Button!

Travis' belly button stump fell off last night! he has the cutest belly button ever! it looks like it will be an innie. I have an innie. No, it never "popped" out while I was pregnant. THAT'S how much of an innie I have.

On another note, how is such a tiny baby capable of ripping such adult-sized farts out of his tiny butt? Just wondering.

I think we'll go out later and walk around the mall. I will try not to buy anything. (Much.)

3 weeks old already!

Hello! Thanksgiving was great... everyone was all googly over Travis. (of course!) :) We had a second Turkey Day here with the Hoffmeisters on Sat. I cooked everything: turkey, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, yams with marshmallows, and green bean casserole. Yummy!

It was so nice hanging out here, just the 2 families... :) Julia made Travis a Taggie-type blanket. It's very cute! It's a flannel material with monkeys all over it. He LOVES it! While I breastfeed him, he rubs the satin ribbon tags along the edges.

The potato peels caused the garbage disposal to get all clogged up... :( Actually, the plumber came today and said it was most likely the years of accumulated gunk in the drain... and my peels were just the straw that broke the camel's back. So we don't have to pay for it. Yippee!

Travis is doing great! He's holding his head up more now, and focusing on things. Like the mirror/mobile above his Papasan Swing. He stares at it in amazement. It's SO cute! I pumped some breastmilk for the first time yesterday (only about 1 1/2 oz). Jeff fed him a bottle for the first time last night. It was the sweetest thing ever! Of course, I took a picture.

We bought Travis a My FirstPooh bear. It's so cute! It's actually Baby Pooh with a huge head, and a blanket. So cute! I had to cut his nails again... they grow SO fast! He's got some baby acne all over now. :( I took some advice, and yesterday started washing with Dove Sensitive (wipes) and applied a thin layer of breastmilk on the blemished, and also lanolin wipes. They are much better on his cheeks today.

Poor baby has diaper rash on his butt.
:( It happened when he was 1 week old, too. It's really red in a spot this time, though. I started using the Lanolin wipes again for changes and A&D ointment, and trying to change him more often. He gets so upset, though! He hates being changed!

Gotta go... the Moose is up from his nap and demanding his Milkies!

My little Butterball Turkey

The babe slept well last night... so I guess the last couple of nights were flukes, or so I can hope. He's all sweet in his swing... with the hiccups, of course!

We are getting ready to go out in a while. We have a chiro appt at 11:00am. Jeff is meeting me over there. Then I am going to buy a new pair of NON-PREGNANT jeans!! :) Woohoo!!

I am only 8lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight, so I've lost almost 28 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks. So nice! Since we moved, I have no idea where my old clothes are... I have lots of tops still, so that's not a problem, but my jeans elude me as to where they ended up.

Tomorrow we go to jeff's Grandma's for thanksgiving. That is always lots of fun! Yesterday Travis, my mom and I went to Farmer's Market. His first one! And he snuggled in the sling and slept the whole time.He makes these little humming sounds when he sleeps all scrunched up in the sling. It's damned adorable.

Also , he's fitting into clothes better. We only had a few non-PJ outfits that fit him right, and now we have a couple more to add to the mix. So, I know he's gaining weight. Plus, this morning I saw he has the beginnings of upper leg baby rolls! I wanna eat him up with a spoon. And his belly-button stump looks about ready to fall off. I think by this weekend it will be gone. Aww. Can't wait to kiss his cute belly button!

yawn

Yawn. I haven't slept much. Travis and I took a nap earlier, but it was only for an hour or so. He's happily sleeping in his swing right now. What a doll. I took a picture, and I'll post it soon. Oops, he is starting to fuss now. Mommy Milk bar is now open!

2 week old Baby Dictator

The little booger was up most the night. He's so cute! He turner 2 weeks old yesterday. Time flies! We went to Jeff's Grandma's for Poker and tuna casserole yesterday afternoon. We were there for like 6 hours. He slept most of the time we were there.

We got home, changed him into his cozy doggie jammies with feet from TCP. Then he ate, and slept on Jeff's chest in the recliner for a couple of hours, and then ate again and fell asleep on me for an hour. Final feeding before bed, he was mostly asleep. I put him down in the basinett so we could ALL go to sleep. He had other ideas. His eyes popped open, and he started chewing on his hands and smiling and making cooing sounds. So CUTE! And then the hiccups started. I brought him into bed with us. Daddy burped him and got rid of the hiccups. He was completely wide awake, and alert at 12:00am. Mmmhmm. Fed him again in bed, he started to doze off, and then fought it back. He woke up again with the gurgling and babbling and cooing. I turned on the white noise on our alarm clock. Around 1:00am he finally dozed off. For an hour. And woke again, at 2am smiling, happy, making noises.

I brought him into the living room to change and feed him. Burped, etc. Tried to do the basinett thing again. No way Mama! Back into bed with us. finally got him to sleep again. This time for 2 1/2 hours. Yay! He woke up again at 5:00am, lather, rinse repeat. This time he woke Jeff up with the babbling. We turned the white noise on again. He jabbered louder than the sounds. Then the hiccups statrted. Again. Back out to the living room, fed, changed, etc. Dozed on the couch for an hour with him. We went back into our bed at 6am. We all slept til 8:30. He woke up with hiccups. Again. and of course, as soon as we got up for the morning... he crashed like a lamp. He's been asleep for nearly 2 hours. Little booger! Sigh. :)
I love my goofy baby!

Super boobie juice!!

Travis went to his first Ped. appointment yesterday With Dr. Black. He's now 8 lbs, 5oz. When we were discharged from the hospital he was 7lbs 8 oz. 13 oz weight gain in 10 days! Woo hoo!!! He's eating so good. The Ped. is actually my old childhood Dr. Old is the operative word. He looks like Col. Saunders. :) I asked if it was normal for him to wake only once or twice in the night to eat. Dr. Black asked me "Are you complaining?" with a wink winked and a smile. I laughed. He said that as long as he's gaining weight like this, enjoy my sleep. Yay!

Be back later.

Here's milk in your eye!

I put Travis in the sling for the first time this morning. He's been sleeping for a couple of hours in it. I am going to wake him soon to feed him. He only woke up once last night, at 3:30am. I woke him up at 7:30am to feed and change him.

On one hand it's wonderful, because I can sleep. On the other hand, I am afraid my milk supply is going to diminish because of it. Last night, I read in Dr. Sears' book to use the sling as much as possible, and to wake him every two hours during the day to feed. That way, my milk production will hopefully stay up there.

OMG, the funniest thing... when I go to feed him (when my boobs are full to the brim) I squirt him in the eye with my milk! It just flies across the room! I can't control it! Like the fountains at the Bellagio, or something! He looks at me like, "Mommy, why the hell did you do that??!" It's adorable! I have started expressing just a bit of milk before putting him to the breast to avoid that, and to help him latch on. Otherwise, it's just flowing into his mouth, and he gets too much, and doesn't have to work at it.

He started spitting up occasionally. I have since found a better way to burp him, by holding him kinda hunched over the heel of my hand and rubbing his back. I usually get good burps that way. Patting his back doesn't always work, and this is the best way I've found.

I want to pick up the house a bit... Jeff's Grandmother is supposed to come by later to see Travis, and I want the house to look pulled together.

It's actually a LOT cleaner than I thought we'd be able to keep it, with a newborn in the house... but I want to make my bed, pick up the living room and kitchen, and empty the bathroom trash. Jeff already loaded the dishwasher before his 8:0am meeting, and took out the trash and recycling. I folded the weekend laundry yesterday... but we need to do more wash tonight. I do miss having my own washer and dryer... but it's not so bad, I guess, since we can do more than one load at a time. Jeff has actually begun laundry duty...what a wonderful man! I didn't even have to ask him! He's been so good about picking up the household chores.

Well, going to feed my baby boy now, and pick up a little... see ya.

1 Week later

We're doing great! Travis turned a week old yesterday... wow... time flies when you're having fun! We certainly are enjoying our new little one. He's just so good! He wakes up only two or three times during the night to eat, and he's breatfeeding great - every 2 hours or so during the day. The only time he cries is when he's hungry... even dirty diapers don't bug him. He loves bring swaddled, and REALLY hates getting undressed. He doesn't mind getting dressed, though... he tries to eat his hands before I can get them through his sleeves!

I love him so much!! His circ is almost totally healed, and he has his first Ped. appointment Wednesday.

I went to my first post-baby chiro appointment today. Aah! I feel SO much better! Between labor, hospital beds, and falling asleep at weird angles, my body was jacked.

Everyone was all googly over Travis. Saying what a beautiful baby he is. How good he is. I know! :) We're so lucky!

Right now he's asleep on his daddy's lap in the recliner on his pillow. It's so sweet!

Going to go make dinner now... mexican tonight... my freezer still has food in it!

My little froggy

I brought Tavis into bed with us for the first time last night. It was about 11:30pm. He had eaten, been changed and was asleep in my arms. I put him in the bassinet next to our bed, and he woke up 10 minutes later fussing. I picked him up, burped him, resituated him, and tried again. No avail. So I put him between us in bed, and he slept like a dream. He woke up at 4:00am to eat. We had Starbucks Mocha Chip ice cream then, too and we all went back to bed at 5am after watching a TiVod CSI, and he slept until 8:30am. Amazing isn't it??

We took him out for the first time last night... grocery shopping, Costco, and Target. He was an angel!

He slept through almost the entire trip. We covered up his carseat so no nosey germy people would breathe on him.

Today we walked with him around the lake and went to McDonald's for lunch. We sat outside, because it was a beautiful day. Again... he slept through the stroller ride.

He poops A LOT! And farts more than that! He's eating so good, too. We call it Milkies or Milky Cereal (like the LL Cool J song) and he gets milk drunk from eating. He gets a milk mustache, and his eyes roll into the back of his head, and he smiles so drunkenly. I said "Step away from the vehicle!" And he smiled at me. So cute!

I adore the little noises he makes when he's nursing. Little coos and sweet sounds, and his nose gets pressed up against the boob, and breathes all loud. Sigh. I am so in love with my baby boy. I call him Froggy because his legs are still folded up like a frog's and he has this sleep gown with a frog on it that he slept in the first night he was home.
My dad came over today for the first time since the hospital. He held him for SO long! Travis loves his Grandpa.

I can't get over the fact that he will be one week old tomorrow. Wow. I already can't imagine life without him.

Crazy mamma

It's PERFECTLY normal to jump out of your chair every 3 minutes to check on the baby in his bassinet to make sure he's still breathing, right? Even though you can SEE the rise and fall of his chest from where you're sitting? Thought so, thanks!

Drumroll, please! He's here!!!

Hey guys! Well, we're home, and have been since Tuesday afternoon. Everything is great... I feel so good, it's surprising. Travis Jeffry made his grand entrance into the world Sunday night 11/7/04 at 9:23pm weighing in at 7 lbs, 15 oz, and he was 22 inches long. I delivered him vaginally, after nearly 2 hours of pushing, and a couple of scary moments. He's absolutely perfect in every way! He's simply gorgeous, and I've posted a few photos at http://picturetrail.com/dysenchanted password is Travis

I will post his birth story soon... as well as more pictures... we've already taken hundreds! Getting to know my little boy is the most amazing thing in the world. The sleepless nights are SO worth it! :) He's nursing well, and my real milk started coming in last night... Holy crap! Size F nursing bras DO fit me right now!! Sigh... I'm on cloud 9 and no coming down in sight.

Love you all... be back soon. Thanks for all your encouraging words. :)

You're only a day away....

I'm being induced tomorrow morning.... it's almost unbelievable he'll be here so soon. I can't quite accept it myself... I know my life is about ready to change, in the biggest way possible. I only hope I can get through it all intact... the physical pain, and mental challanges that lie ahead of me.

I'm sure everything will be fine. I do have fears... I won't lie. i don't want to end up with a Cesarean, or an unneeded episiotomy... but other than that, I'm actaully pretty calm. We'll see how well I sleep tonight...

I just want to know my baby is safe and healthy, and I want to finally hold him in my arms, and marvel over the beauty of this new creature... See for my own eyes that he's perfectly ok, and healthy, and then take him home forever.

Wish me luck, all. I'll update you at the earliest possible time.

Nesting away

Sigh. It's getting so close! I had a chiro adjustment today... I feel a little better. Lower back was killing me all night. I could hardly sleep. It's bad enough that the last part of pregnancy you have to pee every damned 30 minutes, and the heartburn... and the light sleep thing... but pain on top of it sucks.

I am stocked up on meals for after baby comes. So, I'm nesting away... Do I spend the day scrubbing the walls, or cleaning from top to bottom? Nope. Do I spend it making sure the baby's room is just right? Laughable... since that's where all the boxes of unpacked stuff are stored. Nope... I spent today cooking....and cooking, and cooking. My chest freezer has the following:

(2) Home made lasagnas, plus one in the fridge!

(2) Batches of Pasta meat sauce, enough for at least 2 meals each
(Jeff could eat pasta for every meal!)

(1) batch of seasoned ground beef for Burritos

(1) Chicken pot-pie style casserole with lots of veggies

(3) 1 lb each meatloaves

Plus we went to the store last night and stocked up on snacks for me, breakfast stuff, sandwich fixings and the like. At least we'll be covered for the first week or so and after that we still have stuff in the pantry for simple things like tuna casserole, and mac n cheese, etc. Hopefully I'll only need to send Jeff out for bread, milk, etc.

We really want to minimize exposing Travis to populated places for the first few weeks... flu season is upon us... and Costco is no place for a newborn. Shopping cart handles are my new phobia. I always see fathers who let their toddlers chew on the handles. The germiest places on earth!! Ick. Whoever invented those shopping cart covers deserves an award. That and anti-bacterial hand gel. I have Jeff even addicted to it. We have it in each car, and I carry it in my purse. Bath & Body Works makes the yummiest ones. :)

That's me... germ-obsessed mommy already. :) Well, we do what we can... I swear I will never be the type who picks up a dropped Binky from the ground, puts it in my mouth and hands it right back to the baby. That's just wrong.

At Last

Hello! Just returned from bi-weekly OB appt. NST was great. My BP was 150/100. Ick. No protein. 2cm dialated, 80% effaced. Nice to know all thos BH Contractions actually DID do something! He also stripped my membranes. I go in for another NST Saturday. Induction Sunday, unless something Sat looks weird. WOW!!!! This baby is really coming! I can hardly believe it!!

We are going to the grocery tonight so I can have some meals prepped tomorrow in case Sat is the day. Also need a few things for the baby and the hospital bag. Woah! This is too crazy.

We went to Starbuck's after my appt. We were at the bar and Jeff was putting cream and sugar in his coffee. Etta James came on the music. "At Last" It was a perfect song at the perfect moment. We both started tearing up. I cannot wait to hold this little one. At last.

At last my love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

At last the skies above are blue

And my heart was wrapped up in clover

The night I looked at you

I found a dream that I can speak to

A dream that I could call my own

I found a thrill to press my cheek to

A thrill that I have never known

You smiled, and then the spell was cast

And here we are in heaven

And you are mine at last

Bush baby!

No baby yet!! But, he told me yesterday if Kerry were elected he was staying in for the next four years. :) Guess we don't have to worry about that now, huh? Can't wait for Bush's Victory speech! Woohoo!

We went to a local 'Pubbie event last night at a Hilton ballroom. It was cool kicking it with like-minded peeps. Although we were the youngest people there by at least 10 years. Unless you count the kids. Including the group of teenagers that were looking like they thought it was still Halloween with their striped tights, and ripped jeans, and spiky purple hair and eyeliner. WTF?

We showed up for a couple of hours to score some free food, and shake hands with the local candidates, and observe, and chat. I had 1/2 a glass of red wine while we were there. MMM. I forgot how much I love red wine! Jeff had a six-pack of Newcastles before we got there. He also had wine once we were there, a glass of his own, and the other 1/2 of mine. I drove. :) We stayed up until 2am, and went to bed, hoping that when we woke up today, it would be sorted out. It was!