My Big Boy

Oh how I'm enjoying this stage!  I finally feel like Henry and I have a little routine, and it feels great!  It seems like Henry is doing something new everyday, and Shaun and I can't get over how much we love him and how our love continues to grow daily.  Before I continue with a little update...here are a few fav pics of this stage....can't you tell already that he is such a little character?!

Henry can't sit-up on his own yet without a little support, but he enjoys playing in boxes in the meantime.

This is one of my favorite photos....He was playing with the duck, and I looked down to wash his feet, and this is what I saw when I looked up!!

And we are finally taking regular naps without putting up too much of a fight (as long as Mommy puts me to bed on time!).  Note:  I was washing his crib sheet that is why the other blanket is down.  And yes he sleeps with a blanket and a blankie for naps...scared me to death right at first but he sleeps better, and I still watch him carefully on the video monitor.  I also want to say that babywise works.  It took us a lot longer than most to get there, but it is sooooo great when I can tell that he needs a nap, give him a good squeeze, place him in his crib awake with all of his goodies, give him a kiss and say night night and he falls asleep!!

Teething- I can still tell that his bottom gums bother him at times, but I'm able to usually make him feel better with the OHTC combo--orajel, hylands teething tablets, tylenol, and chewing washcloth or teether.  I can't tell you what works...I just know that all of them combined make him happy so when I can tell they are bothering him (now only about once or so a day....I give him the combo).  No teeth sightings yet, but I do feel a little something when I rub his gums so maybe just maybe one will pop out soon!

Sleep Training- Yes maybe teething wasn't the best time to decide to do nighttime sleep training.  Call me a bad mom or whatever you want to call me because I couldn't take anymore.  Henry was acting like he was a newborn again waking every one to two hours, and I was feeding him every time he was waking (new mom mistake).  And this was going on for weeks before the teething started so it wasn't related.  Talked to his pediatrician, and he told me that I needed to stop feeding him at night and then gave me advice on letting him cry it out.  Well I didn't want to do it all at once since that would be a major shock so I started with one week of night weaning.  Instead of feeding him every time he woke up, I started not feeding him ONE feeding at a time per night.  I still would go give him his paci and pat him and then I left the room.  If he fussed (not hard crying), I just set a timer next to my night stand, and he never fussed more than a few minutes before falling back asleep.  This was hard, but at the same time it felt like parenting.  I knew it was best for Henry to be able to have a good night sleep and not rely on me (or my boob lol) every hour to sleep because that is not a restful sleep--believe me I know!!  I could tell that I was doing the weaning gradually enough because although my boobs were full...they weren't killing or hard.  Once I completely eliminated the night feedings, the next step was to not go into his room and let him cry it out.  I really, really didn't want to have to do this step.  I tried doing the baby whisperer method of picking the baby up just until they calm down and then putting them right back down (she would sometimes do this hundreds of times the first night), but it did NOT work and made Henry very upset.  So I finally listened to my pediatrician and my wise friends and stopped reading about how I was going to hurt him forever and just did it.  I thought about blogging so I would have a record for if/when we have another baby, but I didn't and now I can't remember the exact details.  All I know is that he never went past ten minutes with crying it out!  The first night he woke several times and every day after that he stopped waking as much.  Last night he slept without a peep until 5:45!  wooohooo!  I did feed him then, but I put him back in his bed to sleep a little longer.  One tradition/habit that we have started that Shaun and I both really like is that Henry gets tired of his bed during the 6 AM hour, and he really doesn't want to be in there any longer (can you blame him...that is almost 11 hours!).  So I go get him and put him in bed in between us so we can get another hour or so (we are 7ish AM people).  Henry is soooo cute.  He smiles at his daddy and then he stretches out his arms so he can touch both of us at the same time.  He pats his daddy's face and grabs my nose or whatever for a few minutes and then he just falls asleep...so sweet!  I really don't mind it because it is good quality family time (we watch daddy get ready for work), and so far it hasn't caused any problems with Henry sleeping in his crib for naps and nighttime sleep.     

So yes for me it took five months (almost six!!) to get a routine (and sleep!) and to feel like I'm back on my feet again and I'm okay with that.  The house is starting to get clean again.  I'm cooking every night of the week (major budget restrictions while we pay off these medical bills).  And most importantly, I'm just loving being a mommy to my sweet little big boy.  I ran into a friend of mine at a birthday party this weekend who also had a baby about six weeks after me.  When we first met, we hit it off talking non-stop about endometriosis and infertility treatments as we were both feeling alone and emotionally drained from treatments and waiting.  On Saturday, we talked about night waking, teething, breastfeeding and what miracles our little babies are to us.  She got her butt kicked by motherhood too so it was good to see that I wasn't alone.  I guess I just expected more out of my infertile self.  I thought I wouldn't skip a beat and that I would know exactly what to do.  I was/am prideful and thought that if God could just give me my baby that I wouldn't need any help after that.  I now find myself in constant prayer for my little one and for wisdom, strength, and energy to be a good mother and wife.   

Poor Guy :(

Thanks for all of the great teething advice!  Henry just got a dosage of tylenol (can't start motrin until 6 months--only a few more weeks), hylands teething tablets and orajel.  He is currently gnawing on a cold washcloth in his crib with his mobile entertaining him for a few minutes.  Today makes two weeks of the slight fever, fussiness, drooling, and chewing.  I think I saw some white starting to show through the gums on the bottom so I'm hoping this means the tooth/teeth will come out soon.  Even with being fussy most of the day, he still has his moments where his giggle box gets the best of him and those precious smiles and giggles make my day.  He really is a cutie even when he doesn't feel good.  I put the washcloth on his head because I think it makes him feel better with his "fever."  I don't care what the pediatrician office says 99 something is still a fever to me!  See Poor Mr. Henry below...

New post on prayingforalittleone....

Teething.

I had to laugh when I came upon this from the Dr. Sears' website today:
"Your beautiful five-month-old baby boy, who has been the most perfect little angel since birth, has suddenly turned into a cranky, fussy, drooling, chews-on- everything-in-site little monster! He is now keeping you up half the night, and needs to be held, bounced, and nursed all day long. Welcome to the wonderful world of TEETHING!"
We are coming up on two weeks now that Henry has been running a slight fever (pediatrician's office doesn't even technically call it a fever) and being a little fussy buddy.  The fever and the pain isn't all the time (thank goodness!), but even when he isn't screaming while touching his gums, the drooling and chewing speaks for itself.  It seems to bother him more in the afternoon/evening for some reason and especially when he is playing by himself.  The pain is making him more of a "needy" baby than he has ever been in the past, and he starts to fuss the moment I even think about leaving the room.  I know that some of the extra fussiness is probably just Henry's frustration of not being able to move yet and maybe some slight seperation anxiety, but I can also tell that teething has something to do with it too.  So how am I doing?  I have my moments.  It just makes me literally sick to see him in pain and sometimes by the end of a long day I feel very overwhelmed and  inadequate as a mom. Shaun will come home and spend every little bit of energy he has left giving Henry the happiest ten minutes of his day.  While I'm incredibly grateful for such a loving husband and daddy and for their precious relationship, it has (just being honest) made me question why I can't do that for Henry.  But Shaun has been so sweet to remind me that he can keep that energy level up for ten to fifteen minutes, but he couldn't do it all day long.  This week I'm trying not to feel guilty when Henry doesn't seem happy, and I'm instead just focusing on soothing him and being a good mommy.  This too shall pass and in the end two sweet little baby teeth will pop out, and I'm sure I will cry when that happens because it will just be another sign that my sweet boy is already growing up.

Encouraged.

Thank you so much to all of you who let me know you were reading during international de-lurking week.  It meant the world to me to hear from all of you.  I felt so discouraged after the below trip to Wal-Mart when I saw one of our sisters hurting, and I did nothing.  I prayed that if God wanted me to speak to her that He would give me the opportunity, but I struggled with why He would let me overhear her conversation if He didn't want me to speak with her.  After reading your comments, it is clear to me that God let me see the girl in the purple shirt so that He could encourage some of you who needed to know that you are not alone.  Some of you mentioned that you haven't shared your struggles yet with anyone in real life.  It really is such a hard decision of when and who to share infertility with because sometimes putting yourself out there can lead to some hurtful comments but at the same time, it is very hard to walk this journey alone.  If you aren't ready to share with those in real life (and only you and your husband will know when is the right time) know that there is an amazing support group in the infertility blogging community.  A good place to start is Stirrup Queens with her very well organized blogroll of the ALI (adoption, loss, infertility) community.  Your encouraging comments have made me start thinking and praying more about Praying for a Little One as I really would like to be able to continue to write about infertility.  More on that later...  

Dear Girl in the Purple Shirt

Dear Girl in the Purple Shirt at Wal-Mart,
You don't know me, but I couldn't help but overhear your phone conversation today with your mom.  I really didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you said estrogen really loud and words like that get my attention.  A progesterone level of 14 isn't the best, but it isn't nearly as bad as your gyn nurse made you think.  I don't know why they wanted it to be at least 18...pretty sure 16 was the "great" ovulatory number just last year.  I would be surprised if your dr already wants to up your dosage just based on that progesterone number.  I really wanted to say something to you, but you made absolutely no eye contact with me, and I don't blame you.  I was just another young "fertile" mom to you with a sweet baby asleep in my cart, and you were in too much pain to look.  I even heard you complain to your mom about how walmart has now changed their layout so that you have to walk right through the baby section to get anywhere.  I remember all too well avoiding "that" corner of walmart, and I really do understand why walking by something as simple as formula and baby food causes a lump in your throat on a bad day.  It was like baby was everywhere in the store (including this really adorable baby girl with a sheep coat on), and I felt terrible that I was part of causing you pain.  I really hope your miracle is coming soon and that one day you will be able to do something as simple as grocery shopping without feeling the pain.  I've been there, and I know how infertility follows you throughout your day. 
Love,
An Infertile Wal-Mart Shopper   

5 Months Old!

Look at those chunky cheeks!  Henry is growing like a weed, and he has changed so much in just one month.  I packed clothes for him to go to my parents for the holidays, and he completely grew out of them and his diapers in the two weeks that we were there!  I love my little buddy.  I have to hear at least one belly laugh a day--I call it my giggle quota.  Now for the stats....

Size:
I haven't gotten him weighed this month but I did step on the scale with him, and he is somewhere between 18 and 19 lbs.
Diapers--size 2 but we are going to need to move to size 3 as soon as we finish this little batch
Clothes--he is not out of 3-6 month clothes and already starting to fill out 6-9 month outifts.

Milestones:
Still not rolling over, but I know he can do it.  If I give him the slightest little help, he can roll over.  I honestly just don't think he has figured out yet that he can use it for transportation.
The biggest milestone I've noticed this month by far is his hand coordination.  He is reaching for everything in sight (including anything I have in my hands), and he can pass objects from one hand to the other.  We upgraded his pacis to 6 month size (thanks Mimi--I still had him in 0 month size) and now Henry enjoys showing off his paci tricks.  My favorite thing to do is to move the paci into his reach and watch him grab it and put it in his mouth.  He is sometimes successful with getting it in his mouth correctly but other times he just chews on the sides. 
Preference for toys- he is definitely starting to show that he likes some toys more than others.  He loves the little ducky in the picture above.
Talking- Henry loves to talk/scream especially with his daddy.  It always cracks me up and warms my heart to listen to all of the little sounds that he comes up with.  This morning, he woke up wanting to spit and talk at the same time, and he continued to do this all day long...so funny!
Henry is also starting to get upset when he sees me leave the room while he is playing during the day.  And he goes absolutely crazy over his daddy.  Here is their favorite activity by far....airplane.  Henry just squeals and squeals when Shaun starts the plane.

Sleeping and Eating:

Naptimes are so much better.  I've really worked on getting a nap routine this month, and Henry seems to be responding.  I have found that Henry and I both don't do well with strict crying it out so I do the Baby Whisperer method of going in just to settle him and then leaving.  I put his paci back...hand him his blankie...tuck his blanket around him and if he is very upset I hold my hand on his chest until he calms down...then I tell him night night and leave the room.

Nighttime- Well we have some good and bad as far as this month goes with night sleeping.  The good is that we have a great evening routine that is working for all of us.  Henry usually goes to bed around 7:30, and I try to stay pretty consistent with his bedtime.  The bad is that with moving up his bed time...I'm losing a little more sleep because his longest stretch is when I'm awake.  I'm trying not to feed as much at night, but I can still tell Henry is hungry so I'm working on trying to get him to eat more during the day.  I'm still hoping and praying that Henry will soon sleep through the night.  I'm getting up about 3-4 times a night and that is pretty much like a newborn ;).

Eating--Nursing is still going well.  We just have to have complete silence and usually a pretty dark or boring area to nurse.  I have also found that I need to feed him as soon as he wakes up without waiting no matter what time it is because he eats better when he is still a little sleepy.  Henry is adoring solid foods.  He gets pretty excited when I put his bib on him and open a jar of food.  I'm hoping he is going to continue being such a good little eater.   

On another note....this week is international de-lurking week.  There is nothing wrong with just reading and not commenting, but it would bring me so much joy to hear from who is reading out there.  How did you find my blog if you remember?  There is an option where you don't even have to log in to comment so feel free to use that option.  I lurk on many blogs without commenting myself so I completely understand if you have never commented before but it would just be so much fun to hear from all of you.  I know y'all are out there because I have a counter!