Leighton is officially one month old....well actually as i write this she is one month and one week, I'm a little behind i know!
She's gained some weight for sure ( not sure exactly how much ) she's a GREAT eater, when she's not having gas/reflux issues. 4 oz at most meals :)
Speaking of reflux, i think she might have silent reflux. Its defiantly something I'm going to be talking to her doctor about at her next appointment, but I've done hours and hours of research, looking up her symptoms, and I'm pretty positive she has it. I lived with G.E.R.D for years ( before the Lord healed me of it..another day another blog ) so I know just how uncomfortable she is. After figuring out the silent reflux thing i got a little frustrated. I reallllly didn't want to start her on such serious medication at a MONTH old. It just seems like her little body wouldn't be able to process something like that without some side effects in the future. Thankfully I remembered a fellow blogger of mine, and someone who's becoming a good mommy friend, Amber Ruth, mentioning something about some all natural drops called "Colic Calm", so i looked it up in reference to reflux in infants and found a million testimonials from moms who had a lot of success with it! The minute Taylor got home that night I ran straight to CVS to grab some. At her next feeding, she swallowed a burp, which is always the start to her pain, and started screaming. I unloaded 1/4 of a tsp of that stuff into her mouth and she slipped into a little piece of relaxation heaven! It was amazing! The BEST part by far is that its 100% natural, and FDA approved! So to all the new moms out there...if your little one is having gas, reflux, colic, and even hiccups..try this stuff out! I promise you won't be disappointed!
On a brighter note! She's starting to get the funniest littler personality. She makes faces EXACTLY like her dad. It melts me every time. She smiles almost every time he kisses her...slightly jealous here. And when she's not having reflux issues she's a complete joy to be around! ( i love being with her all day every day, but I'm sure for others the screaming isn't so cute haha! )
She's doing really well on her schedule. She goes down for most naps without a peep. We rarely have to cry it out anymore! ( with the exception of right now, this blog is supposed to be distracting me from the crying coming out of the monitor...no such luck.) The past week has been a little more difficult, with the onset of her reflux, and waking up with gas pains. We've also started swaddling her. She WAS sleeping on her tummy, but she scooted all over the place and would wake up the complete opposite direction of where i put her..and it made me nervous. We have to swaddle because this girl has CRAZY arms! She also scratches the tar out of her face, so swaddling it is :) some days she's a little grumpy about it, others she doesn't mind at all! This week were going to start to try and ween her off her middle of the night feeding ( usually around 3 or 4am ) she eats well, but then won't take a full feeding at 7, so i pretty sure she's ready to go without it! Wish us luck! :) I would love a full nights sleep..im sure she would too!! ( full night meaning 11pm-6:30 am )
Life with Leighton couldn't be any sweeter. Sure there have been days when I felt out of control ( reminder to self..you are not in control...ever. God is ) There have been moments when she was crying and I couldn't fix it that i felt like a failure. Then i think, EVERY mom goes through this. EVERY mom doubts herself. Today is not going to last forever. Thats when you catch the good stuff, the smile amidst the cries, the snuggles in the morning, the sighs of relief when you lay them down to sleep. And every day, theres good stuff, no matter how much bad is mixed in with it. And one day she will be 16 rolling her eyes and saying "whatev" ( if my daughter every shortens her words i might lose it on her haha )
One month into this little life and I feel like there was never a day without her. Its like she's been here all along. I guess in a way, she was always part of His plan, and he's been preparing me for her from day one. Im so thankful for this sweet little soul, and for a God who ALWAYS knows what he's doing. :)
Be on the look out for our one month pics....yes I'm also behind on these. SORRY!!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Bringing Up Leighton
Here we are one month into my little girls life, and one month is proving itself to be pretty sweet :)
When Leighton was born I was a little clueless, despite having helped raise my little sister, and working 2 years in a daycare...theres just something different about it being "your" child. Mabye the fear of totally messing up somewhere along the way? Who knows. The first week she was with it I was pretty sick, recovering, suffering from some post partum, and exhausted to say the least. The second week I was determined to institute some structure into our lives. I mean who isn't more calm and satisfied when their day has some structure?
I had heard about Babywise from some friends, and decided it was worth a trip to the bookstore. I think i read the entire book in one evening. I consumed it. It instantly made sense to me, the contents just spoke to what I felt like Leighton, and I needed. The whole basis of the book is "sleep training" although I have to say I hate the term "sleep training" it sounds so impersonal. Anywhoo...Its a basic schedule for the day, a constant rotation of "eat/wake/sleep" The first week on the schedule was up and down, I didn't want to throw her into it cold turkey so we were a little more lenient. By her third week she was getting the hang of it.
I picked a wake time of 7am, she eats, has wake time...meaning tummy time, bath, go on a walk etc. then she goes down for a nap. Then we repeat the process at 10. etc. She eats consistently every 3 hours, and has about 45 minutes of wake time ( give or take 10 mins ) then goes down for a nap. The whole point is to set her internally to understand day sleep and night sleep, so that she will start sleeping through the night by week 8 ( fingers crossed )
I know what your thinking, and TRUST me I've heard more than enough opinions on this. It sounds extreme, it sounds slightly crazy, especially waking a sleeping baby to eat, and occasionally letting a baby "cry it out" But its all so crucial to helping bring up a independent, content, trusting, happy baby. She will never have to question when she will eat, when she will nap...she can trust in the routine. ( and me :) )
Granted Babywise isn't for everyone, and if it isn't for you thats fine. I put all my trust in the Lord, and I know that he has his hand in raising Leighton, he has chosen me as her mother, Taylor as her father, and we lean on him and him alone in making all of our decisions. So of course I've prayed and prayed about this topic, and every time I come to him with questions of "am i doing this right, is this what you want for her" i come away reassured that we've made the right decision.
There were a couple rough days there where sweet girl was having a lot of gas issues, and tooooons of hiccups, which led to one fussy grumpy baby, and a mom with frayed nerves. I prayed and prayed for healing of her hiccups, for something to help her deal with them and to help her tummy feel better. The next day I was talking to my sister about her issues and she mentioned trying "gripe water" ( thank God for a sister who's worked in the baby room at a day care !! ha! ) we immediately went out and grabbed some! its all natural so I feel a lot better about giving it to her before all of her day bottles...not drugging your child always makes you feel good haha! We used it at her next feeding and she did great! She still gets hiccups every now and again, but she seems to be able to eat better, and her tummy doesn't bother her as much anymore...which makes my heart happy. :) It always amazes me when God answers your prayers...thanks Erin for being Gods vessel for this one !!
The past 2 days have been confirmation of what I'm trying to achieve with Leighton. She has eaten every bottle, been SO alter and happy during wake time, and gone down for almost every single nap without crying! ( I put her down in her crib awake, on her tummy, with her pink elephant friend..ellie..so original i know..) the fact that she puts herself to sleep is HUGE for me..and without crying for the most part..just makes me smile :) Today we went to visit GiGi and Granny..everyone was loving on her and playing with her..she started to show signs of being sleep and I laid her down on the blanket in the middle of the living room, put ellie in front of her face just like i do in her crib, and she fell asleep like that!! with everyone talking, lights on, and she never even made a sound!! I was SOOOO proud..it made me feel like THIS is what its all about, a content baby, who knows its nap time, and put herself to sleep..on the floor. Loved it..
So while it may seem unconventional, and it may be different than what most people are used to, this is the plan we've chosen...and were sticking to it :)
When Leighton was born I was a little clueless, despite having helped raise my little sister, and working 2 years in a daycare...theres just something different about it being "your" child. Mabye the fear of totally messing up somewhere along the way? Who knows. The first week she was with it I was pretty sick, recovering, suffering from some post partum, and exhausted to say the least. The second week I was determined to institute some structure into our lives. I mean who isn't more calm and satisfied when their day has some structure?
I had heard about Babywise from some friends, and decided it was worth a trip to the bookstore. I think i read the entire book in one evening. I consumed it. It instantly made sense to me, the contents just spoke to what I felt like Leighton, and I needed. The whole basis of the book is "sleep training" although I have to say I hate the term "sleep training" it sounds so impersonal. Anywhoo...Its a basic schedule for the day, a constant rotation of "eat/wake/sleep" The first week on the schedule was up and down, I didn't want to throw her into it cold turkey so we were a little more lenient. By her third week she was getting the hang of it.
I picked a wake time of 7am, she eats, has wake time...meaning tummy time, bath, go on a walk etc. then she goes down for a nap. Then we repeat the process at 10. etc. She eats consistently every 3 hours, and has about 45 minutes of wake time ( give or take 10 mins ) then goes down for a nap. The whole point is to set her internally to understand day sleep and night sleep, so that she will start sleeping through the night by week 8 ( fingers crossed )
I know what your thinking, and TRUST me I've heard more than enough opinions on this. It sounds extreme, it sounds slightly crazy, especially waking a sleeping baby to eat, and occasionally letting a baby "cry it out" But its all so crucial to helping bring up a independent, content, trusting, happy baby. She will never have to question when she will eat, when she will nap...she can trust in the routine. ( and me :) )
Granted Babywise isn't for everyone, and if it isn't for you thats fine. I put all my trust in the Lord, and I know that he has his hand in raising Leighton, he has chosen me as her mother, Taylor as her father, and we lean on him and him alone in making all of our decisions. So of course I've prayed and prayed about this topic, and every time I come to him with questions of "am i doing this right, is this what you want for her" i come away reassured that we've made the right decision.
There were a couple rough days there where sweet girl was having a lot of gas issues, and tooooons of hiccups, which led to one fussy grumpy baby, and a mom with frayed nerves. I prayed and prayed for healing of her hiccups, for something to help her deal with them and to help her tummy feel better. The next day I was talking to my sister about her issues and she mentioned trying "gripe water" ( thank God for a sister who's worked in the baby room at a day care !! ha! ) we immediately went out and grabbed some! its all natural so I feel a lot better about giving it to her before all of her day bottles...not drugging your child always makes you feel good haha! We used it at her next feeding and she did great! She still gets hiccups every now and again, but she seems to be able to eat better, and her tummy doesn't bother her as much anymore...which makes my heart happy. :) It always amazes me when God answers your prayers...thanks Erin for being Gods vessel for this one !!
The past 2 days have been confirmation of what I'm trying to achieve with Leighton. She has eaten every bottle, been SO alter and happy during wake time, and gone down for almost every single nap without crying! ( I put her down in her crib awake, on her tummy, with her pink elephant friend..ellie..so original i know..) the fact that she puts herself to sleep is HUGE for me..and without crying for the most part..just makes me smile :) Today we went to visit GiGi and Granny..everyone was loving on her and playing with her..she started to show signs of being sleep and I laid her down on the blanket in the middle of the living room, put ellie in front of her face just like i do in her crib, and she fell asleep like that!! with everyone talking, lights on, and she never even made a sound!! I was SOOOO proud..it made me feel like THIS is what its all about, a content baby, who knows its nap time, and put herself to sleep..on the floor. Loved it..
So while it may seem unconventional, and it may be different than what most people are used to, this is the plan we've chosen...and were sticking to it :)
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Our Birth Story
Well as promised this post will be dedicated to the journey of the birth of our little girl.
I'll start at the very beginning! Last October Taylor and I were so excited to find out that we were expecting...we hadn't really been trying for very long..and it was news we just couldn't wait to share. However we decided we wanted to wait until we saw my Dad at Christmas to tell him in person before we would tell anyone. Three days after Thanksgiving I lost the baby. Nothing can prepare you for something like that, I don't think it matters when in your pregnancy you lose a child, its a loss non the same and it hurts so much deeper than you could ever imagine. I still think about that baby, someday ill meet him/her, that i can be sure of.
Then something happened. A couple days before Christmas I was at work and I just had this "feeling"...I couldn't shake it. For some reason I actually had a pregnancy test in my purse..random, yes. I snuck into the bathroom..leaving the sales floor unattended..oops..and took the test. I carried it into our back room at work and left it there for 5 minutes before I went back to check it.
Positive.
I couldn't believe it, even though somehow I already knew what it was going to say. I called Taylor and blurted it out while running up and down the hallway of the dressing room area. That was the longest shift of my life! We decided to tell all of our close friends and family this time, the more prayers we had headed this babies way the better! We did ask everyone to keep it off Facebook because we still planned on telling my Dad a couple weeks later when we went to visit him in California.
Everything was going smooth the first couple weeks, we got to California and told my dad the first night we were there. Everyone was so excited!! While visiting we made a day trip to San Francisco. We had a great day sightseeing and eating great food, that night we went to dinner and I just wasn't feeling right. I went to the bathroom and realized I was spotting. My stomach dropped, it was the exact same time frame as the first baby. I texted my sister and Taylor from the bathroom, and then anyone else I could think of who could pray for us. That night when we got back to my dads house I remember falling on the bathroom floor begging God to spare my baby. I prayed and prayed and cried and cried. Ive actually never told anyone that so you should all feel very privileged! ha! I went to bed feeling confident the Lord would do what he saw fit for me, and that he hears our prayers and answers accordingly. I woke up the next day to no spotting...God is so good.
My pregnancy is how would you say....eventful!! The nausea that started the first week after i found out followed me through several months. I would up on some pretty good medication that kicked it as long as i took it in time!! At around 28 weeks I started having some cramps at work, I was pretty nervous because the day before i got overheated during a family photo shoot, so I called the doctor and they told me to come in right away. Turns out I was having contractions. My body was trying to deliver prematurely. Dr Ward put me on procardia to stop the contractions and put me on bed rest. I had to go in every tuesday to be monitored, and have my cervix checked to see how far effaced I was. I wound up on bed rest for 8 weeks, and at every appointment I was further and further effaced. Leighton was extremely low, she had already moved through my pelvic bone by 34 weeks, something most babies haven't even done by labor.
THE BIG DAY. I had been having strong painful contractions for several hours, so my sister Erin drove me to the hospital where Taylor met us. We didn't call anyone, we wanted to make sure this "was it" before we got everyone all worked up. I was 90% effaced, and dialated to a 2, the nurse sent me home and told me to come back when the contractions were stronger, and closer together. A whole day went by...a long..painful day. I did EVERYTHING you could think of, ate spicy food, walked about a million miles..everything. I decided to just let it go, and wait on her to make her appearance when she was ready. August 19th, around 3:30 in the morning some pretty serious contractions woke me up. I laid there for about an hour timing them on my handy dandy contraction counter app I downloaded to my iPhone haha! 5 mins apart exactly, some coming in at 4 minutes. In typical Megan fashion I got up without waking Taylor and went to the bathroom to do my makeup and hair! When I did wake him up he asked me about 30 times if I was SURE. I guess I can't blame him, this whole process was getting a little ridiculous haha! When i got to the hospital i was 100% effaced, and dilated to a 3.
I waited for the epidural until I was at a 6, for some reason I just wanted to feel the contractions and wasn't comfortable getting it to early into labor. When I finally did get it I was feeling pretty good! Everything was moving quickly, It felt like it all happened in about 3 hours, before I know it it was 5:30, I was fully dilated and ready to push!! After about 15 minutes of pushing Dr Ward came in, Leighton's head was turned sideways and kind of lodged in my pelvic bone, so Dr Ward opted to use the vacuum to get her out. I was a little nervous about it, but I knew God had his hand on her. A couple minutes later Leighton Erin Gibbs entered the world, at 7lbs3ounces, 19.5 inches long, and as beautiful as can be :)
Taylor went with her to the nursery and I stayed behind to get "cleaned up"
Well....thats when it all went downhill. Dr Ward looked at me and said " Oh no, she ripped you all the way through" This is when I was EXTREMELY grateful for my wonderful epidural that worked so well. It took him longer to sew me up than it did to deliver Leighton. By the time he was done my body was shaking, I was dizzy and hot, and felt this unnerving urge to go to the bathroom. The nurse helped me in and left me in there while she changed my sheets. The next several hours are a blur, I know I almost passed out in the bathroom...it took 2 nurses to get me into a wheel chair and then back into the bed. I was then loaded up with pain killers and sent to my new room.
I nursed Leighton every 3 hours that night, and then sent her straight back to the nursery seeing as i was to drugged to take care of her. The next night she stayed with us, and that afternoon we were released to go home!
This whole journey of motherhood has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Everyday is something different, a new blessing, a new challenge, and every day I can't wait to see what the day holds for me, Taylor, and our beautiful little girl.
I'll start at the very beginning! Last October Taylor and I were so excited to find out that we were expecting...we hadn't really been trying for very long..and it was news we just couldn't wait to share. However we decided we wanted to wait until we saw my Dad at Christmas to tell him in person before we would tell anyone. Three days after Thanksgiving I lost the baby. Nothing can prepare you for something like that, I don't think it matters when in your pregnancy you lose a child, its a loss non the same and it hurts so much deeper than you could ever imagine. I still think about that baby, someday ill meet him/her, that i can be sure of.
Then something happened. A couple days before Christmas I was at work and I just had this "feeling"...I couldn't shake it. For some reason I actually had a pregnancy test in my purse..random, yes. I snuck into the bathroom..leaving the sales floor unattended..oops..and took the test. I carried it into our back room at work and left it there for 5 minutes before I went back to check it.
Positive.
I couldn't believe it, even though somehow I already knew what it was going to say. I called Taylor and blurted it out while running up and down the hallway of the dressing room area. That was the longest shift of my life! We decided to tell all of our close friends and family this time, the more prayers we had headed this babies way the better! We did ask everyone to keep it off Facebook because we still planned on telling my Dad a couple weeks later when we went to visit him in California.
Everything was going smooth the first couple weeks, we got to California and told my dad the first night we were there. Everyone was so excited!! While visiting we made a day trip to San Francisco. We had a great day sightseeing and eating great food, that night we went to dinner and I just wasn't feeling right. I went to the bathroom and realized I was spotting. My stomach dropped, it was the exact same time frame as the first baby. I texted my sister and Taylor from the bathroom, and then anyone else I could think of who could pray for us. That night when we got back to my dads house I remember falling on the bathroom floor begging God to spare my baby. I prayed and prayed and cried and cried. Ive actually never told anyone that so you should all feel very privileged! ha! I went to bed feeling confident the Lord would do what he saw fit for me, and that he hears our prayers and answers accordingly. I woke up the next day to no spotting...God is so good.
My pregnancy is how would you say....eventful!! The nausea that started the first week after i found out followed me through several months. I would up on some pretty good medication that kicked it as long as i took it in time!! At around 28 weeks I started having some cramps at work, I was pretty nervous because the day before i got overheated during a family photo shoot, so I called the doctor and they told me to come in right away. Turns out I was having contractions. My body was trying to deliver prematurely. Dr Ward put me on procardia to stop the contractions and put me on bed rest. I had to go in every tuesday to be monitored, and have my cervix checked to see how far effaced I was. I wound up on bed rest for 8 weeks, and at every appointment I was further and further effaced. Leighton was extremely low, she had already moved through my pelvic bone by 34 weeks, something most babies haven't even done by labor.
THE BIG DAY. I had been having strong painful contractions for several hours, so my sister Erin drove me to the hospital where Taylor met us. We didn't call anyone, we wanted to make sure this "was it" before we got everyone all worked up. I was 90% effaced, and dialated to a 2, the nurse sent me home and told me to come back when the contractions were stronger, and closer together. A whole day went by...a long..painful day. I did EVERYTHING you could think of, ate spicy food, walked about a million miles..everything. I decided to just let it go, and wait on her to make her appearance when she was ready. August 19th, around 3:30 in the morning some pretty serious contractions woke me up. I laid there for about an hour timing them on my handy dandy contraction counter app I downloaded to my iPhone haha! 5 mins apart exactly, some coming in at 4 minutes. In typical Megan fashion I got up without waking Taylor and went to the bathroom to do my makeup and hair! When I did wake him up he asked me about 30 times if I was SURE. I guess I can't blame him, this whole process was getting a little ridiculous haha! When i got to the hospital i was 100% effaced, and dilated to a 3.
I waited for the epidural until I was at a 6, for some reason I just wanted to feel the contractions and wasn't comfortable getting it to early into labor. When I finally did get it I was feeling pretty good! Everything was moving quickly, It felt like it all happened in about 3 hours, before I know it it was 5:30, I was fully dilated and ready to push!! After about 15 minutes of pushing Dr Ward came in, Leighton's head was turned sideways and kind of lodged in my pelvic bone, so Dr Ward opted to use the vacuum to get her out. I was a little nervous about it, but I knew God had his hand on her. A couple minutes later Leighton Erin Gibbs entered the world, at 7lbs3ounces, 19.5 inches long, and as beautiful as can be :)
Taylor went with her to the nursery and I stayed behind to get "cleaned up"
Well....thats when it all went downhill. Dr Ward looked at me and said " Oh no, she ripped you all the way through" This is when I was EXTREMELY grateful for my wonderful epidural that worked so well. It took him longer to sew me up than it did to deliver Leighton. By the time he was done my body was shaking, I was dizzy and hot, and felt this unnerving urge to go to the bathroom. The nurse helped me in and left me in there while she changed my sheets. The next several hours are a blur, I know I almost passed out in the bathroom...it took 2 nurses to get me into a wheel chair and then back into the bed. I was then loaded up with pain killers and sent to my new room.
I nursed Leighton every 3 hours that night, and then sent her straight back to the nursery seeing as i was to drugged to take care of her. The next night she stayed with us, and that afternoon we were released to go home!
This whole journey of motherhood has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Everyday is something different, a new blessing, a new challenge, and every day I can't wait to see what the day holds for me, Taylor, and our beautiful little girl.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Introductions
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