Tag Archives: Babies

Another baby?

Posted on by
Reply

Do y’all want another baby? 👶🏻

I’ve gotten that question so many times it actually makes me laugh. I mean, I literally just popped one out! Give me some time people! 😂

Before I was married and had kids I was constantly questioned “when are you getting married?” As if I knew exactly when it would happen. I understand people mean it in a harmless way. But there’s different ways to say or ask things. And in all honestly, that’s not exactly an appropriate question to ask. It’s not the best feeling to be asked when you’re getting married if you don’t have a boyfriend, haven’t had that conversation or aren’t in that place yet. There isn’t, and shouldn’t be a schedule for that type of thing. Everyone should just do things on their own time.

There’s definitely a time and a place to ask certain questions. I don’t mind people asking if I want to have another baby. I just think days/weeks after I JUST popped one out isn’t exactly the appropriate time. I’m focused on my two current ones. Taking care of a newborn and a 2 year old is a lot of work. I need time to find my footing before I even think about a third one.

Right now my only future thought is when will my next shower be? That’s about as far into the future as I can plan right now. 🤷🏼‍♀️

3 weeks post delivery

Posted on by
Reply

Almost 3 weeks post delivery. My body isn’t ready for regular workouts yet but I had been itching to just get out and move. Camden and I have started coming up to our golf club and just walking the track. It’s nothing major but gets me out of the house and moving! 🏃‍♀️

I’m not in a huge rush to lose the baby weight this time. With Ryder I was so panicked about the extra weight and wanted to get in the gym the day after I had him to start working it off. (I didn’t but I wanted to)💪🏻

This time around I’m taking it slow. I know I can get the weight off. So rather than pushing myself like a crazy person, I’m just taking my time and easing into everything. The weight will come off in due time. I’m more focused on making sure I get in enough calories daily and am eating good foods to fuel Camden! 🍎

Epidurals

Posted on by
Reply

Epidurals…..to have one or not. There’s a lot of mixed reviews. I was one who was adamant about having one. I have a decently high pain tolerance but childbirth was not a pain I wanted to endure. Plus I wanted to be able to have my full attention on what was happening. I wanted to be able to remember every second without something like debilitating pain blurring memories. 😖

.

Everyone reacts differently to anesthesia. I have no major issues with it. It makes my belly itch a few hours after I’ve stopped being administered it, but that’s the only side effect I’ve ever gotten. Just because one person has a certain reaction to it, doesn’t mean you will too. Everyone’s body is different. 💪🏻

.

The epidural itself was pretty quick and easy. I felt a little pressure and a small prick but I never felt any major pain when the doctor was administering it. When the medication hit my body I felt a small burn like a fresh sunburn. After that I began to feel a little tingling in my feet. Not the annoying tingling you get when your foot falls asleep. A manageable non annoying one. Within 30 minutes my legs were starting to numb, and I felt no more pain. I could feel pressure but no pain. After about an hour I could no longer move my legs on my own. I would wiggle my toes a little but I couldn’t actually feel them. 🦶🏻

.

Again, everyone is different. I am a fan of epidurals and highly encourage it if your doctor gives the approval for you to have one. I was able to sleep, talk/text with people and remember every bit of the birth thanks to the epidural. Would I like to be able to say I was strong enough to endure a natural non medicated birth? Ya maybe. But I don’t know that I would have enjoyed the process and been able to relax and remember everything that I do if I hadn’t gotten medication. To each their own! Everyone is different. I am very happy with my decision and wouldn’t change anything about the process we went through. 💙

I’ve got PUPPP…..

Posted on by
Reply

Guess who got PUPPP again! 😩 With Ryder it didn’t kick in till 2 weeks after I gave birth. With Camden it hit me the second day after birth. I’ve forgotten how miserable PUPPP is. Sooooo itchy and hot!

If you’re unfamiliar with PUPPP (Pruritic Urticated Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy), don’t worry you aren’t missing anything exciting. PUPPP only occurs in about 1% of pregnant or post pregnancy women. It is an extremely itchy, non contagious, red, bumpy rash that shows up on the belly and sometimes down the legs, butt and on arms.

PUPPP is most common in women in their 3rd trimester. But if you’re one of those rare special people like me, it’s possible to get it after delivery. They are still unsure what causes PUPPP. There are a few theories that it’s maybe genetic.

I’ve tried everything to get rid of mine or at least just relieve the itching. Oatmeal and baking soda compresses didn’t work (can’t take a bath just yet since I just gave birth). Hydrocortisone helped for a second but it felt like it moisturized more than relieving the itch. The only thing that gave me actual relief was pine tar soap. It doesn’t have the best smell so beware if you try it. It’s got a strong outdoorsy smell. But it helped with the itching and eventually got rid of the rash the first time after about a little over a week of use.

Im not thrilled I have to go through the process of dealing with PUPPP again. But at least I know what to expect this time around! 🙏🏻

Dogs and kids

Posted on by
Reply

One thing I’ve found interesting over the last two years is how attached my dog Sadie has become to Ryder. 🐕

When I brought him home from the hospital she snarled and growled at him. She would pace by his bed and whine. She was clearly unhappy. I really worried that she was not going to be ok with him. ❌

I gradually introduced Sadie to Ryder. I made sure to only pet her when I was holding him. I wanted her to understand that when I had him, I still loved her and would give her attention. When I wasn’t holding him I sort of ignored her. So she got rewarded for being good when he was close. After about a month she eased up and become interested in him. By the time he was 3 months old, she would actually go and lay by him. Now, he’s almost 2 and she is glued to him. She follows him all around the house. 💙

She’s really protective of him and careful of what he does. If he does something she knows he’s not supposed to she lets out this growl. It’s not a mad growl like when she growls at the mail man or lawn guys. It’s like a warning growl. As if she’s telling him not to do that. 😡

When Ryder gets too close to the pool or is in the pool and gets too close to the steps, she will actually growl and put her body in between him and the pool/steps. If he goes over by the deep end to put his hand in, she runs over and lightly nudges his arm and growls as if to tell him to tell him to stop. He’s even put things in the pool that didn’t belong there and she went to retrieve the item out of the pool, and move it far away from him. 🏊🏻

Every dog is different. I never expected Sadie to take to Ryder as well as she did, but I’m so grateful. It’s nice having a second set of “eyes” on him. She may not be able to do as much as me but I love that she tries to help keep him safe. 💙

Baby 1 meeting baby 2

Posted on by
Reply

Everyone keeps asking me how I think Ryder is going to handle having a new baby around. I literally have no idea. And all the questions have started making me feel a little guilty. That sounds horrible when I say it out loud. But in all honesty I’m a little nervous. I don’t want him feeling attention deprived or think I love him any less. I’m having a hard time with that right now. 🤦🏼‍♀️

I know the positive patty’s of the world are going to tell me he will be just fine and everything will turn out great. Yeah yeah, leave me alone. I know everything will be just fine, but that doesn’t mean my mom guilt just goes away or lessons any right now. 😢

I know it may take a few weeks and he will eventually adjust to the change and realize I’m still here and still love him as much as I ever have. It just tears at my heart that for any amount of time he would be upset or sad. He’s the happiest kid ever so it breaks my heart to see him upset. 💙

Organizing for baby #2

Posted on by
Reply

Getting organized for baby #2 has been pretty easy. The fact that our kids will be so close in age helps because most of the baby clothes, toys, etc that we got for Ryder we still have and are in good condition. There are a few additional items we needed or things that needed replacing from wear and tear.

In order to keep an organized list of what we needed for the new baby, I actually created a private baby registry. Every month I buy things off my registry. Sort of like checking things off a list. For Christmas or my birthday when my mother asked what I wanted, I would send her a link to items on the registry! Funny how things have changed. I used to ask for items for myself for my birthday or Christmas. Now I ask for things for my kids, that make my life easier! 😂

I’ve had people ask if I’m going to have a baby shower for this second baby. My answer is no. I’m a traditional person. So I think it’s only proper to have a baby shower for your first child. I find it weird when people have baby showers for their other children. A “sprinkle” I totally get. Those are small and typically you are just given diapers. Not to mention it’s an excuse for a party! But a full on baby shower…..no. ❌

I definitely feel more prepared for this second baby. Having kept all of Ryder’s baby things and making my lists keeps me organized and free of stress. The fact that we aren’t moving houses at the same time we are bringing the new baby home is definitely making it easier this time around. Lesson learned. 😂

Clean up

Posted on by
Reply

Baby pee, easy clean up. Baby poop, no prob. Baby vomit, not ideal but I’m fine cleaning but up. However, today I had to use my nail to clean a booger out of my kids nose because the wipes, Kleenex and sucker wouldn’t get it……THAT almost made me vomit. I was literally gagging trying to clean his nose. That was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve done in a while! Ridiculous I know. I guess we all have our “gross out” things. 🤷🏼‍♀️

What do you do all day?

Posted on by
Reply

Being a stay-at-home mom I’m often asked “what do you do all day?” Sometimes it’s asked harmlessly, and other times it’s asked as if the person thinks I just lay around and watch tv all day. It actually makes me laugh when someone asks that. Some of the time I want to make up something ridiculous just to see what they say in response. 😂

But truthfully my days are never “relaxing.” I don’t get much downtime. Once Ryder started walking, any free minute I had was taken up by chasing him around and cleaning. This kid can destroy a room in under 2 minutes. Yet it takes me at least 10-15 minutes to put the room back together. 🤦🏼‍♀️

His favorite thing to do is take things out of drawers and move them other places. Yesterday he emptied out two clothing drawers and put everything in the bathtub. While I was folding the clothes and putting them away, he was in his room taking diapers out of their bin and throwing them in the kitchen. Once that was complete he found the two kitchen drawers that aren’t baby proofed and emptied them of everything (don’t worry it’s just things like chip clips in that drawer).

The cleanup is never ending. I can’t get mad at ryder because he’s not doing it to be “mean.” He doesn’t know better. He just thinks it’s fun to empty drawers and boxes. We are working on explaining why we don’t take everything out of drawers. But each time he just looks at me like “ok mom are you done, I see another drawer to empty.” 😂

In addition to the daily pick up game, I have food to make, a house to clean, laundry to do, errands to run, etc. It’s never ending. But I’m not complaining. I do love it. 💙

So when someone asks me what I do all day, rather than give the long version, I just say they I chase Ryder around all day. That pretty much sums it up. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Injury flashbacks

Posted on by
Reply

The other day when I was dropping Ryder off at our gym daycare, a little boy about his age fell while playing outside and busted his nose. There was blood everywhere. The child was screaming of course out of fear and I’m sure pain. I knew it was going to freak ryder out a bit with people rushing around. He seemed ok so I left.

A few minutes later I heard the siren for the paramedics. I immediately went right back to the daycare. I knew when ryder saw those paramedics he would have a flashback to his accident a few weeks ago and freak out.

When I got to the daycare I found ryder hiding in a corner of the room. He wasn’t crying or anything he was just hiding and looking at everyone with a nervous look. When he saw me he walked over and just hugged me. I stayed until the paramedics left. I wanted him to know they were ok and there to help, but I also wanted him to know I was there to help make him feel safe.

After everything settled and I left, they said he did great. He went back to playing like he does every day. Did I have to go back in there when I heard the paramedics? No. But the accident he had a few weeks ago there is still fresh in his memory and I want him to be comfortable at daycare and not scared of it or of paramedics.

Call it coddling or babying, that’s your opinion. Everyone handles situations differently and this is how I chose to handle this one. To each their own. But having my 1 1/2 year old scared because he remembers his own first major injury is just not something I wanted him to be alone for. 💙