Here are a few highlights from the past 6 months.
Delivery Day-- Friday, January 17, I woke up, showered and started getting ready for my day.. had the entire day planned out. If you know me, then you know I am a BIG time planner. I was 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant with an EDD of 1/29/2014. When I got out of the shower, I just did not feel right. My previous two prenatal visits, my blood pressure had been somewhat elevated. High blood pressure is not normal for me, so I was definitely keeping an eye out. My father in law, Ed, had let me borrow his home blood pressure machine. So, nurses intuition, I hurried to the living room to check my pressure. Low and behold it was 160/110... I immediately thought we will have a baby sometime today or tomorrow, grabbed my purse/keys, started making phone calls, and headed to Labor & Delivery triage. First call was to Logan... who was working an hour away. He told me he would be there a fast as he could. I'm pretty sure he drove his truck as fast as it would go.. LOL. One of my best friends, Toni, came down from her office and stayed with me a while in triage. That was very helpful and calmed my nerves. My parents, mother in law, and another best friend, Dana, came and stayed with me. None of the above left my side. We had a great time, and they all truly helped me get through a pretty scary, or should I say nurse's curse, labor process. Labor began at 0915 am and then at around 0230 AM, the room was dead quiet, I had dozed off... I remember hearing the nurse say, "Ok, get her ready for the OR." I knew then, a C-Section was the next step. The nurses came rushing in, throwing stuff into bags, family started giving me hugs, I started crying.. it was truly a rush of emotions. I was rushed to the OR, Logan was dressed, and Dr. Sontag was ready... Like I said before, I was awake, epidural in place. It was not really that bad until he said-- "you are about to feel some pressure!" UMMMMM YEAH, I about threw up!!! Anyway, 0322 Kameron made her appearance. It was a wonderful moment. I am so thankful for my family and friends that did not leave my side and my doctor who was top notch. We also had great nurses and other staff members. In addition, we had a lot of visitors. Thank you again :)
Month 1-- I have no idea what to tell you, LOL.. it was such a blur (looking back). From the things I have read and speaking with other moms, this seems to be true. I was breastfeeding at the time and feel this is all I did. I stayed in the hospital from Friday morning until Tuesday at lunch time. I remember one night, maybe Sunday night, Kameron really did not sleep and "cluster fed" for about 23 hours. I am SO glad I went to the breastfeeding class pre-delivery. The lactation consultant told us that this would happen, so I was already mentally prepared. I HIGHLY recommend this class for new moms, as it was truly helpful.
We had lots of family and friends visit, we experienced an ice storm, and Kameron had her first Valentine's Day. It was very cold outside, so most of month 1 was spent inside in out PJs!
Month 2-- Kam had to get her first round of shots during this time. My bestie, Jennifer and her baby Lillian were in town, and they went with me to the appointment. I AM SO THANKFUL, and it made the "first shots" appointment much easier. Kam did great with the oral vaccination, but she screamed really loud when the nurse gave her the shots. She did not cry long, though. She is truly a trooper! We went home after the appointment and snuggled on the couch. Have I mentioned yet that Kameron loves to snuggle?! :) During month 2, Kam also had her first St. Patrick's day! When Kam was 6 weeks old, we started putting her in her crib for naps/bedtime. Her room is very close to ours, so we knew she would not be too far. It has worked out great, and so far, she loves her little bed. The weather was still cold this month and seems like it rained a lot, so we spent a lot of time in out PJs, as well :)
Month 3-- During this month, we really started to notice how much Kam was growing and changing. I also knew that I had to start back to work soon, so I wanted to soak up every minute. The weather started getting nicer, so we spent much more time out side! Kam LOVES being outside. She loves going on walks, rocking/swinging on the porch, and just looking around at different things. I took her to the beach for her first time, but she doesn't remember because she slept the whole time :) By the end of month three, I weaned Kam from breastmilk to formula. I truly feel she either had an intolerance to my milk or that I did not make enough... and yes I tried everything to increase my supply. I am happy that she got three months of BM. She really does great on her Similac and LOVES her bottles!! She knows exactly what the bottle is when you say "ba-ba" and when she sees it in the bottle warmer. Kam also started teething during month 3.
Month 4-- During this month, Kameron's personality started to shine. She started laughing, "talking" more, rolling over, and play time went to another level. She loves things that light up and make music. She also enjoys when you sing to her. By the middle of month 4, Kam started to try to take my water bottles, spoons, and was very interested in the things I was eating. Logan and I knew at this point, it was time to start introducing solids. I'll talk more about solids later. I also introduced a zippy cup to her. By the end of month 4, Kam started getting her two bottom teeth. I was so excited and think babies are SOOO cute with their little teeth. Month 4 also brought Kam's first cold/vomiting episode. It broke our heart, but one thing's for sure... Babies are tough and bounce back quick- We just have to give them a little extra push :)
Month 5 and beginning of 6-- They say every day gets better when you have kids.. I truly feel this way. Month 5 brought the continuation of her 2 bottom teeth, more solids, another beach day, several walks outside, and more play time. Kam is still sleeping in her crib at night. She use to go to bed around 830pm with bath about 730-8pm, but I had to move everything up about 30 minutes. So now, we do bath about 630 pm with bedtime after that (this happened more towards the end of 5 months). She tends to be an early riser- anywhere from 530-6am. Every now and then she sleeps 12 hours but that hasn't been consistent. She tends to wake up early if something is bothering her, or at least that is what I think. She started teething again soon after the two bottom teeth came in. I am pretty sure 4 more teeth are making their way. Mornings are truly the best with Kam, and she is SOOOOO CUTE when she wakes up. I love going into her room in the morning. She will wake up, talk, roll around. I let her do this for a few minutes before I go in. When I open the door, she knows, stops what she is doing, and waits for the "GOODMORNING MY LOVE!!!" I cannot wait to capture this on video. Kam has done really great on her solids. She gets her bottles every three hours and then food about 2-3 times a day. So far she has had avocados, apples, apples with kiwi, apples with blackberries, bananas, butternut squash, oatmeal, rice cereal, and the gerber graduate puffs- strawberry and banana flavor. She seems to like all the food but really loves her apples. I love the Beech-Nut brand of baby foods. They are all natural and no preservatives. I use their oatmeal, rice cereal, and then I buy a jar of the fruit/veggies before I make them. I like to see if Kam likes the food I am introducing to her before I go and make a bunch. Once I know she enjoys the food, I then make the food in the baby bullet. I enjoy introducing new foods to her and try my best to make food time fun time. I typically introduce a new food every 4-5 days. I have not decided what I want the next food to be...
Stay tuned for more updates about how month 6 went. What foods does your baby like? Below are a few pics!
Much Love,
Carrie
