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It has been awhile since I have been able to write much. I guess being back to work full time has really cut into my time...imagine that! I am fully back into the chaos of work. I am staying incredibly busy, which is good because my day goes by quickly and I can get home to my little baby!! Chris, aka Mr. Mom, is doing a really good job at home, but he has quickly learned that she really keeps you busy. The first few days he was almost scared to leave the house, but now she has many trips to Lowe's and Home Depot under her belt...he even got brave and took her all the way to Chapel Hill for her first time on Franklin Street! I bet it was a cute sight to see him pushing her around in her stroller :) He even bought her two more Carolina outfits...he's a bit obsessed!Meredith is changing every day. Now that I'm not with her all day, it seems like she's a different baby from when I leave in the morning to when I see her at night. She is really starting to find her voice...and not just with crying! She is making all kinds of noises and it just cracks me up because she almost sounds like she is talking. There is no volume control, that's for sure! Last night she was almost yelling, but she was really happy. She is still chewing on her hands a lot and really drooling, which makes me wonder if her teeth are starting to move. She is pulling her feet up some, but is still really more interested in her hands right now. Just in the past few days she is trying to pull her head and shoulders up a lot and she almost gets mad that she can't pull up anymore. She is sleeping fairly well now. Most nights it is about 6ish hours or so, which has been very nice since I need to function in the adult world during the day now! It really has been amazing to see the transition she has made in the last few weeks from this little baby that cried ALL the time to this wonderful happy (most of the time) baby!Here are some recent pictures. The family picture is Easter...she did really well during church...she just made some of her own music if you know what I mean!! The picture with Beezer wasn't posed at all. We had them on the couch together and he just picked up his head and laid it right on her belly....isn't it awesome?!
Well, it's official. I'm back to work. Yesterday went pretty well. I definitely got quite emotional a few times, mostly when other mommies would look at me with that knowing look since they have all been through the same thing! I brought a bunch of pictures, but had a hard time looking at them! I called home earlier today and I could hear her cooing and giggling in the background, which made me happy she was happy, but then again sad because I wasn't there to see her gummy grin! Overall though, coming back on Thursday and Friday was smart because it has been really quiet, especially since today is a holiday for most of the company, and I have been able to ease into things just in time for the weekend. I don't think much will really kick in work-wise until next week (which is why I am able to type this now!) There are absolutely tons of new people that have started and already completed training since I left...that is a really weird feeling, almost like a new job!Wednesday night Chris and I had kindof a date night since it was my last day home. Mom kept Meredith and we went up to North Hills, which used to be the oldest mall in Raleigh until they demolished it and built this amazing shopping center with nice restaurants, condos and lots of upscale shops. We did the whole deal with appetizers at The Fox & the Hound, then dinner at Firebird's and dessert at Ben & Jerry's. It was really nice to just relax and talk without worrying when Meredith would start crying and mom said she did really well for her :)This is going to be a big weekend. We have wedding dress shopping tomorrow as well as checking out a few reception venues with Hillary & Joey. Then Sunday is Easter and we will of course go to church, then my in-laws will be coming in from High Point to see Meredith and then we will have Easter dinner at mom's. Meredith does have an adorable Easter dress.. will try to post some pictures next week.
Well, my days are numbered. I go back to work on Thursday and I am just so torn over it. I am excited to get back to adult interaction and getting back into the swing of things, but I am scared that I will be so sleep deprived that I won't be able to function since Meredith seems to be regressing a little bit in her sleep habits. I have read that when it seems like a baby is taking a step backward they are really getting ready to take a big developmental step forward, so maybe this is just a precursor to her sleeping through the night...consistently. Chris will be home with her for a few weeks, which is nice because if I had to leave her with a stranger right now I would not be a well person! I'm also excited that they will have some bonding time and Chris can have a true appreciation for what caring for her all day is like! I know he will do fine. He is always so calm and collected when she gets upset, but that could be because he hasn't been with her all day. I guess we shall see how it goes for them!! The other very exciting news over the weekend was that my sister Hillary and her boyfriend, Joey, got engaged! He proposed down on the beach in Wilmington, which sounded pretty romantic. Hillary didn't want a diamond because of all of the issues surrounding the treatment of diamond miners in places like Africa, so she has a fair trade sapphire in a recycled platinum band....if you don't know Hillary, trust me, this is exactly her style!! They are not wanting to have a long engagement, so they are looking at a possible Thanksgiving weekend wedding!! That is only about 7 months away, so let's say there is a lot of planning to do in a short amount of time! We are going dress shopping this weekend and already planning an engagement party.Oh yeah, her new last name will be Zielazinski....her poor, poor future children.....
Today was Meredith's 2 month check up at the pediatrician. She weighs 13 lbs, 2.5 oz & is 23 inches long. That is quite a jump from 8.5lbs & 21 inches at birth!! Her weight is in the 95th percentile!! I guess she wanted to make quite an impression about her weight because she managed to pee on the scale since that is the one opportunity she has without her diaper! I was quite embarrassed, but the nurse assured me that it happens all the time....Meredith did seem quite pleased with herself because she had a little grin on her face! One good thing was that they pretty much said we could start giving her a little rice cereal in a bottle once a day. I guess we will give that a try this weekend and see how she does. If it makes her sleep through the night even longer I will be happy since I am going back to work next week. If we can eliminate that very early morning feeding, I think we all will be happier :)The bad part about this appointment was that she had to get 4 shots :( Fortunately, Chris was there with me because I had a really hard time. Meredith definitely cried...it was that cry where she didn't make any noise at first and she wouldn't even breath. Then came the huge cry, which made me feel horrible, but she managed to get over it pretty quickly. The nurse did a good job of doing it lightning fast at least. So far, she doesn't have a fever or anything, which is good. She doesn't go back until 4 months and I don't think there are any shots at that appointment...those are definitely harder on me than her!!
Meredith is 9 weeks old today and I don't want to jinx myself by writing this, but Meredith pretty much slept through the night last night....from 9 pm-ish to 6 am-ish!! She even went back down for a few more hours after I fed her at 6! I think that it may have been a fluke, so we'll see how tonight goes. She was probably pretty worn out because I went by work yesterday to visit and she got passed around quite a bit. She really was awesome and only tried to cry a few times (thank goodness for pacifiers!). She also took the opportunity to have the worst diaper issue that she has ever had while I was at work. Thankfully, Aunt Allison was there to help me balance her on the bathroom counter to change her diaper and clothes(no changing stations at the office..imagine that!), although she made sure not to get too close to anything gross! It was good to get back to the office, but I must say I had a pit in my stomach while I was driving up the driveway to the building. There are also a ton more people that were hired into our department while I've been gone, so I saw so many faces that I don't know, which is weird for me since I knew everyone when I left! Next week at this time I'll be driving home from my first day back....oh boy, say some prayers that I can hold it together!
Well, so far I have really liked week 8! Meredith has really started to get her own little personality and is definitely giving lots of cute smiles and giggles these days. There are still some rough spots, but it can usually be explained by a dirty diaper or something like that. She has been sleeping in her crib for over a week now and she had no difficulties with the transition. Now, I haven't moved the bassinet out of our room yet, so maybe I'm the one with the transition problem! In the past week or so, she has really found her hands. She has been sucking on them like crazy. I had thought she was going to start sucking her thumb, but that hasn't become any more pronounced lately...really just whatever part of her hand makes it to her mouth she is cool with that! Her movements aren't quite as jerky anymore, she seems to have a bit more control over her arms and legs. She loves to kick her legs and giggle as she lies under her mobile. She also loves her Baby Einstein thing that has lights and all sorts of little toys that hang down. So far she only tolerates the bouncy seat just long enough for me to take a shower and sometimes not even that long. She really doesn't like tummy time too much, but I'm not too worried about that yet. She just loves to look around and take everything in. She has really good control over her head and neck now to where she can really hold her head up for quite a long time now. It has been a lot of fun to see her become such a little person here in the last few weeks!
Two weekends ago (3/18) we went into High Point for my sister-in-law, Kaci's, bridal shower/afternoon tea. I was a little nervous as to how Meredith would be since there would be so many people who would want to hold her and it was also the first time Kaci had seen her. Somehow, some way, she slept through the entire bridal shower being passed from person to person. This was only after she spit up all over me and herself earlier. Of course, I brought her a change of clothes, but not for me. So, I smelled like spit up for most of the day! Then at the end of the shower, which was at a very nice hotel in Greensboro, let's just say that she needed to change her clothes yet again. There was no changing table in the bathroom, so Chris's cousin and I balanced her on the counter while trying to get her very messy clothes off of her and change a diaper too. Boy, I didn't know how hard that could be!! I'm also glad that I took my mom's advice to always have a change of clothes for her in the diaper bag, because she went through 3 outfits that day and I had to dig out the one in the bottom of the diaper bag! That night my mother-in-law insisted on keeping Meredith so that Chris and I could get a good night's sleep. I was very hesitant about leaving her, but finally gave in. It was nice to have some time to ourselves, but I must admit that I didn't sleep well at all because I was just sure that she was having a bad night. Of course, they said that she had a great night and she was all smiles when we got back over there in the morning. I was pretty happy, but it was still hard knowing that she had been away from me for the first time overnight. On the way home on Sunday, we stopped at our friend's Art and Shelley's house right outside of Burlington to watch the UNC game and have dinner. We had a really good time, but Meredith started her meltdown at their house, so I ate my dinner in very quick bites in between her crying fits. She had such a big weekend and was so good that she really let me have it on Monday. Let's just say that it wasn't a good day at all! She is now 8 weeks old and I must say that between week 7 & 8, I have really been pleased. She seems to be much happier and is sleeping quite well at night. She is also sleeping in her crib in her nursery now. Her first night in her crib was last Saturday, 3/25, so it has been almost a week! She really did fine...it was me that had kindof a hard time with it. I went to the hockey game with my friend Jennifer last night and Chris kept her and she slept like an angel last night...for almost 7 hours!!! I asked him what he did to make her sleep so well...I think he did such a good job that he has gotten himself in trouble!! Mommy might go out more often :)
We had our first experience at Wake Med on the 30th and I am quite happy that I was able to have Meredith at Rex. That is a crazy place!
We had to take Meredith to Wake Med for an ultrasound on her spinal cord. The pediatrician found a 'dimple' at the base of her spinal cord and thought it would be a good idea to get a scan just to be sure it was ok. The way they explained it was that this spot is the last place that the nervous system closes up while the baby is developing in the womb and sometimes it doesn't close up properly and can indicate a problem with the spinal cord. In very extreme cases, this is spinobifida (sp?). Well, after waiting over an hour and walking all over the hospital that is under perpetual construction, we finally got in to see the pediatric radiologist and Meredith did a wonderful job holding still while she did the ultrasound (she surprises me every day!). Fortunately, everything was just fine, so we feel quite relieved.
I thought it was quite ironic that just over 2 months ago I was having an ultrasound to see Meredith and now she was having one!!
