Wednesday, December 7, 2011

6 Month Check up

So, we had our 6 month check up and needle today!

Ethan is a happy, healthy boy and took very well to this needle. Just a small little fuss and that was it!

He weighed in at 17 lbs 4 ounces, and the debate is on about his height.

The receptionist measures the babies, and when she measured him it came up as 26.1 inches, which is pretty much what he was 2 months ago. So, they are going with the thought that he was 'mis-measured' at his last visit, but infact, when measured correctly at this visit he is just about 27 inches. I tried to show the receptionist that, and she wouldn't listen. Basically when she measured him she didn't straighten his leg completely, and it was over to the side, which obviously will give you an inaccurate reading. But, she knows what she is doing best, so of course she wouldn't let me show her different! Oh well!! I know the real truth .... LOL!!!

Our doctor has given us the go ahead to start giving Ethan dairy as well. So he is good to have cottage cheese, regular cheese and yoghurt. Of course, no milk yet other then breast milk! He once again had no issues with the fact that we are on 3 meals a day as Ethan is tolerating it all quite well and really enjoying his food!

Next checkup will be in February as a follow up for the Kidney Ultrasound and then in March for his 9 month check!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Crawling by Christmas? hhhmmmm

So, in the last couple of days Ethan has began gracefully moving from his sitting position to his knees and was caught a couple times rocking back and forth while trying to reach a toy. Is this a sign that crawling will be in our near future? hmmm!

It is quite fun to sit and watch him play now as he knows what he wants and is working quite hard to get it. He is trying so hard to be mobile; to climb from my arms to daddys arms; or to move across the play mat to get the other toy he is wanting to play with. To see the look of determination in his eyes is just amazing.

He has began to also really study things. Look at the toys and try to figure out how they work and what they can do.

We got rid of his jolly jumper as he didn't seem to jump in it, and we have swapped it out for a jumper-roo that my parents got from a neighbour. He seems to quite enjoy that, and his exercauser, and seems to get a really good jumping routine down in both of those.

I can't believe that he is almost 6 months already, time has just flown by. He is getting so big and learning so many things each day its crazy.

On another note, we have a second tooth. It has just popped through his gums now and is on its way up. So by Christmas his two lower teeth should be all the way out :D He looks so cute with his little teeth!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

And we Have a TOOTH!

So, on Monday morning, Ethan was his usual drooling, chewing self, and when he managed to get my finger into his mouth I felt something very sharp.
Upon some investigation we can see that he has his first little tooth cutting through the gums.

What an exciting time. The only real change to his days were that he was a bit more tired then usual for the 2 days before. We had no major crankiness, or outbreaks, no fever and no diarrhea!

I am not too sure how long it takes for the tooth to fully erupt, but I am sure that it wont take too long!

He is getting so big, its crazy! I still can't believe we are already at the point of a first tooth. Time is going way to quickly!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy 5 Months Little Man

Wow! 5 Months already. It is hard to believe this much time has gone by already, but yet it feels as though he has been here for so much longer. Ethan has become such a part of our lives that it is hard to remember what life was like before him. Other then the freedom to go to a movie that is pretty much the only thing that I have found different about our lives. Ethan has gone everywhere with us, and he is so adaptable to go where ever it is great.

We just bought his new car seat today as well as he has almost outgrown his infant seat. He is getting so big and is so aware of things that are going on.

Since learning how to sit last month, he no longer enjoys tummy time or laying on his back. He just wants to be sitting or standing all the time. He is learning how to stand while holding onto things now as well, and does manage to stand for a good amount of time. He has also actually tried to turn and grab onto another item and pull himself over a couple times as well. I wonder if we will have a walker at Christams time? If not by then, I am sure it will be soon after. I have a feeling as well that he may just skip right over the crawling stage and go straight to walking. Soon we will have to start thinking about babyproffing the house. What a task that is going to be!

Today, we celebrate his 5 months with a Date night for mommy and daddy :) My dad has picked Ethan up this afternoon to take him back to their place for the night. We will be free of baby for almost 24 hours. WOW! What are we going to do? It already feels so strange to not have him here at the house with us. Last time we were baby free for a night we were in Niagara so it was a much different feeling. I wonder how well I will be able to sleep tonight and if I will 'hear the baby crying' while I am trying to sleep?

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Oh the Many Flavours of Food

So trying to think of all the things we have tried so far, and it is quite shocking how many items there are.

We have tried:

Rice Cereal
Wheat Cereal
Wheat Oat and Rice Cereal
Mixed Fruit

Sweet Potato
White Potato

Pears
Apples
Papaya
Nectarine
Banana
Apple Sauce w/ Cinnamom and Nutmeg
Butternut Squash
Acorn Squash
Broccoli
Zuchinni
Turnip
Peas
Carrots
Chicken
Pumpkin
Avacado
Farleys Biscuits
Chicken Pot Pie
Rice Pudding
Mango Pudding
Ice Cream
Jello


And this week we will try:
Beets
Parsnips
Tofu

So far the only things he hasn't been to fond of are the peas and carrots alone, and the broccoli, but once mixed with other things we can easily get him to eat them!! My boy loves to eat.

We also just graduated from the 1 oz (40 ml) food cubes to the 70 ml food cubes as he was eating 5-7 cubes each meal!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

eeewwww .... Broccoli

So, we finally found a food that Ethan doesn't really like too much.

Broccoli

Made some up for him yesterday and tried it alone, with very little success. So, I tried adding in some cauliflower which he really enjoyed, and that also didn't succeed. I tried to give him the 2 again about 2 hours later and he still refused it. So, we put it away for the night!

So, tonight we tried it again with Broccoli, cauliflower and pumpkin and that was a no go! So, since I had some papaya out for his desert I added that into the mixture and he Finally ate it up!

So, if that is what it takes to get him to eat the Broccoli, then I guess that is what we will do :D

The True Discovery of his Toes

So over the last week or so Ethan has been noticing his toes and starting to try and put them into his mouth. It has been pretty funny to watch and to hear him as he tried to accomplish this mission.

On Friday we were at the mall with our mommy group and Ethan had socks and slippers on and he was being Very Vocal. He was talking really loud while looking at his feet. I couldn't figure out what he was saying or why he was being so loud and I finally decided to take his socks and slippers off, which resulted in him being very quiet. It was quite funny!

Then on the weekend he figured out just how to grab his feet and get his toes into his mouth. He even had both toes in his mouth at one point, which is quite funny!

Now that he has figured it out it had become quite the show when he has socks on, when he is in the bath, or even when he sees our toes. He 'yells' at them until they are in his mouth! What a funny guy!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Rolling Over - Belly to Back

So for the last couple of weeks we have been practicing our rolling! Ethan enjoys his tummy time, but eventually gets sick of being on his tummy so I have been trying to teach him how to roll over to his back. He has been doing pretty good once I get him started with putting his head back.

To help with the teaching I have installed a mirror at the top of his play mat, so when he has tummy time it is facing the mirror, and we practice our rolling while he can see in the mirror what is happening as well!!

So, yesterday we were at Beans and Babes for our Tuesday mommy play date, and I put him on his tummy on the floor and looked up to continue a converstaion with another mommy. Well when I looked back down, Ethan was on his back. Of course I didn't see him do this, but he did it!

Then tonight, James was cleaning up after dinner, I got Ethan into his jammies and put him on his play mat for some tummy time. I was asking James if I mentioned him rolling over yesterday at Beans and Babes, and as I was saying that, I looked down at Ethan and he rolled over all on his own again!

What a big boy! He is growing so much, and learning so many new things it is awesome!!!

More tasty foods and Learning

So, we have tried a few more foods this past week, including sweet potato, papaya, nectarine, humus, green tea ice cream and mango ice cream, as well as wheat cereal.

This morning when Ethan was having breakfast he was done with the wheat cereal so I gave him some papaya. Of course the 2 items are durastically different in taste as well as colour. So as he wasn't finished the wheat cereal I figured after eating about half the papaya I would try to get him to finish the cereal. Well, he looked at the spoon of wheat cereal and refused to open his mouth. So, I took the cereal off and put more papaya on, and he looked at the spoon and gladly opened his mouth once again. What a little turkey. Too smart for his own good.

Tonight after dinner, as I know he is typically a bit thirsty after eating his meals, and if he has any breastmilk he tends to spit up as he is already full, so we tried a bit of water in a sippy cup. It took him about 10 minutes to figure out the sucking action rather then the chewing and biting, but he eventually got it. He even managed to hold the sippy cup and put it up into his own mouth!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Yeah for Breast Milk

So, last week on Thursday when we went for Ethan's 4 month check up I mentioned to the Paediatrician that I thought I was having milk supply issues. I was finding that by mid-afternoon Ethan was not satisfied with my milk. He would thrash, punch and fuss any time I tried to latch him and he just wasn't getting enough to eat.

So, of course that is part of what prompted us to start solids with him.

Well, the paediatrician recommended that I try out a medication called Domperidon, which was original made for digestive track health, but one of the side effects was an increase in milk production. How they figured this out beats me, but hey, a bonus for us!!!

Well, it totally is working. Just 5 days after taking the medication Ethan has gained 7 ounces!!! WOOHOO!!!

No more milk supply issues, and a much happier baby!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Learning

So I am really loving this age with the baby. He is learning so many things these days and it is just great.

Labour Day weekend (1 month ago) he really started to notice his toys and realize that he can hold them in his hands. Now, anything that goes into his hands goes into his mouth. He is starting to see the cause and effect of things as well, especially in his exercauser. He has realized that when he presses certain buttons or toys they make music and he loves it. Any time he hits the toys he looks up in amazement! So cute :D

This week he has started to play with his Sophie the Giraffe. Everyone wonders what it is that makes this toy so 'exciting' for kids. He goes crazy for it, which is just new this week. You give Sophie to him and he gets all excited and bites it and eats it like its going out of style. So cute.

Tonight, when we got home I was preparing Ethan's bath and so I put him sitting down on the floor by my feet. He often sits like this and just uses my legs for support, and every once and a while I will separate my legs a bit to let him sit on his own for the millisecond that he can. Well tonight rather then flopping over he actually stayed sitting. Just totally out of the blue! No flopping sideways, or forwards at all! So amazing; and just unbelievable. He can't sit straight up, but pretty good considering he is only just 4 months old!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

4 Months Old

So today was Ethan's 4 month check up. It was a few days early, but still close enough.

I was really freaked out about his weight as I thought he had lost weight as I for some reason had it in my head that he was 15.5 lbs at his 2 month visit, but apparently he was only 13.4 lbs. So, I was relieved when I heard that.

So in comparison:

2 months old he was - 13.4 lbs, and 23 inches long
4 months old he is - 15.1 lbs and 26 inches long

He has met all the milestones in which he should and is a happy healthy baby.

I spoke to the doctor about having the baby on solid foods already and he had no issues with it at all. His only question was why I had started him on solids. So, I explained how I found Ethan wasn't satisfied at night with just my milk and that when we would eat dinner he would cry for food. So, the Pediatrician said no worries at all. As long as he is tolerating the food well and seems to be able to eat it well that I could continue on the path that we are going!

He also gave me a prescription for Domperidon to help battle my low milk supply so we are hoping that will help :D

Ethan did really well with his needles today again as well. He cried for just a few seconds, and then once he had some milk he was fine. He slept for the 30 minute drive home and then was in pretty good spirits for the evening. He is such a good boy!

Introducing Foods

Well, I know that they say nothing other then breast milk until 6 months, but that has been different in our family.

Ethan started showing a desire for food just before his 3 month birthday. He was watching us eating, and often mimicking our chewing. So after his 3 month mark, I started to give him little tastes of things.

First it was watermelon, then a popsicle, then some honeydew melon, cantelope, and cucumber. We would use the little mesh food bags with fruit to let him chew on them and get all the juices. He loved it. He would actually cry when it was done or taken away.

At around 3.5 months we started to give him other foods when they were on our plate. Things like sweet potato, mashed potato, squash. He loved them.

Ethan got to the point where when ever we ate dinner, he would cry for food. I would try to give him milk, and he would refuse. He wanted food. He wanted what we were eating and that was that. So for the last 2 weeks, he has been getting more then just little tastes. He has been getting a full meal each day for the last week. He has had 2 types of squash, mashed potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, apples, mixed fruit, carrots, peas and rice cereal. He has LOVED them all.

I am making his food, and it so far has been so easy. It has taken a total of maybe an hour to get a freezer full of the above foods! Now, we have a good chunk of his 'first stage' foods and we will easily be able to defrost a meal each day for him.

He is of course still primarily breast fed, and he still likes his milk. He usually has some before he eats and after!

The Birth

Its a pretty fun, interesting and non-greusome story!

I was scheduled for a Non-Stress-Test and Ultrasound on Friday June 10th, which was 6 days past my due date. This was to ensure that the baby was ok, his heart was still beating strong and his size was good. As well to check the levels of my amniotic fluid.

I had pushed to have an induction booked for Monday June 13th as they wouldn't do it before I was atleast 41 weeks along in my pregnancy, and they tried to push me to 41weeks + 6days, so which I refused. I was so done being pregnant.

I had planned to go to the hosptial on my own that day, as I didn't want anyone to worry about taking the day off just to sit at the hosptial for tests with me. I would much rather then take a day off when the baby was here. But, my husband insisted on taking it off and coming with me. Which we were of course thankful for after.

So, at 8 am they start the test. The baby doesn't seem to be moving around too much, but his heartbeat is strong. We ended there at 9, and the ultrasound was for 11. So, we went downstairs to the ultrasound and waited around for what seemed like forever. We finally went in for the ultrasound and they said that the doctor in the maternity ward will have the results within the hour. So, up we went to wait in the maternity ward.
During this time I started to really leak a lot of fluid, of which I didn't really think too much about, just thought it was extra discharge or sweat; the unknowing of a first time mom!
Well, we waited and waited and waited, and finally at 3 pm the doctor had the results. The results were, the baby was big, and I had a leak in my amniotic sac, which meant Induciton immediately.

So, at 4 pm I was hooked up to the pitocin and the induction began.... and so did the contractions. Every 2-3 minutes I had a contraction and at first they were pretty small, and as the time went on they got stronger and stronger. Then they started going into my back. I had expected that I would have back labour only because my mom had back labour with all 3 of us girls, but the prenatal class teacher said that back labour was due to the baby being 'sunnyside up', which Ethan wasn't, so I had hoped that I would skip the back labour. No such luck. Man was it painful and uncomfortable.

So, at about 10 pm (6 hours after the induction started), the nurse checked to see my progress. I was 1 cm dialated and no baby in site. They increased the pitocin and the contractions got closer together and stronger.

I had debated on taking the epidural due to a fear that they would put it into the wrong spot and I would end up with spinal headaches which from previous experience I would not heal from properly. Plus due to my back surgery they had to insert the epidural into a higher area then usual, which meant it was a bit more difficult and had a higher rate of failure.
The anesthetist had been warned of my concern and of the situation at the beginning of his shift, so when he came to my room at 11pm he checked my back and said with 90% certianty that he would be successful. So, knowing that I was exhausted, that we had been at the hosptigal since 7:30 that morning, and that I was only 1 cm dialated an hour before, I gave the epidural a try so that I could end the discomfort of the back labour, and hopefully get some sleep before the pushing would begin. Was I ever glad that I took that chance. The epidural went extremely well, and made the night so much better!

At 7 am the next morning, the doctor on duty checked to see my progress once again. He had stated that I was at the highest level of pitocin that they could give and that hopefully things were coming along well. So, guess what ... 1.5 cm's dialated. I had gone no where, and progressed no where. The baby was still not engaged and had no desire at all to come out. So, that doctor said he would let the next doctor know, and that I would likely end up having a c-section.

So, the next doctor came on duty at 7:30 and did her rounds. She came in at 8, checked me and still the same results. She authorized the next dose of pitocin to hopefully help progress things some more, and said that it looked like it would be a c-section, but that she would let me labour for the day as they prefer to give things a good go before going that route. I was not too pleased with that answer as I was so ready to have the baby and meet him and just be able to be done with everything. But there was no sense in arguing or getting upset as the doctor would only do what she wanted to do.

So, at around 9 am they came in once again to check my progress, and once again I had gone no further. I was 2 cm's and it had been 17 hours since my induction.

At about 9:30 my dad left to go and let their dogs out (they arrived at the hosptial the night before expecting that I would deliver in the middle of hte night), and at 9:45 I sent James home to get the items we needed for the rest of the time in the hospital. My mom and sister went with James so that they could drop our car off at home rather then leaving it at the hospital. WHy is this relevant you ask? Well, at 10 am the doctor came in and said 'so, the OR is ready and empty, so lets get this show on the road and deliver this baby'. WHAT??? She had just said we were going to labour for the day ... no one was there with me other then my one sister. James had just left and so had my parents. I can't have this baby now ...OMG!!! The doctor says, well, we do it now or not until tonight as the OR is booked for the rest of the day. She asked how long everyone would be and I said probably about 30 mins. So, she said, ok, lets go get you started and hopefully they will be back in time!!!
I called James and told them to hurry but to drive safe, and into the OR I went.

At 10:30, just as James walked into the OR, the doctor made the first cut. At 10:55 am our son, Ethan Rayne Malyk was born; weighing 9 lbs 5 ounces, and 21 1/4 inches long. He was perfect, and the c-section was awesome!!!

Our little man was so alert and just beautiful. No mis-shaped head from going through the birth canal, no vernon or lanugo all over his body. Just a perfect little boy.



We spent the day visiting with the family and cuddling our baby. He figured out breastfeeding immediately and was doing amazingly!!

The next morning before the doctor went off shift, she came in and gave us the clear to leave that day since we were under mid-wife care.

So we got everything together and we were out of the hospital at 4:30 pm!!! Just 30 hours after the birth!!!

Pregnancy History

So, with my history of a very sporadic menstrual cycle I wasn't 100% sure if I would be able to get pregnant without any assistance. I was on the birth control when we met, and with our wedding in October 2010, we had planned on me stopping the birth control about 3 months before the wedding.

We ended up stopping the birth control a bit earlier as I was experiencing a multitude of headaches which were attributed to the birth control. So we stopped the pill in May, at which time I had a period almost immediately, and did not have another one.

In October I was having a lot of nausea and just over all not feeling great, to which I at first thought was due to a high amount of stress at my job. So, I had decided that it was time to move on to another office and quit my job.

I then started having alot of pain in my hip and back and on Friday October 1st I was in so much pain that I was needing to take some pain medication in order to get comfortable. BUT, since I wasn't on the pill any longer I decided that I had best take a pregnancy test first before taking any  medication. Well, much to our surprise the test was positive and we were shocked. Our wedding was one week away, I had no idea how far along I was, but I did know that I was feeling worried that my dress wouldnt' fit!!! HAHAHA ... I had ordered it a bit smaller as I had planned to lose some weight between ordering and the wedding, and when I had tried it on for my fitting and before alterations it was a bit snug, so I was freaking out a bit.

We confirmed the pregnancy on the Tuesday by a blood test, and had an ultrasound scheduled for the week after to confirm how far along I was since we couldn't go based on LMP which was in May!

The other thing I was trying to figure out was how to keep the pregnancy from our guests at the wedding as I of course wasn't passed the 'safe period' and wasn't sure we were ready to announce it in case something went wrong. I had decided that I would 'pre-mix' a drink in a pitcher and keep it behind the bar and that would be my 'special' drink! It was perfect.

But, at the last minute we decided that since the wedding was just a small amount of people, and it was our most closes friends and family that we would just announce the pregnancy at dinner during the speeches!!

That ended up happening different as well, since as we were visiting with our guests after the ceremony and thanking people for coming, my sister says 'So are you pregnant yet' (they knew how much I wanted children and that we were going to start trying right away) .... So, she of course let the cat out of the bag without knowing. We had planned to tell my parents shortly after the ceremony!

My pregnancy was a fairly routine pregnancy with most things happening as they should, when they should.
I did however end up with morning sickness which was actually all day sickness at some points through the whole pregnancy. I was against taking any medication as I typically don't like to take medications in the first place, but I finally caved at 23 weeks and began taking Diclectin to help with the nausea.

I ended up leaving work at the end of March as it had become quite stressful as well as pain full due to having Pubic Symphisis  dysfunction, which is basically a mis-aligned pelvic bone, which was causing extreme pain and difficulty walking!

By about 38 weeks I was so done with being pregnant. I was in constant pain and I was so uncomfortable. I was awake every hour at night to use the bathroom and it was getting old quick. I knew that if I didn't go naturally by 41 weeks that I was going to 'demand' being induced. Being with a mid-wife they of course want you to go closer to 42 weeks before inducing, and I just couldn't imagine doing that.

So, my induction ended up being scheduled for 41 weeks + 3 days; Monday June 13th.

About James and I

So lets start with a bit of history about who we are and how we got to where we are now!!!

James and I met on Plenty of Fish in January 2009. We were then married in October 2010, and Ethan was born in June 2011.

When I met James, I was in the process of filing for my divorce from my first husband of 5 years, but had been separated for over a year. I was not really sure if I wanted anything serious as far as a relationship, and didn't expect anything to really come of our meeting. 

Our first date was actually amazing. We spoke on MSN on the Saturday for pretty much the entire day. Me being me decided to see what James was doing the next day and see if he wanted to actually meet face to face since we had hit it off pretty well on MSN. We seemed to have a lot of the same views on different things, and we had tons to talk about, so why not right? Well, James was quite apprehensive to the meeting as he was more of a home body, and one who typically talks to someone for quite some time before meeting. So, when we signed off MSN that night there was no actual plans for the next day other then that we would talk once we both woke up.

So Sunday morning came, and James finally signed on to MSN (yes I was up early and waiting ... lol). We talked for a short time again, and I brought up the idea of once again meeting for lunch and well, he agreed.

I was going to pick him up at 2 pm and we would go for lunch and then go from there! Well, we went for lunch, then we went bowling, then we went to play pool, then we went back to his place for a while, then we went out for wings and a drink, then back to his place to watch a movie. I finally left his house at 5 am on Monday morning, so I could quickly maybe grab an hours sleep before needing to be at work for 8:30! 

Needless to say, it was a pretty successful date. We both had a great time and really hit it off. So, we decided that we would give things a shot and well, it all turned out amazing.

We were engaged 9 months later, and married in October 2010. And now we have our first child who is the light of our lives. 


Why?

Well, I have decided that I have so far been pretty horrible with documenting and writing down the new things that have been happening in our lives with our little man Ethan.

I have yet to write down all the little milestones he has reached, or the new things we are doing, so I figured I would give blogging a try. Even if no one else reads it, at least it will be something for us to look back on and remember things! Look back and laugh, cry, reminisce on all the fun times we have throughout the time together as a family!

I don't know if I will be updating daily, weekly or even monthly, but hopefully I can get on here and update at least once a month to look back on what happened, and to look forward on what we are anticipating!

Right now Ethan is lying beside me fighting his nap, which is a daily occurance, but atleast he is relatively happy and content with just laying there watching me type.