6 Months!

It's hard to believe that Isabelle is already 6 months old. It's even harder to believe that it's nearing the end of July already! We've had a fun summer full of new experiences. We've been swimming, gone on road trips, and watched Auntie Anne get married. Izzy has battled some ear infections, but seems to be on the mend now. She's trying out her first foods and seems to like everything well enough, except peaches....not a fan. As of yesterday, she weighs 19 pounds, 3 ounces (95th percentile!) and is 25 3/4 inches long. I think she would very much like to crawl, but can't get up on all fours yet, so she tries to roll and scoot instead. She loves to jump in her jumperoo, and will chew on anything she gets her little hands on. :)

It's going to be tough going back to work in a few weeks! In the meantime...I think we'll take a walk.

Update

Well, it's been a month since my last post. It turns out that Izzy sleeping through the night really was a reality. We've been sleeping through the night for a little over a month now! :) She's also beginning to get a lot more vocal, which is hilarious. This past week she's started rolling from her back to her tummy, but for some reason she doesn't roll from her tummy to her back. She's done it a few times, but not regularly.

Last week we went in for our 4 month checkup. Izzy weighed in at 16 pounds, 8 ounces (95th percentile!) and was a little over 25 inches long (75th percentile). Our pediatrician says she can start solid foods any time now, so we'll be in the market for a high chair in the next few days and I'll embark on the great feeding adventure next week.

Too Good to be True?

Isabelle has slept a good 8 hours for the last three nights in a row. I'm almost beginning to feel like a normal person again! :) My only worry is that I'll begin to get used to this feeling, only to be jolted back into reality at 2:30 in the morning!

Since I'm not quite back to normal yet, and as it's Sunday afternoon. I will now commence to nap while she naps, and hope for another good night.

Accomplishments

At 12 weeks old, Isabelle can do the following:

• smile
• laugh
• sit up (with good support)
• drink 7 ounces of formula
  
• blow out a diaper to the point of almost needing a bath :)
• grasp objects that are within reach
• bring said objects to her mouth
• suck on her hand until her first knuckles have little rough patches, AND....

SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!

That last one has only happened once...and it was just last night, so I'm counting it as a bit of a fluke until it happens again, but it was wonderful all the same. I was still tired, but I couldn't stop smiling when I got to work this morning!

Shots!

If Isabelle understood what was going to happen when we went to the doctor's office today, I would imagine this would be the face she would have made.

Today was our 2 month checkup with the pediatrician. Everything looks great...she weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. According to the doctor, she's now 'short and chubby!' :) Her weight is in the 75th percentile, and her length is in the 25th.

After the exam came the dreaded shots. Luckily, there were only three instead of the four that I had anticipated. Hooray for the Rotovirus vaccine being in the form of drops! The screaming was not as bad as I had expected, and Daddy was there to hold her down so that I didn't have to be the bad guy! The nurse was speedy and it was all over fairly quickly. Now we wait and watch for any possible side effects...so far, so good.

Adventures at Bathtime

Wow, I can't believe it's only been three weeks since my last entry. It feels as though it's been a lot longer!

Izzy is now 2 months old and becoming more fun every day. We get smiles pretty frequently and we're getting anxious to hear her first laugh. On Wednesday, we'll go to the doctor for her first shots, which I'm not looking forward to at all- but I have a feeling she'll do pretty well (or as well as anyone can when they get FOUR shots!)

I'm on Spring Break this week, so we enjoyed the day at home today. Around 3:00 I decided it was time to give her a bath. She had just finished a nap and was in a pretty good mood, so it seemed as good a time as any. I put her on the changing table and stripped her down, removing a wet diaper in the process. I gave her an extra minute in case she decided to pee again, then I picked her up and headed to the bathroom. About halfway through the 15 foot trip from the nursery to the tub, I felt something warm on my arm. Upon entering the bathroom and catching our reflection in the mirror I realized that it was not the pee I had expected, but poop!

That's right, my beautiful daughter pooped on me today! I was so stunned that I didn't really know what to do. I went back to her room to grab a baby wipe and the pooping continued! We ended up going back to the bathroom and staying by the sink until the horror subsided. In the meantime, I made quite a mess of the sink, my shirt, and my naked baby. By the time I finally got her into the tub, she was NOT happy.

Once I got her out of the tub and dressed, things calmed down again and we even made a trip to the grocery store without incident. But bathtime was definitely an event worth recording. :)

Baby Colds Suck

I hate, I mean really hate, blowing my nose. After dealing with a congested baby for a few days, however, I have a new found appreciation for this simple if gross ability. Isabelle has her first cold. Being only 5 weeks old there is nothing she can do to communicate with us except cry and be fussy. She has had a hard time sleeping in certain positions and it's hard to tell whether or not she'll be comfortable when put down until you try. Then she either continues to sleep peacefully, or wakes up and fusses. And, of course, she does not yet have the ability to blow her own nose so the blue bulb from the hospital has become my good friend and the bane of Izzy's existence.

The good news is that the pediatrician tested her for RSV and it came back negative, her lungs are clear, and her appetite is still pretty good. So now we wait for her congestion to clear up and try to get back to business as usual.

Life on Mars

Stolen from the TV show, yes, but totally appropriate nonetheless. Isabelle is already one month old and, of course, life is totally different. Thus, it's like being on Mars. :)

My days are now measured by my ability to shower, brush my teeth, and generally behave like a human being. Today I have done all of the above! The first three weeks were definitely the most difficult experience I have ever had but I can now officially say that I enjoy motherhood. Two weeks ago...not so much! Thank God for good friends, an amazing husband, and the world's greatest mom!

Though she only sleeps peacefully in her car seat right now, Izzy has started sleeping much better at night which makes the days much more enjoyable. And yesterday, at exactly one month old...she rolled over! Most likely by accident, but it was still cool. :) She smiles and laughs, but only in her sleep. We can't wait to see an awake smile and hear a real laugh for the first time.

I'd love to be able to come up with something profound to say right now...but baby stole my brain (I'm trying to milk that saying as long as possible...no pun intended!).

What a Day

This Inauguration Day really has multiple meanings for me. One of the first sights I witnessed on the television this morning was the massive sea of people gathered on the National Mall awaiting their first glimpse of our new president. Later, I was briefly moved to tears (hormones may have played a role) by the cheers from the massive crowd at the mere sight of President Obama emerging from the morning prayer service. Again, a pan across the sea of people, many waving American flags. While I know there are many who will disagree, it felt in that moment as if our country had become unified in a way that we haven't seen since September 11. It was a beautiful, hopeful moment that I think will stay with me for a long time to come.

One thing I have yet to see live, however, is the actual event itself. This morning I had to seize one last opportunity to get out and shop unencumbered. I was invited to Bloomington to do some shopping with Rebecca, who understood my cabin fever after spending six days at home with her two little ones during the recent Arctic snap we had in our area. Thankfully, the technological age in which we live will allow me to watch as much coverage of this historic event as I please. After some more house cleaning, I plan to sit down and watch our new President's swearing in and inaugural speech.

Since waking up the day after the election in November, I've been thinking a lot about what this day would mean to me. Because yesterday was my due date, my first thought was that my daughter could be born on the day that Barack Obama was sworn in as President. While that will most likely not be the case (unless I have a miraculously quick labor), the fact that she will be born this week feels very special.

"Change" has been the theme for so many months now, through the campaign and leading right up to today. While I am certainly not moving into the White House, this theme really resonates with me. Within 48 hours, I will be holding my little girl... and life will NEVER be the same again.

And I suppose that's why today feels so special to me. We have come so far as a nation, that we have elected a man who would not even have been allowed to vote a few decades ago. A man who openly recognizes that in most countries, his story would not even be possible. He has inspired a nation in ways that many could not have imagined, and brought hope to those who have felt as though they have largely been ignored. And this is the world I will bring my daughter in to. Isabelle Kay Shivers will be able to say that she was born when Barack Obama was president, and hopefully, that will mean almost as much to her as it does to the rest of us.

Extreme Cold + Pregnancy = Extreme Boredom

Not exactly an equation on par with the likes of Einstein, but equally true as far as I'm concerned. Not only has it been too cold to really get out and do much of anything this week, but the impending (or maybe not-so-impending) birth of our daughter has kept me pretty well confined to the house.

I don't know whether my 'nesting' instincts exist, because I certainly could have passed time by cleaning the house. My energy level is generally pretty good for this stage of pregnancy. The problem is, I didn't want to clean. I did do some cooking and baking, but mostly I sat around, watched TV, and contemplated the fact that my unborn daughter has apparently inherited a stubborn streak. (I'll let you determine which parent she gets it from! :)

Granted, Monday is my official due date, so I really can't complain too loudly. But when boredom becomes so extreme that one would rather experience childbirth, I think that speaks volumes.

Sarah vs. the Pack-n-Play

Today was my last day of work before the arrival of baby Isabelle. It was a pretty routine day, complete with one or two kids managing to find my absolute last nerve by 3:00. Nevertheless, it was an odd sensation walking out of the building and getting into my car knowing that I won't return for about 8 weeks.

On the way home, I began thinking of all the things I could do to fill my time until the arrival of zero hour. Among these was setting up the pack-n-play in our bedroom for Izzy to sleep in when she arrives home. It's been on my mind for a while, but knowing that I had to get up for work the next day had been holding me back. So tonight I decided it was time to meet the beast head-on.

When I got the directions out of the box, I was actually surprised at how simple it all looked. I laid out the essentials and quickly got to work. The actual play yard was all one collapsed piece, so it popped right up. The bassinet attachment was a little tougher, but didn't require too much effort. I even managed to locate a D battery for the little vibrating attachment that went under the padding. After a fairly short amount of time, everything is ready to go with the exception of the changing table attachment and organizer.

Here's where it got tricky. The directions are short on words and mostly illustrated. The picture does not show whether the support bar goes in with tabs up or down, so I ended up switching it around several times. To complicate matters further, the swivel mounts actually need to be swiveled before attaching them to the changer! This whole process probably took as long as the assembly of the rest of the pieces combined, but when it was all said and done, all the pieces worked the way they were supposed to and the assembly complete.

I'd post pictures, but the camera has been returned to my hospital bag so as not to be forgotten when D-day arrives. Instead, I will leave you with a picture of the pack-n-play as it appears in stores. It actually does do it justice.

So long Christmas!

Normally, I take down Christmas decorations with a bit of sadness each January but apparently being 9 months pregnant puts the process in a new perspective. Perhaps it was because we didn't put up as many decorations this year, or perhaps it's the anticipation of bigger things to come, but I didn't feel even the slightest hesitation as I put some of my favorite decorations back in their respective boxes for another 11 months.

Next year's process is sure to be interesting with an 11 month old running around the house...or crawling...or toddling...we'll see. :) Hopefully we'll have some decorations going up on newly painted walls! :)

New Year, New...well, pretty much everything!

So Matt has moved on to his own blog space and permanently handed this one over to my sole possession. It's been so long that I've written anything that it took me about 5 minutes just to log in!

Since last we posted, I've gone through almost an entire pregnancy! Our first little one, a girl to be named Isabelle, is set to arrive just about any day now. Though I'm not officially due until the 19th, I'd prefer for her to arrive by about the 15th. I'm ready to be done with pregnancy and move on to motherhood and getting back into my old clothes! I can't complain too much, though, because this whole pregnancy experience has been good to me. I had zero morning sickness, no complications, and other than being swollen and having to go to the bathroom every 2 hours at night, I don't even feel terribly uncomfortable even now.

Still, I have to admit I'm nervous about labor and delivery. It's been almost too easy up to this point. Where will I be when my water breaks? When I start having contractions, will I even realize what his happening? This is such a new experience that I have almost no idea what to expect. We did the whole childbirth class, but it's different for everyone and I know it's hard to describe what some of these things feel like....a foot to the rib cage being a good example, you can't really describe it, but you know when you feel it!

I think it's still safe to say that I have some time to prepare. I know it's not a lot, but the baby hasn't 'dropped' nor have I had any extreme nesting urges just yet...so I think I'm in the clear for at least a few more days! Only time will tell!