Thoughts on being a stay at home mom

I have been a SAHM now for 6 months and I am surprised how much I enjoy it. Granted it is harder than I imagined it would be.

Routines keep my sanity. I enjoy my coffee upon waking while watching the Today Show. After that, the TV goes off. I hate daytime TV and I don't want Matheson hearing the noise of that all day. I keep classical music on to break the silence, but with two wheaties in the house, they are always barking at something.

Some universal truths, even as a tidy person, being home all day, I am constantly cleaning up after MYSELF! Make breakfast, clean up breakfast, etc.

I need to make my bed everyday. Which takes less than a minute honestly, since we literally just have a comforter to pull up, but walking in and out of our room and seeing the bed disheveled just eats at me.

Laundry. I still do a load every other day as needed. Smaller loads more frequently keep me from never being overwhelmed.

Mid morning is when I can get out if something needs to be done as I am strict with nap times; however, as strict that I am, I still have some spontaneity. Just today, the weather was just a perfect Spring day. We had no plans and after waking up from his morning nap, I packed him up and we went to the Mercer Aboritorum Gardens to stroll through the flowers. We were back in time for the afternoon nap. Totally unplanned and I had never been there before.

I am surprised how much I enjoy the banal, mundane of domestic life. I have the time to get those repairs scheduled, make phone calls on claims, organize a junk drawer or clean out my closet. Plan dinners, even if I don't cook everyday. Pickup drycleaning, bring Tristan to ortho appointments, etc. I may not be contributing financially, but my role is just as equal. I am truly grateful that I get to stay home and raise my sons.

From the age of sixteen, I have held a job with only a lapse of maternity leave. I got into the habit of making sure before I go to bed everything is done for a clean start to the next day. This is still important to me. After putting Matty to sleep, I wash his bottles and replenish the Breeza. I do the dishes after we are done eating. Coffee is made. I pick up toys in the living room. I go to bed around 9:30pm and feel good about what was accomplished during the day.

6 months - Half Way to First

6 months old!

It's hard to imagine, Matheson was born six months ago today. So much has changed! Our little ham is weighing in at almost 20lbs! We go Wednesday for his checkup and vaccinations, so I will update with percentiles.

This morning he slept from 7:30pm to 7:20am! Which is just incredible and we are so lucky that he allows us SLEEP.

Matty loves to sit and play. We read stories to him daily and he tries to turn the pages. We haven't experienced anymore food reactions. He does get eczema on his skin that I just found the Mustela products work really on him. He laughs and squeals and loves for people to hold him.

We took Matheson to a restaurant on Sunday where we met some of our friends before Nick's softball game. He was excellent! Matty sat in a high chair then fell asleep while his dad was holding him. We then went to the ball fields and watched dad play. Nick's team didn't win, but he had the biggest smile on his face knowing we were watching him.

Last night in SNOO, First night in crib

We have enjoyed the SNOO for the past 5 months, but it was time for Matheson to transition to his crib. Matty is a big boy and was getting too big for the magical bassinet that rocked him to sleep.

Keep reading below for an update on night 2!

We tried unsuccessfully 3 weeks ago to transition him. I called SNOO customer service and was given some tips that we followed.

This time we kept him in the SNOO with the weaning mode on for over a week. I still needed to bump up to Green several times in the middle of the night when he got fussy.

Last night, I put him in his crib awake wearing the Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit at 7:30pm. The room was dark with no nightlight. I gave him his binky and Max the raccoon (his lovey). We have the Marpac Rohm portable sound machine that is turned to waves. I wish we had the same noise as played on baseline in the SNOO, but it was not available on the Happiest Baby Soundtrack. SNOO recommended track #6 for rain. I found using a wireless speaker connected to my phone wasn't the best option for us.

The first time I went in there was 10:30pm to give him his binky and reposition Max in the crook of his right arm. I did this 6 times until he woke up for the day.

Matheson woke up happy and all smiles at 6:10am. He survived his first night in the crib!

Some notations: We tried transitioning the first time during the 4 month sleep regression. Not smart. We needed to wait that out. Also, we tried after using the weaning mode for only 2 days. This time we did 8 days. The Merlin's magic sleep suit really works! Matty wore it for five days for naps in his crib to acclimate before the first full night. The sleepsuit is weighted, so it's very calming. The room is kept at 71 degrees and I only put Matheson in a onesie rather than a footed sleeper to prevent overheating. He still wears his Owlet. My son never needed the binky in the SNOO, but does in the crib. Introduce a lovey. The one we have from Hazel Village is small enough to hold, but not a suffocation hazard.

UPDATE on night 2!

Last night went better than expected. We did the normal evening bedtime routine: bath, pjs, bottle and book. We put him in his sleepsuit awake, turned on the sound machine and with no fussing, he fell sleep quickly SLEEPING ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT UNTIL 6:20AM!

I got up once at 2:30am as I kept checking the baby monitor and Owlet app on my phone and noticed he had moved himself sideways and couldn't find Max, so I quickly entered his room to give him his binky, rotate and give him his raccoon. Matty sleep blissfully in his crib the entire night and that's when I knew we had turned a corner.

Now, mom and dad were so ecstatic to have their room not occupied by a baby that the ceiling fan was on, a vent was closed and the sleeper was turned back on the TV. (This is all Nick, as I hate having a TV on in the bedroom. We compromise on 15 minutes of evening news before the timer turns it off.)

The SNOO is officially retired until we have another baby!

5 months old

Whewww! We survived month 4!

Between starting Leap four, teething, lip tie/ tongue tie revision and the four month sleep regression it was a rough month! There were endless days of crying and clinginess where afternoon naps ceased to exist unless in the car.

However, there were lots of growing and doing new things. Matheson started eating solids, learned to roll over (belly to back) and can sit unassisted for about 30 seconds. He giggles and babbles and likes when we read him books. Balloons are a big hit too. Matty is a big boy at over 17lbs. Sensory objects like the touch and feel books and feeling Doogan's fur (Daisy doesn't let him get that close) are big for him right now. All hands are in his mouth, but Matty still refuses a binky. He is now wearing size 3 diapers too.

Butternut squash and pears seem to be the running favorites right now. Carrots, not so much.

Matheson had the opportunity to meet our friend's Andrea and Luis's baby boy, Eric, born on 2/20/19. We hope they become the best bros and enjoy playing together.

Lip Tie/ Tongue Tie Revision

One week ago, we brought Matheson to West U Pediatric Dentistry to meet with Dr Piya Ganha. We noticed that Matty didn't get good suction on his bottle and would dribble while eating. This caused excess air to be swallowed and gas pains. Our pediatrician noticed he had a thick lip tie during his 4 month appointment and referred us to an ENT. TT/LT can cause speech and feeding issues, so I wanted to get the revision done quickly to circumvent this and also allow a quicker healing while he was still little.

After doing some research, I decided a cold laser was the better option at a pediatric dentist rather than scissors used at the ENT. I also joined the Facebook group, Texas Tongue Tie Support.

At our consultation, it was discovered that Matheson had both a tongue and tip tie. On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the worst, his lip was a 3 and his tongue was a 2. We were able to have the procedure done the same day. Since it's not common to add a infant to your dental plan, only medical after birth, we paid out of pocket for the procedure at the cost of $1100. I am grateful we were able to make an informed decision on which type of doctor to use and afford the cost.

The first 3 days were brutal! Matty cried and cried and barely ate. It broke our heart. I needed to give round the clock Tylenol to keep him comfortable even though the Tylenol only seemed to last for about 1-2 hours. Every 4 hours, he needed mouth stretches done to prevent reattachment. He hated the stretches and would scream so hard he turned purple.  At one point, I was up with him several times in the middle of the night and I couldn't get him to stop crying or to sleep and I started crying. Nick got up to relieve me and ended up pushing Matheson in his stroller for 30 minutes until he finally doozed off.

I went for an early follow-up on Thursday just to make sure the amount of pain he was in was normal and that I was doing the stretches right. All turned out good and he turned a corner that day and by Friday, he was back to himself, eating and not needing any Tylenol. By that point, I didn't wake him up at night (even though I wasn't supposed to let him go more than 6 hours in between stretches). Matty needed sleep and we needed sleep.

It's been one week and we go back again at 3 weeks post. He is doing much better and doesn't fight the stretches anymore.

Honestly, I had never heard of ties before and Dr Penn only checked his mouth when I asked him to. It was discussed on my IVF due date group as multiple infants had the same problem.

Pictures below from Pre, 1 week and 3 week Post Revision

UPDATE

At the 3 week followup visit, Matheson healed perfectly! No more stretches! Matheson can also now suck a pacifer and not loose suction when drinking his bottle.

Transfer Anniversary

E pluribus unum (out of many, one)

From the microscopic ball of cells on the left to the 17lb baby on the right, what a difference one year can make!

On 2/9/18, we transferred two five day old embryos. Five days later, on Valentine’s Day, I was holding a positive pregnancy test. We are fortunate; IVF doesn’t work for everyone and this was our fourth transfer.

IVF was the most invasive, time consuming, expensive and emotional rollercoaster that I have ever been on.  When nature said, “No”; science said, “Yes!”.

We are so grateful for Matheson, so our #transferversary is a big day for us.

4 months old

Today, our little guy is four months old! Time really does fly.

Matheson tried mashed banana yesterday and seemed to like momma's most hated fruit!

He is wearing size 2 diapers and just moved into 6-9 months clothes. He is drinking 28-32oz of Similac Pro Sensitive per day.

Bedtime: 7:30pm-6:30am
Nap 1 is about 2 hours after he wakes for the day for about 45 minutes to an hour
Nap 2 is around 1pm for two hours

He plays with toys and babbles all day. Matty isn't rolling over yet, but will scoot during tummy time. He enjoys us reading books to him and still likes to be held all day.

Update. 4 month well checkup and vaccinations

Matheson GREW! 16.14lbs (83rd percentile) and 25.5" (69th percentile)

He took his shots like a champ and didn't cry at all. I asked Dr Penn to see if he has a lip tie and sure enough, he does, so we were referred to an ENT to get revised. Lip ties will cause more air to enter while eating as there isn't a good seal when taking a bottle. This causes gas and discomfort. Our consultation appointment is next week on Valentine's Day.