clean house in Lakes first week of life, then any of the months before he was born 🤪
It was so nice to be able to see her though, since if she hadn’t happened to be visiting, it would most likely have been some time before she’d get to see him.

The health nurses called to check up on me and the babe again, just making sure all was still going well, which thankfully, it was ☺️

This doesn’t really detail the many night wakings and general emotions that also occurred during this first week but perhaps a post on those ‘pleasantries’, shall follow 🤓

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