If I could save time in a bottle...

Hi Folks!

Can I be cliché for a moment and say “where has this year gone?”  

Seriously, I can’t figure it out. I was happily sitting on my couch last year at this time watching Rachel Ray with a baby on my boob. Now somehow my little baby is considered a toddler?? When did that happen? Did you know the BabyCenter app ends after 1 year? Every day I would get all kinds of updates and milestones to look for, etc. Then the kid turns one and the app just goes “Good luck, you’re on your own now.” I feel some abandoning issues coming on.

Life with a toddler is a whole new ball game. He isn’t completely walking on his own yet but he is ALL OVER THE PLACE! I need to move soon, our apartment feels too small these days. He has more clothes than I know what to do with but somehow manages to grow out of them before my wallet can replenish itself. And the toys, don’t get me started on the toys.

He is such a little hoot and a joy to watch grow. It’s a bittersweet process since part of me wants him to be a squishy little newborn again and the other part wants to see him grow & learn.

Things he can do currently=Fast crawler, claps, waves bye bye (said it once!), says "Mama" and "Dada", dances, gives high fives, stands on his own, crusies furniture with ease. Took about 9 steps on his own and throws tantrums among many other things. He is also growing up bilingual so more words probably won't come along for a little while longer.

We had his 1 year doctor’s appointment. He is currently at 31inches and 25lbs, thus leaving him in about the 85 percentile for both height and weight for his age.


If any of you are wondering what the future may bring, DH and I have not fully decided what we would like. We know we would like more children and close in age is a plus however I have not reverted to my old ways yet. Perhaps I have accepted that I’m ok if it’s just Henry. We are not preventing at this point yet I am NOT tracking anything, timing anything or taking anything. I believe that is called actively trying to conceive (ATTC). I don’t know if I will do that again. I get a touch of baby fever from time to time but it’s not like before. I will be honest with you, I like this state of calmness I’m under. There were times when we were ATTC that I just felt angry all the time. I don’t know how women who go through infertility for years do it. Looking back now, 15 months wasn’t too long of a time (even though it felt like an eternity).  I guess I’m just going to take things as naturally as possible.

One last side note, my DH has finished his Masters in teaching and has passed his certification (Yay!) I’m so proud and excited for this next stage in his life. He is an amazing husband, friend and father. Henry and I are so lucky to have him!

 

Happily Quacking on,

~JD

 

 



 

Give a little bit....

It's that time of the year again. You know, when its not even Thanksgiving yet and Christmas is everywhere? And of course I'm ready to explode with Christmas cheer everywhere because I am its #1 fan :)

Falalalala..lala..la..la

 
Now onto the point of my post. I've done quite a bit of thinking recently and I told my husband that in lieu of my Christmas gift this year, I want him to take the funds he would have spent and donate it to a charity of my choice.

Now let me clarify. I'm not trying to achieve saint-hood or win most humanitarian of the year award so I hope none of you rolled your eyes at me just now. I highly enjoy receiving gifts as I do giving them.

I'm simply trying to fulfill a very real life goal of mine; to just be a decent human being. I feel like this can be achieved by being a good example to my son and genuinely wanting to help people in need any way I can.

 I don't make a lot of money but our basic needs are met. I am currently living in a 1 bedroom apartment (which is slowly starting to feel a lot smaller) and supporting my DH through his last semester of completing his master's in teaching. This being said, I want for nothing and because of this I feel I have plenty to give.

 
I have such a big issue with gifts and certain sides of our families around this time. I'm just sick and tired of losing enjoyment from my beloved holiday over worrying about how many gifts I have to buy this year. Call this an ulterior motive if you will, but I want the real magic of this holiday back.

 
Well thankfully my DH thought this was a fantastic idea and decided to follow in my footsteps (love him!). Come Christmas morning he'll be getting a card from me filled with mushy love sonnets about how I adore his very essence. Maybe even a naughty picture or two ;)
However, I don’t want to stop just there, I want to do more. So as part of my donation present I also plan to not turn down ANY requests for donations from here till at the very least end of the year. Whatever I have I will give. For example, today McDonalds asked if I wanted to give a dollar donation and I said “of course!”

 
I normally don't turn down these requests but I'll admit I have said no a few times.
So Santa's, pet shelters, charity drives, girl scouts, etc. beware! I'm coming for you! J

 
Please feel free to share with me your Christmas plans, favorite charities or other ways my soul can continue on giving.

 
Humbly quaking on,
~JD

 

5 months and lumpy!

How in the world are their mom's out there who find the time (and energy) to exercise? Are you all some sort of advance human species put on this planet to mock me? LOL

I lost all the baby weight so that is a plus. Anyone out there in cyber land have any good workout regiments? I need to get back on track before the holidays makes this worse.

Ok, tiny rant over.

So life with my tiny, precious, ever-changing little man is more wonderful than I have words for, I truly love being a mom. Being a working mom makes me appreciate every single second I get with him but I love the fact that my son gets to spend so much time with his Daddy. My DH is an excellent father. He has step up to the plate in ways that truly break down these stereotypical gender roles placed by our society. Even though Henry lights up when he sees me, the way he looks and plays with DH is entirely different than what we have.

As an incredibly squishy little thing, I can't complain. Henry's temperament is just set to sweet. New environments, noises and people do not upset him. He loves children and senior citizens with wrinkly faces (laughs up a storm!)

My mom tells me he reminds her of me in personality when I was his age. The looks department is a different story. If I didn't have him inside of me for 9 months I would ask for a DNA test.

Isn't he adorable? Not like I'm bias or anything :)
I hope he keeps those big blue eyes...totally not Mommy's eyes.

Sleeping for the most part is going well, he can sleep through the night but has been congested these past few nights and I believe he is teething so multiple waking’s are currently happening.

Milestones so far...

·         I have seen him roll over from belly to back 3x in one day. Hasn't happened again.

·         I know he can roll from back to belly since I found him on his belly one morning in the crib.

·         Can sit up WITH assistance

·         And earned his PhD last week! :P

Honestly he is on a normal track and I don't worry about every little thing he is or isn't doing. Our pediatrician says he looks great and I'm good with that.

He just started rice cereal recently; the pediatrician recommended it for practice as she wants us to start solids at 6 months. He did great and absolutely LOVED it! Today we move onto oatmeal and then barley. I've decided to give him his first solid on Thanksgiving. He will be enjoying sweet potatoes a-la Mommy style with the rest of us. Can't wait to start pureeing!

Nomm Nomm Nomm :)

 

Deliciously Quaking On,
~JD

Goodbye Summer!

Hello All!

My summer "vacation" has finally come to an end since this last week I officially returned back to work. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do since I could not bear to be parted from my baby boy. The only solace I take with me is that his Daddy will be taking care of him part time (3 days a week) until January. Since we are both off on weekends this means that he will only be with my sister's nanny 2 times a week. My mom is a single mother and always worked constantly while we were growing up that it is important to me that Henry have as much time as possible with us as his caregivers.

Well aside from that, my little man is 3 months old today! the time has seriously just flown by. Their isn't a day that doesn't go by I don't thank God for this little guy. I hope to one day give him a little brother or sister but if he is meant to be my only one I am perfectly ok with that. DH and I are in no hurry to try again soon, we will more than likely re-visit that subject when he is 1 or 2 years old.
Motherhood is definitely what I expected and more. I am tired constantly but somehow have learned to live my life with very little sleep. I was always a naturally lazy person and motherhood has definitely changed my energy levels around. I'm always pushing my body to keep moving.

Henry is a wonderful, sweet and happy baby boy. Cries only when he wants something. Never went through a colicky phase (thank God!) and for the most part is a good sleeper. He will sleep long stretches at night, waking only once maybe twice for a feeding. He has on occasion had an 8-10hr stretch but nothing consistent at this point. As far as milestones go he has not rolled over or given a good "real" laugh yet but he smiles/coos often, clasps his hands together and is starting to want to reach for objects. He also does really well keeping himself sitting up in his infant support chair (not the bumbo). We like the chair the best for building his neck muscles since he hates tummy time so much.

 

At his 2 month appointment he weighed in at 13lbs 12oz and was 24 inches. I'm sure he is closer to 15lbs by now, lol.

 

Thanks for checking in on us!

(I apologize for any misspelling/grammar issues, its past my bedtime)

 

Quacking tiredly/happily on,

~JD

 

 





My little guy is here!

It's been almost two months since I've posted! I apologize, after the baby shower I became a bit lazy and now I just haven't had a moment to myself to update my blog, lol

My Birth Story

At 39 weeks 4 days I set a date to have an induction done for June 3. My regular OBGYN did not want me past 40 weeks due to Lil Ducky's size, my gestational diabetes and his SUA issues. Since I was not dilated and my cervix was still very closed and high he did warn me my C-section rate was a 60-70% chance.
I had an ultrasound appointment the next day with the high risk office where it was determine that he was measuring over 9lbs. My high risk OBGYN did not feel that an induction was appropriate and could potentially put the baby and I at higher risk for complications. Both my doctor's felt it was in our better interest to have a scheduled C-section. After much talking and debating I decided to go ahead with the C-section. I grieved the loss of losing my natural birth plan and moved forward, excited to finally be meeting my little guy. 
C-sections are incredibly strange and I will tell you that if it wasn't for having my DH there my anxiety levels would have gone through the roof! I was laid out on the table as if I was on a cross and I just remember feeling shoved around for a bit by the doctor's while they made small talk over God knows what. I just stayed talking with DH the whole time. 
Suddenly I felt a huge amount of pressure like someone had sat on my chest and then I heard my baby boy! I can't begin to describe how amazing it was to hear him.
They cleaned him up  and gave him to DH. He was so quiet just staring at up at us and I remember just being in complete awe of this little stranger. 

My sweet boy Henry. He weighed 9lbs 4oz. <3

Here is my little guy at one week old.

We are all doing very well. Henry is such a good baby and I am enjoying every minute of being a new mommy! I enjoyed every moment of my pregnancy, even the last month that I was so uncomfortable & irritable all the time, lol. My journey has ended but OUR journey as a family has just begun.
Thank you everyone for the support you have lend me along the way. I will continue to keep my blog updated and I look forward to some of my favorite bloggers getting their chance to fulfill the dream of motherhood as well. 

Very Happily Quaking On,
 ~JD

Tick Tock..

Hello Cyber land!
I wanted to pop in and give a quick update. 35 weeks and 4 days today. I can't believe how little time I have left. No words can express how anxious and excited I am to meet this little guy. I'm not completely set-up by any means so he can take his time getting here but I am ready to meet him :)
We had our baby shower on Sunday. It was nothing short of overwhelming to say the least (in a good way).
We were so blessed to have so many friends and family show up (it was co-ed) and my living room is proof of the generosity from all our guests. This kid has more stuff than I do!
I can't wait to finish sorting & cleaning all his stuff. I think I'm finally nesting (about time!) and I just can't focus anymore at work. I have two more weeks left before I leave and I'm counting down the seconds, lol.
Lil Ducky is doing well. He was 6lbs at my 34 weeks and 5 day ultrasound, putting him in the 73 percentile. He is going to be a big boy and it’s not coming from me. I can thank his 6ft father for that, lol.
I still have a Lamaze class coming up this weekend and a meet and greet with Ducky's future pediatrician. After that it’s all just a waiting game...

Thank you ladies for all the support I've received throughout this journey. Every one of you is a mother of the heart and I hope that I can lend that same support back to you to get you to this point in your journey when the time comes. When it comes down to issues of infertility nothing keeps someone going like an uplifting community who understand every fustrating feeling. You all are just incredible women.

Quaking on,

~JD

32 weeks and he has a face!

I turned 32 weeks on Saturday! Woohoo!
This means I'm 8 weeks away from my due date and 6 weeks away from my last day at work (cannot freakin wait!). This month I'm working 3 weekends in a row (on top of my normal M-F) and the last weeked is my baby shower. I'm going to be exhaused but I'm hoping that will only make the time go by faster, lol (glass half full kind of outlook).
Last thursday I had a growth ultrasound. Baby boy is contiunally doing fantastic and is 4lbs 3oz. He is only a couple days ahead now so I'm hoping he gains weight nice and slow as I fear having a big baby will make my doctor push a c-section. So far even with GD and SUA the C word has not been mentioned as I'm assuming baby boy is doing great and so am I.
Since changing my nutrition around I have lost 4lbs which means I've only gain 6lbs during this pregancy, unbelieveable as I feel enourmous. Starting as a bigger girl at 220 lbs (I tend to not look it since I have very large breasts) my goal was simply not to gain more than 25lbs. So happy to have that working out so far.
The technician was also able to get a 3D picture too! It's terrible and blurry but for a moment I saw his face! his beautiful, blurry little face :)

He looks like he is resting peacefully in there. At the begining of the ultrasound the first thing out of the techincians mouth was "ahh look, he has lots of hair!" She showed me all these little tiny squiggly lines coming off of his head, so cute! And for all those curious, no I did not have a huge hearburn issue. At best it hit 2-3 times and thats it. So the myth has been debunked!


I'm pretty confident he is going to have my hair (at least the quantity). DH was a pretty bald headed baby but I was born a wolf. Here is a picture of me barely 3 weeks old. I was a full term, way past my due baby and my mom had my ears pieced at only a few days old (just in case anybody thinks I don't look like a newborn here, lol)

Hehe...I wish I had this kind of volume now!

I'll have to post a picture of my DH so you guys can try to figure out what my little guy is going to look like!

Quaking on

~JD

Gestational Diabetes (GD)

So as I mentioned in my last post I have GD and therefore I have to make some changes to my lifestyle.
This past Monday I had a growth ultrasound. Baby boy is already 3lbs 1 oz., measuring a week ahead and growing beautifully! He was very shy per usual and we didn't get any good shots of his profile. My ultrasound place has 3D capability but I have a feeling we won't be getting any good shots of those since he loves hiding his face, oh well...I've always been a big fan of surprises anyway. You won't be hiding your face from me soon enough little man! lol

Afterwards we meet with the nutritionist. I love this lady and I kid you not she looks and sounds just like Lisa Lampanelli! And her name is Lisa! Ha! Ok moving on.
Seems like I failed my 3hr intervals by only 1-2 points above their standards (Doh!) So I'm very borderline.
She didn't want to put me on any medications because she feels that a diet change should be enough to control my GD for the remainder of the pregnancy. I am being monitored for 2 weeks to make sure this new diet really is helping me control my sugars.

Ok so here is a little GD 101.
Gestational Diabetes is a type of diabetes developed only during pregnancy. This is a disease of metabolism which causes your blood sugar to be too high. Your body, when functioning properly breaks down the food you eat and converts it into a simple sugar known as glucose which is your body's main source of energy.
With GD, your placenta can interrupt your own insulin production. This is why any woman; heavy, thin, healthy etc. can form GD. You are at a higher risk if you don't eat well or are a heavier set woman but plenty of thin healthy women can get this too. Just luck of the draw in the end.
Monitoring and controlling GD will help future complications such as a larger than normal baby (which increases your chances of an early birth & C-section), developing Jaundice and developing Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) among others. Even though your GD will leave after you give birth you can be at risk to develop type II diabetes which is why monitoring your blood sugars will continue about 6 weeks post-partum.
(This is all information given to me in my "Managing Gestational Diabetes" booklet. It's an easy read and very informative.)

Currently I check my blood sugars with my glucometer 4 times a day. I check once in the morning when I wake up and 2hrs after breakfast, lunch and dinner. During the morning my numbers should be between 70-95 and after meals they should be between 70-120. I have had no problems with my after meal numbers but I couldn't figure out why my numbers where above 95 in the morning. Finally I realized my after dinner snacks might be to blame. Once I cut those out my numbers were starting to fall within the right range. 3 meals and 3 (now 2) snacks a day seem a lot to me, but I'm handling it well. My appetite hasn't been very strong during this pregnancy so sometimes I have to force myself to eat.
I'm still learning & testing my boundaries on food consumption but there are 3 rules everyone should follow.

1. Protein at every meal. This helps to avoid that crashing feeling one gets after a meal because of eating too many carbs.

2. If a food has more than 6% of fiber, it actually helps you subtract from the number of carbs you’re having in your meal.

3. No simple sugars, no fruit juices and fruit should not be had in the morning or after dinner.

I won't lie, I already live without indulging in wine every now and again so being told I can't enjoy some sour patch gummies now too seems cruel but....I know I would do anything for this kid so it’s not a big sacrifice. He will be here soon and I needed to eat more veggies in my life anyways :)

For addtional information you can visit National Institue of Child Health & Development (NICHD)

Quaking on more healthy,
~JD

Birth Boards are strange...

So I was thinking about the birth board I belong to today and to be quite frank I really just hang around for the entertainment value. I mean I've picked up a few tips here & there but most of the time it just feels like women attacking other women for different opinions, stupid subjects, etc. I remember I posted something back in December about my baby being a boy, and what a boy! The picture I have just makes his "package" look big and I made a joke about hubby being happy that he is well hung. That's all it literally was, a joke! But no....I had random women very disgusted about what I said, almost made me out to sound like a perv and "why would I be a happy about him being well hunged?"
Ahhhhhhh.....I don't get people.
I miss the ladies from the TTC groups; they always had a wealth of relative information to share and really kept you in high spirits, then again who would want to be part of TTC group that was anything but helpful & supportive? It's already stressful in the real world trying to make your dreams happen, why add virtual stress to that too.
Rant over.

Quaking on,
~JD

Almost to the home stretch!

It's been awhile in the blogging world for me and it's been nice to catch up on some on my favorite blogs. With spring just right around the corner there is new hope in the air and the possibilities of new beginnings feel even stronger than ever. I want to take a moment to give a shout out to all the ladies embarking on new pathways that will allow you to get a step closer to motherhood! You’re always in my thoughts and prayers.

Come Saturday I will be 28 weeks and officially be in the third trimester! Just when I was complaining it was all going so slowly, I blinked and the clock fast forward quickly.
So here is a quick update on things so far.

First the bad..
I failed both my 1hr and 3hr Glucose test so I am now diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes...great...(eye roll). For someone who doesn't drink soda, doesn't really like chocolate/sweets and can eat her weight in carrots, this just doesn't seem fair. I want to do a separate post on this after my meeting with the nutritionist on Monday for anybody looking for more information. I have found some great recipes for GD that I can't wait to try out this week. It's going to be the healthiest 3 months of my life, lol.

Now onto the good...
Work wise-I actually got a raise! I call it my "Cost of Baby's Living Allowance Adjustment" since that's were all my new funds are going to go. I feel really empowered right now and in admiration for all the movement done towards women's rights. A young pregnant women actually flourishing and getting new offices/raises just a few months short of going on maternity leave? Shocking! 

Baby wise-Baby boy has become quite an active little fellow. I don't worry about kick counts because I feel him practically all day long. He is quiet during the morning, gets busy in the afternoon till the evening (very active in the evening). I don't know how active he is when I sleep since he has never woken me up during the night. Surprisingly I am still sleeping fine too! We will see how long that lasts, lol.

DH and I ordered the crib last night and it felt great since we have barely anything for him yet. Our baby shower is on April 28th which is only about 5 weeks away from my due date. Stressful much? Uh yeah!
My mom has racked up many reward points on her credit card so she gave us $200 in Babies "R" Us gift cards. We had to choose a different crib because the one we liked does not have the option to ship to the store which would have given us free shipping. They would have to ship it to us, which would have cost $129.00 for JUST shipping......Ridiculous!
So we went with this one instead...

We currently live in a one bedroom apartment so we wanted something that wouldn't consume too much space and would give us the changing table as well. Our bedroom is quite huge and this will fit perfectly. We also have a separate small closet apart from our his & her closets that will be more storage for the baby. Aside from that, our attic will also help us store anything else needed.

  I'll be seeing baby boy on Monday as well, can't wait to see how big he has gotten!

Quacking on,
 ~JD