Friday, April 29, 2011

2 week appointment

Today we had our two week appointment with the pediatrician.  And I cannot believe it but Leland almost gained a full pound in a week, 13 ounces to be exact.  We are having no issues with milk supply or eating obviously.  He eats about every 2 hours still sometimes it is more like every hour and sometimes at night it goes to about 3 hours.  The pediatrician said she heard a slight heart murmur which was the same thing we were told while at the hospital.  Neither are concerned but to be sure she would like for us to see a cardiac specialist to make sure it is just a normal murmur that new babies have.  I am not really concerned since he is eating so well and everything else checks out fine.  So we will see what happens with that. 


The kitties are trying their best to win in the cuteness category, but unfortunately for them, they will never will that again.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Is it football season yet?

Sadly, there are still 3 more months until football starts up again.  But when Grandma Patty was here, she made sure that Leland was stocked with some football essentials. 
And once we know for sure this NFL season will happen, we will have to stock up on some Chiefs gear, so far we have a snow jumpsuit and a bib. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Postpartum

One week after Leland was born and I can fit into my regular jeans!  They are a tight and I have a bit of a muffin top but they fit.  So I packed up all my maternity clothes and I am very glad to be rid of them.  I have not idea how much weight I am down because we don't have a scale here.  I will just have to wait until my 6 week check-up with the midwife. 
I feel like my hormones are starting to balance out, I haven't had a random crying episode in the past couple of days.  My milk is starting to get balanced out, engorgement has gone away for the most part.  And each day I feel better physically.  I have started doing some sit ups and other simple exercises to start slowly getting back into shape.  The main things that need work are my upper thighs, butt and abs (of course). 
I am trying to remember to take a picture of Leo everyday so I can remember how he looked each day and can look back on how much he has grown. 
Today we had a big outing with going to get his birth certificate, going to Target and to Vitamin Cottage.  He did really well, and slept most of the time.  We did have a feeding and diaper change in Target parking lot but he didn't seem to mind.  Every time we go out it gets easier and easier.  We probably won't go out again until Friday for his two week appointment, I am excited to see how much he has grown!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Baby Bump

Today after a feeding Leo was being a bit fussy about falling asleep.  I knew he was tired and didn't want to stay awake but he wanted to be held while he slept and it was hurt my back to walk around and carry him for a couple more hours.  So we decided to use the baby carrier for the first time.  And I think he enjoyed it since he fell asleep before he was even fully tied into it.  This will be very helpful as he gets older and possible fussier and I need to get things done around the house. 

He also spent some quality time on the couch with his kitty today.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Tummy Time

We have officially started doing tummy time at short increments.  He doesn't love it but we can get him to be okay with it for a few minutes before he really starts to get upset.  Hopefully he keeps enjoying it more and more. 



I will not always post videos on here but if you look to the right of this post there is a link to our YouTube page where all of our videos will be posted.

Sleepy Baby

Leo has been very nice to his mommy the past couple of nights.  He has been sleeping in 2-3 hour increments at a time and when he wakes up it is from me changing his diaper.  He eats a bit, sometimes with me laying down and then falls back asleep.  This happens from about 10pm to 9am so I am able to get a fair amount of sleep once it is added up. 

He has been eating and pooping and peeing really well, I am curious to see how much weight he has gained when we go to our appointment on Friday.  I am hoping it will be well above his birth weight so I won't have to wake him up anymore and just have him wake me up.  He keeps being more and more awake during the day which also helps him sleep well at night.  Here is to a well rested momma. 

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Dear Leo

Dear Leland,

I cannot believe that you are here and already 5 days old.  I cannot believe you are all mine.  It does not seem real that I am blessed with such a sweet, cuddly baby.  The entire experience does not seem to be true, I am having a hard time believing all of this has happened.  I have felt this way since I found out I was pregnant, I was so excited but I just could not believe it was actually true.

I love your expressions, your toes, your lips, your nose, everything.  I love watching you eat, your peach fuzz on your arms and back.  Your cute rat tail.  How you look when you sleep, that you often have your mouth wide open. 

It is hard to imagine you growing up and getting big, a part of me wants to see you talk and walk but then a part of me wants you to be this sweet baby forever.  I can instantly start crying if I think about you getting big because I am so happy you are here and I don't want you to ever grow up and stop being a baby. 

I am very thankful that your daddy works so hard so I don't have to go back to work because I could not imagine having to leave you.  I don't think it is going to go well the first time I have to leave you, when I have to go back for a test in a few short weeks.  

It is crazy that I can already tell you are growing and I shouldn't be surprised by it by how much you are eating.  But please slow down just a bit, I need you to stay small. 

And despite the kitties wanting to rule the house, you have already taken over the domain.  And I am afraid they know it and are trying to deal with it.

Baby Leo, I love you. 

Mommy

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Leo's First Few Days

I feel that there is so much that has happened since he was born and I am already having a hard time remembering everything.  But I will try to put some highlights from the past few days on here, it is crazy to think he is already 4 days old. 

He is a very calm and sleepy baby thus far.  It was some what of a challenge at first to make sure he was getting enough to eat because about five minutes into a feeding he would be passed out and it was really hard to wake him back up.  The only thing that works most of the time is changing his diaper, but then as soon as he starts feeding again he has the loudest farts, which always results in poop in a clean diaper.  Breast feeding for the most part has been going good, we had a rough first night at the hospital but all the nurses and lactation consultants were very helpful and supportive and got us on the right track. 

He loves skin to skin time.
He is such a cuddly baby and always sleep better if it is on us or near us.  We are borrowing a co-sleeper but it hasn't really been used since it is easier, he stays warmer and sleeps better when he sleeps between us on the bed. 

The kitties have been really good.  They every so often smell him but overall do not care too much.  Heath is a little upset that he does not get all of the attention now but he still gets plenty by force.





We have been having to learn how to not get peed on during a diaper change and make sure he doesn't pee out of a diaper.  If he gets really upset during a diaper change there is bound to be some pee flying.  One time he got very upset and started peeing and he was aiming straight up so it got all over his belly and face and head and about a foot over his head.  Jeff was very proud of his distance but Leo was pretty pissed about the pee on his face. 

When we left the hospital he had lost 7 ounces since birth and yesterday at his first check-up he had already gained back 4 ounces, so we know he is eating well!  The doctor said everything looks great and we go back next Friday for his 2 week appointment.  I am really hoping we get some chunks on this baby, because I think that is super cute.  After the appointment we had our first outing at Wahoo's Fish Tacos for lunch, and of course he slept the whole time. 


And we did a very small amount of tummy time.  Hopefully we will get to do it more once he wakes up for more than for a feeding.  He is already trying to hold his head up. 

He also sat in the swing a bit and immediately fell asleep. 

He enjoys looking at lights when he is awake. 

And Papa Richard and Grandma Patty have been able to spend time with Leo.

I know I am forgetting a lot but there are some highlights.

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Birth

On Monday I went in for my weekly midwife visit and I was hoping that they would see some progress on the labor part since I had started doing some natural labor inducing methods once I hit 39 weeks.   I was wanting to avoid an induction, which we did!  At the appointent I weighed 155, so I gained a total of 34 lbs from the beginning, which means I stayed in the desired range.  The midwife asked if I wanted to do an internal check and I did, she said I was progressing right along and even stripped my membranes.  I was really hoping this would help speed up the process and we would have a baby by the end of the week.  If we did not, we would have need an ultrasound the following week to make sure everything was measuring fine and fluid levels were in the desired range.  For most of the day on Monday after the appointment I felt really crampy but I was not getting my hopes up knowing that her checking could cause cramping and that it could still be awhile before labor actually started. 

Once Jeff got home that day we decided to go on a walk, again I was really trying to do anything to help move things along.  Then I took a really late nap, which is good that I did because as the night progressed I felt more and more cramping.  I was still trying to not get my hopes up because I didn't want to get excited and think it was happening for it to just stop, like it  had been few nights prior (was having cramping at night for about a week but it would always stop at some point and never got stronger).  But at around 8pm I was thinking the cramps were getting stronger so I decided to take a bath and relax a bit.  Once in the bath I was beginning to realize that they were becoming stronger and  more regular.  So I got out and let Jeff know that I think this is the real deal.  He was about to fall asleep for the night, but I think his adrenaline took over right away.  He started grabbing things off the list I had made of items to take to the hospital and things that needed to be done before we left.  While he was running around crazy, my contractions were getting stronger and longer and I was having to really breath through them or have him do some counter pressure.  He was also having to time the contractions so that we could make sure they were coming close enough to make a call to the midwife.  Around 10pm he made the call and she said we could come in or stay a little longer, but I knew that the car ride would not be fun and I need to get a dose of anitbiotics in because of testing postive for GBS, so we headed in. 

We got to the hospital around 11pm and went to triage to be checked and monitored.  I was progressing very fast, which I felt was a good sign but the pain was getting worse and worse.  We quickly got admitted to labor and delivery and everything kept moving along.  I was really trying to stick to my natural birth plan method but my back pain was becoming  unbearable and I was having a really strong desire to push when it was still too early to push, so at 8 cm I decided to go with the epidural.  This was also after the midwife broke my water in hopes that it would relieve the pushing urge.  I feel that looking back it is really hard to comprehind what was going on that night because I was so focused on trying to get past the pain and it was not working.  We later find out that Leo was in the wrong position, his face was facing up, which explains the unreasonable pain I was experiencing.  But the midwife was awesome and had me push on my sides once it was time to push and that helped him to reposition to the correct position, face down.  I think that if I was not experiencing back labor I would have been able to make it med free, but I am not disappointed with the results. 

Once the epidural was placed I was able to relax a tiny bit [she was a completely different person-Jeff] which was very much needed.  I had progressed very quickly in a short time and I needed a break.  When the contractions came I still felt a lot of pressure but the massive pain and urge to push stopped.  Once I was fully ready to go, he was still a little high, so we just waited about 30 mins for the contractions to do the work before we actually started the pushing part.  Pushing started around 2:30am and he was born at 3:37 am, it really did not seem that long but apparently it was.  I really lost my whole sense of time while at the hospital.  We did skin to skin contact for over an hour and then he did some skin to skin with daddy.  He was so calm after being born, and he is still calm.  He cried a tiny bit but then he just laid on my chest forever and hardly made a peep, he just was wide-eyed and calm.  The first thing Jeff and I both thought when we saw him was he looked like my dad.  But he does have Jeff's toes. 

We had to stay at the hospital for 48 hours since I tested positive for GBS and we ended up not having  four hours after the antibiotics were administered like they prefer.  But he has looked great when ever the doctors looked at him, so we got to finally leave after 48 hours of him being born.  And it is really nice being at home.  My mom has been here to help out and Jeff has a good amount of time off too.  Overall everything went smooth and I cannot believe that we have this sweet little boy to hold all day. 
We had his first appointment today and I will update about that later. 

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Leland Oliver

We have a baby!  Born April 19th at 3:37 am, 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches long. 
Just got home today, I will post more details later. 

Friday, April 15, 2011

Banana Nut Muffins

A nice afternoon snack...

Banana Nut Muffins Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar (coconut sugar)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/2 cup of flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)

Method

No need for a mixer with this recipe.
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
2 Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso and vanilla.
3 Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
4 Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
5 Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.
Makes 12 muffins.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

39 weeks

I am officially bored and ready for this baby to make its appearance.  I am done with school stuff besides one final that I will be going back for during finals week.  I am doing everything I can to help push my body to want to go into labor.  I need to start walking more too.  Hopefully it makes it appearance sooner rather than later.  But I think it is also a good sign that I have stopped gaining weight, at my last appointment I actually lost half a pound.  So we will see.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Corn Fritters

I served this with some homemade ranch and they were pretty good.  Not the best but good.

Source: Simply Recipes

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups of corn kernels, (see steps for cutting corn from a cob) cut from 3 large cobs (or frozen corn, defrost and drain first)
  • 4 large scallions or green onions, finely sliced (about half a cup)
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • Grapeseed, canola, or peanut oil (a high smoke point oil) for frying 
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, ground coriander, and ground cumin in a medium bowl. Add egg, lemon juice and water. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the corn, onions, and cilantro. Stir until just combined.
  • Heat a large frying pan on medium high heat. Add enough oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan. When oil is hot (shimmering not smoking), spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons worth of fritter batter into the pan to form one fritter, patting it down with the back of the spoon as soon as it is in the pan. Work in batches. Leave about 1/2 inch between the fritters in the pan. Let cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, flipping the fritters when they are nicely browned on one side. When browned on the other side, remove the fritters to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Blackberry Lemon Muffins

The original recipe calls for fresh raspberries to be placed on top, but raspberries are not really in season right now so they are not very good.  Instead I used a package of frozen blackberries, knowing that if I used blackberries Jeff would eat them.  I thawed the blackberries and rinsed them off then added them in the batter at the very end.   These muffins are super moist and not super sweet which is nice. 

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 14 large or 56 miniature muffins
1 1/8 cups sugar, divided (I used coconut sugar)
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (from two large lemons)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 1/2-pint containers (about) fresh raspberries (see note above)
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 14 standard muffin cups (or 56 minis) with paper liners. Mash 1/8 cup sugar and lemon peel in small bowl until sugar is slightly moist. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar. Beat in flour mixture.
Divide batter among muffin cups (the 2/3-3/4 level worked well for minis). Top each large muffin with 4 raspberries (or mini muffins with one each). Bake muffins until lightly browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes (baking time was on the shy side of 20 minutes for mini muffins).

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Mushroom and Chard Pie

This recipe is taken from SimplyRecipes.  It originally calls for 1 pound of mushrooms but I used a little less than this so that chard could be added in.  When sauteing the mushrooms just add in a chopped bunch of chard a little later.   This pie turned out really good, and we did do the homemade pie dough recipe too.  It could be served at a brunch but it really is not too heavy on the egg flavor and is great as dinner.  

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

38 weeks

38 weeks, holy crap! So by request of Ms. Skylee I took a bare belly picture this week.  It is crazy to see the bump from this point of view, it looks massive, just how I feel.
As you can see my innie belly button is still hanging on!  I think it may make it too.  I am also pleased to say that no stretch marks have made their appearance thus far, so I am hoping that means I will get to avoid them.  So I am feel large, sore and very tired.  All I want to do is sleep.  I think my body is slowly started to prepare for evicting this kid.  Because of my over tiredness, some nausea coming back, lower back cramps (that sometimes decide to be a contraction), achy hips and boobs, a recent flare up of acne, and the recent increase in bowel movements.  All signs point to eviction!  But I know that these symptoms can last for a couple weeks before anything truly happens, so only time will tell.
I am really close to finishing school items, just a few more things to do, which is good.  All things baby related are good and done, so no more errands on that part.
Just trying to enjoy that last few moments of not being a parent, I think we are going to have a pizza and ice cream party with some friends this weekend.  We are really trying to be social now, since we know that is going to come to a screeching halt very soon.  So I will update on the pizza later.