Parenting isn't for Sissies

WARNING: Only mothers, doctors, nurses, and coroners should read this story. All others are likely to be offended and/or get sick. If you don't like knowing too much, then stop reading now! :-)

Oh my goodness, y'all are not going to believe what happened today. First of all, my poor baby (who is 9 months old today!) has been having so much trouble with constipation ever since she weaned herself about 3 weeks ago. So I've been helping her out. How, you ask? First of all by giving her prune juice every day. I figure it's gotta help! And then, when I see that she is straining to pass something (and it's very sad and pitiful, let me tell you), I immediately grab her up and rush her to the changing table where I strip her diaper off and proceed to push her legs toward her chest and spread her little rump cheeks apart to allow for easier passage.

Well... No more.

Today, I heard the whimper and looked down to see her crouched on all fours in her "poop position," so I quickly grabbed her and ran her to the table where I could "assist." Ok, now, here's where it gets graphic.

Lying on her back on the table, Sara is about chest height; so I was leaned over a little bit, pushing the underside of her thighs (which were facing me) towards her chest. Poor, poor baby -- she was grunting and pushing and screaming like a woman in labor, and I, just like any good coach, was soothing and encouraging her. "Come on, baby, you can do it! That's my girl, push it on out. Oooooh, I'm sooo sorry, baby girl! That's it!" My skills rivaled the best doula, I'm sure. [GRAPHIC WARNING] I continued to coo and sooth as she strained and pushed out little turds, when suddenly, I heard what I thought was our water pipes bursting, and tasted ... yes ... tasted a mouthful of poop!!! OOOH it was awful! You know how you always hear people say, "Those baby food green beans look just like baby poop." And then you try them and think, "Nasty -- they taste just like baby poop too!" Well, I'm here to tell you -- they taste like chocolate cream pie with whipped cream compared to the real thing.

And it wasn't just my mouth. ("just".... ha!) It was all in my hair, all over the door behind me, the wall next to her changing pad, the floor -- everywhere!!! It looked like we'd been having mud fights. I stood in utter shock and horror for a full minute, willing my brain to come up with a plan. I was covered in poop, the room smelled like a neglected animal shelter, and Sara was struggling to roll off her changing pad and spread the damage further.

But, like the truly converted Blake that I am, I decided, step #1 was pictures. So I put the changing pad (with Sara still on it) on the floor and ran and grabbed the camera. I knew that no one would believe me when I said how horrible it was if I didn't have proof. Then it was into the shower for both of us (I had a huge pile of baby doo to get out of my hair, not to mention my eyes... mouth... ears... ewwwww!), and off to bed with Sara so I could scrub and disinfect the entire war zone.

Well, there is one bright side to the whole episode. At least Sara isn't constipated any more.

9 Months Old

Here's a slideshow of Sara from the last month. LOTS of new things happened this month! Crawling, pulling up, two new teeth. She sleeps 12 hours every night now! She's such a sweet baby, and it really is a joy to be her mama. I look forward to getting to know her better in the years to come! :-)

8 Months - Pictures

To view the picture album, click on the slideshow.

Eight Months Old!

I know I say this every month, but I just can't believe it! I remember when Sara was born and hearing moms say, "Oh, my baby is eight months old," and thinking, What an old baby! And now, here we are. :-)

Sara sits perfectly, and is just days away from full-fledged crawling. She's been rocking for a couple of weeks now, and she drags her knees, but she hasn't figure out the hand-and-knee moving simultaneously yet. She pulls up on your fingers and stands, though no real steps or anything. One thing we've been working on this month is her neck, which she doesn't often hold up straight. My grandpa (a chiropractor) says that her top vertebra is out of place, so we've been going to him twice a week for adjustments. He said it's likely something that happened in childbirth and isn't a serious problem, but we do want to get it corrected before her muscles get too set. It seems to be gradually getting better, though when she's tired it's even more noticeable.

She weighs almost 17 pounds these days and is definitely getting more personality. Her favorite noises to make right now are grunts & squeals and simple sounds like "da-da-da-da" and gurgles. I love her Bumbo seat!! (You can see a picture below) It has been a life-saver for me. I bring it everywhere, and it even serves as her high chair for now, now that she's getting some solids.

She's SOOOO much fun these days. I just can't believe how much I love her!

4th of July

Sara in her Bumbo seat

7 Months pictures

If you are reading this in an email and would like to see the slideshow, please view the blog.

Comforts

Sara loves to snuggle into our down comforter. She's definitely Annie's grandbaby. :-) Too bad for her it's getting warm and the comforter is going in the closet...

Rolling Over

I caught it on camera today. Here's Sara rolling over (or should I say, falling over!) :-) It's hard to keep her on her tummy these days! She rolls over pretty much every time I put her on her belly.

4 Months Old!

I'm astonished as I look at the title of this post and realize that it's my baby that is four months old! It certainly has been a trip...

One thing that I can say about Sara is that she sleeps great! She's on a pretty consistent routine (when we're home), where she likes to get a good nap in the morning (about 2-3 hours), and a couple more 1-1.5 hour naps throughout the day. She then goes to bed for the night around 6:30pm. I wake her up between 9:30 and 10:30 to give her one last feeding, and then she usually sleeps until 5:30 or 6:00am. She'll take another feeding then and then go back to bed until 9:30 or 10:00. It's amazing how consistent she is when there's nothing to disrupt the schedule. And the best part is that we've mastered naptime where I can just put her down and she'll go to sleep on her own. It was definitely a long road getting there, but well worth it. Originally, I had to walk or nurse her to sleep and then gingerly put her down. At first, she would wake up pretty quickly (after 30 minutes or so), but she eventually got used to being in bed by herself and would sleep for longer and longer stretches. Then I started putting her down just when she'd be going to sleep and lie down with her and hold her hands until she was asleep. And now, she loves her bed so much that (if she's not overtired!) she sometimes actually sighs with contentment when I put her down and goes right to sleep! I know the feeling. :-) In some ways it's backfired a little bit though, because she usually doesn't sleep more than 30-45 minutes when I hold her now, which makes it very difficult when we're out for long periods of time. And actually, when I say "her bed," I should really say our bed. For now, she's still with me and Zack. My goal right now is to get her taking naps in her crib (she's actually been doing that for the past 2 days)...

...and then phase her into her crib at night. I'm not really sure if I'm going to be okay with that or not (I think I'll miss her at night!), but she's starting to get so squirmy in her sleep that I end up on the edge of the bed every night. So I guess we'll see what happens.

Still no laughing yet! She often looks as though she might rip one, but just gurgling and cooing for now. :-) She smiles just about anytime you smile at her (provided she's not cranky), and she's starting to consciously reach out and grab things. Before, she was just swinging her arms aimlessly, occasionally hitting objects, but now you can see her focus on something and actually reach out for it, and then grab on. And then, when she accomplishes her goal, she starts kicking with excitement. She's also much more interested in her hands than ever before. She can spend fifteen minutes just examining them!

She sure is cute! It would seem that her first nickname is "Critter." Zack calls her this pretty consistently, and it's even led to other phrases like, "It's Critter time!" and "You've been Crittered!" With Zack as her daddy I'm sure she'll have many more (and hopefully more feminine!).

I get more attached to her every day. Zack is really great about watching her for an hour (or three) and letting me go do errands or have fun, but it's amazing to me that as much as I want and need to get away, I always end up missing her still! I guess that's the way God intended it. :-)

Hidden Feature

For those of you who have never noticed, on the right side of the blog under "Other Places," there is a link that says "Sara - Week by Week (A Timeline in Pictures)." Every Monday I've posted a picture (or two!) of Sara that week, so it's easy to see how she's changed over time!

Recent pictures

Sara 2.5 months

Two Months Old!

Sara - 2 Months

Chicken Legs

Sara has definitely gained some weight! Check out these pictures of her little legs. The first is from 3 weeks, and the second is from today, at 8 weeks.

Sara Smiles

First Smiles

Sara at one month

Sara - 1 month

Bigfoot

Sara in Pictures

Sara

Nursery Progress

Boy, what a project this has been!! We decided that we would use the back corner room for Sara's nursery, so Step 1 was to clear all of the office room stuff (Zack's computer & computer desk, his regular desk, my desk and laptop, the filing cabinet, and the treadmill -- not to mention all the odds and ends!). No, I take that back -- step 1 was really to clear the guest bedroom of the bed, dresser, etc., so that we could turn it into the office! Anyway, after all of this was done, Mom came over to help me paint. I decided that I wanted to do pink (of course!) stripes, with one stripe being flat paint and one being semi-gloss, same color though. Of course, as Mom says, everything always takes longer than you expect! We started on a Friday night, but only got the first coat of flat paint done. Then, on Saturday, we got the second coat of flat paint done, worked on the trim, and painted some bedroom furniture. But then we still had to do stripes! So, Mom came over the next Wednesday afternoon since she had school off (this past one), and we got most of the stripes taped. That's right -- not painted, just taped! So Friday night, we were finally able to finish painting the stripes, and everything looks just like I'd hoped. We're just putting finishing touches on the room now, and then, we get to move in the furniture!

Click below to see the photo album.

Painting the Baby Room

36 Weeks

This belly gets bigger all the time! And yes... I'm ready for this to all happen. I've been feeling more aches and pains than I knew were possible. I'll have to get Zack to submit his thoughts on all my complaining. :) I have an appointment Wednesday, so I'll find out then if the doctor thinks there's any remote chance that Sara might get here before December 5!

Family Shower

On Sunday, October 15, Betty, Lydia, and Paula hosted a family shower for us at Grandma Mary's. There were lots of people, lots of food, and lots of fun! Annie and Katie came in for the weekend, and my whole family was there.

Click on the image below to view the photo album from the shower.

Family Shower

Sara's Dad

We're hoping she looks like me...