Grrrrrrrrreat

I just got a notice from Toys R Us that Story's crib has been recalled due to poor workmanship (the slats can break off and form a strangulation hazard). So now I am experiencing the singular joy of having to call Jardine and get instructions for returning/exchanging our crib.
This also means that we have to dismantle and get rid of the old crib, as well as haul a new one here and put it together. Gotta love it.
This, along with a teething, cranky baby makes for one fun evening.

Story's A Little Angel... almost

Visual Concepts Photography in Davidsonville, Maryland, does this fabulous thing with the hospital I work at called the Little Angels Calendar. Linda McCarthy takes awesome photos of babies and small children, then posts them in her gallery and opens up voting for the thirteen slots to fill the calendar. Votes are $1 each and a portion of the proceeds go to benefit the AAMC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It's a really cool opportunity to take some cute pictures and do some good.

Anyways, I offered up miss Story to do a photo and the result was AWESOME. I'll admit, I kind of get creeped out by moms that dress their babies up and take photos... HOWEVER I think Linda did a wonderful job with Story and took a really precious shot.

I'll post the link when voting is up. Watch this space in the next few weeks!

A half year of Story

Miss Story turned 6 months old last week and my head is still trying to wrap itself around that fact. I'm having diametrically opposed feelings about it. On one hand, I can't believe that my baby is a half year old and will be a whole year old before I know it. On the other hand, it's like she's always been here. I can't imagine a life without her.

In honor of this milestone, here's my top ten favorite Story things that have happened since she was born:

10. When she first was discovering her sense of touch and would pet everything.

9. Sitting her down in the grass and watching her complete wonder at the outdoors.

8. The first time I saw her and I just kept kissing her funny face.

7. When I brought her home from daycare to discover she had magically learned how to hold her own bottle.

6. The amazed OMG WTF??!?! face she made when she first discovered the cats.

5. The fact that she is determined to walk and doesn't care if you think she can't, thankyouverymuch.

4. The crazy babbling she does to herself/her toys.

3. Sitting up unattended and playing.

2. Sleeping through the night.

1. Her laughing fits.

A hive of activity

Five months is the magic number. I'm convinced now that if you can make it through the first five months of your baby's life sane and relatively happy, you're golden. The first four months are so rough- your baby doesn't really respond to you emotionally, waking up every two hours at night to feed, transitioning back to working (if you so choose), only being able to breastfeed/bottle feed, the fragility of baby learning to use their body in basic ways. It's just tough stuff.

But make it through to five months and something changes. All of a sudden, your baby can have rice cereal and might, if you're lucky enough, sleep more at night. Emotions are easier to read and needs are easier to anticipate. Baby can sit up a bit, amuse themselves and is more durable (that sounds like the worst way to describe a baby, but it's true.)

Yes, life is so much better right now. Sure, the world outside is going to crap, but Story has definitely reached an "easier" plateau. And the increased amount of sleep for her and ourselves has definitely helped. I'm very excited that she can sit up in my lap now and play for most of our time together and is thoroughly enjoying tummy time. And she's a voracious eater, especially when it comes to cereal. She's just a joy and a delight to be around.

The only downside is that she's starting to refuse the breast. Mostly, because the bottle is instant gratification when compared to breastfeeding. Every time I put her on to feed lately she starts complaining, crying and screaming. I have to literally hold her on for a few minutes until my let down starts, then she chills out. Again, I'm finding myself at the edge of giving up breastfeeding. My supply dipped again (I now can barely get 6 oz after a day of pumping at work) and, with her refusing the breast, I just feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. I'm still going to try to make it to a year, but I'm already proud I've made it to six months. It's already surpassing my own mother's breastfeeding record, so that makes me feel good. I'm hoping this is a phase Story is going through and that we'll be back to enjoyable feeding again soon.

On that note, the funniest thing has happened. Story has begun to recognize what milk looks like. Whenever Tim or I have a glass of milk and she sees it, she instantly starts grunting and thrusts her arms out to "beg" for it. It's really cute and makes me proud of how smart she is. On the other hand, it's dangerous to have a glass of milk anywhere near her, since she automatically things it's for her.

Makin' Baby Food!

I decided while Story was in utero that I was going to try to make most of her baby food. My friend Amy C posted in her blog about a wonderful book, Top 100 Baby Purees, and I immediately bought it and started studying. I will admit that my love for cooking was already deep seeded before embarking on the journey of baby food making, so the idea of making Story's food just seemed to be a natural course of things.

I will admit that at first I was a little intimidated. Even though I know it's really basic stuff, I just felt like I would some how mess it up. I seriously had no reason to worry, however, because it's really the easiest thing ever. All you do is steam (or mash, if it's fresh fruit) the ingredients, add some water or milk and freeze in ice cube trays.

Over the past few weeks, I have made baby food in the following flavors:

*banana
*avocado
*carrot
*sweet potato
*trio of root veggies (parsnip, sweet potato and carrot)

And today I plan on making a carrot/broccoli mix. I tell ya, by the time I start giving her these in a week or so, she'll have quite a nice freezer stash of food.

Even though it's sad to see Story growing up so quickly, it's also AWESOME. The fact that I can now take her to visit family and friends for a whole day with ease is just fabulous. Sure, I could take her out and nurse her before, but it required so much focused attention all the time. Now that's she's gotten down the tricks of holding a bottle and eating mushed foods, it's like a whole new ballgame.

MRSA!

Story recently got an infected hangnail that caused me to take the day off of work and go to the Pediatrician. It was so nasty and grody... poor gal. Anyways, I took her to the doctor, who squeezed the icky puss out and sent it for culturing. Meanwhile, he asked if I would like to put her on antibiotics or not and I told him most definitely. Anyways, Story is now totally fine and her finger has healed up nicely.

But the results of the culture came back and STORY HAD MRSA!!! We don't know where she got it from, only that it somehow infected her hangnail. I know she's fine and all, but it's so amazingly scary to think of. And I feel so bad, because I work in a hospital, so I'm automatically blaming myself for this one.

But the good part is that she's fine, that little missy is doing OK. But I'm totally freaked out now, of course.

Finally, I'm back!

I gained a whopping 78 pounds with Story. I honestly don't regret a single minute of it, as I was able to eat as many sugary, fatty, delicious treats as I could stomach. It was fabulous! However, the body dysmorphia that followed her birth was really tough to handle.

For instance, my best friend and her hubby surprised Tim and I by cleaning our whole house and leaving little presents for us when we returned with Story from the hospital. One of those presents was a pair of pajamas and a bath robe for me. I bashfully had to admit at the time that even though the pants were an XL, there was no way I was getting them on. I could barely scooch them over my thighs and even then, there was no way they were making it up FatButt Mountain. I put them away in my drawer and said, "I AM going to fit back into them. This is just a transition body. It will happen."

Since that time, I have been eating much better (if you don't count a fatty southern breakfast here and there) and, since my hypoglycemia reared its ugly head again, I have cut out all sugars and simple carbs from my diet. I've also GASP been exercising again and attending dance rehearsal fairly regularly. I don't own a scale though, so the only clue I've had that I've been losing weight has been my post preggo clothes becoming looser and looser.

Last week, I attempted the cute pajama pants again and THEY FIT! Like, without shimmying, without wiggling or tugging. They just fit like normal. I tried not to get too excited by it, as well, maybe the fabric stretched out the first time I attempted to put them on or something. I could still be just as big. So what if my work pants are starting to fall off me, that could be the fabric stretching.

Well, this morning I went into my closet and broke out the Ominous Tupperware Tub of Pre-Pregnancy Clothes. My favorite black work pants were on top, still a bit disheveled from when I tried them on a couple of months back and locked them back away in despair. I stepped into them and pulled them up with ease. Then, in an act of utter astonishment, I buttoned and zipped them up! They fit! Cue a whole bunch of angels with trumpets and heavenly light. Hallelujah!

I can't say how happy I am right now. My day is totally made. Sure, most of my tops still don't fit due to the delightful gifts of breastfeeding, but I'll take pants fitting any day!