A day in the life

I want to capture what my life looks like right now as a new mommy, full time nurse, and part time student. I've seen this type of post on several blogs before and I thought it would be neat to write one, especially to be able to look back at it one day. To do "A day in the life" properly, I need 2 seperate days. One of what a day looks like when I am home, and one when I am working.

A day I am working (every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday):

6am- Kyle's alarm goes off, I am typically annoyed and keep my eyes closed pretending to be sleeping. He"quietly" gets up and gets dressed and heads off to the gym/work.

6:45am- My alarm goes off. Wasn't it just 6am? I quickly get dressed in scrubs (so glad I don't have to pick out an outfit) and do my hair/makeup. At this time I usually hear Kim, our sitter, let herself in and get settled downstairs.

7am- Macy starts to stir and I go in her room to wake her up/ feed her. I quickly nurse her then Kim comes upstairs to burp her and get her dressed for the day.

7:30am- I grab a bite to eat (usually peanut butter on a slice of bread) and head out the door for work. I only have a 10 minute commute which I love! I have to get there a little early so I change in to OR scrubs.

8:00am- Clock in and take care of patients for the next 10-12 hours.

8:30pm- Get home. Macy may or may not already be down for the night. I eat a small dinner and cuddle with the hubby on the couch watching TV.

10:30pm- Get Macy from her crib and do a quick "dream feed". (Hoping to drop these soon!)

10:45-11pm- Pass out in bed! Say our prayers, kiss each other, and never look back.

A day at home with the babe:

6am- Once again, Kyle's alarm goes off and I am wishing it wasn't. I need to sleep!

7am-ish-Macy starts making noises in her crib that wake me up. I usually let her lay awake for at least 10 minutes in the morning so she can get used to entertaining herself in her crib. I am still drifting in and out of sleep at this pont.

7:30am- Go get her up, change her diaper, and bring her in to my bed to play for a little bit, while mommy struggles to keep her eyes open. She usually just lays there and talks to herself for awhile.

8am- Feed the babe. Get her dressed for the day, get myself dressed as well. Typically yoga pants and a tshirt. Who have I got to impress?

8-10am- Bring Macy downstairs and put her on her playmat. Give her tons of toy options and make myself some breakfast. (Usually a bowl of cereal) Once she gets bored on her playmat I get on the floor with her and we work on her rolling and sitting up skills. Once she starts to get fussy I know play time is over.

10-10:30am- Lay Macy in her crib for her morning nap.

10:30-12p- I try to catch up on homework and housework while Macy sleeps. Lately I've been avoiding my treadmill workouts that I used to do at this time. Once everything is cleaned and accomplished I usually veg out on the couch watching TV until Little Miss wakes up.

12p- Macy wakes up from her nap and I feed her again. If we have errands to run this is usually when we do. Or we go on a walk, or we just do some of the same things we did earlier this morning. Play on the floor and work on our exercies.

3p- Macy finally is worn out and goes back down in her crib for a nap. This nap is usually shorter.

4p- She is back up and ready to eat. I feed the babe and Daddy usually gets home around 5. We all hang out, talk about what we want to do for dinner and lounge around, catching up on each other's day.

6ish- Macy lays down for another shorter nap. Kyle and I make a final decision on dinner, which usually requires him going out to pick something up (like Qdoba or Subway)

7p- Like clockwork she's back up and ready to eat. I feed Macy cereal and nurse her, give her a bath and put her in her jammies. Then more play time to wear her out.

8:30ish- Macy starts to get fussy so we lay her down in her crib and then watch some TV and relax. I will make lunch for the next work day and clean bottles/breast pump stuff, pick up all her toys, and any other sutff laying around the house.

10pm- Go upstairs and get ready for bed. Teeth brushed, jams on, lay in bed for a little bit struggling to keep to my eyes open. Like I mentioned before, hopefully we can wean the dream feed soon.

10:30- Get Macy and bring her in our room for a dream feed. Kyle is most likely asleep by now so that doesn't help. Lay her down right away afterwards.

11ish-pm- Crawl back in bed, wake up Kyle for our nightly prayer and quickly fall asleep! Zzzzzzz!

There it is. A day in the life.

After going over our typical day when I am home, I realize there is definitely room for improvement! My two biggest imporvements would be to work out while Macy takes her long morning nap. And to make dinner while she takes her evening nap. I never know what to make, therefor to don't know what to buy at the grocery, therefor don't have anything in the house when it comes time to fix something. Looks like I'll be going to the grocery this weekend!

4 Months of Macy

After reading over Macy's 3 month stats I can't believe how much has changed! Likes, dislikes,  and feedings have all evolved so much even in one month. This month has FLOWN BY, probably because I am back at work, but man - I would like time to slow down a little bit!

Happy Girl. September 24, 2012

4 Month Stats

Weight: 15lbs 7oz (50-75th percentile)

Height: 26 inches (95th percentile)

Clothing size: Some 3-6 month clothing, depending on the brand... But mostly 6 months (definitely in Carters) She is a long baby!

Diaper size: 1

Feeding: We have officially started on cereal! Macy's pediatrician told me that the new guidelines are to wait and start babies on cereal at 6 months. I contemplated this for a couple days, then decided that I am the mommy and I think my baby is ready for cereal- for a couple of reasons. A- She is taking an 8 ounce bottle for my sitter every 4 hours when I am working... 8 ounces! B- She had been sleeping through the night like an angel (10p-7 or 8a) then BAM out of nowhere she was waking up several times through the night. Also, the reason the new suggestion is 6 months is to promote breastfeeding... And Macy is a great nurser. She has zero issues with it and I just didn't feel like adding cereal was going to change that. And furthermore I had heard that if they weren't ready they wouldn't eat it. So last week we tried it.. AND SHE LOVED IT. She couldn't get enough. She was literally grabbing the spoon and shoving it in her mouth to the point of gagging herself. That night (and every night since) she has gone back to sleeping through the night. At this point we are still only doing cereal at night, around 7, and nursing/bottle feeding her every 3-4 hours during the day while she is awake.

First time trying cereal -YUM YUM!

Milestones:  Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Besides a brief couple days last week (before cereal) Macy has been sleeping like a champ at night. We have also found out that she is a belly sleeper. Our sitter discovered this when Macy wasn' taking good naps for her while I was at work (even in her swing). So one day she just laid her on her tummy and she took a 2 and half hour nap. So now, all of her naps are in her crib on her tummy. She takes two to three 1.5-2.5hr naps each day. She hasn't slept in her swing at all. It is so nice to be able to lay her down in her crib, usually awake, and she can drift off to sleep and stay alseep. It has really freed me up during the days to get a lot more accomplished! Just this week we decided to go ahead and lay her on her tummy at night too since she is so strong- and she slept like a little angel as well.


Sometimes sleeping on her stomach leads to weird positions like this one.  

Loves: Toys! She loves exploring things with her little fingers and mouth of course. She sucks on her paci clip holder all the time. She also loves looking at herself in the mirror. It is probably the cutest thing ever. Every time I hold her in front of the mirror the moment she notices herself she gasps and then starts laughing and flirting with herself. I die.

One of her faves

Dislikes: Believe it or not, we can (almost) remove tummy time off of the dislike list! She has become a master roller from tummy to back, so that helps alleviate her hatred towards it.

Adventures: Mom and dad had our first overnight adventure away from baby. Macy did great and because she sleeps through the night now I was a lot less worried about her.

Mom and dad's first night away!

What we couldn't live with out: Toys, her play mat, and cute jammies! Now that we are out of the swaddle jammies have become an official part of the wardrobe now, and oh my goodness- jams are so stinking cute!

No more swaddle for me! I love my jams!

Growing Growing Girl!

3 Months of Macy and Mama is back to work!

12 weeks came with more than one milestone. For one, I have a 3 month old! Who plays, interacts, sleeps longer at night, the list goes on! And secondly... it meant that it was time to stop pretending I was a stay at home mom and get my booty back to work. More on that in a little bit... Now let's get to Macy's 3 Month Stats

August 24, 2012

Getting bigger and bigger!

3 Month Stats

Weight: 14.2 whopping lbs! (according to our home scale)

Height: Not sure...But I know she has grown! She will get measured next month at her 4 month check up.

Clothing size: 3 months, actually some 3-6 month clothes ;( She is a long baby!

Diaper size: 1

Feeding: Still eating (nursing or bottle) every 3-4 hours during the day, with her last feeding around 10pm. She is able to make it through most of the night with out a feeding. The earliest I will feed her is 5:30ish, but I am still trying to break her of that. The latest she has slept so far is 7:30. It has been a slow process to get this little chica to sleep all night! The good thing is, when she does wake up around 5ish or even 7, I can feed her and lay her right back down to sleep -and then sleeps until 8 or 9. (or 10!) Our goal is to drop that 5am feeding permanently!

Milestones: So many!I don't even know where to begin. She is really starting to communicate and gets so excited when she sees us. When we lay her on her play mat she intentionally grabs at things (whereas last month she just batted at the toys). She does a really good job sitting up with little support. And of course, one milestone is that mommy went back to work!

Loves: Being talked to, laying on her back playing with rings and is the most happy when she wakes up in the morning.

A picture of Macy on our monitor- giggling to herself first thing in the morning

Dislikes: Still hating tummy time. She can tolerate it better on some days over others. But for the most part she pretty much hates being placed on her stomach.

Tolerating tummy time with a little help from a pillow

Adventures: We had two different spend-the-night adventures. Both of which she handled pretty well. The first one was at the beginning of the month- we went to visit Grampy Shmev in South Bend. She got to go on her first boat ride and go swimming. The next one was a trip up to Valparaiso where she got to see mommy and daddy's college friends and have a sleepover with everybody.

Macy lovin her first boat ride with Teresa!

What we couldn't live with out: Still going to have to say her swing. We are trying one nap a day in her crib, but her best naps are still in her swing. We also took it with us on both out of town adventures and couldn't have made it with out it! She also loves rings... The little plastic rings that link together. They are the perfect size for her little tiny hands right now.

Took her rings with her for nap time

I started back to work this past week, and it has gone better than expected. We are so very blessed to have a nanny that comes to our house the 3 days a week while I am at work. So Macy gets one on one time and gets to stay home, sleep in in her bed, and be in her own surroundings every day. I have actually enjoyed my time away -I love being a nurse, and it is good for me to have some "me time". I have the ideal schedule - Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays (12 hour shifts). I have a 3 day weekend every week and a mid-week break as well. It has been great! I have also started my semester at school (going for my Nurse Practitioner) too so I am learning how to balance being a full time working mom AND student! Those naps of hers are more important now than ever!

I am looking forward to the next month -at 4 months she will get to start eating cereal and will be moving around and playing even more. It has been so much fun these past 3 months... I could lay on the floor talking and playing with sweet Macy Jane for hours on end. Being a mom has been so fulfilling and has definitely made me a better person!

New Mommy Must Haves

Now that I have been a mommy for almost 12 weeks, I am in no way an expert, but I have definitely found what works for me and Miss Macy Jane. It took a while to get in the swing of things, but now that we have a system down I think we are doing great!

Before we get to my Top Ten Must Haves... Let's take a moment and ohh and ahh over this angel

Ok, now my Top Ten Must Haves thus far are:

1. A night light
This has really been an important part of our night time routine. When Macy was in my room her bassinet sat right beside my bed and on the wall next to us was a night light. It provided just enough light for me to see her in the middle of night and feed her with out having to turn on a lamp and wake up my husband. When I moved her to her room I took the night light with us and it has been just as helpful. It is plugged in next to the chair I feed her in. That way I don't have to turn on a brighter light that would wake either of us up more than we have to.

The best 5 bucks you will spend

2. My Boppy
It is a lifesaver when it comes to proper positioning while feeding, allowing me to have both hands free (to usually play on phone). Once I am done feeding her I can rest her in it too, allowing her head to still be up with a full belly. Now that her neck is stronger I can sit her in the middle and let her work on her core strength, and we also do tummy time on it. (She prefers that much more than tummy time on a flat surface)

3. Gas Drops
We have been giving Macy gas drops since the day we brought her home. We don't give them with every feeding but definitely before bed each night. Poor little girl can wake her self up in tears with gas, so giving her the gas drops are a must!

(I usually buy the Target brand to save some $$)

4. Pacis and Paci Clips
Macy's favorite accessory (besides her bows, of course) are her cute paci clips. I ordered these from Etsy months before I had her, and I'm so glad I did! It is easier to just clip one on her if we need it, and if not then that's ok too. It is always good to be prepared!

5. Her Activity Gym
Ever since she was about 2 weeks old I have been able to lay her on her mat and get things done. With in the last month she is really starting to interact with it much more. It is so fun to watch her look at herself in the mirror, bat and kick at all of her friends, and grab hold of the little rings. She spends time on this after each feeding during her wake time if we are home. She can entertain herself on this thing for about 30 minutes.

Hanging out with my friends

6. Our Baby Trend stroller
A travel system is a must! It is so convenient to be able to click in her car seat and take her wherever we need to go. Being that we live downtown, we really wanted rubber wheels and a smooth ride. We knew that we would be outside a lot. I also wanted the option to be able to jog with it too -which this one is perfect for. It is everything we could have asked for and if I had do pick all over again I would still choose this combo.

Taking Little Miss for a walk on the canal

7. A travel fan
I bought this beauty from CVS in the summer section. I have sent many other new moms to get one, but unfortunately they have not been able to find it. I also looked online for it too to add a link, but can't find it. This thing is like gold. With the crazy heat we have experienced this summer, I felt guilty taking her on walks because she would get so hot. Also, because she faces the back of the car, she doesn't get much air flow in the car either. Both of those issues were easily solved with this thing. Also, most importantly, the fan blades are Styrofoam so she can hit it with her hands (which she does frequently) safely. It was the best $4.99 I have ever spent!

Macy putting her fan to good use!

8. Her Swing!
As I have said before, we were not going to purchase a swing. Mostly because of space, but I will tell you- we could not live with out it! She takes her best naps on this thing... and we even take it with us places if we know we are going to be there for awhile. (Like our friends' houses). Macy loves this thing... and the best part about it is if she wakes up during a nap she can always fall back asleep in it without any mommy intervention.

9. Our Motorola baby monitor
This is the Cadillac of baby monitors! We were very blessed that Kyle's dad bought this for us, because we would have probably settled for a cheaper monitor. There isn't anything this thing doesn't do. The picture quality is amazing, we can control everything from the hand held screen, and it came with 2 cameras so we have one set up in her room and one in the basement. It is also light weight and easy to throw in the diaper bag if we need to.

10. SwaddleMe sacks
Every night we do the same thing with Macy to prepare her for bed. And one of those things is swaddle her up in a SwaddleMe sack. We have them in pink, zebra and leopard. We always leave one arm out though because she likes to sleep with her arm up by her head. It is nice because we don't have to worry about jammies or blankets. We just put her in one of these and she is ready for the night!

My mommy has a zebra addiction!

I would say that would be the top things that have gotten us through the first 12 weeks. There are other things of course, but these are the must-haves! I will be interested to see how this list changes as sweet Macy gets older.

It's time

It's time. It is finally time to get myself back in shape and lose this baby weight (that I thought was going to magically fall off). I have enjoyed being a new mommy and having this time off work, eating like I was still pregnant, and lounging around holding my presh Macers all day... but the time has come to get back to reality. The reality that I will be starting work soon, the reality that if I don't lose this weight sooner than later it will only get more difficult, and the reality that no, I am not "one of the lucky ones" who looks fabulous immediately after popping out a human being.

The Breakdown:

My weight has always fluctuated in a plus or minus 10-15lb range. I could look at cake and gain 5 pounds, then think about working out and lose it. With that I managed to maintain for the better part of my life in the 130-140lb range. That was until I got married... until I started eating meals with someone each day that could eat whatever he wanted. We ate the same things and, unfortunately, ate about the same amount of things too. So before I even got pregnant I managed to sneak up to about 150lbs. I was fat and happy. So next comes the (unexpected) pregnancy. We definitely wanted to start having a family but first planned on saving more money, take more vacations, and I wanted to lose weight before I got pregnant -knowing that gaining more would only make it worse. Well none of things happened and here I am, 10 weeks post partum, with a mountain to climb ahead of me.

Stats:

Weight gained during pregnancy: 43lbs ((did I mentioned how much I enjoyed eating my way through my pregnancy?))
Weight lost so far: 23lbs
Weight to lose to get back to pre-pregnancy weight: 20lbs
Goal weight to lose: 30lbs

30lbs. Ugh, that sounds terrible. I have never had to lose that much weight in my life, and I know it isn't going to be easy. I know that it is going to require to give up things that I like (mostly sweets!) and to be disciplined in every area of my life.

I have 2 weeks before I start back at work and would really like 2 strong weeks of workouts and clean eating. Once I go back I will be working long 12 hour shifts, will be around pitch ins and a McDonald's in our lobby, and will not be able to workout those 3 days. -Which yes, I probably could work out those days, but the thought of having something take up any more of my time after being away from my babe for 12 hours just doesn't seem reasonable. But that does leave me 4 days a week to work out, so I'll take that.

I am not going to go on a "diet" like South Beach or Atkins.. I am just going to eat better. Knowing what to eat isn't hard (veggies=good, fries=bad) the hard part comes in having the will power to make good decisions. For my workouts I will continue to do/finish the C25k program and run more as well as add in some strength training -will probably do Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred a couple days a week. I've also got few blogs that I like to use as inspiration like my friend Brandi's blog. (you should check it out, she's bascially a celebrity!)

Setting this goal is intimidating, because the thought of not reaching it is heart wrenching. I want to be my best self for health reasons, for my husband, to be a good mom -but mostly for ME. So here it goes... Wish me luck as I take on the biggest feat of weight loss I have ever had to endure!

The hubby and I on our honeymoon- weight: about 130

July 2012 -weight: 170

2 Months of Macy

Last week marked Week 8 of Miss Macy's life, and today marks Month 2! I remember hearing that at week 6, you really start to notice a difference -and that couldn't be more true! I even see a huge difference between weeks 6 and 8. Macy is much more social, I am guaranteed smiles and coo's after each feeding and she is also pretty predictable now. I am really beginning to figure out what each cry means, and how to set a schedule that works for both her and me. Of course, it is still a learning process, but I am feeling more and more confident.

The doctor once again said "she is perfect!"

2 Month Stats

Weight: 11 pounds 12 ounces (50th percentile)

Height: 23 1/2inches (95th percentile)

Clothing size: 0-3 months and 3 months. I've noticed some of the 0-3 month clothing is a little short on her. 

Diaper size: 1

Feeding: She is a great eater! I have been blessed in that nursing has been super easy. Since the day I brought her home she knew what to do. I am not a fan of pumping so if we are out and about and I need to give her a bottle we usually just give her formula. She is a champ with that too -she takes whatever we give her with out any issues. I have noticed though that she seems to stay fuller longer when she nurses vs. taking a bottle of formula.

Milestones: Extended sleep! Finally! Literally this week she has finally started extending her sleep hours, and I pray that it continues. Sunday night she made it almost 7 hours, last night 6.5. I am ready to put her in her room, so this extended sleeping is going to make it so much better!
Also- I'm loving her communication skills. Lots of smiles and flirting. Melts my heart.

Loves: Still loves being held, rocked, talked to. 

Dislikes: Getting over tired. Something I try to avoid because once we've reached that stage, there is no turning back. My happy baby turns into a fussy baby quickly! She also doesn't love tummy time, but we are working on it.

Adventures: Baptism! At our church they perform infant baptism, which was new to me as I grew up in a Baptist household. It is a sign of commitment as her parents and as the church that we will raise Macy in a Christian household, teaching her the gospel, and praying that one day she will receive Jesus. It doesn't mean that since she is baptized now she will go to heaven. She still has to make that personal conversion, but it is a sweet way to promise our child that we will raise her to have a heart for the Lord. 

Our Pastor, Corey, praying for Macy

What we couldn't live with out: The Swing! We weren't going to buy one -we already had a bouncy seat and thought that a swing would just take up too much room. My little brother actually bought her one though and it has been a lifesaver! She still doesn't like to take naps in her crib during the day so most of her naps are taken in her swing -which is fine by me! It allows me some freedom and it is good for her too because she needs a good nap during the day. She still loves her paci and hair bows too! ;)

A size comparison from month 1

6 Weeks PP: All about me

Monday I had my my six week post partum check up. It was nothing exciting (except that I got cleared to have "relations" and get in the pool again!) I have lost about 25 pounds of pregnancy weight -which means about 20 more to go :-/ I, unfortunately, am not one of those people who "lost all my weight in the first two weeks!" I am breastfeeding, so I am convinced there is at least 5-10lbs on my chest as it is! Also, I got a new form of birth control inserted in to my arm called Implanon. It was weird, kind of felt like a tracking device was inserted in to my arm (think Hunger Games). But basically it is a a little capsule that is good up to 3 years, and it has no estrogen so it is safe for breast feeding.

Bandage from the Implanon insertion. Please excuse the drainage/bruising

My last month of pregnancy I remember fantasizing about getting "back to my old self" and just kept saying... I can't wait to feel like ME again! Little did I know, that was never going to happen again. I don't feel like my "old self", I am now a "new self". My body is completely different, my thoughts are different, my time is different. My entire day and schedule is based on the needs of someone else, I sleep only when she sleeps, and my needs are only met once her needs are. It truly is a lesson on how to be selfless. You love with out being loved in return. I have never had to be selfless before, but since the day I brought Macy home, I have been a different person. With all of the giving though, I must say, I am so thankful for the help of my husband! He is always thinking for me, and intentionally takes the baby so I can take a long shower, a nap, or go run errands by myself. He even booked an HOUR AND A HALF massage for me for my birthday!

Sweet Macy and I the day after my bday, on the 4th

About 2 weeks after I had the baby I started to realize the toll the pregnancy took on my body. The more weight that fell off, the more I could see what my body had gone through. As someone who has had body issues since I was a little girl, I really had to protect my thoughts against hating my new body. The stretch marks, loose skin, no muscle definition- it is not easy to look at in the mirror, and the thought of having to get in a bathing suit, especially around my kid-free friends, is going to be the toughest. BUT, at the end of the day, I know it is just another sacrifice you make for your children. I had such a great pregnancy, I have a healthy baby, I guess something had to give, I can't have it all. ((This is what I tell myself to feel better))

At 4 weeks post partum I did start running on the treadmill about 3 days a week and it has been really nice. It takes some strategic planning around Macy's schedule, but I always feel so much better after. I am looking forward to cooler weather and getting of the house more with the jogging stroller. The hot weather has given me a terrible case of cabin fever! I am definitely going to do my best to feel better about myself, my "new self" that is.

Couch to 5K program, a baby monitor and the treadmill... My new way of working out!

I write this entry to say- it isn't easy being a new mom, sacrificing your time or body- but it is so worth it. It is God's calling for my life to be Macy Jane's mommy and for that I am grateful. I mean seriously, she is the cutest, sweetest little thing I have ever had the joy of being around!

My heart explodes just looking at this picture!