1 Month Old {Conrad}

He is still sporting his bird arms and legs (thighs are just beginning to get fat on them) and a double chin is starting to appear. He's traded his peeling skin for baby acne. Most people say he looks mostly like me, which is nice to hear since Hanley has always favored her daddy.

He will drift off to sleep best when swaddled but our bedroom stays pretty warm in the summer so lately I've been leaving him un-swaddled and he has been sleeping just fine.

He's still mostly opposite from how Hanley was as a newborn.

He's starting to move a ton. The last time I laid him down after nursing last night, I laid him long ways, the way he fits in his bed and when I woke up this morning, he was nearly sideways. He kicks his feet and rolls from side to side pretty good for a little fella.

Size
In a size 1 diaper. Unsure of how long he is currently but he's long! At birth he was 20.5 inches long which was 80-90% for his weight. He's like right in between wearing size newborn clothing and 0-3 months. Newborn is starting to get snug but the 0-3 months are still too big and baggy. The struggle is real for this little one!

Eyes
He still only stays awake for 30ish minutes at a time. In good lighting his eyes are definitely blue, otherwise they look a gray color. Hoping they decide to stay blue like his big sisters!

He's definitely tracking more things lately. I've noticed his favorite thing to track is Hanley and its so cute! I've recently added a toy owl to his car seat that hangs in his view and he will stare at it for a little bit as well. He also will turn his head when he hears Michael when he gets home from work.

Hair
Oh this poor boys hair... So he was born with a head full of light brown/ dirty blonde hair and he's lost the entire top. He still has a party going on in the back though! I didn't even realize it was happening until he got a bath yesterday and I noticed it was all gone. Same thing happened with Hanley but not this quick.

Sleep
He still sleeps most of the day away. He will even sleep through feeding times but that's ok... Waking for 30 minute intervals.

Sleep at night is decent, usually sleeps for a minimum of 3 hour stretches (sometimes 4+) and I nurse him until he passes back out and lay him back down.

He's never slept in our bed as I'm pretty adamant that I don't want him to. His bassinet is literally right next to me and he sleeps in it.

Diet
All breastfeeding still.

Milestones
He's gaining a lot more control of his head. I really need to do more tummy time but I always think of it after he's already getting fussy from being awake too long. I think he's smiled a couple times but I keep waiting for them to be more consistent.

Likes
He likes his big sister and he likes his pacifier when he's sleepy (I'd rather that than him using me as a pacifier). He's starting to like his swing, seemed like he wasn't a fan of it for the first 2 weeks. Also, starting to enjoy looking at all his toys hanging off of his play mat. Likes his back and head rubbed.

Dislikes
Dislikes being awake for longer than 30ish minutes. Dislikes being tired.

Nicknames
Brother
Buddy
Buddy Bear
Mister

Gymnastics {Hanley} and Park Days

Hanley's never been very agile. She's coming up on 3 years old and isn't much of a runner. I joke that Conrad will be running before her lol she has what she calls running power but I could walk as fast as she goes.

Before enrolling her in gymnastics, I've never seen her jump off or anything. She's not a risk taker and times when we go to the park, she typically wants either me or her dad right there with her. Up until the last month she wouldn't even really go down a slide by herself very often at all. I guess maybe we've never pushed her very far in that sense.

Gymnastics has been great for her. She's been hanging on the rings, the bars, doing little flips, walking on balance beams and also jumping off the beams.

We only signed her up at The Little Gym for the remaining 5 weeks of the season. I personally think it's a little too pricey, nearly $20 a class and it takes us 30 minutes to get there from home.

After these last few weeks, we will enjoy the summer, going to parks, and being outside and then in the fall I plan on enrolling her into a dance class.

I'm anxious to see which she prefers after taking both kinds of classes and hopefully continuing in whichever she chooses.

Michael made a suggestion that any money Hanley receives as gifts can go into a fund for her extracurricular activities, which is a great idea. Even making that suggestion when people ask what to get her as gifts for Christmas/birthdays.

 

 

1st Week 2 Against 1

Conrad is 3 weeks and 3 days old.

Midway through my first week alone with both kids since Michael went back to work. It's been going way better than expected. I've been trying to keep up with the laundry, dishes, and general housework so it doesn't get too out of hand. So far so good.

Monday a photographer came over to capture some pictures of my little boy. I was worried that Hanley would be too overbearing and get upset that it wasn't her getting her picture taken. She actually was really good but wouldn't really cooperate when we did want her in a photo.

Tuesday morning I took both kids to my grandma's house to have brunch with her and my aunt. I used to do my grandma's grocery shopping each week and I would leave Hanley with her as I was gone. Hanley loves her great grandma and enjoys spending time over at her house.

Tuesday after Hanleys nap, I had an appointment to get my hair cut. I had to take both kids with me again and thank God for a tablet to keep Hanley occupied and Conrad slept the entire time. The only challenging part of Tuesday was grabbing Chipotle for dinner after my appointment. Uhm, who else thinks Chipotle needs a drive thru, am I right!? I had Conrads carrier on one arm and holding Hanleys hand with my other hand. After we ordered, Hanley was adamant that she carried the Chipotle bag, that I'm convinced weighed almost as much as her. I'm thankful they gave us a handled bag but Hanley still struggled a tad carrying it to the car. A very nice lady offered to help me but we were feet away from the car so I graciously declined.

Today we had a play date with one of my friends and her little girl that's almost a year old. Hanley had a lot of fun and I'm glad they came over.

The last couple days and nights seem like they've been changing for Conrad. He wants to be held for naps, which isn't always possible. Also, nights used to be pretty decent but these last couple ones have been tedious because he falls asleep nursing or I get him to sleep afterward but as soon as I lay him in the bassinet, he wakes up. So then I end up having to pick him back up and we do this over and over until I get it just right (and sometimes it's 4am before I get to sleep, eeek). I might try swaddling him tonight because it's always his legs that he brings up to his chest or his hands he puts to his face that wakes him up.

Other than some sleep issues that seem to be changing, which I anticipated would happen, he's still a pretty chill baby and mostly agreeable.

Conrads Nursery Tour

I'm in love with this little boys nursery! It actually came together pretty effortlessly considering the doubts I had!

The room was our 3rd bedroom that never really served as a bedroom. It's actually a pretty small bedroom. It consisted of all my sewing and craft things and was basically a catch all room that I could shut the door to and ignore. The closet is nice size for an older home and was my 2nd closet since I share half of my bedroom closet with my husband and between the two of us, have way too many clothes! The room had nasty old green carpet and around 3 layers of flowered wallpaper on all the walls.

Before getting pregnant with him, I had decided to get that room in order and make it presentable and function properly. I started tearing down wallpaper, and got the first layer to come off pretty smoothly but the next 2 layers were so stuck, it's like they were fused to the wall and I started to give up. By this point in my efforts to spruce up my craft room, we decided to have another baby and then I moved everything out of that room, to the first room in my basement since the new baby would be in need of that room.

My uncle is a professional painter and he offered, as well as my mother-in-law, to help me get all the wallpaper off the walls and paint.

I've personally never been a fan "babyish" decor for a nursery. I prefer a room that can easily be transitioned into a big kid/toddler room without having to change much of anything at all. So it was a toss up between an underwater/shark theme since that's my husband's favorite or vintage aviation (which was my pick). I searched ideas on pinterest as well as the internet in general and couldn't really find anything I really liked for an underwater room without making it a nautical room with anchors and the like and I found countless ideas I fell in love with in terms of aviation so my choice won!

After the room was painted I ripped up the carpet which I enjoy doing and cleaned up the floor and got a big rug to lay down. One of my best friends gifted me her sons crib that he wasn't using any longer since Hanley is still not ready for a big girl bed (not complaining in the least, I love having her confined!!). I found a new dresser on Craigslist for Hanleys room to replace the changing table we took out for his nursery. We also still use Hanleys glider rocker every single night for reading books at bedtime so I knew I couldn't take that away from her so I found a nice glider on Craigslist for his room also. Plus, I already had a little side table taking up space in my basement to go beside the glider so we put that to good use instead of purchasing anything.

giant propeller

Conrad pillow

My mom made Conrad the little blue and tan afghan on the back of the chair.

airplane sketches via pinterest

vintage airplane

I created this little list of the aviation alphabet used by pilots.

1959 vintage air routes map

This 1959 air route map is right out of a map book and shows the actual airlines back then and the routes they took, very cool!

aviation fabric

The aviation fabric was purchased online since none of the fabric stores around me had anything that I liked. My mother in law made the curtains for his window and they turned out beautifully!

DIY airplane art

This airplane piece of art was made by me with the help of a pinterest tutorial. There's a similar piece that can be purchased from Pottery Barn but I don't have several hundred dollars for an art piece... Seriously took about 2 months and less than $30 to complete but whatever you do, don't look very close at it lol it was a mod podge transfer, using water and your fingers to rub the dried on paper off... Super long process but in the end, I'm glad I did it!

These are built in book shelves that I've always hated until now. Previously, they always just looked like a big wall of clutter.

2 Weeks Old {Conrad}

My sweet baby boy is already 2 weeks old and I just can.not.believe it! This week will be Michaels last week off, for a total of 3 weeks home with us and has been a huge help! I'm trying not to stress too much about how things will be when he goes back to work... Ahhhhhh

It's amazing how different Conrad is compared to how Hanley was at this age.

Hanley wanted held non stop, Conrad will let you put him down.
Hanley had to be swaddled to sleep, no questions asked, until she was a solid 6 months old - this guy hasn't needed to be swaddled once...
Hanley would not sleep on her back, only her side (I literally had to prop her up on her side, while swaddled...not the best combo) and Conrad has no problem on his back.
Hanley never slept longer than 2 hour stretches and this guy will sleep for 4-5 hour stretches, sometimes longer and has only been waking once at night to nurse.
Hanley cried all the time... Conrad is so laid back, he doesn't care about much.
I really don't remember Hanley ever sleeping like a "newborn" she was such an alert little baby from the start - maybe that's why she cried so much because she couldn't wind herself down enough to get enough sleep lol I don't know.

He's so laid back that even when he wakes up at night to nurse, he doesn't even cry. He literally fusses very calmly and I nurse him and then lay him back down in his bassinet next to my bed and we are good to go.

He's obviously still a newborn so all of this could change, and probably will but so far, this baby boy is a dream come true for a 2nd baby with a demanding toddler running around!

It's still hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I have a son, I feel so lucky!

Conrads Birth Story {baby #2}

Here's to hoping this post isn't forever long...

Up until going into labor, being 5 days overdue, I was comfortable. Not miserable at all but I'm a mostly easy going person.

Prior to going into labor, I was just barely a 1cm and only 50%-60% effaced so needless to say, I thought I was going to have to be induced. At my last appointment, (40 wks) my midwife offered to schedule an induction (but not for another week;41 wks), but I declined because I wanted to give my body some more time. For the most part, I was comfortable and not miserable at all for being 40 weeks pregnant.

It all started Friday night (04-24-15). It was around 8pm and we just finished eating Chipotle and I was having these constant annoying pains in my abdomen/low abdomen. It literally felt like bad gas pains, like the Chipotle was going right through me. I tried using the restroom but that didn't stop the pains. I started putting Hanley to bed, doing our usual bedtime routine and the pains started changing. They started spacing out but never really intensified. Just annoying pains. I went to the top of the stairs and yelled down to Michael that I thought the pains were the beginning of contractions...Eeek! At this point, I was already 3 days overdue, but still slightly in denial. I called my mom and she was asking me questions and I said "I don't know, they just feel like cramps" and she said "Melissa, you're in labor!" Haha you'd think I'd never done this before. lol So I took a shower and they died off for a little while.

When I decided to go to bed, they came back. I didn't get much sleep at all, I saw every hour of the night. They were around 10-12 minutes apart, which I knew was way too far apart to do anything about just yet. Not the worst pain but nothing I was able to really sleep through. 

Hanley got up at 7:30am Saturday morning (04-25-15) and the contractions literally stopped at that time too... Michael took Hanley downstairs and let me sleep until around 10am or so. We stayed home all day, I didn't want to go anywhere just in case something decided to happen. I was having contractions sporadically throughout the day, nothing timeable though. Then 8pm rolled around again and they started right back up, about 8-10 minutes apart and much more painful than the night before. Michael put Hanley to bed because I just couldn't pull it off without her knowing I was in pain. Around 11pm the contractions were more like 6-7 minutes apart and I decided to call the midwife on call. She said I should wait for the contractions to be around 3-5 minutes apart. No thanks! I was planning on going to the hospital when contractions were around 5-6 minutes apart. So I laid on the couch and I told Michael I was giving it another hour, if contractions were the same or closer together, we were just gonna go in. 

I was in contact with my brother since he was going to come pick Hanley up to take her back to his house to stay. Midnight rolled around and they might not have gotten any closer together but they were so incredibly painful. I couldn't walk or talk through them. I called my brother and he was on his way to get Hanley. I started rounding up all our stuff to leave while Michael took a quick shower. We got Hanley out of bed when my brother got here and she was so pitiful. She was crying and was so confused. We finally got her situated in his car with her tablet and she was good to go. 

We got to the hospital and we got put in an OB Triage room to be checked out. They hooked the monitors to my belly and we waited for a doctor to come check me. When a doctor came in, he said right away that he was admitting me before ever checking me. He said the baby's heart rate dropped too far during a contraction and also because I was 5 days overdue at that point. He then checked me but I was only 2cm dilated. Good grief!

We got moved to a labor and delivery room and I got hooked up to my IV's to wait on the anesthesiologist for my epidural. Michael and I both actually knew our nurse, have known her for around 20 years, so we caught up and chatted awhile about various things. The epidural got administered very quickly and I was in sweet relief!! Soon after the epidural the midwife broke my water to try to speed my labor up. It was in between 3-4am sometime and our nurse and midwife left to let us get some sleep. 

I woke up around 6 and the nurse and midwife said the babys heart rate kept dropping a few times but nothing too bad that I needed oxygen or intervention, they just increased my fluids. I got checked again and wasn't progressing so they wanted to start pitocin but couldn't until babys heart rate stopped dipping. 

For the 9 months I was pregnant, I saw a midwife and planned on having a midwife delivery but they actually didn't supply a midwife at the hospital on Sundays because they were short staffed and the other midwives were still in training; the midwife on call, that was treating me in the hospital was off duty as of 8am so I had to end up being delivered by the doctor on call but there wasn't anything I could do about it, oh well.

I called our moms around 7am and they arrived around 8am. The increased fluids helped steady the babys heart rate so they started the pitocin. I was only dilated to a 3 or 4cm at this point. 

The epidural made me so incredibly numb, I had no control over my legs and lower half, I couldn't feel a thing. Thankfully around 10am the epidural started to ease up as I started being able to feel when I was having a contraction (not the pain) and could move my legs around. They checked me again around 10:30am and I was dilated to a 5cm. Then as the next hour passed, I could feel increasing pressure and just felt like I needed checked again. By 11:30am I was fully dilated and effaced and ready to go! So I went from a 5cm to 10 cm in an hour! The nurse had already set up the room for delivery when she heard me mentioning the pressure increasing so she called the doctor in and I started the practice pushes.

In between the practice pushes the doctor on call was texting on his phone, which I really thought was kind of comical...

Several practice pushes later, it was time for the real deal. The doctor got suited up and everyone got ready and 20 minutes later I had Conrad River Nemitz, a beautiful 7lb 1oz (20.5in long) baby boy laying on my chest! I never got to experience the baby coming out and being placed on me because Hanley pooped while still in my belly so they had to take her right away to make sure she didn't ingest any of it. Also, during pushing, I could actually feel what I was doing and feel the difference between the pushes and actually got to feel his head pop out (too much...??) ...because with Hanley I was way too numbed up and didn't feel a thing! 

Also, Conrad came out super cone head and had several really red areas on his face because he came out face up when he should've came out face down. The little guy refused to turn but all his color is perfect now!

I feel so lucky to have such great labor experiences with both my babies because I've read how bad it can be. I've never had any tearing, or stitches and could go without any pain medicine afterwards because its really just never been that bad for me.

I still can't believe we are now a family of 4. These two kids are the best decisions I've ever made and I feel like I was meant to be a mother!