The one about George.

So, I unintentionally took a year-long break from the blog. Once I quit work, it was harder and harder to find the time to actually sit down and do regular posts. Once things got so far behind, it felt overwhelming because I felt like I had to catch up on my posts. It makes me sad because I didn't do a post about Anderson's 2nd birthday party. Christmas 2013, Valentines Day 2014, GEORGE BEING BORN(!), Easter 2014, Anderson turning THREE, Christmas 2014, etc. The list goes on and on. Clearly, I am not going to go back and do a post about all of those life events, but I am going to go back and cover the really important ones, like George being born. I'd say it's worth remembering! You would think I would have more time to blog since quitting work and becoming a stay at home mom, but it's actually quite the opposite. Anderson is currently sitting beside me asking me to hold her hand. This is why I never get around to blogging! :)

I am going to start off with George's birth story and then will try and talk a little about what George has been up to these past 10 months. Warning: this post will be lengthy, but I am going to try and hit the highlights that I would have if I had been blogging this past year.

George's birth story:

I woke up about 3:00am on March 30 with really bad pains/cramps in my abdomen. Honestly, I couldn't tell if they were contractions or really bad gas pains. I kept trying to brush them off, but by about 4:00 in the morning they were consistent enough that I thought it might be time. I went ahead and got up and took a shower and got ready just in case. (Mind you, this was the third time in the past 10 days that I had taken a shower in the middle of the night because I thought it might be time.) By about 5:00am, I was absolutely positive that I was in labor. Now, it was time to see if I could wait it out until Anderson woke up or go ahead and call my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to come over. I really wanted to tell Anderson bye and didn't want her to wake up wondering what was going on, so I tried to tough it out. By this time, I was in some serious pain. About 6:00, I couldn't take it any longer and we made the call. By the time they got to our house and we made our way to the hospital, it was about 7:00am. I went up to triage and got all checked into a room. My contractions were absolutely terrible at this point. I was dilated to a 6, so literally the anesthesiologist was wheeling her cart into my room right behind them bringing me from triage. Needless to say, I was ready for the epidural. I could barely talk because the contractions were so painful and right on top of one another. They got me all set up with an IV and my epidural and life was well again! I barely felt anything with the epidural this time. This anesthesiologist much have been much better. They went ahead and broke my water and by 10:00am I was dilated to a 10. George still hadn't "dropped" (same story as when Anderson was born), so I had to lay there with the big yellow peanut in between my legs and just wait. The hours went by and nothing was really happening. Finally, about 2:00 my nurse came in and said "let's just try to push and see what happens." I had told her the story of Anderson never dropping and me having to push for like an hour. She decided she just wanted me to push for a little bit to see what we were dealing with. So, I gave one big push and she looked at me and said, "Are you ready to have this baby?" I thought she was kidding and laughed, but she wasn't joking. She went ahead and called the doctor in and I pushed through a few contractions and he was here! It was the most calm and fast delivery I could have ever imagined. So easy I felt like I could do it a hundred times over.  I didn't have any stitches and was up walking and picking Anderson up a couple of hours later. I was so happy to finally have him here!

George was born on Sunday, March 30, 2014 at 2:15pm.

He was a relatively good and and easy newborn except for the fact that he liked to camp out at the boob. It's funny how I prayed that this baby would nurse since Anderson wouldn't and I had to exclusively pump with her. I certainly got what I asked for. Not only would he nurse, but he wouldn't take a bottle. Like, ever. Still hasn't to this day and he is 10 months old. He likes sippy cups, particularly straw sippys, but no bottles or pacis. That first night in the hospital he nursed for FIVE HOURS straight. Every time I would try to take him off, he would start crying. I was totally exhausted. If I only knew that it was a sign of what was to come. It was a little difficult adjusting to having to nurse ALL OF THE TIME those first couple of months, but it eventually got a lot better. The first few weeks at home were much easier than I anticipated. By the time he was like a week old, I was taking him and Anderson to the zoo by myself. It was nice out and I would wear him so he wouldn't be exposed to anything, so we just went and did as we pleased. Once he started sleeping less, he started nursing what seemed to be like 24/7. So, for a couple of months, we didn't do too much except visit friends and family. Thankfully, my mom would come over and take Anderson places so she wouldn't be cooped up in the house all time. Tra would also take her and do stuff after work and on the weekends if it was somewhere I wasn't comfortable going in case George decided to camp out and nurse for like an hour straight. Anderson did so well, much better than I ever dreamed she would. I honestly couldn't have asked her to do any better than she did.

Overall, the transition from one to two has been easier than I thought it would, not to say that it hasn't come with some challenges. There were many nights that Anderson wanted me to lay down with her, so I was stuck in her bed with her asleep on my left arm and George asleep on my chest. That always proved challenging to get my arm out from under Anderson and sit up without disturbing George. Anderson truly did amazing though and was rarely ever jealous of George. However, I have to say that I busted my butt to still spend as much one-on-one time with her as I possibly could, so I think that made all the difference in the world. I would sit down and play a game with her while George was nursing, I still made sure I was the one to give her a bath every night, etc. I think as long as you try to keep things as normal as possible, everything will be okay.

 

 

Now, back to George. He is such an easy baby now. I can take him anywhere and he will usually do great. He is really attached to me and doesn't like for many other people to hold him, but I know that it won't last forever. Anderson was the same way and now she's seriously the most outgoing kid I know. He's not a huge fan of church nursery but will stay with my mom when I need to leave to run some errands or go to lunch with some friends.

 

 

Like I said before, George loved to nurse, so eating solids was not on his list of priorities. A few years ago, when Anderson was a baby, the recommendation was to start solids at four months, now the AAP recommends six months. Our pediatrician wanted me to wait until six months to start solids, and after all the reading I had done, I agreed. Funny thing is that I thought he was sooo ready to start solids, but when the time came, he wanted nothing to do with them! Like, seriously. He would turn his head and start crying when I tried to stick a spoon in his mouth. Finally, at about seven months, he started eating Gerber cheese puffs. I know its just carbs, but hey, it's something, and I was desperate! At about eight months he finally started to eat purees. Now, he will try pretty much anything I give him. He's starting to eat more and more regular foods instead of purees. He doesn't have any teeth yet, so I have to be careful with what I give him. He is still nursing, but only about four times during the day. I only have a couple of more months until I can switch him to cows milk, so I am trying to tough it out until then. Hopefully the weaning process won't take too long. I know I've already mentioned it, but I think it's so funny that I prayed and prayed he would be able to breastfeed so I wouldn't have to pump and I ended up with the extreme. Although it was tough and annoying for a couple of months, I am still so thankful I have been able to breastfeed for this long as it was something that was very important to me!

 

 

George's stats:

Birth:

Height: 20 1/2 in

Weight: 9lbs, 3oz

 

 

One Month:

Height: 22 in (77%)

Weight: 10lbs, 12oz (70%)

 

 

Two Months:

Height: 23 3/4 in (71%)

Weight: 13lbs, 10oz (72%)

 

 

Four Months:

Height: 25 1/2 in (62%)

Weight: 17lbs, 8oz (78%)

 

 

Six Months:

Height: 27 1/2 in (80%)

Weight: 19lbs, 13oz (84%)

 

 

Nine Months:

Height: 29 in (75%)

Weight: 21lbs, 15oz (83%)

 

 

***George started crawling right before he turned seven months old.***
 

***George took his first steps about 9.5 months old. Now, at 10 months old, the most he's taken is about six or seven at a time. He still prefers to crawl but will walk when it's only a few steps he needs to take.***

I think I hit most of the highlights and will add things as I think about or remember them. This blog is really like my kids' baby books, so I need to keep up with it! I promise to be back in the next day or two with more posts!